Ok, so I like electronic dance music, more specifically Trance. When I started in the 1990's, the US was a bit behind in that department.
Still, with San Francisco and San Jose nearby, I've had some opportunities to see some great EDM/Trance DJs. Back in the early 2000's, they sadly played club music in the US that was nowhere close to the hits they had composed and were known for, but over the years, as Trance started becoming more popular, those DJs finally started playing their good tunes in the US too, and maybe from 2004 on, it's only been getting better. Popsicle Halloween 2004 was really the beginning of great music parties in the San Francisco Area, and thankfully things have gotten even better since then
As a matter of fact, after another 10 years (2015 and beyond) the good news is that Trance has grown quite a following in the US, and places like the SF Bay Area, and while Trance has been declared dead a few times in the last 10 years, it's still going strong here.
Trance Family SF is definitely strong in the area, we've been getting more big trance parties every year, including many top DJs that come visit us what feels like every other week now (as of 2018-2019), and through those events, I made many friends in Trance Family SF. Thanks to you all.
Over those years, I got the chance to meet a few of my favourite DJs, including Armin more than once, and my last hobby has been to work on lights for my shirt and pants (version 3) and (version 4)
It was not my first Beyond Wonderland, but definitely the best one yet, as Insomniac made it even bigger at NOS this year, adding more rooms and more stages. They definitely went all out on the decors, and it totally sold out.
The small lake looked even better this year:
Festival Grounds
As I said, even bigger this year, especially a new Factory93 techno stage in the back:
Chesire Woods in the middle had dreamstate on day2 and was beautiful
The pond was split in two with a big bridge in the middle decked out with LED patterns
about as beautiful as it's been
their LED guy did good work
A fun thing was the half useless maps and directions, to help you get lost:
the map was very approximate, but pretty :)
Queen's Domain VIP (aka mainstage) was nice:
Plenty of nooks and crannies to find fun stuff:
Passport was very nice:
And the usual fun vendors:
And the part my non night festival friends sometimes miss, is how different (and not as exciting), festivals look during the day without all the lights:
the calm before the storm
big chairs to sit in ;)
People
The insomniac performers were top notch again:
And people brought very nice costumes too:
led2rave4 backpacks are awesome
Great to run into friends again:
pixxie.poly was easier to recognize this time :)
Ulrich, in his official work outfit :)
All the way to the Trancefamily Meetup
Day #1
Anyway, let's not get to the two days of festival. This year, beyond started earlier, 14:30 with a pre-party before everything else opened at 16:00. We did arrive too late for that on the first day due to pretty bad traffic delays at SFO airport, which is worse than usual right now, but arrived just in time for sunset, which is the magical time for beyond anyway:
new factory93 techno stage this year
cheshhire woods was a beautiful stage
After the event was over, went to check out the after party, but it was 2 guys playing basic EDM that wasn't too exciting, so it felt like a better idea to try and find an uber to get back to the hotel that was not walking distance ($70 with tip for a 10mn ride, that was not fun...)
Video of Day #1:
Day #2
Day 2, came back early to check out the grounds before they got mobbed, and see the Trance DJs:
nice!
Gareth played a nice classic set, I liked it
Bryan Kearny closed the trance stage
Video of Day #2:
Should you go? Would I go Back?
I was supposed to go to Miami Music Festival/Ultra this year, but it didn't happen in the end, and they ended up getting a lot of rain, which dampened the event somewhat. Still, I do want to check athat out too. Hpefully next year.
Back to Beyond:
Honestly it was cold this year, and the light rain in day 2 didn't help. Maybe it's time to consider moving the event a bit later in the year?
Decors were fantastic again, and the event was even bigger this year. Best one yet.
The many theme appropriate performers were still there, maybe more even, and it really added to the event.
I'll repeat other insomniac festivals, like EDC and Dreamstate, all the staff truly cares and goes all out. Many small details that get sometimes missed elsewhere, are usually flawless
Security was more than reasonable as usual, thank you
San Bernardino still worked out for me. I definitely preferred the bigger venue compared to the more limited footprint of Queen Mary where Dreamstate got moved last year
It was extended from 17:00 to 02:00 to 14:00 to 02:00 plus an afterparty until 06:00. That's more than you can do :)
8 stages this year? Definitely a lot...
There was only trance on Day #2, but that gave me a chance to go explore all the grounds and see other kinds of music.
Like last year, I'll respond to: Is it worth flying across the world for? I would go to EDC first, and then Dreamstate for the music (despite lesser decors and costumes compared to BW), but if you are able to fly there, it's definitely a fun festival to attend. If you cannot afford EdC Vegas, as it's not cheap, BW is probably the 2nd festival in the world I'd recommend after EDC if you're not looking for a trance only festival. It is really good and just a beautiful atmostphere.
