Last Saturday, fans of the harder styles from all over Europe gathered at the Maimarkthalle in Mannheim to celebrate Germany’s leading indoor hardstyle festival: APEX by Musical Madness. Around 12,000 visitors enjoyed 21 artists, 16 sets, and 11 hours filled with the best tracks from the harder styles scene – old-school classics, current bangers, and brand-new tunes!
Stephie
Getting there
I took the bus provided by the shuttle organization Feierreisen. It’s a pretty uncomplicated and stress-free way to get to the event. You simply choose your desired departure point, hop on the bus, and get dropped off right in front of the venue. Of course, it’s just the other way around for the return journey.
Venue
The entrance situation at the venue was a bit chaotic at first, but the security resolved it quickly and well. Overall, the organization was well-managed. The staff at the bars and food stands were really friendly and always had a smile for you.
To purchase drinks and food, you needed to get tokens – as is common at many festivals in Germany and the Netherlands. One token cost €4.50, which is a pretty typical exchange rate for this type of payment in 2025.
Unfortunately, the queue for the ladies’ toilets was consistently long, so it was wise to plan in some extra waiting time before the next set.
Throughout the whole event, there were some undercover cops around at the venue doing drug checks. So it was best to avoid any trouble and stay clean! Speaking of that, it was a shame that the no-smoking policy inside the building wasn’t enforced although it was forbidden just like drug use.
Signing sessions
In contrast, meeting up with your favorite DJs at the signing sessions was 100% allowed and even encouraged!
Zelecter, Sound Rush, Rooler, Krowdexx, Riot Shift, The Straikerz, Sefa, and Dr. Donk took their time to joke around with the fans, take tons of pictures, and sign flags, shirts, phone cases, and much more. That’s definitely a thing that makes this scene so friendly!
Music
Just as much as the DJs enjoyed interacting with their fans at the signing sessions, it was clear that they also absolutely loved playing and performing on stage. And so they did right in front of the thousands of party people who knew every drop, every kickroll, and every melody.
Zelecter opened the festival, heating up the crowd with lots of hardstyle classics everybody knew and loved. This adorable German artist from Heidelberg has rightfully secured his spot on the lineups of the biggest festivals – what a great start to the event!
Next, Jay Reeve took over the decks, bringing some beautiful euphoric hardstyle sounds.
Then, the legends TNT – Technoboy and Tuneboy – hit the stage, igniting the venue with a neat mix of old and new tracks full of massive reverse bass.
The subsequent sets by Hard Driver, Da Tweekaz, and Sound Rush were absolutely amazing! All of these artists are well-known and have entertained the scene for many years. Every single one of their tracks made you dance and enjoy your time.
Sound Rush started their set with this year’s anthem “Step Into The Light”, matching the festival motto – and which is an outstanding piece of euphoric hardstyle by the way!
The atmosphere during Da Tweekaz’s performance can best be described in just three words: pure party madness! With songs like “Can Can”, “Mingle Game Song”, and of course their famous “Jägermeister” song, the ground was shaking!
Right after that, it was time for the B2B of the night: Phuture Noize and Devin Wild! The unmistakable sounds of these two artists ended up in a perfect combination!
Sub Zero Project then delivered hard-hitting kicks and timeless bangers such as “Sweet but Psycho”, and “Trip to Mars (Astronauts)”, as well as their collaboration with D-Block and S-Te-Fan named “Darkest Hour (The Clock)”.
Everyone was excited for the next duel, featuring Rooler, Krowdexx, and Riot Shift. Not sent from heaven but from AR Gang, these five guys came on stage with so many massive tracks to rock the place!
D-Sturb followed with his electrifying live performance “High Power”, a stunning show packed with great bass, heavy beats, and pleasant melodies – everything that good hardstyle needs to make the crowd go crazy!
From there, rawstyle took over the venue. With Regain, Rebelion vs. Adjuzt, and
Mutilator, Musical Madness definitely booked some of the raw hardstyle top acts!
The kicks got harder and more intense with the visuals on the big screens playing perfectly in sync with the kicks.
The climax of this experience was the absolutely incredible set by Dual Damage and The Straikerz – powerful kicks, insane drops, kickrolls everywhere!
But, what about frenchcore? Wait… frenchcore? That sounded like a job for Sefa – and there he was! He came, saw and nailed it, tearing the hall apart to rubble and ashes with his explosive performance!
The wreckage left over by Sefa was directly conquered by none other than Dr. Donk. He premiered his new show “Clinic” which was his first show since he founded his own label of the same name. This final treatment was truly mindblowing as Dr. Donk presented a lot of new tracks while wearing a straitjacket. What a great ending to APEX 2025!
Conclusion
Overall, it was a magnificent night with mostly exemplary organization, a huge and impressive stage design, including plenty of great DJs who enjoyed the event just as much as the visitors did. I’m already looking forward to APEX 2026! Mannheim, I’ll be back!
Ready for more APEX?
The APEX journey will continue on February 7th, 2026!
Tickets are already available at:
https://musicalmadness.ticket.io/vz8cayph/
