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Review: Ouwe Stijl is Botergeil (8 June 2019)

Ouwe Stijl is Botergeil Review

 

Anyone who knows me knows that I never really left the 90s. Whether its blasting cheesy euro dance in the shower, watching Friends, or seeing Detective Pikachu as soon as it came out, there’s something about the 90s that I just can’t seem to leave behind (and refuse to leave behind).

 

My most recent escapade into the best era of all time led me to an epic party, Ouwe Stijl is Botergeil. For those of you who don’t know Ouwe Stijl is a well-known early hardcore party series organized by Strength of Unity. The literal translation of Ouwe Stijl is Botergeil means “Old style is butter horny”. Although I got a variety of definitions from Dutch partygoers ranging from “Old style is slippery wet” to “Old style is horny” to “It has something to do with butter.” One of the organizers explained that the Dutch word “botergeil” is slang like the word ‘sexy’ that is used to describe something that you are excited about for example one might say “Man that is a sexy car!”

 

At any given hardcore party on any given weekend you’ll see men and women sporting Ouwe is Stijl shirts (I still gotta get me one of those!). This is due to the fact that Ouwe is Stijl has a huge following, one might even call it a cult following (in a similar way that the movie Pulp Fiction has). Before I even moved to the Netherlands in 2016 and when I was only here for brief periods of time, speaking with gabbers as to where the best parties are Ouwe is Stijl was always one of the top responses.

Now with all that being said and with very high expectations let’s get into my review of Ouwe is Stijl is Botergeil on June 8th 2019. My friends and I began our journey around 20:00 from The Hague then after a quick stop for some noodles and a drink in Amsterdam we headed to the party. The party took place at Paradiso Noord in the North of Amsterdam just a quick ferry ride from Amsterdam Central Station. A huge crowd was outside eagerly waiting for the gates to open and for the party to begin. Early hardcore blasted from portable speakers, party goers snapped some selfies with their friends, chugged their final drinks and then made a mad rush to the entrance.

Immediately upon entering into the venue I noticed a stand selling records and another stand representing Hard-Wear (a hardcore apparel store in Enkhuizen) selling merchandise, which was a nice touch. The venue was a bit of a maze but had plenty of spaces for people to sit, multiple bars, and even some board games for people to play (shout out to the random Smurf puzzle). The party consisted of one large main room of music with a viewing deck that provided a great view of the dance floor and the epic light shows. After the usual routine of lockers, bathroom, getting a drink (no need for tokens yay!), and saying hi to everyone it was time to see my friend Delirium!

Coming all the way from New Jersey, Delirium is one of the early pioneers of hardcore both in the United States and in the Netherlands. Known for his energetic onstage presence (picture a fire cracker exploding on New Years Eve) Delirium always puts on quite the show. Following his set we had a brief meet and greet for him where he signed records, took some photos, and met with fans. It always warms my heart to see my American hardcore comrades have such a loyal fan base here in the Netherlands. I had the opportunity to ask Delirium some questions about the party and here is what he had to say:

 

First off, what was going through your head when you were on stage tonight?

 

The vibe with the crowd was amazing and the venue was really great!

I was in a great mood and I was very focused. I made sure to give 1000% of my energy to the people for that hour.   I really wanted to give them a performance that they would remember.

 

The crowd really seemed to love your set, is there a specific process you go through concerning track selection or do you more feel the vibe of the crowd?

 

There are times where I just feel the vibe of the crowd and go with the flow and there are times when I prepare a set prior to the event. The crowd at OSIB likes the tempo a little faster so I did a lot of searching to find some fast Early Rave tracks for this event.

 

What sets Ouwe Stijl a part from other Dutch parties?

 

OSIB is different than other events because their style is horny like butter!

 

There were so many fans that had the original DJ Delirium T-shirts and the original ID&T Music T-shirts from the 90’s. It was like time traveling back to 1996. I even had some friends and fans come all the way from Italy and Spain.

 

This was my first booking with them and they treated me really great! It was an absolute pleasure to work with this crew and perform at their event.

 

 

Having been very active in the American hardcore scene for over twenty years what major differences have you noticed between the American scene and the Dutch scene?

