“When in Belgium: The Qontinent… Day 2 – Saturday”

“When we think of the festivities that the Belgian summer has to offer, our minds usually drift to nothing quite past the commercialism and predictability of “Tomorrowland’s mainstage.”

As a writer and an honest person, I do not particularly give a fuck about Tomorrowland’s mainstage.

No, I am sitting in front of this computer regarding a particular festivity that rocked the soils of Belgium, one that is truly something special and unique that no commercial mainstage event can even account for.

As an avid lover and observer of the hardstyle scene, community and festivities, there was one particular event that had been on my radar for about one year now. It may sound strange, but ever since Da Tweekaz and Wasted Penguinz bombed my soul with their 2013 Qontinent anthem “Island Refuge,” I was determined to attend The Qontinent this year.

I did indeed have an incredible opportunity to conquer and retell the secrets of The Qontinent 2014. So readers, who attended this unforgettable party, prepare to relive this weekend one day at a time and for those of you who missed out, now is the time to roll around in a sea of tears followed by a swift determination to attend next year’s edition.”

This is a follow up article to When in Belgium… The Qontinent: Day 1 – Preparty. So please, CLICK HERE to read the article from the Preparty!

Without further adieu, I’ll take this opportunity to tell the tale about one particular festival that tore Belgium a new one…

The wild plains are swept to a sparkling freshness by a subdued, serene force of wind as the blazing sun emerges from behind the dissolving rainclouds… My eyes struggle to squint half open as I pull out some miscellaneous items of clothing that seemed to be acting as some sort of a mattress.

Time: 9:30AM
Listening to: a peaceful breez—oh wait, second that…
NOW Listening to: Terrorcore (the guys in the tent next to me really need to calm down…)
Smelling: Beer
Feeling: A mild case of scoliosis coming on and also an urge to eat an entire lamb.
So instead: I gather my mind, some new clothes and take a well craved shower.

My first experience of showering at a festival was, well, nothing particularly out of the ordinary. Not to mention, however, the showers at The Qontinent were a lot better than I had expected. They were quite clean and the line to obtain cleanliness didn’t make me break out in hives from my lack of patience. Another thing I would love to mention was the fact that I had a WARM shower that provided a considerable strength of water. Thank you Qontinent, I was one content princess after my shower.

After I gathered my evidently lost mind whilst water peacefully splashed against my sleep deprived soul, I was more ready for some action than Zatox.

I grabbed my voice recorder, slapped on my intellectual face and was ready to jump head first into the next chapter of one wild, wild weekend…
Heading through the sacred gates to The Qontinent, once again:

1:30PM: My first recording is always the most awkward one… “Saturday! Day one of The Qontinent and I am walking through the gateway to heaven. My hangover is peaking right now, thanks to the surrounding tents that were blasting splittercore until 8:00AM… Big ups to you retards, I hope that they hear so much splittercore today that their ears explode in the next 11 hours. Anyway, I am about to walk into the Jailhouse tent to see if Noisecult has the ability to wake me the fuck up!”

I can hear: Psyko Punkz – Feel The Rhythm (Alpha² remix), which practically invites me to stand inside the tent and check out the remainder of Noisecult’s set.

This was my first time to lay my eyes and ears on this fast-growing young act and thanks to my lurking hangover, these guys definitely had a tough job on their hands if they wanted to get a smile out of me. One thing is for sure, these guys succeeded in getting me to crack a smile. The thing I love most about watching the newer acts in the scene is that the connection they have with the crowd is fresh, unique and exciting. Noisecult definitely kicked my day off to a flying start by playing a set which consisted mostly of their own genius productions such as “Punchlines,” “The Light,” and their remix of Alphaverb’s “Got It.”

Although it was only the beginning of the party, the Jailhouse stage was filling up rapidly with ravers bursting out of their skin with excitement to dance until their limbs failed. Thanks to Noisecult, the energy in the Jailhouse was already soaring, and it was only going to amplify when it was transformed into a haven and showcase of raw hardstyle.

Speaking a little further about Noisecult’s set, the boys bought such an incredibly energetic and euphoric aura which undoubtedly infected all members of the audience. Being one of the beginning sets of the day, they did a fantastic job of preparing us all for what laid ahead in the near future. The only thing that I didn’t like was the fact that I wasn’t standing closer to the front when the Noisecult boys threw a bunch of flags out into the crowd (Hey Noisecult, would you kindly send a flag this way?)

