It was once again that time of year to head into the desert for America’s largest rave, and most importantly for The Hard Data crew, the largest hard dance lineup of the year in one place. EDC 2017 seemed this year to be “by ravers, for ravers.” Though the attendance this year was not as big as last year’s, it frankly was just the right amount of people to have a really good time for all the money that one might spend going to EDC. The line-ups on all the stages were solid and one was constantly confronted with the dilemma of “who do I want to see more?” as there were great acts constantly. The Basscon lineup, however, was stacked with some of the largest names in the hard dance business and featured something for everyone. Euphoric DJs like Wasted Penguinz and Da Tweekaz, to legendary names like Isaac, Brannan Heart and D-Block & S-Te-Fan, to rawstyle pioneers like Radical Redemption and Gunz For Hire. Plus! Hardcore every night by masters Angerfist, Mad Dog and AniMe, and Miss K8!

DAY 1, June 16, 2017 A.D.

This EDC may have been the hottest one on record, with temperatures remaining in the 90 degrees plus range even at the blackest of night. Fortunately, there was no shortage of free, filtered water to take the edge off the heat. We knew we would spend the majority of our weekend at Basscon, but being that there is so many things to see and do at EDC we agreed that we would explore the rest of the fest that weekend as well. Walking into the festival on Friday night, however, our excitement overshadowed the extreme heat and we were untroubled as we made our way through the grounds to get our first peek at the Basscon Wasteland stage. We were immediately greeted with the pulsing vibrations of Hardstyle basslines hitting our bodies and it was as though the speakers surrounded us and the music enveloped our bodies. The stage was set to resemble ancient Egyptian ruins, and its centerpiece featured a massive scarab beetle or an Egyptian-bird of some sort that generated all sort of hieroglyphs, but it was in the “Wasteland.” Like, somehow in the dystopian future there is a resurgence of Ancient Egypt. The stage stood over the crowd with its wings outstretched and was packed with pyrotechnics, lasers and LED screens flashing colorful lightshows at the audience.

Upon our arrival, TNT (aka Technoboy ‘N’ Tuneboy) had just wrapped up their set of their signature Italian hardstyle, complete with anthemic melodies and reverse-bass basslines, and it was then Atmozfears’ timeslot. While we have had the chance to see Atmozfears in the past, this weekend we wanted to make sure to make his set a priority. Atmozfears’ music career has been on the fast lane in recent years and so it was no surprise that his set delivered a diverse and entertaining mix of some of hardstyle’s biggest tracks including Noisecontrollers new track Spirit of Hardstyle and his iconic track with Code Black, Accelerate. Towards the end of his set, it was time for a water refill and explore other parts of the festival before D-Block and S-Te-Fan came on.

EDC 2017 Main stage - Kinetic Field — EDC 2017 Main stage – Kinetic Field

We elected to check out Astrix at the Dreamstate’s Quantum Valley stage for some psytrance. Trance has a history with Hardstyle music and it was fun to experience a different perspective of the ravers and to groove to their music. We then circled back through Kinetic Field and gawked at the incredible mainstage, featuring a goddess with her arms outstretched and two giant owls on either side of her. It was incredible to see the amazing artistry and meaning Insomniac had put into this concept and it translated well.

Quantum Valley blasted out the sick lasers all weekend.

We then made our way back to the Basscon stage and Atmozfears wrapped up his set and it was time for D-Block and S-Te-Fan. Brandon’s bud from Boston, Matt had never seen D-Block and S-Te-Fan and he was very excited, and for good reason… that set was packed with incredible tracks from beginning to end! One of their favorite tracks (that was unfortunately was absent from their set, however) was Sound of the Thunder. Hopefully we will get the chance to hear them play it at a future show. In addition, it was during their set, that the main firework show enveloped the festival grounds. The fireworks and the classic tracks D-Block and S-Te-Fan were playing reminded us of the reason we fell in love with Hardstyle in the first place. As D-Block and S-Te-Fan finished their set we agreed that it was time for more water and to explore more of the festival before coming back to Basscon for the end of Code Black, and of course then… Angerfist!

