My five favourite raves/gigs
5) Qlimax.
Picture courtesy of Q-Dance. http://www.q-dance.com/global/en/
Qlimax is an annual event held by the Dutch entertainment enterprise Q-Dance. It is considered one of the leading hardstyle events on the calendar and a major attraction of Q-Dance and contains some of the most sophisticated production and setup as well as sound system for any event in the world.
In the beginning, Qlimax used to have several editions every year. But since 2004, it was changed to be held annually in the third or fourth week of November.
At first it was held at the Beursgebouw (Eindhoven) and then moved to various other venues such as the SilverDome (Zoetermeer) and Heineken Music Hall (Amsterdam), but has made its home at the Gelredome (Arnhem).
At first it was held at the Beursgebouw (Eindhoven) and then moved to various other venues such as the SilverDome (Zoetermeer) and Heineken Music Hall (Amsterdam), but has made its home at the Gelredome (Arnhem).
Many artists consider being chosen to play at Qlimax a highlight as the event is used to showcase the most successful artists in their respective genre. The beginning saw the lineup featuring genres ranging from hardhouse to techno. This was changed to traditionally begin with one hardhouse act, numerous hardstyle acts and then finish off with one hardcore/gabber act.
This was changed in 2008 with the removal of the jumpstyle act and in 2009 with the replacement of the hardtrance act to one playing early hardstyle.
My list as a hardstyle lover couldn't be complete without having Qlimax in it, it was the first event that got me interested in the genre and I always wanted to go and when i finally did I was not disappointed.
4) Sensation white.
Picture courtesy of http://manhattan2ibiza.com/
Sensation is an indoor electronic dance music event inspired
by the P-Man and Dangerous Dave which originated in the Netherlands and
organized by ID&T. The original event, which ran exclusively in the
Amsterdam arena for a period of five years until 2005, is now located
throughout Poland, Spain, Austria, Chile, Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Czech
republic, Latvia, Russia, Denmark, Lithuania, Portugal, Serbia, Brazil, Norway,
Ukraine, United Kingdom, and starting from 2012, the United States, South
Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Turkey and Romania. They recently announced that
Sensation is arriving to Italy on April 13, 2013 and South Africa on September
7, 2013.
In 2008, it was announced that for the first time Sensation
would be held on New Year's Eve in Melbourne, Australia as well as in
Düsseldorf, Germany and Barcelona, Spain.
ID&T announced in 2011 that Sensation would finally tour
to the United States of America in 2012. The first Sensation USA event took
place back-to-back nights on October 26 and 27 at the Barclays Center in
Brooklyn, New York City. The event was webcast on Xbox Live.
ID&T also announced on April 3, 2012 that Sensation
would also be making its debut in Asia, making stops in South Korea, Thailand,
and Taiwan. In a press conference held in Seoul, Korea, it was revealed that
the first Sensation Asia will be held in Seoul, Korea, on 21 July. After
Sensation Korea the ‘Ocean of White’ show heads over to Bangkok, Thailand for a
show on 18 August and to Kaohsiung, Taiwan on 29 September. All of which are a
Co-Production between ID&T and Heineken Beer Company.
On February 5, 2013 a Canadian debut was announced,
presented by Bud Light Canada.
Sensation White used to be a trance event, but in later
years it has become a pure house event. All the attendees are required to wear
white and the Amsterdam ArenA itself is decorated to match. Sensation White's
slogan is "Be Part Of The Night - Dress in White". Every event has
around 40,000-45,000 tickets available. The Amsterdam ArenA event takes place
every year on the first Saturday in July while the German event in the LTU
Arena in Düsseldorf is held on New Year's Eve. In 2009 it was organized for the
first time on two subsequent nights on 3 and 4 July in the Amsterdam Arena
where the opening of the Wicked Wonderland took place.
Notable DJs that have appeared at Sensation include Tiësto,
Armin van Buuren, Swedish House Mafia, Hardwell, André Tanneberger, David Guetta,
Erick E, Erick Morillo, Ferry Corsten, Marco V, Paul van Dyk, Johan Gielen,
Sander Kleinenberg, Steve Angello, Fedde Le Grand, Sebastian Ingrosso, Sander
van Doorn, Mason, Felix Da Housecat, Laidback Luke, Tocadisco, Rank 1, Martin
Solveig and Dada Life.
