After an unbelievable debut last year, the Amsterdam Music Festival was back for 2014, with the promise of being even more spectacular. This time around, the showpiece event of ADE 2014 was held at the magnificent Amsterdam Arena.
Upon arrival, we were taken aback by vastness of the Arena, which was truly a sight to behold. Dash Berlin superbly kicked things off, with their usual brand of crowd-pleasing trance. Within a matter of moments, Dash had the arena in state of frenzy. Even at this early stage, it was clear to see that we were in for quite the night: this Goliath of a venue was already bouncing and it wasn’t even full yet.
Next up was David Guetta. True to usual form, he immediately captivated the audience with the consummate ease we’ve come to expect from the Frenchman. As well as sounding great, his set looked the part too, with some impressive strobe lighting, as well as a bit of fire thrown in for good measure. The tone was a little harder than what Guetta fans may have become accustomed to in recent times, but he still had time to drop some of his bangers, such as ‘Memories’ and ‘Without You’.
Deorro came in after Guetta, to give the crowd his own take on Dutch house. In truth, it took him a bit of time to get going, but once he did, he didn’t look back. During the LA native’s performance, the screens either side of the stage lit up with a new graphic: this year’s official DJ Mag Top 100 countdown was upon us! Whether it was convenient timing or simply a coincidence, Deorro’s set really seemed to pick up steam once the countdown began, and he coasted through to the other side, unscathed.
In time for his arrival, we simultaneously found out that Hardwell (we’ll pretend that leak never happened and that this was a surprise) was this year’s #1 in DJ Mag’s top 100 list. Upon the news that one of their own had taken this year’s crown, the arena went into a state of pandemonium, the likes of which I’ve seldom seen before. Part of me watched this set keeping an eye out for any negatives, but in truth, there simply weren’t any. Hardwell’s set was flawless and, on the night at least, he truly lived up to his ranking.
If Armin van Burren was at all intimidated by the task of following Hardwell, he didn’t show it one bit. He opened by asking “are you ready for a state of trance?!” and the crowd, as one, emphatically responded “yes!”. AVB laid down one of the best sets of the night and even dropped Faithless’ ‘Insomnia’ halfway through, just because he could.
One of the real standout performers of the night was Martin Garrix. Garrix has had quite the jump in the rankings this year and tonight, as he treated us to one glorious crescendo after the other, he showed us why. His rise to the world stage has been nothing short of meteoric, and I saw nothing to in his set to suggest his momentum had slowed down one iota.
Whether it was the ridiculously high standard we had already witnessed, or something more pressing, the fact remains: Dmitiri Vegas & Like Mike’s set which followed, was easily the worst of the night. Whilst labouring through this average performance, they at times seemed more involved in taking photos for Instagram than actually DJing. When W&W came on, they instantly made the crowd as lively ever, effortlessly reigniting the fire that DVLM had somewhat extinguished. By the end of W&W’s set, I was genuinely sad to see them go.
Though the arena was visibly less full as Wildstylez came on to round off the night, he cared not! Wildstylez treated the remaining fans to some of the night’s heaviest beats, showcasing Hardsyle in its purest form.
All in all, The AMF was a smash hit. At times, I could swear the retractable roof was going to be forcefully taken off the place, such was the atmosphere inside. Will I be attending again in 2015? Try and stop me!
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