Electric Zoo: The 6th Boro Recap

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Electric Zoo: The 6th Boro was a wild weekend. Some of the world’s most famous producers visited Randalls Island delivering mind blowing sets for guests. From the delicious food vendors to the festival environment, the entire festival grounds provided the full EDM experience. DJ Snake closed out Friday night with unpredicted yet heavy hitting drops throughout his hour and fifteen-minute set. On Saturday, festival-goers got the chance to bounce to Above & Beyond and vibe to Deadmau5 and Eric Prydz on Sunday who closed out the weekend. The three-day festival delivered a big zoo for EDM lovers.

Location

Randall’s Island is a perfect location for a music festival. The large area is the perfect size enough for four stages, food vendors, and restrooms. It was not too big and not too small, giving attendees enough room to dance around and meet up with friends throughout the festival grounds. The festival grounds were really easy to get to as well. Attendees could take the 4/5/6 train to the Harlem 125th street stop and walk over the RFK bridge, arrive by bus, get a shuttle from Brooklyn, take a ferry from East 35th street, or bike to the venue. Surrounding the Island is breathtaking views of New York City and the East River. This is one of the most unique features of attending a festival at Randall’s Island.

When it came to Sunday, there was sure a lot of mud. Unfortunately, it rained Saturday evening into the night and the mud was an unavoidable issue. Thankfully, Electric Zoo added scattered straw and flooring to areas around the festival grounds in an attempt to decrease the amount of mud. No matter what there would be mud on people anyway, but it helped a lot when exiting the grounds and traveling to the Riverside stage.

Highlights from the Weekend

Friday

Friday kicked off the weekend with a crazy but amazing time. In the afternoon, Elephante hit the DJ booth at the Main Stage and killed it for his first time at Electric Zoo. He presented a vibey set with the chance to bounce around with friends in the crowd. Later that night Galantis left festival-goers with nothing but positive vibes playing his well-known singles, “No Money” and “Love On Me.” Closing out Friday, DJ Snake surprised the crowd with a hard set, but it was sure a memorable one. He also too featured his famous singles, “Let Me Love You” and of course, ending the night with “Middle” as attendees exited the festival. There is no doubt Friday was one of the best nights of the weekend in the Big Apple.

Saturday

From Illenium to Excision to Zedd, there was a variety of EDM music offered throughout the day. At the main stage, Illenium, Tchami, and Zedd made guests never want to leave that area. Illenium played drops for days and featured hit songs that crowds can sing along to. He also dropped his collab with Kill The Noise during his set. Tchami murdered his hour long set opening with Skrillex’s Chicken Soup that got the crowd going. Without a doubt, the crowd continued going crazy for his song “Missing You” as well. Zedd is a classic DJ that never lets festival lovers down. From his hit singles, “Clarity” to “Beautiful Now” the crowd was feeling the love throughout the entire set even with the rain coming down on Randall’s Island. Zedd will always have a place in EDM lover’s hearts. Above & Beyond closed out the main stage on Saturday. Their set energized the crowd and kept them dancing despite the rain. Drezo and Rezz both played heavy sets that the crowd at Riverside was absolutely loving. Meanwhile, at the Hilltop Tent, Excision closed out the night with nothing but trap. Trap lovers got the chance to go wild and head bang to their favorite genre of EDM under a tent and not in the rain.

Sunday

The weekend definitely did not end there. Sunday was filled with DJs that guests did not want to miss. American DJ and producer, Ookay kicked off the afternoon for the last day at the main stage. Ookay always makes sure to incorporate fun music and jokes to keep the crowd alive. Slushii kept the crowd jumping at the Riverside Stage, playing hits from himself and his friends from Ookay and Marshmello. Jauz played later at the Riverside stage, which offered an underwater experience. It was his birthday on September 2nd, so his friends and family attended the festival and celebrated while he performed under the dome. Slushii brought out a cake at the beginning of Jauz’s set and the crowd joined together and sang happy birthday to the young artists. He definitely was the DJ to see during this time before the closing act, Deadmau5 and Eric Prydz. There are no words to describe how amazing Jauz was from the killer drops and remixes that blew the crowd away. Every drop he played had the entire crowd in awe. Ending the entire festival weekend, Deadmau5 and Eric Prydz let the crowd vibe and feel the music. After the crazy non-stop raging weekend, it was the perfect music to end Electric Zoo 2017.

