I wake up around 9am. I’m tired, hungover and not yet excited. I apparently didn’t give a shit where I put my stuff yesterday, so the first thing I do is cleaning up my tent. I’m having canned tomato soup and canned peaches for breakfast and as the sun starts burning down even more, I’m trying to find out where the showers are. They were just 5min away from me and I’m taking my tired ass and some clean clothing for a walk there. The showers were free and the water was warm. My 10min jump-in shower feels like heaven, and I see some girls showering in their bikinis. Who the fuck showers in a bikini? I brush my teeth and head back to the tent to get my make-up and hair stuff, which I forgot the tent in my hungover state. Time wasn’t a problem, it wasn’t even 10am. I do my makeup in the restroom, for a lack of mirrors in the bathroom. Some electricity would have been nice too, as I actually wanted to straighten my hair, but a ponytail did the trick too. I was so. Fucking. Tired. I get a coffee at one of the camping bars and also buy an ice cold ice tea. My tent neighbor decided to take a nap again, while I listened to yesterdays voice recordings. The free WIFI wasn’t working and my reception was horrible. Killing those two hours until the doors opened seemed like an eternity. Suddenly Darude – Sandstorm played in a tent somewhere in the distance and someone passed by our tent with a dog made from beer cans and wire. Still one hour to kill. I get another Ice Tea and try to process what happened yesterday. There were no lockers, where there? And no small beers? My tent neighbor says there were? Eh, it’s whatever.
Checking the Q-Dance stage timetable, I see that my buddy Existenze is on at 12h. After rolling around in my tent for another half an hour, gathering my stuff for the day, I decide that I could finally head off to the festival area entrance. I waited with a bunch of other people, who were already impatiently walking circles or smoking cigarettes. A 3-people “Let. Us. In.”-chant is disrupted by a “Soon, guys” of the security and 10 minutes later I’m walking down the Camping South path again. A few friends from Camping North were already at the stage and Existence was blasting some really cool tunes in the distance. I quickly head to the toilet (1L ice tea and some coffee doing their thing here) and was welcome by the cleanest festival toilet I’ve ever took a piss on. I washed my hands and finally headed for the stage.
Just a few people had gathered in front of the Lion so far, but the vibe was already good. Playing everything from classics, to hidden gems and some Rawstyle Existenze delivered a really cool opening set. Somewhere during an old Gostosa track I decide to team up with Dave’s friends and shout random shit at him. “DAVE? WHERE ARE THE AVICII TRACKS?” “YOU GO HOMEBOY.” “SHOW US YOUR TIIIIIITS!” I’m a real professional. I looked around, being surrounded by mostly familiar faces and had a small sentimental moment as I noticing that the Austrian Hardstyle scene was truly a family. And this was our family gathering. I decide to grab a beer. Since there were no small beers at my bar (LIES.) I decided to strike a deal with the bar girl and pay for a big beer, which i got handed in two small cups. It was something. As ‘On The go’ plays, I have to think of the weird story that my colleague made up to the track. With ‘Funky Shit’ the raw part of the set began and I was riddling how Scale would keep up with the atmosphere that Existenze already created.
I was worried for nothing. Our next local, Scale, also delivered a solid set. The stage slowly begins to fill, but wasn’t as full as yesterday around the same time. Where my party people at!? Everyone was probably hungover. Kicking out some cool mashups (‘FTS’/’Sacrifice’) as well as general sing-a-long anthems and other sunny and summer’ish tracks, also Scale’s set was one that got me hyped for the rest of the day. I see a guy with speed dealer sunnies and a completely white ‘phat pant’ outfit. I just love the people here. A butterfly interrupts me as I order my second beer of the day (this time a ‘Radler’) and I once more notice how close to nature the festival is. With ‘Scrap Attack’ Scale pulled of the first bigger sing-a-long of the day, and I was more than hyped for the rest of the day.
