Dennis RomeroCorrection after the jump: Pasquale Rotella, the man behind EDC, says that although he has signed on for five years in Vegas for what appear to be the same June weekends once occupied by his Los Angeles event, that doesn't mean the L.A. parties are over.
If a report is true, it looks like the L.A.'s controversial Electric Daisy Carnival has left town for a long time.
The website Electric Visions reported over the weekend that EDC's promoter has committed to a five-year contract to hold the annual event at Las Vegas Vegas Motor Speedway.
The first of the three-day raves is scheduled for June 24-26. EDC wasn't exactly run out of town, but …
… it faced long odds this winter after it was revealed that the L.A. Coliseum's events manager was double dipping as an employee for the promoter. That could be illegal (and it's under investigation).
The Coliseum and Sports Arena are on public land that's run by a the state/count/city Coliseum Commission.
EDC.; Credit: Caesar Sebastian
The two-day EDC last June had some rough edges, even though it drew a massive crowd of 160,000 people.
It saw more than 200 medical emergencies, 60 arrests and the subsequent death of a 15-year-old girl who had taken ecstasy.
Promoter Insomniac Events lobbied the commission for approval of next year's party, and it looked like it was in the bag until the Los Angeles Times revealed the double dipping.
Ravers.; Credit: Timothy Norris
New commission president David Israel withdrew his support of the party, and it headed to Vegas.
The event even inspired the Anti Raves Act of 2011, a state assembly bill that would have banned raves on state property. It was recently watered down.
“We had three options for Electric Daisy Carnival, and Vegas was the best choice,” Insomniac chief Pasquale Rotella told Electric Visions.
Rotella told the site that he eventually wants to sandwich the event in a week's worth of club nights, modeling the nightlife attraction after Miami's Winter Music Conference, a retreat for the globe's top DJs.
“Next year, we want it to be EDC Week,” Rotella said.
June's inaugural Vegas event will feature Tiesto, David Guetta and Swedish House Mafia — huge names in the DJ world.
Correction: Rotella tells us this:
Just because we have agreements to host events in other cities does not mean that I don't want to produce another festival in Los Angeles – I do.
He notes that EDC-branded parties have happened in Orlando, Denver, Dallas, Puerto Rico.
First posted at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, May 3.
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