Darkness descends on the Wasteland as Angerfist takes the stage.

We made our way through the thick crowd getting down to Zomboy at Basspod. Then, decided to check out the harder side of techno at the Neon Garden, where we caught Nicole Moudaber b2b with Chris Liebing, since recently Brandon has been getting into techno to supplement his hardcore addiction. While their set was not quite as hard as schrantz, the dark techno sound was a nice change of pace from what we are used to hearing. After that short break we made it back to Basscon in time to watch the end of Code Black’s set, and then it was time for Angerfist! It was at the moment the hardcore started that we saw something INCREDIBLE happen – the crowd poured into the Basscon stage.

Angerfist - EDC 2017 — Angerfist – EDC 2017

It was packed from shoulder to shoulder for hardcore! In classic Angerfist fashion, he started the crowd up with chant and repeat “when I say ANGER you say FIST…” and from there, the surprises kept coming. Miss K8 joined Angerfist on stage briefly as they played Masters of Hardcore and Dominator anthems. Then, unexpectedly, MC Villain got on the mic and reminded everyone that we were witnessing the number one hardcore DJ in the world. EDC night 1 closed with an explosion of adrenaline and at the end of Angerfist’s set we headed back to our hotel to recharge our batteries for the day we had ahead of us.

DAY 2, June 17, 2017 A.D.

It was buffets like this that put us into digestion shock, finally getting some well needed sleep.

Saturday we woke up with a hunger that needed tamed. Matt and Brandon elected to meet with their friend Miguel at the hotel buffet and fuel our bodies for the day ahead. From the buffet we left to Gabberfest, a hardcore festival off the strip that is held every year during EDC weekend. DJ Deadly Buda, Mindcontroller and Lost Boy were scheduled to play at Gabberfest as The Hard Data DJ team, so we went to rock out in the 100+ degree weather. Then, we made our way back to the hotel to get ready for EDC night 2.

Our ride fell through for Day 2, so we began weighing our options between the Park and Ride, or taking an Uber as we walked back into the hotel to get changed. It was at this time that an EDC miracle happened for us.

If you're Uber doesn't look like this, don't take it! — If you’re Uber doesn’t look like this, don’t take it!

We were walking through the hotel lobby and we bumped into a young couple who were dressed in war paint and rave gear, they were clearly on their way to EDC as well. After a short conversation with them we mentioned our predicament and they didn’t even hesitate to offer us a ride with them. Our ride with Caesar and Sarah was pleasant and it reminded me what raving is all about: taking care of one another, a core principle that tends to get lost in today’s scene. It was nice to meet and bond with likeminded individuals and we will forever be grateful to their generosity.

We thanked our new friends and walked into Night 2 of EDC. We made it to the Basscon stage just in time to catch Italian rebel, Zatox, throw down some bangers, along with his friend and MC Dave Revan before it was time for the legend, DJ Isaac, to take the stage. As I enjoyed the show, Matt and I met up with some other friends of ours in the crowd, Dan and Sandy, and we came came up with a game-plan on how to explore some other parts of the festival. We had all seen Isaac and Frontliner multiple times and decided that we would go to Cosmic Meadow to check out Porter Robinson, and come back to Basscon for the end of Frontliner’s set before Gunz For Hire. As we walked towards Cosmic Meadow the crowd got thick with people, it was clear that Porter Robinson was “the place to be” and we decided to head to the top of the bleachers for his set.

Cosmic Meadow - EDC 2017 — Cosmic Meadow – EDC 2017

From the front of the stage, to the top of the bleachers thousands of people had gathered for the amazing production of anime-themed and static Technicolor visuals of the stage, and Porter’s melodic electro pop house music. It reminded us of the size of the crowds I’ve experienced at European festivals and it made us wonder if there would ever be a following like this for hardstyle and hardcore, or if the music we loved would remain so separated from the mainstream to ever be accessable to the American audience.

