There is no end in sight for the bad publicity stemming from the epic failures of Electric Zoo 2023, and rightly so for the countless people who suffered financial loss and emotional distress. Even the New York City Mayor has gotten involved by making a statement about the debacle that included Day 1 being canceled, Day 2 plagued by endless lines at will call, and Day 3 having festivalgoers storm the gates when attendance was capped around 7 p.m.
If you want to read about the details of what went wrong and find people to blame, this is not that article. It is simply my story and my experience. I’m a New York City local who’s been to this fest for four years, so my partner and I were some of the lucky ones — we managed to have a great time at our home festival over Labor Day Weekend despite all the difficulties and setbacks.
Friday
Rave day started as it typically does, with my partner braiding her hair three hours early while I went through social media dropping hype posts for the artists I was excited to see — Adventure Club, Ghengar, and The Chainsmokers. When we got the call from someone in our rave family, we couldn’t believe it — “EZoo Day 1 is canceled!” We rushed to social media and saw the post confirming the bad news.
Luckily for us, we had secured guestlist tickets for the Adventure Club afterparty on Wednesday, because I had to see my favorite superheroes visit one of New York City’s most iconic music venues, Webster Hall. But for many, afterparty tickets sold out almost immediately after news of the cancellation broke and they were not able to buy reasonably priced third-party tickets to the numerous afterparties that Avant Gardner had scheduled.
We briefly considered some of the renegade events popping up at open venues and empty alleys all over lower Manhattan and Brooklyn but ultimately decided to focus our efforts on bringing our displaced friends together and making the most of the situation. We made it happen instead of worrying about things out of our control. Likewise, it was encouraging to see the NYC EDM scene come together to throw some epic events last minute, such as the sold-out BASSLAND by EDMTrain and Bass Command.
We got to Webster Hall promptly at 11 p.m. for doors and the line for general admission was already down the street and wrapped halfway up the next block! We enjoyed NYC local Squired starting the show. Steller and Blanke were welcomed additions to the lineup due to the Day 1 cancellations and slayed their sets as well. Then came the main attraction — we witnessed an amazing Adventure Club set jam-packed with so many classics: “Retro City,” “Youth,” “Do I See Color,” and a personal favorite — their remix of Britney Spears’s “Till the World Ends.”
Ghengar was another bonus added to the lineup and Ghastly brought the energy for this alt-persona set. At one point, he split the crowd and came down from the decks to mosh with the fans on the dancefloor. When I got tripped and pushed over, Ghastly was the first person to help me to my feet and we both proceeded to continue raging.
Modern Machines, another NYC local, wrapped up the unforgettable night at 4 a.m. We all headed home hoping for good news regarding Saturday and Sunday since there was no definitive statement made about the future of the festival. Our alarm was set for noon, and fingers crossed for good news.
Saturday
I was up Saturday morning at 10 am, as is routine during the English Premier League season, and still no word from Electric Zoo. Halftime came and went. Finally, around 11:30 am the news we were all waiting to hear was announced — “EZoo is on!” Even Chelsea’s unfortunate home loss to Nottingham Forest couldn’t dampen my spirit, rave day had arrived at long last.
We had to get to Randall’s Island in time for So Tuff So Cute at 4:30 p.m. and credit to my partner for pulling it off. We left our Bushwick apartment just before three, and made good time on the subway to Harlem, walking over the RFK Bridge (New Yorkers still call it the Triboro), and getting through a short security line at the North entrance all in under 90 minutes. Victory!
It was evident that the stages were not completed, but that didn’t stop the artists from showing off their skills. Besides the minimal decor around the stage structures, everything felt familiar like the EZoo of years past, albeit with new stage names. The bass stage, dubbed The Continuum, only had a few of the central LED panels working for Day 2, but So Tuff So Cute (the joint DJ project of GG Magree and Mija) got our EZoo experience started with a memorable performance. They dropped some heavy bass and sang along to some sexy tracks, including closing with their newest single “No Bra No Panties,” which releases Friday, September 8.
We then filled up my hydro pack and took a quick trip to the restrooms at the right rear of the main stage (The Convergence) without issue. After consulting the handy app for the multitude of food options, we decided on a Viet pork sandwich from the aptly named “Bahn Mi Daddy.” It was a filling footlong sando with tasty BBQ pork and tangy pickled veg that hit the spot.
