Making its annual return to the NOS Event Center, Insomniac’s largest New Year’s festival brought the aliens and thousands of humans to ring in the new year at Countdown NYE this past weekend.
Two nights of incredible music and dancing brought in ravers and non-ravers for a massive celebration to welcome 2024. Here’s what we have to say about our experience at this year’s Countdown weekend:
Vibes: B+
After last year’s downpour, attendees were prepared for any chance of rain, but thankfully, the weather was in our favor over the entire weekend. Making it a more fashionable weekend than last year’s outfit trend of ponchos.
With good weather and incredible music, everyone was in high spirits, and we found the vibes in the crowd mostly friendly. As expected, none of the stages felt too overcrowded on day one, but the people came out on day two since it is one of SoCal’s biggest NYE events.
Even with the business of day two, there was plenty to keep the crowds balanced. The energy was high all weekend with rides, lots of photo ops, food, and the stacked lineup.
Attendees traded Kandi, admired each other’s outfits, and spread positive vibes throughout the event. Although we heard a few reports of pushing and shoving during busier sets, it didn’t seem as prominent due to the crowds not being nearly as dense as in previous years.
Production: A
Per usual, the production at Countdown is out-of-this-world, but this year was some of the best productions we’ve seen from the festival. The stages had added elements to them, making them appear more immersive.
We found the stage designs impressive, like the open-air dance floor at Galactik Gate. The fire across the DJ deck, the lasers against the night sky, and the sound quality made it one of the more frequent stages for many attendees.
From the stage design to other-worldly characters, such as robots and aliens, as well as many photo-ops and activations, everything had the familiar Countdown vibe but with a noticeable upgrade.
Mothership Stage had it all, with massive amounts of pyro, cryo, confetti, and lasers. The mainstage VIP area included plenty of photo opportunities and even an indoor and heated lounge area for attendees to hang out in.
Music: A
This year’s lineup was exciting, providing attendees with various genres and many notable artists, including Valentino Khan, Deorro, Eli Brown, 4B x JSTJR, Fisher, Nicole Moudaber, and more. With so many impressive names, it felt like many attendees, including ourselves, were splitting time between sets to see all the favorites.
The countdown had you covered with artists like Riot Ten, Svdden Death, Apashe, G Jones, and more if you were looking for some bass in your face.
Seeing how packed the Twilight Zone stage was for names like Eli Brown and Black V Neck proved how much techno and house have been influencing the dance music scene lately.
Those who saw Habstrakt Presents: Distorted Reality or the iconic Moksi set at Galactik Gate witnessed killer performances. To continue all that energy, the Deorro B2B Valentino Khan afters on night two was an insane way to close out an amazing weekend.
Venue: B+
Going into the venue, security didn’t seem to be checking bags. Although there were metal detectors and they were doing patdowns, there was no thorough bag search.
On day one, VIPs didn’t check bracelets often, but they did noticeably step up their game on day two. The bathroom situation only seemed super crowded in the main GA ones, and GA+ checked wristbands on those entering.
Regarding the festival layout, whether attendees are familiar with the NOS Center or not, everything was easy to navigate, and there seemed to be good crowd control in the way it was all spread out. There are plenty of amusements for humans, with rides like space swings, bumper cars, rave vendors, and an entire “Landing Zone” of photo-ops and extra-terrestrial beings to encounter.
Thankfully, there was also no shortage of heat lamps, so attendees could easily keep warm all across the venue and weren’t left without warmth for long.
Outside of the VIP water stations, there were only water stations on one side of the venue near the entrance, whereas it could have been more easily accessible to attendees to place water stations on both sides or throughout the venue.
Overall: A-
Overall, the energy at Countdown this year was stellar, with impressive production to match. We enjoyed a slight decrease in crowds this year, and the forecast led to a more positive experience for all attendees.
Although there were reports of the usual issues, such as lack of service, stolen phones, and a few reports of car break-ins, Countdown still proved to be a great festival to celebrate the new year.
All images provided by Insomniac Events.
