While the multitudes scurry off to catch the last wisps of summer at places with Native American names, $50-a-pound potato salads, and bad traffic patterns, another horde will be cross-commuting to the city. These people are flocking to a near-Woodstockian dance event called Electric Zoo being held at Randall’s Island...you know, take a left at the Bronx. There are way too many acts to list and explain so I suggest visiting their site for information. The festival starts today, so check out when your favorite dance gods will be playing.

Here are a few names of the artists involved:

Tiësto, Armin Van Buuren, David Guetta, DJ Snoopadelic (Hip-hop icon Snoop Dogg), Moby, Tommy Lee & DJ Aero, Afrojack, MSTRKRFT, Benny Benassi,Joachim Garraud, Ferry Corsten, Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77, Carl Cox, Sander Van Doorn, Chromeo, John Digweed, Luciano, Victor Calderone, Crookers, Danny Tenaglia, Diplo, Dirty South, Plastikman, Richie Hawtin, 12th Planet, Josh Wink, The Martinez Brothers, Above & Beyond, Alesso, AN21 & Max Vangeli, Andy Moor, Arty, Gramatik, ATB (André Tanneberger), Nick Catchdubs, Bart B More, Fareoh, Beardyman, Big Gigantic, Guti, Boys Noize, Busy P, Calvin Harris, Felguk, Carl Craig,Infected Mushroom, Feed Me (British DJ Jon Gooch),Carte Blanche, Chris Liebing, Gareth Emery, Jack Beats, The M Machine, Martin Solvei, High Contrast, Super8 & Tab, Felix Cartal, Kid Sister,,Robbie Rivera, James Holden, Reboot, Daedelus (a.k.a. Alfred Weisberg-Roberts), Michael Woods, Datsik, Hardwell, Sidney Samson, Mat Zo, Guy Gerber, Joris Voorn & Nic Fanciulli, Dubfire, MiMOSA, EDX, Serge Devant, Markus Schulz, Fake Blood, Egyptrixx, Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, Excision, Steve Bug, Gabriel & Dresden, Gui Boratto,Ida Engberg, Skrillex, Jaytech, Super Mash Bros, John Dahlbäck, Loco Dice, Nicolas Jaar,Sub Focus, Nicole Moudaber, Porter Robinson, Rusko, SBTRKT,Sean Tyas & Simon Patterson,SebastiAn, Tiga, Umek, TOKiMONSTA

I'm sure there are many more, but you get the idea. One of the most intriguing performances will be the collaboration between Joachim Garraud and Perry Ferrell. I caught up with Joachim and asked him about this creative partnership and the festival. Is the word DJ becoming obsolete? No, I don’t think so. The scene has definitely seen a big influx of DJs in the past few years, and many are using lots of new technology where no discs are even involved anymore, but there is something special about having two tables (or in many cases now CDJs). DJs and dance music go hand in hand, so I don’t think the word will ever be obsolete.

What will the audience experience at this year’s Electric Zoo show and do you actually know details or is the performance elastic? For my audience, I can say for sure that they will experience my live Invasion show on both auditory and visual levels. We’ve worked very hard on making the Invasion experience a show to remember, and crowds have loved it from the Coachella Music Festival in California to the Exit Festival in Serbia. There will be lots of great music, great visuals, and even some live keytar!

Does Perry small talk with you? Perry and I have been friends for quite a while now, so yes, you could definitely say that we’ve had small talk. Recently, Perry and I have spent a lot of time in the studio working on 11 tracks that will be released this fall, and we’ve had a great time putting it all together.

What is the difference, as you see it, between a U.S. audience and elsewhere? The U.S. crowd is great, especially at festivals. There’s so much energy and love for the music, so it’s always fun to play in America. It’s great to see that the U.S. is accepting and embracing dance music and dance music culture so much more now. There is a real excitement that can be felt at these shows.

Perry comes from a sort of rock background but has always been into electronic stuff. Where do the different genres converge and where does the music grow or go? Yes, Perry definitely has a love for rock and electronic music. It seems that dance music can come together with many other genres and create very special sounds that hadn’t really been explored all that much in the past. It was great to team up with Perry because we could combine his rock expertise and my techno/electro/pop background to make something very special. He’s a very creative guy so it was inspiring to see what he was interested in and then produce music that we both felt had a bit of each of us in it.

Tell me about your reasons for participating in Electric Zoo. Electric Zoo is an amazing festival and I love playing in New York. Last year was such a great time when I played so I had to come back again with the Invasion set this year!