Our Electric Forest 2025 Superlatives: A Forest in Review

Electric Forest 2025 has come and gone. A new chapter from the beautiful Rothbury area of Michigan has been written and it continues to show why Electric Forest is an absolute MUST on your festival schedule year after year. The magic of it is unlike anything I have ever experienced and seeing the magic spread to first-timers year after year as they promise to always come back is one of my absolute favorite parts all year. 

As I talked to Forest-goers all weekend, everyone was so excited to tell me about the “Best” set they saw or the “Coolest” moment in the Forest or the “Hardest” they laughed. So I wanted to give some of my superlatives from an incredible weekend as I start to count down the days until Electric Forest 2026

Best People to Invite To Your Party

Louis The Child

You know, when you throw a party, there is always that friend that you LOVE to have over. They hit you up a couple of days before asking what they can bring, while the party is going you see them collecting empty beer cans or changing out trash bags, and when they have a couple of extra friends coming by they get specific permission to bring them, and the guests are just as respectful.

That’s the kind of vibe Louis The Child always brings to Electric Forest, and that’s why they are always welcome year after year, whether being billed officially on the headline or just popping in during sets. This year, LTC was featured on two official sets – their first being a headlining set at Sherwood Court that was packed to the brim with LTC favorites but also some new remixes that perfectly set the vibe for Forest. It showcased a great sense of familiarity with a little party ‘wild card’ thrown in.

A highlight of their set was their new Charli XCX drum and bass-inspired remix paired with BRAT-style green screen behind them, but their text simply said ‘Carl,’ which elicited a classic Electric Forest call-and-response session. Their second set was a ‘Playground’ set which is more akin to a DJ set with much less LTC songs mixed in – and just like a great house party guest, they brought even more great party guests. Their set included some b2b sessions with Daniel Allan, 33 Below, and fellow Chicago Native LYNY which brought a brand new flavor to an LTC set with all sorts of genres mixed in.

A guest list isn’t complete without Louis The Child.

Most Likely to get the Party Busted for a Noise Complaint (in a good way)

Levity b2b Crankdat b2b Tape B

Everyone has one of those parties they still talk about. The ones where the party got just a biiit out of hand, everyone made it home safe, and years later, people still bring up. 

When the Forest Schedule was released, we were treated to a few surprises – one of them being Levity b2b ??? b2b ??? – and as we got closer to Saturday night, it was revealed that they would be going b2b2b with fellow bass aficionados Tape B and Crankdat for a 90-minute set that had campsites buzzin with talk about it the day leading up to it then Ranch Arena absolutely POPPING.

There were Foresters as far as the eye could see, and as the set progressed, you could feel the energy continue to rise. People sang along to familiar lyrics that dropped into some insane bass drops, friends started looking at each other saying “What the fuck,” and ultimately just turned into one of the rowdiest 90 minutes of Electric Forest 2025.

As we got further and further into the 90-minute set time, the choppiness of having 5 people on stage trying to decide the track started to show a bit, but I can tell you that no one in that crowd cared. They appreciated the off-the-cuff DJ-ing and responded with their energy.

Yeah. Things got out of hand. In the best way possible.

Most Likely To Let Your Friends Stay Over for Dinner

As we were walking into the last day of Electric Forest, my girlfriend and I sat down on one of the benches on Main Street to make sure we had everything, finish our beers, and collect ourselves before going in to enjoy the last music of the weekend. A quick recentering of sorts to breathe in the last bit of understimulation of the weekend (highly recommend it if it’s not a part of your pre-fest routine!).

Across from us, a man wearing an Army Veteran hat and holding a cane made direct eye contact with us and said to us, “Are you enjoying the Forest?” And of course, we gave an emphatic “Yes!” As we got to speaking, he introduced himself as Jerry and told us how he has been to all but 2 Electric Forests (Including when it was called Rothbury.)

It quickly turned into one of the coolest conversations we have ever had at Electric Forest as we inquired more. Jerry, an Army Veteran, told us how he’s always been bad at sitting still and currently sits on the Rothbury City Council along with working at a local antique store. The Council, of course, is the same one that has to sign off on Electric Forest calling Rothbury its home year after year. 

Jerry could not be more welcoming not only to us in conversation but he talked about EVERYONE that comes year after year and how much he still loves it, loves talk to all of us, and how he hopes to keep bringing it back year after year. 