Was this the new security at EDC this year? No! It was a traveling glitch music car!

We wrapped up our rest break and made our way back to Basscon for the end of Frontliner’s set before it was time for DJ Ran-D and Adaro’s live act, Gunz For Hire where they unleashed their new performance on the crowd – codename: Armed and Dangerous. Their set included several classic Gunz For Hire tracks like Kings of the Underground, Executioner Style, No Mercy, and Bolivia, and even treated us to some new music like Welcome to Deathrow and Pussy Lover. Gunz For Hire closed out their set and the onslaught of rawstyle continued with Radical Redemption. Radical’s set was probably my favorite Hardstyle set of the weekend, featuring rough rawstyle and he even ended his set with a blistering hardcore section to a manic crowd, including his track with Destructive Tendencies – Bring us Some. By the end of Radical’s set we were ready for another break and decided to check out Oliver Heldens at Circuit Grounds, the last stage we hadn’t been to yet for the weekend.

Circuit Grounds - EDC 2017 — Circuit Grounds – EDC 2017

We sat off to the side of the stage and even laid back to rest, along with a dozen or so other tired ravers. EDC has had its share of casualties from the extreme heat over the years and it was reassuring to see security and Ground Control personnel come up to us to make sure that we were ok, and even offered us bottles of water. With as many people that were there it proved to me that they genuinely do their best to make sure everyone has a good time while trying to keep everyone there safe.

EDC 2017's Chill-Out area — EDC 2017’s Chill-Out area

We left our rest area and made our way back to Basscon through the chill-out area by all the vendors. We made it back in time to catch the end of Toneshifterz before closing out night 2 with Dj Mad Dog b2b with DJ AniMe. Their set showcased their unique Hardcore Italia sound and featured some of their signature tracks including Dog Fight and Cracks – the crowd was loving it! After discussing with amongst ourselves we came to the conclusion that Basscon Area has the hottest babes at EDC hands down. Our friend Matt even went as far as to say that some of those ladies could out-hakken himself and even the dexterous and limber writing crew at THD. We left the festival at sunrise and made our way back to the hotel to rest up for Day 2 of Gabberfest and Night 3 of EDC.

DAY 3, June 18, 2017 A.D.

Sunday afternoon we spend another day in the 100+ degree weather at Gabberfest and decided to hit the buffet again to fuel up. Apparently, we hit the buffet a little too hard and fell deep into a food-coma in the hotel room. By the time we woke up it was time to head to EDC and we got there around midnight where it was a toasty 90 degrees. We arrived at the Basscon stage to see the end of Noisecontrollers’ set and just in time for Da Tweekaz with MC D on the mic. Their unique style of goofy melodies was refreshing and even saw Villain in the crowd enjoying himself. During their set, Da Tweekaz even gave a special preview of their new happy-hardcore-influenced “Tweekacore” sound, which they would play at Defqon 1 the following weekend.

The last hurrah for the Basspod? Bassrush Massive was off the hook this year.

Following Da Tweekaz, it was time to a break and grab a cocktail. As we picked up our spiked Electric Lemonade we decided to watch Basscon from a different perspective headed to the chillout area to watch Brennan Heart’s set livestreamed on the LED TV screens. Brennan Heart had the crowd bumping non-stop, and it was only from the perspective of overhead cameras that we could truly appreciate as a whole the bouncing crowd from end to end of the area. While watching we made conversation with others who gathered by the LED TV screen and met a man, Steve, who had traveled all the way from Scotland. We have visited EDC many times before so it was refreshing to get the perspective of someone who had travel internationally. While we talked we “somehow” got on the subject of hardcore. Apparently, there is a big hardcore scene in Scotland. One of Brandon’s pals, Bass Destruction, plays hardcore in Scotland and Steve said he had been to some of the Twisted Darkside parties he had played at! Apparently, it’s a very a small world and I made a mental note that I would have to visit sometime and party with them both.

