Nocturnal Fest 2009 review

Event - Nocturnal Festival
Date - September 26th, 2009. Saturday
Venue - National Orange Show grounds
City - San bernardino
Time - 5:00pm - 4:00am

A little over a week ago... the 15th annual "Nocturnal Fest" rave, took place. Originally called "Nocturnal Wonderland" but in the recent years, had slightly changed it's name (due to copyright issues, I believe?). For blog readers who don't know much here's a detailed description : Nocturnal is a massive electronic music festival themed around Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland". Nocturnal brings out the biggest name in music & dance to an audience of up to 50,000 enthusiasts. It's a single day event that usually happens around the end of august or sometime in September. There are usually 5 stages with tons of different artists & music genres playing all night. Styles of music including drum n bass, breakbeat, house, trance, progressive, electro, etc. Here's the official trailer :



Biggest Headliner DJ : Ferry Corsten. He's going to be spinning songs from his most recent album, "Twice in a blue moon" (2008). Along with other older popular songs of his



Stages :

"The Labyrinth" - the main & most busiest stage. The biggest headliner DJs' play here. In recent years, trapeze & fire performers have performed above the crowd during the shows.

The Upside Downroom - Usually held in a room in shape of a giant dome, or bubble, giving it the feeling of being inside a giant observatory.

Alice's House - Outdoor stage, located on a huge grass field right next to a man made lagoon. This stage features some very chill & groovy house music vibes.

The Sunken Garden - Room dedicated to the electronic music genre : drum and bass. This room is sort of a mini event that is thrown inside of Nocturnal Wonderland known as "Bassrush". Separate Bassrush events are held at various locations around Los Angeles through out the year.

The Queen's Grounds - The Queen's Grounds include everything that is outdoors. Here you will find everything from carnival rides (started in 2006), fire performances, dancing, various vendors & booths selling clothing, toys, food, etc.

The Big Top Tent (6th stage, recently added to Nocturnal fest 08/09) - Beautifully and over-the-top visuals & lighting. Doesn't have doors and is a huge tent located outside.

Time slots :

THE LABYRINTH:
* 04:00PM - 05:30PM AJ MORRIS
* 05:30PM - 07:00PM JOAQUIN BAMACA
* 07:00PM - 08:30PM FILO & PERI
* 08:30PM - 10:00PM JOHN OO FLEMING
* 10:00PM - 11:30PM RANK1
* 11:30PM - 01:00AM CHRISTOPER LAWRENCE
* 01:00AM - 04:00AM FERRY CORSTEN

THE BIG TOP TENT:
* 04:00PM - 06:00PM KRY-LON
* 06:00PM - 07:45PM LENNY VEGA
* 07:45PM - 09:15PM BART B MORE
* 09:15PM - 10:45PM TREASURE FINGERS
* 10:55PM - 11:55PM GREEN VELVET (Live)
* 12:00AM - 02:00AM LAIDBACK LUKE
* 02:00AM - 04:00AM DIRTY SOUTH

UPSIDE DOWN ROOM:
* 04:00PM - 05:00PM MARCOS
* 05:00PM - 06:30PM PATRICIO
* 06:30PM - 08:00PM KILL THE NOISE
* 08:00PM - 09:30PM FREQ NASTY
* 09:40PM - 10:40PM THE GLITCH MOB (Live)
* 10:45PM - 12:15AM PAUL OAKENFOLD
* 12:25AM - 01:55AM RABBIT IN THE MOON (Live)
* 02:00AM - 04:00AM DJ DAN & DONALD GLAUDE

QUEENS GARDEN:
* 03.30PM - 05:00PM NICKY SAVAGE
* 05.00PM - 08:00PM ELI SMITH
* 08:00PM - 09:00PM DJ FALCON
* 09:00PM - 10:00PM FEADZ
* 10:00PM - 11:00PM BENGA
* 11:00PM - 12:00AM SKREAM
* 12:00AM - 01:00AM SWITCH
* 01:00AM - 02:00AM RUSKO
* 02:00AM - 03:00AM DROP THE LIME
* 03:00AM - 04:00AM FRANKMUSIK