So next time you think about Forest, think about all of the local people, businesses and vendor working behind the scenes, and the City Councils that help make this happen and that we appreciate greatly.

Most Likely to say “Okay, One More”

Disclosure

When the schedule was released, one of the highlights for me was seeing Disclosure taking over Tripolee for THREE hours. The first two hours were an absolutely clinical b2b with Daphni/Caribou followed by an hour of a Disclosure solo DJ set.

Let me paint a picture for you: It’s way too late from the night before, you are in a friend’s basement or kitchen with a DJ set up, and one of your friends is absolutely cooking on the decks. Just making it through their whole USB and every time the party is about to end, everyone looks at the DJ and says “Just oooone more song!” Then, before you know it, the sun is out.

And that’s exactly how it felt during the entirety of the three hours at Tripolee with this set to close out the night.

Disclosure and Daphni emptied their proverbial clip with heater after heater in their house arsenal. The kind of tunes that make you want to lean over the DJ booth to get an ID, and as the set progressed they got looser and looser- even playing a duo of b2b Skrillex songs at the end. A perfect unhinged way to end hours of playing songs with one of your friends.

But when that B2B ended, we still had an HOUR of Disclosure. And once again, Disclosure proved why they are still one of the best, playing the crowd with their familiar favorites and other house goodies that people would have stayed there till the sun came up for.

Most Likely To Be The Life Of the Party

Disco Dom

One of my absolute favorite features of any music festival is when artists are given more than one set to show off their catalog of music, or even play a different style of music.

Dombresky was one of the artists tasked with playing two sets. For him, it was a Dombresky set followed by his late-night disco alter-ego “Disco Dom” having a second set. It may sound self-explanatory, but for the uninitiated, these sets are when Dombresky dons his disco uniform and sticks to strictly disco for the entirety of his set.

And even though it was 1:45 am, Carousel Club NEVER stopped grooving. It was the perfect way to end an incredible first day of Forest. He played disco remixes of some of our favorite EDM songs but made sure to respect the classics. A 2:58 am mass sing-along of Abba’s quintessential banger “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” was a particular highlight. One quick scan of the crowd, and you could see nothing but smiles.

There’s a reason Disco never Dies.

Most Likely To Give You The Shirt Off Their Back

Your Neighbor at Electric Forest

In order to fully understand Electric Forest 2025, it is imperative to give some context on a lot of Forest Family’s thoughts going into this year’s edition of the Forest, because nothing is ever enjoyed in a vacuum and it is affected by a collection of things that have happened previously. Electric Forest 2024 was amongst one of the worst Forests affected by the weather. Big storms on Saturday and Sunday cut chunks of programming. People were eventually let back in on Saturday, but a few hours after Sunday’s evactuation, festival-goers were let known that the Forest will not be re-opening. Forest Family of course made the best of it with campsite bonding and good tunes flowing, but no one got to say a proper goodbye to Electric Forest 2024. Paired with Bonnaroo 2025 experiencing a full rainout after only Thursday’s portion of the festival, it contributes to wary festival goers. 

Any time rain showed up or a gust of wind was a little heavier than usual, you could see a collective reminder of these events take over people’s thoughts- even for just a second. 

But luckily weather was just a tiny chapter of Electric Forest’s 2025 story – and it showed the experience and empathy that Foresters have for each other. Saturday morning in the campsites we were greeted by huge gusts of winds. Unfortunately, it claimed various canopies and tents throughout the campgrounds – but everywhere you saw neighbors that were already awake spring into action. They helped stake their neighbors canopies down, lower them, and even remove the tops so they would stay safely on the ground. I saw neighbors quickly emerge from their tents to help clean out the carnage from some campsites and start cleaning up without even a request. I saw neighbors welcome others by readjusting their campsites so people who may have lost their canopies to the windstorms could enjoy some shade as well.

Never doubt Forest and the people who come to it. We’ve persevered and will always help the person next to us.

As the book closes on Electric Forest 2025 ask yourself what suplerlative did you bring to Forest? Can you somehow bring that superlative with you to your every day life between forests to be the best version of yourself year round?

Thank you for the best year yet, Forest. See you next year. 

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[All Photos Courtesy of Alive Coverage/Electric Forest.]

Our Electric Forest 2025 Superlatives: A Forest in Review