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Published: July 16th 2009
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So we were back in Amsterdam for In Qontrol which was our first event which included Hardstyle and was put on by the company Q Dance.
Q Dance have an extremely high reputation around the world when it comes to the quality of their proudction & line ups so we were pretty excited. We've been to one Q Dance event back home and I was sure In Qontrol was going to blow that out of the water. It did indeed do so but suprisingly there were some major flaws in this event.
Firstly the bag storage at the event was outside their security checks, meaning we paid for a locker and put most things in there only to be not allowed access to our locker for the rest of the night.
We had a quick lap of the arenas and then ended up in the main arena to listen to Hardstyle DJ duo Wildstylez. There just seemed to no passion & the mixing was average so we made our way to the hardcore arena where the night was already in full swing. Evil Activities was going crazy, his mixing was top quality and atmosphere just seemed a lot
better. In Qontrol really got me thinking about the difference between hardstyle and hardcore. I understand that I may seem biast because there's no doubt I like hardcore better but hardstyle was always a close second and In Qontrol was just a bit of an eye opener to me. It was painstakingly obvious that the mixing standards of the hardstyle DJs was so much lower than the hardcore DJs. I don't think it's that the hardstyle DJs are less talented, it's that they are lazy. Hardstyle tracks are becoming more and more mass produced and this was really showcased at In Qontrol. Now don't get me wrong, there were some amazing hardstyle DJs like Frontliner who really showed effort and passion during his set. I was disappointed with the big hardstyle acts on mainstage. I just don't feel like they put as much effort in as they should and if big hardcore names can muster up the energy to put on a good show, why can't they?
Anyways, enough of that! We did go and watch D-Block & S-Te-Fan play LIVE in the main arena which was impressive and lots of fun to dance to. We literally tried to
swim our way through the crowd to get to a raised platform so I could have even the slightest hope of seeing them. I was able to see them and we were also able to check out the production properly.
THE PRODUCTION
Oh my god. Now I think anyone can definately endure even the most poorly mixed hardstyle when this sort of production accompanies it. Far out. Now the theme itself was the best theme I've ever heard of and they really pulled it off.
The theme was "Who is in Qontrol - You? The government? The Media? Or Money?" There were 4 arenas split into each category but before every DJ on the main stage was about to play they would reveal more parts of the theme. This was one of the intros we recorded:
"QUOTE"
Anyone going to the event also had the opportunity to spend their passport photo in but they didn't explain what it was for. They had big screens on stage but they also had images projecting off the pylons in the arena. They had images flashing of the DJs, news reporters, presidents, murderers, celebrities and the people who had
sent in their passport photos! It was really cool and creepy.
We watched Headhunterz then tried to get out of the main arena. It was PACKED as in oversold packed and it was an intense situation trying to get out. So intense that someone thought Smicy bumped into him and decided to throw an entire drink on him. Smic was stuck in a slow moving line of people, there was no way he could've bumped into him, this person was just a bit crazy. He yelled at Smicy for a while in either Italian or French but Smic just walked away. Smics t-shirt was literally drenched. He had to take it off and wear his hoodie for the rest of the night.
They did have really good food there though! They had fruit salads, fresh sandwiches, chinese food and the usual festival food. It was sooo good to be able to eat something other than hot dogs...although I do love a good hot dog.
To be honest, the only other act I really paid attention to was Noize Supressor...but the arena was so packed that we had to stand just outside of it to listen to them.
They sold way too many tickets and tensions were rising high because of it. People couldn't move and it was stressing everyone out.
For the rest of the night we kind of just wandered back and forth between different arenas and the only spot we could find that wasn't packed. It was just a small well lit area that no one wanted to sit in because it was too bright. We did some great people watching from here! Now In Qontrol was filled with thousands of those shirtless loser guys that wear sunnies inside and take longer to do their hair than whoever they pick up during the night. Although I'm sure they were paired up with the thousands of fishnet stocking wearing, underwear clad girls. It was pretty gross. A lot of people over here find that big events such as In Qontrol & Defqon are mainly for people who just want an excuse to dress like that & want to be seen at events. There really was that sort of feel to this event which was a bit of a shame.
We did end up leaving early because we felt it would be more worthwhile to
get a couple of hours sleep in the dark than stay there. I did have fun at In Qontrol but it was just too packed to have an above average night, especially with losers throwing drinks on random people.
The production was the best I've ever seen and was really entertaining to watch but unfortunately the majority of the crowd and some DJs just weren't up to par.
Aww I don't like having to be so negative, oh well life is not perfect!
Bee Dandy xoxo
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