I must say that no one does a rave like Insomniac and I’m definitely getting my tickets to Electric Daisy Carnival 2012 after attending their Escape from Wonderland Festival. Friends were saying that we were going to need a break from EDM after raving for over 12 hours to the high energy sets by producers such as Afrojack, Wilkinson with Armanni Reign, Funtcase, Sub Focus with MC ID, Brookes Brothers, Steve Angello, and Pendulum, but we’re still amping at how good they were.
Sorry for the delay but here are our photos and hope you enjoy!
If you don’t have any plans for Halloween weekend yet, you’re late for a very important date fellow party people. Insomniac Events is putting on their first ever “Escape from Wonderland” festival on October 29th and this will most likely be their most visually stimulating production to date. Don’t be fooled into thinking this will be your run-of -the-mill rave with a few die-hards dressed to impress. Expect concert goers to be dressed to the nines, but we think that will just be the tip of this visual iceberg.
Insomniac is pulling out all the stops to have insane performance artists, wildly costumed dancers, and a decor that is sure to make you feel like you’ve just bought a ticket to fall down the rabbit hole. Check out their trailer below and just marvel at the attention to detail in the cinematography. This should tip you off that no expense will be spared in stage design and artist appearances.
But let’s not forget how RIDICULOUSLY HUGE this line up is. I’m not going to deny that I’m most excited to see some drum & bass’ freshest producers such as the Brookes Brothers, Pendulum, Wilkinson, and Subfocus, but that doesn’t downplay some of the other names on the bill such as Steve Angello, Afrojack, ATB, and Benni Benassi.
I know I said that you’re late when I started this post… but an enjoyable Halloween is not out of your grasp. Grab your tickets from one of the Insomniac approved providers and hopefully you’ll catch us at the show so you can grab one of the Noise Train’s body stamps!
So all of us at the Noise Train are still talking about the amazing experience we had during Identity Festival at the Cricket Wireless Amphitheater in Chula Vista, CA and we decided to do one more post that features two more of our favorite performances. We figure that the best way to share our day with you is through this incredible montage of exclusive pics that one of the Noise Train’s contributing photographers, The Bullitt a.k.a. Patrick Flynn, took from around the festival and from the stage.
First up are the shots from Aoki’s main set he did later in the evening. His light up name was completely spell binding and his scaffolding definitely got the crowd’s attention. The other shots of Aoki are from the earlier in the day, as we mentioned in one of our previous posts, because he filled in for Afrojack until he arrived at the venue. Afrojack finally arrived and with their powers combined they absolutely killed it. Check out these shots and let us know what you think! Happy Friday party people.
Finally found some time to reminisce about last week’s Identity Festival in San Diego and it’s giving me the itch to get over to another rave as soon as possible! Though the Noise Train’s arrival to the Cricket Amphitheater was a little delayed, we managed to make it in time for Hercules & Love Affair and Holy Ghost! at the Dim Mak Records stage. It was at these performances that we eased into the festival atmosphere, met a ton of new friends, tagged some ravers with the Noise Train stamp, and broke in our dancing shoes. While these two bands grooved, massive crowds began to pour in, but not before we got some killer shots up close (post to follow with photos from the Bullitt)!
Next stop, Datsik, who stepped up to the tables and went in HARD! Talk about a change of pace from electro rock to mind numbing dubstep. The two-stepping, head bobbing crowd exploded with energy and threw up their hands with every break and drop. This was definitely a personal afternoon highlight and by far the festival’s heaviest dubstep set.
We finally pulled ourselves away from the Dim Mak stage and cruised over to catch Afrojack on the main stage. Apparently even internationally recognized Producer/DJ’s aren’t immune to the hassle of traffic jams. While waiting for Afrojack to make his way to the venue, Steve Aoki dazzled the crowd with an impromptu opener and some exclusive new productions of hard-pounding house. However, as the sun began to set, Afrojack began to “take over control” of the decks with a monstrous set. It was apparent from the vast number of festival attendees, bouncing from the front of the pit to the top of the amphitheater, that this had to be the biggest Identity Fest crowd to amass yet! With our blood still pumping to the beat of Dutch House, we darted off into the night to stop at the RockStar Energy Drink tent and watch Crystal Method deliver a masterful performance.
