Why do people complain about the Defqon.1 anthem each year?

Year after year, as winter draws to an end and the summer season approaches our doorsteps, event heavyweights Q-dance drop a dose of colossal news – namely, the Defqon.1 theme and anthem. Last year, I vividly remember grooving away in the early hours of the morning at a Techno nightclub in Sydney when news dropped that Bass Modulators were responsible for the 2016 anthem, “Dragonblood.” Seeking refuge in the bathroom to cheekily watch the trailer, I couldn’t help but also have a little sticky beak at some of the comments left underneath the viral Facebook post. Some showed love and support for Bass Modulators and the anthem. Some had an indifferent tone towards the anthem, but a general excitement for the festival and of course, there were also numerous remarks claiming that the anthem was boring, a let-down and not a true representation of Defqon.1’s epic-ness.

This is, more or less, the same story every single year…

Forgetting that March was already upon us, just last week Q-dance and Frequencerz unveiled the trailer for this years’ edition of Defqon.1, which included a snippet of the anthem. Before even watching the trailer I put my observation specs on and jumped online to read what the public thought about the anthem. Firstly, there was an abundance of support surrounding Frequencerz being chosen to produce the anthem; many fans stated that after all of their hard work, the duo were perfectly deserving of this task. However, on the flipside, there were also a lot of comments that stated that this anthem isn’t a true representation of Frequencerz’ signature sound… Thankfully, rarely any of these comments were said with a malicious tone.

Defqon.1 is without a doubt, THE biggest festival on the harder styles’ calendar. Designed to not only draw in the die-hards, but this three-day event also attracts ‘casual’ fans simply seeking out a life-changing experience or an event that’s different from their usual revelries. It’s apparent enough that the Defqon.1 anthem, let alone the majority of festival anthems have to portray an accessible sound – a sound that all listeners can resonate with. Yes, Frequencerz are recognised as a ‘raw’ act, and as cool as it’d be to hear them smashing out an insanely hard Defqon.1 anthem, it does kind of go against the rule of thumb that comes with being the mainstage headliner. Some other festivals can get away with ‘harder’ anthems. Take Intents Festival as an example; for the past two years the anthems have been quite hard, created by Radical Redemption in 2015 and Coone & Hard Driver in 2016.

If we take a look at the biggest Hardcore events Masters of Hardcore and Dominator, you’d see that the same pattern is displayed. There’s a multitude of rougher sub-genres in Hardcore, however the anthems for these large-scale events are always accessible and quite melodic, even if the chosen artist has harder tracks in their discography. When anthems drop for these concepts, there are also a lot of complaints that they aren’t hard enough.

Now, let’s bring it back to Defqon.1. Another complaint that fans make each year is that “the anthem isn’t ‘epic’ enough…” Personally, I feel as though an anthem gains credibility during the lead-up to the event, but mostly during the event itself when it’s unleashed in full force in conjunction with the explosive production. Each and every year, complains roll in online, however once the weekend is done and dusted, it’s likely that these very same critics have changed their view…

I don’t know exactly what fans expect from these artists; it’s as if some people think that producers are mind-reading messiahs that can cater to everyone and anyone. Sure, if you compare Frequencerz’ Defqon.1 anthem with their Q-BASE anthem “Die Hards Only,” you’d be able to recognise a vast difference in ‘hardness,’ but to be honest this just proves how versatile the guys are with their productions.

Not to stress; in a couple of months’ time when thousands of ravers are losing their shit to the end-show, this debate about Frequencerz’ anthem is going to be scarcely relevant. But for now, let’s anxiously sit back and wait for the full version to roll in – who knows, perhaps the snippet we’ve laid our ears on is only the tip of the iceberg of what’s left to offer…