The Harder View

We Australians are not as spoiled as the Dutch when it comes down to how many parties, festivals and hard dance clubs we have available to us, and considering the majority of the visits to this site are from Australia, it’s only fair that we at The Harder View, provide our Aussie party-goers with as much information and possible, and help promote the local events/nights with any additional exposure we can provide.

First up…DEFQON.1! – September 19

One month remains..

September 19.

That’s right folks, only ONE MONTH until Australia’s first edition of Defqon.1 kicks off.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, Defqon.1 is one of Holland’s biggest dance festivals, catering to over 40,000 hard dance enthusiasts through a variety of music styles for 12 hours. Every year it features a staggering lineup of artists from around the world, unmatched production value including a huge fireworks show toward the end. Now, for the first time ever they’re bringing it overseas to provide Australian hard dance audiences with an unforgettable, authentic Defqon.1 experience at the isolated (no sound limits!) Sydney International Regatta Centre.

Check out the huge lineup or take a look at the trailer, which gives you an indication of the scope of the location and our festive anthem. A look at the aftermovie for the Dutch edition of Defqon.1 goes to show the amount of effort is put into this event. Even if you aren’t a fan of hard dance, the production value of Q-Dance events are unrivaled, and it’d be worth coming to Defqon.1 just for that alone.

First release tickets have now sold out, but I believe that if you use the following code when purchasing through the Q-Dance ticket site, you’ll receive a small discount on your ticket purchases. The code is: 379237.

Australian Hard Dance DJ Championships 2009 – August 28.

The Australian Hard Dance DJ Championships for 2009 entries may have closed, but the unorganised voting section of the competition is now underway.. I think, it keeps claiming that the voting is finished, so maybe it’s over.. But don’t worry about it!

Come down to your state’s respective venues and watch your state’s winners play ridiculous/extremely short sets to be judged by the one and only Brennan Heart (except Adelaide for some reason). Brennan Heart will also be apparently playing a set which is more than likely going to be comprised of his recently released album, Musical Impressions.

If you do manage to find out how to vote, I recommend NSW – Sytrax, Cona, Likquid, QLD - Khanage. Big ups and best of luck to all involved.

Tickets can be purchased on the cheap through Moshtix (hurry, not many left!).

The Forest – August 22

A night run by a local lad, Lihan, is exceptionally good value and bound to be a fun night for all attending.

Located at Hermann’s Bar near the University of Sydney, it promises to be a night covering all degrees of hardness, starting out with hardhouse, moving to early hardstyle, through to nu and modern hardstyle (shout out to Newcastle superstar, Delete), then finally finishing with a hardcore/industrial set from Practice, of Melbourne/Global Hardstyle fame.

21:00 – 03:00, $15 on the door, $10 if you’re on the Facebook guestlist, cheap drinks, good music, this will be a good night out.

Check out the flyer for more information and the full lineup.

The Fusion of Sound World Tour – Melbourne – September 27

Great for Melbournators who won’t be able to make it up to Sydney for Defqon.1, or even those who just can’t satisfy their hardstyle craving, Zany’s somewhat delayed Fusion of Sound World Tour has finally hit Australia.

Unfortunately for Sydneysiders (thanks to the Sublime re-envisioning), this is an exclusive show to Melbourne at PHD.

Compared to previous FoSWT events, in which Zany was accompanied by The Beholder, Dozer, The Prophet and a multitude of impressive internationals, they’ve skimped out on the Australian leg, giving us only Jowan, Donkey Rollers and Zany himself.

Donkey Rollers on a club system should be more than satisfying however, and for $40 presale ($60 on the door), it’s definitely worth it.

For more info, visit the Pure Hard Dance website.

Utopia Music Festival 2009 – November 21

No doubt attempting to ride of the wave of success that will undoubtedly spur from Defqon.1, Powerhouse Productions have deemed it necessary to attempt to have a festival of their own. Ranging from hard trance to happy hard, hardstyle to hardcore, there’s something on the bill for everyone.

Take a look at the flyer for a better overview of the Utopia lineup, but the headliners for the event are as follows:

• Josh & Wesz
• Abyss & Judge
• Catscan
• Ruffneck
• Predator
• Ophidian
• Dark by Design
• Robbie Long
• Brisk
• Uplift & Scar

Apart from these headliners, there is a huge amount of local talent to fill in the gaps in the 12 hour event at Sydney Showground.

For the trivial $65 ticket price, providing the weather remains pleasant, it’s bound to be a fun day in the sun listening to some harder tunes.

Audio Surgery – October 24

Last but not least, we have Audio Surgery on the 24th of October. For $40 at The Gaelic, you’ll be treated to a night of hard dance from the likes of Organ Donors, Dr Willis and Kidd Kaos, and hands up and hardstyle from the usual suspects, locals including Bioweapon, Nitrouz, SDEE, Suae & Pulsar and many more.

The next couple of months are going to drain a few bank accounts, but there’s going to be good times in the pipeline!

I’m sure I’ve probably missed a few events, but if you’d like your (semi-major) event included, leave information/the flyer in the comments and I’ll add it to the list.