ADE ‘25 delivered five days of DJs and dancing, including unmissable sets and events featuring Dave Clarke, Demi Riquísimo, Octo Octa, and Eris Drew.
Amsterdam, NL – From Oct 22–26, Amsterdam Dance Event ’25 delivered a non-stop rush of global electronic music talent and conference programming, once again cementing its status as one of the world’s best events for ravers and industry professionals alike.
The 2025 edition of the annual electronic music gathering boasted 3,400-plus artists appearing at over 1,200 events spread across more than 300 venues across the city, with organizers reporting the total number of visitors exceeding 600,000 over the week. As attendees have come to expect in the three decades since its debut, the event featured a multifaceted itinerary of diverse club events, business-focused conference offerings, and hands-on creator workshops (dubbed ADE Lab). There really was something for just about everyone in and around the electronic-music sphere.
Armed with an umbrella, walking shoes, and a set of earplugs. DJ LIFE made the cross-Atlantic trek to The Netherlands’ capital to take in the sounds and sights of ADE ’25. Here’s what went down:
Club Events
Ultra Naté’s Deep Sugar party at the Palladium restaurant in Leidseplein was the perfect start to the week’s festivities. The legendary club diva/DJ enlisted a group of fellow house veterans for her showcase that Wednesday evening, featuring London’s Fat Tony and Baltimore’s DJ Spen in addition to live PAs from vocalists Zoe Kypri and Jason Walker. The night was a perfectly understated, low-drama kickoff for the week, offering older househeads an energetic dancefloor that was full (but not overcrowded) and a painless, line-free entry queue. Detroit’s DJ Minx was a favorite of the evening, bringing it from a cozier, loungey energy earlier in her set to a hands-up, uproarious house vibe, as she closed her performance out around 12:30 a.m.
Thursday night is traditionally where the ADE party gauntlet truly begins each year, with many of the bigger names and event brands’ showcases attracting scores of ravers to all corners of the Amsterdam canals and beyond. The 2025 installment was no different, with many of the larger events and venues kicking things into high gear beginning Oct. 23 (and marking the phase of the week where attendees fully begin channeling the “Club, another club, another club, no sleep” meme mantra).
After wrapping up our afternoon catching conference panels (more on that in a bit), we began our evening across the river at the NDSM warehouse – the annual ADE home for Dutch electronic festival DGTL – to catch the Aussie rave-pop group Confidence Man. Vocalist Janet Planet’s ankle had thankfully healed since her wheelchair and crutches-bound performance at Austin City Limits earlier in October, and she was once again flipping and dipping across the stage for the group’s high-octane 50-minute live set alongside fellow frontman Sugar Bones. The international crowd was fully along for the ride, singing along to the 2024 hit “I Can’t Lose You” before literally getting onto its knees (and then jumping up in synchronicity) during the band’s debut single, “Boyfriend (Repeat).”
Later that evening, House of EFunk : House of Rhonda –Brooklyn DJ/production pair Soul Clap’s team-up with Los Angeles’ party series A Club Called Rhonda – took over Onder Hans, the new club situated underneath the Hans Brinker hostel. According to the bartender, ADE 2025 marked the club’s opening week, a brave choice considering the endless waves of partygoers and debauchery that marks the occasion. These growing pains were apparent briefly when a few minor volume issues in the club reared up early on in Soul Clap’s own set. However, they were rectified quickly, and by the time members Eli Goldstein and Charlie Levine were dropping funky house heaters like S.Talm’s “Midnight Groove,” the entire dancefloor was locked in for the evening. Berlin’s Cinthie followed, delivering a bouncing, peak-hour house jaunt that was the highlight of the evening.
Afterwards, ADE 2025’s MVP DJ Minx – who played at least six sets throughout the week from our count – was back on the decks, this time going B2B with Dutch DJ/producer Tom Trago. The performance saw them dipping through high-energy tracks, with some undeniably clutch throwbacks like the Hot Since 82 remix of Shadow Child’s “So High,” as well a simply naughty tease of the iconic synths of Armand Van Helden’s “You Don’t Know Me.”
Amsterdam clubland veterans know that Dave Clarke’s annual ADE showcase is often a highlight of the week, and the British techno stalwart went all-out on Friday for his event’s 20th anniversary. Once again taking over the Melkweg complex, the party boasted three different stages, a stacked lineup, stellar production, and even a fully operational movie theater running music documentaries all night.
