The two nights of Dreamstate was the reason my friend and I headed out to San Francisco. So, although we enjoyed all the fabulousness San Francisco offered, we were really there because of Dreamstate.
I’ve already shared about the lights. The lasers, the $17 water, the kind stranger and the diffraction glasses that turned the whole room into a kaleidoscope, all of that is in the San Francisco Series: Part 3. This one is about the people behind the decks, the sets that are still living rent-free in my head.
A lot of that weekend lives in my body more than my memory. The sets blur into one long wash of color and bass, and when I scroll back through my photos I am almost surprised by how much I saw. So consider this part recap, part letting the pictures remember for me.
Night One
The first set that stayed with me was a man billed that night as Jeffrey Sutorius.
We had a wonderful time. And it was not until I got home and went looking that I understood who I had actually been watching. Jeffrey Sutorius is the man who fronted Dash Berlin, the trance project behind songs I have loved for years. He spent a long stretch performing under his own name after a legal split over the group’s name, and then, only weeks before this show, a court handed the Dash Berlin name back to him. So I stood in that room watching a legend at the exact moment his whole story was coming full circle, and I had no idea.
He didn’t play “Disarm Yourself,” my favorite of his. Knowing now who he was, I think that’s the best possible reason to go back and see him again.
Later came Cosmic Gate, and the screens turned the stage into a space station, twin orbital rings with Earth and its clouds turning slowly behind them. Their logo is a quiet wink at the old NASA insignia, which felt right for a night spent this far out in orbit. Here’s a song by them that I really like: “Be Your Sound” feat. Emma Hewitt.
Ferry Corsten closed the first night as Gouryella, his melodic trance alias. The hall went green, hands in the air, the kind of euphoric finish that makes you forget your feet have been screaming for hours. Knowing it was Ferry Corsten all along only makes me love it more. A favorite song by him that I’ve had on repeat is “Eternity” from his Blueprint album.
Night Two
Night two ran on its own clock. With John O’Callaghan grounded by that missed flight I mentioned last time, the order shuffled.
I hadn’t heard of Roman Messer (or I don’t think I have) but his stuff was pretty good. When I got home, I played “Odyssey” and it’s become one of my favorites.
Aly & Fila turned everything red and set the place on fire, first the stage, then the lasers. One of my favorite songs (which they didn’t play) is “Shine” feat. Roxanne Emery.
Then Paul van Dyk, another legend, took over deep into the night, cap on, that enormous blue ring glowing behind him. A classic of his is “Nothing But You.”
And then Gareth Emery closed it all.
His was the laser show I keep trying to describe and never quite can. Beams fanning across the entire arena, walls of light, a stage that looked like it had been built out of code. If there was a single peak to the whole weekend, this was it.
Gareth closed with “Concrete Angel,” the same way he closed at The Church, except, of course, here, the song went along with lights and lasers.
And that was Dreamstate
Hope you enjoyed all the photos and stories behind them. It was a wonderful experience that I’ll always cherish.
From My Corner of the Universe 
Leave a comment