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Ultra Music Review

The annual Ultra Music Festival, wrapped up Miami�s Winter Music Conference, and this year it was spread among 2 days. It had a diverse line-up that was made up of some of the world�s best talent from all genres of the electronic music scene. There were a couple of problems with some of the acts that did not seem to blend in with the whole dance scene and the terrible rain on day 2 did put a damper on some performances, but the fest did have its strong parts including some great performances by DJs we all love.

Last year Ultra brought in The Killers and Hard-Fi to give a rock edge to the festival with bands that seem to have a dance audience, and it worked well, with The Killers drawing as big an audience as Paul van Dyk and Carl Cox. This year the big non-dance draw was The Cure, and it did not blend well at all. It was overly depressing and brought down the crowd and poor Fedde Le Grand had the task of bringing back the energy in a set that was cut short because The Cure went on to long. As in every rock concert it took to long for them to set up then come out and when they did the crowd was just brought to a low by their goth/emo sounds. If Ultra wanted rock bands that can be combined with our scene they could have gone with Depeche Mode or even Snow Patrol, whose songs are being remixed by everyone. One can even argue that Ultra does not need the rock acts and should just stick to DJ�s who are desperately in need of exposure in North America anyhow. There was a lot of talent in South Beach this past week not invited to the event including: Frankie Knuckles, David Morales, Robbie Rivera, Axwell, and Above & Beyond, that were more deserving of a spot than Shiny Toy Guns and The Cure. North America deserves an outdoor event that maintains its focus on dance music and Ultra has to do a better job of holding this torch, I understand selling tickets is the main idea, but this can be done by just filling the bill with top electronic acts with some fresh faces like the names above.

Day 1 was highlighted by the reunited Deep Dish who do not play together as much as they used to with their solo careers taking off. The set had a more hard hitting edge than Dish fans may be used to, but �Proper Education� definitely had the crowd rocking. They built an electro set over some banging minimal beats, which had everyone dancing with the backdrop of a Miami sunset over the clear blue ocean.

The main problem with the first day was not only The Cure, but the fact that fans had to choose between Sander Kleinenberg, who had the anthem of last years conference with �This Is Not Miami� and Tiesto, who returned to Ultra after a 1 year hiatus. Ultra should have had Sander open up for Tiesto instead of Fedde Le Grand and put The Cure on a separate stage so fans would not have to choose between the Dutch trance stars. Tiesto played one of his better sets, featuring tracks off his upcoming release �Elements of Life�. He also spun some classics, �Lethal industry� and �Flight 643� and a wicked mix of Prodigy�s �Smack My Bitch Up�.

Day 2 can be summed in three words, Fat Boy Slim; he killed the Carl Cox and friends tent. At first glance I was shocked that he was not playing the main stage or the house stage, but being inside the tent worked so well, it had the feel of a club with a big disco ball, lasers, and video screens, and everyone jumping up and down together with Norman Cook. He could have easily headlined one of the main stages, but his energy really translated well inside those friendly confines. There�s a reason he could sell 20,000 tickets in England, and he put it on display at Ultra. Forget about the music, Fat Boy throwing things around, using tape to close his own mouth, and bringing his own air horns, was what had the tent bouncing.

Other performances that kicked some ass belong to Danny Tenaglia, who brought the techno and tribal fusion to the masses and David Guetta gave the house stage crowd a lesson on why the �F*ck Me I�m Famous� parties have Paris and Ibiza clubbers fighting to get in, he dropped a remix of Nirvana�s �Smells Like Teen Spirit� which had the American crowd dancing and singing along even with the raindrops falling. One of the emerging Dutch trance stars, Sander Van Doorn, gave the main stage a taste of why his tech-trance style is fast becoming one of the top acts on the trance scene. Ibiza favorites- Erick Morillo and Roger Sanchez lost most of their crowds due to the 2 hour down pour of rain, that at first had the Sanchez crowd moving, but eventually people had to find cover. When Morillo took the main stage all the videos and lights had to be put out because of electrical problems which left him to spin in front of thousands of people in the dark, which was a throwback to the days before the technology really hit the scene, and was kind of nice.

