01.05
Happy new year to everyone from the LA Beat Connection. Thank you for reading our blog and being a part of something new and fun. We are continuing to develop and grow and 2010 is promising to be big for our blog. Stay with us!
I’m not sure when spring officially starts but now that TAO is over we can look forward to the next few months to see what is in store for LA.
There’s a lot in store. The store is expanding to fit the new merchandise.
When usually there is just one big festival (How Sweet It Is), now there are 3 so far – one in January, February, and March. There are also smaller events being put on almost every other weekend – for a good idea on when and where those are I would recommend checking out Plurlife.com‘s event calendar. We may give previews of those events as they come but for now here is a quick rundown of the three big ones this spring:
HUMANITY FESTIVAL – January 16th, Riverside Convention Center
WARNING: This website has a loud voiceover that’s either hard or impossible to turn off. Call me a grampa but that’s annoying.
This event is only in its second edition but it is sure to gather a large crowd because there is a huge rave scene in Riverside/Orange/San Bernardino County. Boredom in the suburbs means young concertgoers flocking to the new Riverside Convention Center to see what’s in store. The line-up is not 100% familiar to me, but there are a few faces that jumped out at me who I would love to see live.
Crystal Method is the first one that jumps out – I saw them live at EDC and they blew my mind. They are the headliners at this event and their big beat, trippy sound will definitely take everyone for a spin. If you think you’re not familiar with their music, think again. Their sounds can be heard in tons of movies and commercials and unless you’ve been living under a rock, the sound sample “I guess I didn’t know…” should ring a bell. I’m talking of course about their hit song: Busy Child. (Clip: Crystal Method at EDC)
Others that I recognize are house DJs Thomas Gold and Darbruck & Klein. The latter are the masterminds behind the remix of Energy 52′s Cafe Del Mar that’s played by practically every DJ (it’s a crossover hit, similar to Spencer and Hill’s remix of PVD’s Angel, that’s played everywhere). Also on the bill is Electro DJ Eli Smith. He is a So Sweet Records artist (remember our interview with them last fall?) who will surely throw down an intense electro set.
For more information check out the festival’s web site. Tickets are $40, which I would say is a bit steep for this type of event but would be worth it to see Crystal Method! They are amazing.
THE AWAKENING – February 20, Hollywood Palladium
Insomniac is throwing another semi-large event in between the big massives in LA. Last fall it was Kaskade and Deadmau5, this spring it’s going to be ATB and Infected Mushroom. To be honest, as much as I liked hearing Infected at EDC, their psy-trance is a little bit out of sync with the rest of the artists on Insomniac’s bills. I’m sure there are one or two psy-trance fans over at Insomniac who insist on adding them to line-ups but seriously… going from ATB’s chill-out trance and progressive house to Infected’s intense psy-trance is a bit much (it would be even worse going the other way).
That being said, I wish I was going to this event (can’t make it due to personal circumstances). I love ATB. His live sets have gotten better and better over the past couple of years. For a good example, check his set out at Sunrise Festival this summer. He teases the crowd with 9PM throughout the whole set keeping them excited, and also drops One More Time by Daft Punk raising the energy to another level! ATB is a master of those random, unexpected drops which I believe make him an exceptional DJ. I remember how surprised we were to hear him suddenly stop the music and play Smells Like Teen Spirit in the middle of Lovefest 2 years ago. Me, Rob and our friends all loved it!!!
The event is booked 9-4 and there are only 2 artists on the bill so far so keep your eyes peeled for other additions to the line-up.
BEYOND WONDERLAND – March 20, NOS Center in San Bernardino
Insomniac is bringing back their Alice in Wonderland theme for another event at the Nos Center. This is a “sister” event with Nocturnal Wonderland in the fall so expect a similar theme/setup. The line-up features a lot of Insomniac regulars – Paul Van Dyk is back in California again (been a while hasn’t it?) to bang out another one of his creative and complex Ableton sets. Expect the usual – progressive and epic hard-hitting trance. One of my favorites, Sander Van Doorn, is also on the line-up. From what I have heard, he threw down quite a show at his Halloween Dusk til Doorn event at Vanguard. Expect tech-house and tech-trance mixed in with progressive tracks. So good! Hope this is a sign of more SVD to come to LA in the future.
Other notables include Bart B More who plays techno and tech house and has come out with some really good remixes. His set will be super intense, similar to a Laidback Luke performance, I would think. One of my favorites: his electro-style remix of “Bring the Noise”. There are also house DJs John Dahlback, Sander Kleinenberg, and Robbie Riviera, all of whom are sure to come out with guns blazing. Also look out for Groove Armada and Drum and Bass legend Goldie.
This is definitely yet another house-heavy line-up from Insomniac – looks like that’s the direction things are going these days. Which means I’ll be going in the direction of Circus Disco to get my trance fix. But I don’t really mind hearing some house over the speakers at the main stage. Bring it on! Unfortunately I’m, again, not likely to bring it on to San Bernardino just because I don’t want to get a hotel out there or drive… but who knows I might make a last minute spur of the minute decision.
Well folks, that’s your spring preview for the day. Let us know on Twitter or leave a comment if you plan on going or went to one of these events and want to share your thoughts.
As for me, I’m off to finally finish my top of 2009 mix as well as make some plans for this blog in 2010. Big things are on their way!!!
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