- The weather was dour on the Saturday of Crave Festival, and yet the distant sound of a kick drum cut through the grey sky to send me eagerly through the gates. The Hague festival's lineup had piqued my interest, combining great up-and-coming acts such as OKO DJ and Scientific Dreamz Of U with more established party starters like Courtesy and Levon Vincent. While it might seem like Amsterdam dominates the Dutch festival landscape, plenty of crews outside the capital have been getting more attention outside of the Netherlands.
Most people associate The Hague with electro and rave. The Intergalactic FM & Creme Organization stage, where I spent most of my day, very much upheld this reputation. Walled off by a river, the vibe was more like a free party than a ticketed festival. Occasionally, crowds of confused locals would gather on the other side of the water to watch the enthusiastic dancers. I was consistently struck by the rawness of the music, from the brutal electro of Alienata and DJ Stingray to Ekman's slamming live techno and the funky acid of I-F's Beverly Hills 808303 project. A punchy soundsystem made each track sound amazing. One of the reasons I love dance music is its constant evolution, the dizzying speed with which new micro-genres pop up and fade away, but there's also something invigorating about hearing those early reference points delivered well.
That's not to say the festival was a purely retro affair. A closing set from the Hessle Audio trio drew heavily on new club music, while over at the main stage, modern techno was the order of the day. Aurora Halal delivered a masterclass, trippy and psychedelic yet tough and punchy. Local hero Deniro kept it fast, funky and dark, before Matrixxman, returning to Crave Festival after what I was told was a triumphant set in 2017, peppered his selections with ghetto house and disco curveballs. The sound there was very impressive, too, and I regretted forgetting my earplugs on my last-minute dash out of the door.
Crave Festival's crowd was switched-on and passionate, slightly older, with a rough-around-the-edges raver appeal that some festivals lack. The sound was solid—at times amazing—across the site. There was minimal queuing. One element with room for improvement, though, was the visual direction: plumes of haze in the lit-up paths were a nice touch, but there wasn't much variation in the stage design, with each stage resembling an aircraft hangar. And you couldn't help but wonder how much better it all would have been with just a second of real sunshine. But these are minor points. Ultimately, Crave was a brilliant expression of The Hague's rave pedigree.
Photo credit /
Pierre Zylstra
That's not to say the festival was a purely retro affair. A closing set from the Hessle Audio trio drew heavily on new club music, while over at the main stage, modern techno was the order of the day. Aurora Halal delivered a masterclass, trippy and psychedelic yet tough and punchy. Local hero Deniro kept it fast, funky and dark, before Matrixxman, returning to Crave Festival after what I was told was a triumphant set in 2017, peppered his selections with ghetto house and disco curveballs. The sound there was very impressive, too, and I regretted forgetting my earplugs on my last-minute dash out of the door. Crave Festival's crowd was switched-on and passionate, slightly older, with a rough-around-the-edges raver appeal that some festivals lack. The sound was solid—at times amazing—across the site. There was minimal queuing. One element with room for improvement, though, was the visual direction: plumes of haze in the lit-up paths were a nice touch, but there wasn't much variation in the stage design, with each stage resembling an aircraft hangar. And you couldn't help but wonder how much better it all would have been with just a second of real sunshine. But these are minor points. Ultimately, Crave was a brilliant expression of The Hague's rave pedigree. Photo credit / Pierre Zylstra