EDC 2016 is right around the corner and as usual, there are multiple amazing artists slated to perform at the annual multi-day festival. This will be my fourth year attending the event and the diverse line-up always makes it difficult for me to narrow down my must-sees acts. Like the festival, my list spans multiple genres. Here’s my top 10 must see artists!
Abisola’s Top 10 Artists at EDC Las Vegas 2016
Adam Beyer
Beyer is surely one of the biggest names in techno and he is also married to an equally amazing techno artist, Ida Engberg. Beyer celebrates the 20th anniversary of his label, “Drumcode”, by hosting a stage on Sunday night at Neon Garden which will be an amazing experience! Beyer is recommended for those who like the hard hitting deep and dark techno sound.
Andy C
As a fan of drum and bass acts such as Pendulum and Sub Focus, multiple friends were surprised that I had never listened to Andy C. After hearing a few tracks, he’s become a must-see for me. He’s well respected in this genre as well as in the electronic music world as a whole, and his sets are full of high energy, breakbeats and heavy bass lines.
Don Diablo
Don Diablo plays energetic, hard hitting future house and brings electrifying energy every time he throws down tracks. After listening to his music for sometime, I finally saw him at a club in LA and was immediately struck by his interaction with his fans and ability to get the audience going. Though he’s been in the game for multiple years, 2016 has brought about multiple main-stage debuts at EDCNY, Tomorrowland, and EDCLV as well as and an amazing rise to mainstream fame.
Ferry Corsten presents Gouryella
I was Introduced to Ferry through his L.E.F album via my husband and we have seen Corsten perform a few times. As I became more enamored with him, I learned about Gouryella and Corsten’s return to the side project. Gouryella’s EDC Las Vegas debut is not to be missed by any trance fans!
Gaia
Armin van Buuren is one of the artists that introduced me to electronic dance music and the first time I saw him in 2008 was my first purely electronic show. Modern Armin has evolved his sound and is less trance than years part, but his side project with Rank 1’s Benno de Goeij stays true to his former sound. I was finally able to see Gaia perform at last year’s EDC and it was easily my favorite performance of the weekend.
Gareth Emery
When I first saw Emery at the first and only Made In America Festival in Los Angeles, I was instantly drawn to his musical style. I had heard his music before and enjoyed many of his songs but something about hearing him that day was different. Since then, I have seen him play at least 5 times and each time is better than the last. If you’re interested in a mix of sounds that include trance and progressive, laced with meaningful lyrics, I would highly recommend checking him out.
Jordan Suckley
Though I attended Dreamstate in San Francisco, I am still sad to admit that I missed Suckley’s set. He is one of those artists that has the ability to take you on a journey with a variety of genres though he typically dabbles more in hard house and (psy)trance. I’m curious to see if his placement at the intimate 7-up stage will be more house or trance and I hope we hear him scratching, which is a rarity at EDC, as he famously has done in the past
Nicole Moudaber
If you’re a fan of dark techno, Moudaber’s is a name you should be familiar with. She is often considered the queen of the genre and is certainly one of today’s top techno artists. During Ultra 2016, I finally saw her live and witnessed her ability to completely enrapture the audience in her sound.
Pierce Fulton
I fell in love with Pierce Fulton’s most well known track, Kuaga, when it was first released almost 2 years ago. Multi-instrumentalist, Fulton applies his classical training and plays a variety of different genres while remaining focused on just playing great dance music.
Paul van Dyk
There is much that can be said about Paul van Dyk but I will summarize by saying he is a true icon of the trance genre. I have listened to him for years and was recently moved by his live performance at Dreamstate in SF. Shortly after, I had tickets to his show in LA but unfortunately had to miss the event. I told myself that the next time he was nearby; I would be sure to attend. I watched live when his accident occurred during ASOT Utretcht and kept abreast of his condition, fearing that I would never see him live again and that the electronic world would lose one of its greats. You can imagine my excitement when van Dyk was officially announced for EDC. I missed his previous set but this time I will not miss out.
I’m beyond excited to share this special weekend with everyone. Who are some of your must-sees?
