Dekmantel is the festival that always gets it so right

Helena Hauff b2b DJ Stingray - UFO, Friday

Skipping a Ricardo Villalobos set is never a decision to take lightly, and it wasn’t without mild emotional turmoil that we dragged ourselves away from the main stage half an hour into his flow. But when two of the world’s most explosive DJs are simultaneously playing a one-off back-to-back set, tough decisions have to be made. It took mere seconds of Helena Hauff and DJ Stingray’s powerful selections for any lingering doubts to dissipate, with the blistering force of their electro hitting hard immediately upon entry to the UFO tent. Stingray stood stock still in his balaclava beside the decks during the moments Helena took charge, patiently waiting his turn – a stark contrast to the untamed limb flailing present throughout the audience. It was the kind of set that had us screwing ours faces up in disbelief at the ferocity of the records being spun, catching the eyes of fellow crowd members and sharing looks that detailed in split seconds that this was something special. That’s part of the beauty of Dekmantel. Not only do the bookers know how to pull together a world-class bill, they know how to bring aspects of it even closer together to send the quality rocketing into another dimension.

Ben UFO b2b Joy Orbison – Main Stage, Friday

More fine Friday programming saw two DJs widely regarded as among the most eclectic around rotating for two hours behind the booth of the centre stage. It’s impossible to pick out one track as a marker from a Ben UFO and Joy Orbison set, with the span of records they pull out traversing wide genres and BPMs, tied together by the common thread of being surefire dance floor destroyers. Azzido Da Bass’ ‘Dooms Night’ sparked the wildest movement. The murky bass palpitations that sound like techno windscreen wipers synced up with the throbbing rainbow visuals of the impressive light display, combing for an intoxicating aural and optical experience. After exploring the depths of bassweight, the pair turned to the highs of brassweight with the blaring horns of Karizma’s exultant ‘Nuffin Else’ dragging us to lofty realms of euphoria, before the atmosphere got sultry with Mood II Swing’s ‘CaLL mE (Moody Dub)’. In a way this set typified Dekmantel, showcasing a deep passion for varying strands of electronic music and presenting them in a pitch-perfect manner. Which at the foundations is precisely what the festival stands for.