We came, we saw, we DOMINATED! – This was “Methods Of Mutilation.”

For any Hardcore disciple, it’s a no-brainer that Christmas day isn’t on the 25^th of December, but somewhere in mid-July. With this ever-expanding concept running successfully since 2007, Dominator is the ultimate spectacle that any Hard Dance fan can appreciate. Small children put cookies and milk out for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, but for ravers around the globe it’s a different story – when our ‘Christmas’ comes around we spend extra time in the gym, scroll endlessly online in search for the perfect outfit and blast intense Hardcore to get us in the mood for the big day! Months are spent waiting, forecasting and fantasising about this one day, and before you can even say “DOMINATOR,” it ends… Done and dusted.

I’ve been around the world and I’ve witnessed some of the most incredible events of our time, however I’ll never (I repeat, never) get over the feeling of slight desolation that fills my soul as I exit the doors. However, along with the emptiness and disbelief that a faultless day simply ends in the blink of an eye, memories arise and these memories last a lifetime. Although our memory-banks may be slightly hazy from drinking our body weight in beer and wine (or munching on pills), we can still look back on these days and smile, knowing that once we entered the fateful doors all of our troubles and stresses melted away with every pounding kick that’s belted through the speakers…

Sitting at my desk on a Monday morning and drinking coffee like it’s going out of fashion, I start to think deeply about this whole ‘festival experience.’ A notion that I can’t shake from my mind is the fact that each and every person entering the doors to Dominator all leave with unique experiences and personal memories that only apply to them. We all witnessed something different and right now I’m going to share with you all my story of how I lost my Dominator-virginity.

Saturday 16^th July, 2016.

1:20PM: It’s times like this where I absolutely hate myself for living in Zaandam. Travelling for almost two hours, I finally step off the train in Eindhoven where I meet up with my friend Celine and we begin our adventure. Both excited to see what the day would bring, we hopped on a warm and uncomfortable shuttle bus (the driver slammed the brakes countless times) and hoped that we wouldn’t die. Upon arriving on the terrain, I noticed that this was the first festival I was going to where I wasn’t battling a walk through the mud – wow, summer in The Netherlands DOES exist.

Because navigating isn’t one of my strong suits, it took us longer than anticipated to find the Press entrance, which was right next to the regular entrance (idiot Cassi). Arriving inside after 2:30PM, I carelessly shoved all of my belongings inside a locker, brought some tokens and made my way to the bar to begin the Alive At Night white wine drinking world championships. With a cup of wine in my hand, I took a step back to admire the colossal and beautifully-designed mainstage. I couldn’t wait until the evening when the stage would spew out lasers, fireworks and other fancy shit, but even in the light it looked awesome and the stage even hovered at random intervals!

Whilst walking through the less-crowded side of the mainstage, I noticed a theme that seemed to resonate throughout the whole day; cooked cunts CANNOT walk in a straight line and they WILL bump into you, resulting in spilled wine all over your hands. Lesson learnt. Slightly vexed at my sticky hands that better resembled a distillery rather than human skin, I came to the decision that the next wine I purchased would be rapidly consumed before entering any sort of crowd.

3:30PM: Celine and I made our way to the ‘Sands Of Slaughter’ stage, AKA the Raw stage where Act Of Rage was dropping some heavy bombs on the crowd. By this stage, I was having a massive wardrobe malfunction and my sticky bra was no longer sticky, so I took it off in the middle of the crowd and instantly felt like the free hippy I was destined to be. Mind you, my outfit better resembled a 70’s Hendrix fan rather than the typical Hardcore-gym-chick dressed head-to-toe in merchandise. As many of you have already gathered, I thoroughly enjoy dressing ‘differently’ and if anything, people loved the whole Woodstock 69’ look!

