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[Report] Harmony Of Hardcore Festival

Last year we visited Harmony of Hardcore (The Festival) for the first time, even though the festival had been organized many times before as well as some indoor parties. Because it was a real eye-opener to us, we readily decided to go again this year. We had enjoyed it so much, we didn’t care Ground Zero was held at the same date this year. It was an easy choice to be made.
Like on every festival we couldn’t be everywhere. There is so much so see and hear. We enjoyed the DJ playing at the Freestyle area while we were eating and the Dub-step area was a surprise. The different stages were decorated nicely (even though for 7th Sunday) and the whole festival area was big enough with the stages spread. Another major advantage were the wooden boards in front of the mainstage so the people didn’t had to dance in the mud. The food stands and bars were okay and there was enough diversity in food to choose from. All together HoH was a well organized event.

We arrived about 14:30 hrs and didn’t had to wait long. At the press/guest-entrance the service was quick and friendly. So within minutes we were in. To bad the weather didn’t cooperate. One cloudburst and most waiting guests were soaking wet. This kind of weather held on until 17:00 hrs. After then it improved and we got some sunshine and nice temperatures, though it cooled down quite quickly after the sun had set.
The festival terrain was mostly decorated for 7th Sunday, which was held the next day and didn’t correspond to the ‘swamp’-theme of HoH. Beside that, it looked nice and the mainstage was beautiful to see with it’s ‘underwater’-theme, showers, fountains and palm trees.

The first two hours went relatively quick because we had to get a locker, some drink-tokens and after scouting the place out a bit between the last rain showers we ended up at the Ravezone. This area was located in the biggest party tent. It’s entrance consisted out of a wall of piled up sea containers. The Stage itself was hosted by X-Factor Events. They prepared a massive line up with the best of present hardcore dj’s.
We entered just at the moment Re-Style was finishing his set, playing the mash up of “Dune - Hardcore Vibes”. A track that still gets the crowd jumping. After Re-style the stage was owned by two other Masters of Hardcore representatives; Day-mar and Outblast. They started with an intro which seemed the first part of “Ophidian - Abandon”, followed by tracks like “The Voice of Mayhem”, “Bassleader”, “Dark Room Rituals”, “Incoming”, “Guess What” and “Delusion”. The next DJ was ‘the ever being hyper active’ Nosferatu. He went on where Day-mar and Outblast had left. Kicking beats and making the place go wild. Because we were curious what the Outside Agency had to offer, we went on to the Extreme Darkness area, which was larger then the year before. The sound was hard and loud, just as in the Ravezone and we couldn’t distinct between the different tracks except for one; “DJ Hidden – Scintillate”. Such an awesome track.

After eating a bit we went back to the Ravezone for the second half of Tommyknocker vs Amnesys. What about some Hardcore Italia? These guys were top!!! Mixing rapidly and playing all the popular Italian tracks. Even the faster aggressive ones like “Demolition (Evil Activities & Lenny Dee Remix)”, “Destroy the System” and the new track of Art of Fighters – Oh my Sun”. Who doesn’t like Italian Opera? It’s awesome. This track really kicks the shit out of you.

The next act we wanted to check out was Ophidian Live. We hurried to the mainstage, being just in time to hear “Somany Sacrifices”, “Psychiatric Ass”, “Forgotten Moments”, “Abandon” and a special mix of his classic “Butterfly”. Still remembering Leviathans set in Outland during Slave to the Rave last May, we really wanted to see him again. Though we were a bit late, we still had a good 20 minutes of Cenobite classics. But why was the sound level so low? After Leviathan we rushed on to the Ravezone where Chrono & The Demon Dwarf were tearing down the place with their speedy, kicking hardcore live set. They managed to release a great amount of energy over the crowd with their tracks like the “Beter kom je Niet Anthem”, “Wiseguys” and the remix of Partyraisers “Raise the Party”.

The last part of the evening we stayed at the mainstage. First we enjoyed the live act of Endymion who played all their hits. Some old and some new. The same can be said about Evil Activities. Both sets contained work of their collaboration, the so called “Broken EP”, containing “Broken” and “Changed the Game”. Besides those two tracks we also heard “A new Today”, “Drunk with a Gun” and “Payback” played by Endymion and “Evil Inside”, “Pray for me” and No Place to hide” played by Evil Activities. Some of these tracks are just made for a massive soundsystem.
After Endymion it was time for our second dose of Hardcore Italia with Mad Dog & Anime. Again we were treated to a “Night of Madness” with the best floorfillers like “Game Over”, “Refly”, “Detonate”, “4D Future”, “B.O.B.” and “Nothing Else Matters”. The Remix of Unexist’s “Smash” ended their set.

The last set of the night was for Promo & D-Passion. Both men of the Third Movement Label have proved many times before to stand their ground in front of a big audience and tonight was no exception. Their tracklist contained only the biggest and hardest tracks in their genre.
Starting with “Real Rude” and it’s heavy basses, continuing with the mind scraping synths of “The Signal”, “The Grower” and “Bij gebrek aan beter”. Of course “Done Talking” and “Change History” couldn’t be missed as well. After “Odious”, “Demonz” and “The Dreamer (Promo Remix)” it was time to end. Besides the music, the visual aspect had not been forgotten. With a lot of smoke, fire, water, lights and lasers a great atmosphere had been created.

After Promo and D-Passion the HoH-Anthem was played once again closing this years edition of the festival. Now the struggle home could begin. Because a lot of people stayed till the end, a large crowd piled up near the locker area which should be bigger. And on the parking lot, a traffic jam was formed because of the one-entrance/exit policy. Only after an hour the organization opened another fence so people could leave there as well. It took us 1,5 hrs to leave the festival. This should improve in the future, because a lot of people won’t accept this. Besides this minor incident we had a great day and night and will probably return next year.