Festival Summer: Tomorrowland

Even though it's almost mid-winter I haven't forgotten about writing a review for Tomorrowland. So here it finally is: the last part of my Festival Summer, Tomorrowland!

Tomorrowland

Location: Recreation Area "De Schorre", Boom, Belgium

Date: 22-24 july 2011

It was my second time going to Tomorrowland but my first time going three full days. It was also the first time they planned to do the festival on 3 days. I guess they wanted to give the people who came from different parts of the world more time for their money and make it worth their stay. They also started extremely late with the ticket sale, but the combi tickets were sold in a matter of days. Luckily I bought them on the first day of the ticketsale. The reason the tickets might have sold so fast might have something to do with a video that was sent around the world by David Guetta where he thanked the Tomorrowland crowd, as can be seen here. He was the headliner on Sunday previous year and his gig was without a doubt one of the most memorable times of my life ever. The crowd was great and the atmosphere was simply magical. After those videos I think many people wanted to experience something like that as well and it kinda showed in the ticket sale.

Friday

I arrived early on the festival grounds, but I was amazed by the amount of people who were already there. I got my festival wristband, which served as evidence for my paid ticket, quite fast as there weren’t so many people who bought a combiticket at the gate so early. I was a bit disappointed as I got my wristband though; the design wasn’t as amazing as last years. After getting my wristband I needed to wait for the festival gates to open, but there was a big open truck from Red Bull at the entrance where a DJ spun some tunes to warm up the crowd and to keep us entertained. At 2:00 P.M. it was finally time but I had to wait for a friend, I still had her ticket. Luckily the first DJ I wanted to see was programmed at 3 P.M., so I was right on time.

I was amazed by how big the festival area was this year. Sure, it was pretty much the same size as previous year, but it seemed that there were even more stages to discover, as well as food tents and chill-out zones. For the Mainstage they flattened out the whole area and made a tunnel behind it for easier access on both sides. Definitely a big improvement!

I had to search quite a bit before I found the right tent where the first DJ I wanted to see would perform. After strolling around the area I found a tent above the hill in front of the Mainstage, which was decorated with candies, all kinds of lights and a big rotating stage with a huge screen on top: I had found the Trance Addict tent! (and my first stop for the day)

The first time I heard of Orjan Nilsen was ironically enough one year ago at the A State of Trance stage at Tomorrowland, where Armin Van Buuren played on of his songs together with an impressive set of fireworks. That song was “Go Fast!”. Eager to learn more about this DJ prodigy I looked up some of his songs and fell in love with “La Guitarra”. I was really excited to hear that he was coming to Tomorrowland this year and I was not disappointed. He played a great set with lots of his songs and a new one I hadn’t heard before; “Twilight Mode” from 4 Strings. 4 Strings was one of my favorite 90’s dance composers, so I was really happy I found out it was made by them. My day started good.

After hanging around a little at the Trance Addict stage, it was time to go to the Q-Dance stage. They usually recycle props and stages from their bigger event “The Continent” and this year was no different. A big creepy clown that seemed to follow you with his eyes towered above the trees that secluded the Q-Dance area, and the signature claws and saws around the stage were present. The clown reminded me a bit of Hannibal Lecter played by Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs, brrr. 

"Hello Clarice."

Remarkably I didn’t stay that long but I did catch a part of Dr. Rude. I knew him from his track “Feelings”, which was used in one of the aftermovies of Summerfestival. And well, it was very energetic. Hardstyle and Tekstyle are never dull to say the least.

I spent the rest of the day at the Mainstage. It was really hard to choose between so many DJ’s with so little time. Sometimes I had 2 or even 3 DJ’s I wanted to see at the same hour. I watched the whole set of Dirty South, most famous for his remix with Axwell of the Temper Traps' “Sweet Disposition”.

