Hardstyle fans from more than 115 countries attended the second Defqon.1 @ Home festival. A fulminant experience over full 4 days showing more than 100 artists. From special performances, new tracks and special show elements – Hardstyle fans got served well. Didn’t they? To find out, we will now present you the full review day by day with a conclusion on the final 4th day and a resume. This is the Friday – Day 2
So after the first day, the Gathering, the time for the Friday had come. The Lineup and the timetable was long and promising. Around 1 PM we all found together starting the Q-dance Network app to start the stream.
OPENING
The prior’s anthem makers D-Block & S-Te-Fan had the honor to open the Friday on the Red Stage. Similar like the prior year, the red stage was a huge flat stage that unveiled its magic from high above. Behind the DJ Booth Q-dance installed a huge Defqon.1 logo. Several traverses reaching out from the center to the borders were full of lights and fireworks. Above them, cranes were holding additional traverses with lights and more SFX. Okay, no doubt – once it gets darker here – we will see again a spectacular light and fireworks show.
D-Block & S-Te Fan opened their set with their collaboration with Frontliner ‘World of Dreams’. Already the second track was my favorite ‘Harder State of Mind’ – a real bomb which is the result of a teamwork with DJ Isaac. A legend of the Hardstyle scene since their very first hours. And of course, they also played the ‘Defqon.1 Anthem 2020 – Primal Energy’.
AUDIOTRICZ AND EARLY HARDSTYLE TUNES
Second in the loop was Audiotricz Live – at the UV Stage. They directly started with their ‘Locked & Loaded’ which is their first release on the I AM Hardstyle Label. Typical for Audiotricz is their strong sense for Euphoric Hardstyle sets with a nice build up. A big highlight was their special End show Edit of Shamed from 2019.
Time for some Early Hardstyle and Freestyle with Luna on the Magenta stage. The stage itself was kept pretty rusty and small – in front of a rusty oil tank. Tracks like Luna’s ‘Unlocked’, ‘Frontliner – Discorecord’ and ‘Blutonium Boys – Make it Loud’ brought the right party mood to the crowd. Legend!
One performance which always is connected to huge expectations are those performances from Crypsis. Part of the famous ‘Minus Militia’ group and co leader of the Minus is More Label – this legend counts as one of the Raw-Hardstyle founders. And he never disappoints to mix the old with the new. He played ‘Minus Militia – Cracking Your Ribs’ and his ‘Trapped’. But – it wouldn’t be Crypsis if he wouldn’t play his ‘Torture’. This track is a rare evergreen – like ‘E-Force’s – Seven’. already the first seconds reveal which song it is about here. Hero!!
TIME FOR HARDCORE
After this raw dose, it was time for some classic hardcore sounds delivered from the Viper at the Gold Stage. I still can remember when The Viper played live at Qlimax back in 2014 and this set was just insane. Classics like ‘Marshall Masters ft. Da TMC – Don’t Touch That Stereo’ or the legendary hardcore version of ‘The Viper & Neophyte – Coming Home’ brought us down memory lane.
Time for some extra raw now – Malice at the Indigo stage. The members of the Aggressive Records team are known for their extra hard raw sounds that easily border the Uptempo section at some spots. Already the first track ‘Another Day’ got followed by ‘Demon Inside Me’ and made clear, these guys were here to bring down the Indigo stage. After their ‘Black Anima’ Malice presented a completely new track – unfortunately we neither were able to find out how this is track named nor when it will be released. But we keep you posted. With the last three tracks ‘Supreme’ and ‘The Upside Down’ and their uptempo edition of ‘Annhilation’ the duo really brought our living room to boil. And this already at 6:00 PM.
FRESH BLOOD – VOIDAX
An interesting highlight was the Rough State recruit Voidax – who had his first solo set at Defqon.1. This guy is recently climbing up the scene. Especially since his funny Tik Tok movie, where he sits in a car and makes funny faces to a raw hardstyle track, this guy is everywhere on the socials. The set itself was pretty nice, as it contained a lot of new tracks from Voidax himself. ‘Time and Space’ and ‘Kill this Machine’ are really outstanding productions and the 30 minutes went over pretty quickly. Surprisingly his sounds remind us of the Hardstyle newcomer Minoz. Both got a fresh new way.
