TuneLab
EDC Live - EDC Las Vegas 2016: Gareth Emery
circuitGROUNDS hosted by Dreamstate
EDC Las Vegas 2016 at the circuitGROUNDS stage, hosted by Dreamstate: a moment where the trance faithful converge under a desert sky. Gareth Emery’s full tracklist from this set is a time capsule of peak festival trance, complete with the soaring melodies and heart-on-sleeve emotion we secretly all crave. The vibe is vast and communal, thousands of people united by a single, cathartic chord progression, the Nevada heat replaced by laser-cooled air. Technically, Emery navigates a wide BPM range from 125 up to 158, averaging around 134, and uses the emotionally resonant 12A key as a frequent home base.
The energy leans towards the low-end (0.55 avg) for drive, but allows the majestic mid-range synth work and vocals to define the journey, creating that classic trance arc from introspection to elation. The tracklist is a hits package executed with precision. His own ‘Saving Light’ with STANDERWICK and HALIENE is the obvious, tear-jerking centerpiece. The clever edits, like the extended take on Billie Eilish’s ‘L’AMOUR DE MA VIE’ or the Arty remix of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Bloodstream’, show a DJ adept at bridging pop and underground.
Even the inclusion of the playful ‘Cvnt5’ offers a moment of lighthearted, peak-time fun. He builds from an unknown opener, climbs to the emotional summit of ‘Saving Light’, and sends the crowd home singing along to the poignant, melodic finale of his own ‘Long Way Home’ as the closing track.