Nocturnal Wonderland… Insomniac… need I say more!?! These guys [Insomniac] know how to throw a party! I’ve been dancing with them since some of their first events in SoCal like The Electric Daisy Carnival at the Shrine Auditorium in downtown LA with Rabbit in The Moon headlining. This year, the big names headlining this multi-stage festival at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino were Gabriel & Dresden, Sebastian Ingrosso, Showtek, Cosmic Gate, Kaskade, Green Velvet, and Mark Knight. Mark Knight played in the Upside Down room and this is where I spent most of the night when I wasn’t backstage at Alice’s House.
Mark Knight’s signature Toolroom Records sound was abundant and plentiful in his set as he played new tunes spliced in with acapellas shouting, “let’s go” over classic tunes like Dubfire’s “Roadkill” and Dave Spoon’s bootleg of La Roux vs Wolfgang Gartner “Yin for the Kill.” The visuals in the upside down room were trippy with animated stencil-like images and progressive, forward-thinking, counter-culture words, clips, and phrases coming at you at a frantic pace. The wall of speakers was boomy and plenty loud and this was the only room at the NOS Events Center that had “that” underground warehouse vibe. There couldn’t have been more than two or three hundred people in this room, but this was where the vibe was at and where the true tech-house heads had come to dance. While Alice’s House and the trance stage (Labyrinth) were packed with thousands of ravers, the Upside down room was the stark contrast where people came not to get juiced with the lights and pyrotechnics but with vibe of an underground. Mark Knight turned down the music and let one of his tracks fade out as the lights came up with fans in the crowd chanting “one more, one more.” One more we got, but not before security had come to shut down the party and escort everyone out just a few minutes later.
For me, the night was just beginning, it was only 2am. This was the time I remember as a teenager that I would drive out to raves in San Bernardino. Now with a 2am curfew, you have to arrive before 6pm to really get your money’s worth. While the Upside Down room had closed, the other stages were still going. The lights and attractions outside the stages on the fairgrounds were beautiful. The colors of the rainbow and colors of the Eastern Kundalini Yoga chakra system lit up the sky. Art installations like the tree of lights and “el pulpo mechanico” (aka the steampunk octopus from Burning Man) spit fire to a mesmerized crowd while wild, carnival rides spun quickly in 360 degree angles and circles. Free water bottle refill stations were abundant and you could even get a burrito, quesadilla, tacos, or a pizza. Nocturnal Wonderland t-shirts and hoodies were for sale with cash registers with Visa and MasterCard logos ready for payment. Cocktails, beers, waters, and sports drinks were all for sale. Practically the only vendors I didn’t see that I would expect to see at an epic event of this magnitude were massage therapists.
Highlights other than Mark Knight that I got to catch briefly were the tall, stilt-walking performers made out of tree leaves, completely covered in ivy-like leaves, like forest creatures. As I stood on the side of the stage at Alice’s House, the forest creatures came in with Alice herself (the star of the show). They circled her as if on the hunt for Alice, but she did not seem afraid. She welcomed everyone to Nocturnal Wonderland and Sebastian Ingrosso kicked it up a notch with his high charged electro house and progressive house festival anthems. Highlights in his set included the crowd singing in unison to “Leave the World Behind” and “Save the World.” All the people I met that night were super –friendly and many of them stopped to take pictures with my green-fairy princess wife Monica and our pink haired-pink tutu-toting friend Reesie. I took a picture with the white rabbit right before I realized I was late for a date with Mark Knight in the Upside Down Room.
With so many costumes and characters it almost feels like every Insomniac event is a Halloween or Disney production. Whatever occasion or event, Insomniac truly brings it back home to the magical, wonderful world of make-believe by pushing the boundaries and walls of how far and deep the rabbit hole goes. In this life, I prefer to take the “red pill” and stay in wonderland for just a little while longer; counting down the days to “Escape from Wonderland…”
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