Insomniac Wraps Up their 30th Anniversary with Exceptional Edition of Countdown NYE [Event Review]

That’s a wrap on 2023. Insomniac, the foremost promoter of North America West Coast raves, simply capped off their 30th anniversary yr with Countdown NYE on the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino. Featuring unbelievable performances from Tiësto, Oliver Heldens, Kayzo, Eli Brown, the Chainsmokers, deadmau5, Porter Robinson and lots of extra; all amongst the theme of an impending alien invasion. This yr’s Countdown simply obtained even larger and higher, as Insomniac all the time appears to do.

As per common Countdown was held on the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino, so if you happen to’ve been to a different Insomniac competition there, it’s a fairly straightforward place to navigate. Headliners had been greeted by a photograph opp that includes the invading Lazer Rayz in addition to the Ravebots from final yr’s version of Countdown. Insomniac once more comes by way of with a brilliant immersive atmosphere that includes all types of alien performers, alien craft and only a common feeling like you might be within the Twilight Zone. It’s all in good enjoyable of course, the principle hazard is alien probing.

The levels and manufacturing had been larger than ever. The primary stage at Countdown is the Mothership and it’s a gigantic display within the form of a flying saucer outfitted with a mind-blowing quantity of lasers and pyro stacks alongside the underside half of the stage. While it will be kinda cool if there was a large alien behind the stage, just like the Grimm at Escape, there’s one thing to be stated for simply blowing away the group with the utmost quantity of lighting, colour and lasers.

The second stage was Nebula and it was primarily a mini model of the Mothership. The display on the stage was extra trapezoidal, however it was the identical idea, full with lasers and pyro. The third stage was Area 51 which hosted Bassrush for the weekend. Head bangers had been handled to sick stage design that includes screens formed like capsules with aliens floating in suspension had been broadcast on the stage.

One main change from Escape was that the Factory 93/Insomniac Records stage, the Twilight Zone (not the present) obtained moved indoors to 1 of the hangars close to the south half of the NOS Center. Not solely had been the vibes on level, however an indoor stage could be very welcome when the climate is on the colder aspect. (Sidenote: This was the very best climate I’ve skilled at Countdown in so long as I can bear in mind. See final yr’s recap.) A fifth stage, Galactik Gate, was additionally added. It was an out of doors stage simply south of the lagoon, the place the Psycho Circus is often positioned for Escape. It hosted Space Yacht and Lost in Dreams over the weekend. While I didn’t catch a set at this stage, it appeared prefer it was going off each time I walked by.

As all the time, the lineup was completely stacked. And, heading into 2024, it appeared like all of the artists had been embracing laborious techno and laborious dance on the whole. For Saturday I made a decision that I wished to discover as many levels as I might and that I might attempt and take a look at some artists whose units I don’t often get to catch. I arrived simply in time for Morten’s set on the Mothership and met a good friend, and identical to that, the weekend was off! Morten dropped a bunch of his Future Rave hits and simply introduced unbelievable vitality.

After that, I knew that I needed to get some techno in, so I headed to the Twilight Zone and caught some of Layton Giordani’s set. Like I discussed earlier than, the indoor stage was such a pleasant change of tempo, and heated too! After that I headed again to the Mothership for Mau P’s set. Hard to consider it’s been a yr because the Dutch producer burst onto the scene with “Drugs from Amsterdam.” Fast ahead a yr later and his set was stuffed with different hits together with “That Bounce” and “Metro.”

Next, Alison Wonderland took the stage, and that is the place the laborious techno actually took over. She began out with some of her extra old fashioned entice stylings and her psychedelic visuals had been thoughts blowing. Eventually although, the thumping kick drums of her laborious techno took over. Here’s hoping for extra of this from Alison in 2024.

I headed over to the Nebula stage for 4B x JSTJR they usually dropped an unrelenting set stuffed with laborious techno. The intro was truly JSTJR’s simply launched single, “Bassline.” These two understood the task and delivered possibly essentially the most energetic set of the weekend.

Although, that honor would possibly go to the person who adopted them on the Nebula stage, Kayzo. Kayzo completely killed it with a powerful and modern set of laborious dance music. This man dropped every part, heavy dubstep, hardstyle, laborious techno, hardcore, Kayzo placed on an absolute masterclass.

For Day 2, I just about simply planted myself on the primary stage, the lineup was too stacked. SOFI TUKKER began the evening off they usually had been unbelievable. They mainly went from their hit with John Summit “Sun Came Up” into blistering techno, all of the whereas their backup dancers introduced the vitality. This was the right set to kick issues off on New Year’s Eve.

One of the quirks of Countdown is the generally unusual scheduling, since high tier artists are in all probability taking part in a number of exhibits. That’s why the Chainsmokers took the stage at 6:40 PM and completely packed out the Mothership. Having simply buzzed his hair, Drew and Alex, unchanged, took the stage and mesmerized the group with a set that integrated all of their basic hits like “Don’t Let Me Down”, “Paris”, “Closer” and “Something Just Like This” with a range of drops and mashups throughout the spectrum. Techno, psy-trance, drum & bass, Alex & Drew threw all of it down. Oh, and of the course, the lasers.

After that Oliver Heldens took the stage, and he blew the group away with a combination of some Oliver Heldens classics, some new Hi-Lo tracks, and every part in between that Oliver all the time incorporates into his units. His remixes of “Push Up” and Dua Lipa’s “Let’s Get Physical” had been additionally highlights. Finally, deadmau5 was up on the principle stage, and he stored the nice occasions going. Joel opened issues up with some darkish techno, however finally he began mixing in all of the deadmau5 classics, from classics like “Some Chords”, “Channel 43”, “The Veldt”, and, of course, “Ghosts N’ Stuff”.

I lastly broke from the principle stage to take a look at APASHE’s set at Area 51, and, oh boy, the classically skilled entice lord didn’t disappoint. The Belgian-Canadian producer confirmed why his mix of classical and digital is on the leading edge. It’s all of the vitality of a dubstep set with the exact musicality and instrumentation of a John Williams’ rating. 10/10 advocate trying out APASHE if he visits your city.

From there, there was no query the place I used to be going to ring in 2024. At the Mothership stage with Porter Robinson. This was Porter’s first look at Countdown since he closed out 2019’s version. The fan favourite didn’t disappoint, dropping some of his classics from his Worlds interval, together with “Easy” and “Language” at midnight. After that Porter thrilled with some laborious dance tunes. At one level, he informed the group, “I know you like ‘Shelter’ but we’ve got 10 more minutes of rawstyle before that.” What a approach to herald the New Year.

There you’ve gotten it, Insomniac continues to dominate. Even with no scarcity of choices on one of the largest get together nights of the yr, Insomniac nonetheless managed to tug collectively one of essentially the most spectacular lineups of any competition that went on this weekend. Countdown 2023 was enterprise as common for Insomniac. I’d count on nothing lower than excellence in reside occasions in 2024. Beyond Wonderland can be returning to the NOS Events Center in March, and tickets are additionally out there for EDC Las Vegas in May. Keep following Insomniac’s socials for updates on festivals in Southern California.