A mini electronic music Manhattan, that's what Randall's Island became for 2 days as it hosted 50,000 festival attendees and over 70 artists. In its 2nd year of production and with the number 1 city in the world to host it, Electric Zoo 2010 lived up to the hype of what an electronic music festival in NYC should be. In many ways the key aspects of New York City were reflected in the qualities that made Electric Zoo so much fun. New York, known for housing the most varied and eclectic group of...well everything, played as the perfect backdrop for a music festival that had a little bit of every type of electronic music genre showcased. With DJs like Armin van Buuren, Steve Aoki, The Chemical Brothers, Bassnectar, John Digweed, Richie Hawtin and Pretty Lights, the lineup was as diversified and of as high as a caliber as the host city itself.

A great Zoo prides itself on the diversity of wildlife that it houses. This Electric Zoo definitely achieved that accolade, as compared to the festivals that I have been to in Europe. While not the most varied in terms of the general demographic of attendees, the "wild life" at this zoo had a strong tendency to dress up in different costumes which certainly made it seem diverse. Walking through the crowd at Electric Zoo, a multi-colored cacophony of outfits will attack the senses. From a girl dressed up as the Street Fighter Character "Chun-Li", to a guy with intricate face paint, to the fairy winged ravers and back to the regular o'll Joes and Janes, E-Zoo has it all. All this is very positive and adds immensely to the wild atmosphere of the festival. The inhibition of the crowd to dress up in costumes, speaks volumes to the general sense of inclusivity of the attendees at this festival.

Randall's Island is located at the north eastern side of Manhattan, in between Manhattan and Queens. The small island is typically used for concerts and other special events; therefore it is perfectly suited for a festival, especially with the New York City skyline to provide the perfect scenic backdrop to the stages. There are four ways to get to the island; the first is via public transportation such as the subway-bus combo, certainly the cheapest way there, outside of walking the bridge to the island which is not the most recommended route. One can also choose to drive to the island but for the low cost of $15 dollars, the best way to the island is via the water-taxi ferry. The Ferry is fairly quick, taking about 15 minutes to get from Manhattan to Randall's Island; on top of that you get a stunning view of the East Side River.

At events like this you do have to make a cherry picked list of acts that you want to see up front as it's next to impossible to see everyone that you might normally want to see. To that extent, the team at Made Event deserves special mention as far as providing an innovative online system to produce your own custom made "To See" festival guide. Something that I think all festival promoters should utilize to aide their patrons in pre-planning whom they want to see out of the lineup with the limited time that they have. On my own list for the day were Joris Voorn, Paul Kalkbrenner, Claude Von Stroke, Pete Tong, Reboot, Dirty South, Major Lazer, Benny Benassi and The Chemical Brothers. Choosing who to see at these festivals and whom to miss is sometimes is as hard as choosing which leg you want to amputate...ok maybe not quite that extreme but it has caused for some moments of anxiety.

When it came to security, quick entry, transportation in and out of the festival, food options and festival layout, Made Event did a great job in making it all run smoothly. Where logistics fell short was in terms of providing enough beer stalls, ATM machines and porta potties to accommodate the number of partiers at the festival. I suppose if you didn't have the need to drink a lot of beers, you probably wouldn't have needed to go to the ATM to get money and also wouldn't have had to frequent the restrooms often. In fact, the lines were so long that several of my friends stopped buying drinks so that they wouldn't have to spend so much time standing in lines. If there is any great room for improvement for next year's festival, it would be to double the number of porta potties, triple the number of ATM machines and increase the number of beer and food vendors.

9 out of 10 times, I'll tell you that any paid VIP section at a festival is not worth it. Typically you pay an extra 200+ dollar per ticket and you get a private bar, better views and private rest rooms, hardly worth the extra money, if even worth it at all. However, at Electric Zoo 2010 having VIP access changed the festival experience completely. VIP access essential addressed all the short comings of the festival as now you have cleaner fully functional bathrooms with minimal lines, private access bars which served full alcohol, private food stalls and a huge section in front of the open air main stage which let you easily and comfortably see the headliners perform without fighting the swarms of the masses. My advice to you, unless Made Event addresses the shortage of portable toilets and insufficient amount of beer vendors, opt for a VIP ticket, it’s worth it if you can afford it, even if it is for all the wrong reasons.

With the threat of Hurricane Earl looming on the horizon and a cloud filled sky, Day 1 of the festival could have gone either way. It held the promise of being an awesome festival experience with headliners such as the Chemical Brothers, Axwell, Richie Hawtin and Pretty Lights and at the same time the threat of being rained out cast a shadow on the day’s festivities. However, as the day progressed, Earl turned into a “no show” and the sun came out to cast its light on the Zoo.

The top picks for Day 1 of the festival were Claude Von Stroke whom threw down an extremely satisfying tech house set in the Sunday School Grove stage. Dirty South also really got the crowd going with an amazing Electro house set, throwing down many crowd favorites. An un-expected favorite was Erol Alkan, only because I had never seen him before. I would highly recommend catching him if he comes to a club or festival near you. My favorite set of the day came from Benny Benassi whom threw down an extremely hard but well laid out electro house set that sent the crowd into electro hysteria. Overall Day 1 was of EZ was incredible, a little bit of luck with the weather, a solid performance of almost all the DJs I saw coupled with great logistics made for an incredible experience.

With the sun out and shining and a sold out event, anticipation was high for the second day of the festival, although admittedly the energy was a little lower as everyone seemed a little heavier on their feet after day 1. The second day of the Zoo exceeded my expectations with a surprising set from Moby, of all DJs. Rather than play more ambient tracks that the Moby of old is known for, on this day, Moby brought out an onslaught of body shaking, ear smashing dark electro house. I can't recall a single person around me that wasn't dancing the entire set. That is why to me, Moby deserves the best set of the festival for the day. Rounding out my other top picks for day 2 were Marco Carola and the amazing tag team set of Martin Buttrich, Matthias Tanzmann and David Squillace. Kudos to Made Event for booking these three DJs for a very special Tech House set. To me, the only disappointment was a rather average performance by the festival headliner of day 2, Armin van Buuren and the legendary Pete Tong whom played a legendarily dreary set.

It is extremely exciting to see the New York dance music scene be rejuvenated with an Electronic Music Festival at the caliber of Electric Zoo. The experienced team at Made Event have taken their success from their first year of Electric Zoo and produced an even better sequel. Although this festival doesn't include many extras, such as carnival rides, crazy venues, amazing festival finales as one would see in European festivals, the team behind EZ did execute well on most of the basics of a music festival. With a very strong and diverse lineup of artist, an incredible venue and a nice selection of food, this no frills festival is sure to satiate any hungry electronic music fan with an abundance of beats, eats and dance music freaks.