The most DEDIQATED #2

Hardstyle Report Redactie - 15 January 2020

Q-dance celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. They honor their legacy with a huge indoor event where everything from 20 years of harder styles will pass by. From The Qlubtempo Parade to an Ode to In Qontrol and from The Hardstyle Top 25 of all-time to the first indoor Q-dance Endshow ever. In 20 years, Q-dance has built up a huge fan base. From all over the world, these die-hard fans visit Q-dance events. But this love goes deeper than that. From asking your partner to marry you at the Defqon.1 stage, your love for Q-dance immortalized on your body to huge merchandise collections. These are The Most DEDIQATED.

The most DEDIQATED: Barry

Barry is 28 years old and lives in The Hague. He has been a fanatic hardstyle lover for over ten years, and prefers the parties from Q-dance. “It all started in the summer of 2010. A friend of mine came up with the idea of going to De Feestfabriek, the celebration of 10 years of Q-dance.” Barry had no idea what was waiting for him, but he went anyway. “I listened to hardstyle and hardcore sometimes, but I couldn’t name more than three artists.”

He remembers it was very bad weather that night. “Rain, thunder, it didn't make our trip to the ArenA easy. Via some detours we finally arrived.” From the moment Barry entered the ArenA he forgets all the hassle immediately. “I saw that gigantic centre-stage, thousands of people - almost everyone dressed in orange - and a mega Ferris wheel. Can you imagine something like that in a football stadium?”

The music completes his experience and Barry has the night of his life. “I've never had such an intense experience. The music touched me and the atmosphere was fantastic.” The night flies by and before he knows it, it's over. “De Feestfabriek changed my life.”

Ever since that one night, Barry has been following hardstyle. He's been going to as many parties as he can for ten years. “But that first experience with Q-dance will always be my best.” And that’s something special because he’s made a lot of great memories at Q-dance parties, such as Qlimax 2012, Defqon.1 2015 and the editions of X-Qlusive: Noisecontrollers, Legends and B-Front.

The 20th anniversary is self-evident for Barry. As soon as the tickets went on sale, he got his ticket in the hope of experiencing that special feeling one more time, like at De Feestfabriek. “I hope that DEDIQATED can take me along in the same way as Q-dance did ten years ago with De Feestfabriek. It's going to be hard to match up to that party, but the line-up is really convincing.”

The most DEDIQATED: Robin

Robin is 28 years old, lives in Sweden and has been a hardstyle lover since the age of 14. It all started when a friend sent him a track: ‘Technoboy - Rage’. He had no idea what kind of music this was and neither did his friend, but it touched him. “The lyrics in the break gave me goosebumps, and it still does today.”

In his spare time, Robin spent a lot of time on YouTube to discover more of this kind of music. “That's how I ended up on a Qlimax video.” The images of a dome filled with like-minded lovers, enchanted him. “I could only dream of going to Qlimax one day.”

In 2009 the time had finally come. From Sweden, they booked an organized bus trip to Qlimax - The Nature of our Mind. The whole bus was full of hard heads from Sweden and he made a lot of new friends. This first hardstyle trip was a very special experience for Robin. “Qlimax was even better and more beautiful than I could have ever dreamed of.” As a souvenir of this special adventure, Robin bought some merchandise; a cap and a hoodie. “I'm still wearing it.”

Even today Qlimax is his favorite party. “I love the story of Qlimax. Every edition of Qlimax is another special journey and the themes are worked out in detail every year. It's such a beautiful event where everything fits: the stage, the anthem, it almost feels like you're in a movie”. His favorite festival is Defqon.1 Weekend Festival. “Without a doubt. This is the weekend where the whole scene gets together and I go all out with my friends. For example, last year I went to Defqon.1 with a friend I met on the bus to Defqon.1 in 2010.”

But the most beautiful memory Robin has of Q-dance is De Feestfabriek. “This party was really out of this world. The Ferris wheel in the Amsterdam ArenA, the Hardstyle Top 25 that ended with 'Deepack - The Prophecy' on #1, it was just insane.”

On DEDIQATED he hopes to experience a little bit of that feeling again. “I'm so looking forward to it. The line-up looks promising, especially if you listen to hardstyle since 2005, just like me. With artists like Isaac, Technoboy, D-Block & S-te-Fan and even MC Ruffian on stage, it promises to be a fantastic evening.”

DEDIQATED | 20 years of Q-dance will take place on February 8 from 12.00 to 23.00 in the GelreDome in Arnhem. Get your tickets now on the Q-dance website.

DEDIQATED Q-dance