A place full of extraordinary people, walking around with even more extraordinary masks and costumes. Over a couple of years Freaqshow developed to the most anticipated New Year’s Eve party. And the reason is quite simple.
Take a bunch of dedicated hardstyle fans, put them into costumes and mix this up with a standard Q-Dance light show. Mostly, this is what Freaqshow makes so special.
Topic of this year’s Freaqshow was a Masquerade ball. A interesting and fitting theme, since it’s not only very aesthetic but gives more people the chance to participate because of the low costs of a mask.
Including the ticket, costume and drinks we spent between 120€ – 160€ per person.
Line-up
At first sight it looked pretty standard. But regarding the amount of old school tracks, which were played by the DJs, this line-up was amazing. First highlight of the night, Luna. It felt like going back in time. One classic banger after another. Especially reverse bass tracks were followed by a moment of silence and total madness by the crowd.
Cyber
He was one of the rising stars in 2015, playing at grand events during the festival season, such as Decibel mainstage. Now he is here to kick-off Freaqshow 2015. The dreamy sounds of cyber will bring you in the right mood. You can really here the sounds of the DJ’s that inspire him. Think about Wildstylez, Wasted Penguinz and Da Tweekaz. Lately he released a lot of tracks and we did hear them all during this set at Freaqshow. Lovely tunes, making you feel like you’re flying. Universal Language, Dont let it go and Union are really good tracks. After one hour the great melodies of Cyber came to an end. It is time for the veteran, the mix master; DJ LUNA!
Luna
The Ziggo dome was getting more packed. DJ Luna always finds the right balance between euphoric hardstyle and raw hardstyle. This time it was the same. Luna did bring us some old school tracks but also some newer tracks. Think about Vengeance and Tickin’. Luna did entertain the audience very well. The floor getting packed more and more since Freaqshow moved on to The Viper & Dr Phunk.
The Viper & DR Punk
I don’t think many people thought that these two guys would play a b2b set during Freaqshow 2015. Last year Anime did close the Freaqshow event, and this year many people thought that The Viper will play the closing set. But Q-Dance revealed another plan behind their masks. The Viper and DR Punk were ready to give us some freestyle sounds! The set was surprising and fun for the freestyle lovers. But in our opinion this set was a bit misplaced. Maybe the Viper and DR Punk should have played before Luna.
Noisecontrollers & Bass Modulators
Another surprising b2b set this evening – Noisecontrollers vs Bass Modulators. This b2b set is also announced for Hard Bass 2016 as NCBM, as a Live act. But we didn’t expect this for Freaqshow as well! Noisecontrollers and Bass Modulators are of course one of the biggest acts in the euphoric hardstyle scene. Bass Modulators had a great year with their track Oxygen and many great sets at the biggest event. Noisecontrollers released his 10 Years of Noisecontrollers album and documentary. NCBM played a solid set with all their classics like; Rocked up, Let me see Ya, Down Down and Attack Again.
Audiotricz
It is time for the anthem makers; AUDIOTRICZ! The euphoric sounds continues this evening, even after the 00:00 mark. Playing tracks like; Reawakening, Coming home and Turn The Music Up, they really entertained. Of course it was also time for the Freaqshow anthem ‘VIII’. We think, that last year’s Freaqshow anthems were better. The track is a solid release, but nothing more. But still, the whole Ziggo Dome went nuts.
Wildstylez
I think we all did recognize this DJ within a few seconds behind his mask. He will show his true identity once again with his euphoric sounds. Playing tracks from his Lose Control album but also older tracks from the other albums did pass by. A great set once again, but we didn’t expect anything less from this experienced performer!
Frontliner
The summer of Frontliner brought us some great tracks again, and of course they did blast trough the speakers of the Ziggo Dome as well! Loud and Beatdown are great tracks. The audience went crazy on the classics. Halo’s still going strong! Frontliner made some raw sounding tracks as well, these were very original. Many people blame Frontliner for playing a standard set at every event. But this time there was no reason to discuss!
