Electric Zoo NYC Recap: Day1 with Laidback Luke, Luciano, Netsky & More

What can one expect at Electric Zoo NYC 2012? Well, apart from the beats, drops and everything in between, VIBE spotted lots of people dressed up, well, literally like animals. There was face paint, costumes and all with festivalgoers transforming NYC's Randall's Island into a literal animal house. Oh yeah, and there were DJs. Lots and lots of DJs.

The Group Therapy/Hilltop Arena saw prog-trance DJs Gabriel and Dresden drop their mashup of the Beatles vs. Dada Life, "Eleanor Red Meat." VIBE sat down with them at the Zoo and the San Francisco-based duo said they would release their follow-up to "8000 Twitter Followers Bootleg Pack" sometime in 2013. Ferry Corsten, Mat Zo and Above & Beyond capped thing off and made for the perfect ending to Day 1 at the tent.

Good words are being spread about liquid funk pioneer Netsky. During the young Belgian's main stage set you could feel how high the energy was despite the deep drum and bass thump. He managed to squeeze in the old classic DJ Kool's "Let Me Clear My Throat!," at which point the crowd went wild.

Nicky Romero was next and he completely destroyed the crowd when he dropped his new track “Iron” with Calvin Harris. He ended his set with an acapella of Justice's “We Are Your Friends.” Hardwell started with his mega-hit “Spaceman,” and Laidback Luke later took over and dropped Derude’s “Sandstorm." The all-time classic had everyone going nuts for David Guetta, who followed on the Electric Zoo main stage and dropped a ton of new tracks.

At the Sunday School Grove, there was a Vagabundos takeover. Electric Zoo was responsible for the stage design that showcased white buses with video projection mapping, a reoccuring theme throughout past Zoos. While it seemed that the drivers of the buses were colliding on stage, headliner and Cadenza boss Luciano had the crowd bumping and rocking.