Randall’s Island pulsed with excitement and electronic music this past Labor Day weekend as Electric Zoo once again made the oft overlooked island home to the oft overlooked genre. Thirty-four acts ranging from dubstep to house from trance to electro set crowds a-dancing, nodding, bobbing and weaving in this third iteration of the event. 2011 saw some of the largest acts in electronic dance music take the stage; for instance, Tiesto, Skrillex and David Guetta were all in attendance. Over the course of the three-day weekend on the wonderfully re-appropriated Randall’s Island, nearly 85,000 fans turned out to see their underground obsession inch closer and closer to the mainstream. Frankly, if Electric Zoo is any indication of the state of EDM in North America (read: it is), then the genre has finally reached full maturity amongst the continent's music-loving population.

Section One: Organization/ Production

Electric Zoo was quite well run. Traditionally, one of our biggest pet peeves about festivals lies with the ratio of crowd size to festival space. Thankfully, the ample field areas at Electric Zoo provided the welcome option of being able to sit, relax, and enjoy the scene without being trampled. When we say that the fairgrounds provided ample space, we mean that festivalgoers could freely cartwheel about without fear of spinning into someone. We also found it exceedingly easy to travel in between stages/tents, due in part to well-placed markers, and in another part to the large amount of space between said stages/tents. The lineup and schedule for this year's festival was also quite perfect. Most, if not all of the acts worth seeing were spread out evenly throughout each day, and were balanced so that no stage/tent ever became overcrowded to an unbearable extent. Security was effective, and actually really nice—there was even someone dancing with a few guards in the pit! The facilities were clean and numerous; there was rarely any waiting in line for a bathroom.

On the other hand, while its no surprise that every food/drink item was overpriced (the festival is in New York City after all), we did find prices to be a tad high ($9 Bud Lights, really?) considering that no outside food or drink were allowed into the festival grounds. One major complaint with Electric Zoo was that some of the tents were just too small to hold the enormous amount of festival attendees. Also, the elevated DJ booths often obscured most, if not all, of the producer, which sometimes left us wondering why EZ bothered to have acts perform live and on location (as opposed to remotely). We strongly hope that Electric Zoo makes steps towards improving these issues in future installments.

TOTAL: 23/30

Section Two: Presentation

The art work at Ezoo was fantastic. Of course, this comes as no suprise as Electric Zoo has succeeded on the aesthetic front since its inception. The festival's designers created a glowing forest in the trees on the grounds using disco balls, and the neon-painted buses added to the "electric" effect. Secondly, a portion of each ticket went to Randall's Island's FLOW project, a seasonal art exhibit designed to beautify the island. Unsurprisingly, The electro-rave attire of the attendees certainly contributed towards Electric Zoo's presentation aesthetic as well (a great side-effect of the festival being held in the fashion capital of the world). Also, it is incredibly refreshing to be at a festival that’s not in the middle of a forest or desert, but next to the ocean in a major metropolitan area.

TOTAL: 20/20

Section Three: Sustainability Practices

What was amazing about EZ, was that every morning when festival would return, the festival grounds would be immaculately clean. While this undoubtedly added points to the presentation aspect of the festival, it did not speak clearly to the event's sustainability efforts. Also, though recycling was certainly encouraged at Electric Zoo (every trash can was accompanied by a recycling bin), and a significant portion of mealware (cups, plates, flatware, etc.) was compostable, we were unfortunately unable to find any data regarding the reclaimation of the vast amount of waste produced by the three-day event.

On the other hand, the rather significant carbon footprint generated by private transportation was offset in a number of ways by EZ. Reduced-price ferry passes were offered to event attendees, and local mass-transportation from the festival grounds (at night) was free of charge. In addition to this, biodiesel/NYC-sourced food grease was used for a significant portion of onsite power generation.

TOTAL: 15/30

Section Four: Non-Musical Entertainment

While EZ is pressed as a large festival, it is actually quite small compared to current annual events like Coachella and SXSW (on average, only twenty-seven thousand people attended each day of the festival). That said, similarly sized events have contributed a fair amount of non-musical entertainment for their attendees. Unfortunately, other than beautiful artwork exhibits, there was little more to interact with other then the music and vendors at this year's Electric Zoo.

TOTAL: 2/10

Section Five: Overall Atmosphere

It comes as no surprise that Electric Zoo is quickly becoming the premier electronic dance music festival of the Northeastern United States. The event's lineup rivals that of the U.S. other premier EDM festival, as well as a number of European ones. What's more, EZ takes place in New York City, which is arguably the center of electronic music in the U.S. Combine this with the sheer convenience (food, accommodations, travel, etc.) of the NYC-metro area, and you have an extremely attractive location for a music festival. Put concisely, nearly everything about Electric Zoo smacks of a top-tier EDM event.

Unfortunately, this also includes ticket prices. At $299 a pop (GA 3-day pass), Electric Zoo 2011 was not cheap. In fact, combined with food/drink prices it may be the most expensive festival that we've attended thus far (read: it was). That said, it is somewhat likely that these inflated ticket prices existed in no small part due to the incredibly high cost of EDM acts (compared to bands with similar audience pull) as well as the costs associated with hosting the event in NYC.

TOTAL: 12/15

Conclusion

Overall, Electric Zoo 2011 was a great success—not just for it’s fantastic lineup, its friendly, fun atmosphere, its well-maintained grounds and facilities, or its crowds, but for what it represents. This year’s installment continued to showcase a genre that is set to stir the popular music pot in the same way that rock n' roll did during the 1970s. Ultimately, music is not just about the artist but also the listener. If everyone treated music the way the Electric Zoo crowd did this year, there would be no cries of dying industries and very little pessimism in the music world. Likewise, EZ home of Randall’s Island has only seen vast benefits from the event, and has been folded into the city’s green revitalization effort. Events like Electric Zoo aren't just indicative of a bright future for electronic dance music, but also for the (electronic) music festival.

Final Score (Multi-Day Festivals): 71/100

Electric Zoo 2011 Daily Coverage:
Days One, Two, and Three