The first-ever Dubstep FBI stage hosting featured artists like RIOT TEN, Nimda, Madcore b2b SweetTooth & more.
There's nothing quite like attending an EDM festival in another country. And what makes it even better is sharing the experience with your best friends and favorite artists.
The 2024 edition of Rampage Open Air just concluded in Lommel, Belgium. This four-day camping festival exceeded all expectations our lead FBI investigators had for the occasion.
Not only did it feature six insanely well-built stages, but it had something for everyone. A skate park, a rollercoaster, a festival train, and even a tattoo studio made this festival unique.
Each stage offered a new world for fans to explore, spanning the genres of dubstep, drum n bass, riddim, techno and hard dance. Some of the biggest sets were performed by RIOT TEN, VOYD, SVDDEN DEATH, Pendulum, Dirtyphonics b2b Modestep, Kompany b2b Spag Heddy, MURDOCK, Midnight Tyrannosaurus and more.
For dubstep festivals around the world, Rampage Open Air has set a high bar.
Day 0: The FBI stage takeover and pre-party at the Tunnel
Our agents arrived shortly before doors opened on Day 0 (Thursday). We surveyed the land, with Street Team Photographer @ffcmedia_ in tow, sizing up what was to come.
The first-ever FBI stage hosting took place this night, July 4, with īnkūbe opening up the Tunnel Stage at 18:00. Her infectious voice rang throughout the dome as fans ran into the festival grounds and started piling in.
The night got rowdy when young gun, Astaroth, started doubling riddim as people threw high knees. This was one of our first riddim experiences in Europe, and we observed a pool of die-hard fans who clearly wanted more.
Elle Rich took center stage, giving these die-hard fans exactly what they craved: violence. Her energy immediately opened up circle pits and provoked the signature "rows" as the Tunnel Stage was suddenly full.
We knew the FBI stage takeover was in great effect as Point.Blank packed it out even more. He played a spectrum of sounds, even sprinkling in drum n bass for an eager crowd of sub-hungry heroes.
One of the most energetic sets of the weekend goes to Madcore b2b SweetTooth, both who delivered signature dance moves, plenty of microphone activity, and even two special guests: Yesi and Chrissy.
They brought us on stage to stand on the decks, open the pits and hype everyone up. That, we did. It was the first appearance of your lead FBI agents on stage during a performance, and it's going down in history as a core life memory.
Once our nerves died down from that experience, Nimda took to the decks. Fans were bloodthirsty, doing anything and everything to rock the dancefloor. Nimda brought out special guests, one of them being MAD DUBZ who came out to play his collab.
The night's activities drew to a peak when RIOT TEN appeared. Our favorite railbreaking artist had an arsenal of meme-related drops, including the classic Taylor Swift taglined sikeout.
Day 0 had our jaws on the ground, as Belgium really showed us how things are done overseas.
Day 1: First full day - lots of high knees and arrests were made
The first full day at Rampage and we couldn't wait to see the entire venue up and in full swing. We started the day off doing high knees with our favorite stooges BLVNKSPVCE, HAMRO, and SQISHI at the Storm Stage. These three always know how to throw down some of the filthiest riddim sets and they set the stage for what was to come.
After we had some time to quickly recover from the first set of the day, we mentally prepared ourselves for the SweetTooth b2b Jakes set - also at the Storm Stage. Lots of classics were played and they knew how to get the crowd moving. The crowd kept chanting and moshing around the entire set.
At this point, we've already given SweetTooth too many citations to count that he should be getting sentenced to life in prison. Maybe we’ll get him a custom orange jumpsuit for his next set.
And now... the most highly anticipated set of the day was upon us: MVRDA b2b Shiverz. MVRDA has been on the loose for as long as we can remember and we knew it was time to arrest him. Shortly after these two got off stage, we had to issue a citation for inciting violence in the mosh pits.
We might need to open a dedicated mosh pit jail at this rate.
Not too long after making a few more arrests, it got very juicy in the pits for our fellow Denver-based artist Midnight Tyrannosaurus. He did not hold back and teased a bunch of new music.
Closing out night 1 at the Storm Stage was Kompany b2b Spag Heddy and you can probably already envision how that ended… so cooked. The rails couldn't stand a chance and all the headbangers went all out for this set.
And how can we end day 1 without making one final arrest? We knew it was time to get the one and only, Murdock, in handcuffs for throwing the best festival we've ever been to in Europe.
Day 2: Slice N Dice, OSHA violations and a legendary VOYD set
We woke up on day 2 with a bit of a rough start, realizing that we can't hang like we used to in our early '20s. Day 2 felt more like day 4. Nonetheless, we knew we had a packed day ahead and that's what kept us mentally going.
What better way to start off day 2 than with a 6-deck slice n dice set? We knew that Codd Dubz would be giving us the full riddim treatment. He played a lot of edits that we all love and never get tired of and he also teased some new tracks that are set to drop on his Monstercat EP next month.
Six decks? Call him the Gordon Ramsay of dubstep.