Deadly Buda shows off the mega-Kandi Ryan Payne PLURRED him in the middle the Wasteland arena. We made him promise to keep it on "stun" all weekend. — Deadly Buda shows off the mega-Kandi Ryan Payne PLURRED him in the middle of the Wasteland arena. We made Buda promise to keep it on “stun” all weekend.

We said our farewells to Steve and made our way back to Basscon for Wildstylez and MC Villain. Wildstylez’s set was loaded with a lot of classic tracks and it was a trip down Hardstyle-memory-lane all over again. Lastly, Villain reminded us that Wildstylez was half of Project One (Headhunterz and Wildstylez) and it gave me hope that one day we would be able to witness Project one for ourselves here in the US. After we made some noise “for the very, very, very last time”, (as urged by Villain) for Wildstylez, we closed out the weekend with the goddess of hardcore herself, Miss K8, who showed no mercy. Her track selection proved to be particularly brutal for a crowd of people who had been raving for 3 days straight in the desert heat. This did not stop anyone from making the most of their final moments of the festival and we witnessed the people dancing themselves to exhaustion at sunrise in 95 degree heat!

More scenes from the Wasteland. EDC Basscon 2017

Our weekend consisted of exploring the amazing sights and sounds of the festival, and while we spent most of our time at the Basscon stage, of course, the weekend was nothing short of incredible! The lineup consisted of some of the biggest names in the business and there was more hardcore at EDC this year than any of recent memory, the faithful being treated to Angerfist, Miss K8, Mad Dog and AniMe. Insomniac’s continued dedication to grow the Basscon scene is leading to higher quality production and larger crowds that ever before, and we look forward to what the future has in store for us!

By Brandon “CabZ” Caballero, Joel “Deadly Buda” Bevacqua, Alvaro “Seppuku” Manjarrez, and Matt “Matty Muscles” from Mass.

Announcements, Articles, Interviews, Rave Comics

The HARD DATA issue 12! Celebrates 2 years Rocking Ink!

June 13, 2017 DJ Deadly Buda

The HARD DATA wants to thank all of our readers, subscribers, contributors, collaborators and conspirators for making it 2 years in print! This issue features Rob GEE, Tim Shopp, and Chris “Devo” laying down knowledge regarding how to throw a rave. Plus! Deadly Buda Rave Comix and Gabberfest Set Time Guide! Available in the Los Angeles Area June 15, at American Gabberfest June 17 + 18, and reaching the rest of the nation the following week. If you want a subscription mailed to your door, its only $6. Support the core! Subscription links below.

THD issue 12 celebrating 2 years in print!

If you live in the USA, for the low, low cost of $6 you get a physical copy of The HARD DATA mailed to you for a year (at least 6 issues). Overseas, the cost is $12 (because of the increased shipping cost). This will also sign you up for our email list. At the end of the year, your subscription will renew at the same price. You can cancel at any time, of course… not that you’d want to, just sayin’!

USA $6

Worldwide (non-USA) $12

Articles, Interviews

Da Tweekaz prepare you for Denver’s OVERLOAD Festival

June 9, 2017 Alan Mandel

June is going to be a crazy month for Hard Music in the United States. Among the craziness comes the first edition of Overload Festival, Colorado’s biggest Hardstyle party to date. The lineup consists of a wide variety of acts – Code Black, Da Tweekaz, LNY TNZ, Gammer & Noisecontrollers will be taking over Denver on June 17th – a totally new experience for Colorado.

Check out the Overload trailer here:

We spoke to Da Tweekaz about their upcoming visit to Denver, and learned a little bit about their career as well.