Ultra could have survived on one day of a line-up filled with just dance acts. The addition of a second day proved to be unnecessary and the weather posed problems that no one could do anything about. Ultra Music Festival is still the premier event in North America, the Sates or Canada do not, and can not, provide a better line-up, ever. The promoters could do some good by adding acts that deserve the exposure of an event like this and leaving rock to the many outdoor festivals they already have.

I agree with your review about Cure. They seemed out of place at Ultra.
At first I was curious how they were going to make this Cure thing workout. But the whole energy level just went down when they came on and also while waiting for them to setup. They should have just setup a separate rock stage where all the equipment could easily be setup beforehand. If they are going to keep this two day thing, they should atleast divide up the acts between the two days evenly. It felt like a waste on Friday.

Carl Cox tent was on FIRE

Danny T and Carl Cox ate that place alive

also Sander played a disgustingly banging set

PVD sucked ass

Bad Boy Bill was very energetic and good electro house

The cheeseballs loved Benassi, apprently he threw down some extra cheddar @ Ultra and ppl loved it

Mauro Picotto was SICK

straight to the point

How can anyone possibly complain of the hugely diverse lineup. So you didn't like the Cure, there were hundreds of other artists there, get over it.

quote:

Originally posted by UneeK Carl Cox tent was on FIRE Danny T and Carl Cox ate that place alive also Sander played a disgustingly banging set PVD sucked ass Bad Boy Bill was very energetic and good electro house The cheeseballs loved Benassi, apprently he threw down some extra cheddar @ Ultra and ppl loved it Mauro Picotto was SICK straight to the point

hey this is the first review i agree with. im still baffled pvd made #1. look at the vids of him at ultra ... people are just standing. he plays too coked out / too fast.

if i remember it was fatboy, then dt came on, then carl ... they all equally did great, they all had the crowd going crazy to the same level, its hard to say of the 3 who did the best.

sasha+digweed had a good show going, people were really into it, but not at the crazy hype level of the cox tent. kleinenburger was exactly as good as he was last year, and year before, hes just fantastic. but of all the shows i think most agreed this year belonged to the cox tent. maybe the rain played a factor i dont know.

I went to the Saturday only. I didn't feel to cash out extra money for the other's, besides there were other parties on Friday that I wanted to check out, but that doesn't mean that it was a failure to Ultra, on the contrary.

From what Ive heard from various sources is that Ultra did pretty pretty good this year. It's their first year trying out this two days thing ( Im not sure if the same guys behind Coachella are still in Charge of Ultra ) so for been the first time it tries this two days concept, they did pretty good, sadly, first ones are always the testing... next year you will see improvements or changes according to the feedback and numbers.

I think we can all agree that it's perhaps the first time that there's no complaints about the Call waitings and other bitchings that were heard,, most had to do with the Organization by making huge lines everywhere. I did not see that, lines moved pretty fast.

I have to say that the Carl Cox tent was amazing. The vibe and feeling was just out WoW. Main Stage had the main players but it still lacks that Bayfront AMpethiater feel . Their sound system this year was waaaaaaaaaaay good compared to last year, yet it was lower, which didn't bother me, didn't have to wear the ear plugs.

Conclusion, Carl Cox tent was the place to be this year, It carried the same or more people then the main stage.. it was that big.

Ultra made some serious profit and just watch for next year, I wouldn't be surprised if we see Sold Out tickets before the event..

I disagree with you all on PVD set. I loved it because it was so fast. I think its one of the best sets ive seen from the man if not then THE BEST. WIth the drummer there, there was no room for slow house proggy music - just straight up trance and i loved it. Hope he keeps up the uptempo music and not the crap he has been playing for 2 years now - all slow and proggy.

it was so fucking cool how they filled that entire tent with fog. it was a crazy feeling when you are deep in the middle of a huge packed crowd, and then this fog comes and you can only see a few feet in front of you, and you dont know where you are anymore, kinda scary, and the fog took a very long time to clear, it seemed like it took at least 5 minutes for it to clear, meanwhile the echoing of the awesome tribal beats. you had to be there, one of the most incredible atmospheres ive felt.

