When the braintrust behind DGTL promised they were going to kick off festival season in style, we were all pretty excited – these guys, historically speaking, know how to hold a party. But when the line-up was released, our collective jaws hit the floor. This. Is. Ridiculous. Forget spending Easter at home with mom and dad, this is the place even that chocolate-hiding rabbit is going to want to be at. Often times you’ll hear promoters mention the number of artists they’ve managed to convince to join their party or how unique the venue may be. Well, how about you take 80+ of arguably the biggest and best names in the underground music scene, cram them into an massive abandoned shipyard a stone’s throw away from one of the Europe’s music capitals, and then go ahead and say screw it, let’s just power the entire thing off of holy batman wind turbines and solar panels. Welcome to DGTL Festival 2015.
This is an industry-leading event, and the easiest way of proving this is to list some of those leading the beat. Maceo Plex, Dixon, Ten Walls, Jamie Jones, Pantha du Prince, Adriatique, Recondite, Art Department, Andhim, Kölsch, Mano Le Tough, and Scuba highlight the big draws, while some of our favorites like Weval, CW/A, Gardens of God, Mind Against, and Barnt round out the stacked bill. All of this and more right next door to Amsterdam’s Central Station and set against the backdrop of a nostalgia-inducing shipyard dolled up to the nines for this event. Label showcases from Ellum and Innervisions have April 4th and 5th shaping up to be the festival dates of the summer. Add to that a recently announced opening party on the Friday featuring Four Tet and Mount Kimbie and the weekend just gets even better.
The line-up is spread evenly over six innovative stages, and after taking a glance at the program we can predict that it will be hard choosing your route as you move through through the docklands. Based on some the headliners listed above we knew it was going to be a tough choice as the night winds down – sample each of the stages, find what you like, and hang out until it’s time to move forward. The earlier the better; this is only a two-day festival and you can bet that the music will be getting bold, dark and deep real fast.
In between sets, be sure to check out the art installations spread around the site. Jagged, twisted and beautiful, the aim of these designs is to combine technological innovation with futuristic designs. These art pieces are not meant to steal the show, only compliment it, but with names like The Mist, G.A.T.9, and Elsie the Dragon, we’re ready to see what lies beyond the music (one guess as to which of these spits fire).
