Bug’N’Load

It was already an amazing year but slowly the outdoor season is about to end. We had great editions of Defqon.1, Decibel, Dominator, Intents Festival and Fantasy Island but now it’s time to give this festival season a worth ending.

Q-Dance is about to reload their weapons, man the tanks and military fleet, just to roll you over and create the perfect ending – and hell yeah it’s taking place in Germany! Lock and load, because this was Q-Base.

We left from Zoetermeer to set sail towards Germany, Airport Weeze! Arriving at 18:00, we had a nice bus ride with our partners from Event Travel. Lock ‘N Load for Q-base!

At the same time, our reporters from Germany used the comfortable shuttle by Feierreisen!

We just divided this review into two parts, like we did with Dominator. Hardcore is and always has been a big part of Q-Base, so we don’t want to miss it in our review. Read the hardcore part first:

First, we did buy a locker, which worked with a wristband. Not that handy if you share your locker with friends. After that we went towards the hardcore stage. The hardcore stage was well designed. With a big skull in the middle of the decor, which reminded me of Masters of Hardcore.

The white painted skull was a 3D mapping area. A big proctor projected all kinds of patterns at the skull. Bodyshock was playing a 1:30 hour set but unfortunately he could not make the crowd go wild. The hardcore stage was not crowded at this point. Many people arrived after 19:00.

After Bodyshock it was time for Nosferatu. He did get the crowd going insane directly from minute one! Using KRAKAKA! as an opening song he got his attention. Playing old-school tracks like ‘Still Number One’ this man really knows how to perform. Later this night he will also play B2B with Titan under his alias High Voltage.

Nosferatu leaving the stage after a solid set. Time for one of our favorite Italian DJ’s – DJ Mad Dog! Filippo’s sound is always pounding.

With MC Jeff supporting the hardcore stage and of course supporting Mad Dog, they played an amazing set. ‘Real Voice’, ‘Violent’ and ‘Back to the old-school’ came along. One of our favorite tracks at this moment Typhoon – Loud Noizes (HC Remix) made a blast through the speakers.

Mad Dog was leaving the stage, time for the hardcore anthem creator of Q-Base 2015; OPHIDIAN!
Ophidian played a set including different styles. But in my opinion, he was playing too much industrial for the main Hardcore stage. The set was not that great. I think this set should be played at the industrial stage. Still, we enjoyed Sei2ure – Informer. ‘YOU BETTER START TALKING, INFORMATION M#THERF#CKER!’ What a track! It has passed by many times this evening!

Noize Bangerz were next in line. Introducing the darker sounds of midnight. Noize Bangerz, for those who don’t know, is an act by Noize Supressor and StereoType! We know Noize Supressor as the crazy Italian he is. And again, he proved why he earned this title. Crowdsurfing in the audience, a true hardcore legend and entertainer!

They played some big bangers like ‘Make your ears bleed’ and ‘Bassdrum Bitch’. They also dropped some nice songs out of the new Unexist album. These two crazy heads had a nice performance and finally we felt like Q-Base started.

After a lunch break, we did went back towards the hardcore stage. Get ready to raise your fist, for Angerfist! He played the best set I have witnessed so far! Many of the sets this evening will contained tracks with 3+ minutes length, what made them boring. But Angerfist played a new track nearly every minute, which made it a fast ride through his productions.

Playing almost every track from ‘The Deadfaced Dimension’ and older work. ‘The voice of mayhem’ gave me goosebumps again. The audience enjoyed this set a lot. You could see everyone sweat…. it was even dripping from the ceiling, damn!

Midnight, Noisekick’s terror drang was on our list. We visited the set of Paranoizer and MR. Courage. This stage was in a soundproof bunker. A perfect location for a Terrorcore set! The bass could not flee so your body had to endure a lot of pounding.

We stopped at the hangar for my mate Outbreak. This time he was sadly not playing in a banana costume, but still creating a cool vibe. Right when I was about to go crazy, he just dropped his new shitty track. Seriously, I’ve never heard such a bad production.

After Outbreak I made myself on the way to the main stage, where I teamed up with some friends, we got ourselves a beer and just enjoyed the set of Bass Modulators.

I really like these two guys, they always play a highly enjoyable set. In between all their common tracks you just heard some classics, shivers guaranteed. The hard ending made the set complete.

The weather was thankfully not that bad, so we decided to stay at the main stage for Belgium’s leading hard dance artist – Coone. What a lovely set, a nice opening with Love For The Game, some classics in between.

Let’s continue at the hangar, where the next anthem creator was about to get ready. Be part of the pact and join Dark Pact. Really good set, with some surprising tracks like a hard version of Showteks – FTS. The mood of the people was incredibly good and the sound was just pumping through the whole hangar. Especially the final moments were really crazy!

