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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Beyond Wonderland: Electronic dance music festival to take over the Gorge Amphitheatre for the first time

When global music producer Insomniac announced in May that it was bringing the electronic dance music festival Beyond Wonderland to the Pacific Northwest for the first time, and specifically the Gorge Amphitheatre, this longtime EDM fan’s heart skipped 100,000 BPM.

Being a fan of the high-energy and pulsating music for about a quarter of a century, and covering Insomniac’s Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas from its inaugural year in 2011 through 2017, learning that Beyond Wonderland was coming to this neck of the woods made this journalist beyond elated.

Beyond Wonderland at the Gorge, from 2 p.m.-1:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday, and spilling into Sunday morning, will host more than 60 diverse, popular and award-winning dance music artists – among them Steve Aoki, the Chainsmokers, Tiesto, Benny Benassi and Felix Cartal – during the three nights of camping and two days of music, art and exploration.

Since 2010, Beyond Wonderland has drawn 400,000 fans in California, Mexico, Colombia and more. This weekend’s Beyond Wonderland, an 18-and-older event, will transform more than 170 acres of the outdoor George location into a multisensory audiovisual experience.

Alice’s psychedelic storybook at Beyond Wonderland includes three stages: Fractal Valley, Cheshire Woods and Caterpillar’s Garden. While this is the festival’s first time in the Pacific Northwest, it won’t be for house duo Sidepiece – Miami-based record producer, DJ and vocalist Nitti Gritti (birthname Ricky Mears) and record producer collaborator Party Favor.

“We’re both pretty familiar with the Pacific Northwest,” Sidepiece said collectively via email. “Each of us has traveled there multiple times for shows for our solo projects, but we’re extremely excited to play at the Gorge for the first-ever Beyond Wonderland taking place there.

“It’s without a doubt one of the most incredible music venues in the entire world.”

Sidepiece knows that they’ll be part of EDM history and look forward to performing outdoors as life in a pandemic continues.

“We’re so excited to make history with Insomniac and so many dance music fans. It’s going to be incredible to see what Insomniac does with such a spectacular venue,” Sidepiece said. “We played at Red Rocks three times this year, which was another one of our bucket list venues, so we’re really looking forward to experiencing the Gorge, as well.”

Sidepiece is ready to rock the Gorge house and move their fans this weekend.

“Our fans can expect a brand-new set full of unreleased music, some of which we’ve barely had the chance to play for anyone yet,” they said. “We’re definitely going to be bringing something very special for everyone in attendance this weekend.”

Sidepiece was nominated for a Grammy Award this year for their track “On My Mind” with Diplo, and “On My Mind” was also the No. 1 most-supported track in dance music in 2020.

For more than 25 years, Insomniac has produced more than 2,000 festivals, concerts and club nights for nearly 7 million attendees across the globe. The company’s premier annual event, EDC Las Vegas, is the world’s largest dance music festival and attracts more than 525,000 fans over three days.

Insomniac was founded by Pasquale Rotella and has been based in Los Angeles since it was formed in 1993. In 2013, Insomniac entered into a partnership with Live Nation. For updates on the 2021 festival, visit pnw.beyondwonderland.com. To stay up to date with the latest Insomniac news, visit insomniac.com.