New York – My Dreamstate 2016 Journey
I finally made it to New York!
As an avid Trance addict from Los Angeles, CA, one of my ‘to do’ list has always been to explore other Trance events outside of California and so my friend Amanda and I did just that for DREAMSTATE New York, August 26th and 27th, 2016. Being that it was my first time in New York as well, I made sure to do some sight seeing. Once ticket and flights were booked, I reached out to the GCFAM—Groove Cruise Family for places to stay but instead they opened up their homes and saved us money on hotel which came in very handy, because traveling throughout NYC is expensive! I was beyond grateful for the help and support of the amazing GCFAM for navigating around NYC.
My local DJ friend, DJ EnerG, was my personal guide and showed us both the city and how to ride public transportation for the first time in my life; very convenient as we traveled from Queens to Brooklyn both nights for DREAMSTATE. As tourists, we made sure to do the norm and visited Madison Square Garden, Time Square, Rockeffeler Center and 9/11 Memorial. Even had some time to catch a Mets game at Citi Field where EDC New York occurs.
On both nights prior to the start of DREAMSTATE, there was a pre-party meet up hosted and organized by Danny Gonzales, at the Haven Rooftop, (the bar from the movie The Departed). Here I was greeted with Trance Family members across the country including some new friends and rave family members such as Alvin from Trance Family Portland, Rob, Catherine, Shane and many more.
DREAMSTATE took place at the Brooklyn Hangar, a 5-min walk from Haven Rooftop. Once there, the
pat down search and line waiting took less than 5 minutes. Securities and event staffs were nice, organized and efficient. As we made our way into the venue, I was completely mesmerized. The Brooklyn Hanger is 13,000+ square feet of space with very high ceiling which reminded me of an old warehouse party in the 90’s, but with production only Insomniac Events can pull off. The music both nights was absolutely world class, each set was mind blowing, and some of my personal favorites were John O’Callaghan, Markus Schulz, John 00 Fleming, Standerwick, Pure NRG and Infected Mushrooms. I was amazed that John O’Callaghan and a few other DJs remembered me from other shows and even took time to speak with me before and after their sets.
But even with the music being so spectacular, the people is what I will take back as one of the best memoires of DREAMSTATE New York. The vibes rivaled that of the original DREAMSTATE SoCal. Everyone was sweet, kind, and respectful, with the exception of three youngsters I had to get my ‘Rave Mom’ voice on. They tried to start a mosh pit during Standerwick’s set and I had to let them know,
“This is trance! We don’t do that here. No elbows, no pushing, no moshing.”
As they understood and immediately stopped, a few people kept calling me ‘trance mom’ the rest of the event, adding to the awesome memories I made.
DREAMSTATE New York was successful in my eyes. The music and vibe were so on point that it is now my 2nd favorite DREAMSTATE after the original SoCal. This event has definitely been a great warm up for the highly anticipated mega DREAMSTATE this November in Los Angeles; my excitement is surreal.
-Danielle Sanders
CLICK HERE for more pics of the event courtesy of Dreamstate NY