For all those who rested after the Malice set, it was now time for Mr. High Speed Hardcore – Deadly Guns. BPM´s above 220 were absolutely dediqated to the hardcore and Uptempo lovers.
PHUTURE NOIZE AND HARD DRIVER
Time for Phuture Noize. The chart breaker of the recent months already announced the 2nd Part of Electronic heartbreak on the socials in advance. And here we heard a set that nearly comprised out of never played tracks before. Already the first track was a completely new one. The second one was his collab with B-Front – Violent Storm. Followed by an already a new unknown track. In total, Phuture Noize impressed with a short but powerful melodic raw hardstyle set with a lot of new music.
The next highlight was Hard Driver’s presentation of Chemistry. His latest album contains some real hardstyle bombs.
B-FRONT IN ACTION
Here we come with the next legend – B-Front at the Red. MC Villain announced him as the real weekend warrior. Luckily the night had already come thus the lasers and light show provided by Q-dance, highlighted again why this event organization is the leader. Every single laser, firework and was on point and delivered a fulminant orchestra. The stage was kept in green and turquoise and his first track ‘Above Heavon’ gave the perfect kick-off. Whilst the drones were flying around the stage, diving into the lights and strobes, the music leads us far away.
For all who listened a bit more conscious might have noticed that the fifth track was a premiere with Diandre Faye. Yet we don’t know the track ID. He closed down the set with his latest track ‘Unfold Me’ which is a collab with Deluzion.
REBELION
Now it was time for again more XRaw sounds with Rebelion at the Blue. This duo counts for good reason to the top Raw-Hardstyle artists currently available. Honestly, the blue stage with the metal circles around with lasers and strobes was pretty exciting cause Q-dance realized some really nice SFX shows here with a fulminant light show. They started pretty hard but melodic with ‘Rebelion ft. Micah Martin & Villain – Life for Death’. Hard and clear kicks and beats brought our party mood to a higher level. Nice lyrics and hard kicks is definitely what we needed now. The melodic part found its highlight with the track ‘Hypnotized’ which is a collab between Rebelion and Sound Rush. But they increased the speed pretty quickly with ‘Gunz for Hire – Armed and Dangerous Rebelion RMX’ and their ‘Outta Control’. With the last track ‘Reverse Rehab’ they really closed one of their most powerful sets ever heard. Nice. Actually Livid as the hosting MC matched pretty perfectly here.
ATMOZFEARS & SOUND RUSH
At 9:55 it was time for the next highlight we all were waiting for. Atmozfears & Sound Rush present 2//\\1. Especially Sound Rush is currently pretty active on the socials with their tour “The Great Escape”. A special show from “Lost Places” with a lot of new music. They performed again on the Red Stage and the theme was kept again in a basic color – here red. They kicked their set off with their collab ‘Come Back Home’ and ‘Together as One. This is classic hardstyle at its best over 30 Minutes. A moment where everyone was singing along was when they pleaded ‘Become 1’. At the very end of their set, they announced a new track whilst standing in front of the DJ booth. Atmozfears ft. Sound Rush presents “Warrior in Me”. A massive hardstyle bomb with strong lyrics and flat kicks – reminding a bit of Sub Zero Projects tracks. Great guys!
SPOTLIGHT RAN-D
Coming to the closing – RAN D in the Spotlight. This special show is intended to pay tribute to a certain Artists who contributed significantly to the Hardstyle scene. And no doubt, Ran-D is one of the real Hardstyle legends. Also known as the other half of the Duo “Gunz for Hire” with a lot of brilliant raw hardstyle tracks, he as Ran D celebrated huge successes with his “Zombie” or his collab with Le Prince ‘We are the Storm’ or ‘Fire with Fire’. Where there is Hardstyle – there is Ran-D. The whole set was a complete walk down memory lane and Ran-D himself stood in front of the stage with a fire thrower. Tracks like ‘Living for the moment’ and ‘Virtual Reality’ are still one of my favorites. A big surprise came at the very end of the set – when he played ‘Gunz for Hire – Hard Knock Life’. This track drove our complete team insane and nobody stood still.
CONCLUSION.
This was our Friday review. We again witnessed some epic performances, discovered a lot of new unreleased music and could once again admire a fabulous laser and fire show. Everything was again a new level and left us again speechless. But well, the Saturday was yet to come. A new Power Hour? A new show ? Read us tomorrow 😉