Jason Payne

Next up, my big black friend from Theracords! I was totally confused by his set time and thought he wouldn’t go that crazy as usual, but he proved me wrong. Seriously, If you want to lose all your energy and get wrecked by insane kicks, mash ups and perfectly done transitions, visit a Jason Payne set! He went totally nuts, as well as the crowd did. Just check his Tracklist at Facebook, you can’t do anything else than going insane! A few tracks he dropped were Power Strength Domination, Sanctuary by Warface and High Voltage, Nuclear in the Rebelion remix, Chainsaw in the Delete remix, Malice Xterminate (!!!!), Do or Die in the Rebelion remix and fuck, he even dropped hardcore in the end! He’s kind of my secret hero, because he always plays different tracks, not a single set is the same, his mixing skills are awesome and it’s just awesome to see him going crazy behind the decks!

Requiem

Fusions fastest rising talent, part of Three The Hard Way and unmissable in his sound. He managed to keep the tempo and atmosphere after Jason Payne. It was a cool set, packed with tracks like Collateral Damage, Headshot by The Geminizers, Alone by Deetox and Delete, Radical Redemptions Annahilate, Deetox’s collab with Rebelion called Within Me and some hardcore in the end.

Typhoon

This guy is amazing!! For me the second best set of the night. He gets booked way too little. Seriously, this guy is almost like Jason Payne – giving a shit about what people say and enjoying the time behind the decks. He’s a good DJ, his tracks are awesome and he knows to create a dense atmosphere and good flow in his sets. Although he pretty much just plays his own tracks!
But just when you hear the first beats, this specific mix of raw hardstyle and hardcore elements, which we call Rawcore, you just need to go crazy. The kicks are hard and pounding, sometimes heavily distorted. The screeches are fast, they give the tracks this feeling of a rush and flow. But besides there is always a great atmosphere in his tracks. His latest track with Regain couldn’t be missed – Ultimate Victory. But he also played Heavy Damage by Delete and Jack of Sound, Cop Killa, his remix of Get Up by Korn, We are The Pray (such a crazy track!), Ghosts by Kronos, Glimpse of the Future or his track Rawcore – Gooooooooo Bounce!!! Hell yeah, I just loved it, hope to see him more often this year!

Unresolved

The people go crazy when they hear his name. He went crazy when he announced he will play at Qapital and I was just curious about his set. It was more like a showcase of his own tracks, but I liked it. The atmosphere was great during his set! I just remember a few tracks like West Cost or The Big Bad Wolf, or Gangsta. He ended his set with Pompen by D-Fence, love this hardcore track! All in all a satisfying, energetic and powerful set!

The Main Area

Dark Pact

Starting with Dark Pact in the main area, one thing was clear after listening to the very first tracks – the sound system of the Ziggodome is one hell of a beast! Such a clear and massive sound is pretty rare! Dark Pact did his best to open up the 4^th edition of Qapital, with tracks like Bounce and Break (Atmozfears remix), Shiverz or the Qapital anthem 2013 – Worth Fighting For by Adaro and B-Front!

Endymion & Bass Chaserz

Seriously, the Bass Chaserz are doing an awesome job lately. I don’t know why, but their tracks have something fresh and new. I always wanted to discover a set of them, or hear a track of them on a sound system like we had here at Qapital. Together with Endymion they brought us a solid set. I expected nothing special, it was good! Tracks like Big Dick, Time to Die, the Sparta remix of Endymion, Street Fight, In Control or Testify they delivered a good second set. The place was about to get filled with more and more people, so, they did a good job – all in all.

Outbreak Live feat. Sabacca

I was pretty curious about Outbreaks live act, especially because vocalist Sabacca would join him on stage. They delivered a great performance and I think it was a great step for Outbreak. He kept the tempo and created a good atmosphere. It was also pretty hard, just when I compare it to older Outbreak sets. He dropped a kick edit of It’s On, the Bassface remix by Sub Sonik, his track Rebel Territory, which is just awesome! If you don’t think so, give it a try and listen to it a few times, it becomes better every time. Furthermore, he played a mash up of Prison of Commercialism and Break Ya Face and ended his set with his collab with Radical Redemption You and Me and a hardcore edit of Lost in the Mist.

You see, a few specials in his set, the voice of Sabacca additionally made this live act a really cool experience. Hopefully he’s back soon with it, although I expected a little more. Compared to other live acts it was more into the direction of a standard set, with a few edits.

Crypsis

The man himself. Damn, I don’t know how long he’s been in the scene, but it was just a matter of time until he was the one to create the Qapital anthem. It’s always a mystery, because I don’t really like to listen to his tracks at home or via headphones. But when he’s at the decks he’s going insane! His tracks a powerful, but still melodic – somehow. So next to the anthem Stand Your Ground he played Willow Waly by Alhpha², Crackin’ Your Ribs, Underground Shit and also the new track by Act of Rage and I’m pretty sure he also played Sandstorm by Sub Sonik. I really liked the set, although I think when he played live he’s even better. But still a lovely set by the one and only Crypsis –  the main motherfucker!

