Beyond Wonderland stuns with its musical acts
David Wang | Daily Trojan
Over the past weekend, Insomniac’s brilliant mastermind Pasquale Rotella hosted Beyond Wonderland at the San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino, bringing in more than 60 DJs and 70,000 attendees. The festival was held on March 20 and 21, coinciding perfectly with spring break season. It thoroughly utilized the renowned outdoor music venue through placement of four different stages to cater to all types of music lovers.
On top of an impressive selection of some of the most accomplished acts in music, Insomniac truly delivered on the festival experience with their selection of activities. One-of-a-kind art installations, such as giant mushroom and other Alice in Wonderland artifacts, were placed all around the venue. Enigmatic characters dressed to emulate the Alice in Wonderland vibes walked all around the venue for photo-ops with enthusiastic fans. Numerous food trucks awaited hungry festival-goers as the night went on well past midnight. In addition, Beyond Wonderland offered a dedicated campsite complete with arts and crafts, yoga, fishing and even a silent disco.
Here’s a look at several artists from the first and second days of the festival:
Day 1:
Andrew Rayel: This artist was definitely the highlight of the night as the night raged on at the Mad Hatter stage. The images on the screen were captivating as the lights and LEDs moved in rhythm with the music. Ravel knew how to cater to the crowd, and commanded attention as all focus was on him. He played crowd favorites such as Zedd’s “Clarity” and Calvin Harris’ “Under Control.” Within his one and a half hour set, he led the crowd to a new level of friendliness, surrounding each other with energy free of bias, prejudice, and hatred.
GTA: This group ended the first day of nonstop EDM music. As this American duo performed songs ranging from a remix of “One Two Step” to various trap songs, laser beam lights flickered through falling white confetti. The artists strategically utilized their time to build up the audience in order to achieve an unconventionally slow, down-tempo drop that mesmerized the audience and kept them on their feet jumping from beginning to end.
Day 2:
Party Favor: L.A. native Dylan Ragland, more commonly known as Party Favor, took the main stage in broad daylight with a devoted audience jumping through the heat as he played some crowd favorites such as “I Don’t F-ck With You” and “This is How We Do It.” The crowd went wild singing along to these songs, especially when he proclaimed that “west coast is the best coast”. And when he played “All I Do Is Win,” heads nodded to the hard beat.
Hardwell: The audience filled the large arena when Hardwell took the stage, playing songs that everyone could sing along to, including Alesso’s “Heroes,” David Guetta’s mashup of “Dangerous,” and Calvin Harris’ “Blame.” His set was definitely a crowd-pleaser. As he played “Cinema” and “Arcadia,” fans screamed at the top of their vocal cords. This Dutch DJ never fails to exhilarate the crowd with his electro house music.
Insomniac’s next festival in the area will be EDC Las Vegas, held at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway from June 19 to 21.
David Wang | Daily Trojan
David Wang | Daily Trojan
David Wang | Daily Trojan
David Wang | Daily Trojan
David Wang | Daily Trojan
David Wang | Daily Trojan
David Wang | Daily Trojan
David Wang | Daily Trojan
Hardwell and GTA were awful. People were pouring out of that stage. This editorial needs to hire people who actually attend festivals more than once a year. It doesn’t take any talent to write about the mainstream artists who half-ass their sets. Writing about artists such as Sub Focus, Lookas, Andy C, and Slander actually indicates that you don’t jump on the bandwagon of big namers and shows that you have actual festival experience. Anyone who has been to more than 3 festivals knows the difference between a good set and a truly special set.