Mysteryland USA 2014 Relived

Mysteryland is known as the longest running electronic music festival in the world deeply rooted in history dating back to 1993 in Lelystad. The first and latest installment is produced by the Dutch company ID&T who was recently acquired by SFX Entertainment. The international festival made its inaugural U.S. debut during Memorial Day Weekend 2014 at the legendary Bethel Woods, NY. Being Home of the historic Woodstock ’69, Bethel Woods is an iconic destination and set the bar high for what proved to be an epic soul searching endeavor. Surpassing all expectation from critics, Mysteryland delivered not only an astonishing musical experience but a cultural and artistic appreciation for all those who attended.   

No greater musical landmark in the United States holds quite the same respect that the legendary grounds of Woodstock ’69 hold. The town of Bethel has not granted permission to hold an event on these fabled grounds until now making Mysteryland indeed a historical event. The town even went so far as allowing ID&T to host campgrounds earning the moniker “holy ground”. Maybe that is why it rained from the heavens periodically Saturday Afternoon and the sun shined bright on Sunday – just as it had during Woodstock ’69.

Instantly stepping onto the premises, a powerful feeling overcomes and overwhelms you. The festival area is decorated as a fairyland with a menagerie of colors and spectacles. Only half the attraction are the headliners and big name artists, the other half of the attraction is the experience and numerous activities happening during the festival – such as yoga classes, workshops, and chowing down on vegan sushi in The Healing Garden area. You could even watch performers in Dia de los Muertos (Day of The Dead) costumes.

The first stage was hosted by Q-dance – focused on the harder styles of electronic music – Q-dance is slowly gaining momentum here in the US. This could be told from seeing all the festivalgoers sporting bright orange Q-dance gear. Such artists as Ran-D and Coone were showcased at this stage.

Next was The Boat Stage – fashioned into a massive wooden ship with butterflies as sails, this stage was heavy influenced by hip-hop like genres such as Trap and Moombahton. The Boat Stage was headlined by artists such as Big Gigantic, Zomboy, Dirtyphonics, and Delta Heavy on Saturday and Dillon Francis, Chase & Status, Bro Safari, and Crizzly on Sunday.  Dillstradamus (Dillon Francis and Flosstradamus) closed Sunday with Alice Deejay’s “Better Off Alone” and took us back with classic Hip Hop tracks such as Chris Brown’s “Look At Me Now” and Three 6 Mafia’s “Stay Fly” fusing them with their trademark bass rumbling sound of aggressive Trap.

Techno and House reverberated through Mysteryland with The Sunday School mini-fest and three stages dedicated to deep and dark progressive house. We caught Pete Tong in all his glory veering from vocal-heavy and funk-inflected House to a more tribal sound in the enclosed Spiegeltent. Visionquest was in full-effect with all four of its members – Seth Troxler, Ryan Crosson, Shaun Reeves, and Lee Curtiss performed for five and a half hours tag teaming together to create a magnificent odyssey of sound through the Spiegeltent.

Next we made it over to The Big Top Tent which featured Joseph Capriati, Pan-Pot, Dubfire, Chris Liebing, Joris Voorn, Coyu, Jeremy Orlander, and Fehrplay, Hypnotic beats drifted throughout the tent and the original Woodstock grounds for countless hours.

The highlight of The Sunday School mini-fest was The Vinyl Only Tent donning artists such as DJ Sneak, Lee Foss, Steve Bug, Carl Craig, and Victor Calderone. You could tell that the attendees were all long-time fans of Vinyl by how anxious and attentive they were. The tent had a very intimate feel and was decorated appropriately with dangling vinyl records also allowing new and upcoming artists to showcase their talent as well.

The Main Stage featured the more widely known and commercial artists such as Steve Aoki, Nicky Romero, Fedde Le Grand, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, and Kaskade closing out the festival on Sunday night. Strobe lights embraced the crowd, confetti guns popped left and right, and a marvelous fireworks extravaganza lit up Bethel Woods bringing Mysteryland to a close. ID&T hands down created one of the most beautifully constructed and executed music festivals in the US. The experience was nothing short of memorable and will be remembered by each and every attendee that was present in all its glory as well as be a great piece of musical history.  DT will surely be back to witness all its glory next year!