Fabian Ortiz

ASOT at the Ultra Mega Structure

Don't be fooled by the slew of hipsters and bros traipsing around the polo fields of Coachella - the festival itself has long been a pioneer of bringing electronic dance music to the states even dedicating it's own stage for EDM lovers for years. The Sahara tent has seen the likes of everyone from Sasha & Digweed, Groove Armada, Kraftwerk, Paul Van Dyk and Ferry Corsten. Not to mention the infamous 2006 set by Daft Punk the same weekend as Madonna! Artists as big as the Chemical Brothers, Underworld and Tiësto have also graced the main and outdoor stages and one year they even held an Insomniac tent. Fancy that!

Always being ahead of the curve with music, Paul Tollette and his crew work tirelessly to bring the most sought after and up-and-coming artist. With this years addition of the new underground techno and tech/deep house stage (we had predicted it would be a Dirty Bird Records takeover stage), the Yuma Stage powered by Sound Nightclub in Hollywood is giving the Sahara Tent a run for it's money (even though it's been upgraded to the "Mega Structure" most recently used at Ultra Music Festival in Miami)! Don't fret however, we took all the painstakingly stressful planning out of your hands and selected the top five can't miss EDM artist so that you can enjoy the desert sun and dance your weekend away in a blissful oblivion to these must see acts.

Tim Norris / OC Weekly

Coachella Sahara Tent 2012

Festival season is upon us and that means not one, but two weeks of Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival with enough electronic dance music to keep aficionados fist pumping in their sleep with anticipation. With one of the biggest music events of the year just around the corner, why bother doing anything else all month? Well, for those not willing to shell out the $350 for three days or others who weren't lucky enough to score a ticket before it sold out fear not because there's plenty of EDM shows right here in OC and in LA to get your party music fix. We did all the research for you to ensure you don't miss the five best dance music shows of all genres to ensure you spend your hard earned money on the right events.

Fabian Ortiz

Lulu and Alejandra at Ultra Music Festival

Ultra Music Festival celebrated its 15th annual edition by expanding over two three-day weekends (a la Coachella) making it the largest electronic music festival in the US and the only one in the world to take place over two weekends. Acts included some of the worlds biggest EDM names such as Tiësto, Armin Van Buuren, David Guetta, Deadmau5, Calvin Harris to non dance music artist like Snoop Dogg and Yesayer.

Overlooking the breathtaking downtown Miami skyline and marina at Bayfront Park, the festival brought over 165,000 dance music fans from all over the world - literally. The sea of participants adorned flags, shirts, hats and everything you could imagine to represent their hometowns, states and countries. Among those festival revelers was myself and my mother Lourdes whom I brought along for the ride so she could see for herself what the EDM festival craze is all about. Perhaps this adventure would bring us closer and maybe she won't think I'm so crazy for making the pilgrimage year after year to attend the biggest festivals out there. I know what you're thinking: "Wow this girl must be crazy." But in actuality it was her own adventurous spirit who wanted to join me. Perhaps it's where I get it from?

Matt Oliver / OC Weekly

Steve Aoki with Travis Barker at Beyond Wonderland 2012

This weekend, Insomniac takes its fourth journey down the Alice & Wonderland-themed rabbit hole to Beyond Wonderland Music Festival, held at the San Manuel Amphitheater after the city of San Bernardino complained from previous wonderland events at the NOS Events Center. Don't be fooled by the new location however. If anything, it means a new venue for Insomniac's CEO Pasquale Rotella to curate into a magical world filled with art installations, performers, rides and some of electronic dance music's biggest stars including David Guetta, Steve Angello and Afrojack. For fans excited to roam the hills of the San Manuel Amphitheater and discover its new found home, we have put together a list of five must-see acts amidst all of the heavy dose of spine-rattling basslines.

Shannon Nehls / OC Weekly

Swedish House Mafia

Swedish House Mafia
March 8th - 9th, 2013
LA Historic Park

Who would have thought that just after seeing the legendary Tiësto sell out the Staples Center on March 2 that LA would receive another one of the biggest EDM weekends since Electric Daisy Carnival was held at the Los Angeles Colosseum. Erick Morillo played at Avalon AND Sound Nightclub, Carl Cox brought the house down at Exchange, Sasha was also at Sound and Ben Klock saw the sun rise at an incredible warehouse party. But the biggest event of the weekend and probably year was Swedish House Mafia's Masquerade Motel which played it's final west coast dates of their "One Last Tour" on Friday March 8th and Saturday the 9th at the LA Historic Park. Only a group as big as Swedish House Mafia would be able to sell 35,000 tickets in minutes only to add more show dates, which included this Friday night event.

Matt Oliver / OC Weekly

Beyond Wonderland 2012

Festival season is less than a month away for the electronic dance music community, and with it comes the time-honored tradition of skimpy outfits, three-day ragers, pool parties and dancing until the sun comes up. Starting in March, a slew of your favorite DJs will be on tour to promote new albums and/or tracks. Add all of the amazing shows right here in OC or a short drive away, and you can find something for every dance-music palate on a weekly basis. We did all the research to find the best EDM shows this month on which to spend your hard-earned cash.

