ELECTRIC DAISY CARNIVAL 2010!

I went to my first Electric Daisy Carnival last year and I had so much fun I made sure I made my way back this year! I just got back from Europe on Wednesday and was so happy that EDC was waiting for me on the weekend. EDC is such a huge party, there’s really nothing else to compare. And this year’s crowd blew last year’s crowd out of the water. You should have seen the crowd that Deadmau5 drew Friday night. The dude is a certified star now. The numbers are in and there were apparently 85,000 concert goers on Friday, and Saturday actually sold out with 100,000 crazy partiers attending EDC, making Saturday the largest attended music festival in America! If you were there, it was pretty obvious.

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EDC takes place at the L.A. Coliseum and the grounds surrounding it. The main stage is on the football field of the Coliseum, the home to the USC Trojans (and formerly the LA Raiders). The whole field, as well as the bleachers, were filled with crazy ravers. It is by far the biggest stage I have ever seen. You would think Led Zeppelin or The Beatles were performing. Swedish House Mafia said they had never seen anything like it and I actually believe them. It was breathtaking. In addition to the enormous crowd, was an enormous line-up that also included MSTRKRFT, Moby, Basement Jaxx, Will.I.Am, Duck Sauce, and so on and so on. It was really an unreal event, I can’t even imagine how big it will get next year.

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS FROM DAY 2

Basement Jaxx – Raindrops

Basement Jaxx – Raindrops (Doorly Remix)

Deadmau5 – Ghosts N Stuff (Dirty Disco Youth Remix)

Duck Sauce – aNYway

TEGAN & SARA W/ HESTA PRYNN IN FRANKFURT, GERMANY

After spending Sunday night sleeping in Milan’s train station I caught an early plane out to Frankfurt, Germany Monday morning to see one of my favorite, more recent bands, Tegan & Sara. It would be my 5th concert in 5 days, and my 3rd country in 3 days to boot. It would also be my 7th time seeing Tegan & Sara perform, and I thought, what a better way to end the dance filled Golden Bloggen Eurotrip than with some nice Pop music played by girls with guitars. Opening for T&S was the super sexy and talented Hesta Prynn, formerly of Northern State. I sat down for an interview with Hesta Prynn before her set in Frankfurt, which I will be revealing on on Indie Nation TV in the near future. This Golden Bloggen Eurotrip was one wild ride. I had the most fun of my life and saw some really amazing cities and incredible musical acts. Stay tuned this weekend for a recap of the Electric Daisy Carnival Music Festival in Los Angeles. The party never stops at Golden Bloggen!.

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Tegan & Sara – On Directing

Hesta Prynn – Can We Go Wrong

CROOKERS IN MILANO

Wow! You guys have no idea what it took for me to get to see Crookers throw it down in their hometown of Milan. Well Saturday night I went to see Chemical Brothers in Barcelona. They finished around 5am and I had a flight at 8am. The airport was about an hour and a half away and there were no public buses or trains that were going at that time. A cab was going to cost 100 Euro and by the time I decided that might be the best solution it was too late. So I went to a closer airport to try and get a later flight out. The next flight to Milan was at 6:30PM which would get me to Milan by 8PM, still enough time to get to Beach Solaire to see Crookers that night.

The flight landed and I caught the first bus to Milan Central Station. I got there around 9:45, the last Bus to get me close Beach Solaire left at 9:30. So I had to take the Metro across town to catch another Bus that would get me there. I got as far as I could and had to take a cab to Beach Solaire. The fucking cab driver drove around for about 15 min looking for this place which was about 1 mile from where he picked me up. We never found it, and the area looked completely dead, like there was no way the biggest DJ’s in the country where DJing anywhere near there that night. So after a huge argument with the driver and him charging me 25 Euro to get me nowhere, I got out of the cab, in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in Milan, Italy.

So now it’s 11:30PM and I’m walking by myself on the side of the road, no idea where I’m going, just heading in the direction towards Beach Solaire. After about 10 minutes of walking, some dude from Senegal pulls his car over and asks me if I know where Beach Solaire is. I say “Crookers?” And he says yea and tells me to hop in! We drive around for 5 min and find Beach Solaire, which was definitely closed. He drives around and says his friend told him about some Hip-Hop show close by. We drive around for another 10 minutes and find some people walking toward a club. I can’t really understand their Italian conversation, but I understand the word “House Music” and I think “Crookers.” We follow the crowd to the club and inside…. sure enough, the MOTHERFUCKING CROOKERS! Dropping some huge bombs. I grabbed 2 drinks real quick and got down on that dancefloor! The things I do for music.

