Last weekend, September 28-29, 2013, the Shoreline Amphitheater and Grounds in Santa Clara, California was revamped and recreated into a magical musical universe called Beyond Wonderland. WhiteRaverRafting was fortunate enough to attend this event, and travel beyond the realms of reality into a place where only fantasy, bass, and PLUR exist.
This was Insomniac’s second year hosting Beyond Wonderland Bay Area, and it should not be a festival to overlook; there were over 40,000 attendees and it could easily be turned into a three-day festival. The line-up included big name acts such as Avicii, Hardwell, Benny Benassi, Tiesto, and many others. It supported acts in every genre: hardstyle, dubstep, trap, trance, progressive, house, and was so huge it got over 110 noise complaints by Santa Clara residents.
Day One:
As attendees arrived on the scene, the Shoreline Amphitheater was transformed into a wonderland playground for festival-goers to explore. With three larger-than-life stages, Insomniac’s infamous Wide Awake Art Car, art installations, and costumed entertainers; fans were greeted with an experience unlike any other.
For this year’s Beyond Wonderland Bay Area, Insomniac revealed a brand new main stage set-up (pictured above). The blue caterpillar sitting atop a mushroom, was over 40 feet tall, had movable arms, and a smoking hookah. Festival goers will probably tell you the most memorable part about this stage was the seemingly real glowing eyes.
During sets the eyes would change colors to match the mood. When the artists played sounds that had heavy emotion, the eyes would become hearts; and when the caterpillar became “angry” the eyes would light on fire and its eyebrows would narrow showing his intense frustration. The Queen’s Domain stage was over 200 feet wide and included 120 feet of LED screens. The other two stages: the Madhatter’s Castle and Chesire Woods also housed incredible artists and kept fans rockin’ all day long.
Upon arrival, I noticed a variety of characters had come out to play. Headliners had no hesitation in unleashing their creativity, and I saw some of the wildest costumes. To keep with the Alice in Wonderland theme, Insomniac handed out “Eat Me” cupcakes at the door.
After my friends and I got onto the grounds and began to explore, the first thing we did was check out the “Kandi Shop”, a tent filled from top to bottom with every different type of pony bead imaginable. Insomniac volunteers gave out small cups that had a bit of string and letters that spelled out “PLUR” so each attendee could make kandi, some for the first time. It’s an excellent way to integrate new comers into the culture, and teach about the overall PLUR experience. Especially in the Bay Area, where ravers are known for their crazy kandi creations.
The Afternoon Sets
For the first day’s musical experience, most well-known artists were split between the Queen’s Domain and Madhatter’s Castle. As for me, I knew who I wanted to see first: DVBBS. After their huge hit “Tsunami”, I had to see what this long-haired duo was about.
If “Tsunami” was simply a sample of what DVBBS’ skill, their live show certainly didn’t disappoint. I had been looking forward to seeing these guys since the lineup came out, and I was surprised by their immense crowd involvement. For this show, Chris mostly manned the decks while Alex came out and interacted with the crowd.
They gave fans a set that was full of hard-hitting house beats, with some funked out tunes to keep it moving. When they dropped Showtek’s “FTS”, they sang along like they truly believed in its message. For me, the most memorable part was when Alex crowd surfed, and threw water all over the crowd. It was the perfect way to start off the first day, they had such high energy that let everyone get loose for the rest of the evening.
I was lucky enough to catch Morgan Page backstage right before his set at the Madhatter’s Castle (it was definitely one of the highlights of my day), and he was a pleasure to talk to. He was about to go on so I asked him what the feel of his set was going to be, and when he told me he was bringing some new elements, he wasn’t kidding. I expected him to play uplifting trance music, but thirty minutes later found myself in the middle of one of the most hyped shows I had ever been to.
He mixed a huge house set, with vocals from his tracks like “Addicted” and “In The Air” but added intense drops to keep the crowd bouncing. When he played his “Rhythm of the Night” remix, the crowd absolutely lost their minds. This set was really memorable for me, I remember looking around and seeing everyone interacting with each other. It wasn’t a crowd full of strangers, it was a collection of friends and ravers, soon to become family. There were some amazing vibes during this set.
Dash or Avicii?
A huge debate for many Beyond Wonderland attendees was whether to see Dash Berlin or Avicii, since both were playing at the same time. I still haven’t heard Avicii’s set, but Dash Berlin played one of the most incredible sets of the weekend.
He played contemporary music but with a twist. He took listeners on a journey through uplifting vocals, into playful house beats, and sounds that seemed to take us far beyond wonderland. With songs that pulled heartstrings like “Steal You Away”, Rihanna’s “Stay”, and Alesso’s “City of Dreams”; I would be surprised if most of the crowd didn’t cry at least once. He mixed in some huge bangers, like his “D# Fat Out Of Heaven Satisfaction” Dashup, which still gives me the chills when I hear it.
