This week is Miami’s Winter Music Conference that concludes with the Ultra Music Festival. I’ve been looking forward to this weekend since I first heard Tiesto and made it a point to see the top ten DJ’s in the world. Although my time in San Francisco has changed the way I look and enjoy music I still want to finish that quest started those many years ago. As the list is popularity driven it changes from year to year I’ll need to catch the following DJ’s at UMF:
- ATB
- SASHA
- DAVID GUETTA
- DEEP DISH
- ABOVE AND BEYOND
Right now Sasha and Deep Dish area not scheduled to appear so the search may go on.
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The Aftermath 3-30-09
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UMF 09 was an amazing two days full of wonderful Music, People,& Experiences. I did not complete my quest of seeing all the top 10 DJ’s but found some exceptional performances – DeadMau5, Pete Tong, Christopher James, BT, Dirty South, David Guetta, Benny Bennasi, the Prodigy.
On Friday I saw Dirty South, he had a fun bouncy energetic set and really set the tone for what I was hoping to find at the
festival. BT’s Live set was raw and peppered with technical problems, as each of his singers took the stage their wireless microphone did not function. The sound team would eventually find the proper channel and turn up the gain about 30s into each song. Benny Benassi was good but missing the energy of other perfomances I caught that night. David Guetta was next and really connected with the crowd, going so far as to debut a new duet with Kelly Roland (she was also performing live) Christopher James has the last stand out set of the night. Christopher was playing at one of the smaller trio of stages and was missed by many. You may not have heard of him yet.. but be sure to check him out when he comes to your area.
Saturday started with exploring the smaller trio of stages waiting for Pete Tong, Noisia and Infected Mushroom to take the stage. Pete Tong put on such a fabulous two hour show that Noisia and Infected Mushroom were forgotten. Pete’s performance was one of the two best I experienced that night, great energy and connection to the crowd. I want to have his babies. Exploring for a while catching bits and pieces of several acts waiting for Pete to take the Main Stage then the Prodigy. It took forever to get the Prodigy set up, and after a song or so decided it was not really the desired vibe so exploring recommenced and ended with the other best show of the night, DeadMau5. For me his performance settled the vinyl vs. digital question with the answer of – if you as a DJ are not live mixing, regardless of the source, you cannot cannot connect with the crowd in as meaningful a manner. Joel was bouncy, energetic, crazy, and left everyone wanting more. The conclusion to his set was unique at UMF 09. He has grown so much since I first saw him in San Francisco in 2007 and I can’t wait to see where he grows next.
The remainder of Saturday night was spent at the small stages, occasionally drifting over to catch pieces of one set or another or now and then to see what Carl Cox was doing. I am looking forward to returning to UMF 2010 not only for the music but for the conference preceding. The international flavor of the crowd was something I had not experienced before. I rather enjoyed being in a minority when it came to birth
language.
The Carl Cox Arena provided the best experience at the event. The sound was spot on, clean, crisp, despite being phenomenally loud! The visuals nicely enhanced the music experience.
At the bottom of the page are videos from the event. Scroll down – scroll down!!!
Now some photos for you to enjoy:
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Videos
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Bayfront Stage at Bicentennial Park
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Tiesto takes to the main stage
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Deadmau5′s brief Main Stage set
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Benny Bennassi launches into his set
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Laser Art on the Carl Cox Arena
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Dirty South
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More Dirty South
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