Dark, mystical and rough – This is Ground Zero

Every year in the woods of Bussloo the Hardcore fanatics take over the place from sunset till sunrise. This year Ground Zero took place for the 11th time. Last year this was one of my favourite Hardcore events so my expectations were high, but before entering I already knew it was going to be one of the best of 2016 festival again. A huge line-up was presented, with a great diversity of talents, known artists and many music genres in the Hardcore scene presenting their style at a stage, this could not go wrong! Let’s step into the darkness, let’s check out Ground Zero – Blackout!
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We left Zoetermeer around 19:00, by bus powered by our partners Event Travel. After a safe ride, which was 2 hours, we arrived at the entrance of the forest. The sight you have at the forest, and the music you hear in the background gave me goosebumps directly but also pure adrenaline. You walk to trough the forest and start to see some lights in the air, the music is getting louder, you see more people walking the same way, it is a great feeling, and a nice way to walk to the entrance of the festival.

After a few minutes, we arrived at the entrance of Ground Zero. Hyped as fuck we entered the festival ground. The first thing we did was buying a locker and some tokens. The token price was 7 tokens for 20,-. Which is 2,85 for 1 token. That is a bit high, but again in 2016 all the token prices did increase by 30 cents.

The first thing you want to do is check out the mainstage, and so we did. The stages at Ground Zero are mostly not that special, but you have to think about the fact that this event is only taking place during sunset. In complete darkness you won’t see anything from a stage, all you want to see is lasers, big LED panels, a good show and some fireworks. And that is what Ground Zero is all about! The mainstage is built with squares and LED panels, and tons of lasers! I did see so many lasers this night that my eyes did hurt for two days, haha. There were lasers everywhere!

Jave Boss & Re-Style was the first act we did see in this edition. Unfortunately, we couldn’t enjoy the first beats by Amada. Jave Boss and Re-Style were playing a good warm-up set, the grounds of the main stage were not that crowded yet but more people were arriving. They played tracks like Dogfight, Repercussion and Gaan met die banana in the Re-Style edit.

There are so many stages at Ground Zero, we decided to check most of them. Next in line was the Millennium Stage. Dyprax was playing over there and the vibe was already amazing inside this tent. The music was loud as fuck, but pure quality. We can’t give you any track names since we are not that into Millennium Hardcore.

After the short visit to the Millennium stage, we decided to go to the Industrial stage. This stage was also in a tent, which was a good thing because the rain was falling down from the sky. They did expect some bad weather this night, but the weather was in our favour, there were only two short periods of rain. Entering the industrial we saw Hardbouncer. Playing his track, The Sound of Hardbouncer, and Jump the fuck up, one of my favourite tracks of this moment by N-Vitral and Igneon System, better check it out!

The DB level was beyond borders inside this tent, and it was already crowded! Industrial Hardcore is getting more popular these days. Many people like the rough sounds, just like they do at RAW Hardstyle music. We spot a bit of the same audience over there, but more energetic! The lasers inside this tent were sick, it was hard to spot the DJ without blinking your eyes, haha.

The rainy clouds passed by and we did set sail towards the main stage once again. Tommyknocker was on our list and so we did visit his set. He did start playing Rewind while we entered. Still, a great track to go wild. After that, he did drop the new tune by Noize Suppressor vs Angerfist called Back with the Hard Street Shit. The lovely Angerfist piano tops the Noize Suppressor bass, which gives you the ultimate hardcore feeling.

After that Tommyknocker did drop Nobody Stopping This, Back to the old school and MFFYF. Yes, that are a lot of Mad Dog tracks, maybe a bit too many to play while it’s not your own music. But since DJ Mad Dog is one of our favourite Hardcore producers we didn’t care about it that much, haha. He did end his set with Demolition, Where are you now and Your Betrayal. Tommyknocker did leave the stage after one hour, next up Evil Activities!

Evil Activities did start with Propaganda, followed by, in my opinion, their best track. Don’t you fall asleep? After a few minutes, there was an opening show at the stage. Many actors did join the stage and we could see fireworks all over the place. Next to the main stage was a small lake, where two guys were surfing in the air. The water underneath them was filled with light. And they were also shooting flames in the air. A great sight. The crowd was going wild on a packed main stage at this moment. This was for sure one of the highlights of the event.

