EDC’s second night filled with star-studded performers

A few thoughts on day two of the Electric Daisy Carnival

—Never thought I’d hear Dropkick Murphys tune at EDC until Oakay and Kennedy Jones aired their subwoofer-imploding remix of “Shipping Up To Boston.” Best part was watching the dancers on stage trying to gyrate to those tasty mandolin licks.

—Dug Julio Bashmore’s jazzy, understated house during his early set on the cosmicMeadow stage. Subtly melodic, it was like a cool breeze on an otherwise hot night.

—Another winning early set came from Saeed Younan at the neonGarden. His engrossing minimalist house was predicated upon gradually adding and subtracting melodic accents and was transfixing. I was on my way to another stage when I walked by his performance and was compelled to stay.

—The opposite of Younan’s hypnotic set was Krewella’s frenetic kineticField performance. They were playing the biggest show of their career thus far and they practically combusted with energy, mixing Bel Biv Davoe, Queen and drum ‘n’ bass cuts in with their own songs, which they sang live. It was simple, crowd-pleasing stuff, but fun. Their dad was at the show. He must have been smiling.

—In the span of two hours, EDC had one of its most star-studded moments when Kaskade and Avicci performed simultaneously followed by Tiesto. Tiesto drew the biggest crowd, Avicii inspired some of the most impassioned sing-alongs, Kaskade rivaled them both, hit for hit. Taking them all in so close together, though, it often felt like they were working from the exact same template. They’re stars for a reason, at time it feels like their similarities outweigh their differences to a fault.

—It’s almost a given that when a live band plays EDC it’ll be a highlight. Last year at the cosmicMeadow, The Bloody Beetroots turned in the weekend’s most explosive performance, exploding with punk vigor. At the same stage on Saturday, Chromeo turned in just as memorable a set. Their ’80s funk revisionism, all hot-and-bothered guitar, vocodered come-ons and Devo-worthy digital drum flourishes, should have any locals snapping up tix to their Brooklyn Bowl show in August if they haven’t already.

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476. Follow on Twitter @JasonBracelin.