Shannon Nehls / OC Weekly

Mightyfools at Havoc Thursdays

Mightyfools
Yost Theater
1/24/2013

Last night, we headed to the Yost Theater in Santa Ana (our favorite EDM hot spot as of late) to celebrate the budding promotion company White Rabbit Group's Three Year Anniversary with an Alice & Wonderland themed soirée. "Consistently bringing talent that's never been to Orange County has been the focus of White Rabbit," says it's CEO Brandon Owen. "We like taking risks with artist like Klaas, Global Deejays, Dillon Francis, Crizzly (before he was even signed), Peacetreaty's first headlining slot in OC and like with Mightyfools tonight," he said. White Rabbit is also the group behind booking the first real trap artist in Orange County as well as sticking to their mainly dub and electro artists which his 18-and-over crowd loves.

See Also:
10 EDM Albums to Listen to Before You Die
Justin and Christian Martin - Yost Theater - January 17, 2012
Five Highlights From Nervo's West Coast Travels

Above & Beyond

Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness and Paavo Siljamäki

Due to the multiple sub genres of electronic dance music and the amount of decades in which this type of music has been produced, it's almost impossible to pick the top 10 albums of all time. The old school ravers and elitist will argue the importance of including a lot of the pioneers, but the last thing we need is another throwback 1990s list. Yet with the rising popularity of "EDM" (which is just a fancy word we use to encompass all the complex genres of dance music) it's only natural that the demand for such a list exists.

It's difficult to make this list relevant today because most DJ's produce singles without ever having a full-length album or after only releasing an EP - think Avicii and "Levels." Additionally some of the greatest albums are actually compilations or filled with remixes such as Sasha's Involver. So though we know that any top 10 list is stepping into the boundaries of controversy, we couldn't help and compile our top 10 EDM albums to listen to before you die. Who knows, maybe in between all of the untz untz and and wobbly bass lines you might actually fall in love like we did.

See Also:
Eric Prydz & Audrey Napoleon - Yost Theater - 8/16/2012
Above & Beyond's Tony McGuinness Shares Why He Loves SoCal
Nero on EDM Naysayers, Clubbing and the Possibility of Another Track With Skrillex

Dale Takes Pictures

Justin Martin at the Yost Theater

Justin & Christian Martin
Yost Theater
1/17/2012

Straying away from their usual format the White Rabbit Group hosted a Dirtybird Record Label party last night at the Yost Theater featuring the deep grooves of Justin Martin and Christian Martin along with the resident DJs at Focus Tuesdays (the local house joint right here in Orange County). The Bay Area brothers allowed us to tag along with them both during and after the show for a night that was unparalleled and special to what we normally see in Santa Ana. After lots of beer, dancing and after party madness we are still trying to piece together the evening as we cure our massive hangover.

The Focus crew which includes Nonfiction, Wobs and Josh Billings played a unique back to back opening set to warm up the crowd as the room began to fill with house heads, burners and dance music aficionados up until a little past 11p.m. The guys did an awesome job of syncing together to splice deep house and tech house tracks in seamless fashion for this 18 and over crowd, much like they do at Focus in Newport Beach every Tuesday. Our favorite was a Pablo Fierro track titled "I Want It" which had us grooving as we knocked back a few beers and waited for the Martin brothers to arrive.

See Also:
*Free Ticket Tuesday: Justin Martin at the Yost Theater
*Five EDM Artists We'd Like to See at Coachella This Year
*Damian Lazarus Plays Music For 24-Hour Party People...Literally

R. Sapp / WireImage.com

Kaskade at the Grammy Museum Program

On Tuesday night, the Grammy Museum hosted a Grammy nominee spotlight on Kaskade, (government name: Ryan Raddon). The program at The Grammy Museum marked the first time a DJ has answered questions inside their Clive Davis Theater, a monumental evening for dance music. Kaskade is among the EDM elite up for "Best Dance/Electronic Album" for his seventh studio release Fire & Ice. This is Raddon's first Grammy nomination after more than a decade in the scene and numerous billboard hits. The former San Clemente dweller is up against the likes of OC's Steve Aoki, The Chemical Brothers, Deadmau5 and Skrillex at this years 55th Annual Grammy Awards which airs February 10th.

The 200-capacity theater was sold out as fans, other artists including electro queen Audrey Napoleon and industry folks were ready for Kaskade's hour long Q&A with Grammy Museum Executive Director Bob Santelli. Other artists who have visited the museum to discuss their careers include names like Tom Morello, Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Stevie Nicks and Ringo Starr. Raddon answered Santelli's insightful questions with ease and humor. He spoke about making tracks that are quality over quantity in response to how other DJ's put out a new track every week. Though that strategy can be big for Beatport chart-toppers, most true artists prefer a full album compilation that tells a story from start to finish like Kaskade's latest Fire & Ice in which he emphasizes how before deejaying he is first and foremost a songwriter. Something we hope the academy is now realizing.

See Also:
*The American Music Awards Celebrates New EDM Category
*Kaskade at Staples Center and Exchange LA--Which Show Was Better?
*Kaskade Talks EDC, Freaks of Nature Tour and Partying at Focus Tuesdays in OC