DEDIQATED | 20 years of Q-dance

Lauren Bekker - 13 February 2020

A lot has happened during 20 years of Q-dance. If it wasn’t for Q-dance and their dedication, their unique vision and their contribution to the hardstyle scene, we would not be standing where we are right now. It all started 20 years ago with small parties in the Hemkade yet it has managed to evolve itself into one of the most revolutionary hardstyle concepts of the world.

DEDIQATED represents 20 years of Q-dance memories, 20 years full of dedication and of course 20 years of harder styles. It’s a trip down memory lane of eleven hours which will take us past the biggest hits and most crazy moments of the previous years. The line-up is larger than you can imagine and really varied: over 70 heroes who have contributed in some way to the development of our beautiful scene of the harder styles are all present on the stage of the GelreDome. This is a day unlike others, a day which can’t be missed, a legendary memory which nobody can take away from you. This is DEDIQATED.

The decoration makes us very happy. The imposing stage consists for a large part of a round shaped screen with two screens attached to it, moving elements with all kinds of details which can be recognised of other events such as the well-known Q-dance blades and the arrows of the BLUE of Defqon.1 2019. The long catwalk makes sure that the DJs have the ability to really come in contact with the crowd and not just have to stand behind the decks. An addition that works really well. Besides that the space in the stadium has also been utilized to place down decorations such as the cages which resemble those of Freaqshow from several years ago. They really add a nice extra dimension to the party as a whole. In terms of just decoration Q-dance has already surpassed itself.

The stadium is filling up really quickly as the Early Rave Rebels start warming up the crowd. Old legends such as Gizmo and Franky Jones are building up the tension with heavy (hard)house classics. Once the clock strikes 12:45, our orange hearts start beating a little faster as we are greeted by the well-known, dark voice of Q-dance. " This is 20 years of Q-dance, welcome to DEDIQATED!" resonates through the entire GelreDome and the crowd starts cheering up, followed by fireworks flying through the stadium: The party has started! After this bombastic opening the adventure through 20 years of harder styles is being kicked off by ‘The Qlubtempo Parade’ (Luna, Pavo, Dana, Pila and A*S*Y*S). This is truly a highlight for those who are already dedicated from the very start of the harder styles. If you take a look around you it becomes clear that the crowd is a little older on average than normal as many of them are here for the classics. It doesn’t matter whether you’re fan for already 20 years or just 3 months, everyone goes full throttle from the start.

The stadium is full of people in no time and the atmosphere is incredible from the start. When ‘One Blade’ starts being played we’re getting shivers all the way to our toes. We do nothing else than just enjoying the music and dancing as if our lives depend on it, it’s just magical! All the hands are being thrown in the air with every track and everyone is going wild at all the classic tracks. The label of Fusion also receives its time to shine. Zany, The Pitcher & Donkey Rollers are selected to represent this legendary label and they do a good job at it. They manage to represent the core of our scene: “Hands down, straight up move to the rhythm your soul is feeling, raise your head and start believing, this is who we are.” The pace of mixing is really high and the memories are flying past us at the speed of light.

During the Bella Italia set of the Italian men Zatox, Tatanka & TNT we’re being treated by golden tracks from back in the days such as ‘Africa’ by Tatanka. Everyone in the crowd is just smiling and shouting “A, A, AFRICA!”. Besides that we also hear Oxygen by Zatox and Activator and once again the whole crowd chants the melody. The atmosphere is simply priceless. The Masters of Melody Part 1 open their set of course with the well-known track ‘I’m the Melodyman’ by the Melodyman himself - Frontliner. Musical gems such Gold by Max Enforcer and Radiance by Bass Modulators are also being played during this euphoric as giant white balls are making their way through the crowd. It’s amazing to see that not just the crowd is enjoying the music but the artists as well. Andy SVGE also enters the stage as a surprise as his ultimate classic ‘Gravity’ is being played.

20 years of Q-dance is not just about beautiful memories, it’s also about the crazy and the funny ones. We leave the shiver-classics behind us and go totally nuts during Viva Hollandia. The entire stadium is being transformed into one giant Dutch confetti festival. It’s as if we’re united with our little country once again and nobody is standing still! Q-dance has given everything they got to guarantee and celebrate Dutch gezelligheid with guest performances of among others Lange Frans and Deetox with ‘Het Land Van’. “Dit is het land waar we veel te veel opkroppen, maar vanavond gaan we los en zijn we niet te stoppen!” And of course Frans Duijts and Sound Rush with ‘Gezelligheid Kent Geen Spijt’. This Dutch madhouse with artists such as Deepack, Dr Rude, Ruthless, Outsiders & The Viper might not be to everyone’s taste yet this is also part of 20 years of harder styles! We like it!

Back to serious business: It’s time for three pioneers within the hardstyle scene. None other than Headhunterz, Noisecontrollers & Wildstylez present ‘World of Madness which is an ode to the masterpiece created by these three gentlemen in 2012. This set is of course opened with ‘World of Madness yet we also hear several recently created tracks such as Destiny by Headhunterz. It’s an absolute trip down memory lane packed with well-known hits. A special feeling of nostalgia makes us long to those older tracks and it even gives us a sense of homesickness to back in the days. We will NEVER get enough of these musical gems!

It’s time to kick it up a notch during the Millennium Hardcore set of Art of Fighters, Endymion, Evil Activities, Noize Suppressor, Nosferatu and Promo. The track ‘Broken’ by Evil Activities is blasted through the speakers: ‘I lost myself finding you, and now I’m broken too!’ and the crowd is going mental. Kelly from Evil Activities closes down the set on the piano with their track ‘Nobody Said It Was Easy’, the entire stadium is chanting along - a beautiful sight to behold.

