The rabbit hole has come and gone. This marks the end of the annual Beyond Wonderland Bay Area presented by Insomniac. This year's fourth edition returned to the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View and brought 40 artists over the span of two days. The event covers the grounds without using the Amphitheater, to show their full imagination in creating a world of its own. Decked out with three stages, art installations, costume performers and even a chill out zone – this year showed that there is no stopping the dance music scene in the San Francisco Bay Area.
As Day 1 kicked off, attendees were welcomed with the massive 174 foot Queens Domain with the caterpillar sitting atop the mushroom that has become very familiar with the crowd. In anticipation for Arty’s new album Glorious, fans at the entrance were greeted with interactive art to create their own version of the album cover. Tucked behind Queen’s Domain was Mad Hatter's Castle hosted my Laidback Luke’s Super You & Me. While both stages were usually packed all day long, on the hill overlooking a lot of the festival was Cheshire Woods hosted by Bassrush. Cheshire Woods felt like another world of its own with the bass heads glad to be a little off the grid. Friction took the stage to welcome to crowd with drum and bass straight from the UK. Nothing really captures a moment more than the sound of soothing bass lines trembling the crowd into a roar. Over at the Mad Hatter’s Castle, Laidback Luke has his stage in a frenzy with top-notch pyrotechnics and light shows.
It was interesting to see this new layout of the map being put to the test to see if it all worked accordingly. I was a bit disappointed that there was no art car for a bit of the small intimate vibes, but Cheshire Woods seemed to fill that gap. Knife Party followed by Calvin Harris ended day one at Queen’s Domain and before I knew it, Saturday was a wrap.
Sunday had begun and for my enjoyment the weather was cooler. Crisp air from the Bay Area breeze had all of us ready for today's adventure. For fans looking for trance, Cheshire Woods had you covered. Although for everyone else, each stage had their own favorites. A big highlight of the day was The Magician's set for the seemingly last hour of sunlight. The crowd and energy were unreal and by far made my day. As the night came in fast, I was back at Cheshire for Simon Patterson followed by a two-hour Markus Schulz set. While the Trance Family was at their home, Tiesto took over Queen's Domain for the last hour of the show while Bingo Players had Mad Hatter’s Castle going rampant.
This year’s edition of Beyond Wonderland Bay Area showed that there is always something for everyone. While we all continually wait for next year, Insomniac has your Halloween plans covered with BOO! San Francisco, on October 30th & 31st at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium and for SoCal, Escape: Psycho Circus, October 30-31 at the NOS Events Center. Thank you to everyone involved and we will see you next time!
