LONG BEACH, CA – On the weekend before Thanksgiving, over 20,000 trance enthusiasts descended upon the iconic waterfront venue The Queen Mary for a weekend filled with euphoric beats and trancey treats. The event producers Insomniac pulled off another successful year of this highly anticipated and niche event. Attendees enjoyed two days of the awe-inspiring music, art, and culture, dancing synchronized with the electric vibes of Trance, Progressive House, and Psytrance. There were some areas of improvement in the festival layout and design, but there were also several aspects of the festival that improved from previous years, which did not go unnoticed by the attendees.
The stunning Queen Mary Waterfront against the backdrop of downtown Long Beach
📷: Insomniac Events
The venue
Dreamstate SoCal moved from the NOS Event Center this year, to its new aquatic home on the docks of Long Beach. The venue offered an enchanting view of the Long Beach skyline on the water, as well as the charming view of The Queen Mary, a large steamboat that hosted the after-party and hotel rooms. I felt that the views fit nicely with Dreamstate’s utopic city of the future theme.
Many attendees expressed their concern on social media about the new venue, given its limited space, no megastructures for stages. Despite these concerns, I found that there was no sound bleed between stages. There was often sound bleed at NOS Event Center, and Insomniac did a good job fixing this issue with their outdoor stages by placing large stacks of shipping containers in between each stage. On social media, many attendees expressed that they appreciated the new venue, as it is in a safer neighborhood than San Bernardino. They also loved the after-party that was on a boat and having the option to rent rooms on-site.
The Vision Stage sets the night alight.
📷: Insomniac Events
Although the new venue felt more cramped than the NOS Event Center, there were some improvements. The weather for one was warmer, which is a plus since Dreamstate was freezing cold last year. However, the lack of roofs over the Dream and the Sequence stages meant that attendees had to put up with rain during the event. The Sequence stage area was very muddy and slippery. I slipped and fell once due to the muddy puddles and saw other attendees fall as well. Wear shoes with good traction!
📷: Insomniac Events
Parts of the venue felt unsafe when it was overcrowded, especially the tunnel and bridge that connected The Void stage to the rest of the festival. The bridge had steep metal stairs that got slippery in the rain. Thankfully by the second day the festival opened up the tunnel to go both ways so that attendees could pass between stages more safely.
Getting to the venue was a long 1.5 mile (or more) hike from the parking lots, and perhaps an even longer wait on shuttles since the lines were so long. One upgrade however was the abundance of rental electric scooters available, which made getting to the venue a lot easier. Getting through security was also a breeze in my experience.
The Dream stage displays its impressive visuals to a crowd of trance hungry festival goers.
📷: Insomniac Events
The Stages
In some ways, the stages felt like a significant downgrade from their previous grandeur. It’s hard to beat the Dreamstate main stage design from 2021. Still, this year’s main stage felt like something was lacking, even compared to 2022’s main stage. This year’s stage had a very basic 3 rectangle LED panel design. The lasers were confined to project onto a tiny strip of fabric on a tent behind the crowd. Compared to the multiple arrays of speakers, lasers, and screens at NOS Event Center, I was disappointed by the main stage.
The psytrance-fueled Sequence stage delivers intense beats to a wild crowd.
📷: Insomniac Events
The Void and The Vision stages had interesting and captivating designs, yet they still seemed smaller compared to previous years. Lasers were limited to small arrays, and the LED displays seemed to have a low resolution. The Sequence Stage had the best visuals and laser array in my opinion, as there was a wider area of trees for the lasers to project on. The visuals, pyro effects, and lighting were also impressive, but not nearly as awe-inspiring as last year’s Sequence stage.
The Void stage catered to people looking for tech and harder trance.
📷: Insomniac Events
One redeeming factor of this year’s stages was the sound quality. With no sound bleed, crystal clear audio, and chest-rattling bass, I heard a large improvement in the audio this year. The rattling metal of indoor stages and megastructures was gone. The sound quality at The Sequence stage was crystal clear and perfect volume in most parts of the crowd. However, the sound quality in some parts of the crowd at The Dream and the Void stages sounded drowned in bass, with not enough treble to appreciate those melodic high notes of many trance anthems. The main stage was also far too loud at times. Despite having room for improvement, I would take this year’s direction towards attention to sound quality over previous years’ more impressive stage designs any day.
📷: Insomniac Events
The Music
Like every insomniac festival, the lineup for Dreamstate is always top-notch. With the after-parties, pre-parties, and main festival lineup, it was possible to get a taste from every corner of Trance, Psy-Trance, and everything in between. The Dreamstate lineup seems a little bit recycled from year to year, and I would love especially to see more variety from lesser known trance and psytrance labels, like international acts that we haven’t seen on the Dreamstate lineup before such as Neelix, Vermont, The Blizzard, and more.
I was able to catch high-energy and gripping psytrance sets from Astrix, Captain Hook, Infected Mushroom, and Ace Ventura. I also enjoyed several emotionally captivating trance and progressive house sets from the likes of Paul Van Dyk, Jerome Isma-ae, Gareth Emery, and more.
📷: Insomniac Events
VIP & Vendors
The VIP sections of the festival seemed like a big upgrade. All 4 stages had a VIP section this year, with their own dedicated bars and bathroom trailers. The VIP section at the main stage and the sequence stage featured a canopy with couches. There seemed to be considerably more seating available than last year, but only in the VIP section. The VIP concierge station offered VIP free laminates, chapstick, tampons, candy, and WiFi.
The prices of alcohol at Dreamstate was egregious, with most cocktails and drinks costing upwards of $30 and $40. A filling meal would cost a minimum of $20. There was a good variety of food vendors, with vegan options available. There was a small row of about five merchandise vendors, as well as an official Dreamstate merch booth.
📷: Insomniac Events
The Vibes
Dreamstate has always been praised for its welcoming crowd and positive vibes. The people I met all had smiles and their faces and were friendly. This year, I noticed a little bit more pushing and shoving, and little less “excuse me’s” than last year, but that could have been just my experience. The performers. geometric art pieces, lights, and views at the venue created an ambiance that really added to the vibe. Ground Control was also present to make sure attendees were having a safe and happy experience.
Overall, Dreamstate was successful at creating a destination that would not disappoint trance addicts from across the country. The experience left me craving more, wishing it was a 3-day camping event. I also craved the more grandiose production found at previous years of Dreamstate and other Insomniac festivals like EDC and Nocturnal Wonderland. Despite my desire for improvement in some areas, at the end of the day it is the music, the community, and the vibes that will keep me coming back to this beloved festival year after year.
