See also:
* EDC 2012: High Winds Knock Speakers Around During Markus Schulz' Set
* What's So Important About the EDMbiz Conference?
* Kaskade Talks EDC, Freaks of Nature Tour and Partying at Focus Tuesdays in OC
Now that the dust has settled in Sin City, it's time to take a look at all that went on during this long week of electronic dance music madness, including most of the parties you didn't see. From the time we arrived at the inaugural EDMbiz Conference at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, the strip was filled with a plethora of events from club nights, pool parties, festivals and massive events all over Las Vegas from Tuesday, June 5th – Monday, June 12th. Insomniac partnered with the TAO Group for EDC Week Events at LAVO, Marquee, TAO and Drais after hours. That doesn't even include all the events at the surrounding properties. Here is our run down of the top five events.
5. Tao Beach at the Venetian Hotel with Markus Schulz and Ferry Corsten Back to Back–Sunday, June 10th
Tao Beach was the place to be on Sunday for these two legendary DJs teaming up at the infamous pool party at the Venetian Hotel. Markus Schulz and Ferry Corsten's style are complementary and it's no wonder that they kept the crowd going crazy at this party for over five hours. Schulz' deep, hard progressive style compliments Ferry's melody-infused trance sound. The pool party was packed as trance fans from all over the world came together on this amazing day of music and good weather. Corsten dropped his songs like “Check it Out” and “Punk,” which were followed masterfully by Schulz's darker tracks from “Coldharbour” and “LA12.” Possessed by the sound system (and plenty of alcohol) high-rollers spent the day dancing up and down in their cabanas, while the half-naked masses swarmed the dance floor and the shallow end of the pool to live out their MTV Spring Break fantasies.Two signs that shit was popping off: the party lasted until well after 6:30pm (two hours later than it was scheduled for) and at one point, Schulz grabbed a unicorn mask from the crowd and started DJing with it on.
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4. Insomniac Presents Bassrush Massive at the Orleans Arena Las Vegas– Thursday, June 7th
With acts like Bassnectar, DATSIK, Borgore, Knife Party and 12th Planet we'd be remiss if we didn't add this 18-and-over event to our list of amazing events throughout the week. The booming bass resonating through the speakers filled up every inch of the arena low end lovers of all ages. The enclosed arena allowed the Insomniac Bassrush sound system to take over in full force with vibrations than ran tremors through our bodies. The venue also unleashed their full production lighting system for this event which helped make Excision's mind-altering stage projections exponentially more appealing. Knife Party played mostly hard dubstep influenced songs with little to no vocals– just pure, rumbling rage.
3. Bob Sinclar at Wet Republic Ultra Pool at the MGM Grand Hotel–Saturday, June 10th
2. Calvin Harris at Encore Beach Club as part of the Wynn Music Week–Friday, June 9th
Calvin Harris kicked off his residency at the Wynn properties at Encore Beach Club on Friday, June 9th as an opening to EDC. The talented super star DJ always has an awesome performance and this was no exception. Playing his popular remixes of hits with Rihanna like “We Found Love” along with some electro and house bangers was the perfect way to get EDC warmed up at the pool. Thousands of people gathered to rage before a night at the Motor Speedway. The crowd went nuts in the pool, splashing around out of control (until they were stopped by the un-plur security). With the beautiful view at the Encore cabanas, flush with hot cocktail servers, it was almost impossible not to have a good time here.
1. Danny Tenaglia Presents “Be Yourself” with Victor Calderone, Nicole Moudaber, Lauren Lane and Scotty Boy at Marquee Day Club–Monday, June 11th
Marquee Day Club, sponsored by DJ Mag and The BPM Festival, had a star-studded weekend with world-class artist like Above & Beyond, Dirty South and Avicii. But Our favorite party happened on Monday with Danny Tenaglia, Victor Calderone, Nicole Moudaber, Lauren Lane and DJ Scotty Boy. If you fancy yourself an old-school techno lover, you should've been at this one. Celebrity DJ sightings included legends like John Digweed and Sydney Blu. Though Marquee is usually known for its overabundance of V.I.P tables, stone-faced go-gos and cocktail servers and bro's sporting over-priced sunglasses, this lineup attracted people who actually know and understand EDM and could probably care less about all of the above. We even saw someone wear a “Team Farina” shirt. After the episode that happened a couple weeks ago with DJ Mark Farina, we think Marquee redeemed themselves by staying away from the trendy commercial DJs on Monday and giving us a closing party that truly celebrates dance music the way it was meant to be. And to top it off, the theme of the party was “Be Yourself.” Who can argue with that?
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