“Heeey, we want some P*ssy!” – Pussy Lounge @ Electric Love 2016 [Thursday]

Every Summer, I go back home. Not just to catch up with family and friends, but also to party, and upon my return it was time to yet again experience what Electric Love Festival had to offer. Once again Revolution Event and Q-dance teamed up for an absolutely insane experience in one of the most idyllic festival locations in the world. Electric Love Festival was an intense spectacle for all harder styles fanatics, so check out our first review of the weekend which covers Thursday’s antics and features the premiere of b2s’ notorious Pussy Lounge concept in Austria!

We left Vienna at around 11AM and our party crew was already hyped up to the max. To make things more exciting, Electric Love Festival mark the first festival experience for one of the girls in our group and oh boy, I had reason to ‘share the love’ as well, seeing as I’d just got the word that I’d successfully graduated my degree! Things were about to escalate and I could feel it. Shortly after 15:00 we arrived at the Accreditation Centre to get my press pass and my RFID wristband before continuing towards the camping ground at Camping South where we set up our camp at around 16:30. The view from our camping spot was incredible and the gorgeous view made me remember why I missed Austria so much. Mind you, the water was perfect and the weather report was looking equally great. After marking our territory, we decided to chill out for a bit and crack open our first beers (fuck, I missed Austrian beer) and a few beers later we decided to finally check out was what going on in the Valley.

Held at the Red Bull Race Track, close to Salzburg, ELF boasts an absolutely breathtaking location. As you walk down from the camping grounds you can see the entire festival from above, a view that I’ll never stop loving. As we entered the festival, first thing was first – we decided to get tokens. Being a journalist and therefore a ‘crew member,’ I was lucky enough to get a bracelet with an RFID chip, which I could load my money onto. I loved it and it’s a system I’d love to see at more festivals; it’s extremely convenient and you can’t lose your cash since it’s tied to your wrist. My friends got themselves token cards, also with RFID chips, and apparently remaining money on the cards could be re-transferred until two weeks after the festival. Since we were talking actual money and not tokens, all prices were displayed with their ‘real’ prices as well. Looking at the prices in cash, it seemed expensive at first, however after making a quick comparison to what I usually spend at festivals, it ended up weighing out reasonably.

We grabbed our beers and headed for the Pussy Lounge stage at the Club Circus. The stage was situated in a Hangar and had a bit of an underground warehouse feeling, accentuating the Hard Dance sub-culture. For me this was also my very first Pussy Lounge experience, so the excitement was even bigger! The stage looked fabulous; it was colorful, sexy, crazy and cute – all at the same time. Ruffian was hosting the madness and as we entered the arena Mystery was playing and LNY TNZ were about to start as the ‘transitions’ were held as back-to-back sets. From Tom Aitch himself, I was told that the area was packed-out since the early hours and judging from the madness, the crowd was unrelenting and extremely devoted. We danced for a bit and suddenly I ran into a guy from America who told me he just loved it here- it was great to see so many people from countries around the world gathering here.

I decided to head for the merchandise stand as I wanted to get a drawstring bag to put my jacket in. The merch stand was huge and the products themselves looked really cool, but no drawstring bag here for me. What a shame… I think this addition to the merch line would’ve been a good idea in general, so people could store their stuff without having to go back to their tents. I met up with Lukas again at the Heineken Star Club box, which was at a different location this year. Dan Lee was going mental on stage and the music was a nice change, but we were soon craving some harder beats again. Ruthless tore the fucking roof off the Club Circus and the Freestyle craziness was in full effect now. The dancers were cheering to the crowd and suddenly there were inflatable crocodiles and beach balls everywhere! It was pretty damn loose and I was suddenly wondering why the actual fuck I’ve never been to a Pussy Lounge in The Netherlands.

At around 20:00 I headed to the Mainstage as I wanted to see Will Sparks. For me, the genre Melbourne Bounce is still somewhat part of the harder styles as it combines bouncy, almost reverse-bass’ish basslines with modern EDM sounds. Basically, if Hardstyle and EDM had a baby it would be Melbourne Bounce. The mainstage looked quite similar to last years’ which was a bit disappointing, but the crowd was definitely a bit better. Sparks’ set was perfect and I checked out the VIP areas on the sides to the stage. On my way there I was handed a hand disinfection gel, which literally made my day as I’d forgotten mine at home. Still listening to Will Sparks, I checked out what what happening around the main now. I headed for the Krone Hit tent and made myself a “I just graduated, buy me a drink” sign which worked out incredibly well as one of the guys from WAAASTED bought me a drink and we had a quick chat. The guys opened the Club Circus on Wednesday and even then things seemed to be quite loose. Both of us agreed that the electronic music scene in Austria was just growing and growing and we couldn’t wait for what was going to happen in this country next. I chilled a bit at the CARaoke bar before I decided to get another sweater from my tent. The trek up the hill was a chore-and-a-half and I even didn’t want to imagine how difficult it would be walking up it later when I would be turnt as hell.

