At the end of April it’s that time of the year again. The Netherlands will cover in orange and celebrate the birthday of their king. Every year almost thousands of festivals take place – we decided to visit three of them. First of all we did visit Beat the Bridge during Kingsnight. We braved the bad weather and set sail towards Arnhem. Let’s have a look at this event.
During kingsnight you could visit three stages, and a crazy cruise ship (on extra cost next to the normal ticket price). The ticket price for this evening was 17,50€. This seems to be pretty fair and cheap, but keep in mind the party is only from 18:00 – 0:00. We arrived at 19:45 at the Factory Stage while Regain was pumping his final beats with tracks like, For the Streets and Wakin’ up. The sound system at the MainStage was not that clear, but for a smaller event, which Beat the Bridge still is, it was enough.
Beat the Bridge is an event with a big name but the size of the festival ground was smaller than I expected. Around the Factory Stage and the Bridge Stage were many small tents set against the rain, inside were a good number of heaters to keep the audience warm, so well organized!
We did buy a locker for €,7,50 (+ €5,00 guarantee) which is a normal price. The tokens though were €2,75 for 1 token. Which is more expensive than usual. After dropping our bags we went to the Bridge Stage for a few seconds, suddenly it began to rain and we were hiding under the bridge. It was extremely cold, imagine the crowd wearing winter-jackets and gloves, and we were still freezing because it was very windy as well! But that must not spoil the fun, right?
At 20:00 we visited Delete vs Jason Payne, which is such a brutal combination. Probs to Jason Payne, who’s still playing at all scheduled events, even he has huge pain in his back – but as we know from Radical Redemption – Give me pain till I die! They were playing Delete’s his new Warface – Chainsaw remix, which is just sick! They also played Delete – Genocide and Suicide Bassline by Radical Redemption. The crowd was enjoying it. But the crowd was also chippy. It seems that many local people from Arnhem visit the event. People that don’t go to Hardstyle events very often. We went for a walk and saw that the crowd at the Hardcore stage (Waterfront) was going nuts, so we decided to join them!
We arrived just in time for Partyraiser. He was opening his set with the dutch anthem, but then in a hardcore remix which was really awesome. The sound at this stage was not that great. Normally I use earplugs all the time, but this time I decided to remove them, because the DB was on a lower level, also the bass didn’t blast through as its fullest . Partyraiser was playing the new track by Nosferatu and Neophyte called ‘Daar zijn we weer’. The mixing skills of Partyraiser are still great to witness. I always wonder how he mix with his elbows, haha. After 1 hour Destructive Tendencies joined the stage for a b2b set.
During this b2b set they only played ‘Sounds Become One’ and ‘Fuck the Fame and Fortune’. Not surprising after all. Destructive Tendencies was opening with, my favorite track at this moment, called ‘Bloodrush’. This track is a remix from the new Miss K8 album called Magnet. The kick rolls in this track are insane, damn! They also played ‘Fucking up the Mainstream’ and ‘Bring us some’. Also the Unexist remix No More Jokes passed by. The vibe at this stage was amazing, with some die hard Partyraiser and Destructive Tendencies fans at the front.
After this set we went to the Factory stage again for the closing set by Angerfist. I’ve seen Angerfist many times now and this one was chippy. Maybe because of the crowd at this stage as well. Angerfist was playing softer than usual. Of course he was playing tracks from his new album Raise & Revolt. Think about the anthem track Raise & Revolt and Leatherface. He also played the Masters of Hardcore 2016 anthem by Miss K8 and Inframan. ‘Chronic Disorder’ from his earlier alias Menace II Society also passed by, which was a great moment. The audience was going insane on the old school hardcore sound. Ending his set with ‘Skrillex – Make it boom dem’ (Angerfist Remix), Beat the Bridge Kingsnight came to an end. A great night to warm-up for kingsday!
During Kingsday we did visit Supersized and Solid Kingsday. Check the reports of these events as well, so you can make a choice for next year ;)!
Stages and Location
The Factory stage was designed like the frontside of a factory, but also looked a bit like a haunted house. There was a face on it, I think it was the Beat the Bridge logo. It did look pretty cool. Besides that there were lot’s of visual effects with lasers and flamethrowers. The others stages were only packed with lasers, nothing special to mention. The location of Beat the Bridge is awesome though. The bridge makes it very industrial and rough. Which is a perfect match with our style of music! This is one of the main reasons why I like Beat the Bridge.
Conclusion
Beat the Bridge is a perfect warm-up for the Kingsday events. With a diverse line-up, there is music for everybody. Compared to other events the crowd was soft, but maybe they prepare for kingsday as well ;). The organization took action against the weather, which helped a lot. They couldn’t do better I think, so, thumps up for that! Next year we will definitely like to visit Beat the Bridge Kingsnight again, let’s pray for better weather then! Do you wan’t to party during Kingsnight next year? Come visit Beat the Bridge!