Review: Dekmantel offered up yet another joyous weekend in the forest

Over the years, our love for Amsterdam has been undeniable. We took an in-depth look at the Dutch capital last year with our Amsterdam 2.0 feature and it's clear to see that the clubs are some of the best on the planet. When it comes to festivals there though, it's all about Dekmantel. Every. Damn. Time.

We've been at every one of the five editions now and one thing's become glaringly obvious: it's one of most consistent festivals around and arguably the best dance music festival in Europe. It's a bold statement, we know, but the organisers, the DJs, the location, hell, even the punters, everything about it is so right.

The location, as always, remained the same and the picturesque, wonderfully easy to navigate Amsterdamse Bos acted as our woodland wonderland for the weekend. The soundsystems banged as usual and the sun, bar one rainy spell on Saturday night, kept shining for the duration. Everything was in place for another classic year.

What about the music? The unbelievably good house, techno, disco, electro and everything in between. Well, that comes down to the line-up. The programming has always been outrageously good and when people ask the question "who's playing at Dekmantel this year?" it's easier to reply with the acts that aren't. This year was one of the boldest yet, with highlights like Ben UFO headlining the Main Stage on Saturday, DAF playing a rare live show in the Greenhouse and Nina Kraviz playing disco and Italo as the first set of the day on Friday at Selectors.

The artists who are booked don't just play "normal" sets either, they play Dekmantel sets, sets that go down in history as soon as they've finished. The A-games get pulled out of the locker and dance music classics are always intertwined with the hottest new cuts on the market.

Was Dekmantel different this year compared to any of the other incarnations? Not really, but that's the point. It always delivers, it never falters and its magic is as pure as the first time you go there. What started as an in-the-know getaway in Amsterdam is now a global affair that has the entire dance music world talking and for good reason. Festivals don't really get much better and we're already chomping at the bit for next year.

As always, we rolled around the site absorbing the best sets, the best tunes and the best moments. You can check out the tunes that went down below and if you really want to relive the action, let these 100 tracks from the festival cover you in a warm blanket of joy.

Never change Dekmantel because we want to feel this good every year.

Nina Kraviz - Selectors Stage, Friday

After landing on Thursday and keeping things restrained, we were absolutely raring to go by Friday morning. The sun was shining, people were cycling toward Amsterdam Bos (the forest in which Dekmantel is held) and we were eagerly anticipating the day’s first heady pint of Grolsch. Despite a strong smell of cow manure wafting across site (rumoured to have been laid down by an angry neighbouring farmer), four hours of Nina Kraviz dropping disco, Italo and boogie at the Selectors stage was the perfect start. From Charlie’s ‘Spacer Woman’ to ‘Apples On The Snow’ by Russia's own Mamurov, it was fascinating to see Kraviz push herself with records you’ve probably never heard her play before. LAR

But she wasn’t finished there. Kraviz was one of a select few DJs to play multiple sets when she popped up by surprise at the Boiler Room stage early on day two. What ensued was an hour of power featuring swerving cuts like Drewsky’s ‘Wigged Out’ and ‘Twi Lite’ by Freestyle Orchestra as well as some trademark acid and techno. The perfect energy boost. LAR

Byron The Aquarius - Greenhouse and Boiler Room, Friday

The Greenhouse stage is one of Dekmantel’s shining lights. With its lush ferns, wooden floor and glass sides, it’s the most welcoming stage on site when the sun is shining. At 3pm on Friday afternoon, Byron The Aquarius made his Dekmantel debut. We were expecting big things from the Alabama native after his Impact mix for us earlier this year and we weren’t let down. The man who only learned to mix three years ago proceeded to roll out a set of jazzy deep house big on groove and swing. Fulbert’s ‘Take It Easy’ and ‘Quartier Sex’ by Mad Rey were among the highlights but it was the beautifully optimistic keys of Mood II Swing’s ‘Ohh’ that captured the vibe of the day. It was so nice he even played it twice. LAR

Omar S - Main Stage, Friday

Detroit's finest. Omar S pretty much encompasses everything that Dekmantel promotes: consistency and precision. It's rare that you'll see Omar miss and his set at the Main Stage on Friday was as close to house perfection as you can get. The mixes were spot on, the weather was great and the tracks were as good as they always are with Omar. Donning a bucket hat and gold chain, the coolest cat in dance music did the Motor City proud and of course 'Thank U 4 Letting Me Be Myself' sounded fucking beautiful when it oozed through two of the sexiest Funktion One stacks in the world. Funster

Robert Hood - Main Stage, Friday

Closing out the Main Stage on any given day is an honour reserved for only the most respected DJs at Dekmantel. These are the tunes that will send you into the night, stumbling towards an afterparty and paying a rather large Uber surcharge. The homegrown pairing of Hunee and Antal closed the festival Sunday and Ben UFO smashed it on Saturday, but with everyone going ham on the first day, it could only be the steady hand of Dekmantel regular Robert Hood to see everyone into the night. Hearing one Detroit don play fellow Detroit legend Jeff Mills’ ‘The Bells’ was special but it was the stampeding drop of ‘Video Siren’ by Gary Beck that had 10,000 fists in the air. LAR

