Exploring the festival site at Dekmantel, there’s a lot of very different worlds to dip in and out of. At one moment you’re grooving to obscure african rhythms under the shade of a willow tree and a few minutes later you’re getting all serious and sweaty listening to Helena Hauff and DJ Stingray. The Dutch festival’s remarkable ability to deliver a super high standard of DJs across the electronic music spectrum is one of its biggest triumphs and each stage caters to a very specific mindset. Here’s some of our favourite spots this year.
A number of unorthodox programming choices were noticeable this year. Perhaps most inspired was the decision to put DJ Harvey on as the very first act on the Selectors stage. This not only encouraged people to make the cycle through the forest early, it also allowed the cult figure to set the tone for what would become one of the most intimate and enthralling stages throughout the weekend. Young Marco then picked up the baton next and geared up towards an unforgettable Theo Parrish and Marcellus Pittman five hour session. The duo traversed through everything from west african jazz and hi life right through to some of classic Detroit productions. D’Angelo’s Betray My Heart off his latest record was a particular curveball highlight.
The Boiler Room stage this year played host to some techno heavyweights like Ben Klock and Marcel Dettman as well as Sadar Bahar and Aroy Dee. One of the highlights for us was catching The Black Madonna and Mike Servito on the Saturday; a set that was well on it’s way to becoming one of the most high energy of the festival until one of the two DJs dropped in an electro swing track right at the end. Perhaps we were missing some kind of inside joke here but it seemed most of the crowd weren’t in on it either.
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Dekmantel’s lineup is aimed squarely at serious music heads; not surprisingly the festival’s founders are formidable DJs in their own right. This year Dekmantel Soundsytem opened up the main stage on all three days and the duo could usually be seen back there much later partying with the closing act. This year the main stage hosted Jeff Mills, Dixon and Motor City Drum Ensemble across the three days respectively. Dixon’s set worked particularly well surrounded by the huge wall of LEDs and a healthy amount of dry ice but MCDE’s closer on the Sunday had to be our personal fave. Having closed the Selectors stage in previous years, moving him to the main stage was another head-scratcher for a lot of people but he proved more than capable with a set that retained his usual charm and peppered in some more podium-worthy house tracks.
The Greenhouse stage supplied some particularly weird and wonderful moments beneath its glass roof and dense palm trees. 80s post-punk legends ESG gave a powerful performance on the friday playing classics like You’re No Good and UFO. Cinnaman and Tom Trago’s back to back session capped off the night with an unexpected dose of UKG which resonated with the largely british crowd. On Sunday the Greenhouse took on a dubbed out energy befitting of it’s tropical vibe. Lee Scratch Perry’s performance was as bizarre as it was enthralling whilst Digital Mystikz closer had the entire room bouncing around and waving gun fingers.
By night, parties were hosted back in the city at the Melkweg. Saturday was particularly memorable thanks to an epic back to back session from Hunee and Antal, Soichi Terada, who played beforehand, lingering in the background. The Rush Hour heavyweights delivered four hours of disco, funk and a fair few middle eastern jams like Ahmed Fakroun’s Soleil Soleil and Floating Points’ rework of Mimoun Marhaba. Throughout the festival local legends stood alongside the international names and often emerged as the highlights which is a testament to the strength of the current Dutch scene and artists like Young Marco, Antal and Cinnaman to name a few.
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Dekmantel also delivered a bunch of opening concerts and conferences scattered around Amsterdam’s waterfront. This included a rare chance to catch James Holden’s live band at the Muziekgebouw, Tony Allen and Azymuth both performing a short boat ride across the water at Tolhuistuin and Shackleton and Ernesto Tomasini at the new Eye building. A far larger selection of live music than past years offered a very inspiring start to things. The only problem being that it was impossible to catch everything or even get a look at all the spectacular venues on offer in one night.
One area that required some dedication on a sunny afternoon was the UFO stage; a dark, sweaty tent which played host to some of the more mind bending techno acts. Highlights included a sprawling mix from Berlin’s inimitable techno wiz Objekt and some punishingly loud noise from Ben Frost on the Friday. This show had a lot of fresh faced arrivals looking pretty terrified and lost. Still for us it was always a temptation to put a smile back on and head over to the Selectors for something a bit upbeat, especially given the perfect weather all weekend.
It’s certain that few festivals can offer such a wide variety of dance music and maintain such a high standard throughout. You really get a sense that every name has been carefully and lovingly selected by the organisers at Dekmantel, each artists carefully placed in the right surroundings alongside complimentary contemporaries. It all amounts to a festival that is increasingly one of the most important for Amsterdam and indeed, for Europe as a whole.
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Words: Jack Dolan