SUNKEN GARDEN:
* 04:00PM - 06:00PM SUBFLO
* 06:00PM - 07:30PM HAZEN
* 07:40PM - 08:40PM EVOL INTENT (Live)
* 08:45PM - 10:00PM SIMON BASSLINE SMITH
* 10:00PM - 11:30PM TC
* 11:30PM - 01:00AM PLANET OF THE DRUMS
* 01:00AM - 02:30AM RONI SIZE
* 02:30AM - 04:00AM PENDULUM

ALICES HOUSE:
* 06:00PM - 08:00PM THE EC TWINS
* 08:00PM - 10:00PM HECTOR ROMERO
* 10:00PM - 12:00AM HARRY “CHOO CHOO” ROMERO
* 12:00AM - 02:00AM SATOSHI TOMIIE
* 02:00AM - 04:00AM DAVID MORALES

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~ The Experience :

worked that day from 7:00am - 3:00pm. Went home to prep up, shower, make some candy bracelets, etc. Johnny came earlier that day while I was at work, to pick up tickets, I had left on my desk in my room. I bought him tickets and he payed me back later. Damn they were expensive! $60, plus a $3 store fee (bought ours at the Dr. Freeclouds DJ record vinyl store in FV). $63. Usually I would love to know early in advance (a month or so), that way I can get cheap presale tickets but friends never know till the week before or last minute if they're going or not. So we end up having to pay full price. Still worth it though.

Quick recap : regarding my rave history & to anybody that knows me well - I started the rave scene in 2002, when I was 15 years old. A sophmore in highschool. Yeah, reallly young! Been going on / off. Sometimes I would take breaks and not go for a long while. I was apart of an 3 online popular messageboards. Iloveraving.com, ravemedia.net, and ravequest.com and went under the name of "liquidoasis". So I was kickin it with them for awhile. Some people my age, and some older. (all sites are currently shutdown due to owners moving out the scene and focusing on their lives & career. you can find old archives of these websites by doing a search on google. there, it includes view pictures from the oldschool days, videos, messageboard postings, etc). Nowadays, there's new rave messageboards where ravers can come talk, but they're all full of spam & forum trolls.

My last rave was Elecric Daisy carnival last year in 2008. been to nocturnal (kinda) before but due to drama with old ex-friends, wasn't let in & headed to a different party. I'm GLAD, I didn't bump into the friends I stop hanging with recently in early '09, that night or else shit would've gone down. (known them for about 2 1/2 years). I can feel my blood boiling & adrenaline pumping, just by thinking about it. tend to stay away from drama if at all possible, and don't mean to start problems, but this situation is different. Anybody that knows me, knows I'm against violence and always try to talk things out before the problem esculates, but there is no use in talking things out anymore with this group. didn't want to get kicked out, and have my money wasted / time wasted. I have a ridiculous amount of HATE & anger towards them. Along with unfinished business. I knew if I saw them, I probably wouldn't be able to contain myself, would definitely get physical, and start a fight. And send them to the nearest hospital ASAP. All for good reasons. Trust me. These people really deserve it. Certain friends & groups come & go, sadly. When you get to know people over periods of time & see who they really are & their true colors, there comes a time when friendships are put to the test. Then comes an ultimate descision. To keep them, or end them. Depending on how much you like or hate them. I'm glad, I left that group. Most of them are immature and need to grow the fuck up. (long story short : we talking about ridiculous freeloaders, gold-diggers, ghetto-acting hoodrats, homewreckers, and shit-talkers who do so for "fun"). They bragged about how they "used me" for rides, alcohol, food, and a ton of other stupid shit. Sorry but I'm not naive (might've been a little at first) and a lot smarter then that. Trying to "talk it out" is just done with. I wouldve KNOCKED OUT some punkass motherfuckers that night!!! If I ran into them. and won't stop till i see some blood. To put them "in-check" and "in-their-place". They're perfect examples of people taking advantage of my "nice-ness". This 5'7 foot guy might be a bit short but he can be one scary fucker, that's for sure. Boy, do they really under-estimate me. I have scars on my knuckles for a reason. Stupid dumbass cunts.


