Ultra - Day 2
Written Saturday, March 24th
After day 1 of Ultra, we weren’t sure how we were going to do another day. As Jonathan put it shortly after we woke up, we were not ready for the beats to assault us. But after some Cuban food in South Beach (best Cuban sandwich ever @ Larios on Ocean Drive), some walking around, and a red bull and vodka in the room while getting ready, we felt up to the challenge.
I hate to say this, b/c I think the word is overused these days, but Day 2 was EPIC! We heard so much good music today, I find myself thinking once again I don’t know how we’re going to do another day. We started off by hearing a bit of Hardwell - Jonathan indulged me on that one. Then we moved on to Seth Troxler. He got us moving a bit. After that, we checked out Gesaffelstein. I’ve heard him on XM and have one of his tracks (Control Movement), but wasn’t sure what to expect from a DJ set. It was like listening to an old school late 90s set - really fun!
We checked out of there to head back to the Carl Cox tent for Magda. Oh... my... god, Magda’s set was AMAZING!!! It was fun, pounding, interesting techno complete with beats, basslines, and some funky melodies. In contrast, Richie Hawtin’s set from Friday night was completely lacking in that 3rd element. His set was all beats and basslines (and not terribly interesting basslines at that) and every track sounded the same. (I know some of you think that every techno track sounds just like the one before it, but I assure you, it doesn’t have to be that way.) But I digress…
Suffice it to say that Magda about broke me tonight. I danced so hard to her set that I seriously needed a break afterwards. I missed part of Carl Cox’s set b/c I simply couldn’t dance anymore.
After some food, some water, and a sit down, we headed back over to the Carl Cox tent for..., well, Carl Cox! As usual, I couldn’t stop myself from dancing and smiling up a storm. He’s simply one of my favorite DJs. He just knows how to lay it down and get everybody moving. And he has such a genuinely good time doing it. I’m always amazed and impressed with how much fun he has while spinning and how much joy he can bring to the people around him.
We left there to hear a bit of Pendulum (a drums and bass DJ group that we fell in love with at Starscape many moons ago), but they were spinning a little too much dubstep (not the crappy boilerplate "dubstep" sound that seems to be everywhere these days, but what I'd consider authentic dubstep that is more like DnB at half speed). And after Magda and Carl, it just wasn’t moving us. So we headed back to the Carl Cox tent for a bit more. At 9:00, Andy C was scheduled to come on, but Carl Cox was still spinning. I was completely torn. I was having so much fun dancing to Carl’s set, but it’s Andy C! He’s my favorite DnB DJ and the stage where he was spinning was within eyeshot of the Carl Cox tent. So we headed over there to check him out. (Andy C is the DJ we went to hear in London for my 40th birthday.)
I haven’t seen Jonathan go off like that in a llllloooooooonnnnnnnngggggggg time. He was FEELING the drums and bass that Andy C was laying down! I was a tiny bit let down. The sound in that tent wasn't that great (the sound was muddy and there was too much bleedthrough from the Carl Cox tent). And his set was a lot of track... slow it down... track... slow it down... track... rinse and repeat. I’ve heard him spin better sets. But, to his credit, he spun Wednesday in Miami at a Ram party, flew to Canada and spun Thursday and Friday in Canada and then flew back to Miami to spin at Ultra tonight. So I can imagine he’s a bit tired. Regardless, he did lay down some good tracks and we danced to nearly his entire set. I'm really looking forward to hearing him (and Carl Cox) in London this August.
After Andy C wrapped up, we went back to the Carl Cox tent for some Sven Vath, but to be honest, we were spent by then. We grooved a bit, but we just couldn’t hang anymore and his tracks weren’t moving us enough to keep us there. So I grabbed a slice of pizza and we hung out a bit on a hill between the main stage and an area Jonathan and I like to call Romper Room. As we were sitting there talking about where to go next, the Ultra app (yeah, there’s an app for that!) sent out a blast that Madonna was going to be on the main stage with Avicci, who was the closing trance DJ.
Now we’re not exactly huge Madonna fans, but come on, it was Madonna! So we decided it was worth a walk-down to check it out before heading back to our hotel.
Madonna literally introduced Avicci. She came on stage and talked about how electronic dance music has been in her life forever (or something like that) and that she’s a huge fan of Avicci. She introduced him and when he came out, I’m pretty sure he opened with his new track which features Madonna. She was on stage dancing with him as he spun the track. That was pretty cool to see.
Then, it turned to what I consider cheap and tawdry trance (there’s just no craft to some of the new music out there IMHO, and that's not just trance I'm talking about), so we made our way to the exit. Managed to make it up to our room in the hotel in time to watch the end of the show from our window and see the fireworks go off right at midnight when the festival ends for the day. Avicci closed with my favorite track of his, which is Levels (a remix of Flo-Rida’s "Good Feeling"). We could literally hear the crowd singing it. What an experience. Simply amazing.
Like I said, no idea how I’m going to do another day. My body is wrecked!
