Night reawakened

Though the dreamlike name of Nocturnal Wonderland sounds a bit anachronistic at this sobering, transitional moment in the dance music scene, its reemergence Saturday in San Bernardino is being heralded by many as a step forward.

“It’s real important for this event to come back,” says Richard Thomas, who was editor in chief of Lotus magazine before the dance music publication folded last year. “It had the best talent, the best mix of sounds -- something that everyone looked forward to each year.”

That’s why Nocturnal’s absence in 2002 was news to many people, even though it was hardly a surprise. Around the same time other large-scale events, also known as “massives,” were being shut down by local authorities across the region, and Nocturnal promoter Pasquale Rotella told The Times last year that he canceled the event because he couldn’t expect a healthy turnout given the fatigue among ticket-holders burned one too many times.

There was another nail in 2002’s coffin: “The 2001 Nocturnal was abysmal,” says Thomas, sharing a widely held assessment that its Lake Havasu site was just too distant and the event too poorly organized for everyone’s patience. In addition, there was the shock of five event-related deaths -- three in a car accident, one from an on-site drug overdose and another after a student’s body was found near the site several days later.

The failure of the 2001 Nocturnal was mostly amplified by its own predecessor, which was widely regarded as a climactic moment in the dance music scene. “I walked to my friends’ car when it was over, thinking that was the closest thing to the original Woodstock I might ever experience,” says music journalist Mike Prevatt, who covered the 2000 Nocturnal for Urb magazine. “I think that year’s talent rivaled any of the summertime festivals in Europe.”

The event may have rivaled dance-loving Europe, but there was no competition at home -- with more than 42,000 attendees, Nocturnal 2000 was hoisted by media outlets as the largest event ever of its kind.

And there’s the rub -- what exactly is its kind? Dare anyone say the word “rave” in this day of legislation that strains to equate dance music events with crack houses?

(Congressional legislation once known as the “Rave Act” -- which holds promoters and business owners responsible for failing to stop drug activity at their events -- was attached to a bill past last spring expanding the Amber Alert program. That bill expanded on a 1986 law holding owners of crack houses responsible if they knowingly allow their property to be used by drug makers or dealers.)

So is it meaningful to use “rave” at all? From working with establishment concert promoter Goldenvoice in past years to getting establishment write-ups in Rolling Stone, Nocturnal is surely a different beast from what it was during its underground years.

Events the size of Nocturnal have “evolved into a more commercial thing, definitely more legally sound,” says Vivian Host, associate editor of dance music magazine XLR8R. “Just like a rock show can mean something very different -- whether it’s at an underground club or a huge arena -- the same goes for raves. People who go to these events don’t really care about the word ‘rave,’ but law enforcement and the media have created a situation where anything associated with the word brings negative connotations.”

Rotella hopes this year’s attendees will reflect the new age of his 8-year-old event. “I think this year’s will be special because the people have matured,” says Rotella, who hopes to see a turnout of 15,000, though 10,000 is more realistic. “Those who went to Nocturnal in the past thinking it was a place where you can act like an idiot, those people are gone because electronic music isn’t trendy anymore. I like that.”

Most agree that today’s Nocturnal -- with its tremendous vendor presence, multiple stages and diverse musical acts -- has more in common with all-day music festivals, such as the annual Coachella event in Indio (Nocturnal shared the same venue in 2000).

The inclusion of live hip-hop artists has been the most vital factor in the event’s diversity. Past Nocturnal events have seen the styles of Kool Keith, Common and Dilated Peoples; this year the duo People Under the Stairs join Pharaoh Monch and Styles of Beyond, among others.

“It’s great for fans that so many different aspects of youth culture can come together at an event like this,” says Thes One of PUTS. “For us, we’ll get to see a larger audience and get exposed to kids who don’t normally go to hip-hop shows.”

BT, who headlines the trance- and breaks-heavy stage along with DJ Dan and Christopher Lawrence, thinks hip-hop’s presence is actually bringing the culture back to its roots. “I remember going to raves back in ‘90, ‘91, and De La Soul, Run DMC and A Tribe Called Quest would play alongside Moby and Sasha,” says the L.A.-based producer. “The electronic music community has sub-genre-fied itself to death, so it’s really positive that a festival like Nocturnal can feature so many types of music.”

Along with the festival format, this year’s Nocturnal also will resemble the rock-show mainstream in two key aspects: alcohol consumption and a 2 a.m. unplug. Although Nocturnal’s six 21-and-over bar areas will be welcomed by weekenders already thriving in electronic music’s club-going subset (the event promises $2 draft beers before 6 p.m.), the early curfew contradicts the most coveted of raving ethos, forcing many to trade in the sunrise for the glare of headlights.

“Two a.m. is definitely a hindrance,” says Mark Farina, who will spin on the house-music stage with British chart-toppers Groove Armada and local favorites Doc Martin and DJ Collette. “But these are rough times, and we all have to readjust.”

Farina says he still looks forward to seeing his younger fans, who have been missing from his parties lately.

“I definitely feel they suffered the most from [recent legislation], because there is such a lack of bigger parties at many places, and most clubs are 21 and over,” he says. “So any chance I get to play an event that lets them in, I’m there.”

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Tricks of the mix

For those who don’t know what BT’s Laptop Symphony entails, well, it doesn’t involve turntables, vinyls or any of that “old-school stuff.” Using a 15-inch titanium Power Book, an assortment of software (including five proprietary plug-ins) and a pedal board, BT will be on stage composing and remixing music live.

For example: “I’ll drop Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ and write my own bass line in [the program] Reason. Then I’ll beat-mix in Meat Katie, I’ll drop Kraftwerk right on top, and write another acid line in Reason.

“Then I’ll beat-mix out Meat Katie and ‘The Wall,’ and finally there will be a piece of music that didn’t exist before.”

The proprietary software BT created allows him to do real-time stutter edits, which can be heard all over his current single, “Somnambulist,” featuring JC Chasez of ‘N Sync.

“I’m actually writing music live,” he says. “It can go incredibly right or horribly wrong, and that’s what I like about it.”

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Noctural Wonderland

What: Dance music festival on five stages, featuring Groove Armada, Doc Martin, Mark Farina, DJ Collette, BT, Christopher Lawrence, DJ Dan, Pharaoh Monch, People Under the Stairs, A-Team, Dieselboy and DJ Hype and others.

Where: NOS Events Center, 689 South E St.,

San Bernardino

When: Saturday, 4 p.m.-2 a.m.

Cost: $30 in advance, $40 day of festival.

All ages; must have proper ID for access

to bar areas.

Info: (323) 960-1001, (310) 281-5575, (714) 647-2344 or www.nocturnalwonderland.com. Check Web site for the complete lineup and things that you cannot bring.