Scantraxx Recordz is considered to be the hardstyle label and has developed itself as the largest of the scene. During this set three generations are being represented. Labelboss The Prophet plays of course the older iconic tracks such as ‘Scantraxx Rootz’. D-Block & S-Te-Fan might have been there already from the start, they are still on their A-game as of today. They’re combining older tracks such as ‘Shiverz’ with more recent work such as ‘Gave U My Love’. There’s of course Devin Wild as well who’s representing the future of Scantraxx. His huge hit ‘Meltdown’ can’t be missed during this set. It’s a beautiful set which really represents the versatility of the hardstyle scene.

Besides the Netherlands and Italy can’t Australia be missed. The hardstyle scene Down Under is perhaps bigger than ever before and has ensured some valuable and cheerful input in the scene. Outbreak, Audiofreq and of course Code Black are therefore chosen to represent their wonderful country. The men are entering the stage with, as expected, with a remix of ‘Down Under’ by Men At Work and the set is being built up with euphoric tracks such as Accelerate & Pandora all the way to heavy bangers such as ‘Show Me Your Bassface’.

This day is already full of highlights and special moments yet The Birth of Raw set is something we will look back upon for a long time. At the helm of this set are Adaro, Alpha2, B-Front, Crypsis, Digital Punk, E-Force and Ran-D. They have shaped the scene of raw hardstyle and it’s therefore amazing to see these guys presenting the origins of raw on stage together. When Strike by Crypsis is being blasted through the entire stadium we see over 25 thousand people going crazy. This is being followed by the ultimate raw-classic of B-Front and Frontliner: ‘Magic’. Once ‘Seven’ by E-Force is being played something insane happens. Literally not a single soul manages to stand still. This is exactly how raw is meant to be and why we love this style so much! No exaggerated crazy kicks but authentic hardstyle with a raw and heavy edge.

The second part of Masters of Melody is represented by the melodic heroes of today: Sound Rush, Atmozfears and Audiotricz. It’s an amazing euphoric set with more recent melodic tracks. It’s always great to hear collabs such as ‘Together as One’ and ‘Elektronic Symphony’ yet older euphoric hits such as ‘Release’ can’t also be missed during their set. This euphoric atmosphere is being strengthened by luminous foam sticks which are being dispersed through the crowd. The highlight of this set? The moment at which Audiotrciz started playing ‘Shamed’ live on the guitar. That was right in the feels.

POWER HOUR is also something that can’t be missed. It’s a huge feast which has never occurred anywhere before except for Defqon.1 - 60 minutes of indoor madness! Tracks such as ‘Born To Die’ by Ran-D and Digital Punk are always received by the Q-dance fans. ‘I love this crazy shit!’ is something I hear from a foreign visitor. And of course ‘Left Right’ manages to turn the GelreDome upside down. Hold tight to your drink, hold tight to each other and we go left and right! “PULL IT TO LEFT, PULL IT TO THE RIGHT”.
In the list of Fusion and Scantraxx there’s another label indispensable tonight: Dirty Workz. The label is being represented by Coone, Da Tweekaz, Hard Driver and Psyko Punkz. “Dirty Workz, when it's time to get down, the Dirty Workz, with the beats and the sound, Dirty Workz, we don't care about a thing, The Dirty Workz, this is the music we bring”. This quote is played and the whole crowd chants along from A to Z.

For a journey of 20 years of harder styles it’s unthinkable to not include the new generation of artists. D-Sturb, Frequencerz, Rebelion, Sefa, Sub Zero Project and Warface are the Future Heroes and even Phuture Noize enters the stage as a surprise with tracks such as ‘Black Mirror Society’. Tracks such as Renegades by Frequencerz always make sure to get the crowd chanting along from the top of their lungs: “RUN WITH THE RENEGADES!”.

After we’ve gone crazy one more time during the Hardcore 2.0 set the last hour of the evening has arrived: The Hardstyle Top 25 of all-time. Several months ago you could vote for your favourite all-time hardstyle tracks. During the morning the first part of the top 100 was presented at Q-dance Radio up until spot number 25 and now it was time for the remaining 25. Kicking off with ‘Dragonborn’ by Headhunterz at spot 25 all the way to spot number 1: ‘Live The Moment’ by JdX ft. Sarah Maria. The list itself is packed with beautiful classics as well as more recent tracks.

Hearing these amazing tracks once again is something magical in itself. It’s an emotional closing of the evening which makes us realise how beautiful the scene is. This realization is even more intense during spot 10 of the Hardstyle Top 25 of all-time as ‘Angel’ by The Nasty Boyz is played. Previous week sound engineer Niels Smeerdijk (part of Noizboyz) passed away. Niels has contributed a great deal to the events of Q-dance and this track was therefore dedicated to him. In the speech of Villain the sadness is clearly hearable and together with the wonderful melody of the track and the angel-performance with pyrotechnics, the entire crowd is moved by this amazing tribute. United as one. This proves how beautiful our scene is: Hard on the outside, soft on the inside.

As if the evening hasn’t been emotional enough Q-dance closes down the event with an amazing endshow. ‘Forever Young’ is blasted through the stadium as a wise life lesson and the fireworks colour the space. A magnificent end to a wonderful day. DEDIQATED is an experience to never forget! Everything was worked out to perfection: The music, the show, the atmosphere, the decoration. Happy birthday Q-dance, we can’t wait for the next birthday party!