Resurrection, Legacy & Pure Happiness – This was Knockout Circuz!

You know how it goes; imaginative individuals who are fed up with the mundane activities of the ‘real world’ run away from home and join the circus… Dressed up in costumes filled with beautiful colours and sequins that shimmer below the spotlight; the circus is not only a place where one runs to replenish their youthful zest, but is a place where they can run away to and never be found… On the fateful evening of the 12th of December, over 6000 passionate souls ran away from home to join the circus for one night; each embarking on a memorable, moving journey…

5:10PM: The clock read 5:10 when I jumped out of the taxi to be greeted by a never-ending line of ravers who were just as eager as I was to get inside. Although the line was as unordered as the Greek financial situation, it ended up moving quicker than I expected and within 15 minutes my bags were checked and I’d reached the doors that would lead me inside to the auspicious Knockout Circuz.

Keep in mind that only one week prior to the event, I’d returned home to Sydney after living in The Netherlands and Sweden for one and a half years; so you could say that after experiencing life in the mecca of the harder styles that I had some huge expectations for the night. Piloting events among the Australian scene, leading organisation HSU, who are responsible for throwing some of the most legendary bashes, managed to sell out the entire Horden Pavillion for this years’ edition of Knockout; already marking a huge triumph for the organisation!

5:27PM: Walking through the doors, I was immediately greeted by the energetic and quirky sounds of Aussie sensation Audiofreq. Despite being quite early and the fact that it was still light outside, the venue was already quite packed with fans going crazy, soaking up every minute of this brilliant event. From what I caught of it, the Freq played a bangin’ set; he even jumped up on the mic to express his excitement to be back in his home country as well as announce his new track.

At 6:00PM, it was time for the next artist to jump up behind the decks and light this circus on fire! Dropping his opening track “Accelerate,” Code Black made us Aussies proud as he treated us to an incredible set that even included a few ‘rougher’ tracks compared to his usual easy-going, melodic style. One incredible highlight from his set was when he played “Pandora.” As soon as everybody heard those initial notes, the venue erupted in cheers! Oh, and don’t even get me started about that heart-warming moment where thousands of fans sung along to the beautiful lyrics of “Imaginary,” a track that never ceases to connect fans from all walks of life.

Code Black’s set brought some great times during the night; I reunited with friends I hadn’t seen for years, drank plenty of wine and just generally enjoyed immersing my soul into the music around me. Production-wise, during this hour the lights began intensifying and you could tell that HSU aimed tick all the boxes that constitute a stimulating and exciting show. HSU know that Australians LOVE light-shows and well, they fucking gave it to us!

After Code Black’s great performance, Swedish duo Wasted Penguinz jumped up to give the crowd their daily dose of feels. I’d watched the Penguinz perform quite a few times overseas to crowds in The Netherlands who don’t exactly appreciate melodic hardstyle and it was such a warming change to watch those around me going crazy and embracing the beautiful, euphoric vibes. For a portion of their set, I popped outside for some fresh air as it was insanely hot inside and while I was at it I went for another cheeky wine (standard protocol) before heading back inside to continue on my raving adventure.

7:45PM: Before I knew it, the time I’d been waiting for had rolled around and it was time for a legend to bless the holy decks. The time was upon us and if I may speak on behalf of the 6000 people in the venue, our bodies were more than ready to experience 90 minutes filled with Technoboy classics. Opening his set with the Headhunterz remix of Builder’s “Her Voice,” the crowd was continuously wowed as huge tracks like “Ti Sento,” “Les Drums,” “Next Dimensional World” and “Warmachine” followed. One thing that I was not expecting was the addition of the ‘modern classics’ to his set. I (and others around me) had assumed that TBY classics meant a showcase of his older tracks, but hey, I wasn’t complaining when he dropped “Steam Train” or “Out Of Space.” It was definitely a refreshing surprise to also hear some modern tracks in the mix right before Bioweapon threw us back into a time machine.

