The weekend before Thanksgiving and Black Friday, Trance music lovers from all over came to Dreamstate SoCal at NOS Center in San Bernardino, CA. This two-day festival taking place November 19-20th was filled with amazing acts, nostalgic sounds, and entrancing visuals. Respect My Region was able to make it out to the first day of Dreamstate SoCal to see a few legendary artists perform.
Insomniac Events outdid themselves yet again when it came to the festival grounds and memorable stages. This “Trancegiving” was something special due to their unique lineup curation and expanded festival footprint. After skipping its 2020 edition, Dreamstate came back even bigger with an additional stage titled “The Void.” This stage towards the festival’s entrance had deeper progressive music on day one.
Accompanying “The Void” were Dreamstate’s usual three stages. “The Sequence” stage had more of the festival’s psychedelic sounds, while “The Vision” showcased more experimental electronic music. Finally, “The Dream” was Dreamstate’s main stage and had the festival’s biggest acts performing.
Respect My Region’s team found themselves swept up in a community of diehard Trance and House music fans. Between the decadent costumes and totems from attendees to the intricate stages and performers, there was a lot to take in. Considering we had just been to EDC Las Vegas a month prior, this felt like a more concentrated celebration. Regardless, we met countless kind people and danced late into the night.
Night 1
Stepping foot into NOS Event Center felt like walking into an alternate dimension. We were not expecting to see such expansive festival grounds out in the middle of San Bernardino. In Insomniac’s typical flair, lights and art installations were visible as far as the eye could see.
Immediately, we went up to the giant display of the festival grounds and lineup for the weekend. It’s a good idea to take a picture for navigation and setlist timing purposes. Cell phone service isn’t always great at these event centers and this is the most reliable way to catch your favorite acts and move between stages.
Maneuvering around from stage to stage, our team was fortunate to capture valuable live-stream footage of DJs and performers. Standout performances from the night undoubtedly came from Astrix, Alpha Portal, Paul Van Dyk, Jorn Van Deynhoven, and of course, Darude. The legendary “Sandstorm” producer threw down heavily at The Vision stage and spun an eclectic and nostalgic mix. Darude was an entry point into electronic music for many of our team, so his performance was that much more special. Be on the lookout for our exclusive interview with this iconic Trance producer.
Night 2
Respect My Region actually came out to Insomniac’s Audiotistic San Diego festival for the remainder of the weekend. But, it’s still worth mentioning the incredible DJs that took over on night two of Dreamstate SoCal. Attendees came out again in full force to see performances from the likes of Vini Vici, Infected Mushroom, Allen Watts, Liquid Soul, Solarstone, Genix, and Alpha9.
Performers
For all of Insomniac’s larger festivals, they always bring performers to accompany the musical acts. Throughout the festival, you could find groups of women in extravagant winged outfits posing at the entrance for photos and around different areas of the grounds. Additionally, we were happy to see Insomniac’s notorious LED Acrobats bouncing around by The Dream stage on enormous trampolines.
Amuse at Dreamstate SoCal
Amuse, California’s premier cannabis delivery service could be found with a booth at Dreamstate giving out branded merch goodie bags. We found out that Amuse may become Insomniac’s event partner for cannabis retail. Since launching their own cannabis brand, RNBW, there’s been talk of them selling it at events. Amuse might become the missing piece to that puzzle, allowing attendees 21+ to purchase and consume cannabis at Insomniac events.
Thank You Insomniac Events!
We can’t thank the Insomniac team enough for allowing the Respect My Region team to come out and enjoy their incredible festival experiences. Dreamstate SoCal was a deep dive into the tight-knit Trance community, and it was all love and positivity. The fact that we had VIP access only made the experience more comfortable and enjoyable. Visit our YouTube and TikTok for exclusive festival footage.
