This past Thanksgiving weekend was undoubtedly filled with football, Thanksgiving leftovers, and an attempt to enjoy the last bit of vacation before Monday arrived, but for a certain lucky group of several thousand people, this past weekend was so much more. Leading up to the first ever trance festival held in the United States put on by Insomniac, I wasn’t sure what to expect. While I have attended a few local festivals in Texas, I had not attended anything larger than maybe a few thousand people and these events were not trance themed.
The two day trance festival was held at the legendary NOS Center in San Bernardino, California. I arrived in town a little before noon and after checking in, I drove over to Redlands to meet some people from Texas Trance Addictz, a Facebook group of trance enthusiasts from Texas and abroad. We all sat down to a lunch at Chili’s and shared our excitement for the event and talked trance. For the first time in a long time, I felt I was at home with people that understood where I was coming from. Later on that night as we prepared to travel to the NOS Center, I felt myself becoming almost nauseous from excitement. I had a very long night ahead of me and there was no telling where it would end.
Finding the NOS Center was relatively easy, as I had booked a hotel off Waterman. The parking was only $15, much to my delight. Fellow trance lovers started streaming out of their cars, dressed in everything from old school gear to the typical fluffies to homemade costumes. We made our way through the security okay, which wasn’t as intrusive as I have experienced at past events. Before making our way inside, my friend who was rooming with me suggested we stop by the water station, something I had been introduced to at the local Houston festival, Something Wicked. I wanted a canteen to fill up so I purchased that at the merchandise booth, which would be a constant source of temptation as they put up flags, shirts, and other items for sale to commemorate what would be a life changing event.
Lights, strobes, confetti, love, good energy……
All was in the air……
There was only one stage where all the artists would play so this led to the sets only being an hour. Day 1 hosted Sunny Lax, Allen & Envy, Standerwick, Guiseppe Ottaviani, Ben Nicky, Ace Ventura, Orjan Nilsen, Paul Oakenfold, Astrix, and Indecent Noise. My crew got there after the event started, but we did make it on time for the last half of Allen & Envy’s sets. Having been introduced to these fellas as producers first, I was very impressed with their dj set. They kept true to their uplifting sound with driving basslines, which made a perfect transition into Standerwick. As the night wore on, the music drove the crowd into a frenzy. Guisettpe Ottaviani was the set of the night for me. From open to close he didn’t let up. Ben Nicky performed what basically amounted to a tribute set to Above and Beyond. It was the perfect set to sing along to, but later on in the night everyone’s minds would be blown away by psy trance heavy weight titans Ace Venture and Astrix.
Between the psytrance was Orjan Nielsen and Paul Oakenfold. Prior to the event there were rumblings online of what each might play and whether if they would play real trance (this conversation was more prevalent when discussing Orjan). Orjan didn’t disappoint his fans that were there and hit them hard with his signature style. While people did drift off outside, there were a number of people that remained inside to be met with a relentless set of high energy. Hard and fast is how I would describe Orjan’s set. In contrast to Orjan’s set was Paul Oakenfold’s which was filled with a sound I haven’t heard since the early 2000s. Soaring melodies, hints of psy influence, and classic tunes were woven throughout Paul Oakenfold’s Dreamstate set. Last but not least was Indecent Noise, who from what I was told didn’t have the crowd he deserved but it is understandable given people had been dancing starting at 5pm, if not well before then because there were many pre parties and pre gaming going on before the event.
Day 2 ushered in Simon O’ Shine, Adam Ellis, Will Atkinson, Rank 1, Jordan Suckley, Mr. Open up himself Simon Patterson, Aly & Fila, Paul Van Dyk, John O’Callaghan, and Bryan Kearney. I unfortunately missed Simon O’ Shine’s set and Adam Ellis’s. The reason for this was because we were all busy making new friends, which was one of the greatest things about Dreamstate, or what will be known to many as the first real Trancegiving. I met so many people from not just across the USA, but from other parts of the world. One gentleman I met flew all the way from Norway. He informed me, the lucky devil, that he had just been to Trancemission so he was on a quest for trance that one. I was waiting in the car when my friends walked up with him, saying he needed a ride back to his hotel. Me being the nice person I am agreed to give him a ride, which led to us talking some, which would eventually lead to him offering us the opportunity to pregame with friends he had made across the street at the Double Tree hotel. Because of this pregaming we ran a bit late, but I wouldn’t trade the conversation and the intense bonding over trance for anything. If one thing could be said about Dreamstate, it is that people came together for the love of trance.
A recount of the night would not be complete if I did not mention the drop of Vinci Vici’s remix of the Highlight Tribe’s Free Tibet. It was dropped more than once in the night and each time the crowd exploded. It was a head trip of a track for sure. Besides the welcomed onslaught of good, proper tunes from Above and Beyond unleashed in Ben Nicky’s set, other tracks that moved the crowd was a remix of Rank 1’s Airwave, Paul Van Dyk’s set opener For an Angel, Shogun’s Sky Fire during Orjan Nilsen’s set, and Nepture Project’s remix of Oceanlab’s Clear Blue Water. The hands went up in the air and hearts and conjoined minds gathered together in a state of trance soared.
The sense of community and the people at Dreamstate was what really made Dreamstate the epic, historic moment that it was. Over two days, people came together from all over the world. I witnessed people being kind, checking on one another, engaging strangers outside of their crew (or squad as the kids say these days), and not being complete assholes when trying to navigate through the crowd. For a small two day festival, the production was on point. There were times where the sound came across distorted, but I think this had more to do with the venue than anything. The water stations never ran dry and as a huge plus for me, porta potties for women were separated from porta potties used by the men which increased the likelihood of toilet paper being inside and the porta potty not being a hot, stinking mess. I would be lying if I said I was not spoiled by Insomniac. Dreamstate was life changing. The memories will rest with me forever. I can’t wait to do it again.
I was listening to electronic dance music without even knowing it when I was listening to Jock Jams in the 90s. Fast forward to my senior year in high school and I had discovered Fatboy Slim. I have been listening to edm ever since and love writing about new sounds, good sounds, and the music that makes us move.