Dark Pact
Let’s make a switch from the euphoric sounds to the raw sounds of Dark Pact! This is one of the most talented producers out there. Dark Pact gave the best he can, starting with a classic by Headhunterz called Subsonic. After that he played the new big banger by Prefix & Density called Just a Memory. Woow, this sounds amazing trough the brilliant sound system of the Ziggo Dome. Of course he did also play some tracks of himself, Never Stop, I Don’t Care and Godlike did blast trough the speakers. Ending his set with Kings of the Underground and Unity Trough Actions he did play an entertaining set!
B-Front
He will wreck the dome at the end of January during his own X-Qlusive night, but now he is here to bring us some Goosebumps. It is time for B-Front! Whenever this man plays, he always make my body move and give me Goosebumps and chills over my whole body.
Playing tracks like Witch, We Are One and Blacknessmade you seriously go crazy. The audience can always scream along while B-Front fades out the melodie. I liked the fact that he did play the oldschool track Octavius Augustus. This track still makes the audience go insane!
Radical Redemption
For the one man army it is time to rise again. Playing all his new bangers from his new album. The set was not really different from the sets we have heard before. But seriously, do we want to hear a different set? Everybody wants to hear, Brutal 5.0, Chopin’ Bodies, Retalliate with Hate, The One Man Army and Piece of Shit. Finally it is time for some hardcore. Radical did end his set with Masters of the Great Conspiracy, Repurcussion and Scream! Woow! The soundsystem of the Ziggo Dome can really give us that deep and hard bass of hardcore. What a closing of Freaqshow 2015!
The Outcasts stage was more “out of bounds” with Geck-o for example. But to be honest we didn’t even bother to go over, since it’s very crowded and surprisingly the “most-wanted” stage.
I: Cyber
II: Luna
III: The Viper
IV: Dr Punk
V: Noisecontrollers
VI: Bass Modulators
VII: Wildstylez
VIII: Audiotricz
IX: Frontliner
X: Dark Pact
XI: B-Front
XII: Radical Redemption
XIII: MC Villain
The Outcasts
Sub Zero Project
Bass Chaserz
Advanced Dealer
Energyzed
Geck-o
MC Dash
Design
Maybe you know that the Ziggodome is a bit smaller than other locations. So the main stage feels smaller and of course cozy. The main stage was a big mask, maybe a Venetian one. On both sides some LED screens. In the middle of the dome you saw a disco ball surrounded by some scaffolding, lasers and spotlights.
Throughout the night the overall color of the main stage changed and the intros were supported by the great light show too. At midnight small fireworks couldn’t miss either.
But like every year the best part was the people with great costumes, giving the place something magical. Especially at midnight the crowd made this event to something truly fantastic. So a big shout out to everybody who took the time, got a mask and followed the “dresscode”.
It was time to “count the motherf*cker down” with Q-Dance’s top 10 tracks of 2015. Even if it’s hard to nail a whole year down to 10 tracks we (people who voted) did a pretty good job. A few all time favorites like “Release” and “Oxygen” made the list also predictable. Enjoy the last second of 2015 with your favorite tracks:
01. Noisecontrollers & Bass Modulators – Solar
02. Adaro ft. Danny Scandal – For The Street (Regain Remix)
03. Atmozfears ft. David Spekter – Release
04 Ran-D featuring Skits Vicious – No Guts No Glory (Defqon.1 Anthem 2015)
05. Frequencerz & Tartaros ft. MC Jeff – Wolfpack
06. Radical Redemption – Brutal 5.0
07. Brennan Heart & Wildstylez – Lies or Truth
08. Frequencerz & Titan – Getting Off
09. Gunz For Hire – May God Be With You All
10. Bass Modulators – Oxygen
Service
The entry was also a problem this year (not as fast as last year), but a problem which is very hard to fix. Same for the second stage, where it was very crowded, making it nearly impossible to get there after a certain time.
Secondly there are not enough lockers for all the people. If you are late you have to use the Garderobe, which was really nice. With the lockers you have also pay 2€ for every time you open and close it. But if you share it with friends you won’t pay more than at other events.
For hardstyle fans Freaqshow stays the best choice for a New Year’s Eve party. The quality of the event stays on the same level since a few years, no big surprises. But in the end you get a dense and harmonious event if you are ready to get a bit “Freaky”.