We can very well remember when ALDA Events and ID&T announced that Amsterdam Music Festival was going to return as a 2 day Festival in 2015. We couldn’t believe it, because how could they possibly push the boundaries of the amazing show in 2014? Then came the first names, in the end the full line-up, we were astonished by the fact that every single artist is a headliner. Needless to say our expectations were huge and we had looked forward to these days. 16th & 17th October it was happening. Curious what we experienced? Read it now in our Party Report below!
Day 1
Buzzing like crazy and talking about who would be crowned the number 1 DJ according to the DJ MAG poll, we took the subway to get to the massive location: the Amsterdam ArenA. Already in the subway and on the platforms there you could feel the atmosphere and excitement. That wasn’t that hard actually because of the massive amount of people. Getting closer to our entrance we walked past huge lines and already saw loads of flags of people representing their country. During ADE we’ve attended some big events but this took it next level: thousands and thousands of people!
Upon arrival the guys from Vicetone where already warming up the crowd. We were blown away. The stage with a DJ booth in the middle, a big LED screen behind the DJ booth and to its left and right pillars with an LED screen wrapped around it & the 3 crosses of Amsterdam & AMF. Looking more closely we noticed all the lights & places where lasers could be coming from. We’ve seen a lot this year concerning stages but this was without a doubt the best stage we’ve witnessed live. Vicetone definitely knew what to play in order to keep the audience going, throwing in some daft punk and progressive melodies with recognizable vocals.
When NERVO took over the stage the first fireworks and confetti came out of the stage. The girls were visibly having loads of fun on stage. Their set included ‘Destination Calabria’ in the Firebeatz remix, ‘The way we see the world’, ‘Devotion’ & ‘Haute Mess’. We spotted quite a lot of NERVO flags and the atmosphere was already intense. It was very cool to see them play because they hardly ever play in the Netherlands.
Having checked the timetable we knew the next DJ would be the no. 4 according to the DJ MAG poll. It turned out this position was reserved for the one and only Armin van Buuren! As usual Armin’s intro was long but really succeeding in building up the tension. When the first drop took place everybody went nuts. His set consisted of his collab with Hardwell ‘Off The Hook’, obviously new tracks of his upcoming album ‘Embrace’ and a guest-performance of Mr. Probz! Mr. Probz did ‘Another You’ and ‘Waves’ live which sounded stunning.
DJ MAG Awardshow
Knowing Armin van Buuren was placed 4th, the question was which places Hardwell, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and Martin Garrix would have. With quite cool visuals it was revealed that Martin Garrix came in third, Hardwell didn’t manage to get 3 years in a row and therefore the Belgium/Greek brothers Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike took the crown for number 1 DJ’s of the world, according to the DJ MAG poll.
Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike thanked all their fans for this great honor and started with a cool intro featuring samples of their most popular tunes. With great enthusiasm and the usual vodka on stage Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike played a big celebration set. They fit in basically all their latest tunes including the nice ‘Ocarina’, Calvin Harris’s ‘How deep is your love’ and ‘Lovers on the sun’. We only missed the build-up in their set, but well you can’t blame them for playing all their hits after becoming number 1 of the world. Just like at Tomorrowland it’s just impossible to stand still when these guys are playing. Talking about a comparison with Tomorrowland. In our view the crowd was international and absolutely loving it. We haven’t seen a crowd like that this year live and we believe it’s only comparable to Tomorrowland or Ultra Miami. Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike actually managed to organize a sit-down which was really cool to see.
Hardwell had the task to keep the vibe going after the new number 1 DJ’s but that seemed very easy for him. He proved once again why he’s so popular and played many ‘United We Are’ tunes. The best moment of his set when the vocalist of ‘Mad World’, Jake Reese, joined him on stage & they did that track live.
The honor to close Day 1 was for the young and extremely talented, current number 3 of the world: Martin Garrix! It was visible loads of fans from all over the world had come to Amsterdam to see Martin play. Having filled up his set with ID’s and upcoming releases it was a pleasure to see Martin get loose behind the decks.
Day 2
You’d think that we would be a little less buzzing for day 2 since we had already seen the stage and what the organization is capable of with the LED-screens but that’s completely false! We have to make a note here that Alesso unfortunately couldn’t make it and would be replaced by Afrojack.
Klingande had the task to open the second day of Amsterdam Music Festival and did that with some nice soulful house tunes. A nice touch was the fact that a saxophonist was present on stage. His sounds and Klingande’s tunes were a great combination. Especially one of his most known tunes ‘Jubel’ gave us goosebumbs. Robin Schulz who just released an album called ‘Sugar’ showcased that in his set. Adding tracks such as ‘Waves’ it was a fine set. The next one obviously ended up high in the DJ MAG poll: Oliver Heldens! The audience went crazy seeing Oliver coming on stage. The level of his set was as usual very high and it contained some hi-lo tunes like the popular ‘MHATLP’. Normally Alesso would have been next but as we mentioned he’s replaced by a top 10 DJ: Afrojack! In our view it was a spot-on choice to put Afrojack on the line-up. It was beautiful that Afrojack honored Alesso by playing his track ‘Lose Myself’ as one of the last tracks. The set was thought out really well & had a clear build-up. One of the guys in the line-up which don’t play in the Netherlands very often is David Guetta. As expected David played his most recent track ‘Clap Your Hands’ and not just that, he brought Glow In The Dark on stage! As if this madness wasn’t enough a true legend took over the decks: Tiesto! Despite the line-up is filled with headliners this set is one that we especially had looked forward to. Tiesto made our hopes come true by combining the ‘old’ and ‘new’ Tiesto in his set. The set actually had 2 big highlights in our view: Wombass with Oliver Heldens on stage & the guys shuffling to it & secondly ‘Flight 643’ blowing through the speakers and seeing everybody knowing that tune, which now clearly is a classic.
With this many huge sets behind us we decided to get some food & drinks. We didn’t quite know what to expect from DJ Snake’s set but he surprised us positively. ‘Lean on’ we have heard many times during ADE and still it’s great everytime. Showtek had the chance to play some more bigroom and raise the bpm a little and they grabbed that opportunity with both hands. Introducing Sonny Wilson, the vocalist of 2 Showtek tracks, on stage gave an extra glance to their performance.
The closing of Yellow Claw was crazy as always. The boys who don’t think in genres and love to mix everything together made sure nobody had extra energy left. Bringing the very talented Cesqeaux on stage was a great touch. Track-wise the set wasn’t super suprising excluding the new Yellow Claw ft. Pusha-T tune but they did the trick.
Conclusion
Our expectations were high for Amsterdam Music Festival and they have been exceeded! The stage and show have blown our minds. We highly recommend you to visit Amsterdam Music Festival if you have the chance next year. A line-up of headliners like this and such a cool atmosphere is something you will hardly see anywhere else! Basically every DJ has showcased the full spectrum of their skills in the sets & that was obviously great to watch. We will finish off by saying: ‘Thank you AMF & see you next year!’.
© Festivalling.com
Reporter: Alexander Bouten