2:00PM: After Noisecult’s set, my soul was prepared for the inevitable love that I would fall into when my eyes met “The Holy Grounds.”

2:30PM: With disregard given towards the intensity and peril, we step foot relentlessly into “The Holy Grounds…”

I set up camp with the most beautiful view in the entire world. My eyes are enlightened and shocked by the intense thematically structured mainstage. Describing the aesthetics of this monstrous masterpiece that sat right before my eyes would be far too difficult beyond my sophisticated intellect’s boundaries, but I will provide a captivating day-time image for you all to drool over.

I was highly impressed by the thematic design of the stage that went above and beyond to revolve around the “wild wild weekend” theme. However, I am not going to lie, when I initially saw the size of the stage I did let out an initial *sigh* and was quite nervous to gather feedback off other partygoers… But one thing is for sure, (readers, get your minds out of the gutter) size isn’t everything!

Although it was still daytime, the LED screens were already kicked into full throttle displaying visuals representing everything from the atmosphere of the music, images representing the theme and of course, if anyone got too obliterated to know which artist was playing, they could look up at the screen and voila!

Just a sneaky mention and a sternly professional handshake to Q-Dance and Bass Events for their outstanding stage designs this year, and on every single fucking stage! OK, like I can draw a few stick figured people and a house with a chimney and windows as well as a few birds that better represent flying M’s, but WOW, I cannot imagine the amount of all nighters and cups of coffee the designers of the stages must have smashed through because the designs were fucking out of this world! Every single detail was so intricately crafted, right down to the centimeter and the smallest of decorations (especially the QULT stage, like hats practically hanging from the sky – who the fuck thinks of that?!)

You’d think that with creating a festival with six different stages, that at least two or three of them would be blatantly mediocre or slightly misrepresenting the theme, however the designers, Q-Dance and Bass events strived for top notch perfection… and guess what? It was definitely achieved.

Back to the scrutiny of all things hardstyle! It was post 3:30PM and the gorgeous DJ Stephanie had just stepped down from the decks to make way for hardstyle pioneer, and one of my favourites, Max Enforcer. From the minute that Evil Activities’ slightly innocent and melodic alias stepped up onto stage, the energy went from “it’s a party,” to “IT’S A FUCKING PARTY!” I had never witnessed Max Enforcer in action before, but from the tsunami of energy that he consumed the crowd into, he has definitely earned a well deserved spot in my mental list of producers that are worth watching.

3:35PM: “The mainstage is pretty much packed by now and I am secretly wishing that Max Enforcer will do a 360 and will throw in a sneaky Evil Activities track, that is a wild dream though… MC Villian is going off and I love it!”

By around 4:15PM, the sun was comfortably penetrating my soul and the vibes around me screamed with positivity and true happiness. The crowd was engaged in a full-blown party mentality as we all united through our one resonate love. I lost count of all of the flags that I counted from so many different countries which really made me wonder about how the barriers of race, gender and anything else are instantly dissolved through one common passion. Hard dance music. The thought of hardstyle spreading its wings to reach such lengths in this colossal world made my spine shiver and my heart fill up with an un-denying warmth.

How does this last paragraph relate to Max Enforcer? Well, I can sloppily round that up by saying that we were evidently lost in paradise…

During the day, in amongst working hard on a separate project with one of my favourite Aussies, Toneshifterz, I was able to catch glimpses of a few other artists and what they bought up to the holy decks.

After inspirational Max Enforcer stepped down, the high spirited genius Atmozfears gave me a slightly irksome dose of cheese. Don’t get me wrong, I love brie, cheddar, mozzarella and parmesan, but by the cracker, not the kilogram *yawn*. However, he did play his remix of Bass Modulators – Bounce and Break however, a song which could do no wrong.

Speaking of Bass Modulators, the punctilious duo took to the stage to especially showcase their fantastic array of new releases such as “Let Me See Ya” their remix of Twoloud’s smasher “Big Bang” and their freshly crafted euphoric bomb “Save The Day” featuring Vice. Standing within the crowd was such an amazingly liberating experience that infected my soul with a unique rush of euphoria and energy that no amount of substance could ever account for…

6:00PM: I become an excited mess when one of my favourites takes it to the stage “HOLY SH*T what a champion! Toneshifterz opens with his remix of Land Down Under! I have never been more proud to be Australian.” This statement is followed by inappropriately loud and highly spirited screaming and a slight confusion to how so many foreigners know the lyrics more accurately than myself.