Crystal Method’s set was mesmerizing to say the least and if you haven’t seen their stage design yet, it’s sure to impress. Custom built by one of Scott and Ken’s buddies, Crystal Method’s gears and instruments were situated upon a welded a light fixture. Just picture a massive, industrial-looking arch that resembles an electronic command station. Take a look at these pics that TCM took at the show last Friday.
With the nightlife rave energy in full swing, Pretty Lights hypnotized the crowd. Playing from a huge LED tower on the main stage, the DJ/Producer lulled festival goers into a rocking trance. Remixes of Pink Floyd, hiphop beats, and uplifting house commanded the crowd’s full attention. All in all, Pretty Lights had the most stunning and stimulating light show at the festival, but the thudding bass of Steve Aoki in the distance drew me back over to the Dim Mak stage.
Whatever you’ve heard about Steve Aoki’s out of control, high-energy sets is completely true. Though he had to fill in for Afrojack earlier in the day, Aoki completely lived up to his reputation and delivered a huge set of nonstop bangers atop his seemingly 100-foot tall scaffolding. Closing his set with Warp, the crowd shouted in unison, “1, 2, WOOP! WOOP!” and got charged up for Kaskade’s headlining set.
Kaskade killed it. Enough said. No but seriously, his set was well worth the wait and his stage design created an intimate ambiance that encapsulated the entire amphitheater. Deep house was one of the first genres that got me into electro music and Kaskade has mastered and perfected by producing and performing its sound. Here’s a little piece he threw together on Youtube that includes both of his performances in San Diego and San Francisco.
Unfortunately we didn’t get to see all the artists at the show and I’m super bummed because this is the second time I missed Nero. Nonetheless, this was definitely the best electro festival to roll across the U.S. this summer and we can’t wait for next year. If you were at any of the Identity shows and have some experiences that you want to share, let us know and leave a comment!
I’ll start this week’s post by saying that Identity Fest was everything we hoped for and so much more! Every artist absolutely killed it and the crowds energy just kept rising and rising throughout the day. Keep checking in with us as one of our new contributors adds some of his festival highlights and photos of the performances including Afrojack, Holy Ghost!, Datsik, Kaskade and more. I’ll also follow up with a full fest review soon but in the meantime, we want to share our appreciation for other electronic dance music fans.
Here’s a few pics of some party people we met at the show! Big up to everyone who sported the Noise Train stamps at the fest!
Did you have an awesome time at any of the Identity shows? Let us know by shooting us a comment! Better yet, send us your pics!
Summer concert season is just heating up and it’s time the Whomping Wednesday series shed some light on the NoiseTrain’s next stop on our summer festival run: Skullcandy’s Identity Festival. With it’s national tour stretching from New Jersey to Seattle, the Identity Crew has organized a line up that’s going to keep North America’s hands in the air all summer long. While their line up my vary from city to city with DJ’s like Kaskade, Pretty Lights, Afrojack, Nero, Skrillex, Booka Shade, Avicii, Rusko, Steve Aoki and Pete Tong dropping in and out of the tour, every show is sure to impress.
If you can’t make it to an Identity show, it’s a bummer but not to worry, their website and a ton of the artists performing are posting photos, videos, blog posts, tweets (@IDENTITYfest) and updates on their incredible app so you can still catch a glimpse of all the fest has to offer from coast to coast.
The NoiseTrain crew is kicking off Labor Day weekend with a massive WHOMP! and rolling down the tracks (literally… we’ll probably take the train down and party the whole way) to the San Diego show at the Cricket Wireless Ampitheater. Hope to see some of you in San Diego and be on the lookout if you want to get stamped with the NoiseTrain logo!
