Electric Zoo plans to increase safety measures at this year’s festival
Electric Zoo has plans to increase its safety measures at this year's festival. In 2013, two drug-related deaths led to the cancelation of the festival's third day and brought with it serious public scrutiny of New York's premier dance music festival. This year's permit is also being deliberated due to concerns regarding the two-deaths in its five year history, and, as of writing, has still not been issued. Mike Binder and Laura DePalma are confident and told the Wall Street Journal that issuance usually "happens later in the year."
SFX finalizes acquisition of Made Event, expands influence in NYC region
Robert Sillerman's SFX Entertainment continues to acquire some of the biggest brands in electronic music culture, finalizing its acquisition of New York-based Made Event. As the promotional company behind New York's premier music festival, Electric Zoo, Made Event increases SFX's circle of influence to one of the largest dance music markets in the United States. What was originally intended to be a 70% acquisition, according to IPO paperwork filed a few months back by SFX, has grown to 100% ownership of the Made Event brand -- mirroring the acquisition timeline of ID&T, a company who was also recently fully acquired by Sillerman's ever-expanding brand.
Jack Beats unloads discography on Electric Zoo
With the afternoon heat in full force, Jack Beats took the stage on the 360 stage of Electric Zoo. Sporting a black cap and white tee, Beni G stood in contrast to Niall Dailly, dressed in all black. While the crowd screamed in delight to the departing Gramatik before, the duo hit the ground running with deep bass, a departure from the bluesy live guitar show of the preceding act. To help properly segue from one genre to the other, they began their set with a small introductory beat edit. With the sun beating down on both sides of the tent, the crowd began to shuffle and sway back and forth.
Moderat play a rare live US set at Electric Zoo: Five tracks you need to know
While the masses found themselves packed into crowds at Tiësto, Bassnectar, and A-Trak on Day 2 of Electric Zoo, a few hundred festival-goers enjoyed some breathing room and a special treat at the Hilltop Arena from Modeselektor + Apparat brainchild, Moderat. Unlike the Boys Noizes, Fehrplays, and Mat Zos that graced the rotating stage earlier in the day, the trio opted for the more traditional static stage, shying away from the rotating apparatus. The trio’s purpose was more aural than vision: They there to showcase their newest album, Moderat II, with Electric Zoo being the last 2013 stop of only three in the US.
Electric Zoo 2013: 2 days, 10 live sets to download
Despite cutting off the festival's third and final day, Electric Zoo 2013 came packed with sonic action from dawn to dusk. Across five stages and two days, artists delivered New York with the best of their summer material, exclusive mashups and bootlegs, and new tracks to compose must-hear sets for Labor Day weekend. Thankfully, many of the top acts from Friday and Saturday are giving away their sets for fans to relive the festival experience. Here are the ten sets worthy of a download to relive both days of Electric Zoo 2013.