 

The major differences are definitely the size of the events, the way that they dance and the style of clothing. We have a much smaller scene in America. The fans are very loyal and definitely have a passion for the music though. Some of them even travel all the way to Holland for the bigger events because we do not have anything like Dominator or Hard Shock in America yet.

 

Now back to the party!

 

After the meet and greet I had the opportunity to see Kaycie play for the first time. Kaycie is one of the organizers of the party, he laid down an epic set and I had the opportunity to speak with him to learn more about what Ouwe is Stijl is all about. What I liked the most about Ouwe is Stijl was the underground and family vibe. One major takeaway from my conversation with Kaycie was that the organization started among a group of friends, which I really love. This reminds me of my days in the US with East Coast Hard Dance, we were just a group of friends looking to hear the music we loved, support local artists and our friends, and of course to throw epic parties.

Unfortunately I only got to catch a bit of Omar Santana’s set although from what I heard he crushed it! With all good intentions to leave at 3:30am because I had to work the next day I was having so much fun that I stayed until the very end at 8:00am. One sign of a good night in my opinion is seeing how many people are there at the bitter end and the fact that it was still crowded on the same night as Harmony of Hardcore is definitely a good sign.

So my final thoughts, great music, good vibes, welcoming atmosphere, and overall a wonderful night! Next up…. International Hard Dance Meeting on 27 June 2019!

*Photos were taken by U-Model Party Pics and are not my own*

Announcements

Upcoming Party Announcement: International Hard Dance Meeting

Looking for something to do the night before Defqon? Looking to hang out with other Americans?

Join us for International Hard Dance Meeting (The Official QSA Meet up)

27 June 2019

Facebook info: https://www.facebook.com/events/300685847499305/

*A five minute walk from Amsterdam Central Station

*A portion of the proceeds from the party will go to Musicians Without Borders

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MEMORIES: Throwback Thursday Defqon 2017 Review!

Happy Throwback Thursday everyone! I was asked by The Hard Data to post my review of Defqon 2017 which was originally posted on my personal blog, Adventures with MC Unicorn.

