I didn’t mean do go to this one, I swear. But a friend hooked it up with a ticket at the last minute, and next thing I knew, I was headed out to poop town San Bernardino again. I just can’t get enough of this sorry ass city. As we arrived, I was a tad more excited and nervous than I usually am. Ever since the nightmare HARD Summer 2009, I become a huge worry wort when I arrive at an event that is using a new venue. Never the less, up the hill we went as we approached the entrance to Wonderland.

Pros about the San Manuel Amphitheater:

Security was quick and friendly. I was literally thrown inside the venue (playfully). Once I was inside we were greeted with free cupcakes. BOOYAH! Then, I went to have a beer before we got to the stages, figuring it would be served in those little cups. To my surprise the beers were served in tall cans. Now I am fired up, you don’t even know. Not only was I essentially getting two beers at once, I didn’t really have to worry about it spilling out of a flimsy, plastic cup.

THIS IS HOW WE RAVE

Once we exit the food court, we find ourselves walking around on grass…?? Whoa, this was actually kind of like a Wonderland, instead of a huge parking lot. We roamed around for a bit so we could check out all the stages. With the exception of one stage, the production and sound was great. The main stage was EDC-esque.

Cons:

The sound at the second largest stage was a bit off. Also, this did not affect us, but some people were stuck in the parking lot for hours after the event. We left around 1:45am, and except for a train that we had to wait for, our escape from the parking lot was easy-breezy. I am sure Insomniac will address the sound issue, but I honestly cannot think of a way to fix the parking fiasco. Oh well, I will return to the venue until the problem actually affects me, personally.

Highlights

Markus Schulz

This hot ass boy threw down my favorite set of the night. It was my first time seeing Markus, and needless to say I was not let down. The “Unicorn Slayer” wasn’t just slaying unicorns. He was taking their horns off of the front of their heads and butt fucking everyone with them. He was only given an hour, and he definitely made the most of it. He was absolutely relentless. My favorite track that he played was, “Apache” by Fisherman & Hawkins. This is some real RAAAVE MOOOOOOOOSIIICCCC!!!!

This was also my first time hearing his hit, “Loops and Tings” live.

One of the br0s from EDM MAAAdddDDDdnnNNNeesssssSSS recorded most of his set. SHOUTZ!

Chuckie

DJ Chuckie is back!! MC Chuckie stayed home for the most part (good thing). Chuckie played almost entirely new music, and barely got on the microphone to yell things at us. He was in the zone. This set reminded me why he has been one of my favorite DJs for years.

Julian Jordan

I haven’t heard much from this guy since he co-produced “Kangaroo” with Sander Van Doorn. He is only 16, or 17, so we had to go show love to one of the boy kings. I thoroughly, enjoyed his set, and would love to see a tracklist… (**dare to dream**) He played a lot of music that sounded familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. It was also the first time I heard “Move” by my br0 Sidney Samson played on a big system. Shit was TU!!

Quick Notes:

• Crizzly performing on the discovery project stage was ratchet as fuck.
• Maceo Plex was super duper cool in the techno tent… I was really geekin’ out to that shit.
• Trent Cantrelle is still boring.

Beyond Wonderland 2013: SUCCESS!