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The Electric Zoo VIP Experience

Having been to countless festivals and gone VIP for a handful, I can say with confidence that Electric Zoo does VIP better than any other festival I’ve attended. If you purchase the VIP ticket early enough it comes around $480, that’s including fees. That’s cheap compared to other festival’s VIP prices. And in my opinion, Ezoo’s VIP experience is well worth it. Every stage has a VIP viewing section that takes up a small portion of the rail. At the main stage, there is a special lounge equipped with seating where guests get the best view of the stage and cocktail waitresses come around with appetizers. VIP’s also have access to a full liquor bar where they can purchase premium cocktails. And having expedited entry lines and air-conditioned bathrooms is enough to make one want to be a VIP. Overall the VIP experience at Electric Zoo was really impressive and exceeded my expectations.

Food

New York City is a paradise for foodies, so it only makes sense that Electric Zoo would bring the best food vendors that NYC has to offer. They made a clear effort to cater to everyone, so the vegans/vegetarians in attendance had no shortage of amazing options to choose from. Crowd favorites like Big Mozz, Waffle De Lys, Wowfulls, and Uma Temakeria delivered mouth watering treats all weekend. A personal favorite of mine is the waffles from Waffle De Lys. They have a booth at most NYC festivals, and I can’t help get my fix for their ‘La Nutty’ waffle. Although, it is unfortunate that there is no place to get mixed drinks in the GA area. GA guests could choose from Heineken, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, and wine.

Stages

Electric Zoo stepped up their game this year when it came to stage design and the lights.

Main Stage

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Every year so far Electric Zoo has featured a zoo animal on the main stage. This year it was an Elephant. From afar it did not seem too big, but from the front view it was huge. There was advanced lighting throughout the entire elephant which made the entire stage just light up. Additionally, there was a city skyline and both sides of the MainStage and added to the New York theme in the Big Apple.

Hilltop Arena

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The Hilltop Area featured a New York subway theme in a futuristic setting. Wires were placed all around the tent and offered some of the craziest visuals and decor. When it came to Saturday, a huge transformation took place. Hilltop turned into the aggressive bass arena into a Bollywood themed party straight from Ibiza. On Sunday, Elrow took over the arena and filled the area with color and nothing but positive vibes.

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The Riverside stage went for the underwater experience. From blue lights to blue decor, the entire area felt like a different world. Once you entered the Riverside dome you, there was no going back. The lasers and visuals put on a great show, especially for Jauz.

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Awakenings was designed from the Dutch techno festival. The dark lasers and visuals filled the tent and put festival-goers in another universe. The atmosphere felt like a club where guests could dance forever and the music would take over your body.

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6 Pointz was the stage to find the best local New York talent. It was a tribute to 5 Pointz, which was a big event for graffiti artists around the world to show off their work. It offers small party vibes, but an amazing time.

Final Thoughts

Made Events pulled out all the stops this year, making it (in my opinion) the best Electric Zoo so far. From the revamped stages to the amazing art and food, this festival was a constant delight to the senses. A huge plus is that there were plenty of amazing afterparties around the city for those that thought the 11 pm end time was too early. I was delighted to see that they did away with the EZ bucks and stuck to a 1:1 conversion for their cashless system. The security and staff were all incredibly friendly and helpful, which really enhanced the experience for guests. The crowd was wonderful the entire weekend and didn’t let the rain or mud get them down. All-in-all, Electric Zoo: The 6th Boro was a complete success and I can’t wait to see what they do next year for the 10th anniversary!