The vibe kept its high and was certainly rising throughout this all Australian hour! For all of the pyromaniacs within the crowd, I think that all prayers would have been answered when fire aggressively blew out of the stage, transmitting an incredible warmth over us all.

By the evening, the sun was starting to wander off beyond a few clouds, however the night was still beautiful and warm and perfect to stand amongst an incredible production. The vibe was high and only set to rise between now and when the sky faded to a darker hue…
After having a slightly starstruck moment when Bas from Noisecontrollers shook my hand in a highly professional manner backstage, I came to the conclusion that the professional thing to do would probably be to watch his set. I lied, I’m a huge fan of all of his tracks, especially his most recent album and I was going to watch his set anyway.

I obtain quite a few startled glares as the expression on onlookers faces could be accurately described as “dazed and confused” (who is this bitch and why is she talking into a small electronic device?)

I talk anyway. “8:00PM and Noisecontrollers opens with fucking TBA part II. I’ve heard this song about 100 times today but I don’t care, becaus—Oh… That was just the introduction… Apologies Noisecontrollers for jumping the gun.”

Attempt 2: “8:15PM and I am very impressed. Noisecontrollers has played Astral, All Around and now I say this whilst Static is conveniently playing in the background. If he plays the Iqon 2013 anthem (Experience The Beyond), I may or may not get naked. I repeat, it is just after 8:00PM and Cassi may get naked!”

Sometime around 8:37PM, the crowd reaches an incredible peaking cohesion and the good vibes amplify to such an intensity that I feel as though I am taken on a space ship to some place that I am geographically unaware of. In a more simplistic manner, basically what I am trying to say is that the crowd was going fucking mental and all walks of life were coming together to celebrate our wondrous lives. Did I mention that the causation of this incredible energy was the fact that Noisecontrollers drops “Down Down,” one of the most intricately crafted masterpieces of 2014 and in the history of hardstyle.

I purposely stood smack bam in the middle of the action within hundreds of arms flying around the air, hundreds of “hakken” legs and hundreds of voices singing the lyrics of “Down Down” in perfect harmony. I stood towards the front and centre of the crowd right when the song dropped into full throttle. All I could manage to say was “OHHHHH FUCK! That was crazy. Hands down, craziest song of the set so far, the response is just incredible. Every c*nt has just come out of nowhere to celebrate the fact that this brilliant song exists!”
Noisecontrollers, thank you. Crowd, thank you too. It’s times like this when we are all able to put aside our conflicting ideals, opinions and prejudices and just not give a fuck.

At the conclusion of Noisecontrollers set, I quickly made my way through the clusters of people clogging the walkways to the notorious Jailhouse to check out another one of the Aussies who make me proud to randomly belt out the National Anthem. As I entered the tent of doom, I physically prepared myself by doing a few quick leg stretches and also prepared the muscular system of my face in order to pull a serious bassface. For those who haven’t gathered the hint yet, I was indeed about to watch Outbreak’s set and I was damn excited for another hour of fresh Australian flavour.

Watching the beginning of Outbreak’s set, it was a far cry from the last time I was in the tent watching Noisecult. The vicinity had packed out a lot and the energy was definitely full of a positive and powerful aggression which really got me in the mood to dance and never stop. It was dark inside and the lights were relentlessly going crazy to the raw beats that Outbreak showcased.

To speak a little further about Outbreak, I had seen him once before at Defqon.1 Australia which was excellent, however, he had definitely charged his batteries to a full because the energy and dedication that he bought up to the decks was priceless and he danced around behind those decks harder than anybody in the crowd which definitely says something!

9:20PM: “Somebody has come through the crowd during Outbreak’s set and is handing out hundreds of masks with his signature bassface on there! This is going to be one incredibly awesome bassface flash mob and I am bloody excited!” Yep, you read it right, every single person in the crowd has a true Outbreak bassface on and this is all happening whilst “Swagger” by Gunz 4 Hire is conveniently playing in the background.

