I know it’s pretty late for me to be posting this, but I’ve
just been swamped with a lot – school, work, and music stuff. But anyways, even
though it’s been almost 2 months since Beyond Wonderland happened, I think it’s
safe to say that it was just one of those events that everyone can talk about
this whole year, whether you were there for DJ Fei Fei’s controversial dubstep set
at the ASOT stage or you watched Steve Aoki’s crazy live visual set. For me, I
spent my entire stay at Beyond Wonderland at the Chess Village, which was the
bass music stage. It featured the talents of
Fury, Crizzly, MistaJam, Ed Rush and Optical, Magnetic Man, Camo &
Krooked, High Contrast, Andy C, and Netsky.
 |
| Mistajam |
I arrived at Beyond Wonderland near the end of
Crizzly’s set, who played a huge
selection of that filthy dubstep that Los Angeles seemingly loves so much.
Following him was
Mistajam, the
radio personality on BBC Radio 1Xtra. He played a lot of bangers and even had a
sick Snoop Dogg block that got the whole crowd bobbing their heads.
Ed Rush
and Optical came on and tore it up with the dark and heavy drum & bass
after Mistajam and got the whole crowd moving their entire set.
 |
| Magnetic Man (L to R: Benga, Artwork, Skream) |
After a twenty or so minute break,
Magnetic Man, the
dubstep group that consists of legendary dubstep producers Skream, Benga, and
Artwork, graced the stage with their anthemic bass heavy tracks off their
self-titled album (If you didn’t catch my pun, go listen to their album) that
rattled the entire hanger where the stage was located. Their live performance
was definitely one of the best of the evening and I would definitely love to
see them over again, whether it was at another festival or at a smaller venue.
 |
| High Contrast |
After Magnetic Man,
the Hospital Records Takeover
began with the production/DJ duo
Camo & Krooked. They played a ton
of drum & bass bangers, including a majority of their originals and remixes
off their latest LP and remix LP.
High Contrast, the legendary liquid
funk producer and long-time artist for Hospital Records, followed, constantly
bringing the energy up with his uplifting tracks, playing a wide variety of
tracks from years ago to today.
 |
| Andy C: Alive |
Andy C did his ALIVE set with live visuals and a huge
stage set up with projections and his three-deck setup. I’m not going to lie
when I say that Andy C’s set was definitely my favorite of the evening,
bringing the whole crowd on a bass-filled journey through drum & bass, dubstep,
and even electro house.
 |
| Netsky |
Finally, closing out the night was the 21-year-old producer
and DJ,
Netsky. Netsky, who currently seems to be the poster boy for
Hospital Records, played a lot of tracks that he produced along with a wide
variety of tracks that I’m pretty sure you’ve heard if you follow UKF Drum
& Bass’s channel on YouTube much. Although everyone was begging for an
encore at the end of his set, he got cut off when security kicked him out, but
not without a fight. Sgt. Pokes, Magnetic Man’s MC, came on stage and started
up the CDJs, playing Bob Marley’s “Jammin’”, while fighting off the security as
the rest of Magnetic Man and Netsky came on stage to keep the security away
from the decks as long as they could before power to the speakers were cut.
 |
| Sgt. Pokes and Artwork vs. security after Netsky's set |
Overall, Beyond Wonderland is just one of those events that
people go to, not because of the hype, but because they genuinely love the
music and the artists playing. While the rain and frigid temperatures were
definitely a big downside that was out of the control of anyone, all the stages
were either indoors or under tents anyway, so that wasn’t too much of a
problem. With the Electric Daisy Carnival not too far away from now, if Beyond
Wonderland was a small preview for EDC, then I cannot wait to see what Insomniac
Events has in store for those attending EDC!
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