It’s snugly nestled in between the trees of the beautiful Amsterdam Bos, a large park just outside of the Dutch capital. For the last three years this majestic slice of earth has become home to what is rapidly becoming one of the best festivals on the planet. A highly respected Label, Dekmantel is getting things very right. A lot of careful thought and consideration is going into every single detail of this blossoming festival. From stage design to location, it seems that every part of this glorious weekend has been expertly chosen for a reason. They are even selling vinyl from their label at a stall in the middle of the festival! That just gives you an idea of what they are all about. When a lot of festivals barely even cater for DJ’s who want to spin vinyl Dekmantel are promoting its use! Good move fellas.
This year i was fortunate enough to spend the weekend there and to experience all that this exciting new festival has to offer, coming away from it i can confidently say I will be marching my way back to Amsterdam next year. The first thing you notice about the festival is how small the place is. Undersized or cramped by no means at all. it has more of a comfortable and just the right size kind of feel. No massive stage set ups. No long exhausting hikes between stages. The longest walk from one stage to another is at the very most 5 minutes. This is obviously a conscious decision by the powers that be to keep things on a smaller scale.
Which brings me to my next point. With a little over 10,000 tickets available you are almost guarenteed that its only going to be people who are there because of their love of electronic music. Tomorrowland this is not. No hoards of teenage girls shelling out bucket loads of cash just to be able to take a picture in front of the main stage and be able to say that they were at this year’s hot new festival. NO.While it may be a slightly older crowd, I found that this simply meant that they were more musically educated and sure of what they wanted. These are people from all walks of life who are there to dance and enjoy the music. Immediately when you walk through the gates you are smacked in the face with how nice everybody is. No steroid fueled dickheads shuffling in front of crowds of girls or trying to pick fights for looking at them wrong. No guys with their shirts off and tiny luminous shorts on and white shoes brighter than the sun.
The focus is completely on the music here. No overgrown stage set ups with talking holograms. With little more than some light set ups and an top class sound system provided by the good folks over at funktion 1 there is little to distract you from the people on stage giving you everything. The furthest things go as far as visual enhancement is a crafty wall of LED lights at the main stage which only show their full potential come sun down. With only five stages of varying sizes and set ups there is something for everyone. From the warehouse type UFO stage. To the miniature tree bearing selectors stage. Whether its a warehouse rave or a sunshine forest boogie you are looking for, along with some of the very best dj’s in the game then this is the place for you.
Upon the release of the line up you quickly come to the realization that unlike so many other festivals around, its not a case of who you are going to see. Its the sad case of deciding who you aren’t going to see. A problem I have never had the joy of encountering before and what a problem to have. Everyday right from the minute the gates opened there is act after act banging out some of the best music around old and new. Do I go to Jeff Mills or Rodhad? Nina Kraviz or Dixon?
Friday sees things kick off on the main stage with the ever illustrious Ricardo Villalobos and Zip. Playing everything from low down and dirty tribal to some minimal techno, Villalobos is clearly having a better day than that weekend a not so long ago at Cocoon in the park. Having such a massive act on the first few hours of the first day of a festival may have been a serious error by any other event, but with dekmantel it only showed the crowds what was to come for the three long days and nights of music that lay ahead.
Moving on from there we went to the RBMA stage. A half open air greenhouse type of structure. Spinning one after another was hiphop head honchos J Rocc and Madlib. J Rocc was first up to the plate and kept things low and slow. It was a feast of some the smoothest music heard all weekend. This stark contrast to other genres of music on offer at the festival this year was incredibly well received. With the stage remaining firmly packed for the duration of his set. Following on Madlib offered guaranteed crowd pleasers like Erykah Badu’s The Healer to Slum Villages Fall In Love. This was a relaxing masterclass of hiphop from one of the finest producers around. Madlib stood up to all the hype with one of the finest performances of the weekend.
After that it was over to the UFO stage. With a simple warehouse feel this was the home of side splitting techno for the weekend with people like Nine Kraviz and Rodhad both on the bill for this stage. Detroit royalty Robert Hood was my first taste of this stages potential. Playing a hybrid set with some live elements, right from the off Hood was using his wealth of experience to bring the eager crowd into frenzy. Dropping bombs like Cloud’s Chained To A Dead Camel and his Floorplan alias’s classic Never Grow Old. He never dropped the pace and I for one was exhausted afterwards.
Closing out proceedings on Friday was Robert hood again, in the boiler room but with a bit of a twist this time round. Playing under his more soulful and religiously focused alias, Floorplan. He was soon joined by his daughter Lyric, going back to back for the evening. They were being looked on by none other than Ben Klock and Ricardo Villalobos to add to the pressure in one of the most exciting sets of the weekend. With one of the founding fathers of minimal techno in your corner we should keep a close eye on the 19 year old who is spending the summer cutting her teeth at festivals and gigs around the globe.
Major hat tip on day two goes to Glasgow’s very own Jackmaster. Having heard so much about him in the last two years but I had never had the chance to see him until now. I had very high expectations and he absolutely smashed them! By far one of the best sets of the weekend. Shifting seamlessly between 90’s house classics and Afro beat. I could only identify a tiny amount of the tracks played but I would pay a pretty penny for a track list. Expert selection by Jackmaster and someone I would go far out of my way to go see again. Standout performance.
Closing things down on Saturday was Rodhad. Berliner and full time techno viking. Rodhad took things to his usual highly intensive level at the UFO stage. This set was not for the faint of heart. Equal parts terrifying and exzilerating all at the same time. Pounding drums the likes of which frequently echo through the halls of the infamous Berghain were driven into the hearts of those in Amsterdam bos that night
Then came the final day. Easing things gently out of the starting gates was Motor city drum ensemble. Who’s boiler room set from last years festival has become the stuff of legend over the past 12 months. racking up just under half a million views. Chock full of mysterious funk and soul, he had three glorious hours at the selectors stage underneath the tree branches to take the early risers on a journey of musical education.
Highlight of the weekend goes to Dixon at the main stage on Sunday evening. Feel good house and techno to help cap off an amazing weekend. Right before Carl Craig took control of the decks and the Detroit don did not disappoint. Precision mixing and track selection that only comes after decades of honing your craft was an absolute joy to watch from the dusty dance pit below. All before Siriusmodeselektor came on to close out the festival for the year. From three Berlin natives who have been throwing parties since the wall come down, this was clearly not their first rodeo. They brought ample amounts of energy to the slightly tired crowd and put the Led wall to damn good use.
After things ended there it was on to the night program. Moving from its original home at Trouw after its sad closure earlier on in the year. It has relocated to Melkweg. This four room super club kept the party going every night of the festival until 7am in the morning, perfect for the more endurance inclined dancer. Guys like Joey Anderson and Derek May kept the party going until, to my great dismay, my body gave up on me. The mind was more than willing but the body had other ideas. So it was home to bed to dream of next year…..only 50 more weeks to Dekmantel