Qlimax 2016 – Rise Of The Celestials!
Basically, for every lover of the harder styles there are a couple of highlights every year. Those highlights simply have to include one of the pearls of the indoor-season called Qlimax! Once again the Gelredome in Arnhem is the place to be and oh my we were in for a treat. Facebook was broken already by Q-Dance who revealed the presence of the legendary duo Project One in September which resulted in an immediately sold-out event. For those who haven’t been following the scene so long, Project One is the live-act of Headhunterz & Wildstylez who are both pursuing very successful solo-careers right now and it had been 8 years ago they performed together as Project One. Besides that, there’s much more to look forward to, for example Brennan Heart had been hinting for new Blademasterz tracks and additionally Qlimax is an event at which many new track get premiered. This year Coone got to do the anthem & after a couple of listens we were sure it was gonna sound great at the Gelredome. Totally hyped we went on a trip to Arnhem on the 19th of November & below you can read our experience. Enjoy!
Like every year loads of foreign people decided to travel for hours to witness the event. It seemed like the queues were longer than other years, which isn’t a big surprise if you look at the complete line-up:
TUNEBOY | AUDIOTRICZ | BRENNAN HEART [BLADEMASTERZ] | COONE | PROJECT ONE [HEADHUNTERZ & WILDSTYLEZ] | BASS MODULATORS | FREQUENCERZ | RAN-D | B-FRONT | ANGERFIST | MC VILLAIN
A massive white curtain had been put across the stage so most of it wasn’t visible yet. It feels like coming home though when you enter the Gelredome on Qlimax-day. It seems so familiar but yet so different because you never truly know what to expect.
Before Tuneboy kicked off the event there was a spectacular display of torches and to our pleasant surprise after many years Q-Dance had decided to use the authentic costumes again. Villain welcomed everybody to Qlimax and Tuneboy gave us instant goosebumbs and got the crowd screaming by dropping ‘Phases’. Builder – ‘Her Voice’ and Technoboy’s Qlimax anthem from 2008 was also included in the awesome oldschool warm-up. We felt like it was going to be a Qlimax dominated by early hardstyle, which we wouldn’t mind at all.
The curtain drops. It’s really hard to describe what that feels like when you haven’t witnessed it. But a video might be able to do the trick which you can find below.
For Audiotricz it was the first Qlimax ever on stage & the guys enjoyed it to the max playing loads of their own material including United As One and Infinite as well as a TBA which might be called ‘Angels & Demons’ however we’re not sure who produced that one. At least they did very well and for sure Qlimax can be considered the biggest highlight of their career so far.
Brennan Heart took over & our hopes became true: new Blademasterz tracks! Our favorite might be called ‘The Melody Of The Blade’. Next to the new tunes he played a lot of track from his label We R Music.
The anthem show!
As we explained already Coone did the anthem for this years edition and like every year there was an epic anthem show! Check it out:
Besides the anthem he promoted his 10 years of Dirtyworkz show by playing loads of DWX tunes including old ones that were received really well by the audience.
PROJECT ONE
We were standing ready to make notes of the return of Project One but in the end we didn’t write anything & danced like crazy because this was definitely the best set we’ve seen this year. Not one but even 2 new Project One tracks were premiered & they were absolutely stunning. Looking around the Gelredome we couldn’t spot a single person standing still or without a smile on their face. That says all.
What can you do when you have to play after Project One? Bass Modulators failed to impress but simply because we had just witnessed something legendary. However, we have to mention that they did the premiere of the new Noisecontrollers track called ‘The Spirit Of Hardstyle’ which is pretty good and they made a decent transition to the medium-rare sounds of Frequencerz.
Frequencerz included all their big hits: their Q-base anthem, Shotgun, Getting Off, Wolfpack and once again clearly really enjoyed their moment for 30.000 people.
We expected to see B-Front up next but suddenly Ran-D appeared. Very likely, to promote his upcoming X-Qlusive in January, but the 30 mins he had didn’t leave a lasting impression. Especially because the visuals with flames had already been done last year too.
B-Front, however, who opened with ‘The Paradox’ w/ Phuture Noize did a great job! Blackness, World Outside & so many more characteristic tunes. B-Front showcased what he stands for and the crowd was really happy with that.
The closing
Angerfist did a worthy closing with many recognizable tunes. The DJ who recently was awarded the ‘Highest Hard’ DJ by DJ MAG didn’t disappoint at all. It was pretty sad when he finished because the night had passed way too fast.
Conclusion
This might have been the best event of the year. The mix of the different harder styles and the size of the event isn’t matched in the indoor-season, let alone the bar that was raised once again by the stunning production! We’ve spoken to people who travelled all the way from Australia and felt like it was totally worth it. So, we can only advise you: if you love the harder styles, keep an eye on the socials of Qlimax & go for it next year! We do have a little point of improvement though. There’s some kind of a platform near the dj-booth where the people at the front-row can stand on. It’s nice for the people at the front-row but if you’re not on the platform you can’t see the DJ at all. Anyway, bring on Qlimax 2017, we’ll be there!
© Festivalling.com
Reporter: Alexander Bouten