40,000+ people were there that night... but what are the chances? Slim. But very possible, indeed. Definitely a learning experience though. I've been backstabbed by previous old ex-friends & groups, a bit too much in the past. People that have screwed me over just to benefit themselves. It's kinda hard for me to trust people especially now cuz it now takes some time to gain my trust. A lot of people go through this same experience sometime in their life. Shit happens I guess. Alrighty, back on topic! and onto the positive stuff. The nocturnal fest 09 experience...

Left the house around 5:30 pm ish to go pick up friends (Eva & Liz). Physical appearance-wise, kept it low-key. Nothing too dramatic like in the past, (UFO big raver pants & vests without a shirt inside). This time, it was just a pair of blue jeans, a sleeveless shirt, some candy bracelets on my left arm, and visor beanie. I wore a hoodie though, when steppin out of the house just to cover up... or else my mom would start bitchin / questioning... just didn't have the time... TIME TO GO PARTY!! haha. (love you mom though!)

Just gonna side-track off a little. Our parents weren't born here in America, but in Cambodia so I think anybody with parents (all races) who aren't from the states and are out of the country : often, have conservative & strict morals and outlooks on today's society of America. Sometimes even religious (thank god not our parents). People born here in the States have wayy different morals & values. Partying, drinkin, drugs, sex, staying out late, etc is considered a normal part of society but to parents with old traditional values.. it can be considered "corrupted" and anybody into that stuff, are freaks. A simple kind of hairstyle or clothing style can be considered "Trendy & stylish" in our eyes... but in their eyes, different. Get my drift? It sure does piss me the hell off sometimes but hey, it's all good. They may not understand us often. But we, the people of our generation understand them and where they come from. Bottom line : As long as we all get along for the most part, its all good. When it comes to outlooks on life, not only do I view things one way.. but like to view things from both angles & perspectives. Same thing goes towards friends & drama.. Instead of hearing one side only, it's always wise to hear both sides of the story to get the feel for things. Because a more understanding & knowledgeable person = less problems in life & less drama! Yep, it took me a long time to realize that. Some people do, some people don't in their life time. Unfortunately.

First stop : Jamba Juice in Huntington Beach. Then hopping on the 405 S. Freeway merging to several different routes. (55 N, 91 E, 215 N, etc). San Bernardino city is past Steven Lee's house, past the mountains into another area with even more mountains & hills. It takes a little over an hour, to get there. Traffic was bad as expected, and we finally got in around 8:30-9:00pm ish. First we had to meet up with a couple of people, then we explored all the different stages. While giving a lightshow to a friend, some stranger had one of those portable massagers and rubbed my back out of the random blue. It felt real good. Those are illegal though, they take it away from you when the security checks you at the entrance. I wonder how he snook it in? Thanks whoever you are! haha. Oh yeah, there was this one asian dude sitting down by the front of the stage and EVERYBODY was running him over cause they didn't see him. Man.. everybody felt bad! Maybe he had a really bad headache, or was trippin out/overdosing on XTC.. who knows. In a nice polite manner, i told him along with everybody else, to move. Everybody was trying to help him out but he wasn't listening & was compeletly outta it. We even formed a small circle around him, to prevent people from steppin on him. I was out of it, so I gave $3 to my friend to buy him water. I do whatever I can to help people out cuz I believe in karma :) Man, the rave itself was serioussly lacking some security. BARELY saw any. this is wayy retarded. Eventually, he left. Dunno what happened to him. Hope he's alright.

