This is part three of our three-part article and party report series on Defqon.1 2017!
Find Part One here: http://hardstylemag.com/defqon-1-2017-friday/
Find Part Two here: http://hardstylemag.com/victory-forever-defqon-1-2017-saturday/
Good morning rain, good morning Defqon.1! While one of our writers was stuck at the showers for another one and a half hours, another one of us tried to catch the Final Terror Sit-down. No chance, the place was packed and we couldn’t get in anymore. What we caught on from the side of the tent was epic enough, but hey, we would have loved to be there too! We moved on to the Indigo, where D-Attack and Kuzak were playing. Not our favourite set of the day, but a solid one indeed. Moving on, but staying at the Indigo, Re-Mind & Ncrypta decided to blow our minds a bit. Mixing like a rockstar, dropping the hardest kicks around, the boys played tracks such as ‘Helix’ and ‘Psychopathic’ (which we heard quite a few times!). Meanwhile at the U.V. Villain and Dr. Rude warmed up the Sunday crowd with a mix of Freestyle and Euphoric Hardstyle. Up next was the true ‘Godfather Of Hardstyle’ – DJ The Prophet! We just all love a good set by the godfather himself – Scantraxx goodness to the max!
By the end of his set the U.V. was looking a bit like a downsized Main Stage – why? It was time for: Tweekacore! Together with UK Hardcore hero Darren Styles the two Norwegians completely wrecked the place. The energy, vibe and absolutely great atmosphere left us wondering why there’s not more UK Hardcore at Defqon.1 after all?! Needless to say the set was one of our personal highlights during Defqon.1 – more of this please! After catching a breath during Audiotricz and Adrenalize we went for one of Hardcore’s finest: Furyan. Dropping a whole lot Industrial this time, we had a blast enjoying his set. We then moved on to B-Front who would enchant us with his magical atmospheres at the Blue. Another highlight of the day was the absolutely crazy vibe during N-Vitral at the Black. Dropping his new track ‘Klapong’ amongst other favourites, old and new, we were just blown away by the energy – who knew having this much fun could be so brutal?!
Back at the U.V. another part of the team was enjoying the euphoric Hardstyle sounds of D-Block & S-te-Fan. Hearing ‘Angels & Demons’ in a live setting was spectacular and also the rest of the set was reason enough to have two beers or three and stay for a while.Back at the Black Denekamps Gespuis were tearing the place apart, before our Raw Hardstyle squad moved on to listen to the last half of Malice and Rooler. Having heard what felt like 300 different kick drums we were absolutely wrecked after their set! Having a last look at SRB, who’s always delivering a fun and energetic set, we were finally ready for what we have waited for all weekend: The Defqon.1 Legends.
The absolute and undisputed highlight of this year’s Defqon.1 was truly the Defqon.1 Legends – 15 Years Of Defqon.1 show. Legend after legend, from Dana to Noisecontrollers, from the first generation to the newer legends, they all presented us with a true best of Defqon.1. Brennan Heart, The Prophet, Gunz For Hire, Wildstylez – everyone was there! We thought the show had reached its peak when we heard ‘Showtek’, but no – there was more to come. “What year is it?!”, we started to ask ourselves – and then came the moment. Silence, and then, there he was again: Headhunterz. Vowing to never leave again, the King Of Hardstyle claimed back his tribe. These were truly some of the best three hours of our lives. Enjoying the endshow with our friends and colleagues, we reminisced about the weekend. Thank you Defqon.1 – this was was nothing else but absolutely legendary!
Let’s talk facts one last time though!
Stage design:
Let’s start with the Blue. The blue area was decorated with LED panels all over the place. On stage they did form a shape that did remind us of Qlimax in 2015. Above the crowd more LED panels were placed, which were moving up and downwards, providing an immersive experience as visitor.
The Black the stage was very clean and dark. We couldn’t figure out what the meaning or design was meant to be, but the total area did look like a factory with many iron tubes attached to the pillars of the original tent construction. The cool element in this tent was the fire places inside the pillars.
Another cool stage was the Ultra Violet or U.V. stage. Although they did use the ‘female’ head once again, which we did already spot at Mysteryland 6 years ago as Medusa. The combination of the ‘Q-dance Swords’ and this head did create a quite compelling stage design. This one was our favourite this year together with the Blue!
The Gold stage was a bit disappointing. They used the same construction as the magenta last year, looking like a bumper car area. On stage they did place some Organ Pipes and they made it look like a church. Not a grand design, but it was also not a big stage.
At Indigo they did create a Raw Hardstyle arena, with blades everywhere and a gigantic tent on top of the stage. For us this simplistic stage did come to life with the right crowd being in front of it at all times! We would love to have a bigger Indigo next year!
The Red stage wasn’t exactly disappointing, but it was hard to top last years design. The space in between the single elements of this Viking-ship-inspired stage made it a bit less immersive than last years Dragon Stage. It just truly came to life in the dark, which was a bummer, but when it came to life, it was a majestic sight to see!
Food, Drinks & Facilities:
When we talk about the Food & Drinks, Defqon.1 didn’t surprise our wallets. The price for drinks was pretty normal for Defqon.1, 1 token for a beer, 1 for soda, 2 for water etc. If you love special brewery or craft beers you were also able to buy some of these. The prices were a bit higher, but a true treat for the real beer fanatics. We also absolutely loved the fact that Desperados was available everywhere!
When we talk about food though, some meals were pretty expensive. For instance a pizza was 5.5 tokens. Which is 14€! And the taste of this pizza was not what we expected for that price, sadly. Well after knowing that we did decide to catch up some cheaper food like french fries (1,5 tokens), snacks (1 token) and a turkish pizza with kebab (3 tokens). There was also the possibility to buy some luxury food from food trucks. Think about a hamburger of 3.5 tokens or roasted pork meat, 3 tokens. One of our favourite this year and on every festival: Nachos!
Facilities:
The Facilities at Defqon.1 were awesome this year and just left minor space for improvements.The toilets were cleaner than ever, and there were enough on the campsites as well. Still there were not many toilets on specific areas such as for instance at the area around the Red stage. It would have been wise to add another toilet area, instead of only one. Same goes for the area around the Blue stage. There were many chilling spots, more than usual. It was easy to find a seat or a comfy place in a hammock this time. Also campsite facilities were a bit better. Every campsite had his own toilet area (not chemical toilets, only flushing toilets, which was quite a luxury). The food area at campsite two was bigger than ever before a good variety of choices. Don’t like to walk that far? There was also a small kiosk at your campsite. Only downside where the massive lines at the showers, which had (especially) our girls waiting for one to two hours.
General conclusion:
Defqon.1 stays the undisputed Queen of Hardstyle Festivals. With shows and moments that we will remember forever, ‘Defqon.1 – Victory Forever’ has a special place in our hearts. From ‘The Spirit Of Hardstyle’ showcase on Friday to the epic Defqon.1 Legends set on Sunday – this might have been the best edition so far! While the tickets and general pricing are a good bit over the average – you get what you pay for: the best and just the best. Leaving just minor space for improvement, we can’t wait how Q-dance will top this absolutely fantastic edition of Defqon.1 festival! See you all next year!
We thank Q-Dance for having us!
Pictures: Q-Dance / Defqon.1 Media Team