The story of Viaduct and its familiar faces

Viaduct at XRDS has told many stories through its different phases.

Since 2022, this dance floor has set out to bring the club experience into open terrain, born from red curtains, metal, and circular design by Kader Meraki.

Over time, with Stan Vrebos as its main architect, it evolved into something more complex, welcoming larger crowds while drawing attention to the curve of its now iconic overpass.

Last year, a last-minute call turned Viaduct into a 360 stage. This year, we build on that with extra subs and speakers for an even fuller sound. Dreamplant is also doing its part, adding an extra layer of lights for an even more dynamic lightshow.

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_{FAMILIAR FACES OF VIADUCT}

Some names you already know. This year you hear them differently. Seven artists who played XRDS before return to Viaduct, each in a different form than last time.

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^{"From back to back, to back alone"}

Ben Klock

Ben Klock closes Viaduct alone this year. Last year he stood on that same stage b2b with MARRØN. His own history runs back over two decades at Berghain in Berlin, where he still holds his residency today.
XRDS is built on the idea of taking time, letting a day build up over hours instead of rushing it. Klock's whole approach to music started from that same idea. He first heard minimalism through Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians, patterns that barely change on the surface but shift slowly the longer you listen. He rejects words like cold or relentless for his own sound, calling it warm instead, wanting his bass to land with a warm belly rather than a hard edge.

MARRØN

Also MARRØN plays solo this year. He made his debut on Viaduct at our first edition, returned for the Fuse afterparty, and then b2b'd with Ben Klock. Now he's back where he belongs on the floor that started it all. Viaduct has always been the festival's most layered space, and that's exactly what MARRØN brings: deep rhythms tinted by his African heritage turned into fast, minimal, and percussive techno. As co-founder of Amsterdam's Eerste Communie, he spent years shaping that sound, and releases it further through projects like 'Curated by MARRØN' on Float Records.

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^{"Last year in pairs, this year alone"}

Donato Dozzy

Donato Dozzy closes Viaduct alone this year. Last year he stood on that same stage as one half of Voices From The Lake, alongside Neel. He's spoken about his own tracks as something built to hold a listener's attention rather than demand it, music with no rough edges to snap you out of focus. That same instinct is what shaped his years playing marathon closing slots in Berlin, sets that only work if the room trusts you enough to take your time, gradual builds, deep polyrhythmic structures, exactly the position he will take again this year at Viaduct.

Chlär

It's not Chlär's first time on Viaduct either. We saw him b2b with Dax J at XRDS24, a booking that meant something personal to him. About ten years earlier, as a teenager running illegal raves in Switzerland, he'd booked Dax J for one of those events, barely imagining a remix from him one day. Two years ago they played together as equals. This year, he gets his own stage. He spent years as a mastering engineer before moving fully into production and DJing. He co-founded Primal Instinct with Alarico, with whom he also forms the duo Funk Assault, building tracks around heavy, sound system driven hardgroove.

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^{"Familiar faces, new combinations"}

Philippa Pacho b2b D.Dan

Some pairings just make sense and this one goes back further than most.

Philippa Pacho returns after two years, this time joined by D.Dan. Philippa cut her teeth in Stockholm's illegal party scene before Berlin became home, where she found D.Dan through his own Mala Junta parties. As founder of Phorum Records, she has built a sound that never settles in one place for too long, moving between hypnotic and groovy.

Also D.Dan is back after a few years. From his roots in post-hardcore and psych rock bands, he has grown into a producer known for raw, hard-hitting grooves with a psychedelic edge. A resident at Berlin's Mala Junta, he draws on his Korean American roots to shape a sound that hits as hard as it grooves.

Viaduct has always been the stage built for the deeper, more thought provoking side of this festival, and that's exactly the register these two share. Together, their Berlin-based chemistry builds slowly, hits deeply, with just enough psychedelia to catch you off guard.

Dj Nobu b2b Wata Igarashi

DJ Nobu plays his second consecutive year, joined this time by fellow countryman Wata Igarashi, who he invited to play Future Terror before releasing his music on Bitta. Nobu's own roots are in Chiba's hardcore punk scene, and that background still shapes the deep, hypnotic techno he makes today. He's run Future Terror since 2001 and Bitta since 2012.

Wata Igarashi released his debut record on Midgar, becoming the label's breakthrough artist, and approaches the dancefloor with a more introspective, psychedelic outlook, often described as cosmic and precisely engineered. His work spans releases on The Bunker New York, Semantica, Time to Express, and a 2023 album on Kompakt.

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See you under the viaducts.