Hysta showcased the history of hardcore during The Spotlight at Defqon.1

The French DJ had the honour of performing the most important hardcore set of Defqon.1 this year, playing the very last set before its full cancellation

There are multiple milestones a hardstyle or hardcore artist can reach in this scene: growing from the performances at the small clubs to the big festivals, eventually debuting at the most important mainstages or even closing a certain festival. Nevertheless, probably the greatest honour for a career within the harder styles is to be given the opportunity of performing The Spotlight at Defqon.1. Hysta did so this year at the BLACK Stage, and the set is out now in YouTube.

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Designed as a musical and visual journey, it took the audience through the evolution of hardcore

This year, for the very first time, The Spotlight at the BLACK Stage was moved from Friday's closing to Thursday. Although nobody knew this forehand, this allowed Hysta perform this set prior the full festival cancellation that would be announced some minutes after her set, which was the last dance at the Holy Grounds for thousands of people. Due to the extreme heat conditions, the use of flames and other special effects was banned a few moments before the set to ensure safety for the crew and the attendees. The full show had to be reimagined at the very last minute.

The Spotlight's musical structure was a journey through hardcore history: from oldschool beats, such as early and gabber, to the newest uptempo tracks, including millennium and mainstream hardcore in between. Hysta wore a special costume for the whole show, showing herself as the leader of the wolfpack, as the legion of Hysta's fans are also known.

An acoustic piano performance, a tribute to France and a premiere of Defqon.1's anthem edit as highlights of the show

The set started with a performance of a pianist, playing an acoustic rendition of 'Comptine d'un autre ête' by Yann Tiersen, while a ballerina inspired by the world of French mime entered the stage on the other side. The opening sequence is a tribute to France, Hysta's country. During this set, the artist was joined by the vocalist of her collab with Kronos, 'Monster', delivering one of the most emotional moments of the show. She also premiered an edit of 'Sacred Oath', the official anthem of this year's Defqon.1 edition by D-Sturb and E-Life, which is out now as a free download.

The show concluded by looking towards the future after honouring the legacy of hardcore. Uptempo was the main character of the final beats and drops, with the remix of 'Hardcore Master' by Kili or the new collaboration between Hysta and RDØ, who joined her on stage.

The Spotlight with Hysta is out now at Q-dance's YouTube channel. You can watch it via the link below.