Check out these Do’s and Don’ts of attending EDC 2023
Yes, we were once like you, the Electric Daisy Carnival equivalent of a naive little child wandering into the middle of a movie.
That was 12 years ago, when EDC first zapped Vegas’ senses.
Since then, we’ve spent 30 nights and 250-plus hours covering the dusk-till-dawn dance music endurance test.
That’s a lot of Red Bull .
And now here we are, graciously — some might say selflessly — sharing our hard-earned expertise on how to best experience this truly one-of-a-kind experience with some EDC do’s and don’ts:
Do: Party ’til the sun comes up.
Don’t: Party ’til that 2 a.m. burrito comes up.
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Do: Dress with potentially high temperatures in mind.
Don’t: Attempt to beat the heat by wearing only a codpiece, a cape and a winning smile.
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Do: Respect the police presence at the event.
Don’t: Walk up to a cop, introduce yourself as “Officer Party,” and demand to be deputized.
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Do: Check out the BassPod stage.
Don’t: Expect your ears to stop ringing like the cellphone of the guy next to you in a movie theater until about a week before next year’s EDC.
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Do: Marvel at the massive KineticFIELD, the largest concert stage in North America, whose otherworldly production values have to be seen to be believed — and even then, you’ll demand that your pupils submit to a polygraph test, just to make sure they’re conveying the truth.
Don’t: Go there in open-toed shoes. With 30,000 to 50,000 revelers gathered at the football-field-sized stage at any given moment, your feet are going to get stepped on, and you don’t want to send your little piggies to the slaughterhouse, now do you?
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Do: Be there to see Tiesto keep his streak of 12 consecutive EDC performances going. He’s the only act to play every iteration of the fest in Vegas since it relocated here from L.A. in 2011.
Don’t: Forget how far EDM has come in this city. When Tiesto launched his initial 10-show residency at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel in 2011, the first for a DJ in a concert hall here, he played to about as many fans that entire run as he probably will on Saturday night.
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Do: Display your inner unicorn for all to see via a colorful, unique costume. Or maybe just come shirtless with a watch drawn on your chest in lipstick while constantly bellowing, “What time is it? Dad bod o’clock.” Your call.
Don’t: Come costumed as a note-taking Twilight Sparkle from “My Little Pony.” That’s our turf there, Chief.
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Do: Exchange “wedding” vows with your favorite EDC companion at the Commitment Deck, where couples promise to be there for each other “even if one of you parties too hard” and the customary “I do” is replaced with a hearty “hell yeah!”
Don’t: Consummate said marriage aboard the flying elephant ride. Turns out that’s frowned upon.
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Do: Be sure to take in all the flame-spewing art installation pieces.
Don’t: Forget that fuzzy boots are highly flammable.
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Do: Look out for surprise performances on the various art cars. Illenium played on the tree-festooned Forest House Art Car in 2021. Kaskade and Steve Aoki have turned in classic sets from them in the past.
Don’t: Be the guy who climbs on board one of the massive party ships and dances awkwardly while turning his hands into “fun pistols” and finger-gunning the crowd. That job’s taken.
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Do: Prepare for a commute as long as Godzilla’s trachea. One year, we left our house at 5:30 p.m. to trek to EDC’s opening night. After driving, parking, making the 15-minute hike to the venue and then passing through security, it was 10 p.m. by the time we actually gained access to the festival grounds. (Did we mention that we live just 20 miles south of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, not in Barstow, California?)
Don’t: Let it spoil your good time. Look, sometimes concessions have to be made in life. It’s just part of being a responsible adult. Or so we hear.
Contact Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476. Follow @jbracelin76 on Instagram