Hi guys! We can’t wait to have you in Denver, Colorado. It’s been a long time coming. What’s something you absolutely have to do when you come out here?

Well, we definitely can’t wait. It’s really exciting to know that a festival which includes Harder Styles is popping up in Denver. What are we going to do? We don’t know.. got any tips for us? We love to spend our time discovering new places during our travels. All tips are welcome.

Good stuff! So, you guys have had quite the year already, with multiple gigs in the US lined up at the biggest Hard Music parties in the country. Can you tell us how you two crazy Scandinavian guys ended up touring the world?

Well, we’ve been DJing for almost 10 years now. And like everyone, we started out small. Doing some really small gigs in Norway and some other Scandinavian countries. We were also always producers (just not Hardstyle, until we decided to join forces – but that’s another story). We believe our music is quite unique and after a few releases on DJU back in the days, we were contacted by Dirty Workz and it all just went up from there. The last 5 or so years has been amazing, sometimes even hectic. So many countries, so many events, so much flying and traveling. We think the key is that we are quite a unique DJ duo in the scene. We produce music that other artists may not want to risk producing (Disney-tracks anyone?) and we deliver a fun, energetic and above all happy DJ performance. So, that just rubs off on the crowd.

Your music has a very unique energy to it. What separates you guys from the rest of the EDM world?

We like to take risks and we like to have a lot of fun doing it. If a track doesn’t make us smile, then we don’t use it. When people listen to music or visit an event, more often than not, they’re there to forget about the World, about their daily lives and just have the ultimate good time. That’s exactly what we want to give to the audience, and it also makes our job a lot easier because we have a blast as well.

We’ve seen you do some unorthodox stuff, like bootlegs of Disney songs, and tracks with crazy samples of rubber ducks and numerous video games. What inspires you guys to think out of the box like this?

We’re actually pretty geeky guys. We love to play games (from retro classics to the new adventure games), we love collecting geeky stuff, we love watching TV series and all types of movies during our many inflight hours and we can say we have quite a broad fantasy. So, basically we’re just 2 kids in an adult body. That helps a lot, although our bodies wish they were a little younger 🙂

When you guys perform, you are entirely in sync. How much time do you spend practicing your moves on stage?

Yeah, we spend at least 3 days a week working on our choreo in front of a mirror. Those fist bumps and facial expressions are hard work. Haha, no that’s a joke. In all seriousness, our “moves” just come to us naturally. We’ve been performing together for 10 years now we know each other’s style and we know our own tracks, so it’s really easy for us to keep in sync and sometimes do some out of the ordinary things. We just have fun together, that helps a lot.

You guys have a totally crazy artist name. I’m a little scared to ask this, but what is the story behind it?

Well, it’s not what you think (if that’s what you’re thinking about ;)). To “tweek” something in producer terms is to turn on knobs and fiddle around until you get that sound you’re after. Spice it up a bit with some “cool” sounding letters and there you have it.

Finally, please tell us a little bit about what you’ve got coming up this year. What can we expect from Da Tweekaz in 2017?

Well, you mentioned it earlier. 2016 was an insane year for us. We did our Tweekay16 project, after the success of the project we did in 2014. We released one track each month along with a video clip. It was so intense, definitely because we had a lot less studio time to work with in 2016, so the deadlines were killing. So, usually after such an intense project we like to keep the next year a little less hectic, otherwise we’re pretty sure we’d be headed for a rapid burn-out. So, this year we’re concentrating on our “Tweeka Tour” which is guided with some pretty awesome artwork and press photos (check our Facebook page), performing as much as possible while still slamming out tracks. Just no deadlines.

2018 will be a special year for us, so we’re working on another project for 2018 as well.

Thanks for the interview guys! See you at OVERLOAD Festival!

No no, thank you! See you there. We can’t wait!

Get your tickets for Overload Festival here: http://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1454479?utm_source=fbTfly&utm_medium=am pOfficialEvent

Announcements, Articles, Events

What is Hard Electronic?

