Well wow, what can I say, DreamstateSoCal was my first time attending the mecca of all Dreamstate shows. This was the milestone 5th edition and the brand has built itself up over this time into one of the premier Trance brands with multiple shows around the world in Australia, Europe and also hosts its own stage at the annual EDC Las Vegas Festival – the biggest electronic music festival in the world.
If I were to describe this event in one sentence – is that it’s a Mini-EDC but it’s all Trance music with the Trance Family old school vibes. If EDC is the Disneyland of all music festivals then Dreamstate is the Marvel land within Disneyland. The festival layout is amazing from the minute you walk in, with all the flashing lights across the trees, the bright sparkly lake and the bass reverberating through your body as you proceed to go to the stages.
As you walked in, you had the choice of turning to the right at “The Sequence Tent” to indulge in your psychedelic trance senses or as you turn left to “The Vision Arena” entering a world of pure uplifting and old school, driving trance beats. The choice is not easy and to make matters worse (or better) you can see from the background the magical playground that is “The Dream” mainstage open indoor structure seemingly inspired by the A State of Trance Arena @ Ultra Miami and the old school Circuit Grounds Megastructure at EDC Las Vegas. It’s absolutely a dream world indeed!
If I could compare the music to any other event in the world it would be that it is very similar to the multi-stage A State of Trance events and the ultimate Trance Paradise – Luminosity Beach Festival in the Netherlands. In short, everybody brings their Pure Trance A Game with sets and acts you wouldn’t see anywhere else.
Major highlights? There are too many.
From Day 1 – the legendary Space Brothers, Kai Tracid, Astrix, Giuseppe Ottaviani, Gentech, Yoji, Key4050, Ruben De Ronde and more. Closing the night off of Dream with the always phenomenal Ferry Corsten and Aly & Fila. They never ever disappoint again delivering pure blissful feel-good sets.
From Day 2 – it continued with exclusives from Sean Tyas vs. Menno De Jong, Abraxis (Seven Lions and Dimibo), Fables (Dan Stone & Ferry Tayle), AA Meeting (John Askew and Activa), Joint Operations Centre, to the legends Gabriel and Dresden, and finishing off with the biggest and best surprise of the weekend – A throwback to their Trance Around The World routes from Above & Beyond. This set took me back to the early to mid-2000s and reminded me they were one of the main reasons I fell in love with this wonderful genre in the first place. I could keep writing on about how great Above and Beyond was but better to relive this set here. This is everything to me!
The 2 days went far too quickly because every single stage was pumping. You could easily devise to not have a plan to see specific DJ’s as the music was that good walking from stage to stage. It probably saves you the stress and headaches from missing an act because it will happen at Dreamstate. What topped off this event was The Amazing Californian and American crowd. It’s always been one of my favorite places to go to festivals and raves. The PLUR community so to speak was out in full force. Happy smiling faces all weekend long.
After going to so many events all over the world for the past 15+ years now, I feel blessed that I still get to experience things for the first time.DreamstateSoCal, as expected from the always professional Insomniac team, was another 10/10 event. Thank you once again for giving me more great memories. I can’t wait to see you all again! Until next time, team Insomniac and Dreamstate and EDMLI, signing off!
Review by Guest writer:- Hanz van Rayos
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