We honored our call & went to Defqon.1!
We must say Defqon.1 has been on our bucket-list for quite a while. The festival which is a concept of Q-Dance is the biggest harder styles outdoor festival world-wide. With a massive amount of stages named after colors they make sure that every aspect of the harder styles is represented. On Saturday the 25th July we had the honor to attend this Festival which is actually a Weekend-Festival including a camp-side with many activities. Read all about our experience at Defqon.1 below!
The anticipation has been incredible so we did have some goosebumps when entering the terrain of Defqon.1. We got the feeling we entered an amusement park, which is kind of a funny realization since Defqon.1 takes place near an actual amusement park called ‘Walibi Holland’. The festival terrain is soo huge & still there is not the issue that the sound of an area is dimmed by the sound of another area. We had made a big planning on which artists we wanted to see and which area’s we wanted to check out in particular but 1 minute after arrival we decided to get rid of our planning and just explore the terrain and see what would be able to impress us & stay there for a while. Of course this meant taking some difficult choices considering which act to check out and which one to skip.
Of course we would like to give you our personal highlights per area!
At the BLUE which was the area for Raw Hardstyle we couldn’t miss the Recharged album showcase of the Alpha2! Even though it was only 13h the tent was really packed and that’s completely understandable. A particularly special moment was when they dropped ‘Das Weite Land’ and the crowd went nuts screaming along. Digital Punk who performed for 1,5 hours in this area and it was clear a big part of his dedicated fan base was present, considering the big amount of flags and caps. Digital Punk managed to keep a very high energy level throughout the set and that was appreciated by many people.
The WHITE area was the domain of Freestyle and decorated quite cool with all sorts of balloons which formed bloody heads. Freestyle is all about f*ck genres and it was a real pleasure to hear all kind of music mashed up and a good kick or a reversed bass added to it.
For every Festival we go to we check the talent area which is the PURPLE at Defqon.1. This year the Purple was located in some sort of dome which turned out to be the home of a massive decorated spider. When we got in the area Clockartz were playing and their fans were holding up some signs to show their support to the upcoming duo. Despite the fact their set was not bad at all it was way too hot in the dome so we decided to leave it and head to the biggest stage of the festival: the RED mainstage!
It took a while to actually take in how massive and detailed the RED mainstage was at Defqon.1. Since this years’ theme was ‘Dragonblood’ they designed 2 dragons in the mainstage that were actually able to blow smoke out of the part where their noses were. We can say this was the biggest stage we’ve seen so far so you can imagine our excitement. One of the main parts of the show at the mainstage during Defqon.1 Saturday is obviously Powerhour! Powerhour is a full hour of complete craziness where everything goes: Freestyle, Trap, Hardstyle, Raw Hardstyle & Hardcore. Also they bring out a surprise guest every year and this year that was Feest DJ Ruud who knows how to put on a great show and work with beach balls, confetti etc. During Powerhour we managed to get a good look of all the flags out there and lost count of the amount of countries that were present. It’s incredible to realize people had come from Chile, Australia and the USA to experience Defqon.1, but at that moment we also completely understood why they are so dedicated. Besides Powerhour the acts that left a lasting impression on us were: Code Black (lovely euphoric set), Brennan Heart (who played a lot of We R Music tunes) and of course the anthem-creators Bass Modulators.
Last but not least we were really impressed by colorful design of the UV stage! Ecstatic who are very much up and coming and clearly deserved a spot on that stage made our expectations reality. Another highlight of the UV stage weas obviously Wasted Penguinz. Pontuz and Jon who are working on a new album teased some of the tunes. When Jon started ‘’rapping’’ the lyrics of ‘Make It One Day’ we got goosebumps and felt extremely privileged to witness it.
The Endshow
Every outdoor-festival ends with an endshow and honestly even after 4 days we still have no clue how to put the Endshow of Defqon.1 in words. Our minds are still blown and seeing the video will forever give us goosebumps. Well it’s easier if you see it for yourself! =>
Conclusion
We are incredibly grateful to have been able to attend Defqon.1! It was an experience that will remain special forever. The fact that Defqon.1 has the complete package: the experience, the atmosphere, the cool decoration, big acts and all genres within the harder styles makes it very special. This was our first Defqon.1 and it won’t be our last. If you love the harder styles there’s no doubt in our mind to recommend Defqon.1!
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Reporter: Alexander Bouten