You know you’re a true Hard Dance fan when…

Being a devoted fan of the harder styles is something exciting, however it doesn’t come without some drastic lifestyle changes. Some girls swap their stilettos for Nikes, others may make space in their wardrobes for the plethora of incoming merchandise and a lot of followers shuffle around their usual schedules, creating weekly slots solely dedicated to raving at festivals. There’s much more to being a Hard Dance music fan than simply listening to the music; the intense, soul-merging process allows disciples to submerge themselves into the culture and lifestyle that infamously surrounds the music.

Think you’re the most devoted fan to roam the Earth? Well, we’re about to put all your assumptions to the test! We’ve collated a list of common characteristics that the utmost devoted can resonate with…

– Deciding which pair of Nikes to wear is a weekly struggle
Yep, you boast an extensive collection of Nike shoes and choosing the perfect pair for each event may take you hours! Many ravers have a pair of shoes that are allowed to get fucked up in wet weather and of course, a treasured pair that only come out for the really special events. A truly devoted fan wears their shoes until they’re worn out to shreds, before leaving them to rest in peace with the Defqon gods at the shoe shrine.

– Your ultimate date would be ‘Defqon.1 & chill’
Forget the lame as fuck ‘netflix & chill,’ your ultimate date would be taking your significant other to a festival and sharing romantic vibes underneath the colossal mainstage. Forget spending your weekends wining and dining at fancy restaurants, you’d much rather go on a party-date and your definition of a romantic evening is kick-rolling to filthy raw Hardstyle with your prospective lover.

– You know all of the words to “FTS” and are not ashamed
You probably don’t know the words of your countries national anthem, but you can happily shout the lyrics of “FTS” from a rooftop. This is nothing to be ashamed of and I for one can admit that “getting wasted at parties from 9 ’till 7 in the morning” is way more exciting than being “girt by sea” (Australia’s national anthem).

– You find yourself regularly attempting to teach your parents how to hakk
Educating your family members about your biggest passion and spreading the word is something Hard Dance fans are known for. Being extremely proud about this sole obsession, devoted fans regularly find themselves showing their parents the latest banger and even chucking a cheeky hakk in the kitchen. I tried to teach my mother how to dance to Frenchcore, however she just couldn’t handle to tempo… Maybe I should’ve started her off with Hardstyle…

– You are broke because your entire salary goes to festival tickets
Forget spending money on lush vacations or expensive items of clothing, Hard Dance fans prefer a great experience over materialistic things any day! Being front and centre at a festival is the greatest feeling imaginable and is much more special than buying that expensive pair of shoes, however it comes at the expense of always being broke as fuck. FOMO is a real thing for Hard Dance fans; they hate missing out on parties, whether they’re big or small. Nonetheless, somehow they always manage to scrape enough money together for the next event.

– You’d happily travel to another country to attend a huge festival
It’s particularly common for fans outside of The Netherlands to travel to Europe for milestone events such as Defqon.1, Decibel, Qlimax and Hard Bass, however Dutchies have also sought out and crossed borders to attend events such as Electric Love, Hard Island, The Qontinent, Q-BASE and even Defqon.1 in Chile and Australia. Long car trips, regularly flying and packing suitcases are things that are all familiar to the most devoted die-hards.

– You own way too much merchandise for your own good
And I’m not just talking about owning the infamous Minus Militia shirt. I’m talking about owning all of the merchandise under the sun including CD’s, flags, stickers, hoodies, shirts, bracelets and more! A truly dedicated fan has Hardstyle.com in their favourites tab and always checks out the merchandise stand before racing into the crowd at a festival.

– You have all of the artists as ‘friends’ on Facebook
Being the tight-knit scene that we are, it’s common for artists to know their fans on a personal level and this is something that no other international music scene experiences. The mutual love and respect for each other is matchless and it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, most artists are happy to take the time for a quick chat at parties and also online. However, some do really prefer keeping their private lives private.

– You regularly break out in song and dance whilst watching movies
As Hard Dance music is heavily based around sampling, you may find yourself breaking out in song and dance whilst watching popular films or TV shows. Amongst your friendship circle you are the most knowledgeable when it comes to vocal samples and this is something to be very proud of.

– You happily purchased tickets to both Militant Mayhem shows
If attending one Militant Mayhem show just didn’t cut it, you’ve decided to go full whammy and also purchase tickets to the second show. Not to mention, you and your squad will probably be amongst the first to line up before the event, just to experience that rush of excitement when the doors of the Heineken Music Hall gush open. Although the shows are in November, you are already planning your weekend bender accordingly.

– Music less than 150BPM makes you sleepy
It’s a fact – Hard Dance fans’ hearts begin beating at 150BPM and anything less than that makes them lethargic and bored. Kicking off your day with Uptempo Hardcore and cooling down in the evening with melodic Hardstyle, your friends and family may not understand how your brain can function at such a tempo, but if anything this music makes you more productive than ever.

– You’ve accumulated enough wristbands to make an embroidery blanket
Some fans keep these wristbands on their arms for the entire season and although I do not condone such unhygienic behaviour, I must say that it can be pretty impressive to see devoted fans collecting all their experience in the form of these bands. After a couple of festival seasons you ship your entire collection of wristbands off to your Grandma, who will create an embroidery blanket for your birthday.

– Your entire camera roll is festival footage
You may notice that your camera roll follows a certain pattern that goes like this: pre-game selfies of you looking majestic as hell, followed by photos of you with your drink of choice, photos with random people you made friends with and of course, disheveled selfies from the after-party. You wouldn’t have it any other way…

– Your dating pool is strictly like-minded people
You tried dating a ‘normal’ person, but they didn’t quite understand your lifestyle or being put second place to the music you love most, thus making you re-consider your dating pool. For the most devoted fans, they want to date like-minded people who they can attend parties with, check out new tunes with and share their biggest passion with. The ultimate goal is to propose (or be proposed to) on the Defqon.1 mainstage.

– Christmas for you isn’t in December, but in June
For Hard Dance aficionados, their biggest tradition is annually attending Defqon.1 and it exceeds their Christmas celebrations tenfold. This three day celebration is something that you look forward to and once it’s over you feel an empty pit of sadness at the fact you have to wait another 365 days for the next edition.

– Your brain instantly dismisses letters ‘c’ and ‘k’ and re-reads them with a ‘Q’ instead
Yep, this alphabet change is a daily struggle for the utmost devoted fans. Words such as countdown, continent, control, freak and exclusive are read as qountdown, qontinent, qontrol, freaq and X-Qlusive instead and you may event find yourself accidentally slipping in a cheeky ‘Q’ into one of your university essays.