SAN BERNARDINO – Nocturnal Wonderland has been a highly anticipated event in California for over 20 years, and on this past Saturday Nocturnal proved to be absolutely massive.
Nocturnal was hosted by Insomniac, for the first time at San Bernardino’s San Manuel Amphitheater and along with the venue it proved to be the thousands of attendees’ EDM paradise.
“London raves are nothing compared to here, I absolutely love this,” said Aaks Bharania from London.
People from all over the nation from the ages of 18 to 40 could be found at Nocturnal.
For the first time the event offered a two-night camping experience so people could linger for an extra day before going home.
“Music is good for the people, it’s going to be awesome,” said Joe Smith who drove from Arizona to attend the event.
The music was so hypnotic and dynamic, it’s no wonder why thousands of fans gathered for a night of trinity and wonder. DJs such as Benny Benassi, Dash Berlin, Krewella, Bingo Players, and others entertained the audience with trance, trap, house, and electric music.
Krewella rocked their performance by playing a few favorites such as “Live for the Night” and “Alive”. The crowd went crazy when Krewella introduced their new song that released on Tuesday.
Dash Berlin was one of the closing acts and his music was a lovely trance rhythm that had everyone singing and dancing along. He played his “Jar of Heart” remix that left a few people in tears, he also played “Steal you Away” and “Fool for Life”. He interacted with the crowd quite well, having them sing back his lyrics and fist pumping in the air quite profusely.
Benny Benassi’s set was disappointing, his music was too slow and it couldn’t keep the audience interested or make the audience go crazy like Dash Berlin did. If Benny Benassi didn’t show I’m sure not many fans would be disappointed.
The setting was intriguing, similar to the Electric Daisy Carnival Vegas setup, its design literally sent you into a different world.
At the Labyrinth stage stood an animated tree, a Buddha-like owl stood at the Sunken Garden, gleaming lanterns varying from different colors shined throughout the park.
Different types of graffiti art was spread throughout the site, and everywhere there were people dressed in both creative and tasteless costumes.
The people were as outgoing as most of their costumes, many sporting conservative to revealing outfits. But the most refreshing thing was the people were nice and outgoing. Many of the people would also give out bracelets if someone would act out the peace, love, unity, and respect motions.
Raves have been given bad names due to a lot of skeptical people hearing about drug overdoses and rumors of being pricked with infected needles. But that’s not what these events are for. They’re meant for people to come together to escape from reality, listen to music and enjoy positive vibes.
Insomniac CEO Pasquale Rotella noted, “We go above and beyond other festivals, we do everything that needs to be done and we’re proud of it, and we will continue to improve our operations as new methods of keeping these events safer.”
