Good morning, Defqon.1! It was time to try out the showers, and while they were warm, clean and provided enough power outlets for everyone, our girls at camp three reported waiting times of an hour and more. Aside from that though, campsite facilities were great, the toilets were clean, the service great and possibilities endless. You could have spent your entire weekend on the Defqon.1 campsites without ever getting bored! We started looking for the Dragon Wagon, who would traditionally roam the holy grounds and wake up the ravers – we couldn’t find it until we headed for the entrance of the festival grounds.
First stop for us was the absolutely stunning UV stage. It made us feel very hyped. If this was “just” the UV, how epic would the Red be?! Demi Kanon played a great, very melodic and downright beautiful set with own tracks (including an upcoming collab with Atmozfears), but also favourites like “You Got The Love” by Code Black. Meanwhile at the Yellow, Chaotic Hostility were on. Damn, what a sound system, there was no silent disco today, this was the proof! Chaotic Hostility did play an awesome set and delivered a quality experience. Mixing like crazy maniacs, entertaining the crowd to the max. The fully packed Yellow area did enjoy tracks like ‘The Real is on the Rise’ and ‘there new track ‘Energy Field’. Everybody was enjoying this set, big smiles every where and fists in the air. We left the yellow stage to visit Jason Payne’s set at the Blue. Once again a powerful and heavy set at the beginning of Saturday. Jason Payne did start with his track ‘One’ in a Defqon.1 edit, which was mental! Heavy kicks everywhere. After that he did drop many new tracks like Chris One – ‘Deathmatch’, the remix of ‘Violence by Wildness’ and Criminal Mayhem and his new collab with Unkind and another one with Imperatorz, which came in with a sick vibe as many fans waved flags in the air during this Defqon.1 edit.
Another one of us went on to the Purple, as we got a bit curious about the Red stage. Playing at the Purple was Airtunes, who surprised with a very energetic set. The location of the Purple was perfect, directly on the “Road To Glory”, the way to the Red Stage and next to a Nacho Stand (aw, yes!), but the stage itself was crammed, too small and a bit hidden away. We head back to the UV where Galactixx surprise us with a very nice Euphoric set as well, once again: new tracks! A good bit into Devin Wild’s set we decide to see Audiotricz, just in case the “Power Hour Traffic Jam” would get too bad, and hey, why not: it’s Audiotricz!
This was our first time seeing the Red, and we were a bit underwhelmed. The last years set the standards incredibly high and the stunning UV stage didn’t help lower them either. The stage was huge and looked fantastic at night but lacked a certain coherence in between the “pillar” elements, compared to the last two years and especially in broad daylight. A great addition to the stage was the stone brick floor, which was very comfortable to walk on. Audiotricz played a stunning set with hits and collabs and everything you would want from a Defqon.1 Audiotricz set. The stage presence of the guys was once again stellar and we just love seeing them having fun on stage! Meanwhile at the Indigo, it was time for Insidiouz and Udex. One of the craziest sets at Defqon.1 dropping Distortion tracks and new solo tracks. The mission of Insidiouz was accomplished with a massive sitdown during his Warchief (Defqon 2017 edit). Also the new Neroz track, called Ode to the Raver, was absolutely insane. It captured a bit of a Defqon.1 Legends feeling in one track of three minutes.
And there it was: The legendary Power Hour. Energy, dedication, a fast paced mix and a show that’s still looking for competition. This years Power Hour was a driven mix from all corners of Hard Dance, from Frenchcore to Euphoric Hardstyle, Happy Hardcore Classics and back! Our favourite moments included the (now almost traditional) ‘Left-Right’ jumping, Neroz – ‘Pinsir’, Dr. Peacock’s ‘Trip To Ireland’ and palm trees being thrown into the crowd during ‘K.Y.H.U.’.
Psyko Punkz’ set right after the Power Hour gave us a bit of time to breathe again. A brilliant set featuring mostly all new album tracks as well as an all-new new remix. The Psyko Prince never disappoints! Back at the Indigo Apexx did deliver a massive set with many new bangers. Unresolved did drop all kinds of Hard Dance. From Raw to Frenchcore to Uptempo, it didn’t matter! The crowd loved him for it! The Indigo was one of the best area’s of Defqon.1 2017. The sound was pure and the bass came through clearly and with full force.
Enjoying our time at Defqon.1 to the fullest we spent the rest of the day at the Red. Brennan Heart and Zatox reminded us of what the true Hardstyle feeling was all about, Da Tweekaz got us way too hype for Tweekacore the next day, NCBM captured the “Spirit Of Hardstyle”, Atmozfears delivered bomb after bomb in what could have been the set of his life and of course the absolutely legendary set of this year’s anthem makers Frequencerz provided hours to be remembered forever. The day ended with a fantastic Endshow featuring Headhunterz’ new track ‘Destiny’ as well as a Hardwell Hardstyle(!) track and a new banger by Clockartz.
And the afterparty? We spent it all at the ‘Next Generation Madnezz’ with JNXD, Sickdellz, Jay Reeve, Rebourne, Galactixx and Mc Tellem– holy fucking hell, what an absolutely stunning atmosphere. At some point we counted even more people on stage, all having fun and that translated very, very well into the crowd’s energy as well: it was mental! Needless to say that we slept quite well (even if not a lot) afterwards! What a fucking day!
Our story continues on the third part of our three-part party report of Defqon.1!
See you on Sunday, Defqon.1!
Photos: Q-Dance / Defqon.1 Media Team