Let’s journey back down the rabbit hole to recall on the good times we had a Chicago’s first edition of Beyond Wonderland. Known as one of Insomniac’s most beloved festivals, Beyond Wonderland Chicago had a fantastic debut. Huntington Bank Pavilion was transformed into an eccentric Wonderland where festival goers danced from the peak hours of the day to the early hours of the night. Beyond Wonderland Chicago did a wonderful job providing attendees with a much-needed escape into a realm of fantasy and wonder. Before jumping into our favorite performances from the weekend, let’s highlight a few of the key things that brought this festival to life.
A Musical Odyssey
The diversity of this lineup already shows how much thought went into genre representation for the festival. But one thing that shocked us was how diverse some of the artists themselves were. When heading to a few sets expecting one particular style, we were mind blown when performers were mixing in sounds from various adjacent genres to the one they are know for.
One example being Kayzo, who repeatedly went from heavy bass music, to hardstyle, to riddim, to hard techno, and a few others. Performances like this really gave the listeners in the crowd endless moments to be excited about. The heart of Chicago’s dance music scene lays in House music, but that is not to say that other genres are not strongly appreciated by those in the city. The reactions from the crowd back that entirely.
It truly felt like at this festival no matter which stage you walked towards there was great music going on at that time. The four stages; Queen’s Domain, Mad Hatter’s Castle, Cheshire Woods, and Caterpillar Garden each had a theme that they stuck to primarily, but just because the artist preceding them was a certain genre did not mean the following act would be the exact same. This made for a great experience for those who prefer to stick to one or two areas and camp those stages since it meant that they would be getting more than just two genres throughout the day.
Art, Visuals, and Immersion
Continuing on from talking about the stages, one of the coolest things about this festival is the way they truly make it a raver’s wonderland. At the Queen’s Domain attendees were welcomed to a larger than life main stage featuring acts that only the Queen herself would approve. To the contrary, over at Mad Hatter’s Castle the featured artists were much more aggressive and leaned into making the crowd mad for the entire duration of their sets. Cheshire Woods was nestled in an area filled with greenery that hosted more experimental artists, and Caterpillar Garden (our personal favorite) gave a tented home for everything in the house and techno realm.
Beyond the stage theme/design, Beyond Wonderland is renowned for its awe-inspiring art installations and character performers. They exceeded expectations with this at Chicago. The festival grounds were adorned with larger-than-life sculptures, interactive art pieces, carnival rides, and vibrant lighting displays that all helped immerse everyone even further. The best thing about the Wonderland theme, are the characters. It is safe to say that they were having just as much fun as festival attendees, as we counted on numerous occasions the performers dancing along with guests and having whimsical interactions during both days. It was always heartwarming to see people reaching out to the performers only for the performers to reach back and share a moment.
Community and Vibes
This leads into one of our favorite aspects of Insomniac festivals. We always feel welcomed and at home when walking through the gates of any of their various events. For some reason, this one felt even more special. Maybe it was due to the fact that this was a first for Chicago, so we all were “rookies” to this one. Or maybe it was due to the fact that we knew for the next forty-eight hours, we were going be having the times of our lives in our own Wonderland. Taking a look around and seeing decked out Wonderland themed outfits, kandi on nearly everyone’s wrists, and the smiles from friend groups as everyone made their way to one another created for a warm two day experience.
The sense of community is not only fostered by the festival attendees, but a large portion of this is due to who Insomniac trusts to run their events. This includes the artists themselves, the security (who we caught dancing on numerous occasion), but most importantly those employees who were boots on the ground. These people are who truly set the tone for how events like these end up, and they knocked it out from start to finish. Everyone involved came together to celebrate a weekend love, music, and creativity. The atmosphere was one of inclusivity and positivity, with strangers becoming friends and memories being made at every turn.
Favorite Performances
Our review would not be complete without highlighting some of the most impressive performances from the weekend. This took us a lot of time to get down to five artists, as the music this weekend was truly some of the best we have experienced at a festival thus far. As mentioned early, it did not matter which stage you were at, you were always being treated to top notch performances from the artists who were playing at that time. With that being said, here are our favorite performances from the weekend: Eli Brown, Maddix, Kayzo, Dimension, and Pauline Herr. This specific group of artists all managed to standout amongst a crowd that was filled with talented artists everywhere you looked. S
Starting with Eli Brown, what more is there to say that has not already been said about his performances? He is simply one of the best at crowd control when it comes to the modern style of techno and tech house. From start to finish he had the crowd roaring with each track he queued up to play next. Closing out a festival is no easy task, and Eli Brown made sure that festival goers got every last bit of energy out that they needed to. It is also important to note that this set was held at the smallest stage, Caterpillar Garden. There is something to be said about being able to catch artists of this caliber on stages that we know they will not be playing much longer. Eli Brown did absolutely phenomenal at utilizing the structure to get the most of out his song selections.
Maddix followed a similar vibe over at the Queen’s Domain during his midday set. This set was the perfect warm up that led into the rest of the night. Maddix did not shy away at all from the high energy and aggressive sound he is known for, and the crowd reacted accordingly. One key moment from this set was when he transitioned into “Open Sesame (Abracadabra)“. The crowd was already roaring for more, but this specific track woke everyone up from the front rails all the way back to the vendors. At this point in his career, Maddix has high expectations to live up to in every set, and this is another instance where he exceeded them.
Kayzo who we mentioned earlier had a monster of a performance. Again, the transitioning from multiple genres (dubstep, hardstyle, techno, etc.) during this set was mind blowing. The performers helped elevate this set as well, as it seemed like they were just as big of fans as Kayzo as the crowd was. There were numerous moments as well where Kayzo worked in a few metal tracks that pumped obscene amounts of energy into the fans when they were starting to wear down from the onslaught. After this one, Kayzo has become a can’t miss if we see his name on a lineup.
Dimension brought a much needed drum and bass set during day one. Rain was still sprinkling down during this, and the vibe that was created by dancing in wet puddles to drum and bass remixes of crowd favorite tracks such as “Rhyme Dust” by MK and Dom Dolla was incredible. At numerous points in the set, we caught ourselves amongst others trying to shazam his track selections. More often than not, it would be an ID or an edit that he made himself meaning that we will just have to go out of our way to catch Dimension again.
Pauline Herr was a very welcome surprise to us this year. First and foremost, psytrance. Any chance we get to hear some unexpected psytrance during a set, it just works. She did not stop there of course, getting back to her traditional sounds of trap, wave, and bass adjacent music. The way she would go from an extended techno drop into a trap section was one of the most refreshing styles we heard all weekend. There were points in the set were Pauline seemed to be having even more fun than the attendees who were jumping along with her throughout the entire set. She did an awesome job controlling the energy in Cheshire Woods. This was our first time catching a set of hers, and similar to others in this list, she is now a can’t miss.
Final Thoughts
Beyond Wonderland Chicago 2024 was a resounding success, encapsulating the essence of what makes this festival so special. Were there a few “setbacks” due to the rain on day one? Sure. But nothing that was too much for attendees to handle. This edition of Beyond Wonderland was a true celebration of music, art, and human connection in the dance music scene. For those lucky enough to attend, it was a weekend filled with unforgettable moments and a reminder of the magic that can happen when creativity and community come together in Wonderland.
Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a newcomer to the dance music real, Beyond Wonderland Chicago is the perfect festival to immerse yourself in something new. It’s more than just a festival; it’s a journey into the heart of wonderland itself.
If you missed your chance in Chicago, the next iteration of the festival makes its way up to Washington for Beyond Wonderland at The Gorge.
Last minute passes are currently still on sale here!
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