Wired Fest: Sensory overload on a revamped Festival Pier

On a balmy Friday, Wired 96.5 held its electro-hop-and-house-focused Wired Fest with DJ/producers Calvin Harris and Diplo at Festival Pier.

On a totally made-over Festival Pier (see below) Wired Fest gave the sellout audience light-boxes and pop/house/heavy sounds. It was sensory overload - and a big hit, judging from the pleased faces and sand-dancing efforts. Harris, a star in the electro-dance firmament since 2000, didn't break big until 2012's platinum-plus 18 Months. Most of his set was from that album: It was a beat-banging mix of pings and boings between pop smashes like "Sweet Nothing" and "I Need Your Love." Those tunes featured taped vocals from Elle Goulding and Florence Welch. Harris' set opener - the moody, soaring "Feel So Close" - and his similarly anthemic new "Summer" featured Harris' own calm voice as crowd-tamer.

There was little tame about Diplo, the DJ/Philadelphia expat who preceded Harris. He pummeled the crowd with a set of ragga-funk-hop from his own catalog (particularly Major Lazer) along with a personal dance sensibility one might call "unleashed."

Festival Pier debuted an astonishing makeover. Neighboring Morgan's Pier features food from David Gilberg of Koo Zee Doo fame, eclectic indie DJs, and bands booked primarily by R5. So Live Nation turned Festival Pier from a glorified parking lot into a handsome, mock-beachfront haunt complete with a shore's worth of sand, clutches of greenery, mini-boardwalk spaces, and tented cabana VIP lots by Groundswell Design Group.

For chef-centric food-fare, Live Nation hired curator Michael Schulson (Sampan) and Travis Masar (Top Chef), who responded with boutique food trucks and a craft-beer garden. Schulson's big on beer gardens: On July 4, the 30,000-square-foot Independence beer garden is scheduled to open across from the Liberty Bell with much of the same approach.