Frequencerz Live

The next live act entered the stage – Medium Rare? Yes, Sir! Freshly released, their album already entered the Spotify Top 50! As the name already suggests, the tracks are a really good mix of more melodic elements and raw elements. That’s why I love Frequencerz. Additionally, when they play live, you can really hear a difference to their normal sets. Awesome shit was going on during their set. Their edit of Psycho is going strong, Wolfpack with Tartaros still a great track or even their collab with Titan Getting Off. Their live act was a thrilling ride through their new Medium Rare album with tracks like Shotgun, Snap Ya Neck, an edit of Rockstar, their Qapital anthem of 2014 and the remix of Menace by D-Sturb, pitching the track to 155-160 BPM (maybe, I didn’t count).

Deetox

Sorry that we skipped Digital Punk, but Typhoon was way more important! The Queen of raw, well that’s how we call her, was ready to wreck the motherfucking dome, aw damn it, lyrics of Radical track here, but still fitting. I would call the set standard. Nothing special, nothing unexpected .. She did her job and played all her bangers as well as a few other tracks. Sadly, she also dropped Willow Waly. Anyway, I still liked it, simply because her tracks are good! Rock It still does his job. But she also played Headbanger by Sub Sonik and Sub Zero Project, Warfare in the D-Sturb remix, Lower Level, Do or Die, guess what, in the Rebelion remix, Rawness and Within Me, her collab with Rebelion. The only track which really surprised me was The Undead by Randal. Pretty unknown track if you ask me, but it has a really good drive and awesome melody!

Thera: The New Era Live

Next up was the blue Iron Man, eh, I mean Thera Live. I need to admit; they should have placed him a bit more in the beginning. Don’t get me wrong his tracks were awesome in my opinion, the kicks were hard, but the more melodic tracks didn’t fit after Deetox. Anyway, besides that his Live act was amazing! Not only because he wears a fucking blue Iron Man similar suit, but also because of the mixing and tracks! He pretty much dropped his whole album and I seriously can’t wait to hold it in my hands! The combination of real, lovely and mystique melodies, with a hard kick gave me Goosebumbs everywhere! This is what I call real hardstyle!

Radical Redemption

Well, what shall I tell you about Radical Redemption? You want Radical Redemption you get it. He started softer than expected, with Choppin’ Bodies for example. But of course the beast went totally insane. The vibe was amazing and the crowd awesome! He played tracks from his newest album, tracks from his older album – I don’t think I have to count them all. It was what I and pretty much everyone else expected a Radical Redemption set. But, and I need to underline it, it was drastically different to his Reverze Live set for example, which is good! Damn, I remember how he played with a broken leg at Qapital, that was quite funny.

Delete VIP Live

Holy damn shit, what the hell was going on during Delete VIP Live – I almost can’t put it into words! I would just crown this live act, this set as one of the craziest, heaviest and most insane shit you can listen to within the harder styles! This set was seriously the best of the night. I already loved the one at Supremacy, but this broke boundaries! There was not a single track which he did not edit live! Funky Beats, Just Do It or Punishment are just a few tracks who blew your mind and body! The kicks were shattering through the whole place, with such a clear and stunning sound, that I was pretty much speechless after it! He also dropped an edit of The World is Yours, Level and Chainsaw. I can’t wait to experience Delete VIP live again, because he definitely counts to the top three live acts we have within the harder styles!

Warface

There is only one guy who may could have topped this, too sad he couldn’t. Flashed by Delete VIP Warface claimed the spinning stage. His set was awesome and crazy as well, but couldn’t reach a Delete VIP live regarding the drive, tempo and intensity. But he dropped a few new tracks like Danger Zone with Luna, Wage of War or Ways of the Underground with Requiem. But he also played Waking Up, a collab with Regain, Malice Anger, which was really nice, Refuse to follow, Sanctuary and some industrial sounds in the end, If I’m right.

Stage & Show

I’m pretty unsure what I should think and tell about the stage. Well, you had the centre stage and this time some buildings, hanging from the ceiling around it. The constructions could move up and down and were differently designed. During the anthem they moved down, with fireworks, lights and more. It was really a memorable moment. Underlined with the fire and thousands of lasers the show was pretty sick. But after the anthem I almost didn’t recognize the constructions anymore. Sometimes they appeared next to you and you’ve been reminded: oh yeah, there is something hanging from the ceiling! I bet it looked pretty nice from the tribune or VIP area. So I would say, music wise this year was crazy, stage wise, I liked the previous editions a little more. Sounds like Qlimax right? Anyway, I have to praise the sound system for a very last time, hell yeah it was massive!

Conclusion

Qapital 2016 was definitely worth to go, just because of that damn sick line up! It was a great edition in a few aspects, but also had its tiny weaknesses. Stage and show wise, they could have done better. Anything else was just perfect. You really had enough space to dance, it was not too stuffy, the sound was amazing (damn, I praised it again) and the whole concept done a very good job. Let’s see what Q-Dance will bring us next year – we seriously can’t wait for Qapital 2017!