Dr Donk has announced an exciting new chapter with ZAAGSTEP. The concept revolves around his upcoming album of the same name and will also debut as its own event at Bootshaus in Cologne. After previewing the project at Rampage Open Air and Parookaville over the past few weeks, he is now preparing for the first ZAAGSTEP Album Showcase.
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“A crossover never seen before”
With ZAAGSTEP, Dr Donk brings together different worlds within electronic music. In the announcement video, he describes the concept as: “For the first time I am combining dubstep and zaag. A crossover never seen before.”
Musically, the project blends dubstep, zaag, drum & bass, uptempo and everything in between. According to Dr Donk, the goal is not to fit into a single existing genre. Speaking about the concept, he said: “I’m not here to fit in. I’m here to heal the crowd of their genre-box thinking.” With ZAAGSTEP, he positions the project as a new crossover concept that brings together different bass music and hard dance genres.
Over the past few weeks, Dr Donk has already introduced the concept at two very different festivals. At Rampage Open Air in Belgium, he presented a dedicated ZAAGSTEP set to a bass music audience, before giving Parookaville visitors in Germany their first taste of the new sound.
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85 percent already claimed
The demand for ZAAGSTEP became clear before public ticket sales had even started. According to the organizers, 85 percent of the available capacity was claimed during the pre-registration phase, leaving only a limited number of tickets for the general sale.
The remaining 15 percent of tickets will go on sale on 21 July during an exclusive 12-hour flash sale, running from 12:00 until 00:00 CEST, after which ticket sales will close.
During the event, Dr Donk will present his ZAAGSTEP album through a dedicated album showcase. In addition, Blacklist and Inurfase will join forces for the first time around the new crossover concept. According to the organizers, it will be the world’s first full ZAAGSTEP showcase, featuring exclusive unreleased album material.
ZAAGSTEP line-up
Album releases in November
The self-titled album will be released in November 2026 via Disciple, the British-American bass music label that has previously released music from several well-known dubstep artists. According to the organizers, ZAAGSTEP will continue to evolve over the coming months through both new live shows and the album release, with Dr Donk aiming to bridge the gap between bass music and hard dance.
Blacklist & Inurfase presents ZAAGSTEP by Dr Donk takes place on Friday, 11 September 2026, at Bootshaus Cologne. The final tickets will be available tomorrow from 12:00 until 00:00 during an exclusive flash sale. Visit the official website for tickets and more information.
