Routes by job · 10 picks · Wed to Sun
One big night a day, each with a smaller room in the same sound.
First time at ADE? Each day pairs one of the week's big nights with a smaller room nearby in a similar sound, so you can choose between the spectacle and being close to the booth.
By Songpot desk · from the ADE programme, our venue guide and artist notes
Big nights sell out first: buy those early, keep the smaller rooms as plan B.
Twenty years of Klockworks, under red light in a 1960s school.
Ben Klock and DVS1 both play long and physical: tight, rolling techno with deep low end and tension that builds for hours. Setaoc Mass and a Madrid crew around them lean harder, into hardgroove. Stay for the last two hours.
For fans of Marcel Dettmann, Rødhåd
Paris' Rex Club and Because Music, in a club with a radio studio.
Busy P founded Ed Banger and managed Daft Punk for twelve years; here he goes back to back with Chloé. Around them, Logic1000's punchy, UK-leaning house and BAMBII folding dancehall into bass-heavy club sets. A night that never sits in one genre for long.
For fans of HAAi, Peggy Gou, Mall Grab
Seth Troxler's party, with the Montreal and Amsterdam crowd.
Troxler swings loose between Chicago house, minimal and left turns; Tiga, whose Turbo label launched Chromeo and Gesaffelstein, brings rubbery electro and tense house; Tom Trago's disco bass keeps it human. Starts early, at a red-cube bar with a rooftop by Sloterdijk.
For fans of The Martinez Brothers, Soulwax
The DJ-Kicks family, in a former transformer house.
Motor City Drum Ensemble, whose own DJ-Kicks from 2011 is still passed around, plays warm, swinging house cut from soul records; Gerd Janson of Running Back, Dam Swindle's disco and deep-house groove and DJ BORING round out the family. House for people who care about records.
For fans of Theo Parrish, Kerri Chandler, Peggy Gou
Jamie Jones' Paradise lands in Amsterdam.
Jamie Jones' warm, driving house with a heavy low end and a trippy melodic line, Hot Since 82's big-room tech-house snap and Seth Troxler's loose, long-form detours, in a big waterside hall in the Houthavens.
For fans of The Martinez Brothers, Green Velvet
Alan Fitzpatrick's new after-hours, starting at 4am.
FORMA is Fitzpatrick and We Are The Brave's new platform: straight-ahead techno with the kick up front and clipped stabs, Estella Boersma and Fran LF keeping it raw and rhythmic. For people whose night isn't over.
For fans of Adam Beyer, Enrico Sangiuliano
The stadium show: AMF fills the ArenA.
David Guetta's big-room hooks, Armin van Buuren's long trance builds, Marlon Hoffstadt's fast, whistle-hooked hard house, plus Afrojack, Amelie Lens and ARTBAT. The week's biggest room, by a long way.
For fans of Martin Garrix, Tiësto
Chunky house all night on the NDSM wharf.
Sidney Charles' Heavy House Society: jacking percussion, tight drums and dirty highs, with Robbie Doherty's bright, vocal-led house and Dennis Quin's warm, classic chords. A tech-house night with a sense of humour, at Pllek by the IJ.
For fans of Michael Bibi, Patrick Topping
Bedouin at the top of a harbour crane.
Bedouin's long-form house built on percussion, oud-like melodies and wide pads, with Birds of Mind's warm organic house and Rockin Moroccin's tribal disco gloss, in a converted crane above the IJ. A small, special room.
For fans of Black Coffee, Dixon, Tale Of Us
The week's last 30 hours, and the diggers' finale.
Breakfast Club closes ADE in a former car repair shop in Noord. Nicolas Lutz is the digger other diggers follow: long sets full of records nobody else owns. tINI's warm, teasing house and techno and Gene On Earth's low-slung grooves around him. The after-hours of after-hours.
For fans of Ricardo Villalobos, Jane Fitz
Times, lineups and tickets are on each event's ADE programme page. Songpot is independent of the festival.