eye on l.a.

*-Los Angeles Times staffer Charlie Amter takes a look at the weekend's Electric Daisy Carnival in downtown L.A. over the weekend and questions some reports that 15,000-20,000 showed up for the rave. Promoters, who in my experience frequently overestimat their crowds, are saying 60,000 came out for the lineup of Moby, Paul Van Dyk and more. But others who witnessed the event said it was indeed packed. See the pictures of Drew Ressler and Michael Tullberg. (Photo, above, by Ressler).

*The Times' news story on the rave has the 15,000-20,000 estimate, ostensibly culled from police or fire sources. I would assume that the Los Angeles Fire Department put some kind of capacity on the event. I would like to know what that number is. Even if sold out, the event shouldn't have surpassed that number without getting shut down.

-The U.K.'s Mixmag (not online) comes to L.A. for its July issue and comes away breathlessly enthusiastic about the club scene here. "A tight-knit community of committed clubbers-turned-promoters, allied with forward-thinking club owners, have turned L.A. into the last best hope of dance music in the world's greatest superpower," writes Duncan Dick (photos for the piece come courtesy of Drew Ressler). The article goes on to focus on the transformation of Avalon Hollywood's Saturday nights from glow-stick heaven to an edgy, techno-centric showcase.

"It seems that L.A. is starting to become the center for the alternative techno and house scene in the U.S.," techno DJ Damian Lazarus is quoted as saying.