After day 1 of Ultra, we weren’t sure how we were going to do another day. As Jonathan put it shortly after we woke up, we were not ready for the beats to assault us. But after some Cuban food in South Beach (best Cuban sandwich ever @ Larios on Ocean Drive), some walking around, and a red bull and vodka in the room while getting ready, we felt up to the challenge.
I hate to say this, b/c I think the word is overused these days, but Day 2 was EPIC! We heard so much good music today, I find myself thinking once again I don’t know how we’re going to do another day. We started off by hearing a bit of Hardwell - Jonathan indulged me on that one. Then we moved on to Seth Troxler. He got us moving a bit. After that, we checked out Gesaffelstein. I’ve heard him on XM and have one of his tracks (Control Movement), but wasn’t sure what to expect from a DJ set. It was like listening to an old school late 90s set - really fun!
We checked out of there to head back to the Carl Cox tent for Magda. Oh... my... god, Magda’s set was AMAZING!!! It was fun, pounding, interesting techno complete with beats, basslines, and some funky melodies. In contrast, Richie Hawtin’s set from Friday night was completely lacking in that 3rd element. His set was all beats and basslines (and not terribly interesting basslines at that) and every track sounded the same. (I know some of you think that every techno track sounds just like the one before it, but I assure you, it doesn’t have to be that way.) But I digress…
Suffice it to say that Magda about broke me tonight. I danced so hard to her set that I seriously needed a break afterwards. I missed part of Carl Cox’s set b/c I simply couldn’t dance anymore.
After some food, some water, and a sit down, we headed back over to the Carl Cox tent for..., well, Carl Cox! As usual, I couldn’t stop myself from dancing and smiling up a storm. He’s simply one of my favorite DJs. He just knows how to lay it down and get everybody moving. And he has such a genuinely good time doing it. I’m always amazed and impressed with how much fun he has while spinning and how much joy he can bring to the people around him.
We left there to hear a bit of Pendulum (a drums and bass DJ group that we fell in love with at Starscape many moons ago), but they were spinning a little too much dubstep (not the crappy boilerplate "dubstep" sound that seems to be everywhere these days, but what I'd consider authentic dubstep that is more like DnB at half speed). And after Magda and Carl, it just wasn’t moving us. So we headed back to the Carl Cox tent for a bit more. At 9:00, Andy C was scheduled to come on, but Carl Cox was still spinning. I was completely torn. I was having so much fun dancing to Carl’s set, but it’s Andy C! He’s my favorite DnB DJ and the stage where he was spinning was within eyeshot of the Carl Cox tent. So we headed over there to check him out. (Andy C is the DJ we went to hear in London for my 40th birthday.)
I haven’t seen Jonathan go off like that in a llllloooooooonnnnnnnngggggggg time. He was FEELING the drums and bass that Andy C was laying down! I was a tiny bit let down. The sound in that tent wasn't that great (the sound was muddy and there was too much bleedthrough from the Carl Cox tent). And his set was a lot of track... slow it down... track... slow it down... track... rinse and repeat. I’ve heard him spin better sets. But, to his credit, he spun Wednesday in Miami at a Ram party, flew to Canada and spun Thursday and Friday in Canada and then flew back to Miami to spin at Ultra tonight. So I can imagine he’s a bit tired. Regardless, he did lay down some good tracks and we danced to nearly his entire set. I'm really looking forward to hearing him (and Carl Cox) in London this August.
After Andy C wrapped up, we went back to the Carl Cox tent for some Sven Vath, but to be honest, we were spent by then. We grooved a bit, but we just couldn’t hang anymore and his tracks weren’t moving us enough to keep us there. So I grabbed a slice of pizza and we hung out a bit on a hill between the main stage and an area Jonathan and I like to call Romper Room. As we were sitting there talking about where to go next, the Ultra app (yeah, there’s an app for that!) sent out a blast that Madonna was going to be on the main stage with Avicci, who was the closing trance DJ.
Now we’re not exactly huge Madonna fans, but come on, it was Madonna! So we decided it was worth a walk-down to check it out before heading back to our hotel.
Madonna literally introduced Avicci. She came on stage and talked about how electronic dance music has been in her life forever (or something like that) and that she’s a huge fan of Avicci. She introduced him and when he came out, I’m pretty sure he opened with his new track which features Madonna. She was on stage dancing with him as he spun the track. That was pretty cool to see.
Then, it turned to what I consider cheap and tawdry trance (there’s just no craft to some of the new music out there IMHO, and that's not just trance I'm talking about), so we made our way to the exit. Managed to make it up to our room in the hotel in time to watch the end of the show from our window and see the fireworks go off right at midnight when the festival ends for the day. Avicci closed with my favorite track of his, which is Levels (a remix of Flo-Rida’s "Good Feeling"). We could literally hear the crowd singing it. What an experience. Simply amazing.
Like I said, no idea how I’m going to do another day. My body is wrecked!