I want to preface this by saying that every single time we were out in The Netherlands, we met the nicest staff and partygoers anywhere. We arrived later than intended, but still, since it was fairly early (an hour after start time), we expected things to be a little sparse, as it is in the states. However, we found a line that stretched over a block long, with lots of puffy-coat-clad 20 and 30 somethings waiting patiently in line. We learned as we got to the door that this was a sold-out event.
Inside, the club was already packed wall to wall, with Oliver Heldens rocking the main room in full speed. There is a stereotype that the Dutch don’t really dance at all, but this was smashed to bits by the crowd inside. Between the DJ and the LED panels above the booth and on the ceiling, there was already a great atmosphere to party.
We wanted drinks, and logistically speaking, with 2 camera rigs, it was impossible to head to the bar, so we headed to the side downstairs room. Mike Hawkins had just started his set in this area, which when we started out, was about 30% full. However, he was simply making everyone in that room dance like crazy. Of course, i think it’s acceptable that people play some anthems even in the most serious of events, but he used just enough to hook the ever growing crowd and hype the room without wading into the cheese. Within about 30 minutes, this side room was packed to the point that people were standing on all of the stair seating (including myself) and shaking themselves, lost in the music. I was truly impressed.
We made sure to pop back in to see Oliver Heldens, who was working the room with a combination of big room and anthems, with some techy house thrown in. By the time Sander Van Doorn came around, the crowd would have been unmanageable in any other city, but the people here were polite, even more so since I was trying to maneuver a video rig that I was holding above my head. Thanks Amsterdam for helping me keep my gear safe! Sander himself played his signature tech and progressive house, which resulted in a couple of sing alongs with some of the more anthem-esque tunes, but this was by no means a cheese set. Sander worked the room without riding any finite genre the whole time, gave the crowd time to cool off from time to time, but simply killed the room for about a solid hour. As far as his stage persona, he was friendly with the crowd, and danced his ass off as well, and didn’t spend every opportunity doing the DJ praise pose. You felt through his set like you were dancing with him, in this intimate setting. He was fun to hang out with, in a crowd of thousands.
The plan for the night was to stay for a couple of hours, learn about some lesser known talent in the US, meet and greet, and of course, get some great video footage of everything, and then hoop off to something else. However, we ended up staying until nearly 4am, snapping photos, talking to the amazing staff at AIR, getting footage of the crowd and talent, and dancing and drinking until we hated ourselves in the morning. Oddly enough, my fat ass was constantly being flirted with, kissed, and butt pinched by the scores of gorgeous Dutch boys. I have to say, it was really flattering, and my husband/photographer laughed the entire time. HMMPH.
This was a great party, with great music (lite on the cheese), and great people truly getting lost in what they were listening to.
Check out more of Sander in our one on one interview with the Dutch maestro here:
Journalist/blogger since 2009 and music lover since 1980. Bex now travels the world and writes and takes photos of dance events, creates art in various media, sings quietly to her cat in the shower, and occasionally builds something that tends to involve a blowtorch. She can usually be seen hiding behind some sort of camera rig.