Let’s move on, we went over to the Dirty Workz area to experience two crazy Norwegian guys, of course I’m talking about Da Tweekaz. Hell yeah, they made us dance! Their remix of Frozen and Hero are still highly appreciated tracks and ‘floor filler’. Such a crazy vibe in the Dirty Workz tent.

Okay, one hour to go until Audiofreq was about to play, we did not want to miss this because of the show we expected. So we’ve gone to the hangar again, to see Frequencerz, but it was really crowded, too crowded to dance or even move. But actually that wasn’t even bothering me, because I did want to see another act for sure this time.

We moved our ass back to the Dirty Workz area to party with Josh & Wesz! Wildstylez – Santiago was their first track, want to kidding me? I mean seriously .. if you play a Santiago track, play the one from Angerfist and Miss K8, but not this ‘hard drop’ bullshit from Wildstylez.

But, everything turned into pure madness, at least for me. I personally think the ‘golden era’ is gaining a lot of attention lately again, and I know why. It just feels so good to dance to these older euphoric tunes everyone knows. The melodies, the old kick and the feelings are amazing!

As teased, we just left for Audiofreq and the anthem show. And I don’t know why, maybe it’s my personal intention and feeling, but I do not get into mood during Audiofreq’s sets.

In my opinion his tracks do not have this specific drive which normally makes you start dancing. They don’t deliver a feeling or any kind of good vibes.

I mean, okay, OMG Aliens is a nice idea and definitely a crazy track but, that’s all! So, again a disappointing set .. I feel like he got infected with the hardwithstyle virus – sadly, since I liked his older productions like Lose Control.

After a nice break, some food and new drinks we were ready for some raw sh*t! We headed to the Theracords area, heard the last minutes of Degos & Re-Done, right before Dj Thera himself claimed the stage.

The area was packed and I ever wanted to experience a Thera Live set. I was not disappointed. It’s not the heaviest raw shit like most of people think and expect, its actually very melodic, but with Thera’s own hard touch, which I really like! After Thera, Deetox played a cool set – what a lovely lady. She already performed at the hangar before, so I would say it was a huge success for her.

Next up was Hard Attakk, for most of the people a highlight act they did not want to miss. I already saw them at Defqon.1 and was positively surprised. The atmosphere they created was just insane. And they strike again. My personal highlight was the edit of Celine Dions’s My Heart Will Go On, hehe sh*t the f*ck up Celine!

It was already 04:00 a.m. when Warface claimed the stage. He wrecked the place. Seriously, what a massive set. The mood of the people, the light show, the f*cking amazing sound system, his tracks and the people around you made this set complete.

Sadly, he had some trouble with the CDJ’s. Followed by Radical Redemption, who continued and managed to keep the atmosphere until the end, we moved to the main stage at the end of his set. Tha Playah finished off this insane edition of Q-Base. What an amazing night.

The show was awesome as always! Not only at the main stage during the anthem, with all the lasers, fire, FX and fireworks, but also during the different sets at the hangar, the Dirty Workz area was small, but filled with lots of lights and lasers, the hardcore area was really, really cool, all these different projections on the skull created this cool 3D effect and even the smallest areas were filled with smoke and created their own atmosphere. But I would still say, it was not as good as last year!

Q-Base is taking place at the Airport Weeze, which is not only a smaller Airport near the border to the Netherlands, but was also an old military base. Therefore Q-Base was and is always a highlight of the year.

The area itself creates such a crazy feeling. If you walk around you just see all these old bunkers, transformed into the areas of Q-Base, in between the woods Q-Dance set up lights and containers. I think it’s one of the best festival grounds. There is a lot of space for all the different areas and the legendary hangar is just amazing.

Lock ‘N’ Load was the main topic and it instantly created these military pictures in my head. It would fit perfectly to Q-Base, so I was really excited for the main stage!

The hangar stage was a TIE Interceptor from Star Wars, the main hardcore area with its big skull, the futuristic design of the Theracords and Dirty Workz area and all other areas had their own cool design – nothing to complain here, except for the main stage.

I’m sorry, but I really don’t know what they had in mind with it. Was it some kind of a bug or wasp on a rocket? I don’t know, but it definitely got a place in the ranking of the most disappointing stages of all time, especially if you compare it to last year – I mean what the fuck? Last year we had this awesome Bat and this year? C’mon Q-Dance you can do it better…

So let’s just summarize Q-Base – was it a worth ending for a crazy festival season? YES, it definitely was!

Although I would rate it a little lower than last year’s edition, Q-Base was besides all the major events a highlight of the year and will always be a highlight. The area is perfect for a festival, the different stages were well designed and packed with the best show equipment.

Get ready for a musical journey with more DJs than ever before. The variety of sounds were incredible and all areas had their own touch. You could really have discovered a lot. The show was nice as always and took you on its own journey. Let the indoor season begin!

This trip was sponsored by Eventtravel.nl

and Feierreisen.de