As Cyber started playing the stage wasn’t really full, but daaaamn, son, the atmosphere made up for it. He was playing several of his own tracks as well as stuff like ‘Reawakening’ , ‘War Cry’ and some other cool tunes. I worked up quite a hunger during the set, so I went for some tasty Pizza Margherita at the back of the stage. I also recharged my token card. I as I wanted to pay with my ATM-card I had to wait a bit at the booth, but it wasn’t as bad as it would be at night. I head back to the stage and hear a track I’m not familiar with, as I ask a fellow Q-Dance stage visitor what track it is. His response is: “Darude – Sandstorm”. I decide to give the fucker a high five. What is it with ‘Sandstorm’ today? The mid-day sun once again takes it’s toll on me and I take a stroll towards the VIP deck again. Listening to Cyber’s music it makes me think why there are not a lot of Wasted Penguinz ft. Cyber collabs. Their music just fits together perfectly!
At the beginning of Toneshifterz‘ set I’m still at the VIP deck, hiding from the sun. I notice that my skin has gotten a deep brown-reddish color on my right arm, as the sun was always shining to our right. A lot if the Hardstylers at the Q-Dance stage would have medium sunburns on their right body. After another drink I decide to go downstairs again and I run into the photographers Gerard Henninger and Heidie from Heidiefocus, who are both on duty today. Heidie tells me a bit about the Electric Love Photography team, a team as international as the crowd itself. Just during Toneshifterz set I see partygoers from Switzerland, Germany, Australia, Canada, Italy and Spain and according to ELF there were over 100.000 people from over 45 nations present. Music connects! Toneshifterz plays a energetic, yet melodic set including tracks like ‘Music Takes Me‘ and ‘Electroshock‘ (I think it was the 2011 edit?). But also the Headhunterz & Crystal Lake track ‘Live Your Life‘, Toneshifterz’ ‘Pjanoo‘ bootleg as well as the Defqon.1 Australia anthem were played. During ‘Parachutes‘ I find myself on the back of a friendly partygoer, singing along the lyrics. It was amazing! With my 163cm I’m always rather thankful for being lifted up, so I thank the guy with a drink. As Toneshifterz plays ‘Partylover‘, I had to go back to the VIP deck to hide in the shade again.
I really wanted to go dance to Wasted Penguinz but the heat was unbearable today. I felt sick and decided to lay off the alcohol for a while. But being the problem-solver I am, I soon had an idea. I wore a chiffon Kimono, actually intended to keep the sun away from my skin. I went to the sink next to the toilets and just drowned the thing in water, as I put it on again I the wet fabric cooled me down better than any glass of water could have done. My friends caught on and soon a bunch of us were wearing wet clothing to keep us cool while dancing in the burning hot alpine sun. As ‘Grab Me A Beer‘ plays, I am cooled down, having a beer in front of The Lion. Wasted Penguinz played their typical euphoric, almost melancholic (some may say ‘very swedish’) sound. I absolute love their new track with Rebourne, but they also played some older tracks (‘Melancholia‘ anyone?) and a new favorite of mine: The Afrojack ‘Ten Feet Tall‘ remix from Brennan Heart and Code Black. The atmosphere was breathtaking. Even though the partygoers were definitely tired from Day 1, the energy coming from the crowd was still like nothing I’ve ever seen in Austria. As the Penguinz play the Bioweapon Remix of ‘Toca’s Miracle’ the emotions reach a new high. I had to go get batteries from the tent and really, really didn’t want to. After moping about it on my way up to the tent, my spirits were soon lifted by some campers who invited me for a chat. Turns out they also were here for the Q-Dance stage! (And that beer is “tasty and healthy”?) We decide to meet up later and I arrive back at the dance floor to… ‘Sandstorm’. Wasted Penguinz seriously played their ‘Sandstorm’ remix. Dear Penguinz, if you are reading this: That track made my day.
