Back to Holland after my (Emeric Dally) first in trip some 20 years and there is no better way than ADE to reconnect with Amsterdam than the Amsterdam Dance Event.
When looking at the map given to us by the ADE shop at Amsterdam Central, I find that more than 100 venues are hosting the conference this year. Incredible! More than a great organization, ADE is a culture, a spirit, and a state of mind. When we go from one event to another, I realize what ADE is about, discovering new talents, have a chance to meet some pioneers and make new friends.
The 10 year anniversary of the Amsterdam Dance Event celebrated the growth of Electronic Music across the globe, providing music lovers with the most ambitious DJ’s lineups and music conferences, wrapping up all sorts of programs related to the music industry in a single package. No wonder why ADE has become the leading platform that unites performers, fans and brands alike. With thousands of activities going on simultaneously all day and night, it is impossible to attend all the events scheduled for the five days but certainly worth the time to network as much as possible during the stay.
With a big smile, and with music still pounding in my ears, I made my return to Miami. ADE went beyond what I expected. The artistic heritage of the city combined with the well-prepared musical journey that the conference offers is definitely a memorable experience for anyone. However, this was my first time in Europe, my Wolf Story partner Rico and myself made a first stop in France for one of our tour gigs. We started with the local collective Iboga at a cool underground venue called Braque in what actually seemed to be a cave! It was a perfect warm-up that set us all up for the next day to take the three-hour train trip to Holland for our next gig on the Go Deeva showcase. It was a cloudy day when we arrived, very windy with a 70% probability of precipitation, but the spirit of the city was so fulfilling and perfect, especially having all those cyclists taking over the streets and keeping ourselves alert, a unique welcoming gesture from Holland.
We dedicated the rest of the day getting all situated and getting in touch with some other friends that were arriving the same day…and, of course, the first recommendation came from the first taxi driver we took which was to visit some famous Coffee Shop around the corner. A recommendation that was taken very seriously during the whole stay. After getting a quick shower and a nice lunch we arrived at the Go Deeva boat party, it was nice to see our good friend Simone Vitullo head boss of the label party and meet up for the first time with Nihil Young aka Less Hate, the man behind Frequenza Records.
There we also met Saeed Younan, a pioneer in the Dance music scene in D.C. and Ivan Pica from Madrid who seems to have lost his voice because of a cold but he is still smiling most of the night. It is always a pleasure to see all this familiar faces in a foreign country. The showcase was just on point and very energetic from the beginning to the end.
The next day we get ready for part II, Nihil Young’s Frequenza showcase with KMS headboss Dantiez Saunderson. The event is in a new venue called Jazzabel in the west side of Amsterdam, which happens to be 5 min from our house! Nihil has worked so hard to prepare this event, from the promo, the bookings, he even did the visuals himself. At first the event is a little quiet – though we arrived early, but by the time we take on the decks, the room is packed. We enjoy some Melodic Techno by a dude we discover that night Aris Von. We also enjoy the vibe from Ben Fix as he takes on the stage, Ben is from Miami, like us, so we find our selves arms in the air when he plays. He said something I thought was meaningful, that he likes those kind of intimate events, these are the events where you can actually meet people! When it’s time for Dantiez to close down the show, it’s almost 4 am or so and the club is getting just a little quiet. That’s when Nihil comes up with the best trick, he comes to us and say: “On stage, everyone!” and there we go, all the Frequenza family on stage, it feels like we are a thousand fans jamming to Dantiez beats, what a great way to close ADE! With that pleasant feeling when something is accomplished, we encourage everyone to consider ADE as your next trip destination on your calendar for 2018.
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Words by Steve Sanx & Emeric Dally aka Wolf Story