After that it was time for the headliner of Friday: Faithless. I was really thrilled to see them live, certainly because it would be their last performance in Belgium. They played most of their classics such as “God is a DJ”, ”We come one”, and of course “Insomnia”. It was quite good, but not as amazing as I had expected it to be. The sound sounded a bit off and some of the songs seemed to be slightly remixed. I think it would’ve been a lot better if they went with their original versions. Either way, it still was a blast.

The day ended with Swedish House Mafia. They were really great but I didn’t stay until the end, it was a bit overcrowded to my taste. Luckily there was someone else I wanted to see. On my way I picked up a part of Carl Cox, a true techno veteran and it showed. What a sound! As I picked my belongings for the day out of the many cabinets and returned the key to the clerk, I looked down upon the festival area and bid it farewell for the day. I’d be back tomorrow.

        

Saturday

Saturday was probably the best day for me, it was equally frustrating though as Saturday had so many DJ’s and acts I wanted to see at the same time. I never wanted to have a clone of myself that much as I did that day. I was also happy to have some company; a friend had bought a Saturday ticket, so I had someone to talk to. Sadly this wasn’t exactly the case the other 2 days as I kept missing friends because of bad cellphone reception.

I spent most of the day at the Mainstage once more, but one of the coolest parts was perhaps the Marshall Masters at the I love the 90’s stage. (yes, I love the 90’s has a stage at Tomorrowland too, they’re that good)  They proved that hardcore was far from dead. We jumped and sang along with their songs. They were just so energetic that their energy rubbed off on the whole crowd. The most fun part was without a doubt when they played “I like it loud”, everyone was humming and singing along as they heard the first notes. I didn’t have a voice left after though. :p

A better view of the stage, early in the morning.

After grabbing something to eat we scurried to the Mainstage to see Avicii. Avicii was really good but there were some ups and downs in his set. It’s not easy when you’ve already made quite a few hits and the crowd has big expectations of you, but all in all he really did well. I might be a bit biased as well though as I found “Bromance” and of course “Levels” the best moments of his set.

Next on the Mainstage was Martin Solveig. He’s really known now for his hit “Hello”, but I like his older music a bit more. Boy was I in for a treat. He mixed some awesome songs and his record choice was great. His companion and self-proclaimed manager Lafaille certainly tickled my funnybone with his hipster dancing. I was really entertained and surprised by his set, definitely one of my favorites of the evening.

Martin Solveigh with his trademark sweatband.

After Martin Solveig, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike took over the Mainstage. It has become tradition for them to write the yearly anthem of Tomorrowland, and they keep getting better at it. I simply loved their set. They managed to overstep some boundaries by mixing some hip-hop in between, but they also gave classics and great hits their own twist, with success. My favorite was a mix of Green Velvet’s “Flash” and Robert Armani’s “Hit Hard”. Sadly I couldn’t find a MP3 of it anywhere, but someone managed to record the audio and put it on Youtube. The fireworks together with the anthem were also incredible. They were exactly timed on every tune and beat.

     
                                     The best part of Saturday, fireworks included.

My day was pretty perfect already, but Tïesto made it complete. He spun some of his older trance classics and some of his new, more house-ish tunes. He also made me discover another awesome track called “Tung!”. I just couldn’t stand still on that one! Saturday was certainly the best day, but I still had one day to go. Dead tired I crawled into a soft bed at a friend’s house close by. I could stay over there and take a shower if I wanted, something I was really thankful for.


     

Sunday

On Sunday I went to see Rank 1 at the Evolution stage. Trance is definitely my thing and I was happy he played “Airwave”. I was a bit miffed about the next DJ I was going to see though. For some reason the time was changed and another DJ would play in his timeslot, thus messing up my planning and making me unable to see him. It was really a shame because Angger Dimas made a lot of remixes I like. Luckily the Evolution stage was close enough to Smash the House where he played, so I could switch between the two while waiting for him, but alas, to no avail. Yves V, a Belgian DJ, made it worthwhile though, he was really good and he played “Madagascar”, one of the tracks he made together with Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and Angger Dimas, like a boss.

