Fear.FM Harder

[Report] Try Before You Die

After weeks of anticipation, the time finally arrived to fly across to NL for a hardstyle concept that has been around for a couple of years, Try Before You Die. This particular event is held in Time Out, Gemert, by X-Factor Events. It was my first time visiting the venue, and I was pleasantly surprised in a number of ways. First off is the size, it looks pretty reasonable from the outside, but when you actually enter the building it’s a completely different story. My friends and I were lucky enough to get a quick tour before the festivities kicked off. We were shown the numerous different areas that were open for Try Before You Die: Early Rave/Happy Hardcore, Hardcore, Hardstyle and the talent sage. These areas are very easy to locate with the venues layout, and while looking for them you will find bars, places to eat, a smoking area and all the other stuff you expect to find in a club. Time Out has a fairly unique décor, a great sound system and the stages are set up really nicely to provide you with a brilliant show. I remember thinking that the stage was moving up and down because of the way the lights move on the wall behind it.

We placed ourselves in the Hardstyle area and watched as the partygoers began to flood in while the Time Out resident, DJ Pato, began the evening. With the evening having a lineup that favors the more rough and dark side of hardstyle, it undoubtedly required a warm up. Pato provided that by playing a variety of tracks including: “The Prophet & Wildstylez – Cold Rocking (Gostosa Remix)”, “Pavo – Raven”, “D-Block & S-Te-Fan – Supernova” and “Scope DJ – Househeads”. His set certainly got the crowd off to a good start. Within the first hour you could see a lot of people really enjoying themselves and jumping about the dance floor with great enthusiasm, which isn’t even the case at the biggest of parties so early on in the evening.

Following Pato was Deepack & Frontliner. It’s not like these artists really need an introduction, the crowd certainly recognised them anyway. They started of with “Frontliner – Outside Spacer”, which was probably the perfect track for that moment. Only a split second passed before the entire room was filled with shouts of joy and people singing along with the break. You could see plenty of enjoyment in the DJ booth as well, with both Frontliner and Deepack having as good a time as everyone else! Another track that was unforgettable in that set was Deepack’s bootleg of “Killers – Human”, the crowd (along with myself) were going insane!

After Deepack & Frontliner was the first live act of the evening, Bioweapon. When you go to see Bioweapon perform you can’t help but be taken in by the energy and crowd interaction coming from the stage. Playing “Tear You Down” was certainly well received on the dance floor and the liveact continued with its untenable atmosphere when “WUW4” and “Part of The Hard” were played. Keeping the whole thing together was, as previously mentioned, the crowd interaction. It really does go a long way when the performing artist is going just as (if not more) insane than everyone in the venue!

Next up was the set I was probably looking forward to the most: Ran-D & Adaro. It wasn’t one of their “Gunz For Hire” liveacts but we were lucky enough to hear a couple of tracks from that particular project. The level of enthusiasm was very apparent, Try Before You Die had one of the craziest Dutch crowds I have seen this year but the bar was raised an astonishing amount when this A2 Records duo were on stage. “Ran-D & Frontliner – Skills”, “Adaro – Haunter of the Dark” were two tracks I was very happy to hear. As previously stated, we also heard some Gunz For Hire tracks; “Put it on” and “Kings of the Underground” to name a couple. Overall a great set, I can’t fault the performance, track selection or mixing.

As the night carried on, the sets got harder and rougher. It was never going to be an easygoing evening considering Zany & The Beholder were playing. They made their presence known very quickly, playing “Max Enforcer ft. The Rush – Fade To Black” was only going to end in hundreds of people bouncing up and down, throwing clenched fists in the air and scrunching up their faces to the sound of such a dark and atmospheric track. “Zany – Sky High”, “Mean Machine – Act of Rage” were also played. It was also good to hear the original of “Symphonic Feedback” as I haven’t heard it live in a while. I could carry on naming the entire track list, but it the fact of the matter is: Zany & The Beholder destroyed that place!

The sixth performance was all about the Italians. Playing the second live act of the evening was Zatox & The R3belz. A perfectly varied set, it had its uplifting melodies and it’s raw/dark moments. Zatox’s new production “Winter” worked perfectly on Time Out’s great sound system and was followed by many great tracks including: “The R3belz – Reactivate The Bionicle” and “The Rebelz – Open Your Mind”. There was one part of that set in particular that really surprised my friends and I. While Zatox was playing his Qlimax 2011 anthem, “No Way Back”, the outro cut straight into “The Rebelz – Shade”. I really wanted to hear the outro of the Qlimax anthem but I don’t have any complaints as it worked really well, and the rest of the crowd seemed to agree.

Second last on stage was Titan & Jack of Sound. These two artists from Fusion Records had things built up in a matter of minutes and everyone was bouncing about going crazy to Titan’s remix of “Zany – Symphonic Feedback” and “Jack of Sound – This Kinda Music”. Both Titan and Jack of Sound worked very well together behind the decks, with regards to mixing and just generally getting involved with the crowd. “Bioweapon – Dead of the Night” was a nice addition to their great track list, but I think the star of the set was Jack of Sound’s newly released “Kaylee’s Nightmare”. That track has got a seriously dark feeling to it. I think anyone who witnessed it being played will agree that it sent a wave of madness across the dance floor.

Lastly was Crypsis & Chain Reaction. I have to say massive respect for everyone who stayed throughout that set. There were no signs of slowing down from the crowd or the DJ booth. I can remember so many great tracks being played, and I even remember seeing everyone enjoy a bit of Limp Bizkit! “Crypsis & Chain Reaction – Furious”, “Crypsis – Jealousy”, “Crypsis – Gangster Shit” and many more tracks sent that room into an uncontrollable frenzy. Hearing everyone singing along to “Crypsis & Luna – Torture” just summed it all up. It was also great to see Radical Redemption join Crypsis & Chain Reaction on stage while they played “Radical Redemption & Crypsis ft. MC Tha Watcher – Unlike Others”. While on the subject of the DJ booth, it’s safe to say that everyone up there looked like they were having an awesome time. It really reflected the mood of the crowd.

To summarise, it was an outstanding night. Time Out, X-Factor Events, all performing artists and all the visitors made it one to remember. It’s mentioned above a number of times that everyone on stage enjoyed themselves, and I feel it’s important to reiterate that. It never really felt like a stale event where the crowd was completely separated from the artist, it was actually the very opposite. I’m sure this concept will return and if the chance comes up for me to visit it again, I most definitely will.