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[Report] Hard Bass 2011

For the third time Hard Bass took place in the Gelredome, where in the past it was held at the Silverdome. Considering I’ve been to all three Gelredome editions I can say it only gets better and better. The concept brings a good variation in sets switched with live performances. Time flies when you're there.

Hard Bass always starts off with a warmup set, last year it was Balistic with an epic Early Hardstyle set and the year before, Leep did a great job. This year it was Ruthless’ turn. I expected him to pump some Jump beats, so I wasn’t there in time to check his set. We came in at 22:40 and I was surprised, in a great way! We walked in during S.E.X., which was followed by Early Hardstyle hits like Motherfuck and Techno Noise. After that, Ruthless built up with Disco Fan and We Are Possessed, only to finish his set with Lockdown. Lockdown was a perfect ending in my opinion, it gave me the chills, and almost everybody on the dancefloor knew the track and danced to it.

Team Red – Alphaverb, Josh & Wesz, Luna & Wildstylez Live
Looking back, this was my favourite team. Alphaverb and Luna are some personal favourites of mine so I expected a lot. Combining this with the euphoric style of Josh & Wesz promised a diverse set and that was what it was. The start off was good, the overall switch of raw tracks and euphoric ones felt good to me. But discussions may arise that some harder tracks didn’t really fit the buildup of the party, but for me it was great to start off with Torture. Keep it coming and Electronic Stereophonic were unexpected tracks in this set, the new tracks were good and it there wasn’t exactly an overwhelming amount, which kept the dancefloor moving.

Then the live performance of this team was about to take off. Wildstylez’s live set was a thing I looked forward to, I hoped for a mix of new Digital Age tracks together with Wildstylez top tracks and that’s what it was! The Underworld – Born Slippy remix surprised me, in a good way actually. The original was left in its worth, awesome to hear on such a soundsystem, which was followed by some great kicks. The ending with Art Of Creation was a great thing too, that break just gives me the chills every time I hear it. The new tracks were great, revolutionary even. A great new standard for the future.

Team Green – Headhunterz, Noisecontrollers, Tuneboy & Psyko Punkz Live
This DJ team is my favourite when I reminisce about the party, in combination with the Live performance by Wildstylez. Apparently, I like the euphoric and Digital Age stuff more than the raw stuff. Highlights where Faster ‘N Further (great to hear the crowd sing along), Psychedelic Sunshine (with a Phat Bass acid outro), a Barbra Streisand remix (Nice ‘n rough unlike the cheesy original track), Music Is, Kingdom Re-amp and The Space We Created. The variety of Digital Age tracks, euphoric tracks and the SAIFAM Sound was making this an energetic set for me.

The time came for Psyko Punkz Live, I was looking forward to an awesome live set, and that's just what it was. The Psyko Punkz way of using vocals with nice basslines is an enrichment in the hardstyle scene. Hits like After MF, Pull Your Strings and Overclipping were interchanged with some new tracks. These new tracks didn’t really do anything for me. I guess you need to get used to the new vocals to enjoy their new tracks and for me it kind of felt like they did the same trick again, but that’s my opinion.

Team Blue – Bioweapon, Ran-D, Zany & Crypsis Live
Now the real raw madness can start, where B2S is at its best. Bioweapon could keep up with the raw beats of Ran-D and Zany, where I consider them to a bit more in the middle of euphoric and raw. In this set, new tracks were followed by well known hits, which was a great thing and again keeps the people pounding and dancing. If you like hardstyle to be a bit harder, then this set really fills your expectations. For a lot of people this set was the best one of the evening. A bad thing about it was spinning Discorecord again. Come on, the party is 8 hours long and the dj’s aren’t able to prevent double tracks? Most people probably wouldn’t notice but there is enough to spin to prevent that, it was a real turnoff for me.

Then it was time for Crypsis Live. I missed this set because I was eating. Too bad, I think because afterwards it seemed like a great performance.

Team Yellow – B-Front, Alpha Twins, Max Enforcer & Wild Motherfuckers Live
This team is all raw, but starting off with a mashup of both Gold versions was a really great thing. The sounds of these DJs really fit well together, this made a great set in total, I think. A pity was again a double track (Breathe) but I think it was less noticeable this time, since Wildstylez used a very short version in his Live performance, but still. The new tracks were again substituted by some known tracks with for me Fade To Black, Magic and Chemical as highlights, and Phillipe Rochard - Mashup to end your set with will never leave my memory.

Then it was time for the last performance of the evening, Wild Motherfuckers. Again a thing I looked forward to, they really satisfied my expectations and went beyond that with great edits. I had no energy left but this set kept me going! Tracks like Fothermucker, Kickin Ass and Let’s Rock are always nice to hear and got loads of energy in it. They honoured the colour with the Tatanka track Yellow and also with The Beatles – Yellow Submarine which made me smile, but I doubt if most people liked it. The Hard Bass anthem was the biggest highlight for this set in my opinion since most people were longing for it, like it should be at a party like this.

That was what I could say about the music, the most important part of the party of course. The show, in my opinion, came second to the music. I can say that the show was awesome! Before 11 O’Clock I didn’t see that big videowall coming, especially not a moving one. In 2009 they had a sort of videowall as well, but it wasnt as awesome as this year's one, I think. The show was also way better than last year. The intro’s were good and especially the ‘error’ in the blue intro made me smile. The show was better than expected for me. The sound in the Gelredome was a problem before, for both Qlimax and Hard Bass but in my opinion they fixed it quite well. I had no complaints about the sound, although it must be said that I was wearing earplugs. You could really feel the bass and, in my opinion, the equalization was done well. But for me it felt like they turned up the volume a bit during the party. In the beginning it wasn’t that loud and it felt like the volume reached its peak during team Blue's set, finishing off with even raising the volume during the Wild Motherfuckers.

The concept of the teams worked great again this year. All sets were diverse enough to keep the crowd going, which they actually did. Where sometimes it’s a lot of standing still during parties I saw the biggest part of the crowd dance (we stood mostly in front). The atmosphere was good, good enough, it was kind of warm and there is always some minor irritations about crowdedness and whacked out people, but nothing out of the ordinary. There were almost no lines to the bars, a great thing! And I can really recommend the Vitamin Waters, they are perfect when you sweat like hell from the dancing and warmth during the parties. It’s always crowded when an event is sold out, but it felt like B2S sold less tickets as Q-Dance did for Qlimax (based on other ones who'd been to both), where Qlimax had a decor on the long side of the stadium. We stayed until the end of the party, getting out of the stadium was doable. The organization can’t really solve this problem, the only way to solve it yourself is to leave early, but most of us won’t.

To conclude this report, the best word to describe this party for myself is epic. Hard Bass just keeps getting better and better, so does the music in my opinion. The people were dancing, it wasn't overly crowded, the sets were good and the show was the best one to date. Also, in my opinion, the sound was the best I've ever heard it in the Gelredome.

Check out the aftermovie for Hard Bass 2011 here:

You can also have a look at the official party photos by clicking here.