Hernan Cattaneo’s annual gig at Woodstock 69, a beach club in Bloemendaal around 30km to the west of Amsterdam, is one of the most sought after tickets on the European progressive scene. Hernan himself talks about it as one of his favourite gigs of the year and it has become the Glastonbury of prog in terms of securing that all-elusive ticket. I had been fortunate enough to get one this year and it would be my second time seeing ‘el maestro’ at the venue having first made the trip in 2017.
The 2017 edition had been severely rain affected and while everyone made the best of it, the party didn’t hit the heights of when I saw Eelke Kleijn and Sasha play at the venue in blazing sunshine in 2018. The weather forecast for this year did not look good either. While the day before had seen a 32 degree heatwave and it had been a warm start to the day, thundery showers were forecast to blow in from the UK about an hour before the event started. I had come prepared with a 3 Euro poncho purchased in the supermarket beforehand, but as I sat indoors in a neighbouring beach bar watching the rains roll in off the North Sea I wondered whether I was a bad luck charm.
However, as the rain eased we joined the queue and shortly afterwards it stopped altogether as the Belgian Pole Folder took to the decks to warm the night up for Hernan. It is the tradition that Pole Folder does the warm-up set here each year and he is a great DJ, one of my favourites, and a draw for getting down early. As the tarpaulin protecting the decks was removed he quickly got into the groove. An early set highlight was his new track ‘Elo’, released on his Reworck label a couple of days before the gig. He soon moved through the gears to get the crowd rocking before Herman’s arrival on the decks at 7pm.
Hernan took things back down initially in order to set the tone for crafting what turned out to be a 5-hour musical journey. After a relatively sedate opening half hour, he stepped up the pace and soon enough it was becoming increasingly energised in the centre of the dance floor as the set built.
On finding a nice spot to the right of the dance floor the magic started to roll with tune after tune of goodness. It was still cloudy but the rain had stayed away and the atmosphere was electric. While the night attracts an older crowd there was a mix of ages and it is always a friendly vibe at Woodstock 69.
Sunset was fast approaching – 10pm at this time of year in the Netherlands. It turned out to be a spectacular one – one of the best of the season – as the sun finally emerged from behind the clouds in advance of dropping below the horizon. Always a key moment of the night, the choice of sunset tune went to the trance classic Humate – ‘Love Stimulation’. The most familiar version of the track is Paul van Dyk’s 1998 club mix but here Hernan dropped Ben Gomori’s ‘Brotherly Love Reboot’, released in 2023 on the re-launched Hooj Choons. Sunset is a special musical moment when done well and here the mesmeric break came to its conclusion as the sun finally departed, and on cue the beat then slammed back in to build things back up once more.
The night soon took on a different vibe after the sun had gone as the venue transcended into darkness, now illuminated by the lights from the stage. I wasn’t sure if the night was finishing at 11 or 12 but it turned out there was another 2 hours still to run. There was one intermittent rain shower that saw four men have to hold a tarpaulin over Hernan’s head to protect both him and the DJ equipment from the elements. Soon this was gone, however, and we were on the final run towards the close as the set continued to build. In the final hour he dropped the Ezequiel Arias edit of the classic Unkle – ‘In A State’ from Sasha’s Involver 1, as well as a a load of new, emotive and upfront progressive tunes.
By now Hernan was clearly having some banter with the promoter over how long the party could go on for, the promoter telling him to wrap things up by midnight and Hernan pointing to the deck to say he had one last tune cued up. This was ‘Circle of Light’ by Because of Art & Antony Szmierek. I first heard this track with its ravey piano chords and breakbeats on Sasha and Anna’s recent Mixmag Ibiza live stream. The spoken lyrical refrain of ‘I’ll meet you back here in a year, between the left speaker and the smoking area’ could easily be confused for The Streets’ Mike Skinner and it was a fitting finale given the poignancy of these lyrics, injecting hope among the crowd of doing it all again this time next year.
Hernan pointed to his watch as if to say he had finished up two minutes early, and so was permitted to drop in another encore track to take things past the midnight hour. It was then finally time to head home and negotiate the ride back to where I was staying in Haarlem. Fortunately the Dutch have good cycle paths and I had the benefit of an E-bike this year. It had been great to see one of my favourite DJs play a long set in a comparatively smaller setting and experience Woodstock 69 as it should be, in the dry. An authentic beach club vibe like this with a great crowd is something that can’t be beaten. I am sure I will be back again next year – if I can get a ticket!
Robin Thurston 
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