This is my first Q-Dance party since my time in Amsterdam last July. I didn’t have much expectation for this party because it’s smaller but managed to have a decent night out meeting mates i haven’t seen for years.
That day was a long day. I met several goers at Central Station waiting for the same bus as me. There was a Swiss couple coming along and only going to this party because they are on holidays in Australia for a few months. Also, there were two blokes from Brisbane who wouldn’t miss Q-Dance for the world after their experience and of X-Qlusive party held in their city. There was also a small group from Newcastle who arrived early because of infrequent train travel.
Obviously, we boarded the same bus and it was packed. About half are going to that party and the rest are just other passengers. A passenger beside me commented ‘It must be Q-Dance today. I should have bought my tickets’. I quickly replied ‘Nah, don’t bother’ and there was a spontaneous laughter for those who heard my wits. I don’t have high expectation for this party because of my previous experience in Europe, but thought i just come anyway because my mates i met in Sensation Black Amsterdam are coming along.
So, i arrived at Hordern Pavilion around 9.10pm and there was surprisingly a fast processing at the gates. I just go to the gates, security guards body search me and check all my possessions and then another bloke behind him collects my ticket. After that i met a mate who i haven’t seen for almost 2 years and we used to go to similar parties back then. Obviously, those days of frequent rave party attendances has past us but still we continue to come along partially for nostalgia. Our group started gathering up and we had a photo taken by one of us. We took out time going inside the venue, but before that some of our group were VIP members which means they were eligible for t-shirts and other goodies.
Eventually we went in. My first impression is that the venue was so small! It can fit about 5 thousand but at least the stage is decent for this kind of party. Yeah i know, those days of 48,000 fellas like in Sensation Black are behind me and it isn’t wise to compare it with this party. But i can’t help it. This doesn’t mean i’ll be ‘down’ throughout the party. Just have to make the most of it, no matter how difficult it be.
Fausto was pretty entertaining. He was keen to get the crowd going. He sometimes acts like an MC by jumping onto the desk and clap his hands above his head trying to initiate the crowd to follow him. I did a bit of dance with a can of Heineken on my left hand. No prizes there why i chose that beer, even if it costed me 7 bucks!
And so i met a bloke who started asking questions of my experience in Amsterdam and what the party was like. I replied back with few comments just to compare this party to that. But didn’t want to drag that comparison any further than necessary or else it makes me go upset.
…but ended up talking throughout the night. He wants to live in Amsterdam and party like i did but for an average Joe it just isn’t possible without a decent resume to compete with local Dutchmen. Suddenly, a Dutchman heard me saying about Amsterdam. He is from Eindhoven, but said he is from ‘Amsterdam’ because usually Aussies usually can relate to Amsterdam and never heard of Eindhoven. Then he started talking further about his 7 years of parties in Holland. “What do you think of Holland?” I replied “The weather is crap”. Then a sudden pause from him showing his defeat of trying to suss out a positive comment as my first reply. He then said “Yeah, the weather is horrible, but besides that what do you think?” I said in cool tone “Yeah it was a great experience. Big parties every fortnight”.
I wondered why is he in this party? He explained to me that him and his mate are on Working Holiday visa and planning to travel around for about a year as a backpacker. His friend decided to come to this party for just a novel factor. So we talked about 20min outside but it was long enough. Didn’t want to be rude but my mate is feeling ‘left behind’ while me and the Dutchman was talking about stuff he cannot relate. While i was heading back inside he did said to me that he felt isolated. I expected he would say that.
I came to this party to meet my mates i met in Amsterdam and i won’t leave this place without meeting them and share my greetings. I got in contact with them by exchanging text messages and eventually i tracked them down by their description of their whereabouts. It was a challenging task for me to find them because there were so many blokes in black shirts and jeans. After 5 minutes, i found them and tapped on their shoulder. An instant excitement by them. We stayed together in groups and constantly exchanged comments about our thoughts of the DJ sets, the stage presentation and crowd mood. I did admit to her and him that the crowd in Q-Dance is more bubbly and energetic than in Sensation Black where they just bobbed around and acted much more passively.
I left the party about 4.45am. We got bored of the party because the sets were very mellow and patchy. I personally preferred general hardstyle and not this hardstyle-happy hardcore fusion with 30sec patchworks. Call me old skool but i preferred the scene back 3 years ago. Maybe i’m getting too old for this party.