After this opening show, we did decide to go back to the Industrial stage. The tent was packed to the max, and Sei2ure was giving his best. Oh shit, how I love this talented producer! He was dropping Informer, Jump the Fuck Up, and tracks from his new EP with Andy the Core. But he did also drop I:GOR his track Straight outta Kielce. Damn, that track is huge!

My body was filled with adrenaline and energy, I was at a pure peak at this moment going mental on the tracks. We did decide to stay at the Industrial stage to enjoy the beats of Igneon System. He did drop a lot of solo tracks but also some tracks by Innominate, his duo act with I:GOR. Think about tracks like Execute, The price you pay, Let the blood spill and Build to hurt.

We did want to discover more of the festival grounds so we did decide to leave the industrial stage and walk around. In the middle of the festival grounds was a huge fairground attraction. We did also spot many Merchandise stands, which did sell really awesome merchandise. I think this is one of the best festival merchandise I’ve seen in a while. Mostly the t-shirts are black with a print, but this time Ground Zero made really fashionable items which you can also wear on a normal sunny day on your way to the beach or school.

You know what I mean right, haha. A good thing about ground zero was the placement of stands. From almost everywhere you could easily reach a bar, a food stand, merchandise stand or toilet. At these toilets you were able to refill your bottle for free, that’s always good for your wallet and health, haha. We also have to give compliments towards the organization. They use the space of the festival ground and combine their designs with the force of nature. The total package is just giving the right atmosphere!

After a walk we did decide to enjoy the sounds of Ruhr G Beat, entering the Up-Tempo festival ground. Holy shit, this ground was more packed than the mainstage. The vibe was crazy over there, so were the beats. System Overload was playing vs the Demon Dwarf, the set was beyond borders and so were the speed limits. My body was exhausted after every beat drop. We didn’t see any special designs at this stage, but again there were many lasers. Assisted by the woods surrounding the stage it was a grim atmosphere, in a good way.

Next in line at this stage were the Sjammientors. A duo I have always liked, and finally, there are booked for some events! They did start with my favourite tune produced by them called Kick the Nation. Of course they did also drop Life’s a bitch, Pull up To Mi Bumpha and Mop Mop Gas Der Op. Damn, this set was one of my favourites of the night. Because the Up-tempo did really destroy our body, we were hungry for some more but on a lower BPM. Luckily for us, Rooler LIVE was next in line at our program. We did decide to walk towards the RAW stage directly were Digital Punk was playing his final beats.

Rooler is a DJ from the label of youngsters, Gearbox, which is rising to the top at the moment. With rough and devastating beats he was ready to wreck the dome of RAW. He was playing a LIVE act, which meant many edits in this case. He did play many rough tracks and the crowd was going insane. After many rough kicks, there were some Hard Dance Kick breaks, which were funny and highly enjoyable. Rooler was enjoying this 30-minute ride, we could see a big smile on his face the whole time.

Maybe this guy has the look of a producer, but surely he is an entertaining DJ besides his producing skills. He did drop Death, Danger, Destruction, Damnation, Number 23, Aggressive Acts all in a Live Edit and his new tune Endless Path. Ending his set with Dikke Stroopwafels in a (Kibbeling Edit) he did give the best he can. The crowd did enjoy it to the max. One of the best sets of the night, but there were many great sets which deserve this title, haha.

Closing our epic night at the main stage with the Frenchcore beats of Radium, Ground Zero did come to an end. As we did already write in 2015, Ground Zero is a must see for anyone! This is the event to discover the rough and dark side of our musical spectrum. This is not about the superstars in our musical genre. No, this is about quality and the rise of the talents and the DJ’s which you don’t spot at every event.

The vibe was great and energy was awesome. We did had an absolute blast. For €50,- you can enjoy these beats, and discover the Hardcore sound in many ways. This event can easily compete with the best. Don’t be surprised if this event is in our top 3 of best events in 2016. We hope to see you all next year at another edition of Ground Zero!

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