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Crookers ft. Soulwax and Mixhell – We Love Animals (The Love Supreme Remix)

SONAR MUSIC FESTIVAL DAY 3

Day 3 of Sonar was legendary. All I have to say is Chemical Brothers! The super duper Dance legends threw down an amazing set. They played tracks from their new album for the first hour then came back on stage for a 30 minute set filled with classic Chem Bros tracks. They had great visuals and by far the best crowd at the festival. It was an amazing event and performance that I will have to catch again when they come out to LA and play the Hollywood Bowl this August. Also on the bill was Caspa (who was recently featured on GB), Dizzee Rascal, and Uffie headlining Sonar By Day. Now off to Milano to see how the Crookers can compare!

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Chemical Brothers – Hey Boy, Hey Girl

Chemical Brothers – Believe

Chemical Brothers – Let Forever Be

Uffie ft Pharrel – ADD SUV (Armand Van Helden Club Remix)

SONAR MUSIC FESTIVAL DAY 2

Sonar Day 2 made Day 1 look like some crackerjack festival. Day 2 was the first day for Sonar by Night, the evening event that goes until 7AM. That shit was straight bananas. But I started off in the day checking out this female Spanish producer named BFlecha who straight murdered it at like 2PM. She was a little bit Lykke Li a little bit Rusko. I was in love. Then I went to the beach for a little and came back in time to see New Young Pony Club. Days don’t get better than that, trust me.

After a much needed nap I headed to Sonar by Night to see Hot Chip at Midnight. I had just checked em out at Coachella and was hyped to see em yet again. Their crowd was huge and they really killed it. Also on the bill was Plastikman, some dude I had never heard of, whose sound and visual set-up (pictured above) reminded me of Etienne de Crecy. He was really the huge surprise of the night. After P-man’s set I randomly ran into a friend from LA. Crazy. We walked over to catch a glimpse of old school Hip-Hoppers Sugar Hill Gang’s set. Closing out the “night” was Carte Blanche (DJ Mehdi & Riton), playing until 7AM. But the highlight of the night, easily…. was 2 MANY DJ’s. I know Chemical Brothers are at Sonar, but 2 Many DJ’s will be hard to top. Amazing tracks and mashups and cool videos accompanying the music. They might have played the same set from Coachella, but who gives a shit? It was better the second time around. These were the first “electro” DJ’s I ever saw back in 2004 at Primavera Sound, ironically enough, in Barcelona.

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BFLecha – Ceja de Carnival

Hot Chip – I Feel Better

BANGERS FROM 2 MANY DJ’s SET:

Boris Dlugosch – Bangkok

D.I.M & TAI – Lyposuct

SONAR MUSIC FESTIVAL IN BARCELONA – DAY 1

So I have finally reached the focal point of the GB Eurotrip. I am in my favorite city in the world, Barcelona. Known for their beautiful (and topless) beaches, great culture, and about a million things to do. It is one of the only places I could see myself living besides LA. This place just has everything. This weekend Barca is hosting the Sonar Music Festival, an electronic music experience headlined by the one and only Chemical Brothers. I am very hyped to say the least. The Fest started yesterday with sort of a warm up line up. BBC Radio’s Pete Tong laid down a very impressive set in the early afternoon, followed by a decent set from Caribou, and a “WTF was that” set from Broadcast. Also on the bill was the very animated Robot Koch and the Larytta, a duo that reminded me of Hot Chip (who will be performing tonight).

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Caribou – Odessa

Broadcast – Black Cat

Larytta – Play Me Loud

Jazzanova – I Can See (Robot Koch Remix)

*My server is on the fritz. Please excuse the Mediafire DL’s

F*** ME, I’M IN IBIZA!

I think the title says it all. I spent the last 2 days partying in Ibiza. Monday night was Pacha’s opening night for the Masquerade Motel featuring Swedish House Mafia, who will be performing there every Monday, all summer. Not a bad life. I didn’t get my press pass in time so I couldn’t take pics inside, sorry. But let me tell you it was a fucking party. These guys tracks seem to be made specifically just for Ibiza. They didn’t even get on stage until 3AM. That’s how these people party out here. And they don’t stop til the sun comes up. These places don’t even have a closing time.

Tuesday I spent all day partying and taking photos at the Sands Ibiza. Sands is this really cool beach party where DJ’s spin all day, while you drink and soak up the sun while relaxing on the beautiful shores of Ibiza. It’s an afternoon party that goes from 3-Midnight that will either party you out or get you warmed up for partying for the rest of the night, depending on what type of party animal you are. I live in LA, near a dozen beaches and we never have cool DJ beach parties like this. And this was a fucking Tuesday! Step your game up LA and learn from Ibiza. The Ibiza life is ridiculous. Beautiful beaches, pool parties, and more amazing DJ shows than you could ever imagine. I will miss it but now I’m off to Barcelona, the best city in the world!

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Swedish House Mafia – Leave the World Behind You

Steve Angello ft. Robin S. – Show Me Love (Afrojack Remix)

Miike Snow – Silvia (Sebastian Ingrosso & Dirty South Remix)

The Temper Trap – Sweet Disposition (Axwell & Dirty South Remix)