It took a while until I was back down, (hence why I wanted to have that drawstring bag so badly) but I was early enough to still catch the last 15 minutes of Max B Grant. The younger ones amongst you might not know, but Max B Grant (as well as Don Diablo) both played at Qlimax way back in the day. I headed towards the Mainstage again and suddenly found myself being squeezed in between people as the path between the Club Circus and the Main Stage was insanely crowded. This could only mean one thing – the opening show was about to start. And what a show it was! The Salzburg Orchestra, accompanied by a choir, covered some of the most popular tracks from the past years and my inner lover of classical music (yes, believe it) was having a moment as the fireworks and production formed a complete spectacle.

Back at the Pussy Lounge I was right on time for the Resident Rumble, consisting of Ruthless, Paul Elstak and The Viper. It was a absolutely fucking mental set with a lot of sing-a-long moments and I suddenly felt the urge for more beer. My feet hurt but I just couldn’t stop dancing, as one great track was playing after another. Remixes, classics, oldies and a fast-paced mix made the Resident Rumble the place to be. Austria’s heavy heritage of Metal and Rock festivals was showing as mosh pits, circle pits, pogos and even a wall of death were taking place during the set, I think that paints a pretty clear picture of how insanely loose things were. Zany was now playing and while the set started a bit relaxed, one was wrong to think it was time to relax now. After just a few tracks the Club Circus was a real circus again and I decided to tag along with some drunk Austrians who are so nice to buy me beer again. My “I just graduated – Buy me drinks” sign was working and if that is what you get for a Bachelor’s degree then, yup, I’m totally doing my Master’s degree too.

Just when I thought that the Resident Rumble was the best thing I’ve heard that day, Zany proved me wrong. Once again it was finest Freestyle and my feet didn’t get a minute to rest. During a Gigi d’Agostino sing-a-long moment it was clear to me that this crowd was one of the sickest I’d ever been a part of. While Austrians can be a bit difficult in a club setting, the festival crowd is one of the best you can wish for as a DJ. The next lucky DJ to play for this highly motivated crowd was no other than DJ Paul Elstak. He played a bit more old school than Zany did, which was just what I needed after being already a bit wasted by now. I sang along from the top of my lungs and danced with my new found friends as well as my crew. The situation was close to escalating and I even dropped my sacred voice recorder for a second, as drunk me was pushed around by dancing people. Phew, close one! I think I need another beer after that shock, right? The last one hour and thirty minutes belong to the absolutely legendary The Viper. The crowd was keeping the insane energy up until the very last seconds, meanwhile I started to look like a drunk Christmas tree as I’d decorated myself with the LED’s of the light-up sticks. The Viper’s set was a truly legendary closing to the Pussy Lounge’s first time in Austria.

I walked home to my tent, when mid-walk I noticed that I was heading to Camping South (were I camped last year) and not North. It was pretty safe to say that I had the one (or more) too many drunks. I walked up the steep hill (which was easier to walk drunk, as I didn’t care about anything at that moment) and somehow made it to my tent at around 4AM. After my dinner (a cold can of vegetable tortellini) I fell into a very well deserved 4 hour sleep (it was more a coma). Man, what an epic day.

Conclusion
Next to the absolutely epic opening at the Main Stage, Thursday at Electric Love was all about the Pussy Lounge. The colorful stage, the dancers, the insane vibe and the great crowd made it the place to be. Revolution Event surely can pride themselves with one of the loosest stages I’ve been to a festival so far this summer and I can not wait for my first Pussy Lounge back in the Netherlands!

Pictures: Revolution Event / We Are The Night / Kevin Verkruijssen / Heimo Spindler / Get-Shot Photography, Thomas Doornbos / b2s

Make sure to check out the German version of this article too at Hardstyle Österreich:
(link follows 12-07)

Check out Electric Love:
> www.electriclove.at
> www.facebook.com/electriclovefestival
> www.twitter.com/electricloveaut
> Insta: @electricloveaut
> https://www.revolutionevent.com/

Check out b2s Pussy Lounge:
>https://www.b2s.nl/pussylounge
>https://www.facebook.com/pssylounge/