May 9, 2017 DJ Deadly Buda 1 Comment

“Hard Electronic” is an umbrella musical term that encompasses several electronic dance music genres and sub-genres generated since the early 1990’s from the “rave” subculture of music. In general, the word “hard” refers to a darker, distorted soundscape, and, or, a soundscape which is initially “hard to listen to”, “baroque”, abstract, or complicated. Examples of EDM subgenres classified within “Hard Electronic” are: hardcore techno, drum and bass, hardstyle, rawstyle, psytrance, jungle, crossbreed, Detroit Techno, acid techno, splittercore, speedcore, intelligent dance music, tekno, hard trance, happy hardcore, trance, hard trap, trap and breakcore, though there are many more.

The term “hard electronic” was coined by Lenny Dee, owner of Industrial Strength Records and a pioneer in hardcore techno, hard techno, and other early rave music. His feeling was that an umbrella term was needed to encompass all the stylistic derivations that emerged from hardcore techno, (for example: gabber, happy hardcore, breakcore, and trance), while simultaneously recognizing the “hardcore” variations predominant in the UK in the early 90’s and their offspring. For example: hardcore breakbeat, jungle, drum and bass, grime, speed garage and dubstep.

In 2015, Industrial Strength Records started a sub-label called “Hard Electronic” featuring music that was in the 128-150 beats-per-minute range, and sounding much like a heavily distorted re-thinking of the techno-trance genres, occasionally punctuated by sound effects reminiscent of early rave music. In essence, it seems that the earliest ideation of the label was to reclaim the lower bpm-ranges previously abandoned by the various hard electronic sub-genres. The label has yet to be widely promoted but its output thus far occupies an interesting space in the overall electronic dance music market.

I'll be playing a hard electronic set at 9 P.M. sharp at Arizr! May 12, 2017 techno edition. For those curious to hear hard electronic on a big system, this is it! — I’ll be playing a hard electronic set at 9 P.M. sharp at Arizr! May 12, 2017 techno edition. For those curious to hear hard electronic on a big system, this is it!

As a DJ that routinely plays hardcore techno and hardstyle, the bpm range in my performances range from about 150-230 bpm. In general, only the young or young-at-heart, literally, can keep up with these speeds. The market is such that I am generally only booked to play these speeds. I don’t really mind, of course, but one thing I believe missing from the current EDM/rave market is the idea of the “build-up.” This may sound strange, as plenty of modern EDM tracks contain “build-ups” and “drops” within their composition. What I mean is a more natural musical build-up through the course of a night. In the glory days of the early rave scene, a rave’s dj line-up was generally programmed so that the music started slow, got faster, reached a peak, and then slowed back down towards the end of the night.

As the various rave sub-genres splintered, they each seemed to occupy definite BPM ranges that were quite tight and unchanging. The problem with this is that the crowd never seems to get properly “warmed up.” The faster hardcore techno suffered the most from this I believe, because in the older paradigm people knew to save their energy for the peak, and a mainstream audience could be comfortably introduced to the faster speeds at the same time.

The music on the “Hard Electronic” label, while only occupying a sliver of the overall soundscape encompassed in the term “hard electronic” brings some valuable tools to the hard electronic DJ’s tool kit. Because the music is slower, it can be more easily embraced by an older audience. It is easier to dance to for any age, really, and could easily be at home in a club playing traditional techno, trance or house music. For the “hardcore” crowd who demands a darker and more abstract soundscape in general, the HE tracks provide a nice warm-up to the night, and expand the sonic palette for artist and dancer alike, while clearly drawing a path to the more extreme music on the horizon, if desired.