After lunch, we headed over to The Landing (former Riverside) to digest while listening to some Deep Dark & Dangerous bass from Truth. Again, the stage design was not complete, but the LED screen worked and the bass was booming so there was nothing worth complaining about. Rusko followed next and played my favorite set of the day with his trademark MC skills complementing his mix of modern day drum and bass bangers and old school dubstep classics.
We caught the first few songs from Jantsen before bolting across the island to make our main stage debut and hear the last few songs from Gryffin. The Convergence was also incomplete, with only the center hanging display constructed and limited LED displays working, but the sound was fine even towards the back of the stage without any sound bleed due to the dividers constructed between the stages. We didn’t trifle with the crowd and stayed near the right rear of the stage over by the water stations and restrooms. Again, we topped off the hydro pack and relieved ourselves without any crowding issues to speak of.
As the bassheads we are, my partner and I finished Saturday at The Continuum with sets from Big Gigantic and GRiZ. Both artists got saxy with it. Big Gigantic brought out NGHTMRE for their Gigantic NGHTMRE collab and GRiZ had his full cast of characters on hand for his solo live set, including two vocalists, a trumpet player, and a trombone player. Another sign that fate was actually on our side this weekend, we miraculously ran into our local Electric Forest family right in the center of the stage without so much as a text. After all, it is the people you surround yourself with that can elevate the vibes of the festival and our crew was optimistic and upbeat all weekend long.
Getting off Randall’s Island and back to Brooklyn was the one place where I noticed the impact of the larger crowd and felt that the event organizers could have done a better job with crowd control. Due to the narrow ramp to get from ground level up to the RFK bridge, there was a huge bottleneck walking back to Manhattan from the North exit to 125th Street.
It took us over an hour just to walk from the exit to get onto the bridge since they had to completely halt pedestrian traffic at times to manage the growingly frustrated patrons trying to leave. Mind you, this is something that only took 10-15 minutes in years past. All told, we left EZoo at 11 p.m. and didn’t make it to the afters until 2 a.m., turning our 90-minute trip to the island into a 180-minute return back to Brooklyn.
While we did get to see afterparty sets from Liquid Stranger and Jantsen that we had missed during their Day 2 performances, I missed the encore set from Rusko that I was most looking forward to. Tired but grateful, we walked back home from The Great Hall at Avant Gardner to prepare for Day 3.
Sunday
On Day 3, we overslept by an hour and my partner furiously rushed to get her outfit prepared while I prepped the rave bag and watched the thrilling conclusion to the Arsenal-Manchester United match. Our commute to Randall’s Island took the same 90 minutes, but instead of walking over the RFK Bridge from Manhattan, we finessed our way onto the express X80 bus and rode the MTA in air-conditioned comfort to the festival gates.
Although we missed the beginning of her set, we still made it in time to see most of Alleycvt’s performance, which was a very promising display from the young, talented dubstep producer. Speaking of displays, The Continuum seemed to be fully functional for Sunday, with a more robust sound and all nine screens illuminated. Black Carl! and Saka took the stage next with a back-to-back collaboration dubbed “Rush Hour.” While I went to secure hydration, my partner hung out by the VIP side rails and got to speak with Alleycvt. I made it back just in time to snap off a few pictures of the two bass lovers.
After the photo op, we had about two hours of free time to check out the other two stages before I left to see Tiesto at the main stage and she went to rage with Kai Wachi and her bass babes. We secured another round of tasty snacks from the concession area at the back of The Continuum — I got fried Oreos and a boba tea while my partner munched on a lamb gyro — and peacefully ate our lunch in the shade of the hill before making our debut at The Morphosis stage.
We got to spend about 20 minutes listening to the smooth sounds of Frankie Wah, who was part of Nora En Pure’s Purified Records stage takeover. From what I could tell, this stage was also in good shape with good-looking LED displays over a series of five alternating freestanding platforms. The energy at this stage was chill and there was plenty of space for everyone to dance freely. Everyone at The Morphosis was seemingly having a great time.
At long last, halfway through Day 3, we made the trek to the newest stage addition to EZoo, the Mega Mirage. Unfortunately, this stage was kind of a sh*t show — like it literally stank like sh*t. Rumor has it that manure or compost was used to cover the deep tire tracks left by the setup crew, and the 90-degree heat of Sunday afternoon supercharged the stank. Fortunately, we spent all our time dancing on big plastic slabs or metal rail plates, so we weren’t kicking this foul dirt up in the air.
