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[Report] Mysteryland 2011 (NL)

Mysteryland is a party every lover of dance music should go to. The ticket prices are slowly getting more expensive, but this hasn't stopped everyone from buying tickets and making it sell out out again. Because of the bad weather forecasts a lot of people wanted to sell their ticket but not us. We, as real diehards, didn’t even think about that and made the trip to Hoofddorp. We took the shuttle bus which costs 8 euros for a return ticket (parking the car would have been 14 euros). Parties are getting more expensive; in the future people will have to make choices as to where they go. The rising prices will do no good to the world of dance music.

At around 11.00 we arrived and after a short search we entered the party area. It started to rain and the organization started to hand out ponchos. This was a good thing, otherwise you would probably have had to walk around in wet clothes all day. We got a map and then it was time for a tour around the event. There was so much to see and we decided to walk towards the main stage, because later on the day it would get busy and it would take an hour to get from one place to another.

The mainstage looked great. It even included a tower which displayed visuals. It looked nice, but the mainstage of, for instance, Tomorrowland in Belgium was a lot bigger. It looked great anyhow. Because of the rain there weren’t a lot of people and most people were hiding under cover. We decided to walk further onto the festival. The ‘vage gasten’ bunker; the Dirty Dutch and de Energy tents were filled nicely and the artists entertained the crowd well.

Meanwhile we went out for some breakfast and ID&T provided more than enough places for us to get something to eat. I got a biological burger and it tasted fine. Like at other parties you had the choice to exchange 10 cups for 1 coin. A few people were very busy collecting cups and this way the cleaners had less work to do. The rain transformed the playground slowly into a huge mud pool and we decided to settle at a stage. Of course this turned out to be the Q-Dance area. To get there was a great experience, since the rain had formed a canal with floating wood.

At the Q-Dance area it was busy from the start and Q-Dance had constructed a beautiful stage. In our opinion it was the best looking stage of Mysteryland. The stage was a big cylinder block which looked really impressive. While we walked to the stage Coone and Psyko Punkz were spinning some records and luckily we got to hear TNT - Countdown. The Q-Dance area is always characterized by the pyramid where many people gather. Due to the wet weather many people slipped down and fell in the mud which was pretty funny to watch.

The next DJ who made their appearance was Brennan Heart. The atmosphere was great despite the rain and Brennan Heart did a great job with tracks like “Lose My Mind, “Just As Easy” and “Van Halen Is A Rockstar”. The last two were played live by the rockband “Left”. This was refreshing and amazing. Next up was Ran-D Live and it started to rain even more, but this was no reason for the crowd to search for a shelter. With great tracks like “Feel My Fire”, “Put It On” and “Under Attack” the crowd danced as if their lives depended on it. The mud flew around, but it didn't spoil the fun at all.

After some time we decided to walk around the vast festival, but we probably shouldn’t have done that. Everywhere we went there were long delays and, as if that wasn’t bad enough, we slipped in the mud. The new construction with turnstiles in front of the bridge at Mysteryland caused long delays. If we used the 'shortcuts' it would have taken us 30 minutes longer and that’s why we decided to go back to the Q-Dance stage.

We were just on time for Slim Shore live and he also had some artists with him.
A few tracks were done with live vocals and the set of Slim Shore was amazing. With tracks like: “Chemical” and “This Is Who We Are” this man made sure all the feet came off the mud floor. Slowly the Q-Dance area got more and more crowded, but this of course wasn't strange at all. One of the most popular Hardstyle DJs of The Netherlands took place behind the decks and this led to a huge crowd. It was a nice set with lots of melodies, but not really something for me. I decided to enjoy the view on the hill.

Zatox took over from Headhunterz and did this with a nice raw set. With tracks like “Musical Analysis” , “The Perfect Weapon” and “Raw Style” he provided the day with some nice raw hardstyle. Sadly Wildstylez was unable to make it to Mysteryland on time, but Brennan Heart, Coone, Ran-D, Isaac, Zatox and MC Villain spun together like some sort of Q-Dance dreamteam. This resulted in a set with a lot of tracks with hard pounding basses. The lasers started as night felll and this again was spectacular to look at.

Promo had the honour to finish this event appropriately. This was done through a nice hardcore set to dance the last energy out of everyone. With tracks like “Butterfly”, “The Bad Guy” and “King of Pain” led by fireworks and lasers, this beautiful day, despite the rain, had come to an end. It was time to go home. There were traffic jams in the parking lot and it took a lot of time at the lockers, but we aren’t sure if these problems can be solved by the organization. After all was said and done we looked back on an amazing day and we would like to thank the organization for their hospitality. See you next year!

Mystery land Q-dance stage finale