De Tijdmachine 2015.. perhaps the most anticipated event in terms of classic Hardstyle in 2015. Something that’s not very difficult to imagine considering Lose Your Mind decided to cover the entire spectrum from 2001 till 2011 by putting not only a Tijdmachine stage but also a second area hosted by their Ouwe Jongens Krentenbrood concept. Add 3 liveacts by the names of Psyko Punkz, Noisecontrollers and DHHD – Trilok and Chiren to this and you get the picture why this event was completely sold out. That’s actually not all because it was the very last edition of this concept at the famous NSDM-werf located in Amsterdam which definitely fits the concept.
When we took the ferry to get to the location it was already noticeable that again people had come from abroad to witness this event. The French and the English also clearly didn’t want to miss the opportunity to check out the all-star line-up.
The main-stage (De Tijdmachine) was put together by LED-screens on which the clock & attributes you would recognize from the trailer-videos could be seen in a nicely animated way. The second area (Ouwe Jongens Krentenbrood) was pretty small & we must say that sometimes the lights coming off it were too bright, despite that, also that area was basically packed from the beginning. For us a sign that indeed early Hardstyle lovers had decided they couldn’t miss this event.
We arrived at about 10 o’clock so Jones, Ryfle & Distractor were taking care of the warm-up set which included quite a lot of Headhunterz tracks which obviously were loved by the crowd.
King vs Queen of Hardstye would be a nice way to describe the set of Luna vs Dana which was up next. Their status in the scene can’t be disputed at all. With ‘Yerba Diabolika’, ‘Hardstyle Revolution’ & ‘Music Made Addict’ quite a cool set!
We can’t actually remember when it was the last time we saw DJ Coone playing a classic Hardstyle set and for sure he has made his mark in the golden period, so this was one we looked forward to. Opening with the emotional ‘Million Miles’ he had a great start. Unfortunately, during his set there were some technical problems but they were solved quite quickly by simply changing one of the CDJ’s. Coone was very patient and kept playing beauties like ‘Creation of life’ and ‘Travelling’.
Time was going so fast and before we knew it, it was time for the first live-act of the night: Psyko Punkz! The vibe when ‘After Mf’er’ and ‘Overclipping’ were blasted through the venue was absolutely amazing! Psyko Punkz were totally aware of what the crowd wanted & that was exactly what they brought in their set.
Meanwhile it had gotten really really busy, understandable since it was sold-out but we must say that at certain points through-out the night it was kind of hard to have enough space to dance.
Brennan Heart who surprised everyone at this year’s edition of Defqon.1 with the lovely ‘Blademasterz – Still here’ had put together a special set for De Tijdmachine. Taking the crowd back in time with ‘The MF point of perfection’, ‘Feel you here’ and TNT’s ‘First Match’ standing still was not an option. Especially with the kick of ‘Wake u up’ which was just allowed since it’s from 2011 reverbing through the location people went crazy. Special moment was when he played the emotional ‘We come and we go’.
The next DJ totally thrived at the De Tijdmachine period: Wildstylez! Obviously he released the Project 1 album with Headhunterz in 2008 so we could expect a lot from his set. ‘Revenge’ and ‘Human Soul’ were included in his set.
At this point we felt like checking out some more of the second area & pleasantly surprised we spotted Deepack playing the legendary tunes ‘Living for the moment’, ‘Magic’ and ‘Communicate’! Goosebumbs guaranteed! Definitely not a bad choice to check out their set.
To our surprise the food-stand for hamburgers and more snacks was located near the lockers, perhaps not the most ideal location since you had to walk through the totally packed crowd to get there. Now we’re discussing this we must say that as for drinks the staff was keeping up quite fine with the pace of the big amount of people.
After eating something we walked back to the main-stage to witness the man who recently launched a documentary about his decade in the scene: Noisecontrollers LIVE! Crump, Ctrl Alt Delete, Tormented (of the old Killer Clown alias), The space we created.. we can go on and on. Such a pleasure to witness this set!
Josh & Wesz made a successful comeback in 2015 with tracks that still contain that specific oldschool vibe and the characteristic reverse bass. It was nice that they played some Zanzalabs tracks because you hardly ever hear those anymore. For sure their set contained hits like ‘Like Thiz’, ‘Phases’ and the crowd-pleaser ‘Rock Civilization’. As a surprise Deepack joined Josh & Wesz on stage and went back to the old-school successfully. If you attended last year’s edition of De Tijdmachine you will remember that when ‘Shiverz’ was played that resulted in goosebumbs and the whole crowd screaming. It was no different when that happened at this years’ edition.
Mister Scantraxx aka The Prophet took over the decks next and let loads of old-school kicks resonate through the location. His set contained Davide Sonar’s ‘YRML’ and the popular ‘Nobody likes the records that you play’. CEO of Lose Your Mind Jeroen was also visibly enjoying this set & decided to show the crowd appreciation & go loose on stage.
With the idea to expect Daniele Mondello at the Ouwe Jongens Krentenbrood stage we went there & got our minds blown. Not Daniele Mondello, who couldn’t make it, but Pinas (Titan) vs Geck-o vs The Vinyl Pimp were playing! The Vinyl Pimp had already played the opening set & Titan and Geck-o were just visiting. A cool surprise but definitely a shame Daniele Mondello couldn’t make it. Their set included some old Zany tracks & some hard Trance. You can say it was Daniele Mondello inspired.
The duo that had the honor to close the night was Alpha Twins. They went a bit harder than the previous acts and played also their old Rebirth and Q-Base anthems. Closing the night with the rough ‘Kings Of The Underground’ for sure everybody could get rid of the last bits of energy.
Conclusion
Quite simply said the music at De Tijdmachine has been absolutely amazing. We haven’t been disappointed by any set. It’s a big plus that the whole 2001 till 2011 spectrum has been covered. As for the amount of people, yes we believe that it was a bit too busy but say for yourself, who wanted to miss this night? We are confident that at the new location you will have more space to dance. There’s no other conclusion possible than to say that if early Hardstyle is your thing, De Tijdmachine has to be a part of your bucket-list.
© Festivalling.com
Reporter: Alexander Bouten
Photo-credits:
Danny Rossen
Rossumedia
Hoogervorst Photography