Grabbing a Belgian waffle along the way I rushed to the Mainstage waiting for Wolfgang Gartner to make his appearance. He played most of his own music and an awesome track I can’t find the name of. I made a video of it but the quality is suffice it to say bad… What a bummer. His “Conscindo” was one of the best parts for me. I’d definitely watch him again if I could get the chance.

Laidback Luke took over the turntables after that. He mixed some of his records on the spot and really good at that. He was without a doubt one of the most skilled DJ’s on the Mainstage that day.  He did an amazing set and introduced me to 2 songs which I both heard for the first time; “Dirty Talk” from Wynter Gordon and “Cry” from Bingo Players. They made me feel a bit nostalgic of 90’s music so I took an immediate like to them.

Just like last year Chuckie was programmed together with David Guetta, but instead of closing the festival like last year he was the warm-up for David Guetta. However… warming up would be an understatement. With his dirty house tunes he made the crowd go wild. My favorite was “Move it 2 the Drum”, and apparently, so was everyone else’s.

And then, the moment where everyone had probably been waiting for, David Guetta!  Previous year was so amazing and I guess many people wanted to relive that moment… And that was exactly what it was, a duplicate of the previous year. It didn’t feel spontaneous at all. Not from David Guetta, but from the crowd. The sit-down and the sea of lights were so sincere that year… It was done again, like it was a requirement for a good time. I was really disappointed and left the Mainstage quite early, not an easy task as probably one third of Tomorrowland was there at that moment and they had closed a part of the tunnel.

I went back to the Evolution stage to pick up Markus Schulz instead. And you know what? I didn’t regret it one bit. I could really feel the positive vibes from the crowd, dancing and listening to the music and enjoying it heartfeltly. It made me feel a bit warmer inside too. I heard Twilight Mode another time and Sweet Disposition as well, but as a mash-up with another great track called “39!”. (I really wonder why DJ’s have such fondness for exclamination marks in their track titles recently)

Sadly I couldn’t stay to hear Paul Van Dyk’s set completely. I think he is most known for his track “For an Angel”, but I managed to see part of it and the fireworks. Together with Armin Van Buuren he’s somewhat the godfather of trance, and you could hear that through his music for sure.

Because I needed to catch a bus I sadly had to leave a bit early, but all in all it had been an amazing three days. I’m definately going back this year and I hope to take some friends along so they can enjoy it with me.


       

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If  you’re interested in seeing the live sets, it is actually possible. B@TV recorded numerous sets and footage of various DJ’s and put them online on their website. You can watch them for free, but if you want to see more than half an hour you need to sign up, which is totally free by the way. Maybe you can even catch a glimpse of me muahaha. ;) I really recommend if you’re interested in seeing DJ-sets or reliving a part of the festival, or other festivals for that matter. B@TV has a pretty big repertoire.

For now I’ll leave you guys with the official after movie, ‘til next time!


       

Festival Summer: Rock Werchter

Rock Werchter is probably the most known festival in Belgium, and probably one of the oldest as well. I’ve always evaded it up 'til now, but this year there were 2 acts I wouldn’t dare to miss. The first one being the synthpop band HURTS, the second being Linkin Park, whom were finally performing once more in Belgium after a long 10 years. (and who knows when they’ll come back again?)

Rock Werchter

Location: Werchter, Belgium

Date: 30 june 2011

Getting to Rock Werchter was a whole different thing though. Public transport was available from and to the festival site and was quite well organized, yet it couldn’t foresee in the huge amount of festivalgoers which were drumming to get inside the busses. Also, the busstop wasn’t exactly close to the festivalarea. The path was well secluded and auto free, but after a long trip in the scorching heat one could ask if it was too much to get a busstop next to the festivalsite. After another half hour I was finally inside, and it was huge! Certainly for a mere 2 stages.