As Psyko Punkz started playing the sun slowly set again. I was happy that I didn’t have to hide in the shade anymore. Well, I thought the sun was setting. In reality it was just a fat cloud, which would warn us about what would come up during Wildstylez’ set. Psyko Punkz are rather popular here, so it was no surprise that the crowd sang along almost every track. ‘Like A Loco‘ was as epic of a moment like ‘Psyko Foundation‘ and my favorite was my “personal, unofficial anthem of Drunk Journalism”: ‘Drunken Master’. When that track plays I’m absolutely convinced that I can rap (even though I can’t). Their new track ‘Doutzen’, an hommage to all the females blessed with a butt similar to the one of dutch model Doutzen Kroes, also made a convincing Austria premiere. With an overall great performance (so great that I danced so hard, a guy asked me if i was on XTC) and a very diverse set (even playing Scooter – ‘Maria’, don’t laugh it was fucking great), Psyko Punkz made it to being my personal highlight of the day. Now I truly felt ‘Wild For The Night‘. As they played ‘Punani‘ I suddenly noticed that the lights and moving heads were suddenly covered with protective plastic. I felt a drop of rain on my skin. Uh-Oh.
The clouds looked dark and grim as Wildstylez started playing. In a matter of minutes the weather turned from ‘a bit cloudy’ to ‘HOLY SHIT THUNDER, STORM AND SO MUCH RAIN’. But the crowd didn’t care. Some looked for shelter, some just got some rain ponchos, the VIPs (Remember the guy from Day 1, who said it sucked that the VIP deck had a roof?) fled to the deck, but all the others were still dancing. It was amazing to look at. People tore off the card boards with DJ’s on them to use them as umbrellas, other people tore down a fence and some guys put together some rain ponchos and played ‘jump-the-rope’. What. The. Fuck. Nothing, and I say NOTHING could stop this crowd. Wildstylez played a pretty sick set with lots of stuff from his album and of course also tracks like ‘Lies Or Truth’, a ‘Timeless’ mashup and the legendary ‘Project One’ track. While he played Technoboy’s ‘E-Biza’ even a sit-down moment happened, mind you: It was still raining as fuck! Suddenly we hear a REALLY loud bang, so loud that even Mc Villain went “What the fuck was that??” A few minutes later I order a beer and as I turn around to the stage again I see Wildstylez vanished with the stage manager. No stage manager pulls the DJ off the stage unless it’s important. I got a bit worried. A bunch of swiss guys notice and invite me for a drink. They turned out to be really chill and cool guys! By the end of Wildstylez’ set the weather slowly tamed down again a bit. We celebrated with a “HEEEEY-HOOO”, and Wildstylez played ‘Tonight’ as we raised our glasses for the DJ.
My new swiss friends, some other people and me founded the “Q-Dance VIP Deck ‘This Rain Sucks’ club”. We danced, drank and made the best out of the shitty weather. The vibe from the crowd was contagious! A guy next to me was bummed that he couldn’t get his broken arm wet, as he really wanted to go out there and dance. I decided that I was still made of sugar. Noisecontrollers took the stage like the boss he is (ayyy Bo$$ Oskam) and since the rain was gone now I felt the itch to dance again. Bringing crowd pleases like ‘Get Loose’, ‘Rocked up!’ or his Qlimax anthem, but also LOTS of mash-ups and edits, Noisecontrollers’ set was my second highlight of the day. As his ‘Apollo’ remix (with a mash-up!) played I almost had tears in my eyes. Suddenly someone waved me to the bar. The bar girl broke the news to me: Someone had died and the organization decided to keep the party going to prevent a panic. For a good reason. I didn’t know the entrance to Camping North, but a panic at the entrance of Camping South would have probably been a catastrophe. I decide to keep the information for myself and my voice recorder. I looked a bit worried again, so one of the swiss guys decided to go to the front with me and lift my spirits. And me. ‘To Infinity’! As I was up on his shoulders, we wandered a bit to the front, soon running into a guy who was lifted “my level” as well, but on a camping chair. The people were crazy, and if that wasn’t crazy enough I got to say ‘Hi’ to Noisecontrollers too. We were just a few meters away from each other (him being behind the booth, me being second row on my swiss friends shoulders) and pretty much on the same level. It was the weirdest “Hi! You also here, mate?!” in my life. The vibe was just out-of-control. His remix of ‘Scantraxx Rootz’ just added up to that. The set, the vibe, the people. It was just intense. I also intensely needed to pee. Running (big mistake) to the toilet and stumbled over my own feet. I barely noticed at first but I almost fell face first into muddy grass. I my entire left side was covered in mud from shoulder to the feet. Fuck it. The music is still playing so the party is still on!
