On February 29th, a calendrical bonus day – a very special event took place at the Maasport Sports & Events hall. And like the day – this event also comprised a set called “Bonus Level”. Welcome to Shockerz Events ““D-Sturb Last Man Standing”. A special event to honor an artist who went through the rawstyle scene’s roof. A big lineup and a lot of show announcements created big expectations and caused a sold out in advance. We participated this event and we are now ready to share this night with you.
We arrived on time with our car and took a little break on the parking lot to catch a breath after the drive. The line up was really promising.
D-Sturb ‘The Bonus Level’ – Act of Rage – Artifact – Bloodlust – D-Block & S-te-Fan – Delete – E-Force – Killshot – Sefa – Sub Zero Project – Warface – DV8
Let’s go inside
The security check-in was luckily a quick process. The security guards were absolutely friendly but strict. A solid body check and a view into bags and we were in. When we entered the inner hall, we directly had a good view at the stage. It basically comprised a LED banner in front of the DJ booth and a huge LED square in the background. Lasers, strobes and moving heads were assembled around this picture with metal trusts. While the big LED screen displayed a perfect computer-animated show, the front panel announced and displayed the Artist currently playing. In total, a minimalistic but still nice stage.
Right from the very first beat, we noticed a well-balanced sound system. The melodies were clear and powerful and the bass was bold and impressive throughout the whole hall. Actually, even on the upper range, with a lot of seats (indeed it’s an indoor arena – so of course there were seats) we spend some breaks and enjoyed the show with a clear sound and a good view. The overall show was rounded up with nice fireworks and air rockets. So, in total, the organizers delivered a well-assembled entertainment package.
The hall itself is not that big and the stalls for food and beverages were arranged at the hall sides. From Water to beer, or various drinks with alcohol – they offered the basic stuff we as party guests demand.
Kick off D-Sturb “Last Man Standing” with Artifact
The show got kicked off by Artifact – a member of the End of Line crew. He brought the crowd into the perfect party mood with strong but still melodic rawstyle tracks. Especially when he made the whole crowd to hold up their lighters and mobiles to move it in time with the music, created a great feeling right from the beginning.
D-Block & S-Te-Fan playing their Defqon-1 Anthem
Clearly one of the first highlights of the night was when D-Block & S-Te-Fan played their anthem for this year’s edition of Defqon-1. The hall was instantly awake and the lasers pushed the crowd forward. But D-Bock & S-Te-Fan didn’t come to do things by half. They heated the crowd up with tracks like, Ghost Stories track „Lake of Fire “and the remix of D-Sturb’s “Sound of the Thunder” or their well-known “Feeling Inside”. Now everybody became aware, that the promising lineup will fulfill its fate. No break – no down – no rest.
Tick Tock … the whole hall sang along when the first sounds of “Darkest Hour” of D-Block & S-Te-Fan’s and Sub Zero Project filled the air. A perfect bridge to the next act “Sub Zero Project”. They continued that high-pressure event with tracks like “Heroes of the Night” and “It’s a MF Sandstorm”, now the crowd went nuts and the atmosphere was insane.
Time for D-Sturb “Bonus Level”
Then the hall went black, and the speakers became silent. It was time for the highlight of the evening and the man we all came for “D-Sturb – The Bonus Level”. A nice intro on the LED Wall announced his appearance and the crowd gave him a warm welcome.
When he presented his new track “The bonus level” all lasers, lights and fireworks initiated a nice show. A nice female computer voice introduced this track. Ironically it explained that only a track of 100% perfectness would let you enter the bonus level. The sound system seemed suddenly to be increased to higher volume and thus the melody and starting kicks went through our all body. The complete crowd danced and moved now as one – what an insane atmosphere. He continued with the best tracks. Especially his collaboration with Warface “Collective Paranoia” made us dance harder. He finished his performance off with SEFA’s track “Nothing like the Old school”. A perfect and powerful set brought the crowd to its limit.
Qapital Anthem
Once we returned to the dancefloor after we took a short break to get some beverages – Act of Rage played “The Alpha State” and this year’s Qapital anthem. The war machine Warface took then the stage over by storm. Tracks like Warface and Rebellion’s Curshmode and “Bassline Junkie” spread across the crowd and increased the room temperature by further 10 degrees. When Warface played Rooler’s track “GANG” the crowd unveiled its kick rolls talents.
End of Line – Showcase
The final highlight of the evening was the END OF LINE Showcase with their members D-Sturb, Warface, E-Force, Delete, Bloodlust, Killshot, and Artifact. It was a high explosive mixture and forced the crowd to activate its remaining batteries. While one Artist was mixing, the others stood up onto the DJ Booth to celebrate together with the crowd and to cheer them up. And the speakers fired the hardest raw kicks across the area imaginable. A special moment, when the Rebirth anthem got played – it felt like the whole area screamed “REBIRTH”: And yes, a new END OF LINE Collab was also announced with the perfect voices we know from the EOL crew.
Frenchcore to tear down the hall
But it was SEFA who got appointed to finish the crowd off. With his typical SEFA Style and Frenchcore sounds the increased the BPM to an insane level. Listeners directly noticed that he was playing an unreleased track. We really can’t say for sure why, but this kind of Frenchcore just fits perfect to closing a raw hardstyle event. The Laser and complete light show now turned into a big supernova and the sound system was now brought its limit – as we already were.
Conclusion D-Sturb “Last Man Standing”
In total, we experienced a well-organized event. The sound system and the stage matched perfectly to the venue’s scenery. There was always enough space to dance and the staff was always friendly and supportive. The Artists delivered a big show, and there were plenty of unreleased tracks that got played during the night. Especially this gave the event a note of exclusivity. Bloodlust was a pleasant surprise – with tracks like “The light” and the collab with Unresolved “One with the Streets” he played an impressive set.
Highlight
The highlight of the night was clearly D-Sturb and his “Bonus Level” set. And well, he didn’t disappoint us. No, including the presentation of his new track “Bonus Level” he clearly proofed that he was born for this kind of music. The track selection, the mixing skills, and the light show got combined to a musical highlight of 2020.
We also witnessed an insane performance also by the End of Line Showcase. Considering the fact, that most of the artists who performed that night on stage – are members of the End of Line Crew – we honestly expected something big. But these expectations got more than fulfilled. A set compressed to the max with EOL bombs, intensive and aggressive mixing and a laser warfare left no one resting on his seat.