i dont judge based on bias of what dj i like better etc, i go by what i see with my eyes. many times during the day i walked around to see what the shows were like. i dont care if its tribal, electro, trance, ill go to where its the biggest and best party where people are the most jumping around and getting sweaty and into it. that said, im sorry, pvd was not that great, it was just "ok". i only stayed for about 20 minutes. compared to kleinenberg or the cox tent there was no comparison.

for those of you who did not stay for pvd, you made a mistake. not only did pvd drop new promo tracks that completely rocked, but he also dropped classics that many people in the crowd somehow DID NOT KNOW. i personally loved pvd's entire set and was hoping he would play past midnight. ferry, svd, and pvd were definitely the best on the main stage, no questions asked. btw, day 1 was terrible.

I know. Hearing those promos makes me want the next cd so bad. They were top notch amazing.

I was really happy with Ultra this year. Amazing overall. Everywhere you went there was a great vibe. Much respect. I love how many who talked shit about the event and said they wont go all of a sudden are posting saying it wasnt as bad, or was good haha. Good times - gotta love TA!

The Cox tent really was banging.

I left the PVD set early in order to catch a bit of Benassi, and then i caught BT, who was AMAZING. I hope the livesets of these guys get released soon so I can hear what i missed from each set.

The lineup was amazing, but who the fuck decided to put three of my favorite DJ's in the same time slot?

quote:

Originally posted by vovka for those of you who did not stay for pvd, you made a mistake. not only did pvd drop new promo tracks that completely rocked,

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I bet he played Complicated and I missed it

Now I will have to pray for a recording...

Its funny to see how different everyone is... Ultra Friday for me was great, Saturday was a complete waste with the rain. The half hour it was sunny and dry right when I got there was nice. After that even when I was in the tent and dry I was trying not to be squished and just waiting out the rain. Then once I got soaked it was all downhill from there. Then with people getting cut off due to rain and the cold wind we just left.

The 'trance' crowd got split on Saturday-PVD, BT, Picotto (i know, but we all still love him, no matter if its trance, minimal, or techno)it was kind of unfair, hell I would have even liked to ckeck out what everyone is referring to as 'cheese' Mr. bennassi

Benassi wasn't as good as last year, but then again i stayed for only 20 minutes... That's why i really hope PvD Benassi, and Bt's sets get released so i can find out if i missed anything amazing.

BTW BT's mix of Somnabulist: AMAZING

quote:

Originally posted by woomba BTW BT's mix of Somnabulist: AMAZING

you mean the mark norman remix?

I couldn't ID which mix, just that it made me want to move

99% sure it was the mark norman remix

quote:

Originally posted by AbcGum How can anyone possibly complain of the hugely diverse lineup. So you didn't like the Cure, there were hundreds of other artists there, get over it.

But honestly, they really did not fit in on the roster. They are elctronic, but depressing as shit. Of course they have 3 or 4 songs in the setlist that are happy, but the other 15-20 are songs of depression.



Also I heard this is the last Ultra Festival they are doing, anyone else hear that?

Yeah, honestly I liked The Killers much more, they were different from ultra, but fit in much better. But no, I haven't heard anything about this being the last ultra, i mean next year is its 10th anniversary!

quote:

Originally posted by llavoe Also I heard this is the last Ultra Festival they are doing, anyone else hear that?

yep, at least at that location because of those condos right across the street from the park...unless they end it at 8pm

Where do you guys think it'll go next?

Bayfront was supposedly too small (You'll have to get tickets early next year then)

They can't do it on the beach anymore cuz of how many ppl go and permits... where else in Miami can they do it?

they are going to have a hard time finding a place. Not many places you can put 10 stages for 12-24 hours...

I think they will probably down-size the number of acts, and you might see them move it too a bunch of seperate venues, like one stage being at one building or something like that. Where can you really put something so big in Miami?

They could move it to somewhere in the general South Florida region.. anyone think it might go to Ft. Lauderdale or Palm Beach?

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