Sometime during the night, we met up with Johnnyball !! in the Labyrinth main stage (back area by the fire-burning statues). never thought I'd see my cousin at a rave or have any other family member "into" the rave scene. haha. What a moment !!! There was so much PLUR in the air (raver's code for Peace.Love.Unity.Respect)!!! We didn't hang around too long, but we did take pictures together. I remember him saying "love you man!!!". in which I replied "Love you too!". There sure was a lot of positive energy & good vibes that night! Hey bro, forgot to give you a lightshow, next time for sure! haha.

Highlights of the night : Rank1 & Ferry Corsten. When Ferry dropped the songs : Fire, punk, L.E.F, I went absolutely fucking crazy!!! Got good spots too. near the front of the mainstage. When he played "We belong", it was a more emotional & epic moment. Not the jumping-up-n-down kinda vibe so most people were just standing there... taking in the epic-ness and putting their hands in the air. Here are a couple of vids I found on youtube, from other people. think the first one is from the bleacher's or VIP booth? It's a sweet view of the main stage & crowd ;)





Highlights in the "Big Top Tent" stage were Bart B More & Treasure Fingers. Definitely the sleeper hit in my opinion. Bart B ended his set with something I never heard before. found out it's called "Baltic Pine - Boy 8-bit". It has this eery, creepy, but awesome kinda of tone to it. Treasure fingers, the group I also had never heard, played another song I thought was awesome. "I'll get you - Clasixx" (treasure fingers remix)". It has a funky / groovy kinda feel to it.



Johnny said Laidback Luke was ROCKIN the Big Top Tent, but unfortunately we weren't there! Here's a clip I found on youtube of luke spinning a remix/mashup of "I gotta feeling - black eyed peas" with an acapella from some other song



And another epic moment that we missed, but thanks people at the party, somebody caught Paul oakenfold's remix of "other side - red hot chilli peppers" on camera



Think everybody was a little dissapointed with the mainstage though. It was a little "plain" with a big stage in the front, and fire burning statues in the far back. No extra lights/lasers hanging from in the middle (side of the stage) lamp-lights to give that certain type of feel. They could've made the lighting/laser show a bit more better, and added video screens to the sides of the main stage like other massives. But the big plus about it though.. is, for the very first time ever in Nocturnal fest history. For 2009, they opened up the racetrack for the main stage. Outdoors, in a wide open spacious area. In the past, the main stage's usually indoors and kinda felt like a big highschool auditorium. So props to the Insomniac crew for doing that. It'd be nice if they had some coolers/smoke blowers though (like in the clubs) to keep the temperatures cool. It was HOT! Everybody was sweating nonstop. I went shirtless throughout the night for a couple of hours. Seems like a lot of other guys did too. Lots of people were showing skin, even the chicks too.

Driving home was dangerous. I felt so deadd tired, and just wanted to crash. I needed a bed ASAP! haha. we danced alll night till our legs were worn out. It took around 40min, JUST to get to the freeway... normally it would take like 5-10 min without traffic but imagine thousands of people trying to leave all at the same time. crazy! haha. and another hour on top of that, on the actual freeway. I remember swirving a couple of times cause I couldn't focus on the road correctly. Just wanted to sleep.. Next time : if we need to, we'll rest in the car, then drive home. Monster Massive is just around the corner (october 31st, saturday). (it'll be my 3rd one). I'm probably going to that? Might be going to Hard Haunted mansion too. (october 30th, friday). and make it a 2 day party weekend, we'll see. If I can get those days requested off for work, or maybe ask to work in the morning/afternoon. Deadmau5 is headlining! He's definitely been getting some serious attention from DJs' from around the globe, along with people. Until then, adios!

Camera used : Sony cybershot DSC-W100, 8.1 megapixels. (slow synchro mode with flash)


Kevster, Eva, Liz, & cousin Johnnyball


main stage - "The Labyrinth"


another view of the Labyrinth main stage from the back/side


the Upside-Down room


outside area


the Big Top Tent stage


another view inside the Big Top Tent stage


crowd shot @ the Labyrinth main stage