After a successful first edition in 2016, it was time for a second edition of Airforce Festival on the 5th of August 2017! Art of Dance and Absolutely Fresh developed the perfect hardcore experience, they established a new place to be – when it comes to hard dance music festivals. No sound limit, a kick-ass show, the perfect location and a superior line up. Airforce Festival 2017 – delivering the rough, dirty, military underground feeling like no other festival.
Unfortunately, a rare bat species caused commotion, again! Similar to last year, a last-minute decision about the permit for the festival was made. The municipality of Enschede gave the organization the required permit for the festival. However, environmental organization Landschap Overijssel and some local residents appealed the judge’s decision. The lawsuit took place on Wednesday August 2nd and the organization received the final permission to continue the festival one day later.
The organization and the visitors did not let this ruin their day of hardcore happiness. Let us take you on our trip to superior warfare at Airforce Festival 2017!
Location
The location gave the vibe expected at the festival and it suits Airforce’s concept perfectly! Like we mentioned in our 2016 review, the area is easy to reach, the parking places are well organized and the festival ground itself not too big. The bunkers spread across the area show the military history of the airbase. What used to be an airbase has now evolved into an event location with an eccentric atmosphere.
However, what we do want to criticize is the single toilet-area and on top not even water to clean your hands. Instead of those soap / disinfection dispenser, we rather wish water and soap. Maybe that’s something to think about for the next edition.
The stages & Show
Photo by Delio Nijmeijer
As you walked towards the entrance, you could already get a glimpse on Airforce’s massive mainstage. When entered, the huge runway lead to the Unity stage. The stage seriously blew our mind. Not as width as last year, but detailed and just unique. It looked like a huge combat jet, with wings, weapons, a cockpit and all these small details.
But not only the mainstage looked cool. All other stages had a particular design, fitting the theme and festival. This year, the hardstyle area was moved inside, while the more freestyle sounds were moved in the open.
But why is Airforce Festical still outstanding? Due to the slightly smaller festival ground, everything feels cropped – in a good way. The festival feels on point! Furthermore, the whole decoration around the areas, the food corners, and those terminator-style soldiers walking around, deliver the ultimate feeling of being involved in to the festival.
Photo by Delio Nijmeijer
Show-wise, there was nothing to complain about. As we are used to, Art of Dance and Absolutely Fresh delivered a fantastic, quality show, not only during the endshow.
Our Experience
Our first stop was the Unity stage. Amada was playing her last records and we were looking forward to D-Fence Live. It was a cool ride through his discography, mixed very fast and smooth and actually pretty nice. However, after some time the dutch vocals are seriously confusing to a non-dutch visitor.
Act of Rage & D-Sturb & Deadly Guns
Photo by Nils Klockner
We decided to give our long festival day a relatively calm start at the G-Force Rawstyle stage where Minus is More and End of Line youngsters Act of Rage and D-Sturb played an awesome b2b set. Immediately we got sucked into the vibe of the super dedicated Rawstyle crowd. What do you get when you let Act of Rage and D-Strub play a b2b set? A true kickroll fest supported by a crowd that can drum every kickroll like they created the tracks themselves.At the same time, we also made ourselves comfortable in front of the Hellfire stage. Deadly Guns hopped on stage and delivered a kick-ass set. I don’t think we have to mention who’s the man behind his production. All we say is: if you do like Triax and Warface, if you want to experience an uptempo roller coaster ride – go and check out Deadly Guns.
N-Vitral live
We left the G-Force stage early to continue our military mission at the Unity area. We stumbled upon the always notorious industrial imperator N-Vitral who dropped a sick set during his live act. He is proving once again that he is here to bang our heads forever.
Photo by Nils Klockner
Recently, he has been dropping some massive bombs with his BOMBSQUAD project (e.g. Kapotmaaien and Klaplong) and, of course, the crazy collab “Who You’re Fucking With?” with Jack of Sound. N-Vitral has been wrecking his studio lately and has some insane releases ready for 2017. His set proved it, 2017 is going to be N-Vitral’s year!
Quick check at Menace II Society’s set. The mood was great and the people enjoyed the older hardcore classics by Angerfirsts second alias, as well as we did. It made us even more hyped for Angerfists live set later!
Back at the Hellfire stages, as Detest was about to drop a smashing set. Personally I was really looking forward to this guy. I heard a lot of live sets and I couldn’t wait to experience him live. He didn’t fail to amaze. If you do love the Industrial Hardcore sounds, something like N-Vitral, but harder and crazier, go and check out Detest. Flawless mix, great tracks, awesome vibe and some ground shaking kicks were pounding through the bunker.
Polish Deathmatch: Crypsis & Regain
Two of the Rawstyle scene’s best DJs held a true Polish Deathmatch, which resulted in total destruction of the G-Force area. This combination of artists might have been unexpected but, hey, it sure did work out great! Both Regain and Crypsis have a huge support within the scene and these two artists put together created a set to never forget.
We would say, it was one of the best sets of the day and one of the most unique sets we’ve heard in a while.
Angerfist live
Photo by Michel van Rossum
Straight from this deathmatch we headed to the next set of the biggest name in hardcore: Angerfist, the man who made last year’s anthem with Radical Redemption! A live set by Angerfist is always thirty minutes of full mental and banging madness. A crazy ride through all his released albums and tracks. The atmosphere was great and the people amazingly dedicated.Angerfist never disappoints and during his performance he proved that he is hardcore’s most appreciated artist followed by thousands of fans. Something to be very proud of! On the 2nd of December, Angerfist will host another artist event in collaboration with Art of Dance Angerfist – Creed of Chaos in AFAS Live in Amsterdam. Make sure you will be there because once you go Angerfist you never back!
Radical Redemption
From Hardcore’s biggest to Rawstyle’s biggest! Radical Redemption has not sat still for the past couple of months because he has been working on some great solo tracks and collabs. His sworn following stay true to him no matter what. During his set Mr. Redemption dropped some of his amazing new tracks that caused unusual excitement in the crowd.
A new track? Phones in the air to film this banger! Not only Angerfist but also Radical Redemption will return with a solo event later this year. On November 4th The Road to Redemption will take place at a brand new venue capable of including more Radical fans!
Tha Playah live
Photo by Michel van Rossum
Since his Qlimax appearance we ever wanted to experience Tha Playah Live. Finally, we’ve come to the point going crazy to the Joker! For those who are not familiar with his live outfit: Joker, from The Dark Knight!His set was a flawless ride through his best tracks. The crowd, as well as we, did absolutely enjoy it! Quality hardcore, a quality set and a true highlight of the day!
Destructive Tendencies & Unexist
Destructive Tendencies said goodbye to their member Daniel, who will start focussing on his career outside Hardcore and his family. But one simply does not say goodbye without a fantastic goodbye, a big bang! What a damn great set! They seriously raised the tempo and tension! 1 hour of pure madness. The combined power of the unique style of Destructive Tendencies and Unexist truly blew us away. The perfect preparation for what’s coming as the grand finale!
Denekamps Gespuis
Photo by Vincent van den Boogaard
What better way to end a festival in Twente than with a mind-blowing set from some locals from the area?! The boys from Denekamp showed us why they were the chosen ones to end Airforce Festival 2017. A lethal combination, a mean machine that blew the last decibels onto the crowd.
Art of Dance and Absolutely Fresh will turn the Military Airbase Twenthe into a true warzone again in 2018. We are already excited for the topic and can just recommend to mark the date with a big red cross in your agenda! Thanks Art of Dance & Absolutely Fresh for an incredible experience, we hope to be back next year!