Labor Day weekend is traditionally the final blowout of the Summer, and on Randalls Island the spirit of going out big was strong for the seventh annual Electric Zoo festival. Billed as Electric Zoo: Transformed, the redesigned main stage was shaped like a phoenix – and with a retooled format, the motif was represented well in a sea of wild visual and sonic attraction both in presentation and audience. Without a cloud in the sky, the mid-80s temps created a near-utopian festival atmosphere as the neon-clad, bodypainted and freak-flag-flying attendees numbered upwards of 80,000.
The festival’s designated anthem, “Fly to New York,” cornered on the new song of the same name by Saturday headliner Above & Beyond, and drew an appropriately maniacal singalong. The English production powerhouse was entertaining, but we’ve come to expect great things from our headliners – and after such a strong showing from The Chemical Brothers on Friday night, it was difficult not to expect more from their set (though in their defense, only two of the trio were present). They did, however, deliver a dizzying run of new remixes, including ”Salva Mea,” “Blue Monday” and “Zero Gravity,” in addition to tracks from We Are All We Need such as “Peace Of Mind,” “Sticky Fingers” and “All Over The World.”
Ansolo came off tremendously well, concluding his set with a curveball of the Swedish House Mafia remix of Coldplay’s “Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall”. Less nuanced stylings came from Bro Safari, complete with hype man leading the crowd in chanting.
We’ve been fans of French spinner Madeon for a long while now, and were thrilled to catch a set that spun house into a whirlwind of anthemic sound. For the pop-culture attentive, Ansolo is an undoubtedly familiar face; the DJ name is the alter-ego of 21-year-old heartthrob actor Ansel Elgortbest, known for his roles in the Divergent series and The Fault in Our Stars. Having locked a main stage slot for Saturday, it’s a wonder he wasn’t mobbed by fellow artists, furious at the unearned placement above other rising names such as the intense jungle of Wiwek, or Alison Wonderland, or Cashmere Cat. To his credit, Elgort was a beaming grin from start to finish, dancing and spazzing out despite delivering a pedestrian EDM set of spliced hits from other artists.
Often times, the liberal use of other people’s songs created the sense of a musical gloryhole, leaving fans without any idea of who was providing their dance soundtrack. Is that a good thing? Abandoning isolated artist worship for the general appreciation of all beats centered on The Drop? Absolutely not. Without any transcendent incentive, without the reward of legend, there is simply not enough creative friction to establish excellence. Then again, we’re talking about a genre encompassed by the concept of bringing a band onstage to push play on their favorite song – or, worse yet, push the big red “DROP” button. Live performance sanctity is highly relative.