3) Mysteryland.
www.mysteryland.com
Mysteryland is a series of electronic dance music festivals
held by the Netherlands-based promoter ID&T. Being the first of its kind in
the country when it was established, its organizers have billed the event as
the oldest dance music festival in the Netherlands. It has most recently been
held at Haarlemmermeerse Bos in Haarlemmermeer; an exhibition ground that
hosted the 2002 edition of the Dutch gardening festival Floriade.
It is traditionally held on the final Saturday of August; in
2013. It will begin its expansion into a two-day event by offering events on
the preceding Friday. However, for the first year of this format, the first day
will only be open to those who are camping on-site.
In 2011, an international edition of Mysteryland was held in
Chile, the first to be held outside the Netherlands.
Mysteryland’s multi-faceted approach has been a winning
formula for no less than two decades. The festival offers its guests a creative
journey, combining music with theatre, movies, interactive installation art,
street performers and spectacular shows at bizarre decorated stages. To create
this amazing spectacle, the festival organizers collaborate with a wide range
of creative people from all over the world. As a nomad Mysteryland travels
across the globe to find international artists willing to work with the
festival and to make it an even richer experience.
The musical offerings are also all about discovery. In
addition to legends from the international dance scene, the festival provides a
stage for new and local talents: the next generation.
Mysteryland has been a leading pioneer on the dance festival
scene in Europe and the US since 1993 and has inspired numerous other
organizers and events. The famous Tomorrowland festival, also produced by
ID&T, emerged from the key values of the Mysteryland festival. .
Furthermore Mysteryland has also been a major catalyst for the electronic music
revolution since the early 1990s.
And Mysteryland continues to evolve to this day as an
innovator on the festival scene. One example is the sustainability program
‘Celebrate Life’, which ID&T uses to draw attention to topical issues such
as engagement, nature and talent by linking them to activities before, during
and after the festival.
2) Defqon 1
www.q-dance.com
Defqon.1 Festival is an annual music festival held in the
Netherlands and Australia. It was founded in 2003 by festival organizer
Q-dance. The festival plays mostly hardstyle and related genres such as
hardcore techno, jumpstyle and hard trance. Many prominent hardstyle and
dubstyle artists perform there annually. Defqon 1 in the Netherlands is
probably the main and most popular festival in the hardstyle genre people
travel from all over the world just to the Netherlands just to attend it. The
festival was previously held in mid-June on Almeerderstrand in Almere. Since
2011 it is hosted on the event site next to Walibi Holland in Biddinghuizen.
Since 2009 the event has also been hosted in Sydney in mid-September, at the
Sydney International Regatta Centre. The festival runs for 12 hours, from 11
a.m to 11 p.m, and ends with a firework display. Each edition also has an
anthem, an official song that is played in conjunction with the festival.As of
2010, the audience has grown to 40,000 (for the Dutch event), with tickets
selling out after 39 minutes. In 2013, the Sydney event attracted 18,000
attendees. Acts performed across seven stages. Defqon 1 is the first major
event I went to in Holland, it is one of those festivals you always dream of
going to, check out the line-up on its website and watch its after movies with
sheer jealousy. I went to Defqon 1 2009 scrap attack and needless to say it was
fantastic It was also the first time I had ever been to Holland in general. The
people are extremely friendly in Holland and needless to say I still have
friends in Amsterdam to this day that I met at Defqon 1.
1) Qountdown
www.q-dance.com
Qountdown is an annual event that took place on new years
eve from 2008 up to 2012. It was organised by Dutch festival organizer Q-Dance
You will find New Year's Eve 2011/2012 in the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam
, notably: the last time under the name The Final Qountdown . It was a major
success for the years that it run, it was seen by many as the best event in the
Q-Dance calendar even higher rated than Qlimax and Defqon 1. The fact that it
was a new years eve part added to the magic of the party as it had an electric
atmosphere.For the 2012/2013 event it was re-branded as Freaqshow and moved
from the Heineken music hall to the newly built Ziggo dome a couple of hundred
yards away. However Qoundown itself is actually a re-brand of another event
that Q-dance created before hand called Qrimetime which also ran on new years
eve.The reason Qountdown is rated my number one is because even though the
re-brand Freaqshow has a similar line-up and a beautiful venue nothing will
ever replace the memories of my first time in Amsterdam on new years eve.