10 tracks that dominated the first ever Music On Festival

They say that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Neither was Music On, Marco Carola’s aural empire that now stretches from Italy to Frankfurt, and Ibiza to Amsterdam. It’s been many years since the Napoli-born DJ left his hometown in Southern Italy and started on the long road to international acclaim.

This ascension has seen many milestones. ‘Hard Melody’, his first release in 1995, and the start of the inception of Music On at Amnesia Ibiza in 2012 were both defining moments. But last week, Carola held the first Music On festival in Amsterdam’s Meerpark. There was no doubt about it, it was a watershed moment.

Marco Carola’s vision has expanded outside of Ibiza. But if Music On Amsterdam was a transition for the now seven-year-old event, it was one Carola appeared not to have struggled with. Tickets sold out weeks in advance and hordes of British and Italian fans crossed borders to be there. The event was organised in collaboration with Loveland, a group of Amsterdam promoters who have also, coincidentally, been in the game since 1995. The overarching mood was one of celebration. Almost all the acts that played were close affiliates of Carola. This lent Saturday a feeling of a family reunited.

The production was superb. For 12 hours Meerpark was home to two stages: a greenhouse complete with full shrubbery that within hours was a mass of sweating bodies, and a main stage inside a sizeable tent replete with a striking light show and an almost unnecessary array of dry ice cannons. As the cavernous space filled throughout the afternoon, the whoops and whistles intensified. By the time Marco Carola took to the decks, he had already made his point:

Music On is no longer an event, it is a movement. Check out the top tracks of the festival below.

Leon, The Greenhouse

It was early and punters were still flooding through the gates of Meerpark. Italian-born Leon played first, laying down a set of rolling tech-house shot through with US garage to a small but growing crowd. Sun shone through the perspex ceiling of the greenhouse, the site’s second stage, as Leon droped ‘Baby Can You Reach’, a skittish garage cut by Todd Terry under his Lime Life alias.

Benny Rodrigues, The Greenhouse

Later, the covered main stage of Music On Amsterdam would be full of heaving bodies. But in the early hours of the festival, when the sun was still shining, the greenhouse was the place to be. Benny Rodrigues gauged the mood perfectly, playing disco-tinged house full of warm, driving basslines and crisp snares. Dancers fanned each other as, unsurprisingly, the greenhouse began to heat up and the crowd began to sweat.

Stacey Pullen, The Greenhouse

As a key player in the second wave of Detroit techno, Pullen needs no introduction. He’s one of the few who learnt from, and directly followed, the holy trinity of Atkins, May and Saunderson. His sets are usually driven by rolling, interlocking grooves rather than dramatic builds and drops. In the greenhouse, Pullen kept the crowd moving by deploying propulsive, complex rhythms. When he did reach for less restrained tracks, his selections always avoided formulaic breakdowns or overwrought drops. 'Rumania' was one such track, a poly-rhythmic slice of mandolin-sampling heaven.

Loco Dice, Main Stage

Tunisian born and Dusseldorf raised, Loco Dice is best known for creating subtly shifting tapestries with his music. He kicked off on the main stage with a number of low-key but dynamic selections. Before long Dice had brought the space near to boiling point. By the time he had dropped 'Bochica', the crowd stretched to the far end of the tent and the space was thick with bodies. The track’s siren-like sample and growling pads left the dancefloor cheering for more.

The Martinez Brothers, The Main Stage

Steve and Chris Martinez sit atop the pantheon of contemporary disc jockeys. Few acts play as often or are as well respected as the fraternal duo. Playing second only to Marco Carola himself, The Martinez Brothers laid down two hours of percussive tech-house, short on melody but packed with attitude. Opting for a higher bpm than Loco Dice, the Bronx-duo soon had the tent jacking in time to their selections.

The Martinez Brothers, The Main Stage

'Penrose Steps' began without much affair, but within two minutes the crowd was locked into its frenzied, climbing melody. When it came, the tracks almost comically large drop was accompanied by jet streams of dry ice. The second time the drop came around, the crowd was already screaming for more.

Apollonia, The Greenhouse

Possibly the finest set of the afternoon, Shonky, Dan Ghenacia and Dyed Soundorom played to a packed greenhouse whilst The Martinez Brothers made way for Marco Carola on the main stage. After the sun set, the trio would opt towards electro and techno, but while the light remained they laid down polished deep house grooves like Savas Pascalidis’ 'Superman', with its distorted strings and horns.

Apollonia, The Greenhouse

When Apollonia get together, their all-vinyl sets veer between unidentifiable underground cuts and pure classics. On Saturday it wasn’t long before they were into party-starting territory, dropping classics like Matt O'Brien’s 'Serotone', an evil sounding, warehouse-style track that had fists pumping and faces screwing across the dancefloor.

Marco Carola, The Main Stage

It would have been impossible not to notice Carola’s arrival on stage. The throng of admirers surrounding the decks parted as the mastermind behind Music On moved through the crowd. After resetting the tone with an atmospheric, climbing track, Carola went off-piste. Less than half an hour in, Carola dropped Jeremy Castillo’s 'Beat That', a slice of ghetto tech-house madness, as lasers segmented the crowd and jets of dry ice shot from the ceiling.

Marco Carola, The Main Stage

At its heart, Music On Amsterdam was a celebration of both Marco Carola and Music On’s success. Usually, Carola's demeanor is intensely focussed, almost detached, when he plays. But on Saturday he looked more relaxed, almost jubilant, as he presided. For his set, Carola went full-on party-starter, layering the vocal from Technotronic’s Pump Up The Jam on top of this track’s tribal rhythm.

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