We met up with a few friends to enjoy the last few tracks from the groovy Chelina Manuhutu and the beginning of Green Velvet’s set. Although it was still sunny out at 6 pm, the visual displays looked sharp and the production at this stage sounded good. No complaints from me except for the putrid smell and the lack of a Red Bull + water station anywhere at this stage. 6:30 hit and I was off for my solo adventure to the main stage for a sunset set from Tiesto and a rare performance from Major Lazor.
I’ll admit that the crowd at The Convergence for Tiesto was thick and deep. To get to the front right of the elevated VIP section, I maneuvered my way along the right side of the stage by the concessions and reached my destination without much trouble, despite the big crowds. I found some fellow colorful cowboy hat-wearing folx and they happily adopted me into their crew for the next couple hours of revelry. It appeared that more of the LED screens were operational on Sunday, but having only spent 10 minutes here on Saturday, I was not the best to judge. Truth be told, it was the music and the people with me that made the moments magical.
Tiesto played a well-rounded set, mixing in modern hits with old classics as the sun set on the final day of the festival. His memorable remix of “Silence” blared as the setting sun illuminated the New York City skyline with shades of orange, pink, and blue. All the while, madness was unfolding at the gates as festivalgoers rushed past the security check after the announcement was made that the attendance cap was reached. But I was none the wiser until reading about that calamity the next day.
After Tiesto finished, I pulled back to the grassy ramp area directly in front of the ADA platform near the back of the main stage. It was the perfect meetup spot to reunite with my squad for the first half of Major Lazor. We were able to find room to sit down on the grass and took some time to get stretched out before the final few sets of the weekend. With all the hysteria about a cramped main stage, I had no problem laying out and flowing through a few chaturanga dandasana to keep me feeling fresh.
We ended the festival just like we started it, getting to witness some of our favorite bass artists at the best stage on the island — The Continuum. Boogie T went back-to-back with Dirt Monkey, showcasing their wonky, deep bass proclivities with trippy pastel-colored backdrops. They set the stage perfectly for the big finale, another back-to-back featuring Zeds Dead and GRiZ adorned in cowboy hats.
The set was a special experience I got to enjoy with many of my closest festival friends. Having listened to Zeds Dead faithfully for over ten years, it was a revelation to hear GRiZ riffing on his saxophone to classics like “Collapse” and hits like “Shady Intentions.” In these moments, the calamity of the weekend melted away and left me in soulful ecstasy. Despite all of the setbacks, we had an amazing end to our time on Randall’s Island.
Once again, we got stuck in the mass exodus from the island over the RFK Bridge to Manhattan. Security seemed to be in better control on Sunday until someone hopped the fence and tried to cut ahead of the crowd by running along the staff side. Security barked at him to halt, and when he did not, one of the guards knocked him out cold with a punch to the head. It was the only act of violence I witnessed all weekend, and it was easily preventable if people had just followed the rules and the barriers in place.
It still took us about an hour to cross over the bridge on Sunday, but with our friend driving us back to Brooklyn for the afters it only took us two hours to get to our desired destination, my favorite club in the city — Elsewhere. Although not an official EZoo afterparty, Blossom and Valentino Khan each played a high-energy, bass-heavy, house set. The crowd there was great, a fun mix of Brooklyn locals enjoying their 3-day weekend and festivalgoers looking for an alternative to the sold-out shows at Avant Gardner. We left the club at 3:30 a.m. with our hearts full and our gas tanks empty.
It wasn’t until Monday morning that I finally got caught up to speed with all of the struggles other people encountered at Electric Zoo 2023. It was sad to see my hometown festival which I care for and support yearly fail so miserably. It seems that so much of what went wrong could have been prevented with less ambitious planning and tighter logistics in place. Aggressive, violent security continues to be a problem for EZoo, and the added stresses of this year’s difficulties only made a bad situation worse.
It is still unclear what the future holds for Electric Zoo, its organizers, and the disgruntled patrons in its wake. Refunds for the canceled Day 1 Friday should be refunded back to the credit card used at the point of sale, but there is still no word about the situations for Saturday and Sunday. I can only imagine the chaos for people who bought hard-copy tickets, so my thoughts and prayers go out to all the local promoters having to deal with this nonsense.
Will there be another Electric Zoo in 2024? Only time will tell. Lawsuits seem to be piling up for Avant Gardner, the company that runs the mega club complex in Brooklyn that bought the NYC festival from Made Event in 2022. People are calling for its demise, but I’m willing to give it the benefit of the doubt to make the situation right and correct its mistakes for 2024. If there’s another Black Friday presale, I will continue to support my hometown festival with the hope that it gets the opportunity to make things right next year.