Good vibes were everywhere! If I must be honest, I actually preferred the overall atmosphere at the Raw Hardstyle stage; maybe it’s because I have a stronger association with the sound, however I think that most can agree that the Hardstyle community are a lot more ‘social’ than Hardcore. It’s not a bad thing at all; both genres are unique and exceptional, however I think that Hardstyle fans interact a lot more with each other, whether it be in the crowd or online. As Dominator was my very first all-Hardcore festival, another thing I wasn’t used to was Hardcore playing all day. Over the years I’ve gotten way too used to hearing melodic Hardstyle at the beginning of the day, followed by Raw and finishing off with a Hardcore act. Of course it was strange at first, however once I’d had a few cheeky wines the weirdness transformed into pure enjoyment.

Legend states that Dominator is famous for hosting over 50,000 unique party-goers who embrace the weird and wonderful and boy, did I see some outrageous shit?! I literally saw this guy dressed head to toe in a kilt (amongst other garments) and as he walked through the crowd alone he had absolutely zero expression. Yep, just a casual day in Scotland… But dude, cheer the fuck up – you’re at DOMINATOR.

Just as I witnessed one strange thing, another strange thing happened. In the midst of a rather rough and raw set, Act Of Rage decided to randomly mix in “It’s All In The Game.” When I first heard the vocal, I figured that Act Of Rage might just have a sense of humour, however when he actually dropped the track I really started to laugh. An amazing anthem and one of my favourite tracks of the year, but c’mon, that was just hilarious. Merely writing about the confusion doesn’t cut it, so I’ve decided to include the voice snippet of Celine and I losing our shit.

Weird things kept unfolding as we ventured back to the mainstage; I literally saw a girl who was roughly my age and her mother (over 50) who were evidently flying high together and venturing to a whole other planet. I was insanely jealous; I wish my mum would come to Dominator with me – when I showed her the flyer she was insanely freaked out by the name ‘Methods Of Mutilation’ and was also somewhat scared for my safety (god bless her).

4:00PM: Arriving back at the mainstage, we were just in time to witness Mad Dog and Nosfetatu’s set and I seriously loved the multicultural vibe they had going on. Forget Italy vs. The Netherlands, this set was like mixing kaassoufflé and pasta – and it tasted fucking good! Nosferatu and Mad Dog are two incredibly strong artists who boast very unique sounds, so you can only imagine that their set was no less than dynamic and exciting! During the earlier hours of the festival the mainstage’s atmosphere felt a little disjointed and party-goers weren’t as unified as I’d expected, however it was during this hour I noticed that party-goers were letting go and embracing the harmony. A huge set by two Hardcore titans, the next performance brought legends Evil Activities and Outblast to the decks.

About fifteen minutes into this set, our crew ventured back to the raw Hardstyle stage where we’d witness one of the highlights of the day – the End Of Line showcase consisting of label ‘brossifs’ Artifact, D-Sturb and Warface. There’s been a lot of chatter from purists, who vouch that this stage doesn’t belong at Dominator, however they could not be more wrong. The vibe at this stage was supreme; things intensified with every kick as fans lost their mind and not to mention, the amount of new music showcased on this stage was also extraordinary. I was really enjoying the End Of Line showcase and it was nice to see that this label was working hard to create a solid identity for themselves.

Represented by three strong names, the guys spun an eclectic mix of their finest productions and treated fans to an overabundance of kick-rolls (arm work-out done for the week). In respect of the unfortunate events that have happened around the world, MC Nolz called for one minute of silence during the set and as always, it was incredibly heart-warming to see all of the party-goers displaying that mutual respect. Unlike the rest of the world nowadays, we’re so incredibly lucky to have a scene that thrives from love, respect and passion – it’s what keeps me going when I hear about all of the tragedies and disasters.

On a brighter note, towards the end of the End Of Line showcase, the song I’d been waiting for finally dropped. Yep, I’m indeed talking about the kickrolling national anthem, D-Sturb’s remix of “Menace” by Warface and Frequencerz. As soon as I heard the “start the madness” vocal I lost all dignity and just went for it! For those who have us on Snapchat (AANmedia), you’d know exactly what I’m talking about and for those who don’t, check out some drunken antics below.

