Trancegiving is a time to gather with your festival family, rejoice in your shared love of trance, and give thanks. This year we did just that and after a long two-year festival hiatus – we were more thankful than ever before! Dreamstate SoCal made its return home to NOS Events Center in San Bernardino, California for two dream-filled nights, November 19-20. NOS illuminated all weekend long with the euphoric sounds of trance’s elite talent, festive lights and lasers beamed across the festival grounds, and attendees radiated with positive energy as they danced from stage to stage.
Dreamers made their way into the Events Center on day one ready to take on four stages serving different flavors of trance. We ventured in, grabbed some drinks, and made our way to stage number one of the night, The Dream. Giuseppe Ottaviani was drawing in the crowd with a live 3.0 set, opening with “Magico,” mesmerizing us with “Glowing In The Dark,” and finally, closing with his special edit of Martin Garrix, Bono, and The Edge‘s “We Are The People” and U2‘s “Where The Streets Have No Name.” After our time at The Dream, we moved next door to The Sequence stage. Sequence served endless amounts of psychedelic trance and some of the top performances of the weekend. Morten Granua was up next and he put us in a psy-induced state with his originals, “Pulse” and his remix of Oxia‘s “Domino” as visuals filled the triangular set up that outlined the decks.
As the night went on, the set conflicts grew, but that’s a given with such a strong lineup. During this time, Darude was at The Vision, Myon was at The Void, Liquid Hook was at The Sequence, and Aly & Fila were at The Dream. We caught some Liquid Hook and then geared up for some Future Sounds of Egypt with Aly & Fila. The Dream resembled some form of trance portal and it indeed pulled us in when Aly & Fila played “Somebody Loves You” with Plumb and “For All Time” with Armin van Buuren. We followed up a beautiful set with one of our favorite artists, Andrew Rayel. Rayel’s performance lifted us to a higher state of consciousness with “The Melody,” “Stars Collide,” and a powerful remix of his classic, “Dark Warrior.”
The Void stage was nestled alongside the venue’s breathtaking lake and it sang the sounds of melodic, progressive trance. Grum‘s Deep State imprint hosted The Void with a top-tier roster including Adam Scott, Dezza, Jerome Isma-Ae, Sunny Lax, Matt Fax, Myon, Estiva b2b Fehrplay, and Grum. We caught the iconic Estiva and Fehrplay set and they blew us away with a seamless b2b. We were ecstatic to get the chance to hear Fehrplay’s new release, “San Pedro.”
The closing acts of the night were Grum, Alpha Portal, Mauro Picotto, and Ferry Corsten presents Gouryella. We concluded day one with Ferry Corsten. The veteran producer opened his set with “Ligaya (From the Heavens Mix) and it felt like he opened up Dreamstate into space. The stage went dark with just the brightness of the stars and the song lyrics that filled the screen. He brought the stage back to life with an impeccable setlist including “Venera [Vee’s Theme]” and “Anahera.” It was an incredible end to day one.
Day two kicked off with the talented Ilan Bluestone at The Dream. He interacted with the crowd and the energy was at an all-time high as trance fam sang along to tracks from his newly-released Anjunabeats album, Impulse. Ilan showcased his new remix of a beloved Above & Beyond classic, “Sun & Moon.” It was a special performance from start to finish. The following hour was dedicated to Liquid Soul at The Sequence. The Swiss born producer recharged our souls and reminded us why we love the psychedelic side of trance.
Gareth Emery took dreamers on a journey with his breathtaking discography, pulling on heartstrings with emotive classics, “Concrete Angel” and “Sanctuary” and giving us 100 Reasons To Live with “Saving Light.” The feels and lasers simultaneously soared across the tented structure as Gareth transitioned from track to track.
The Vision stage saw major acts all night including Factor B, Richard Durand, Roger Shah, Craig Connelly, Solarstone, and a special return from Aly & Fila with an UV set. It being the only indoor stage, Vision gave more of an intimate, warehouse vibe and delivered the perfect setting for the legendary Solarstone’s Pure Trance.
The night concluded with Yoji Biomehanika, Reality Test, Aly & Fila (UV set), and finally, Audien presents Hindsight. We chose Audien’s set at The Dream as a grand finale and it did not disappoint. He gave us a sense of nostalgia and put us in a true dreamstate as we revisited past festival anthems including “Higher,” his remix of Bastille‘s “Pompeii,” and even paying homage to the late i_o with “Castles In The Sky.” The young artist took us on a trip back to the progressive era and it was a fun way to end an already amazing time at Dreamstate SoCal.
Dreamstate continues to be the ultimate trance destination and should be on every trance enthusiast’s must-attend list. Insomniac did an amazing job with the production, artist curation, and overall ease of the festival. Thank you for another successful Trancegiving celebration and the memories that’ll last a lifetime! Until next time, dreamers.
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https://www.dreamstateusa.com
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