Victory Forever, Down Under: Our thoughts about the Defqon.1 Australia line-up!

Defqon.1 Festival is, without a doubt, the mother of all Hard Dance festivals; the festival that every fan around the world dreams of being able to visit.

In Australia, we are lucky enough to have our very own edition of Defqon.1 Festival, now getting ready for its 9^th year of celebrating the world of the harder styles.

Every raver in the country knows that one day, around this time of year, we will suddenly check our phones and find that the Defqon.1 line up has arrived. Will your favourite coloured stages feature at this year’s event? Are your favourite artists making the big trip down under to see you?

The full line up for Defqon.1 Australia 2017 has just landed, and to give you a balanced viewpoint we asked two of our Australia based writers to give us their verdict, one is a Defqon.1 Virgin and the other is a Defqon.1 Veteran!

Howard – Defqon.1 Virgin, attending for the first time this year!

Wow! What a shake up! The Defqon.1 lineup announcement has brought a ship load of changes and at the moment not everyone is agreeing on the changes Q-dance has made to Australia’s favourite festival.

This year the Red Stage has been packed to the rafters with both rising stars and established artists. With names like Wasted Penguinz, Sound Rush, Wildstylez and NCBM there is no doubt that the air at the mainstage will be rife with euphoria. Moreover, I’m thrilled that at my first Defqon.1 I will get the opportunity to see one of my all-time favourite artists, Adrenalize and on the mainstage! Adrenalize was one of the producers I gravitated towards when I first started listening to Hardstyle and its incredible to see how far he has come. Apart from frothing over these Euphoric gods, I’m expecting industry super stars Zatox, Brennan Heart and Atmozfears to play their infamously eclectic sets, raising the energy and fattening up the kick-drums.

I might be a Defqon.1 ‘virgin’, but throughout my journey listening to Hardstyle I have cultivated a rather large appetite for everything ‘Raw and Laborious.’ This year the Blue and Black stages have merged into one monster of a stage where both Raw and Hardcore heads can sink their teeth into.

Understandably, the removal of the Black stage has caused a ruckus among the Australian Hardcore scene, and whilst it is disappointing we will not be able witness the might of this infamous stage, I can understand why Q-dance has opted for the ethos of quality over quantity. Nevertheless, the Blue Stage boasts 10 stellar international artists consisting of acts like Frequencerz, Warface, Rebelion and Evil Activities to name a few, this stage is going to be hard for me to leave.

The UV stage has had a face-lift this year and Q-dance has decided to dedicate it to the crème de la crème of Australian Hard Dance. In my opinion, I think this is a fantastic idea! I can’t wait to see what the likes of Firelite, FMNT and BLN have to offer, and who can go past dynamic duos Archetypez and Dillytek.

Another change Q-dance has made this year is making the Purple Stage exclusively for the Defqon.1 DJ and Producer competition finalists. There will be 3 Producer competition finalists playing on this stage, which I think is a great way to expose more talent! This stage will be hosted by none other than Brisbane’s best, MC Quinny.

Moving onto the magenta stage or ‘classics’ stage, this arena will focus on the early days of Hardstyle from 2006-2012. I’m a sucker for the classics so there is no doubt in my mind that I will be attending the sets of Hardstyle legends, Scope DJ and Pavo. Although, I do think that Brennan Heart’s ‘Evolution of Style’ and Noisecontrollers ‘Attack Again’ sets will be unique and intimate performances, so I may end up spending more time than expected at this stage.

I’m not too familiar with the bass scene in Australia so I can’t comment on the DJ’s playing at the White Stage. This stage has previously housed Hardstyle and Techno’s little brother Subground, However with its decline in popularity over the years it is only fitting to have this stage dedicated to music other than our beloved style.

Overall, I’m stoked with the lineup. Both the Blue and Red stages host a plethora of upper echelon artists while the minor stages are showcasing an in-depth look into our home-grown scene. I can’t wait to party with the Hardstyle family at the mother of all festivals this September!

Nicki – Defqon.1 Veteran, has attended every year since the Australian edition began in 2009!

Let’s deal with that mother-freakin’ elephant in the room first shall we?

Where the heck is the Black stage? Can you even have Defqon.1 without a Black stage?

Other minor stages are interchangeable, but isn’t there something in the constitution of international hard dance festivals which clearly stipulates, by law, that Defqon.1 must always have a Black stage?

Actually, no. The first edition of Defqon.1 Chile didn’t have a Black stage, so there is a legal precedent. However, at Defqon.1 Australia I’m very surprised to see Hardcore relegated to just a few sets here and there on other stages.

On the Red stage, the main stage, every name is a winner for me. Very big on the Euphoric artists, with Atmozfears, Adrenalize, Sound Rush, Wasted Penguinz and the list goes on. The hardest moments of the day on Red will undoubtedly be courtesy of either Zatox or Brennan Heart.

Without its own dedicated stage, Hardcore moves over to join Raw on the Blue stage, although the balance of power is very much in favour of the Raw crew. I’m definitely looking forward to a mad stomp to Evil Activities and Tha Playah, while Frequencerz and Outbreak are my top picks from the Raw selection.

You know you’re getting old when the stage you are most looking forward to is the one that promises music from the years 2006-2012, of course this is the Magenta stage. There are a few names on the Magenta list that have absolutely made my day. Scope DJ is always epic, Pavo I know will pull the heartstrings with some seriously vintage tracks and it’s so exciting to see Finnish legend of the harder styles Proteus on the line up. Proteus’s stage presence is really quite something to behold!

It’s great to see that Defqon.1 is still including a UK Hardcore set, with Gammer representing this year. Magenta also features some solid local representation, showing who the current driving forces are in the Sydney scene.

There is a big emphasis on home grown talent this year with the UV stage dedicated to Australian Hard Dance, a mix of styles showcasing everything our great national scene has to offer. Dillytek are up there of course along with Archetypez and the young prodigy Firelite. Purple stage will feature exclusively competition winners, all with their eyes firmly set on a shot at UV stage for next year!

As for the White stage, which this year features Bass styles, maybe it’s due to my advancing years that I literally have no knowledge of the artists on which to base an opinion (no pun intended). There’s always one stage like this which no-one seems to know much about, but on the day usually draws a decent crowd. Personally I’d rather see a Gold stage or an Orange stage in its place, but the average Defqon.1 punter these days might disagree.

So am I attending this year? Absolutely, 100%! While the mix of styles across the stages this year is a bit surprising, Defqon.1 is always an amazing day and, on this side of the world anyway, an absolutely unique festival experience. Catch you there, I’ll be front and centre at Magenta!