Back-to-Back and all around: Upclose 2025 brings the dancefloor closer
Ph: Stef van Oosterhout
In a country where electronic music festivals are as abundant as bicycles, Awakenings has carved out its legacy through scale and production. But with Upclose, the focus shifts away from pyrotechnics and superstructures, toward something more intimate, more intentional—and just as captivating. Hosted in the tree-lined fields of Spaarnwoude, Sunday’s edition of Upclose offered a rare kind of festival experience: one that balanced world-class bookings with thoughtful design, community, energy, and genuine breathing room.
Unlike its massive sibling event, Upclose felt like a carefully curated gathering with space to roam, sit, and reflect between sets. The absence of backstage barriers meant dancers could surround the booths entirely, creating a 360° connection between DJs and crowd—more like a dancefloor conversation than a performance.
Ph: Charlotte van der Gaag
At the festival’s heart stood the Upclose Hub, a plaza filled with chairs, tables, and thoughtful offerings: a vibrant The Gang Is Beautiful stand showcasing bold accessories and clothing, wine and champagne from De Gouden Ton, and coffee and matcha by De Koffiesalon, were a welcome pause from the usual rush of festival life. While the Hub created a calm center for festivalgoers, behind the scenes in the Artist Village, wellness consultant SolSync was offering free one-on-one sessions focused on mental health, supporting music professionals with tools to navigate the pressures of touring and performance. Small details like these didn’t shout for attention, but they made a lasting impression.
Ph: Stef van Oosterhout
The afternoon opened with Adiel b2b Ogazón, an inspired pairing that proved the early slot was anything but a warm-up. As grey skies lingered, the duo moved with precision, threading hypnotic techno and percussive basslines into a tightly wound set that leaned more on finesse than force. Ogazón’s trance-tinged selections paired well with Adiel’s deeper sensibilities, creating subtle moments of tension and release that rewarded close listening. Despite the time of day, their booth was surrounded on all sides—testament to the draw of two DJs who trust the long game more than cheap thrills.
Their synergy unfolded gradually, never rushing to the peak but always keeping it in sight. As the clouds slowly gave way to sunlight, their set took on a warmer hue, lifting the energy with rolling, rhythmic transitions that made standing still feel like missing out. In a setting designed for closeness, they played like selectors who understood the power of restraint—and the pleasure in finally letting it go.
Ph: Stef van Oosterhout
Chris Stussy b2b Sally C brought a very different flavor. The pair served up a groove-soaked masterclass that bridged UK rave nostalgia with modern house finesse. Stussy, ever the architect of sleek, swinging rhythms, found a fiery counterpart in Sally C’s crate-digging prowess and acid-laced selections. The result was a set full of confident turns—basslines that strutted, jacked-up hi-hats, and crowd-pleasing curveballs. The synergy here wasn’t about subtlety—it was about two selectors having fun, pushing each other into funkier, freakier terrain as the sun finally broke through.
What made the moment even more electric was the setting: the 360° stage was completely surrounded, dancers pressed up against every side, moving as one to each shift in energy. The duo’s playful back-and-forth translated directly into the crowd, who responded with hands in the air, knowing smiles, and spontaneous whoops as familiar riffs or unexpected edits landed. It felt like the set existed equally between the booth and the floor—less a performance, more a shared celebration. With the sun casting a golden glow over the crowd, it was one of those rare, magnetic festival moments where everything aligned just right.
Ph: Elske Nissen
At the other end of the spectrum, Anetha b2b Patrick Mason delivered exactly what their pairing promised: high-energy, high-drama techno with a theatrical flair. While their set overlapped with Stussy and Sally C, it created a completely different world on the adjacent stage. Patrick’s commanding stage presence met Anetha’s razor-sharp selection in a set that leaned hard into tempo, but with clarity and confidence. It wasn’t just fast—it was focused.
Their chemistry was electric, with Mason frequently energizing the crowd from atop a nearby speaker, feeding off the high energy he shared with Anetha during seamless transitions. It was the kind of b2b that felt more like a dialogue than a compromise: each DJ raising the stakes, then meeting the moment. As dusk settled in, their sound became more urgent—reverb-drenched breakdowns, acidic edges, and syncopated kicks stretching across a tightly packed crowd that couldn’t seem to stop moving.
Ph: Elske Nissen
Closing the festival was KI/KI, who took the final slot and used it to deliver a set that felt at once nostalgic and future-facing. Known for her precise control and trance-informed sensibility, she guided the crowd through a hypnotic two-hour ride that built patiently but powerfully. With the sun setting behind her and the crowd fully wrapped around the booth, she leaned into pulsing arpeggios, layered melodies, and quick-fire transitions that felt euphoric without tipping into cliché.
What made her set memorable wasn’t just the music, but how it matched the atmosphere: fading daylight, open sky, and a crowd that was still fully engaged, long past peak hour. Her set stood out not just for its pace—clocking in somewhere between trance and vintage techno—but for its emotional arc. KI/KI doesn’t just play tracks; she narrates with them. Sweeping pads, melancholic melodies, and 90s-era references created a moment of release, a final invitation to surrender. It was a closing set that didn’t just satisfy—it lingered.
Ph: Elske Nissen
For those who weren’t quite ready to call it, the official afterparty at BRET offered a final chapter. There, Samuel Deep b2b Mella Dee kept the energy high in a tighter, sweatier setting. With its low ceilings and red walls, BRET felt like the perfect contrast to the openness of Spaarnwoude—more compressed, more impulsive. Samuel Deep’s nimble, swingy selections met Mella Dee’s harder, UK-tinged edge in a set that flipped rapidly between moods. Together, they created a relentless back-and-forth between groove and aggression, finding common ground in the unexpected. The energy was looser, sweatier, and more spontaneous—a fitting continuation to a day that never let its foot off the gas.
Later in the night, the decks were taken over by Isaiah b2b Flits b2b Lasse, followed by Ignez and a closing set from Emvae b2b Bisque—aka the house-infused alter ego of Lobster. The afterhours crowd, a mix of festival stragglers and Upclose artists alike, brought a sense of reunion to the space. By 05:00, the energy still hadn’t dipped, and with spirits high and no one quite ready to leave, the night pushed on until well past sunrise. The party wrapped with the kind of unfiltered joy that only happens when no one’s watching the clock.
Ph: Stef van Oosterhout
Upclose proved once again that Sunday doesn’t have to mean winding down. With bold curation, daring B2Bs, and artists willing to take risks, the festival delivered a journey that balanced high-level craft with a healthy dose of hedonism.
In scaling back the production and tightening the focus, Upclose carved out a special kind of space—where DJs could go deeper, dancers could feel more connected, and everything from the music to the timing felt intentional. It was a reminder that smaller doesn’t mean less impactful. Quite the opposite: it’s in these moments of intimacy, risk, and unfiltered energy that true festival magic happens. Upclose showcased how a focused, carefully crafted experience can stand alongside the grandeur of its bigger sibling—each carving out its own space in the landscape of dance music festivals.
This summer, Awakenings returns in full force. From July 11 to 13, Hilvarenbeek transforms once again into techno’s ultimate playground—bigger in scale but carrying that same promise of connection on the dancefloor. Tickets are now available via the Awakenings website.
