The Devolution Of Stage Designs – Are organisations going backwards?

The worldwide evolution of the harder styles has not only allowed the music to become a force to be reckoned with but has also boosted large-scale events’ credibility to such a level that visitors from all over the world fly to The Netherlands for as little as one week with the sole ambition to attend Defqon.1. There are many valid reasons why visitors are saving their pennies for months on end just to attend these events – because they’ve evolved into something legendary and have become home to some of the greatest memories that a raver can have.

When speaking about the evolution of events, it’s all very well and good to compare the Defqon.1 2007 stage with the current one from 2015, however, in recent years it seems as though progressing stage designs have been coming to a disappointing halt. The guy with the sketchpad and pencil has one of the hardest tasks within the whole festival – pleasing over 50,000 critical visitors, armed with eyes and expectations like no other. There’s an incredible amount of effort that goes behind designing a stage including tying in the designs with the festival’s theme, making stages aesthetically pleasing and also keeping things original and of course, abiding to the organisations strict budget (which is something that’s become obvious to me a numerous amount of times this season).

For me personally, a stage represents the entire look and feel of an event, it should be something that visitors look back on and think “wow, how did someone manage to come up with something so amazing?” As a visitor myself, I couldn’t help but feel disappointment in this past year when it came to experiencing stages made by the leading organisations and I know that I’m not the only one who thinks this way… My expectations were somewhat reasonable, yet I felt let down when it came to visiting some of the most renowned events.

Prior to relocating to The Netherlands, I heard the most incredible things about the bigger events and their intricate stage designs that it got me excited to experience it first hand and well, I had a very unexpected experience where I felt emotions that ranged between disappointment to delight. One particular pattern I noticed is that over the years of 2003-2010 the designs boomed and grew immensely which ultimately made these original festival concepts so successful to the point of reaching a sold-out status instantly; however, since around 2011 designs have been plateauing and even declining.

Some examples and explanations:

Q-BASE
Q-BASE 2014 was one of my first events that I attended overseas and let’s just say that the design throughout the whole festival was one of the most incredible I’ve seen.  The theme ‘creatures of the night’ was resonate throughout every stage, including the mainstage which was this colossal bat which looked amazing during the light hours and even more incredible in the dark.

*Q-BASE 2014*

Prior to arriving at Q-BASE 2015, the anticipation levels were higher than ever after experiencing a flawless 2014 edition. When I arrived I bolted to the mainstage to check out the design and once I arrived there I said to myself “no – this can’t be the mainstage.” I’m not sure if this was Ground Zero stage (part 2) or a recap of the 2012 Qontinent stage but I was severely disappointed to the point where I could barely look at it in the daytime hours. I have to say, when night came around it did look a little better but I was disappointed not only with the mainstage but the designs of the other stages including the Hangar, Warehouse and Dirty Workz. The photos below offer some insight into the recycling of stage designs and the fact that designs are heading towards a painful plateau.

*Q-BASE 2015*

*Ground Zero 2015*

*The Qontinent 2012*

Decibel Outdoor Festival

When this years theme “Shifting Gears” was announced, I was immediately excited when I began imagining this extraordinary mainstage with moving cogs and a machinery-like vibe, but what did we get? Fish. Fucking sea animals. This years Decibel mainstage was in the top 10 flimsiest stages that I’ve ever seen, it was too ‘hollow,’ you can literally see the holes and the framing behind it. In my opinion, this years edition of Decibel (besides the Pussy Lounge stage) looked like a festival on a budget and I was sorely disappointed. Not to mention, the theme was nowhere to be seen in the designs – why would you have a theme and not design any of the stages around it? This is something I’ve also noticed with their past events. b2s really need to lift their game when it comes to designs and they shouldn’t simply rely on the fact that their events sell out “because it’s Hard Bass/Decibel.”

*Decibel 2015*

Defqon.1

With Defqon.1 being such a vast festival that has made the most amazing progressions that a festival could make, there’s been both good and bad that comes along with every edition. In past years I’ve been amazed by seeing photos of the colossal mainstage, especially in 2014 – that was an incredible design. This year, I wasn’t disappointed with the Defqon.1 mainstage as I’ve been with other stages, however it wasn’t an improvement from it’s previous year. The thing I found most interesting about Defqon.1 is the other stages – the UV in particular was one of the most painful to-look-at stages. The design of the UV stage was too childish and it just didn’t do it for me, unlike the 2014 UV stage which was set in a tent and had these beautiful UV lights.

*Defqon.1 2015 UV stage*

*Defqon.1 2014 UV stage*

Qlimax:

Known to be the most famous indoor hard dance event, the design of Qlimax is meant to mimic the concepts of the event and bring visitors into a parallel world that literally proceeds to reach a climax. The 2013 edition brought one of the most beautiful stages and story-lines and as the night proceeded the stage opened up to reveal an inner design – this truly took visitors on a journey throughout the night. With an indoor event that has such deep meanings, I would have expected a little more from the 2014 edition. Don’t get me wrong, the design was so complex and I really appreciated it, however it just didn’t go anywhere for me and the night as a whole reached a plateau and I didn’t feel that big ‘qlimax’ feeling. What I hope to see from this years edition is an intense progression throughout the night.

*Qlimax 2013*

The above stages are just a few examples of some comparisons that we can make regarding designs. In recent years there has been some fierce competition when it comes to upcoming event organisations, some of these designs are better than the experienced, older companies. In particular, events such as Intents Festival, WiSH Outdoor, Emporium, CRAFT, Dream Village, Sunrise & Sunset Festival and a couple more are really rising over the years and in my opinion they are well on their way to becoming ‘highlight’ festivals that sell out as quickly as Decibel.

I wholeheartedly respect what all the organisations are doing when it comes to events, however I do feel as though they should keep challenging themselves creatively and aim to grow that little bit bigger each year or bring something new or a little different. It’s also great to see that the smaller companies are beginning to grow, their huge amounts of effort to get exposure for their events is definitely paying off – I mean, take CRAFT Festival and ‘Lose Your Mind’ as a prime example, they are continuously challenging themselves and reaching for the stars when it comes to all aspects of their events.

So tell me, what do you think? Which stages have been your favourite/least favourite?