At the Trauma One-Year Anniversary party in Los Angeles, I opened a 2 hour set with one hour of tracks from the H.E. label. The crowd reaction was one of extreme curiosity from young and old alike. A few people came up on stage to see the playlist, though one or two hard-heads were taken aback by the slower speeds. Nonetheless, the tracks bridged great as I eventually sped up to about 175 beats-per-minute in the second hour and had the crowd bouncing off the walls. There was a tangible sense of comfort the crowd had that had long been missing from hardcore shows. Basically the idea of “warming the crowd up” seemed to eventually effect a really nice atmosphere for the rest of the night. Granted, the hardcore crowd won’t remember any fireworks from this part of your show necessarily, but you’re laying out a great foundation for the rest of your night. For an older or more mainstream crowd however, some of the H.E. tracks might be considered real “bangers” and bring some fresh sounds to the night whilst still maintaining a club’s overall musical parameters.

So without further ado, here is a mix of Hard Electronic (the label) tracks I spun at ARIZR! a couple months ago. Enjoy!

Also, Friday, May 12, 2017 I’m going to warm up the crowd with a little hard electronic at the Techno Edition of ARIZR! Be There!

https://www.facebook.com/events/103712070171431/

And finally, some of my favorite tracks from Hard Electronic…

Articles, Events, Reviews

Basscon: Wasteland – Event Review

May 6, 2017 Brandon Caballero

April 28-29 marked the return of Basscon: Wasteland to Southern California. Hard dance enthusiasts had traveled from far and wide for this show; I personally knew people coming from as far as New York, New Jersey and Arizona.
Tales of the ancient ruins being uncovered to reveal a hard dance paradise had spread and all were out to claim their part of this treasure. My caravan and I began our journey through the deserts of San Bernardino in search of any signs of civilized life, and in our search we encountered a surge of ravers who were ready to party. I began my weekend sitting down with the esteemed hard dance aficionado, The Qollector. The Qollector is an archaeologist of hard dance artifacts dating as far back as the 20th century and it truly was remarkable seeing some of these curios and artifacts up close! He had booklets, flyers, CDs and more from In Qoltrol, HardBass, Qlimax, Defqon 1, and Decibel just to name a few. Check out our interview here

The next stop along our route to the Wasteland took a bizarre twist as we met with America’s Only Hardcore Terror DJ Team: Extreme Team. These poor lads must have spent too much time in the hot sun which had apparently impaired their cognitive function. They appeared incoherent and I knew it was my duty as a fellow raver to take them back to my hotel room and provide them nourishment by way of more vodka. We talked about some of their inspirations as artist, about some of their upcoming releases, and about their show at the Hardroadz after party: Arcadia The Promise Land. We have documented the encounter with Extreme Team on Facebook live that can be viewed here. As you may be able to tell, they were beyond our help and we had to release them back into the desert to fend for themselves.

We took a moment to fuel our bodies with refreshments and food before the show and then it was time to go. Our chief navigator from Uber had received coordinates of where Wasteland could be found and he arrived at our basecamp to take us there! Upon our arrival inside the festival it was clear that we were not alone, thousands of hard dance fans had descended upon Wasteland and were ready to party! The landscape consisted of one outdoor oasis with a two stages and refreshments, and large ancient temple of massive pyramids, golden sphinxes, hundreds of lasers, confetti, CO2 cannons and even glistening disco balls… it was spectacular to behold this treasure with my own eyes! The gods themselves took to the main stage and descended down upon the ravers with a relentless pounding of hardstyle and hardcore beats!

Night 1 moments that stood out to me were seeing the crowd’s reaction to Audiofreq playing Sandstorm (Sub Sonik Remix), LNY TNZ playing Paul Elstak’s hardcore remix
of Ravelord and, of course, the return of Wildstylez to California after nearly 3 years! Wildstylez’s set consisted of tracks such as Project 1 – Luminosity, which was played at Qlimax for the first time with none other than the infamous Headhunterz. He also returned to the classic tracks he is known for including What It’s Like, Numbers, and Year of Summer.