7:00PM: After that incredible set, we walked back to the mainstage where we stayed for about ten minutes before we decided we were hungry, resulting in another fifteen minute walk. Usually I don’t eat when I’m drunk but considering all I’d eaten was a small wrap at midday I figured it would be a good idea to fuel up as I’d probably forget to eat later on.

Standing for the entire day, we decided to rest our feet for a while before going back to the mainstage to watch F.Noize and Partyraiser team up for Scarphase. I was severely drunk by this stage and everything was funny, so in true Alive At Night spirit I embraced being the ‘turnt’ cunt I am. The BPM’s during this set were out of control; watching everyone trying to hakk along to it was also quite humorous… Ah… I love Hardcore.

Chilling on the VIP deck and having drunk conversations, I then decided to do what I do best – disappear. This is something I do quite regularly; give me a few drinks and I just feel that it’s necessary to go ‘walk about’ by myself. I didn’t even inform anyone of my disappearance, I just smoke-bombed and bailed in true Cassi spirit. Mind you, I had a really good reason to disappear; I wanted to watch Dr. Peacock and judging by the drunken shit-talk in my voice recorder it was an emotional journey that I had to conquer alone (okay m9). I took my bloody time to walk to the Frenchcore stage, because once I got there Peacock was already on stage and the area was PACKED! Seriously, I had a tough time getting inside, but once I made it in there I was so ready for some Frenchcore. To be honest, it wasn’t until Defqon.1’s silent disco when I jumped on stage with Peacock that I considered myself a prospective a fan, however now I’m Peacock’s #1 fan. Halfway into his set, he dropped one of his biggest hits “Trip To Ireland” and everyone, I repeat, EVERYONE erupted in cheers. This moment right here was the definition of absolute insanity and I can confirm that this was the area where I witnessed the best vibes. Peacock, you are a legend!

Dominator fun PT2 – review coming soon! Follow us on snapchat: AANmedia pic.twitter.com/llePjqJ2mc

— Alive At Night (@AANmedia) July 18, 2016

After my little solo adventure, I walked back to the mainstage and relentless drunk Cassi came out to play. I met up with another friend and together some next-level turnt things happened, AKA me slut-dropping on every person that walked past (see video below). I cannot fathom the hilarity during this hour and I also seemed to forget that I was dressed like a total hippy – peace out, motherfuckers.

Lol @ Dominator. #drunkjournalism pic.twitter.com/9kkF9UfSWP

— Alive At Night (@AANmedia) July 18, 2016

As soon as I knew it, darkness was upon us and anthem-maker Furyan was set to take the stage. We didn’t intend on staying for his entire set, seeing as we had a hunch that the traffic was going to be excruciating, but we saw enough to know why Art of Dance and Q-dance chose him to create the anthem. Absolutely slaying the game over the past couple of years, Furyan has built up a diverse discography that boasts immense quality and he was more than ready to take his legacy to the mainstage! Hard work definitely pays off and it’s refreshing to see one of the younger guys shooting goals!

At around 10:15PM, we danced our way towards the back of the crowd and over to the lockers where I collected my belongings and handed back the key. Then, on the way out I grabbed several magazines and proudly browsed over my work (I wrote/edited content for the Dominator magazine). Oh and apparently I almost burst into tears and kept shouting “I BROKE MY FOOT.” Judging by the voice recordings made on the way out, I think that the combination of alcohol and a slightly sore foot just blew things way out of proportion. Although I wasn’t thrilled to miss the end-show, one of my friends informed me that it took them hours to exit the car park, so I was quite relieved that we left when we did.

Arriving safely at Celine’s house at around midnight, we laid in bed in a drunken stupor as recapped our day with giggling intervals. I truly enjoyed myself; I was in good company, surrounded by great music and to top it off, everything at the festival seemed to run smoothly. Yet again, another incredible experience ticked off my list and another bundle of memories that solidify why I love this music and this scene so much…

Thanks to Art of Dance & Q-dance for bringing the goods and executing an unforgettable edition of DOMINATOR!