Thursday- QSA Pre-Defqon Meet Up
*QSA is a group of American hard dance fans that meet at hard dance raves and festivals in the USA and abroad. Before major events such as Defqon and Qlimax we always meet at Luminaa in Leidsplein, Amsterdam
‘Twas the night before Defqon and all through the ‘Dam not a hard dance fan was lonely not even on the tram. The drinks were flowing and fists were in the air in hopes that Frontliner would soon be there. Some ravers were hakking all over the bar, while others loaded camping supplies into the car. With Kardiak on the decks and I with my squad, we were all starting to get a little bit odd.
When out in the plein there arose such a clatter, I ran from the bar to see what was the matter. Away to the door I flew like a flash, through the sweaty ravers I hustled out the door, and to what to my wondering eyes did appear but it was Rob Gee dancing with cheer. With his purple mohawk and horde of fans, I knew in a moment he must be the leader of the hardcore clan. More rapid than eagles his fans they came, he whistled and shouted and called out our names “QSA ITS GROUP PHOTO TIME!” To the front of the bar, to the middle of the plein, take out your flags, for now is the time! And then it was time for us to leap, some to the Melkweg and others to sleep. For tomorrow was Defqon, the most wonderful time of the year, see you at the Yellow Stage tomorrow my dear.
Friday-Day 1
The day we had all been waiting for had finally arrived (note: the remainder of this review will not be written in poetic form, sorry!)! We all got up a little groggy from the night before (some of us more than others) and headed from my house in Voorburg to Den Haag Centraal to hop on the event travel bus. Unfortunately in order to get to the station we had to take the local bus where we got some interesting glances from my neighbors (six ravers with a ton of camping gear). After knocking into a few people with my 2015 Defqon tent and spilling all of the contents of my shopping bag down the aisle of the bus not once but twice, we finally made it to the station. The bus ride took about five hours since once we got right outside the festival we literally moved 50 meters in an hour but finally around 16:30 we were at our campsite and the party began. I got to reunite with my friends, some of which I hadn’t seen in over two years, and some for the first time in person! Fast-forward to the main event of the night- the Gathering!
First off, when the gates opened I ran immediately to the Yellow Stage (duh) for the silent disco. If you want to laugh your @$$ off this is the place to be. Just picture 200 ravers going crazy to terrorcore but with no sound. Tharoza opened the Yellow stage, it was my first time seeing him live and he crushed it! The other highlight of the night was definitely Angernoizer who closed out the stage with some brutal beats. Following the performance there was a small firework end show on the “Around the World” ride (big swing), which was totally unexpected. Overall day one of Defqon was both fun and exhausting but everything was falling into place for an awesome weekend.
Saturday-Day 2
Despite not having slept at all we were all ready for day two! I had promised my friends that this weekend I would check out the other stages and not just spend all my time at Black, Yellow, and Gold like I did in 2015. That being said, walking by Chaotic Hostility at the Yellow Stage that morning was hard but I wanted to actually check out the entirety of the festival especially because since I live here now I have the opportunity to see all of these DJs often. First up for the day was Pyra at the White stage, I had never heard of her before but am always excited to see female hard dance DJs since there are so few of them and us female hard dance lovers have to stick together! Between Pyra and Power Hour we had a few hours to just wander around the festival and explore. In doing so, I noticed there was a station where people were giving people massages on red beanbag chairs. I made a mental note to come back to them later.
Now it was time for Power Hour! For those of you who have never been to Defqon or who are living under a rock, Power Hour is one hour of all different types of hard dance on the main stage (Red) and it is CRAZY. Basically everyone from the festival is there (probably around 50,000 people but who knows I’m bad at math), there are inflatables being thrown into the crowd, people throwing trash from the floor in the air (yes its as gross at it sounds), confetti, fire, mutli-colored smoke, marriage proposals, people crowd surfing, etc. This was my first Power Hour since in 2015 I went for about five minutes, decided that it was too crowded and went back to the Yellow Stage. This year I was determined to fully experience Power Hour and boy I did. Words cannot explain the insanity of this set. The highlight for me by far was the Thunderdome segment. As we all know, Thunderdome is returning this year and they did a special dedication to it during Power Hour and it was epic.
Feeling exhausted after Power Hour I determined that we should go find those red beanbag people and get massages. After wandering around the festival for an hour we found people in red shirts however we were informed that they were not giving massages they were helping people apply sunscreen- WHAT!?! NOOOOOOOOOOO. We decided with our spirits low to just sit down in the chill area for a bit. We found a nice swing and finally I thought I could relax and recharge before the next set. As I rested my weary head upon the swing, my friend yells “AMY WE HAVE TWENTY MINUTES TO GET TO DR PEACOCK IN CONCERT AND WE NEED TO GO TO THE CAMPSITE FIRST LETS GO NOW!” AH! Dr Peacock in Concert was one of my “cannot miss” sets! Basically, Dr Peacock, one of the kings of Frenchcore was doing a special set with live violinists, Sefa on the piano, my boy Mouth of Madness on the mic, and live singers. Thankfully my friend is a marathon runner and managed to drag me from the chill area, to campsite one, all the way to the Black stage and we made it just in time! Out of breath, panting, sweating, and exhausted, I mustered up the strength for Dr Peacock and it was incredible. I felt like I was watching the New York Philharmonic but better, because duh Frenchcore makes everything better.
Finally after Dr Peacock in Concert we went back to the chill area where we found this amazingly comfortable fishing net and got some rest. I then got my unicorn onesie and sprinted to Noisekick at the Yellow stage.  Although exploring the other stages on Saturday was fun I needed my extreme fix. Noisekick as always did not disappoint. After, we headed to the Red stage to get a good spot for the end show. The end show was bittersweet because I knew that at this time tomorrow the festival would be over but nevertheless the fireworks, lasers, music, and energy were incredible.
Sunday-Day 3
Today was the day I was most excited for because it was the Final Terror Sitdown! We sprinted over to the Black stage right when it opened but all of the chairs were already taken! Basically, the terror sitdown is a “sit down set” so everyone grabs a chair or a spot on the floor and then Noisekick plays terrorcore. I got a great spot on the floor to the left of the middle aisle and it was epic. First of all, Noisekick came in on a unicorn, A UNICORN! Can I borrow that sometime? He rode down the middle aisle to the stage to “Final Countdown” then everyone went crazy. He played a mix of classic rock like Queen with straight up ruthless terrorcore. It was so funny to see everyone going crazy while sitting down. Unfortunately the set was only about thirty minutes but I could have totally stayed there all day, terrorcore and you get to sit? Sounds perfect!
The rest of the day was a whirlwind but my highlights were: Re-Style at the Gold stage, Braindrillerz and SRB at Yellow. I spent the day catching up with some friends, wandering around, watching my friend bungee jump (maybe one day when I have more extensive health insurance I’ll try it), and enjoying some delicious Dutch French fries with mayo.  I cannot reiterate how fast that this day went by. I checked my phone and it was already 20:00, the end show was about to begin! SAY IT AINT SO WE JUST GOT HERE! I was nowhere near ready for this weekend to be over. With my head hung low we walked to the Red stage. The next three hours were filled with all different types of emotions. There was certainly a lot of nostalgia because the set was entitled Defqon 1 Legends: 15 Years of Defqon. Headhunterz made his official return to hardstyle, Showtek dropped a few classic tracks, and there were sets from Pysko Punkz, Dana, Wildstylez, and Noisecontrollers, among others. The festival then concluded with an incredible firework and laser show. It was the perfect cherry on top of an epic weekend.
Unfortunately there were a bunch of sets I missed. Sorry Partyraiser, Sickest Squad, F. Noize, and Bass-D! I will see you guys at Dominator!
Reflecting back on the weekend, even though the weather wasn’t the greatest, I would not have changed a thing. That being said I have a few friendly suggestions to make next year’s Defqon even better:
  • The Yellow stage should be bigger, hey just make it the main stage! 😉 [Note from 4 July 2018: This year the Yellow stage was bigger so thank you!]
  • Terror Sitdown should be at the Red stage. A ton of people couldn’t even get in it was so crowded!
  • The water refill stations should be able to fill up camelback backpacks and not just the water pouches.
See you next year! Next up…..DOMINATOR!
Articles, Reviews