Clarke himself was on double duty for the night behind the decks, playing a relentless peak-hour techno performance in the main room before taking over the quirky third-floor stage at 4 a.m. for an incredible DJ set of new wave and synthpop that even included Devo’s “Whip It.” Another highlight of the week came right afterward on the same stage, when Detroit’s Dopplereffekt delivered a rare live performance that closed out the room for the evening. Intense, dystopic visuals of robots played in the background as members Gerald Donald and Michaela To-Nhan Barthel – clad in spooky, faceless masks – pumped out dramatic, glitchy electro to a transfixed crowd. Another gem of the evening: a truly impressive Room 2 opening set from Brutuzz. The Netherlands local delivered a confident performance of dark, sexy hardware techno and electro like the cheeky “Pinahoelada” by BLUMITSU.
Our 2025 ADE experience wrapped Saturday with a clubbing doubleheader of extended sets that began with Octo Octa and Eris Drew before finishing with Demi Riquísimo. Octo Octa and Eris Drew packed the former prison-turned-rave-venue Bajes Amsterdam with a sold-out crowd for their extended, five-hour B2B set for Intercell by Day. The set was an absolute masterclass of DJing both from a technical and selection perspective, jumping between house, techno, breaks, and everything in between. The pair’s encyclopedic knowledge of rave history was on full display, with the bouncy synths and clinking cowbell of Kerri Chandler’s classic “Bar a Thym” electrifying the dancefloor before the pair brought things to a crescendo later in the set with a simply masterful drop of David Morales’ iconic “Always Be My Baby (Always Club Remix)” by Mariah Carey. The entire set felt absolutely fearless, with the pair being fully comfortable creating true peaks and valleys and building deep enough trust with the audience to let a beat drop out to build that tension. Simply immaculate.
Meanwhile, across town at Radio Radio, Demi Riquísimo took the cozy club from empty to fully packed within 20 minutes of the first beats of his opening set. Over three hours, the prolific London-based DJ/producer delivered a colorful mix of bouncy house, tech house, and acid that kept the dancefloor shuffling nonstop. Tracks from his own Semi Delicious label like D Stone’s “Deep Inside” were responsible for a lot of those heaters, keeping things melodic and funky in equal measures. Riquísimo’s production and mixing styles convey a ton of personality sonically, and this set was a strong showing for those who are just getting acquainted with him on the heels of his recent momentum.
Conference Programming
While a large portion of ADE’s global renown is likely due to its endless party offerings attracting punters the world over, the conference portion of the 2025 installment once again proved that it is an incredibly compelling and valuable event for professionals in all corners of the electronic-music industry. As in past years, the historic Felix Meritis building near the city center served as the main hub for the daytime professional happenings, giving Pro Pass holders a robust panel schedule and ample opportunities for networking amongst each other from Wednesday through Saturday.
Thursday held a particularly appealing set of panel options for attendees. “Press Play! The Daft Punk Experience in Fortnite” session in the early afternoon gave the cross section of French Touch fans and gamers an interesting, behind-the-scenes exploration on how Epic Games brought the iconic pair into the massively popular shooter. The creative discussion was undoubtedly a treat for Daft Punk or Fortnite stans, but there were a few artist-centric insights ripe for the taking near the end of the chat. While reviewing the specific traffic spikes the group experienced across multiple music platforms, the Epic Games team discussed how record labels are now specifically building Fortnite placements into their marketing plans for album campaigns. While that option may not be a realistic opportunity for most working electronic artists right now, it’s a pretty powerful reminder of how traditional music platforms are not the only methods of music discovery for younger listeners and how important it is to be creative in getting releases in those hands.
That afternoon, Ultra Records’ VP of Marketing Bina Fronda chatted with British producer and DJ Simon Shackleton for “The Power of Diversification.” Original descriptions for the panel included Sasha a panelist, but the London-based DJ/producer seemingly pulled out in the days leading up to the session (considering he was still on signage at the venue). Even without him, the chat was a very worthwhile conversation for artists in attendance. During the panel, Shackleton discussed his recent The Shadowmaker LP and how it represented an artistic departure away from the dancefloor. The LP was followed by a complementary release dubbed The Shadowmaker Reconstructed, a remix project bringing a good portion of the tracks into a more club-ready form. He also discussed his recent series of open-to-close, storytelling-focused DJ sets at clubs he’s dubbed “CHPTR.”
These separate, but connected projects all speak to the key themes of the session: not staying in one lane artistically while also staying true to aspects of your authentic self… past and present. For The Shadowmaker, Shackleton pursued the sounds he wanted to explore authentically and then worked with his label to market it, rather than the other way around. Speaking on his belief that some people are making music that’s been focused-grouped to the point that it’s no longer personal, Shackleton said, “Marketing is the tail that’s wagging the dog.” Fronda added that it’s important for artists to not cynically chase trends if they want to pursue music as a career, and to instead continue to create authentically and evolve authentically over time. The key lesson is to be true to your vision as an artist, and then find avenues to bring that vision to new and past audiences in different, creative ways or forms.
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Chris Caruso is an Austin, Texas-based writer and DJ.