The Qontinent 2019

Jeroen van Velzen - 15 August 2019

On the 9th of August it was time for ‘The Island of Intensity’ or in other words: The Qontinent! The island at which the event is held each year was once again transformed into an intense paradise for those who crave bpms exceeding 150. Once again filled with enough entertainment and epic sets such as Radical Redemption who will close down the pre-party at ‘The Engine Room’ and Warface who will close down the mainstage on sunday. This is the Qontinent 2019, The Island of Intensity.

Friday 9th of August, The Qontinent pre-party

The very first day of The Qontinent starts at the friendly camping site. Even though the journey has tired us out a little we manage to regain our energy quickly as everyone at the camping is already happily putting up their tents while enjoying their own music. We are ready!

Just like previous years the campgrounds are surrounded by large trees on one side and a small lake on the other side which provides a great view on the festival grounds. Once again a campingstage is also present just like an improved edition of the pool party in the morning which was for the first time introduced last year. A nice addition! On festival grounds 5 stages can be found of which 2 of them will be opened during the pre-party today. Aside from this there are more than enough spots to get something to eat or drink or to just have a moment of relaxation. The setup of the festival is in fact perfect for this as it doesn’t take too much time to go from point A to point B whereas you can even enjoy the music of your favourite artists while having a small break.

Our Qontinent 2019 starts with the euphoric sounds of Ecstatic. They do not just play their well-known tracks such as ‘Dead To Life’ and their collab with Sub Zero Project called ‘Tombs of Immortality’ but also several new tracks such as Vendetta. Combined with stunning visual effects and a great display of lights it’s a great start of the weekend. After this set we also decide to take a look at ‘The Prison’ where the future heroes are showing their talents, a special stage for promising artists.

At first glance it seemed as if the sound and the bass would be quite disappointing yet luckily it turned out to be better than expected. During the set of Kronos who started his set at 21:00 it’s easy to notice that the crowd is already in the right mood to party hard with tracks such as ‘This Is Italy’ by Zatox and his collab with Adaro called ‘Moonlight’. The Belgium crowd truly knows how to party and it’s especially nice to see how diverse the crowd really is. It does not just consist of Dutch fanatics but is also well represented by French, Spanish en German people. This shows that this festival is in fact quite international. After Kronos it’s time for the last two future heroes of the evening: Thyron and Krowdexx.

Despite Thyron not playing a live-set it’s still packed with special edits and new tracks which really surprises us. It seems as if the crowd does not get a single minute to catch a breath as all tracks are really well connected which makes everyone give 100% of their energy. We like it! At each relentless kick the crowd is screaming out and everyone is losing their mind. Mainly during his new track ‘The Revolution’ all hell breaks loose. Can Krowdexx surpass this?

It really starts to get dark now and at 00.00 the two masked Italians appear on stage to play the last set of the evening. They really manage to close it down properly with their new track ‘Bassline Homicide’ and their frenchcore edit of ‘Moshpit’. The Qontinent has given the crowd a good taste of what’s to come with this heavy pre-party which marks a good start of the weekend. We are being treated with a great dose of hardstyle and are returning with a great feeling of satisfaction to our tent to have some rest. We hope.

Saturday 10th of August, The Qontinent

We are being awakened by the rain yet we remain to stay positive. As we take a look outside we already spot several visitors who are warming themselves up at the campingstage to kick off the saturday properly. Today all stages are opened which means all 5 stages are being opened. There is even a secret stage placed behind the freestyle stage at which several djs will play some sets at random times on the day. Definitely enough to see and do on this rainy day!

Before getting too excited for a particular set we first want to check every stage to get a good impression of every stage and how the quality of the music sounds. This turns out to be rather clean at basically every stage, especially in the raw stage (which was the mainstage during the pre-party). D-Attack has the honour to show this which marks a good start of this afternoon. It’s clearly visible that everyone still has to wake up and recover from yesterday as the dancefloor is still relatively empty. During Myst this is getting better.

With well-known tracks such as ‘Before You Go’ and ‘When The Stars Connect In Space’ Myst manages to warm up the crowd properly. His newer tracks also manage to let the sun reappear which immediately puts a smile on the faces of the people. After his set we have a look at the timetable and decide to take a look at the uptempo stage. Even though the distance between both stages is relatively large the compactness of the terrain ensures that the journey is not a hustle. On the way we come across the mainstage at which Rebourne is also playing a great set and the surprise stage at which several djs are playing some classic hardstyle tracks. We want to see The Satan however.

During the set of this mysterious masked dj the atmosphere is really great. Everyone is giving all they got and even The Satan is going wild to the kicks of the industrial kicks and breaks of his tracks. Probably one of the better sets of the day! Despite the small stage the music sounds great and the crowd is cheerful. Later today we also decide to check out Dither who is playing at the indoor hardcore stage. The stage is exactly big enough and it even contains a bar on the inside which makes it really easy to get something to drink while still enjoying the fast bpms. With tracks such as ‘Playing With Fire’ Dither knows how to turn up the heat which was something everyone really needed, let’s get this party started!

