Change is coming to Los Angeles EDM event brand Insomniac Events. As laid out in a lengthy letter to fans by founder and owner Pasquale Rotella, the company is looking to continue in the direction of expanding overseas, but has to pull back in other areas, canceling EDC Puerto Rico and Beyond Wonderland in the Bay Area.
Explaining the decision, Rotella said it was more about shifting resources to other places of need for the company right now.
"This has nothing to do with attendance; it's always a packed house, and you all bring amazing energy! Right now, we've decided to focus on exploring new cities and enhancing the experience at some of our other festivals."
He said that Insomniac won't be doing these two festivals this year, which does leave the door open for a return to Puerto Rico and the Bay Area at some point in the future. The San Francisco area does have a whole host of other options from Insomniac such as BOO!, We Are NRG, Dreamstate and Audio On The Bay, so it isn't as though they are being ignored going forward.
He also wants to "help bring back the true art of DJing," which festivals and their shorter set times have in part helped to kill. When DJs just have to go up on stage and bang out a safe hour-long set of hits, there is no need to experiment or take risks, especially if it may cost you in the long run. To help counteract this, Rotella promises longer set times this year.
Though he starts out with bad news, there is more good news in the letter. There will be more offerings of Bassrush, Basscon, Crush and Dreamstate around the United States in 2016 and beyond. He also hopes to bring more US festivals, with camping, to new markets in 2017.
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