MIDNIGHT MAFIA

Written by Cale Hackfath

I arrived a little late and the police presence was high even when I arrived. That being said they all seemed relaxed and in a more observation role rather than patting down every person. Given the current climate of festivals in NSW, I was expecting a full cavity search, I am glad this did not happen. I did, however, arrive just in time to watch the opening ceremony which was great and really showed that HSU (Harder Style United) once again had gone above and beyond with the quality of production.

Zatox kicked things off for the night and it was definitely a good set. He played a lot of his new music with the highlight probably been “hard bass”.

Up next was Coone whom I had seen 6 times before but this was the first live set I had seen him play. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much from this set but I was surprised at the quality. He played all of his Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike remixes, which I think, are better than the originals. Best song of the set was probably his new track ‘elite’ with Da Tweekaz and Hard Driver closely followed by his final song which I think is unreleased. 

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Next up were D-block and S-tefan who were performing their ‘ghost stories’ live set. Was a decent set but I wasn’t too impressed by it, although the general consensus from others was that it was a good set.
Up next was Tweekacore aka the happy hardcore version of Da Tweekaz. This set in my eyes was incredible mainly due to the pace they play. Typically a lot of their music is quite melodic so when they speed it up with some wicked kicks it makes for great raving and dancing. They played an absolute banging remix of Armin Van Buuren's “blah blah blah” which was the highlight of the set for me.

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Next up was when the night went to another level when Sub Zero Project started with their ‘contagion’ live set. They kicked things off with what I want to say was 200bpm song which really got everyone's attention. They followed this up with one the tunes of the night which was their remix of Fisher's ‘losing it’ (Video Below). Was awesome to see hardstyle take on the song that is sweeping the world (footage of it is on their facebook page). HSU also stepped up the lasers and lighting during this set, which made for great viewing. Sub Zero Project played a lot of their new music during this set and was probably the 3rd best set of the night. 

Up next was yet again another live set, this time from D-Sturb who after a successful Australian tour played yet again a crazy set. He played all his main tunes including ‘drown’ and ‘nothing like the old school’ also threw in a Greasy Puzzy Fuckers track which for those who don’t know can play songs up to 300bpm. 

The best set of the night was Warface who came up next with his Heavy Artillery live set. I had not seen him before and he did not disappoint. During this set, he played his main tracks including ‘ I need you’ which I swear almost broke the speakers. The energy his guy has on stage is second to none. There was not one person in the hall not throwing their hands up during this set. I won't lie I kind of lost my self during the second half of his set and just let the music take over my soul. He finished his set with a remix of ‘last resort’ which was a great way to end.

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Angerfist closed out the night with a typical Angerfist set that was hard and fast. I think a lot of people had lost all their energy during Warfaces set which was understandable. He played his main tracks but didn’t blow me away compared to sets I had seen previously.

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Overall was a mental night. Would have to say it was the best HSU event to date and a lot of people seem to support the statement. The production was crazy with the best lasers and lighting I have seen in a while. On top of that, they really went all out with the line-up. Warface by far was the highlight of the night, this guy is going to take over the hardstyle scene in the next few years. 

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Despite the negative news coverage, you wouldn’t have known that 4 people got taken to hospital and there was a number of people treated at the medical tent. I feel like these festivals get unfairly targeted and this number was quite a low one and nothing different to the bigger festivals like splendour. The only thing that has annoyed me about the night is that I'm still waiting for the ‘losing it’ remix by Sub-Zero project to be released.