Volvox b2b Umfang - Boiler Room, Saturday

A perfect example of why female representation in dance music matters so much. As someone on Twitter pointed out, when Umfang & Volvox jumped on at the Boiler Room stage, the front row turned from sausage fest to all girls in just 10 minutes. And what a set they were treated to. The Discwoman duo kept the energy levels high with their bristling electro on Saturday as a sunny day turned to a drizzly evening turned to night. As everyone tried their best to squeeze into the rickety tin structure, it created a womb-like atmosphere under the red strip lighting. As the Dutch say, it was Gezelligheid. Ending their set with Manix’s slice of euphoric hardcore ‘Feel Real Good’ was an inspired choice. With the rain cleared by the time they finished, everyone was sent back into the real world feeling real damn good. (btw special shoutout to the duo for playing Sonic Solution 'Turbulence', a track we couldn't find online but was easily one of the festival's best). LAR

Ben UFO - Main Stage, Saturday

Ben UFO isn't just a UK favourite, he's one of the most trusted and loved selectors in dance music and although you can never exactly pin point which way he's going to take it, he always exudes a confidence and eloquence behind the decks that's rare to find. His headline set on Saturday night at the Main Stage was one of the most talked about before and after it took place. Beforehand, people were brimming with excitement as to what he'd bring to the table, afterwards, the praise came pouring in for a selector who seemed in his absolute element. The UK-facing set covered breaks, garage, house and techno with incredible fluidity. Tracks like 'Targa' by Untold and Overmono's remix of 'Degreelessness by Nathan Fake were set against more chugging cuts like 'Demented (Or Just Crazy) by Tres Demented and the Medieval mix of 'Westworld' by Chiapet. As far as DJ sets go, Ben UFO may well have just played one of his best ever and we think that 99 per cent of the people who witnessed it with us would probably agree. Funster

Shanti Celeste - Main Stage, Sunday

It’s pretty well known that Sunday is the best day of Dekmantel. Not only does it have an absolute powerhouse line-up but after multiple days of partying, people are fully lubricated and eager to make new friends if they haven’t already. Shanti Celeste began on the main stage at 3pm to about 100 ravers who had gotten down early and by the end had the place packed in anticipation for Palms Trax. It was truly a joy to watch the selector weave seamlessly through disco, 90s house classics and also throw in her latest production ‘Make Time’. It ebbed, it flowed and it did what all good DJs do; filled the floor. And with DJ Romain’s ‘All Day, All Night’ she rushed to the front of this scribe’s DJ of the year list. LAR

Palms Trax - Main Stage, Sunday

Fuck, Sunday was just so good. Afternoon/early evening sets can be hard, people are still recovering from the day/night before and can it can be tricky to coerce them into really throwing their all into it but it seemed everyone had Dekmantel family member Palms Trax keyed into their diaries as a must-watch. Kicking off with Don Carlos' 'Alone', a throwback to his killer Boiler Room last year, he proceeded to play a gem of a set filled with sunshine-appropriate bangers like Ditongo ‘Longo’, Davina ‘Don’t You Want It’ and the S-Tone remix of Montego Bay’s ‘Everything’ that had Shazammers out in force. But it was towards the end when the creeping rapid-fire arp from the recently released 'Tin' by Caribou that gave the set it's emotional climax. Like proud parents, we just couldn't help but feel unbelievably proud. LAR

DJ Bone - Boiler Room, Sunday

Larry Heard aka Mr Fingers was always going to draw in a huge crowd for his live show at the Main Stage and rightfully so. We caught a bit of the house music legend and while we enjoyed it, we were in the mood for some bite, some spank and some fucking rowdy pace. As you know by now, Dekmantel offers a bit of everything at every stage but it was a no-brainer for us as to who would provide the fury. DJ Bone, the Detroit staple turned in one of the feistiest hours of power of the whole festival, ramming out the stage in the corner of the site. 130bpm was of course the bare minimum and he rattled through classics by Robert Hood, Gary Beck and more. His spangly banger 'Detroit Is Hard' was our favourite and he also proved that he is undeniably, extremely hard too. Funster

Call Super b2b Objekt - Selectors, Sunday

And we'd made it, the end of the festival had arrived and to be honest, we were fucking gutted. To finish it off, there were a few tricky choices to be made. Did we opt for the Main Stage b2b of Antal and Hunee or did we go for Call Super and Objekt at Selectors. Actually, it wasn't a hard decision to make as the night before we'd been to Shelter and Call Super was on fire. He played tracks like 'All Night Long' by Layo & Bushwacka (one of our favourites of the entire weekend) and 'A Matter Of Time' by Developer (one of the tracks that collectively melted our faces off), both of which blew us away. With that pocketed and in our minds, we went to everyone's favourite forrest spot for one last dance. Naturally the two friends and esteemed DJs played an absolute blinder that brought together everything that makes a perfect set. There were classics, there was techno and there were sing-along moments. We've never actually heard 'It Feels So Good' by Sonique in the middle of the rave before but we can safely say it was one of the best moments of our lives. Ever. Thank you so much for playing it, we owe you a life-affirming dance music moment. Funster

Funster is Mixmag's Deputy Digital Editor and after four trips to Dekmantel he finally found the Boiler Room Stage, follow him on Twitter

Louis Anderson-Rich is Mixmag's Digital Intern and he had a hotel breakfast at 10am every day, follow him on Twitter