The boys from Sub Zero Project also know how to play with fire properly and present a great 30 minutes of floorfillers with their ‘Contagion’ live-act. Especially the album tracks ‘Break The Game’ and ‘Darkest Hour’ manage to cause a great amount of chanting. After this half hour of madness it’s time to take a short break to gain some energy for the next sets of the day. It turns out that we really need this during Rejecta and Riot Shift. Rejecta plays as usual a great set with well-known tracks such as ‘Insane Brain’ while Riot Shift manages to surprise the crowd with not just new tracks of their own but also several uptempo tracks to close down their set. A diverse set which included several tracks by Hatred and even Greazy Puzzy Fuckers! What the fuck!

The end of the evening is being closed down by D-Sturb followed by Sefa who both have the honour to present their heavy tracks with uplifting melodies at the mainstage accompanied by a great display of lights and pyrotechnics. D-Sturb really knows how to warm up the crowd properly before handing them over to Sefa who attempts to squeeze out that last drop of energy from the crowd. He does so by playing most of his ‘Next Level’ edits of his own tracks, closing down with his edit of ‘Nothing Like The Old School’: the perfect introduction to Sefa. Sefa also manages to kick it up a notch by calling out a mosh pit in front of the stage. Great idea, the performance was disappointing however as everyone was just running into each other like mindless idiots rather than enjoying the fast paced frenchore. It was funny to see however.

As usual the evening is being closed down with a magnificent endshow in which the anthem is being presented with fireworks a bright display of lights and lazers. Definitely a successful saturday. We are curious whether the sunday is able to surpass this and in the meantime we continue the party at the camping.

Sunday 11th of August, The Qontinent

Sunday Funday! Luckily it hasn’t rained this night and we are being awakened by pleasant rays of sunlight commencing the day. We’ve got quite some special acts to see today so we can safely say that this day is rather promising. To give some examples of sets we are looking forward to: KELTEK and Headhunterz who are playing after one another on the mainstage and Rebelion and Delete who are both playing on the indoor raw stage. Aside from this there is also enough to do on the camping today such as the raw-workout getting everyone ready to give their last bit of energy during the final day of the Qontinent. We are excited!

The atmosphere is on Sunday isn’t any different from Friday and Saturday despite everyone still trying to recover from the energy they have lost on Saturday. The day is only really starting to get going once RVAGE appears on stage on the raw stage. He knows to tremble the stage already early in the afternoon with his tracks among which his new track called ‘The New Dimension’. After this hour of subtle raw tracks it’s time to have a stroll towards the mainstage which is still relatively empty compared to the amount of people on Saturday. We therefore decide to have something to drink with our own coins and the newly introduced ‘eco-token’.

By handing in an eco-token or a piece of garbage from the floor such a used plastic cup you will just pay the regular price of a beverage. Yet if you do not have either of those you pay one coin more. This causes the festival to be totally clear of any trash on the floor which has remained like this for the whole weekend! At first glance we thought that this concept was rather weird yet it did turn out really well. A really great initiative of The Qontinent to save the environment a little!

After Headhunterz has given the crowd all he has got to offer with a perfect combination of new and older tracks it’s time to go a little harder. Headhunterz has set the bar really high for the upcoming sets yet we believe that the infamous Public Enemies are also perfectly capable of presenting a great show of noise, capable of interacting with the crowd by giving just as much energy as they do. As we approach the stage we can already spot both enemies standing behind the booth, ready to unleash the beast. Despite the fact that the stage is not fully packed the crowd chants along with all tracks among which ‘Strength In Numbers’ and ‘About To Die’. For the time being will remain to enjoy the rough sounds at the raw stage.

The main reason for staying here are Rebelion and Delete: we don’t want to miss this! Both acts truly know how to serve the crowd properly with a high dose of heavy gated kicks and it almost seems as if the tent is about to collapse, that how hard the bass kicks! Rebelion closes their set with ‘DRUG$’, their collab with Garra which causes the crowd to completely lose their minds. That’s some great noise right there which Delete aims to surpass one and a half hour later. For Delete not a problem. Armed with several VIP edits and other ‘regular’ tracks he knows how to drive everyone crazy once again.

Around 22.30, it’s time to head towards the mainstage to witness the last endshow of the weekend which is almost just as magnificent as yesterday. Even hardcore is being represented properly with the track ‘Raggen’ by D-Fence. A rather though ending of a fast paced festival. That’s how it’s supposed to be!

At the camping site the party still continues for quite some hours during with several spontaneous small scale after parties organized by crazy visitors who still have energy left. Everyone can join, the party ain’t over yet!

The Qontinent Weekend Festival 2019 has come to an end unfortunately but it was definitely a weekend to remember for a long time. Do we see you next year again?

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