Line-up

MAIN STAGE

01:00 - 02:30 THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS

22:35 - 00:15 LINKIN PARK

20:35 - 21:50 QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE

19:00 - 20:00 ANOUK

17:30 - 18:30 THE HIVES

16:15 - 17:05 SEASICK STEVE

15:00 - 15:50 OFWGKTA

PYRAMID MARQUEE

00:55 - 01:55 HURTS

23:10 - 00:10 BEADY EYE

21:25 - 22:25 EELS

19:50 - 20:50 JAMES BLAKE

18:15 - 19:15 ALOE BLACC

16:45 - 17:45 TV ON THE RADIO

15:30 - 16:20 WARPAINT

After strolling around a bit I went to see Aloe Blacc in the Pyramid Marquee. Even though the style of the music didn't interest me that much I was very impressed by the quality of Blacc's voice: the man has got some serious soul. Of course everyone sang along with his big hit (at least in Belgium) "I need a dollar", but also the song "You make me smile" left quite an impression as Blacc asked everyone to grab a random stranger/friend by the hand and shout out his or her name. "[insert random name here], you make me smile!".

After that I went to meet up with a friend at the mainstage and missed out on James Blake (Limit to your love) at the Pyramid Marquee. I guessed Anouk (Killerbee, Nobody's wife) would make up for that loss at the mainstage but I was sadly mistaken. Sure enough she sung many of her known hits and her voice was nice, but it looked like she was standing there against her will and didn't really convince me and sadly... not a lot of other people either.

After Anouk it was time for the Queens of the Stone Age. Stoner rock is definately not my style, but I decided to stay because Linkin Park would be up next and I was sure the mainstage would get packed by then. All in all the Queens of the Stone Age didn’t interest me that much, but I can't deny that the lead singer had lots of charm, or as some others would say: he was one badass mother*bleep*.

Nostalgia and emotions

After the break I succeeded getting through the front gates of the secluded front area close to the mainstage with some of my friends to get a good view of the fine men of Linkin Park. Apparantly lots of people had the same idea as we got squeezed together, I just had about enough room to stick up my hands. The good part was that no matter how tired you were, the people next to you kept you in place, so snuggly! With 45 minutes tardiness the moment was finally there. The screens lightened up with stunning visuals and the first notes rocked through the gigantic speakercolumns. The band had lots of catching up to do for the past 10 years and they got that idea quite well. Even though they played a fair share of their new songs, loyal fans were rewarded with their most known hits of their first albums Hybrid Theory and Meteora... I think I died back then and went to heaven. Together with my friends I sung and screamed my throat soar until I was almost “Numb”. How could you not after hearing this?

       

                                                               Nostalgia, I love you.

With all the energy drained out of me from the performance of Linkin Park I stumbled back to the Pyramid Marquee, only to find it overcrowded with people. Slightly dissapointed I nestled myself on the ground outside to watch the big screen right before the entrance of the marquee. Totally cold. Alone. And in the rain. I saw that HURTS brought a small delegation of backgroundsingers and musicians with them to support the songs. Theo Hutchcraft looked also as slick and refined as ever. Chills ran down my spine as he sung “Silver Lining” and of course my favorite “Wonderful Life”. It made me a bit warmer. Well, inside at least.

The Chemical Brothers closed the mainstage with their "Block Rockin Beats", but it was a bit too cold to stay until the end. With my last energy I managed to get on the bus to the trainstation again after lots of waiting and managed to catch the earliest train home 2 hours later. Of course it was packed with people so I couldn't wait to get into my warm, comfortable bed again.

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The next and last review of my festival summer will be Tomorrowland, I hope you will look forward to it as much as I did to attend it! :)

Festival Summer: Summerfestival

With the start of the summer vacation the festival season has officialy been launched in Belgium. I plan to go to quite a few this year (and I've already been to some) so you can expect a lot of music inspired reviews this and next month!  

