Beyond Wonderland at The Gorge 2024: Mad Tea Party was a stumble-and-roll down the rabbit hole trip into a looking-glass journey of EDM. The event welcomed Pacific Northesterners inner Hatter and March Hare to frolic on June 21-22 in George, Washington.
This Insomniac Entertainment festival is curated from the iconic Alice in Wonderland elements we all adore: Playing Card characters touring the festival grounds and accurate art installations from the storybook. Apart from unleashing their inner bandersnatch or jabberwocky, headliners (ravers) embodied Alice’s curiosity to explore the depths of wonderland: The Caterpillar’s Garden, Mad Hatter’s Stage, and Queen’s Valley.
Orhon Uygur for Insomniac Events
Caterpillar's Garden: The Garden of Looking-Glass Insects & Live Flowers
Sprouting from Tulgey Alley, the path beyond the playing card and rose garden arches, and past “This Way”, “That Way”, “Down” or “Up” Road, every stage was designed like playing cards in King, Ace, 9, and 10. Who knew caterpillars and butterflies love the best of house music? The Absolems on this particular dance floor danced to Cherry Tooth, Max Styler and Nostalgix before HYPERBEAM: Odd Mob + OMNOM on day 1. This no-boundaries-experimental B2B performance originated from their collaborative releases like “Mind Awake, Body Asleep” featured on John Summit’s label, Experts Only.
HYPERBEAM featured well-loved favorites “Saving Up - Remix”, “Stay Busy - Odd Mob Club Mix”, “All Day, All Night”, and “Losing Control”. HYPERBEAM easily became my favorite performance of the weekend as I truly felt like Alice in search of wisdom among the sonic bloom in this garden of live flowers. If you didn’t feel like Absolem at this stage basking in the sounds of the garden of live flowers, all white rabbits on a mission to the bass stage hopped to the Mad Hatter Stage for Crankdat.
After, Disco Lines attracted a crowd ready to dance to his seamless and talented fusion of bass to house to drum and bass to house again. The sun began to disappear during this set and the stage’s mint-green shadow lights glowed the stage like a butterfly’s cocoon for us to dance.
The closer yet higher elevation towards the stage made it seem as if you were looking into this swirly portal while the dusk faded. On day 2, Fame Sounds was cooking and feeding the looking-glass insects on the dance floor with mixed classic songs such as “Heads Will Roll” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs and “Walking On a Dream” by Empire Of The Sun. Next, Gene Ferris, BISCITS, and Shiba San B2B CID had the talking-flower-ravers grooving in this EDM amphitheater.
@olddirtyleather
Dipping Clocks into Tea Cups at The Mad Hatter Stage
March Hares and Hatters flocked to this stage for filthy bass and filthy bass only. Starting with day 1, Sip & Smoak: Smoakland B2B SIPPY was the cake of this mad tea party with tracks featuring SIPPY’s “Sip That” and sharing Mersiv and Effin’s new unreleased track. The three artists were seen wearing SIPPY’s official pink fuzzy sunglasses while she mixed a song she confessed she wrote on the way to The Gorge.
This was a performance bringing bandersnatches out of their cages for the start of summer next to the blue teapot photo opp in VIP. In addition, the Queen of Hearts was getting in on the fun dancing on stage in full costume away from her rose garden and posing for pictures with headliners. Scheduled to perform next was Crankdat, Of The Trees, and Adventure Club. On day 2, primarily riddim and drum and bass was heard; Poni mixed “i like the way you kiss me” by Artemas before YDG blended dubstep into his mix.
Making the crowd mob, a trippy wormhole-themed dormouse danced on stage at the same time. Later that night, Boogie T had the dance floor wooking out with new music featuring Ganja White Night. With the night unfinished, Virtual Riot then asked for an all-girl mosh pit and asked for the crowd to be nice to one another-who doesn’t love it when DJs make female-led mosh pits?
