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The Crystal Method

Jul 09, 2009 Web Exclusive By Nick Hyman Photography by Nick Hyman

Did you know that the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum & Exposition Park recently played host to a dance/rave event that was attended by 135,000 people over two days? What's shocking is that a show that big can go off with hardly anyone in the mainstream media picking up on it. The numbers for this two-day show nearly matched those for Coachella's three-day show this year, and there wasn't even a Paul McCartney on site. Dance and electronic music might not be as respected as other types of popular music, but as evidenced by this years Electric Daisy Carnival, electronic fans are devoted and legion.

Friday's four stages (including the massive coliseum itself) included performances by Thievery Corporation, Paul Oakenfold, ATB, Daedalus, Fake Blood, Shiny Toy Guns, Boys Noize, and many more. Saturday expanded to five stages and included Kaskade, Groove Armada (filling in for the cancellation of Fatboy Slim), Benny Benassi, Major Lazer, Mark Farina, Roger Sanchez, LTJ Bukem, and others. LA natives The Crystal Method energetically played tracks from their new Divided By Night album. I would keep an eye out for future releases from the Castlevania-inspired Le Castle Vania and his electro style, as his set was a big hit for the crowd at the neonGARDEN stage. Following him was M.I.A. producer/DJ Diplo, who delivered a typically engaging electro/dub set that featured a couple of cameos from M.I.A. herself. (Backstage, the artist hinted that she might have ex-roomate/Elastica lead Justine Frischmann play guitar on one of her new tracks.)

Immediately following Diplo was Simian Mobile Disco, whose two members (James Ford and Jas Shaw) did away with the typical deck setup. Instead, they moved around in a constant circle, tweaking tracks from their first full-length, Attack Decay Sustain Release, as well as their upcoming Temporary Pleasure. Closing the night was populist DJ legend Paul Van Dyk who was riding a high off of his recently released career retrospective Volume. He commanded the main kineticFIELD stage, sending the crowd home at 4 A.M.

The show was a remarkable success overall, but was sadly marred by an extreme lack of parking options. Hopefully 2010's show will correct that problem and thus be even better! Basement Jaxx, please?

Click here to see more photos.