Megawatt Festival 2014, organized by High Energy Events, which are also responsible for Hardshock Festival, Megabase, PHREAK, Kingdance or RAWdefinition, took place on 20th of December in the IJsselhalle Zwolle. It offered a wide spectrum of different styles, areas and big names for its Line Up. With a low ticket price, a good location, a great Line Up and a nice anthem, created by Chain Reaction and Warface, it caught our attention. But what did we think of Megawatt festival? Read it now!
Arriving from Hamburg, Germany, after a three and a half hour road trip, we were positively surprised by the nice parking situation. The parking places are directly in front of the IJsselhalle – that means you don’t need to walk too long to the entrance and most importantly back to the car in the morning. Many people living in Zwolle just arrived by bicycle.
After waiting for our friends, we started our journey. On our way, we already heard the blasting bass coming from the Rawstyle area, upfront you could recognize the banging drums of the Houseteria area.
I never felt so comfortable arriving at a festival. After I entered the event, I just realized how big the IJsselhalle actually is. The entrance area, followed by a big area, covered with seats, big pillows to relax and tables to enjoy your meals. On the sides you could find the obligatory food and drink booths, but also the possibility to buy your tokens or merchandise. If you went further you just found the first of four areas – Housetria!
The Houseteria area was, besides the Megabase area, the biggest one. A big stage, in a futuristic design, which reminded me of the festival flyer. You had the chance to enjoy DJs like Quintino, Jay Hardway, La Fuente or Jordy Dazz. The crew did everything to make the area as enjoyable as possible – with lasers, confetti canons, air balloons and much more. The crowd loved it, creating an astonishing atmosphere. It was vibrant and the slowly pumping basslines of the newest house, electro and progressive house tracks made you dance through the night.
If you walked further into the IJsselhalle, you came across a second big food and drink area, the first aid booth, more merchandise and the second area. Harddefinition!
With big names such as Dr. Rude, Ruthless, Dark Raver, Bass-D or Bestien it definitely had the flair of a pussy lounge edition. Therefore Dr. Rude was host of the area and played four sets, together with Bass-D, Ruthless, Dark Raver and Panic.
Of course the stage was not as big as Houseteria or the Megabase stage, but the floor was still filled with crazy people, jumping around in a mosh pit to the freestyle sounds of some nice oldies – a mix of different styles, either Hardtechno, Jump/Tek, Hardcore, Hardstyle, combined in one area. This was a hell of a ride!
Did I mention, that the crew members, no matter if it’s the security, the people behind the bar, the people at the token booth, generally the whole crew, was always polite and friendly. If you had any problems or questions, you had the opportunity to ask someone. They always tried to make you feel comfortable.
But let’s move on to the third area! The Hardtechno/Techno dome – well, room!
It was the smallest area, but nice to have. Drunk too much? Drug overdoses? Or did you just want to relax to slowly, but pounding beats – feeling like you listen to the same song for about one hour? This was your area then! You could discover the sets of Reset Reboot, Ray Kajioka (live) or Roy El Kei for example. I wish I could say more about this area, but unfortunately this is not my style.
Now, as I covered three areas out of four, it’s time to take a look at the, for us, most interesting area – MEGABASE!
The line-up was incredibly nice, especially for all the raw lovers! These were the people behind the decks: in the beginning Mythix & Proto Beatz for the warm up, followed by The Vision, which is known for his ‘Vision of Hardstyle’ podcast and his compilation ‘Visions of Hardstyle’, next to him on stage: Zentiments. Both did a great job and made the crowd start moving on the dance floor.
Next up was Jack of Sound. It was the first time, I had the chance to listen to a set of him and it was awesome. The clock strikes twelve and the lasers filled the biggest area with light, Jack of Sound entered the stage and showed us in his one hour set, what Megabase is about and where the musical path of the night will lead us. A banging set and an awesome DJ! Followed by Hard Driver, with his own unique sound, the floor just went wild. All the lasers in the air, the flames, the flashing lights and the brute sound of tracks like United From The Start or Crank It Up are just a few highlights in his set.
I had the chance to grab Digital Punk for a short conversation about our latest issue, just to thank him personally for his time and to wish him the best for his set.
And it was a crazy set! I really can’t count all the bangers he dropped during it. And the crowd? Totally insane! What a great atmosphere, singing and clapping along with hundreds of people to tracks like Psycho, The Black Demon or Firestorm!
Next up was a producer and DJ, which was ill for a long time, but now he’s back, the haunter of the dark – Mr. Adaro himself! Of course he played a lot of tracks by Gunz4Hire, Ran-D and himself. With some surprising new tracks he made it to one of my highlights of the night. On stage he’s just a beast, enjoying his own set more than everyone else. You can literally see his dedication to the scene in his eyes.
It was now time for the Megawatt Showcase and the anthem show. It was great to see, what the High Energy Events crew offered the crowd. From bright lasers in different colors, to a crazy light show, flames and Pyro effects, matching 100% to the sounds of the anthem, created by Chain Reaction and Warface. After five minutes they end it with four big bangs and it was time for the anthem creators to claim the stage and show the crowd what hardstyle is about.
The Sounds of Warface and Chain Reaction is definitely a crazy combination. Classics such as FTP, Catalyst, Chainsaw played by Warface or Chain Reactions tracks, like Lellebel or tracks by Minus Militia, Radical Redemption or Crypsis made the crowd go wild, underlined by a great show.
With Crypsis vs. Outbreak we had a second lunatic combination. It was already five in the morning, but the people didn’t stopped raving to the hard beats, pounding through the speakers. No mercy, no rules, just straight in the crowds face!
If this was not enough for you, and it definitely was for some people, who were already leaving before the last set of the night – we had no one else than Degos & Re-Done vs. DJ Thera on stage!
I really want to be as detailed as possible in my review, but I just can’t say more about their set then F*CKING INSANE, CRAZY, HELL OF A F*CKING RIDE.
The last few tracks were hardcore and they closed the area / the stage like you have to close it. You couldn’t stop dancing because the baseline didn’t stop. One of my highlights in their set was definitely the Delete Mash Up and a moment of silence, where all people had to sit down, to stand up as one and start going nuts.
So Megawatt ended with a big bang. This edition definitely blowed up all my expectations and was a nice closing for me, for the year 2014!
Just to sum up a few facts and my review. High Energy Events did an amazing job with Megawatt 2014! All the different facilities, stages, light shows, effects, sounds and the Line-up were beyond my expectations and made Megawatt to one of my favorites this year. The price for a ticket is not too high, the line up was incredibly nice, everyone had the chance to dance and party to the music he likes, the food and drink facilities were okay and the whole event was well organized. We are really looking forward to this year’s edition of Megawatt! And we wish the whole High Energy Events team great success with all their upcoming events.
Mark the 30th of May in your calendar – it’s time to get unleashed! Megabase presents: Digital Punk – Unleashed Outdoor!