I decided to get some refreshments and walked past the outdoor stage where I watched Zany end his set with Lose My Mind. Following Zany, DJ Stephanie took to the stage. While talking to some friends, I was listening to Stephanie in the background and she immediately caught my attention in an unexpected way. She started playing one of my favorite hardcore tracks, Let’s Get It On by Art of Fighters and Endymion. I knew I needed to make it to the front of the crowd during this track as she continued to play hardcore until the end of her set! Stephanie earned the title of most unexpected stand out set of the night. I finished Basscon Night 1 with Angerfist at the mainstage. A few of the tracks he dropped were Why So Serious by Tha Playah, Fist in your Face, Just Like Me, and Raise and Revolt.

After exploring Basscon Wasteland, we made our way to the Hardroadz: Arcadia The Promise Land after party to see the Extreme Team perform. Their set began with exclusive solo set by Tim Shopp and was immediately followed by typical Extreme Team madness! The small but passionate crowd was loving the terror. By the end of their set it was time to venture back to basecamp to let our bodies recover before Day 2.

Day 2 began with a buffet of food to fuel our injured bodies, followed by a trip to the hotel’s jacuzzi to massage our sore muscles. We then prepared our caravan to go to the show once more. Unfortunately, 2 of our fellow party goers succumbed to Wasteland’s wrath and were left behind to pray to the porcelain gods in the hotel room. RIP

We walked into the
Wasteland to find Toneshifterz finishing up his set, followed by Ran-D who awakened the ancient gods with his wicked rawstyle! His set expertly blended his own tracks, as well as Gunz for Hire tracks including No Guts No Glory, FCK EDM, Firestarter, Plata o Plomo, Zombie, Executioner Style, and No Mercy. He brought so much energy to his set and the crowd loved it!

Following Ran-D was the highly anticipated and long awaited return of Italian master Zatox, who was joined on stage with his friend and MC Dave Revan! Zatox’s set included his top hits including Back To The Oldschool, Back In The Days, Rumble In The Jungle, Warning, Fight The Resistance, Eat Sleep Rave Repeat, God Complex, Kalavela Shot Me Down, and Zombivilization.

At the outdoor stage, I caught the end of Ruthless dropping a awesome freestyle set. His track selection ranged from tek to euphoric, to raw hardstyle and even some hardcore. Some of the tracks he played included Wolfpack, Reawakening, The Project and Lost In Paradise. At one point, he even had the entire crowd chanting Gaan met die Bannan (with a little help from myself and the Extreme Team to get it going 😜). At the main stage, DJ Isaac was keeping the good vibes going. Isaac played the crowd with Last Night Ever, Till The Sky Falls Down, but then unexpectedly Ruthless jumped onto Isaac’s set and played Gaan Met Die Bannan again!

The final hardstyle act for Night 2 at the main stage was the legendary Noisecontrollers who didn’t fail to impress! He dropped Get Loose, World Of Madness, Rocked Up, Defqon 1 2016 anthem Dragonblood, Down Down, Solar, and Source Code Of Creation. To close his set, he played D-Block & S-Te-Fan – Fuck the Noisecontrollers to prep the crowd for some hardcore. With the crowd now warmed up to some higher bpms, the final set of the weekend ended in mayhem with hardcore goddess Miss K8 who went harder than Basscon has ever seen before. Highlights from her set include Raiders of Rampage, Metropolis of Massacre and Radium Rockin Fire.

This expedition into the dessert to experience Basscon: Wasteland was unforgettable. It was remarkable to see how large of a crowd showed up for a weekend of hard dance, how many people traveled from out of state to participate, and how much energy and enthusiasm all the ravers brought to the show! I sincerely hope Basscon will continue to pursue bigger and bigger shows and I look forward to them with great anticipation. Up next for Basscon, catch them at the Basscon Pool Party EDC weekend at the Stratosphere, at the Basscon Wasteland stage at EDC Las Vegas, and at the highly anticipated second edition of Project Z!