The girl, wearing a neon green tutu and purple fishnets, juggles a pair of neon pink glow sticks in one hand while supporting her friend with her other arm. The friend is sort of melting beyond her grasp, head lolling under a shock of purple Day-Glo hair. She’s a mess, even though her painstaking outfit belies some serious prior sobriety — there is coordinating purple latex, a bejeweled bra anchoring her breasts into a careful arrangement of bondage gear, silver latex hot pants and more glowing accessories. Oh, and the two wear festive matching purple glow-fur legwarmers. So their graceless procession to the front of the taxi queue is a display of neon and fur, rhinestones glinting in the neon lights of the Strip.
A gray-haired couple at the front of the line step aside as they plow into the open door of their taxi. “Sorry, gotsta go,” the able-bodied girl offers wantonly, avoiding eye contact. The door slams. Presumably the taxi driver is told of their destination. The driver slowly begins the drive, but not before the Day-Glo purple hair girl rolls down the window and pukes, splattering the gray-haired couple.
Las Vegas is overrun with costumed partiers in Pikachu outfits — it’s a new kind of Sin City
All this precedes an onslaught of ravers departing the mega-club event at closing time.
The streets of Las Vegas are overrun with costumed partiers in Pikachu outfits—and it’s a new kind of Sin City. Take note, Oklahomans on vacation pumping quarters into slot machines. Behold, stripper-loving frat boys. Take heed, penis-straw-and-pink-satin-sash bachelorette parties: A new sort of debauchery has arrived in Las Vegas, and it’s known as Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC). There will be glow sticks, stumbling 21-year-olds, glitter, cynical neon fanny packs and Hula Hoops. Vegas’ main draw—the gambling money grab—is about to be supplanted by a different motivating force. That force is electronic music.
The Electric Daisy Carnival, known for voracious displays of rave-dom, drew over 350,000 attendees last year. Parent company Insomniac Events—and hopefully Las Vegas transit—are preparing for a fifth year of EDC events. The main Vegas event will be held from June 17-19 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and other mega-clubs, with “200 DJs, 500 theatrical performers, carnival rides, large-scale art installations, state-of-the-art lighting and sound production across seven stages, and fireworks at the close of each evening,” according toElectronic Vegas.
Preceding June’s event is Halfway to EDC on February 13 and 14. Andrew Rayel, Dr. Fresch, Shaun Frank, SNBRN, Tritonal, Dash Berlin and Ookay, among others, will descend upon
Las Vegas is nothing like the muddy farmlands of Woodstock in 1969, but it seems that a new kind of musical revolution is taking place. This time it’s digital. Perhaps the age of Day-Glo PLUR techno flower power is dawning, and hopefully there will be enough Ubers and glow sticks to maintain peace.