There were times when he would play a song and the crowd was taking it all in with amazement and wonder on their faces, and then he would drop it and everyone would move once again. Dash Berlin is an artist who can truly sculpt a musical experience for his listeners.
Take a listen to his set, and tell me it doesn’t move you:
Day One Overview:
Day one of Beyond Wonderland was like walking into house heaven, the stages were spectacular and the vibes across the grounds were absolutely amazing. Most of my time was spent at the stages and I didn’t walk around too much but when I did I encountered Insomniac’s Ground Control.
Possibly one of the greatest implements I’ve ever seen at a festival. They are volunteers who help out festival-goers with literally anything. Lost your friends? Ground Control will help you find them. Feeling sick? They’re there to lend a helping hand. The best thing I saw them do was make sure that pathways between sets were clear and if there were people like that at Ultra, moving to other stages would’ve been so much easier. I truly appreciate these guys, and all their help. I hope every Insomniac event in the future has them.
Day Two:
For day two, I was scheduled pretty heavily with interviews but still managed to catch a couple artists’ sets. The line-up for the second day was spectacularly stacked so many festival goers arrived earlier than the day before. The artists were spread out pretty evenly over the three stages for day two, with trap holding down the Chesire Woods stage and trance making a huge presence at the Mad Hatter’s Castle. I would say that on the first day, it wasn’t really getting live until about 4 o’clock, but on the second day everyone was ready to party when the doors opened at 1 pm.
Since my first interview was with Slovenian superstar UMEK, I wanted to catch a good portion of his set. We showed up early, and when UMEK came on I have never seen an afternoon stage fill up so fast. Not only were people moving to the center of the dance floor, but everyone was dancing in unison.
It was amazing to see so many people coming together from simply the rhythm of tech-house. UMEK played a deep and dynamic set, with samples of different genres intricately placed to spice up the sounds for the crowd. I was really surprised when I heard some funky moombahton beats in between the rolling tech-house grooves.
Before my interview with UMEK, I wanted to catch the beginning of Brillz‘s set at the Chesire Woods stage and I couldn’t believe how crowded it already was. Brillz was taking listeners through the history of trap music, and played all of the major bangers. In the 15 minutes I was at this stage he dropped Bro Safari’s “Scumbag”, Victor Niglio’s trap remix of “Ode to Oi”, and his own original track “Fuzzy Peach”.
Brillz was getting the crowd hyphy, and one of my most memorable Brillz moments was when he got on the mic and said “who’s grateful to be alive today?” After his essay on drugs, it’s great to see him continue to promote health and safety among festival-goers.
After my interviews, I came back just in time to catch the end of Calvin Harris and got to hear a preview of his remix of the Killers “When You Were Young”.
When he closed out with “Feel So Close” the entire crowd sang along, and you almost couldn’t even hear the music over the sea of voices.
Tiësto was one of the final artists for listeners to enjoy as the magical weekend came to a close. Staying true to his reputation as one of the world’s best DJs, Tiësto took fans even farther down the rabbit hole farther than any artist had gone before. He spun and winded through major hits, groundbreaking originals, and unknown gems to give listeners the experience only a skilled professional can. Paired with the mind-blowing caterpillar stage and intense light combinations,Tiësto’s closing set of Beyond Wonderland was an unforgettable experience.
He finished his set off with his remix of Ellie Goulding’s “Burn”, and as a few tears rolled down my cheeks I knew I had captured all of the unbelievable joy that Beyond Wonderland had to offer.
Overview Day Two:
By the end of the second day, it was clear that Beyond Wonderland was quickly gaining a loyal fan base. As we were leaving several people were saying that they will be sure to be back next year, and they hope the event becomes a three-day festival in the future. With the size of the main stage this year, it could have easily been left up an extra day.
Also, Beyond Wonderland was sold-out both days of the festival, which is incredible considering that many people thought a festival in the Bay Area wouldn’t sell especially one held the same weekend as TomorrowWorld. The amount of time and effort Insomniac puts into its events is evident and radiated throughout the 40,000 people who were there to enjoy it. Although there were over 100 arrests, there weren’t any medical transports over the entire two days. The success at this year’s Beyond Wonderland Bay Area will pave the way for other large electronic festivals to make their home in the Bay.
My Thoughts Overall:
It was an incredible weekend. The way that Insomniac transformed the once-average Shoreline Amphitheater into a wonderland adventure for headliners to explore, shows how much passion and dedication they put into the unforgettable experience. The memories made beyond the realms of wonderland will forever be imprinted into my memory as a magical time and place.
Did you attend Beyond Wonderland? We’d love to see your pictures/videos! Send them to megan@whiteraverrafting.com, or Tweet to @megfoo10
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