This year’s Electric Zoo promised new, bigger stage designs, boasted a stacked lineup, and teased surprises (albeit not all of them were as intended). But rather than focus on the negatives, we wanted to feature the positives we took away from the weekend.

The festival was indeed more spread out than previous installments. The main stage, dubbed The Convergence, was impressively larger than in years past, and despite not being built in time for day one of the festival and even causing delays into day 2, it did look pretty amazing at night. There was plenty of room for not only the crowd in the general area, but a spacious VIP and elevated viewing platform area as well. 

The Convergence stage featured some of our favorite sets of the weekend. On Saturday night, Alison Wonderland threw down during her first festival performance since giving birth. Her insane visuals really showcased the intention Electric Zoo had when they were creating the concept of this stage.

Nostalgix, with her unparalleled, high-energy performance and uniquely-fun Bass House tracks, set the bar high for us at this stage on Sunday afternoon. The weather during her set was sunny and warm, and the energy she poured into the crowd was contagious.

Another favorite of ours at The Convergence stage was KREAM, who played so many killer ID’s that we ended up staying for their whole set, when we had originally intended to split sets. The views from the elevated platform where we watched the crowd dancing against the city skyline and views of the water were a VIBE.

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Speaking of amazing vibes, the MegaMirage stage featured more of our favorite artists from the weekend. Saturday night, Massano came on as the sun was low and he played as the sun set into night, a setting that perfectly matched the melodic journey his music took us on.

We closed out Saturday night with Camelphat at this stage as well. While there were plenty of people there just like at The Convergence, we were able to easily move around and enjoy this set from multiple vantage points.

The Continuum was another stage that we were able to spend some time at, most notably for JVNA, whose combination of music, visuals, and vocals is  a melodic bass-meets-video game fantasy experience. The large screens and open-air design of The Continuum stage showcased her set, and again, while there were plenty of people there, we didn’t feel overcrowded or have issues moving around from stage to stage.

In general, when we were out in the crowd watching sets, the interactions with other attendees were positive. Those we spoke to and saw seemed happy, and if we hadn’t known about the issues occurring, it seemed like a normal festival atmosphere. There weren’t long lines for food vendors when we visited them, which featured a good variety of options including Boba, Spicy Pie, and Dank Nugs.

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A fun aspect of the festival we wanted to feature were “The Most Out of This World” outfits we saw at the festival. Everyone we approached to participate was extremely friendly, seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves, and of course, looked absolutely amazing.

Did Electric Zoo have issues? Absolutely. However, the constant pivoting and hard work by artists and staff alike, those of which were not directly responsible for the way things went down, deserve recognition for doing everything they could to make the best of the weekend.

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For more information visit electriczoo.com