9:28PM: Fuck the MC, Outbreak grabs the mic and shows us who is boss. “YO QONTINENT! How ya fucking doing?! I want to see every motherfucking bassface right now. Not the ugly face, I know that face because I have one myself, but I want to see yours for this song… ARE YOU READY TO SHOW YOUR BASSFACE?!!!!” *followed by extremely loud cheers and screaming from the crowd*

Bassface drops and I decide 3 things:
1. I am proud to be Australian.
2. Outbreak deserves a set on the mainstage.
3. This is my personal choice of “set of the day.” Not because of “Bassface” but because of this unique connection that Outbreak engages in with every single member of the crowd. Yep, my mind was already made up and I still stick by my decision, so congratulations Outbreak, you made my day.

Although everybody was fighting their way through lack of sleep and painful hangovers, the smiles were contagious and I forgot all about the fact that I had only 1 hour of sleep the previous night. I walked out of that tent one very happy journalist and writing about it again is building up a huge smile on my face as I write this.

Walking out of the tent 15 minutes towards Outbreak concluded his set, the sky had become dark and night was definitely upon us all, which could mean only one thing. I was standing at the mainstage, beneath one of the most anticipated light shows and not moving until Zatox stepped down.

9:50PM: “TNT are still playing and holy shit, I definitely underestimated this stage. Size is not everything. I repeat, size is not everything! There’s these little crystal lasers and I seriously want some for my room, just saying… (lighting director, hook me up bro)”

The full production had definitely kicked into overdrive when I had arrived back to the mainstage. There was a unique selection of the finest lasers, strobes, smoke, fire and thematic visuals which bombarded my sights, but of course, I was not complaining at all. At first, yes, I did think that the size of the stage wouldn’t deliver the goods, but I definitely had proved my previous scrutiny wrong.

10:00PM “Coooooooooooooooooooone.” The Dirty Workz pioneer opens with his gorgeous remix of Gareth Emery & Bo Bruce’s “U”. I embrace life underneath the incredible light show which is flashing right before my eyes. Although Coone opened his set with a track filled with euphoria and love, the rest of his set definitely provided the power, energy and tone which made the crowd go absolutely mental!
When he dropped his remix of “Mammoth,” the power amplified further and even those who were beginning to hit a wall got straight up, sucked up the fatigue and were dedicated to make it to the end.

10:40PM: “OH MY FUCKING GOD.” Coone drops Doomed by Headhunterz, which was the first hardstyle song I had ever seriously listened to (besides old Showtek classics which everybody knew anyway). “I cannot believe that he just dropped Doomed, I mean, I feel obliged to take off all of my clothes and start hakken just because I am so bloody excited! FUCK YEAH DOOMED. That is one hell of a lightshow too.”

Towards the last five minutes of Coone’s set, I didn’t think that this was possible but the production kicks it up a few notches. It isn’t even the end and there are fireworks crazily scattering through the Belgian skies. My prayers have been answered in so many ways within the last hour and just as I am thanking God, another one is answered then and there… Although Max Enforcer didn’t chuck in a sneaky Evil Activities track, Coone does the honour of closing his set with “Guess What?”

THANK YOU COONE.

After a short breather and finding something to eat, I was “ready for some action,” and boy, did Zatox bring his A-game. The Italian master never disappoints and one thing is for sure, he kept up his pristine reputation and delivered a ground shaking, heart pumping set which I wished could have gone on forever. As an artist, Zatox brings that true Italian fire which burns in every track he produces and every single performance that he does. I was incredibly happy to hear some fresh new tracks from him which I’m guessing will be featured on his upcoming album (which I am counting down the days for). He also gave us all a dose of well craved Wild Motherfuckers tracks that kept our feet pumping hard onto the ground.

The production was so accurately designed right down to the smallest of lights which worked together to create such an incredible end result, making my eyes have an “eyegasm.”
12:55AM: “I cannot wait for this end-show tomorrow, that is for fucking sure! Zatox is absolutely killing it and I kind of wish that his set would continue for another hour or so because I am nowhere near bored yet!”

Unfortunately, Zatox and the festivities concluded at 1:00AM and just as I was walking back to my campsite I realised how tired I actually was.
Anticipated with excitement for day 2, the tiredness overtook my body and mind as I fell asleep quicker than a bottle of vodka. For your information, I got myself some earplugs so that the brutally annoying splittercore in the tent next to me would no longer be an issue.

I will conclude this article for day 1 with three words: “The fucking Qontinent.”

To read about Day 3 (Sunday): CLICK HERE