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Skrillex does NASA Your EDM

The world’s biggest Daft Punk fan Thump

Image courtesy of facebook.com/daftworld

EDC 2012 - by Kevin Verkruijssen

Ticket seller Live Nation is close to closing a $50 million deal to acquire a roughly 50 percent stake in Insomniac Events, the organizer behind the Electric Daisy Carnival, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Live Nation hasn’t been the only one who’s wanted a piece of the Insomniac action.  Robert Sillerman of SFX Entertainment was among other bidders interested in a stake of the company, and is rumored to have offered at least a $100 million for it.

Insomniac and Live Nation declined to confirm details of the deal with The Journal.

Pasquale Rotella and the Insomniac crew just announced the official lineup for Electric Daisy Carnival 2013.

Krewella at Congress Theater Dec. 29, 2012 - by Mitch Doner

A Cook County judge ruled on Tuesday that Chicago’s embattled Congress Theater can stay open after passing a Monday safety inspection.

Judge James McGing said the theater that regularly hosts popular EDM events – and others – can resume ticket sales, but the first floor’s capacity is capped at 3,000 people, according to DNAinfo Chicago. The second floor balcony remains closed until updated lighting and a new generator are installed.

The most serious concerns about the Congress, though – a fire curtain and its ventilation system – were resolved by Monday’s inspection. “The majority of the most serious violations are” in compliance, city attorney Judy Frydland told DNAinfo after Tuesday’s hearing. ”With all that, I just don’t think we have a basis for closure.”

In a hearing last week, McGing determined the venue could remain open for the weekend’s shows, but its ability to sell tickets for future events relied upon the result of Tuesday’s hearing.

The Congress and its owner, Eddie Carranza aren’t out of hot water yet though. The theater will undergo another round of inspections and hearings the week of May 6. There are also liquor commission and public nuisance reviews currently pending against Carranza and the Congress.

Image by Thomas Irvin

A Cook County judge Thursday morning ruled that Chicago’s Congress Theater – the 87 year-old, Logan Square venue that frequently hosts EDM events, and others – does not have to close.

A document filed by the city against the theater’s owner, Eddie Carranza, said that safety violations should require that no one ”rent, use, lease, or occupy the entire Congress theater,” according to DNAinfo Chicago. An emergency hearing was scheduled for 11 a.m. this morning with Cook County Judge James McGing.

But according to a tweet from Chicago Sun-Times reporter Tina Sfondeles, McGing Thursday morning ruled in favor of Congress.

#breaking ‏RT @tinasfon Congress Theater will stay open with “reduced capacity” until violations are fixed, Cook County Judge McGing rules.

— Suntimes (@Suntimes) April 18, 2013

According to Sfondeles, Thursday’s ruling will allow the theater to reamin open this weekend, but with a reduced capacity of 3,000 people on its first floor, from 4,500. The venue may also not sell any more tickets for scheduled events until another hearing takes place on Tuesday.