By Raphael Dunn |Staff Writer|
This past Memorial Day weekend, I was given a ticket by Insomniac Events to cover their event RARE at the National Orange Show (NOS) Events Center here in San Bernardino.
The event took place on May 24 and was designed, curated, and executed by DJ Carnage in partnership with Insomniac.
The event had a massive turnout, which led to me waiting in a packed line for almost two hours with a slew of bass and trap heads, which is a blend of rap, hip hop and electronic sounds.
Once inside, I could already hear engaging, booming sounds coming from one of the first acts, which was Brillz.
He immediately set the tone for the night when he brought out guest, Ghastly, to continue their combos of thumping drum kick sounds.
The whole crowd was already in full party mode by the time Carnage’s special guest, French Montana, hit the stage, dropping famous tracks like “Pop That” and “Ain’t Worried About Nothin’.”
Personally I was most excited to see the band Yellow Claw and can assure you that they did not disappoint.
Their engagement with the crowd along with insane laser shows made for some intense drops in famous tracks like “Kaolo.”
By midnight, the dance floor was packed to the brim with people waiting to see Carnage, the man of the hour.
While closing out the night, he played a wide variety of tracks including originals like “Michael Jordan,” “Bricks” and “I Like Tuh.”
Throughout his set, I could hear chants coming from sections of the crowd shouting, “Chipotle gang! chipotle gang!” this is one of his infamous trademarks.
His set was so good that nobody left for the exit until he officially ended and the house lights came back on; the faces in the crowd were filled with smiles.
Dance music seems to be taking the country by storm, and over the years festivals, like RARE, have been created for holidays or special days.
Insomniac seems to be at the forefront of this trend, providing events on holidays like Valentine’s Day (Crush), New Year’s Eve (Countdown) and now RARE (Memorial Day).
But does Insomniac really correlate the holiday messages into the events?
According to the attendants of RARE, yes.
“I think Memorial Day is a holiday to be spent with family, but day events like this allow us to spend time with family over the weekend while letting us have a day to ourselves and rage hard,” said attendee Arianna Petuna.
I had many conversations with attendees throughout the night about plans with family, which tells me time was made for the holiday and it ended with some fun.
Insomniac also curated ,NRG, another event in Long Beach held over the weekend that was different in sound and atmosphere.
Most attendees chose to attend RARE because of the growing popularity of the trap hip hop sound that is provided by Carnage and Yellow Claw.
“Yeah I saw the lineup for NRG, but it didn’t really get me hyped, and Carnage never disappoints,” said attendee Giovanni Contreras.
Newcomers to the scene have certain expectations on what genre of sound they want to hear at the events, affects the selection of DJs being booked.
Seasoned patrons of dance music festivals have faced this issue with some backlash but overall, it seems to vary by individual.
“I don’t really care who comes to these events as long they don’t ruin my vibe,” said Jennifer Heredez, an attendee from Burbank, CA.
“There are a lot of other events going on this weekend, but I came because I love trap and Carnage!,” Heredez added.
Insomniac does a very good job creating events that give attendees a choice of what they want to hear and what environment they want to be in by opening themselves to newcomers.
“Dude, of course I’m going to Nocturnal! There is just something odd about the vibes at other festivals. That’s why I’m not going to Hard Summer,” said Contreras.
Many attendees including myself are planning to go to some of Insomniac’s summer events; the most popular ones being Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas
Also San Manuel Amphitheater is hosting Nocturnal Wonderland.
The three day festival located in San Bernardino, through the weekend of Sep. 4 – Sun, Sep. 6.
The ticket prices range from $100 – $200 but it is well worth the experience.
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