As summer comes to an end and fall starts to set in, we can look back on all of the things we have done this summer. For some people, family vacations and work were what memories of the summer of 2012 contained.

For others, things like Ultra Music Festival, Electric Daisy Carnival, Bonnaroo and most recently New York City’s Electric Zoo were the biggest moments of summer.

This year EZoo packed in over 110,000 people for its 3-day extravaganza and hosted over 100 DJs from all over the world. The event started on Friday, Aug. 31 with Julien Loreto and Nick Catchdubs both starting just after 11a.m. Other shows that day included big names such as Alvin Risk, Nadastrom, Dillion Francis, David Guetta, Above & Beyond, A-Trak and Michal Menert. Pretty Lights was the headliner for the first night of EZoo.

Saturday, Sept. 1 started off at 11 a.m. with AbdeCaf and hosted big names such as Mord Fustang, Dirtyphonics, 12th Planet, Martin Solveig, Dada Life, Rusko, Axwell, Datsik and Wolfgang Gartner. Above & Beyond played the last set of the night on the Main Stage, Benny Benassi played at the Hilltop Arena stage, Steve Aoki was on the Riverside – Dim Mak (which is his record label) stage and Chris Liebing played at the Sunday School Grove stage.

The final day was filled with performances by Paper Diamond, Krewella, Mt Eden, Andy C, EOTO, Knife Party and electronic pioneers Benga, Tiesto and Diplo and headlined by Grammy-award winner, Skrillex.

Not only did the artists make the event a euphoric experience but, the amount of ravers packed onto Randall’s Island truly made the scene a zoo.

“I would be dancing, turn my head and see someone wearing a tiger mask. It really was like being in a zoo,” Chris Spencer said about his experience at EZoo.

The people created a sea of neon, glitter, confetti and animal print who all danced together to throbbing baselines and subtle trance.

Events like this one are truly a marathon for the mind and body. The entire time dance music is played. Attendants are constantly being forced to surrender their entire being to the music, and then are released. It is a pure test of one’s endurance and euphoria is the status quo.

“It felt like a dream,” Phil Mik said, a former SU student who attended EZoo.

Although the event makes the mind and body tired, it is considered one of the safest festivals to attend.

There are free stations to refill water bottles and shuttle buses to take attendants to the festival grounds. Faculty and festival volunteers handed out water bottles, sprayed the crowds with water bottles and danced along to the music.

EZoo was a great way to end the summer festival season. Counterpoint Festival in Atlanta, Ga. is coming up at the end of September and will be hosting most of the artists who played at EZoo, plus many more.

Share