Dekmantel Festival Aan Het IJ - Thursday

Amidst the kinetic pulse of Amsterdam’s waterfront, Dekmantel Festival returns with its Thursday prelude at Aan Het IJ, inviting seekers of boundary-pushing electronics into an audiovisual realm where innovation prevails. The setting remains TBA—a promise as much as an intrigue, underscoring Dekmantel’s knack for transforming unexpected spaces into sanctuaries for dance and discovery. This gathering on July 31st marks the launch of a weekend-long narrative, setting the pace with a thoughtfully curated lineup that balances the cerebral and the bodily, the emergent and the iconic.

The night stretches from dense club pressure to shimmering leftfield ambience. Ayesha’s polyrhythmic propulsion signals things in motion, while Erika de Casier shapes sultry atmospheres that invite stillness amid seduction. Diverging into shapeshifting live performances, Matthew Herbert returns with his signature blend of eccentricity and socio-political sonic commentary.

James Holden’s modular explorations promise transcendence, weaving intricate textures that hint at trance and jazz in equal measure. Waclaw Zimpel threads Eastern folk traditions with winding minimalism, offering a meditative counterpoint. Techno’s figureheads assert their dominance as Jeff Mills delivers a masterclass in relentless machine funk, while Jlin disrupts with percussive complexity from the edges of the genre.

Leftfield, legends of UK electronic subversion, bring widescreen rave nostalgia that’s as poignant as it is propulsive. Artistic breadth broadens with Polygonia and Lenxi—each channelling kaleidoscopic sound design and innovative technics—while Sega Bodega and Simo Cell infuse setlists with experimental timbres and fractured rhythms. Skee Mask’s genre-blurring tempos, Sugar Free’s playful selectors touch, and Abdullah Miniawy’s poetic interventions ensure surprises at every turn.

The Orb provide a sprawling, dub-wise palette perfect for lifting the curtain on the festival’s weekend-long odyssey, while Young Marco’s expressive selections guarantee an exploratory close as sun sets and the city’s industrial veins hum with anticipation. Dekmantel’s ongoing dialogue with its audience—a pact to honour electronic music’s roots while mapping new futures—remains at the core. Thursday at Aan Het IJ embodies this ethos, the first page of a story that refuses to repeat itself, always looking forward, always inviting you to move.