Electric Daisy Carnival offers a line-up full of big hitters from the world of EDM

Electric Daisy Carnival 2016

Saturday 9th July 2016
Milton Keynes Bowl, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK5 8AA, England MAP
£60

Daily capacity: 65,000

So here we are again the start of July in my festival calendar has had a staple fixture now for 3 years, and it had soon come around again, Electric Daisy Carnival. With a line-up full of big hitters from the world of EDM, from top to bottom on each of the 4 stages there were names to appeal to a fan of pretty much any electro genre.

Such was the strength of this line up that this year I never made it away from the Kinetic Field main stage, this was by no means an easy choice, but the main stage line up really catered to my tastes.

With Robin Schulz pulling out very last minute due to illness we caught the last couple of tracks played by Alison Wonderland as we traversed the huge bowl to find the perfect spot just in time for the arrival of the one and only, Alison Wonderland, Eric Prydz, this was the set I had been counting down the weeks and days, the main bowl was full to the brim, and it was soon bouncing with an Opus heavy set list this was probably one of the highlights of my summer, culminating and roof raising renditions of Opus and 'Pjanoo' a truly euphoric set which could of easily headlined, a testament to the strength of the line-up.

Next onto the hugely impressive main stage was Oliver Heldens,, he had huge shoes to step into, and he gave it his best shot with an energy infused set full of dirty bass drops, after 20 minutes we had a quick walk around the outside ring of the bowl, a frantic hours throwing out shapes to Prydz had taken its toll and the tanks were running a little low. After surmising all the options, we settled on some delicious and very authentic tasting chicken pad thai and a quick trip to the bar we made it back to witness the arrival of Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike,. Yet again an act easily capable of headlining most EDM events! With a completely new set, it was nice to see the lads throwing in lots of nice old school samples ranging from Nirvana to some acid house classics. With the a heady mix of the new stage offering even more of a visual treat than ever before and the usual costumed performance artists all around the site, there is always something to take your breath away and leave you slightly bewildered and asking if you had really just seen what you thought you had.

Martin Garrix was next up after his unstoppable breakout year of 2013, with his signature track 'Animals' still sounding as fresh and getting just as many plays as three years ago, it feels like Garrix has been a regular on the scene for many a year, also being voted number 3 in this year's DJ Mag top 100 seems all the more impressive considering that he has not long turned 20. With a set packed full of hits it is clear to see it's been a busy 3 years, with a list of collaborators ranging from Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike to Usher, Garrix is very much a man in demand, the only way really seems to be up for Martin.

We had now reached the penultimate act, 4 years ago Axwell & Ingrosso had taken this very venue by storm as two thirds of the Swedish House Mafia, in what was truly one of those 'I was there' moments. I have seen Axwell and Ingrosso 2 times since that show, and to say they had underwhelmed on each of those occasions would be an understatement, but tonight they definitely won me back over, with a well selected mix of SHM classics and new material it was a barnstorming show almost from start to finish, their penultimate track was a new and extended reworking of 'Don't You Worry Child' which brought to bowl together as one arms held high singing their hearts out, unfortunately in my personal view this is where their show should of ended, as it was they played a new track, which seemed like a shadow of any of their former selves! Far too cheesy and it sullied our memories of what had been an almost perfect set.

After a quick drinks refill we took a slightly lofted position to watch Avicii, in what is billed as his penultimate show on these shores, the crowd had swelled to epic proportions, and with the night sky now pitch black the EDC stage really comes to life with a plethora of multi coloured fire cannons, pyro displays and water fountains lit up and all pulsating to the beat, not to mention more lasers then you can imagine, the night sky was fully illuminated to the sounds of 50,000 people giving Avicii a huge vocal send off, singing the lyrics back at him at the tops of their collective voices.

With a set packed full of hits, and a visual display to burn any retina its clear to see why Avicii has climbed up the listings to headline events worldwide, and I've yet to see a below par show from the man soon to return to life as Tim Bergling after taking his early retirement.
All in all EDC2016 more than delivered, I for one will be very intrigued to see how they can top it, for me what has been easily the best EDC so far! I look forward to finding out.