With so many events happening around New Year’s Eve in Southern California, it was difficult to pick just one… so I chose two.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never been a huge fan of New Year’s Eve festivals. Prices are high, artists are stretched travel-wise and miss sets, and weather problems throw a curveball into the mix. I’ve done my fair share of partying at the end of the year, though, from festivals to smaller nightclub shows and everything in between. This year, I was dead set on shaking things up and trying something new, and there were many options to choose from throughout Southern California.
Festival-wise, I could stay closer to home and check out the fresh layout for PROPER NYE/NYD, make the trek to San Bernardino for Countdown NYE, or head to Los Angeles for the debut edition of Forever Midnight. I was most enticed by the latter of those three as memories from a defunct Insomniac festival, White Wonderland, flooded my mind and the lineup itself felt like a house and techno lovers dream.
Unlike its sister edition in Las Vegas, Forever Midnight Los Angeles would not be hosted outdoors. Instead, it would take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center, a venue I’d found my way to in the past to catch Above & Beyond on their Common Ground Tour. Questions swirled in my mind as to how Insomniac would transform the space to make it feel less like a convention center and more like an immersive environment, and soon enough, the day of the show would arrive.
Heading to the venue was a breeze, parking took seconds, and the entry into the festival was seamless, all because we arrived shortly after the doors opened.
We took the escalator up to the main space from the lobby, and the dark depths of Forever Midnight beckoned us in. If there’s one thing that Insomniac got right, it was the fact that it felt like it was pitch black inside, save for the stages that beamed with colorful lights and the production elements shined at the walls.
After making a trip around the venue to check out both stages and their respective VIP areas, it became apparent that this would be a fairly stripped-back experience. The stages themselves were pretty insane; I loved the designs, even more so when the lasers kicked in later in the night. But there wasn’t much else to explore beyond those two spaces and the neon green walkway on the backside of the venue. If Insomniac’s plan was to channel underground warehouse vibes, then they succeeded in that mission.
Music became my main focus for the night, and the artists I caught certainly threw down some impressive sets.
Masha Mar, Carlita, Kevin de Vries, Kaskade, Kyle Walker, and Eli Brown all dominated the decks and wrapped their respective crowds around their fingers. When Green Velvet took over the Forever Stage, the crowd became a bit insufferable for me, so I set off to catch Ame and Dixon go b2b at the Midnight Stage instead. I’d stay there until the end of the night, closing everything down with Jamie XX, who was incredible. The set also felt pretty intimate, as FISHER had drawn most of the attendees away to the other side of the venue.
I had a blast on the first night while dancing with friends, yet I was left with a feeling that I hadn’t felt in a long time.
The event’s execution seemed to be pretty flawless overall, but Forever Midnight just didn’t feel like an Insomniac event to me. It didn’t have the immersion I was hoping to experience with its stripped-back nature, the VIP area felt like a bit of an afterthought, and there wasn’t really anywhere else to sit and chill with friends for a bit. Obviously, there’s only so much that can be done inside the convention center itself, but it was hard to shake the feeling of lost potential, especially when a large portion of the venue was closed off that could’ve been utilized for a chill area to hang out, vendors, or really anything else.
While many echoed my sentiments when chatting with them, others loved their experience, so perhaps Forever Midnight just wasn’t for me and what I was looking for to bring an end to 2023. But because of this, I made a decision I had never made in the past – to cut my experience short and seek out something else. That something else would be Countdown NYE, an hour away at the NOS Events Center, and so in the early afternoon on New Year’s Eve, I made the trek out to San Bernardino.
Countdown NYE was a space-fueled fever dream.
I hadn’t attended Countdown NYE since before they switched to the alien-dominated theme, but from the moment I arrived at the NOS Events Center, I knew that this was where I wanted to be. Multiple stages were booming with beats, heaters were spread all over the festival grounds, and there were so many hidden delights throughout the venue, from immersive VIP areas to the Red Light District with exotic alien dancers.
Although I only had a day to experience all the extraterrestrial madness at Countdown NYE, I made the most of my time there. I loved the Galactik Gate stage with its Incendia vibes, got down to plenty of house with Black V Neck at the Twilight Zone stage, and even caught SOFI TUKKER and The Chainsmokers at The Mothership. But all of that was just the start of my night.
I continued to explore the grounds, run into old friends, and make new ones along the way. I’ll also say that even with Countdown being packed to the brim with attendees, I never experienced any bad vibes from anyone I encountered. Everyone seemed to be having the best time; the crowds were dancing at every stage, and yes, there were plenty of “woo woos” happening, but they added to the electric ambiance.
A massive run of standout sets would arrive with Oliver Heldens into deadmau5 at The Mothership before we took a trip back to the Twilight Zone to catch Noizu and Joshwa throw down some pure heat. I felt energized seeing all three of these sets, but the clock was ticking toward midnight. The only artist who could possibly pull me away from the warmth of the Twilight Zone stage was Porter Robinson, and I knew I needed to be at his set for the final minutes of 2023.
Porter Robinson’s set was an absolute party and the perfect way to close out 2023.
While I’ve not exactly been the biggest fan of Porter’s most recent work, his DJ sets have always caught my attention, especially as of late, as he’s incorporated a wide range of genres and seems to be having more fun than ever behind the decks. To say his set was perfect would be an understatement to me because it was exactly what I needed at that moment in time.
Porter ran through literally everything I could’ve wanted and more, from Eurodance classics and Daft Punk’s “One More Time” to trance gems and even a dose of hardstyle in the second half to light everyone up. Timing i_o’s “Castles In The Sky” into “Language,” with the drop happening just as the clock struck 12, was the perfect way to end 2023 and start 2024. Yes, I know he welcomed 2020 in at Countdown NYE 2019 similarly, but iconic tracks just hit differently.
Deorro took the stage soon after, but after hearing him rinse some solid tunes as well, it was time to head back to Los Angeles. Our mission had been completed.
Sometimes, you need to shake things up to find what you seek.
2023 was quite a long year for me, filled with memories that will last a lifetime, and my festival-hopping experience was another solid addition to the story of how the year went. I might’ve made a hasty, last-minute decision to fully send it to a different festival in a different city, but I definitely do not regret the fact that I did. If anything, I proved to myself that I need to follow my heart more often this year and in the future.
Forever Midnight Los Angeles has the potential to be something truly special, and with Pasquale Rotella already saying that it will return this year, I can’t wait to see what he and the Insomniac team have in store. That said, Countdown NYE will also be on my radar because of the amazing experience I had there as well. I guess we’ll just have to wait on the lineups and other teasers when they begin to surface later this year for me to decide where I’ll end up ringing in 2025
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