Next up was, what we would say, one of the best sets of the weekend… Mad Dubz b2b VERSA. Nothing beats being in the crowd with your best friends, chanting along to some of your favorite VERSA classics, and screaming POPPE from the top of your lungs.
The mosh pits were so violent that even Otsukare broke her nail…worth it though. And yes, we did issue Otsukare a citation for breaking her nail.
Mosh pit injuries are the ultimate badge of honor.
We ventured off to a few other stages to see what more the festival had to offer and parked ourselves at the techno stage for a bit. Blurred Movement was throwing down some of the craziest hard techno we've heard and we didn't want to leave.
AC13 b2b REAPER at the Moon stage was one of the best dnb sets of the weekend. Reaper dropped a lot of our favorite classics from his DISRUPTOR LP and had the crowd chanting lyrics the entire set.
As we made our way over to the Dome stage to watch VOYD close out day 2 - what a mission that was. Thousands of soldiers had the same idea as us and they were all migrating to the stage to witness this set. The VIP viewing area reached capacity and we were one of the lucky last few to be let in.
VOYD started off with one of the craziest intros and we quickly realized that his mask was hanging at the top of the stage. Shortly after a few drops, they slowly repelled the mask down to Svdden Death and dropped one of the craziest tracks of the night that is going viral on our socials.
The production was top-notch with over 20 lasers, pyro, LED screens hanging off the wall, and bass that shook your entire body. If you didn't get a chance to witness this set - don't worry, Rampage streamed it on their YouTube and we expect the recording to be published soon.
But wait… the night didn't end there! If you've ever been to any silent discos, you'll know that they're usually small renegade pop-up sets that happen near the campsites after the festival has ended. Well, Rampage gave silent discos a whole new meaning because this was one of the best silent discos we've ever been to.
They had two channels going: Dubstep and DnB.
Kicking off the night 2 silent disco was Codd Dubz b2b Pyke which lit up a whole other fire inside us that we didn't know we had. Ever heard the term, "Dubstep has no lyrics"? This silent disco proved that to be wrong. If you were listening to the dubstep channel, it was easy to distinguish what track was playing in the DnB channel because of everyone singing along and vice versa.
Once 2:15 a.m. hit, PhaseOne took over to do a Sounds of Mayhem takeover and brought along special guests Dr.Ushūu, NIRE, Sisto, and a bunch of other guests. And by 3:15 a.m., you would've thought the crowd would have cleared out more by now but nope… the silent disco stayed packed out for VERSA b2b Badklaat b2b MADCORE.
We left day 2 feeling inspired and excited to see our friends killing it and got home by the time the sun rose.
Day 3: Barely hanging on by a thread but closed out the weekend strong
We woke up today wondering how the weekend went by so quickly but they do say that time flies when you're having a good time, right?
We arrived just in time to see Soltan at the Dome Stage - even though Jessica Audiffred couldn't make her flight in time for the b2b, Soltan still played a killer set and the production was on point.
Back at the Storm Stage were our favorite French producers, Ecraze b2b Samplifire which was definitely a set not to miss. Soldiers were starting circle pits everywhere and water was getting thrown everywhere… you can say it turned into a giant mosh pit au jus.
HOL! then opened up his set with his Marshmello collab, 'MOVEMENT,' and in that moment… we knew that the rails were no longer safe. Headbangers were bouncing the rail throughout the entire set while HOL! dropped all of his classics, 'Mind Pluck,' 'Tuba Demon' Remix, and 'BOSS FIGHT.'
Unfortunately, though, this set time conflicted with Svdden Death's Dead Room set at the Church Stage so we had to leave early to investigate Dead Room.
You might be thinking that we should be getting a citation for leaving HOL!'s set early, but we actually had to issue SweetTooth a citation for leaving the Dead Room set to go take a piss. Shoutout Muerte for handling this on our behalf.
SweetTooth claims that he went to go charge his phone but we think he's lying.
Back at the Storm Stage, we crossed paths with ATLiens and they tried to get away from the FBI. They were both handcuffed and ran off towards the crowd but, don't worry, we got them.
The set that followed, though, was one of the best ATLiens sets we have witnessed by far. They dropped a mix of experimental bass, DnB, riddim - the whole palette.
Throughout the day, we kept hearing talks from soldiers that the Camo & Krooked b2b Mefjus was one set we could not miss and boy… were they right. The stage was so packed, we could barely even get there. We need more DnB sets like this back in the States because it was unlike anything we've seen before.
At this rate, our bodies are barely hanging on by a thread and we can barely stay awake. But what brought us back to life was SVDDEN DEATH closing out the Storm Stage. There were so many walls of death and mosh pits going, we thought we weren't going to make it out alive.
Finally, as the festival drew to a close, we made our way back to our hotel, utterly exhausted but filled with unforgettable memories. Rampage Open Air 2024 will forever be etched in our minds as a festival that set new standards, and we can't wait to see what next year holds.
Catch you at the next festival and remember, we are always listening...
Dubstep FBI Co-Founders ccmichell & Yesenia can be found on socials.
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