The Las Vegas Motor Speedway was full of excitement on Saturday night (May 19) for night two of Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas. Another evening of perfect weather kept the crowds in high spirits for what appeared to be an even larger attendance than night one. Surprise special guests joined superstar DJs while art cars showcased fresh talent.
Billboard Dance was once again on the scene to share some of the special — and unusual — moments.
7:45 p.m.: Chicago DJ/producer duo Birthdayy Partyy bring an early jolt of energy to the Corona Electric Beach Stage. The winners of the Battle for the Beach DJ Contest can barely contain their excitement at playing their first EDC Las Vegas, hyping a crowd full of hometown friends while wearing matching track jackets.
10:30 p.m.: Shortly after sunset, Jauz reprises his role on EDC’s Kinetic Field stage with a high octane set full of both recognizable crowd pleasers turned on their heads and genre-bending curveballs, plus, of course, his trademark bass house wubs. New SNAILS collaboration “Motherf–kers” particularly pops off.
10:43 p.m.: Gabriel & Dresden returned to EDC for the first time since 2012 with their new artist album, The Only Road, in tow. #TranceFamily fans packed the Quantum Valley area and extended out past the back of the structure, already knowing all the words to their fresh music and singing along.
11:40 p.m.: The Ghost Ride art instillation, a Vietnam-era military plane, was enamoring with projection mapping creating an intriguing visual effect over the structure’s surface for an Instagram-worthy addition to anyone’s digital scrapbook.
11:50 a.m.: After pleasing his Kinetic Field crowd with hits and fan favorites alike, Kygo takes to the mic to introduce his final song, “Feels Like Forever.” “This one is a brand new unreleased original track,” he announces. “I’ve never played it for anyone before.” Featuring strummed guitar and country-influenced male vocals, the track builds into one of the Norwegian producer’s signature melodic drops.
11:57 p.m.: Tiësto took over the Kinetic Field booth from Kygo and opened with a sample of “Rump Shaker” on his track “Show Me.” He also dropped a remix of Childish Gambino’s fire hit “This is America.” At 12:23 a.m., he paid tribute to his friend, the late Avicii, with an over 15-minute medley of the departed DJ/producer’s biggest hits, even bringing out Aloe Blacc to sing live on the smash hit “Wake Me Up” as a video montage of played on the screens.
12:42 a.m.: Bondage gear is so hot right now. While there was plenty of traditional raver neon, more and more goth or S&M accessories were incorporated into attendees’ attire.
12:48 a.m.: En route to the Neon Garden for the Black Madonna, a set at the Wench Art Car was popping and drew in many passersby. However, the schedule was off and the identities of the DJ and MC playing dope drum ‘n’ bass in matching Kangol bucket hats remains a mystery to us and we got mixed info on who they were. All we know is that it was presented by Wa$ted and special guests were scheduled throughout the night, so if you know who this awesome duo was, drop us a note in the comments.
1:15 a.m.: Dark and dirty dubstep followed on the Wench art car as the fierce and badass Wenzday went back-to-back with HAMi for some 40oz Cult vibes.
1:34 a.m.: Yellow Claw at the Circuit Grounds kicked things off with a new track on which they collaborated with DJ Snake. The fast and furious BPMs worked the crowd into a sweat while the duo adorned matching black and yellow outfits from head-to-toe. At 1:51 a.m., they requested a blackout on all the visuals and lighting, then encouraged fans that had any cell phone battery left to illuminate the space with their lights held high. At approximately 2:05 a.m., they announced a special guest would join them and brought out none other than Danielle “Cash Me Ousside” Bregoli, aka Bhad Bhabie to perform. Fan reactions were mixed and audible groans could be heard in the crowd as she launched into “Hi Bich” followed by “Gucci Flip Flops” while atop the DJ booth.
2:20 a.m.: A little mini disco mobile cart title “Funn,” complete with lights you’d probably find at Spencer’s Gifts, was playing a myriad of classics, including Queen’s “Killer Queen” for an interesting reprieve from electronic music for a moment.
2:33 a.m.: Over at the Rainbow Bazaar, a myriad of fun festival accessories were ready to empty out wallets (well, except the Flower Crown booth; seems like that fad is over and no one was browsing there). Nearby, four speaker tweakers were making love to the stacks when DJ Demigod (or it may have been Demagogue? It was difficult to hear him…) cut the music for an epic troll and switched into “Easy Street” by the Collapsable Hearts Club. A few people got the joke and recognized it as the annoyingly syrupy song used in The Walking Dead by Negan to torture Daryl with on repeat.
2:45 a.m.: For his second appearance at EDC 2018, Excision slowed things down quite a bit for a “Detox Set” at the Basspod, highlighting a heavier and more underground vibe.
3:00 a.m.: The Neon Garden continues to draw more fans than it can accommodate. As with Friday night for Cirez D, when Green Velvet took the stage there were so many fans clamoring to see him that security stopped allowing people in to the area and many were left outside.
4:23 a.m.: Drum ‘n’ Bass master Andy C at the Basspod had the crowd going so hard that a girl literally danced her panties off and didn’t realize for a moment they had fallen down.
4:30 a.m.: Over at the Memory Lane where footage and music of EDCs past played, an impromptu dance-off emanated good vibes for those walking past or stopping to whip out their phones to record.
4:39 a.m.: Back at the Neon Garden, Green Velvet was going B2B2B with Gorgon City and Detlaf. Once again, the demand to see them was so high that hundreds of fans were stuck outside and couldn’t experience the set.
4:45 a.m.: As the sun begins to peek over the horizon, dance pop trio Cheat Codes drop megawatts of bass on the Circuit Grounds faithful. Frontman Trevor Dahl takes to the mic for breakthrough hit “No Promises,” as well as the group’s latest release “Balenciaga,” and thrills the night owl fans by departing the stage to sing in the audience at one point.
5:00 a.m.: On the way out, an Avicii flag can be spotted paying tribute to the late artist’s memory.