Review: Dominator Festival (2017)

Let me first start out by saying that I originally was not planning on attending Dominator (also known as DOMMINNNATTTORRRR) this year (even though it's one of my favorite festivals and I had a blast in 2015), however once I found out one of my good friends and member of my rave family (shout out to the Hardcore Hooliganz!) won the DJ contest I knew I had to be there.

My crew and I boarded the first shuttle from Eindhoven at 10:00am sharp. Feeling a bit sore from falling off my bike (twice) the day before nothing like a bag full of chocolate muffins and a bus full of gabbers couldn't fix! We arrived at the festival a little before it opened and were escorted to the Place of Plunder (Talent stage). Finally it was time for my friend Treachery to play. As a mother does before her kid takes the field for the big game, I gave him a big hug, wished him good luck, and reassured him that he was going to do amazing and that me and our friends would be front and center cheering for him. I am, after all Mama Hooligan! Expectedly, Treachery destroyed the dance floor with some brutal hardcore tracks. Even though he was scheduled to play from 12:00-13:00, by 12:30 the dance floor was full with people dancing. A few people approached me during the set and said to me "You must be so proud!” I was way beyond proud. Having known Treachery both personally and professionally for three years, seeing him play at the biggest hardcore festival in the world was such an honor. It was so much fun dancing with my big group of friends from all over the world to my friend's music. Thank you again to everyone who came out to his set!

Next up for me was the QSA (group of American hard dance fans) meet up at Sefa then Hong Kong Violence, both special for me because this was the last time for a long time I would see my friend Frank before he moved. Frank and I both share a love for terrorcore and it was so much fun having a final hoorah before he had to leave. The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around, networking, and catching up with friends. While wandering around I ran into Bass-D, who I know from Gabber FM, and asked him if he wanted a kandi (American rave bracelets) he said that he already had three bracelets from me at this point…oops! Since I came here for the first time in 2014 it has been my life mission to bring kandi to the Netherlands. Anyways back to Dominator, I also had the pleasure of finally meeting the beautiful Cassi from Alive at Night in person. It's always inspiring meeting other ladies who work in this scene.

Next up was Unexist featuring my friend Satronica! Satronica is an awesome DJ and MC from.. you guessed it... America! I had the chance to see this act twice both on the main stage and at the Labyrinth stage, which was awesome. To get to the Labyrinth stage you had to go through this corn maze thing (well without the corn), which was hilarious to watch everyone going in circles (okay it was me who was kinda lost). It was so much fun partying with Unexist and Satronica they make quite a team! We then headed to the industrial stage to catch Partyraiser, which is always a blast and then danced on stage during Sickest Squad vs Andy the Core, which was absolutely wild.

The day went by so fast even though we got there before it opened, the next time I checked the time it was 22:30 and I was dancing to Drokz vs Akira when I realized the end show had already started! It was an incredible day and a huge day for American hardcore. My only suggestion to Art of Dance and Q Dance to improve the festival is to make it three days (or I could do a week honestly). Next up I'm going back in time to the 90s to Guilty Pleasure Festival!