As soon as Insomniac announced Basscon Wasteland I knew this was an event I couldn’t miss. For the first time ever Wasteland was going to be over a span of two days of heavy bass and banging beats. They also expanded to two stages this year, making it the biggest Wasteland experience to date held on April 28 and 29 at the NOS Event Center in San Bernardino.
The hardstyle crowd is very different than any other festival crowd. As soon as I got in the security line most festival-goers were covered in Basscon, Defqon, Q-Dance, and Hardstyle DJ gear. You also get to see the most hardcore kandi kids at hardstyle events.
Basscon listened to the fans and brought out legendary talent to Wasteland, few even made their American appearance debut. Headliners included Wasted Penguinz, Wildstylez, Audiofreq, Crisis Era, DJ Issac and hardcore legends Angerfist and Miss K8. Each artist brought their own unique flavor to the scene attracting every type of hardstyle fan. Few artists changed it up by dropping some dubstep and psy trance into their set. Audiofreq played Alice Deejay’s “Better Off Alone” and the Sub Sonik remix of Darude’s “Sandstorm” and Crisis Era played their remix of Kaskade’s “Disarm You”.
Wasteland, the mainstage in the Damus Building, had an Egyptian theme coupled with massive LED screens, lots of lasers, and amazing visuals. However, the outside stage, Oasis, was a disappointment among most fans. People expressed their opinions on social media calling the stage “disrespectful” to the DJs that played on it. Most people were looking around the venue to find the stage only to find out that the small stage was the second stage. Regardless of the size, it was also too quiet. On the second day, they moved the speakers to help this problem but still was lacking the sound quality we all had hoped for.
Needless to say there was no shortage of positive energy from the fans and pure euphoric happiness. This form of music, unlike any other sub-genre is fueled by raw emotion, raw power and raw energy. Despite a couple of hiccups, both nights were filled with positive vibes, great music, and lots of energy. As the demand for the harder styles continue to rise, I am already looking forward to future Basscon events.