Summerfestival

Location: Antwerp, Nieuw-Zuid, Belgium

Date: 25 june 2011

Summerfestival was the first festival which I attended all by myself, luckily the music promised to be quite worth it. And you know what? I didn’t regret it one bit. Summerfestival lives up to its slogan “the best way to start your summer”. Although… the summervibes were long gone with the weather. Thick clouds were looming above the festivalsite, waiting to rain upon an unsuspecting audience. Some were smart enough to bring an umbrella or a rainjacket, but most  people ran around on flipflops, bermudas and hotpants hoping the sun would break through. Too bad that didn’t happen.

But on a brighter note there were a lot of artists and DJ’s I wanted to see. I made a personal timetable to know where and when I needed to be at a certain time, but over the course of the day I strayed a bit from my original plan. (Thank goodness, otherwise I would’ve missed the best part of the festival!)

As soon as I was through the main gate I decided to explore the festival area and the many different stages and tents. There were about eight in total. Because my line-up was sort of predetermined I didn't watch every stage, and some I only visited briefly to get a quick impression on the style of the music and the mood of the audience.

Stages I did watch:

 Pepsi Max Mainstage

Genre: various/house/commercial 

 

  

    DJ Licious, Oliver Ingrosso, Adrian Lux, De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig, Funkerman, Don Diablo,  Basto!, 

    Far East Movement and Regi.

I probably was running around the most on the main stage. I stood about everywhere you could stand, in the middle, at the side, right in front of the dj and everywhere in between. The design of the Main Stage was simply stunning, with a large phoenix towering above the stage for the performers and two screens visible, one in its eye and the other one cut out as a heart in its chest. I've been a bit spoiled since my first time at Tomorrowland concerning the visual style and design of a festival, but Summerfestival certainly lived up to its standards. Anyways, onto the music!

I only knew one of Funkerman's songs (Speed up) as it was in the Belgian music charts for a while, but it was enough to convince me to watch him. I was surprised as he brought a more rougher sound, but nevertheless he played a nice set. It got my legs moving! 

After Funkerman it was time for Don Diablo to take over the turntables. In Belgium he's probably most known for his hit "Animale". I really enjoyed the first part of his set which was more house influenced, but I didn't like the second part much where he went experimental and even played some dubstep. I have to give him some credit for trying though, his sound probably varied the most of all the things I've seen that day.

Basto! was probably my most favorite DJ on the mainstage. He didn't have the typical looks of a DJ (more like an IT-technician) but wow, he could spin some records! Like every DJ that day he closed his set with his most known track being the lovely "Gregory's Theme".

The crème de la crème of the evening was without a doubt the act of the stylishly clad gentlemen and lady of Far East Movement. And to think I would've skipped them if the MNM Summer Club tent wasn't so full, I'm glad I remained at the Mainstage! They really got the crowd going and ready to sing along with some of their most notorious songs like “Like a G6” and “Rocketeer”, but they weren’t afraid to overstep their boundaries. For example they brought their own version of Linkin Park’s “One Step Closer”. Something I, as I listened a lot to Linkin Park in my youth, could really appreciate. All in all Far East Movement was a blast and I hope this wasn't their first and last gig in Belgium.

MNM Summer Club

Genre: dance/house/commercial 

     Siege, M.O., Rebel, Robert Abigail, Wout, Laurent Wéry & MC Six, F.R.A.N.K., Lasgo, Peter Luts,

     Freemasons and Alex Gaudino.   

MNM Summer Club had a pretty impressive line-up, but most of the time the tent was too overcrowded to see anything at all, and not to mention incredibly hot. Because of this I missed more dj's and dance acts than I had expected, but in the end it didn't matter much. I managed to pick up Alex Gaudino in the evening right before leaving and that was good enough for me, as I had seen all the others before.