Speaking of Bioweapon; for me, these guys were undoubtedly the centrepiece of the entire event. I’d never been fortunate enough to see the pair perform together and after a year since their last performance at De Tijdmachine, an event dedicated to hardstyle from 2004 to 2010, I really didn’t know what to expect! When 9:15PM had arrived, the entire venue went pitch black, the only sound being that of stray cheers and the voiceover. Then suddenly, the pair jumped up wearing all black and black behind their eyes and it was all over after that; the night reached a whole new highpoint. Bioweapon’s set warmed the hearts of every single person in the Horden Pavilion, some visitors may not have realised this, but everybody who experienced this resurrection were among the luckiest fans in the hardstyle scene. Playing some older tracks such as “Bass Power” and their remix of “Toca’s Miracle,” the boys also dropped their newest creations “Reload The Weapon” and “Make A Move.” Bioweapon’s set at Knockout Circuz was probably the most exclusive set throughout this year and for those who missed it, sorry to say, but you really missed out.

How good could it be? Well, pretty damn fucking good if you ask me! For those who want to have a quick ‘wow’ whilst reading, check out the teaser of the aftermovie, filmed and made by I Am Wissam. Trust me, it’ll either made you proud to be Australian or wish that you were Australian!

10:15PM: “WHEN I SAY DARREN, YOU SAY STYLES!” MC D shouted. Typically this line is representative of Angerfist, however I was willing to play along seeing as Darren Styles is a fucking legend. His set was the one that I was most excited for and let me tell you, from the very first second of his set, the UK Hardcore prodigy did not disappoint! Opening the madness with “You’re My Angel,” every single person in the crowd could not turn down singing along and dancing wildly. After experiencing hardstyle artists up until this point, you could literally feel the energy shifting in the room; people suddenly had huge smiles plastered across their faces and the overall vibe was light-hearted and enjoyable for all. Mr. Styles played an outstanding set filled with his own works including his remixes for “Beneath The Lights,” “Concrete Angel” and “Lights And Thunder,” as well as “Rest Of Your Life” and one of my all-time favourites “You & I” and must I add, the tempo of the music went hand in hand with the rapidly moving lasers that shot themselves wildly around the venue.

Darren Styles’ set made such an impression on the crowd and proved that UK Hardcore is still alive!

Before this wild circus came to an end, there was one last magician to work his charm – Tha Playah. By this time, the space had emptied a lot as many made their way to Masif for the after-party so I decided to take a sit and watch this final set as my back and feet were about to give way to traffic (thx Darren Styles). Not long after I took a seat, word came around that the event was shutting early which was such a shame! Luckily Knockout Circuz was only cut short by 25 minutes and fans still got to experience a full-blown production; however, for fans that were solely there to see Tha Playah it was a huge shame to see his set being cut short. For the last half an hour, The Playah came down into the crowd to meet and greet his fans which was something that many were extremely appreciative of. Another silver lining to the story is that The Playah will be back in 2016 for a re-run!

As my lethargic feet carried me out of the Horden Pavillion, I thought to myself “Holy shit, we have such an amazing scene in Australia.” We are so lucky to have events by the weekend, internationals playing regularly and an exponentially growing fan-base. Yes, I’d lived in The Netherlands for over one year and yes I visited the most illustrious events, however from what I experienced at Knockout Circuz, HSU are really a strong contender among some of the Dutch organisations. I’d like to take this moment to thank HSU for all of the amazing work they’ve done over the years; from hosting small-scale events to selling out the Horden Pavilion, they’ve been a major factor in helping our scene grow and develop. This hugely successful edition of Knockout Circuz ticked all of the boxes when it came to production, hospitality, venue, line-up and the overall vibe; there’s not much that I can really fault!

What’s next for HSU? The organisation has just announced the arrival of their next event which will be held on the 23rd of April. Details are yet to be announced, but you can join the Facebook Event to be the first to find out!