Last weekend in beautiful mid-May, ravers from around the world met under the Electric Sky once more for an unforgettable weekend presented by Insomniac. EDC Las Vegas 2024 brought epic b2bs, a larger layout, a hidden country stage, and more. The biggest festival in the world welcomed over 525,000 “headliners” over the three days.
Here’s my experience of its production, artists, new stage layouts, and final impressions of the event.
Insomniac pulled out all the stops with its production for this year’s show. From an amazing drone show over Kinetic Field and improved stage layouts to all the intricate art and the iconic firework display each night.
Kinetic Field’s main stage production highlighted a cathedral theme of giant organ pipes with pyrotechnics. Rather than a main owl centerpiece, there was a main LED cathedral window and many more side windows showing owl graphics.
Thoughtful Intermezzos, unreal fireworks, an epic drone show, plenty of pyrotechnics, and stellar sound made Kinetic Field exceed its reputation as a cathedral for Insomniac’s Electric Daisy empire. One detail I enjoyed was each cathedral window had an image of Kinetic Field centerpieces from prior years. They brought back fond memories of the tree production of EDC 2016.
Kinetic Field set the stage for some of the weekend’s most iconic moments. Tiesto debuted two new singles, “Hot Honey” and the EDC Las Vegas theme song “My City.” Zedd announced his new album release using drones. John Summit and Green Velvet collaborated to end the weekend in style on main stage.
There were some significant changes to the stage layout in 2024. Quantum Valley and Neon Gardens moved closer to Kinetic Field and transported festivalgoers to a different dimension where they could easily walk between trance, techno, and house sets. Quantum Valley revamped the DJ booth portal with more lasers and a sound setup that made you forget how close it was to Kinetic. Neon Garden was home to huge names like Carl Cox with a larger stage and amazing lights all over the top of the tent.
Circuit Grounds’ signature wraparound steel frame never disappoints. With large LED panels it housed huge names from many genres like John Summit, Excision, and Sara Landry. The main update was creating more depth with the visuals by pushing the DJ booth back and surrounding it with lights.
Basspod got a new home to the right of Electric Avenue and Circuit Grounds, rocking new signature shocks and a lifted DJ booth. Bassheads had much more space to soak up the production and pyrotechnics and because it was further away from the other stages Insomniac could turn up the volume! I could feel the bass through my body at sets like Kai Wachi, Crankdat, and Ghengar.
Wasteland, Stereo Bloom, and Bionic Jungle also moved around a bit. Wasteland moved across the raceway and got smaller by Basspod and Electric Avenue. Bionic Jungle got a bit of an upgrade with space and visuals between Kinetic Field and Cosmic Meadow. Stereo Bloom continued to grow in stature and sound, hosting sets from Noizu and Matroda b2b San Pacho.
Over 230 DJs came from all over the world to bring the magic to the centerpiece of the spring festival season. Subtronics debuted on main stage and played another set with his wife Level Up. Fred Again.. made a surprise appearance at Circuit Grounds Saturday after his buddy Four Tet. Peggy Gou played two sets including a b2b with Marcel. Other impressive b2bs included Carl Cox b2b Nicole Moudaber, Acraze b2b Kream, and Eli Brown b2b Hi-Lo.
But why settle for b2bs when you can have b3bs! Noizu, Westend, and Mele combined to get the weekend going at Cosmic Meadow. There were also megacollabs like Worship, with DnB artists Sub Focus, Dimension, Culture Shock, and 1991, and Hivemind, with heavy bass artists Kayzo, Space Laces, and Must Die!
Downtown EDC featured new installations too. One could listen to Country EDM at the YEEDC stage, “gamble” at the Kandi casino or get unofficially married to your rave bae. There was a dating show called “Up to Date,” a retro stage with throwback music, and walking DJs with giant speakers on their backs and CDJs in front. Insomniac always packs EDC with magical hidden gems to explore when walking between stages or going on a side quest.
The VIP areas were a bit hit or miss based on the stage and set. The two best stages, Kinetic Field and Circuit Grounds, had the best VIP layout. Kinetic Field had gourmet food, barbers/hairdressers, rides, lockers, and a viewing deck. Circuit Grounds’ viewing area had a massive ground-level viewing area with a speakeasy and an arcade!
Neon Gardens and Quantum Valley shared the VIP entrance/exit which was convenient to go between those two stages. Basspod and Cosmic Meadows VIP areas were lacking, especially for some of the crush of crowds for big acts. My biggest suggestion would be to expand the VIP at Basspod’s new location.
There will be more improvements in store for EDC Las Vegas 2025, now on sale for only $5 down! What more can you ask for than this epic celebration of EDM culture with over half a million people over a 3-day weekend filled with unforgettable sights and sounds?! I’m already looking forward to being back under the Electric Sky, will you be there too?
