Who doesn’t know Mysteryland? It’s the longest running electronic music festival in the world with an extremely broad programming and a vision that includes an environmentally friendly approach. The festival with the slogan ‘Yesterday Is History, Today Is A Gift, Tomorrow Is A Mystery’ celebrated its 23rd anniversary this year and of course we had to join it! We entered the holy grounds on Saturday 27th August to experience the atmosphere and do 2 interviews. More about the interviews later, now check out our experience at Mysteryland!
For some reason Mysteryland feels like coming home. We had been waiting for this day for a long time and it was a bonus that the weather was great, actually a bit too hot. Fortunately, when entering the holy grounds, we noticed the big number of fans to make sure the tents were a bit cooler and the stands to get a package of ‘holy’ tap-water which you could fill up for free. Of course we walked right towards the main-stage and we were quite impressed as it looked better than last year. Check out what it looks like on this picture below:
As is quite usual we noticed loads of flags which foreigners had brought to represent their country at Mysteryland. For us this is a great sign, since they are so dedicated to travel far for this festival. When a festival is just as big as Mysteryland we just start by discovering the terrain and stay at an area if we’re impressed by an act.
At the Big Top stage which was hosted by Spinnin’ Sessions talent Mike Williams did a great job. It was only 12 o’clock and he managed to fill up the tent nicely thanks to his music. Mike Williams has recently released his collab with Tiësto called ‘I Want You’ which obviously was a part of his set. In addition to that Mike played ‘Groovy George’ and dropped a fairly big amount of well-known tracks, which makes sense since the afternoon had only just began. As mentioned already, the temperature was pretty hot, so it was convenient that fans were place to cool the tent down a bit.
The big hill at Mysteryland which looks out on the whole terrain and especially the Q-Dance stage is simply gorgeous. Q-Dance delivered an even bigger stage than last year but kept the animal theme intact. A massive Capricorn blew our minds.
That the festival isn’t your regular festival is proven by the area called the ‘Healing-garden’ which is just as spiritual and relaxing as it sounds. A perfect place to pace yourself during the hot weather. We paid it a visit before doing the interviews which were planned to get in a complete focus-mood. We had the honor to chat with Mike Williams and duo East & Young. Both will be published soon so be patient.
East & Young hosted the Circus Of Life area which was all about returning to the roots of house without too many props. A successfull concept considering the packed tent.
Curbi is clearly one of the talents that’s gonna make it big. He absolutely smashed his set on the mainstage. It felt like he was right where he belongs and his energy worked infectious to hype the crowd.
Since Kris Kross Amsterdam are breaking records we couldn’t resist having a look at the Heineken x Kris Kross hosting and we weren’t disappointed. The area was completely packed and the hip-hop/house vibe was great overthere.
It’s not often that you get to see an artist from India in the Netherlands and it’s even more special that it’s on the Mainstage at Mysteryland. Of course we’re talking about KSHMR! His style is unique and he managed to keep us spellbound for a long time. His collab with Headhunterz called ‘Dharma’ was obviously a part of his set, as well as ‘Wildcard’ of his ‘Lion Across The Field’ EP.
After getting a pizza and some organic popcorn we decided it was time to raise up the level of beats per minute at the Q-Dance stage. Wildstylez made sure to keep the international crowd going crazy with album-tracks and his latest collab with Coone. By the way both Coone and Hard Driver played their Intents Festival anthem ‘It’s all in the game’ which is such a crowd-pleaser because of the drive and atmosphere in the track. NCBM is in our opinion one of the best combination of artists there is right now. The euphoria of tracks like ‘Solar’ and ‘Glitch’ gives you chills and is something you have to witness to understand. Hard Driver announced that he made the Sound Of Q-Dance 2016 anthem which is very decent tune.
Despite the fact we were totally enjoying ourselves, we rushed towards the mainstage to see Galantis LIVE. The Swedish Grammy nominated act is killing in worldwide and their performance at Mysteryland wasn’t an exception to the rule. ‘Run Away’ and ‘No Money’ remain massive tunes and the crowd loved it.
We could only see the very beginning of Afrojack’s set since we wanted to close the day at the Q-Dance stage with The Viper and the endshow. The Viper was announced as ‘a free spirit in hardcore’ and we couldn’t put it into words any better.
The endshow was mind-blowing. We’ve been lucky enough to see quite a few end-shows this festival-season but Mysteryland has got the crown for sure! Watch the end-show here:
Conclusion
Mysteryland nailed it, there’s no other way to say it. It’s such a complete festival that it’s actually really hard to name a point at which they should be improving. We’ve just started counting down the days till the next weekender because we’re excited about it already. Mysteryland deserves our full recommendation because it’s not a regular festival but a massive experience. If you ever got the chance, go experience it for yourself and trust us, you won’t be disappointed!
© Festivalling.com
Reporter: Alexander Bouten