At the 22nd of November 2014 it was time for the Gelredome to let the footballfield make place for a huge hardstyle party: Qlimax! I have been there! Curious what it was like? Check out my report below.
Qlimax is basically the biggest hardstyle indoor party worldwide. Organized by Q-dance every year thousands of people from all over the world come to Arnhem to experience a show starting with early hardstyle and ending with some heavy hardcore.
We got there relatively early because even though Qlimax takes place from 9 pm till 7 am we didn’t want to miss a thing. Instantly you could notice how many different nationalities come to Qlimax. I’ve seen Russians, people from Ireland, Norway, Sweden and even people flew 26 hours from Australia to witness Qlimax, that’s quite extreme if you ask me. We had a chat with some Spanish people and Germans but still it was really really cold near the entrance. For next year it might be a good option for Q-Dance to put some heaters there because there were people standing in just a t-shirt, that can’t be good for your muscles.
Anyway, we got in after paying 7 euros for a pretty big locker. Being Dutch I obviously know that in the Gelredome normally football matches take place but besides the tribunes nothing at all was visible indicating it was just a regular football stadium. Huge white curtains were put over the stage which obviously wasn’t revealed yet. Walking around a bit you could notice big lights, some lasers but nothing else yet. Since the music hadn’t started yet we decided to eat something and it surprised us how much choice there was available, besides the regular fast-food there was a lot of fruit and even a Vietnamese food stand.
Lineup
Qlimax does not have a timetable but I’ll mention here the artists that played.
Opening – Audiofreq & Technoboy:
At that point the stage had not been revealed yet but everybody was definitely warmed up by them. Switching classics with a little raw (Crypsis – Break Down Low) and recent tracks like Digital Nation, people were definitely enjoying it.
Revealing of the stage & Headhunterz:
One of the biggest moments of Qlimax is the revealing of the stage. Every year Q-Dance comes up with something unique that you would think at one point they would be out of inspiration. This year they have proven to be very creative. As you can see on the image below it looks like a man’s head with huge circles around it. We can only guess what is the exact meaning of the stage but I think it is very well connected with the anthem.
Headhunterz on Qlimax was a big subject of discussion on all the social media platforms. As many of you will know Headhunterz used to only produce hardstyle music however now has shifted to a lower amount of beats per minute. Honestly his set was a good one though. His track colors definitely has the Qlimax atmosphere. Obviously Willem was only joking when he wrote on twitter: ‘’I’m going to test my new deephouse track on Qlimax’’. Personally I still love his style and his Qlimax set was a showcase of classics combined with some EDM drops. Dragonborn and tonight (ft. Wildstylez & Noisecontrollers ) stood out in his set.
Atmozfears:
Tim has had a spectacular year and he has proven to be worthy of the massive Qlimax stage. Opening with ‘’This is the time’’ (Atmozfears ft. Omegatypez) he did well. Surprisingly Atmozfears played relatively a lot of raw style which was confusing for me since Frontliner, the master of melodies was up next.
Frontliner:
Frontliner aka Barry probably never had a year like 2014, he just keeps growing bigger. With achieving DJ Mag top 100 again and The Summer Of Frontliner he has proven to be one of the greatest in the euphoric hardstyle scene. His set was in my view one of the greatest of Qlimax 2014 with tight mixing & just the right energy. ‘’Frontliner – Summer’’ will be stuck in our memories for a long time for sure.
Noisecontrollers:
The creator of this year’s anthem. I expected a lot and it all came true. Featuring many tracks of his album ‘’All around’’ he got the crowd going crazy. Of course the anthem show was amazing with many lasers and flames. ‘’Noisecontrollers – Down Down’’ & ‘’Noisecontrollers – The Source Code of Creation’’ got 32.000 people to sing along which was a thrilling experience. Definitely one of the best sets of Qlimax.
Ran-D:
I thought he would smoothly make the transition from melodic to raw hardstyle during his set but with one of the best visuals of Qlimax (all the circles around the head going around like a chopper) and ‘’Das weite land’’ (in my view one of the greatest raw tracks of the 2014 festival season) as one of his first tracks Ran-D offered a mind blowing raw experience.
Crypsis:
Crypsis is one of those DJ’s that never backs down. Representing the Minus is More sound on Qlimax he made the speakers blow. It was impossible for anyone to stand still during his set.
Hard ending
Endymion:
It was the first time for me to see them live but even in only 30 minutes they have impressed me. They premiered 5 new raw tracks at about 170 bpm so it went hard, very hard. Curious to hear more of the transition from hardcore to raw that these guys have made recently.
The Viper:
The Viper played mostly classics at an even higher bpm than Endymion did. I knew mostly his older tracks but the current ones are just as good and hard. I recognized ‘’Under my skin’’ which is on the Qlimax 2014 cd in his set.
Partyraiser:
Eventhough he had the last 30 minutes he played so well. Partyraiser is one of those hardcore artists with a unique style. Technically I noticed his great mixing and that he was really scratching live impressed me. Going over 200 or maybe even 220 bpm he did not hold back! 32.000 people jumping to his hardcore sounds was pretty cool to see!
I would like to comment that I found it a shame many people were smoking in the Gelredome which at some point was a little annoying.
In conclusion I can say that Qlimax was a unique experience with a great build-up in hardstyle music and especially an amazing show for which I can only bow deep for. Despite the small point of critique this party has exceeded my expectations. I can only say: Our DNA was activated! See you next year Qlimax!
Reporter: Alexander Bouten
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