The Red Queen’s Croquet Ground at The Queen’s Valley Stage
The Queen’s Valley Stage is placed in the amphitheater further away from the two stages next to the “Drink Me” bar and lookout directing to the famous scenic views of the Columbia River. New ravers: hanging out at the “Drink Me” bar and waiting for the sun to set for the perfect picture is never a bad idea.
Still from the same place, you could listen to Pauline Herr and Discovery Project while taking a break from the large crowd in this nocturnal garden-like balcony. On day 1, Alison Wonderland began her performance with a storyline in her visuals which could be watched in the lawn above the amphitheater. “I’m Alison Wonderland at Beyond Wonderland and I can play however fucking long I want”, this crowd matched her energy in intensity as the pit was entirely full.
Closing the stage on this night was the special performance Mellodeath: Marshmello x SVDDEN DEATH. Trap and heavy bass blasted its way through the crowd and people seemed to party harder compared to other SVDDEN DEATH sets. Usually feared because of his scary visuals, this B2B performance specifically welcomed those who wouldn’t normally attend a SVDDEN DEATH set.
On day 2, the crowd was standing shoulder-to-shoulder for one of the most anticipated artists of the weekend, Troyboi. His performance turned this festival into a club with loud energy and trap sounds, unable to hear anything but him mixing “Drop It Like It’s Hot” by Snoop Dogg as his final song.
Waving goodbye to Beyond Wonderland 2024 at this stage was Zedd sharing old school tracks “Clarity”, “The Middle”, “Stay” and my personal favorite “Break Free”. Finally, he shared his new track “Out of Time” featuring Bea Miller which he self-claimed was his favorite singer. If you’ve never seen Zedd before, you can expect (and remember) an uplifting, heartwarming time; it’s the EDM designed to give you positive feelings.
Taylor Regulski for Insomniac Events
Through the Looking-Glass and what Alice Found at the Afterparty
Open to experiencing the full throttle of this EDM wonderland, the curious Alices (like myself) found a larger than life sized chessboard for anyone to play. To my surprise, some played a full game at 3am! This afterparty was a looking-glass silent disco labeled with “eat me” entertainment! Were you the Hatter of the group? The White Rabbit? Or, Alice? What did you find at the afterparty? Some of the craziest experiences are born from afterparties and what did you see down the rabbit hole?
Joyous and willing to connect together in dance, this afterparty on day 0 showcased SIPPY and her preview of her B2B2B performance with Smoakland (Sip & Smoak). The entire time she wore her new signature pink gremlin mask and pink fuzzy sunglasses to match–total feral gremlin mode. Before she hugged WUBMAMA on stage, SIPPY mixed Panic At The Disco’s, “I Write Sins Not Tragedies" with a drum and bass beat she twerked to as her farewell. SHe truly filled the room with her feminine, lively energy!
On day 1, Sheps, TOBEHONEST, and AUXCENT, created a gateway to another rabbit hole with their versatile display of house. AUXCENT blew the minds of those who love bass house with underground hits, “Like This” and unreleased IDs from his house mix series “House Slang 4”.
Jabberwocky-mode was most welcome here! Jessica Audiffred’s Hard Techno set was a combination between techno and her natural progression towards bass. If you were anything like me, you loved this alternate reality so much that you wished it could have been longer!
Taylor Regulski for Insomniac Events
Mad Hatter’s Creations: 10/6 Hats & White Aprons
Beyond Wonderland PNW fashion sparkled when attendees dressed as Tweedledum and Tweedlee, Cheshire Cat, Mad Hatter, Queen of Hearts, Alice, and White Rabbit. However, I didn’t see any ravers taking any inspiration from Tim Burton's White Queen. How could you not plan your rave outfits according to the theme? Dressing up for this mad tea party only enhanced your tea time and becoming part of the storybook psychedelia was unforgettable! Designing my outfits with both Alice and playing cards in mind, my favorite look from the weekend was this unique DIY Painted Rose Top.
The White Rabbit welcomes you to the tea party again this 2025! Tickets for Beyond Wonderland at The Gorge 2025 are on sale now!