Bass Events Hardstyle Outdoor

Genre: hardstyle

    

    The Vision, Da Tweekaz, D-Block & S-te-Fan, Coone, Zatox, Isaac, Headhunterz, Wildstylez, Deepack, 

    Frontliner, Psyko Punkz, Korsakoff and Darkraver.     

It was obvious that most of the people were only at Summerfestival for the Bass Event stages. Most likely one third of the festival population didn’t even care to watch anything else. Hardstyle is getting more and more popular in Belgium and Summerfestival tried to cater to that need. A job well done one could say. 

Besides oggling at the beautiful outdoor stage (it reminded me of Mayan art) the only thing I was interested in at the Bass Event stages was DJ Coone. I usually don't like hardstyle, but I like some of his tracks as they sound more like hardhouse. (The Return and Protect the Innocent to name a few) 

Too bad I didn't get what I was coming for, Coone only played more recent tracks. Ah well, in the end it wasn't that bad, I even could experience the atmosphere that was present at the Bass Event stages, and believe me, it was massive. Hardstylers are some crazy people!

Trance Town

Genre: trance

 

     Treadstone, Airwave, Nash & Pepper, Fast Distance, Ferry Tayle, Leon Bolier, Marcel Woods and

     Kristof Van den Berghe.

The amount of people in Trance Town was surprisingly low. It’s like trance doesn’t get the love it deserves, at least not at Summerfestival. I guess the trance family will be more present at Tommorowland… But although the attendance was small, I could feel the love of my fellow trance enthousiasts and got many friendly nods and winks as I was standing there underneath my umbrella, twirling it to the music in the rain.

Miami Pool Party

Genre: house/groove/lounge 

    
     Greg Bouvin, The Twins, Raffa Ciello, Guy'Do, DiMaro, Roma, Stereoclash, Dimitri Wouters, 

     Rockstarz,Yves V, Dave Lambert and Sakso.         

The second stage I visited the most was without a doubt the Miami Pool Party. With a big pool in the middle, some lovely dancers (the nerdy dancer with the sport socks and the sweet brunette with her umbrella were my favorites!) and some great house tunes to go with the whole package, fun was garantueed. You could also make your own Mojito at the Bacardi stand, which I did. I was lucky enough to have a patient bartender who explained and showed me every step because I surely was a difficult student! The result was almost as good as the original, but I think I'll leave it to the professionals if I ever want another one ;)    

I was happy to see DJ Roma again, I sort of discovered him by pure luck at Laundry Day previous year and was pretty much impressed by his set. Back then there weren't much people at his stage, a real shame! Luckily on Summerfestival his audience was notably bigger. He will also be playing on Tommorowland this year so maybe, just maybe I can pick up another set of him there.



Red Light District

Genre: house

    Romeo Blanco, Amro, Ralvero, Quintino, Nicolaz, The Opposites, Vato Gonzalez & MC Tjen, Mystique, 
    DJ Daddy K and The Partysquad.

I actually thought the Red Light District was really good, but sadly there were too many other things I wanted to watch. If I had time enough to discover something new, this would surely be the place. 

  

Stages I didn't/couldn't visit, or not long:

Bass Events Teknology Zone

Genre: hardstyle/tekstyle

     

    Mode Seven, Def Toys, Jones, Teka B Live, Demoniak, Transformers Live, iTraxx, Junior Waxx Live, 

    Gave, Bestien, Davoodi, Dr Phunk, Ruthless, Mark with a K, Lethal MG and Fenix. 

Blacklight Arena

Genre: electro/techno

    Mr Magnetik, VNNR, The Oddword, Harmony, Science, Syndaesia, AKS (DJ-Set), Blame feat. Quest One 
    and Murdock feat. Quest One. 
       

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Summerfestival was a great way to start my summer and was, for me at least, one of the better dance festivals I've attended in Belgium. Hopefully I'll be able to convince some friends to go with me next year and have the sun on my side!