After a long night of setting up camp and meeting tons of new friends, one can only try his hardest to sleep, knowing the next day is filled with awesome performances. Day one of Camp Bisco 11 was upon us and the anxiousness in the community was so thick that you could cut it with a knife (party). By 7AM on Thursday, July 12, cars were blasting music, people were dancing, and conversations of day one plans were the buzz on site. Day one of Camp Bisco 11 could not have kicked off any better than how it did. With good vibes spreading along the festival grounds, everyone knew that the first day was going to be a massive crowd pleaser. With a star studded line up of superstar DJs as well as veterans, it was easy to forget that it was only the first day of the three day festival. Here are my picks for the top five performances of the day:
1. The M Machine
Around 1:30PM we made our way to the B.I.G. Tent to kick off the festival with The M Machine. First show of the day in front of a tent filled with hundreds of people would probably make someone nervous a little bit… but not this guy. M Machine set Camp Bisco on its way and didn’t upset anyone at all. Within 20 minutes, M Machine was feasting off the crowd energy. At every drop, he was jumping up and down on the stage mirroring the crowd! By halfway through the show it looked like he had been splashed with a water gun because he was sweating. I caught up with The M Machine later that day and he told me that he was dying up the on the stage from the heat, but he had such a great time, and the energy of the Bisco’s was amazing. He also got a chance to shout out a couple of tracks for me that were heavy hitters during his set. ‘Willow’ by Modek, his very own ‘Black’, and Alvin Risk’s ‘Physco’. It was really great talking to him and I look forward to seeing him again soon!
2. Zed’s Dead
The DJ duo Zed’s Dead was set to play their set on the second Main Stage area. These are some really talented producers. I think the one thing I can appreciate from their dub-steppy/heavy bass sound is the energy created during a break down. I have come to appreciate the dubstep/bass genre a lot more as a result of this festival. I would challenge anyone after readings this: if you don’t like dubstep, go to a show or festival and when you’re in that crowd try not to break it down! It is so hard, and yet so satisfying. Zed’s Dead in my opinion had totally hypnotized the crowd and had them dancing like crazy rave monkeys!
3. Alvin Risk
Alvin Risk was playing back at the B.I.G. tent, keeping the good vibes all throughout the crowd. One of the more interesting things about Alvin’s set is that he includes his own singing as well. It’s always nice to see DJ/Producers incorporate something a little different in a festival show. Along with his own vocals he produced a lot of his own mash-up and remixes that really had the crowd moving during his set. I would really like to see this guy again and hope he makes his way to NYC.
4. Skrillex
The amount of people that showed up for Skrillex seemed like it went on for miles. It was as if everyone who had bought their Camp Bisco ticket was there for him that night. Throwing down insane tracks like his recent remix of Birdy Nam Nam’s ‘Goin Hard’ had the crowd going nuts. A lot of effort goes into a Skrillex show even for a huge festival like Camp Bisco. The stage in this case has been altered totally; the booth where Skrillex stood was lifted way above the normal height of a regular booth. Behind the booth is the Skrillex logo which spit fire along with the beat. Skrillex included a lot of pyrotechnics in this show and I think it paid off. Some friendly ravers we met said they could feel the heat from the stage from what seemed like miles away.
5. Zedd & Porter Robinson
This set was truly magical! Two young talented electro artists ripping it up on the stage back-to-back… something they tested out at last year’s festival and were bringing it back this year as well. Juggling between who decided the tracks, these two were all over the stage. Of course they played some of the crowd’s recent favorites, such as ‘Unison’, ‘Spectrum’, and ‘100%’. One of my favorite tracks of the night was an unreleased track from Porter with a sample that stated “I am Porter Robinson, and I will never release this track!”. Every record these two dropped just tore the tent down, and the atmosphere at this time of the festival was amazing. If there was a way that I could have watched this crowd in slow motion to count all the hands in the air at once, I would! Towards the end of the closing minutes Porter Robinson and Zedd were joined on stage by friends, M Machine, Kill the Noise, Alvin Risk, and Skrillex. If you thought just having the two of them play together was magical enough, your mind must have been blown! There were so many smiles between the musical geniuses. They looked like children in a candy shop, dancing, running around stage, jumping up and down, truly one of the happiest moments I had the pleasure of experiencing at an EDM show.
Day one of Camp Bisco definitely set the tone for the rest of the festival. Great energy, good vibes, bass blasting, face melting, and more! These are all words that could be used to describe day one; anything else would not do it justice!
-ROCKETPANTSJON for EDMNYC
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