Made in Qanada: Crisis Era

With Basscon Wasteland fast approaching, the hype is getting real! The massive announcement dropped by Insomniac is sure to attract the Hardstyle family from near and far to California, eager to celebrate a two day festival with such heavyweight names.
From up north, representing the rapidly growing Canadian hard scene, we have Crisis Era. Matt and Silas are a duo of producers from Vancouver that have been mobilizing the Hardstyle crowd in North America since 2012. They are signed to Brennan Heart‘s label, WE R, and have played in almost every massive Hardstyle event in the past couple years. I can tell you one thing, those guys know how to throw down!

 

Following their success in Belgium’s DayDream Festival, the guys are ready to step it up and destroy 3 stages in what’s gonna be one EPIC weekend for them. Starting on the 27th at Hardfest Festival in the Netherlands, flying to The USA straight to the Wasteland on the 28th and finishing in Dallas for Hardismystyle on the 29th.

What can you expect from them? With tracks like Moshpit, Turn me on, Party up,  featuring names like Code Black, Audiofreq, and more, you can count on a high energy performance full of dance floor bangers; where they plan to premier their first full EP. Their versatility and fun personalities have made a lot of unique collaborations possible, such as their new track with Gammer that was dropped on their recent visit to Edmonton, with the Kutski‘s “Keeping the Rave Alive Neon nation tour“; where they made a really strong impression with the local crowd. On their first time in the City of Champions, Crisis Era managed to make it such a memorable night, everyone in Alberta took over their live chat with fans (which lasted about 10 hours) the following Sunday to let the guys know how much everyone appreciated that party, and were looking forward to everything they had coming up. Such as a new mix series where they are looking to experiment with different genres to showcase their range, and starting a merchandise line that will be initially available at their shows, and online in the near future.

 

 

If you want a taste of their music and really unique sense of humour listen to their guest appearance on KTRA, and their Hard Island mix. Both feature original tracks, and some strong remixes, such as their banging version of Kaskade’s Disarm you, and their one of a kind takes on Get your freak on, called Come on, and Radiohead’s Creep.
If you’re into snapchat comedy, they’re usually posting really creative, hilarious skits, plus an inside look at their creative process and hectic tour schedule.
Be sure to catch their set at Basscon, or whenever you get a chance. They will for sure Make-Make-Make it POP.

You can follow them on Snapchat at CrisisEra, on Facebook HERE, or Instagram for more original content and upcoming songs and events.