Next up was Ran-D and I might have been a bit dirty (literally, not the X-Tina “dirrrrty”, but actually covered in fucking mud) but still in party mode. Singing and dancing along to his Defqon.1 anthem the time had come where my voice recording would slowly start to make less and less sense. Judging from his track selection, I think Ran-D was in much of a party mode as I was. His ‘Crump’ Remix, B-Front and Frequencerz ‘Psycho’ and ‘Bolivia’ made the set one I loved to dance to. The stage just looked majestic and since the ground was almost dry again, the people were in full party mode again. The craziness seemed to never end. I keep shouting absolute nonsense into my voice recorder. “Turnt” was the word of the moment. And I wasn’t alone, as ‘Kings Of The Underground’ played the entire VIP deck had a very turnt sing-a-long moment and as soon as the kick and melody hit in we were dancing so much, that I was scared the deck would actually break. Fun fuckin’ times!
Then Endymion were playing now and the guys reaaaally grew on me since the start of their new label. The guys just annihilated the dance floor, the atmosphere came to a last peak. Their ‘Sparta’ Remix, ‘About To Get Raw’ as well as several new track from their label and classics like ‘Abduction’ made the set a danceable experience, which in my case, was accompanied by a lot of dancing, alcohol and singing along. I tried to explain my drunken love for Endymion to an Italian guy, who definitely had trouble understanding me. I’m not sure anymore if it was the language barrier or the fact that I could barely stand upright anymore. I was freezing my butt off, but I just HAD to stay until the end today. Even the bar girl partied with me and was in quite a mood as I told her to “GUUUURRL. GIMME ‘EM VEGAS SHOOOOTS.” – after all Vodka keeps you warm, right? It was too epic. My Swiss friends decide to hit the Main Stage and I decide to grab some food again. My veggie rice box was definitely more than I could handle.
As Hardcore isn’t really my thing, I decide to wander around while Mad Dog and Anime are playing. I eat my rice and see that I could have gotten my labret piercing done here. Damn. The official ELF merch was ok, but nothing too special. I needed to sober up for a bit, so I sat down at the tables behind the Q-Dance-Tunnel. This was my “Fuuuuuck, I’m so drrruuunk”-moment. I regretted nothing, but the fact that I had to walk up that god-damned way up the hill towards Camping South again. I decide to go back to the Q-Stage and catch the last few minutes of Mad Dog and Anime as well as the Endshow. There were no huuuge fireworks or something, but after the obligatory “Have a safe trip home” comes the surprise. “See you next year”. Q-DANCE, YOU BETTER BE SERIOUS. I scream, cry almost. Jesus, fuck. YESSSSSS. PLEASE, SENPAI, NOTICE US.
I have no idea how I got back to my tent. I didn’t make any voice recordings so I can just speculate that I loudly expressed my hate for the way up, while I was walking and somehow fell asleep. When I woke up I quickly got all my shit together (being very, very hungover), collected all my remaining garbage (I’d get 15€ back in exchange for my garbage bag token) and went on my way to the bus to Salzburg Central Station. SInce I didn’t live in Austria anymore and also didn’t make a reservation, I had to pay a whopping 51€ to get back to Vienna by train. Not cool. But whatever the fuck happened this weekend, it made up for it. Electric Love would forever be in my heart as the one party that brought back life to the austrian Hardstyle scene.
Conclusion:
Whoever said that “there is no demand for Hardstyle in Austria” can suck a fat one. The Q-Dance stage at Electric Love was probably the most amazing one and definitely stole the show, when it came to energy, dedication, atmosphere and visual appearance. The two Days at the Lion stage were breathtaking and like nothing, I swear to Hardstyle itself, NOTHING I have ever seen in Austria (or even on some Dutch parties for that matter). The crowd proved to be heat- and water-resistant as well as the organization proved to be stress-resistant. With a perfect location, (almost) perfect weather and an atmosphere that was out-of-this world Electric Love should be on the To-Do list of every Hardstyle-Lover next year!
Pictures: Q-Dance / WeAreTheNight / Heidiefocus