"Los Angeles, September 26, 2010 – A record-breaking 42,000 music fans braved the 100+ degree heat to gather at the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino, California for Insomniac’s 15th annual Nocturnal Festival." The Vibe... This was the first time I had a chance to cover an Insomniac Event. The sheer size of their events has always come off as being a little intimidating for me coming from the mid-west but the one thing I have learned about these large scale events is more people = more money.  Insomniac clearly puts this back into their shows and it makes the ticket worth every penny you spend. The stunning production work and logistics it takes to put an event like nocturnal together is breathtaking. There really is nothing else like Insomniac events that I have been to. The Music... The music is obviously the main draw for these events and this years roster didn't disappoint. The only complaint I have about this outstanding line-up would be how slowly it trickled out this year. It seemed like there were big name additions being made within a week before the event. The sound was also great. for having three of the stages lined up next to each other there was surprisingly very little bleed from one to the next which is probably due to the massive tent structures. The largest of which was the biggest ever seen on the West Coast. With a second story VIP area, black interior walls, 56 foot high ceilings and 78,000 square feet of space. The Word... Insomniac continues to impress with their continued high end production and their continued fascination with raising the bar, even if they raise it on themselves.  Be sure to check out the photos by clicking the big button to the right.

If you haven't seen a picture of The Cube by now, you probably don't read many electronic dance music websites. If you haven't heard of M_nus or Richie Hawtin, you probably haven't listened to minimal techno in the past decade. And if you haven't been to a CONTAKT event this year, you probably don't live in Detroit, Barcelona, Berlin, London, Amsterdam, Rome, Ghent, Buenos Aires or Tokyo.

 When CONTAKT was unveiled, many questioned the sci-fi movie poster marketing theme, resulting in a host of comedic photoshops and parody websites. Despite the laughter, though, 5,000 enthusiastic partiers approached, identified and made "contact" in Tokyo at the final CONTAKT event of 2008. Those in attendance can confirm that Richie Hawtin achieved what he set out to do—offer something different than the average techno party that everyone has become accustomed to. This much was immediately sensed upon arrival at the colossal Makuhari Messe. Womb Club promoters handed out free CONTAKT-inspired manga (Japanese print / cartoon style) magazines that illustrated the story of the cube. After the opening DJ set by Fabrizio Maurizi, a black curtain covering the stage was pulled away to reveal a massive suspended custom LED lighting installation, displaying mesmerizing visuals perfectly synchronized to the music, and a stage performance setup that allowed all of the Minus artists to seamlessly mix together, blurring the line of when one DJ or live act began, and ended.

 The musical transitions were not the only overlapping idea; multiple forms of technology increased communication between the performers and the audience. An iPhone application allowed you to log in and post messages to the visual LED display during the performance. Swiping the Minus membership card (embedded with an RFID tag) by the Minus Cube automatically enrolled you in SMS text messages sent from Richie Hawtin on stage: "Hello Tokyo! We hope you are as happy as we are to be in JAPAN!!!" And whether you were in Japan or not, logging into the Contakt website allowed you to watch and listen to a live streaming broadcast of the performance through video cameras mounted on the stage, and in the middle of the dance floor. The electronic participation between the entertainer, and the entertained, kept the technologically forward thinking Japanese audience involved—screaming every time one of their names or messages appeared on display. More SMS text messages kept everyone in the loop: "Magda + Marc Houle. Gaiser coming soon!" Although it was at times difficult to differentiate the individual artist's musical style, what emerged was a collaborative sound that was—without a doubt—Minus.

After nine CONTAKT performances around the world, Minus evolved the show to heighten the sense of touch, sight and—most importantly—the sound of minimal techno. One of the final text messages Richie sent: "I wonder where CONTAKT will go in 2009? Let's see..." Perhaps CONTAKT will incorporate more technology to stimulate the remaining two senses; next year we'll smell and taste Minus.