Glitch Mob – photos by Julia Rickert
I’ve always enjoyed the more mellow, grungier and intimate festivals like Vibes or Camp Barefoot, but last weekend, I found my inner appreciation for electronic music at the 13th annual Ultra Music Festival. Unlike many jamband festivals, this vast 50,000 person, three-day festival had no camping options as the festival grounds are right in the heart of downtown Miamii, touching the water. Each day thousands of neon colored, glowstick holding, glitter covered electronic fans poured through the security gates to dance to the world’s most famous DJs before spilling onto the streets of downtown Miami after the festival ended at midnight.
There were six stage setups at Ultra. My personal favorite and the spot where I spent most of my time was at the Live Stage; it was the closest to the water and was the only one that housed the artists that played actual instruments. On the other hand, the Main Stage was by far the most expansive, hosting the biggest and rowdiest crowds for headliners Tiesto, Deadmau5 and The Chemical Brothers. Other interesting tents included the Tower of Ultra, a large tent with its DJs spinning high up in a hole in a 50-foot high LCD light wall and the Heineken Dome, a somewhat air-conditioned golf ball shaped dome for people 21 and up.
The gates opened at 4pm on Friday, although most of the crowds started showing up later in the evening and getting in to the actual site even later than that. Lines were extraordinary because security was tight as outside food or drink of any type was not allowed into the festival grounds (annoyingly enough water was available for sale only for the small fortune of $5). Tiesto took control of the Main Stage for an energizing hour and a half set on Friday evening. Halfway through though, I posted out for what I thought was the most exciting show of the evening: David Murphy’s first show back performing with Sound Tribe Sector 9 after his battle with cancer this winter. Their hour long set suggested that he has made a full recovery, rocking some new tunes like “When The Dust Settles” and really getting into the jam at their end of their set during “Abcees>Rent>Evasive>The Unquestionable Supremacy of Nature.”
Saturday at Ultra was a day of discovery for me. The only DJ I was really excited for was for headliner Deadmau5 to take the Main Stage at 10:30 pm, as I missed seeing Conspirator’s noon opener set, but I found a lot of dance-worthy artists throughout the day. Skrillex was my first stop. His premier set of the weekend (he had another one that evening and ended up making appearances with several DJs throughout the weekend) was full of energizing dub-step that made people go a bit wild for the early 3 pm hour. Another artist who got people going on Saturday afternoon who also made several appearances was Afrojack. Although most of his songs contain sampling, the crowds were having a good time dancing like crazy. Another frequent sampler, Boys Noize, came next on the Live Stage, while the current number one DJ in the world, Armin Van Buuren tore up the Main Stage.
Just after sundown, one of the more indie/alternative acts of the festival, Cut Copy played an exciting set on the Live Stage. Hot Chip-esque and ‘80’s pop influenced, Cut Copy was a nice break from all the heavy bass I listened to throughout the day. Before heading to Deadmau5, I caught a few minutes of the eccentric group Empire of the Sun. The band had one of the most entertaining stage presence with elaborate costumes and an impressive visual backdrop.
Deadmau5 delivered an extremely solid set. The buildups were long and frequent, making audience members scream in anticipation for the drops. He played all of his major hits like “Ghosts N Stuff,” “Raise Your Weapon,” and “FML.” Also, during “Sofi Needs a Ladder,” Tommy Lee appeared high above Deadmau5 playing a drum set in the sky while singer Sofia Toufa danced around belting out the lyrics.
I had the most anticipation for Sunday’s lineup. The Disco Biscuits was my first stop of the day. Although playing an earlier set (it started at 4), the group gained momentum as their set progressed. The crowd was definitely a bit different than most of the DJ sets (I finally saw some Dead shirts and hats in the crowd). The one-hour set time only allowed for two giant sandwich jams (“Strobelights and Martinis> Abraxas>SaM” and “Catalyst> The Great Abyss> Catalyst”), but that was just enough to satisfy the Biscuit fans.
Gearing up for Steve Aoki’s most anticipated set, I caught some of another sample heavy but fun to dance to DJ, Laidback Luke. At this point, the crowd at the Main Stage had grown in size and Laidback Luke sampled classic favorites and kept the crowds attention.
Aoki’s sunset set was by far one of the most rowdy of the weekend. I ended far up in the crowd next to the biggest bro mosh pit I’ve ever witnessed. Aoki himself was fired up; at one point he shook up and bottle of champagne and sprayed it all over the crowd.
After taking a little break to rejuvenate, I headed to the show I was waiting for: Crystal Castles. Watching frontwoman Alice Glass perform is not something to miss. Despite having a broken leg, Glass still jumped off the stage in sporadic dance moves into the crowd several times. The group played all of the hits that I wanted to hear including “Crimewave” and “Untrust Us” as well “Baptism” and “Empathy” off their new album. The energy was high for the whole set until the abrupt end when Glass, without even speaking to the crowd, grabbed a bottle of whiskey and her crutch and hobbled off stage. Beatboxer and DJ Beardyman kept the attention by immediately starting with a Charlie Sheen inspired “Tiger Blood” remix.
The rest of the night I spent wandering around from stage to stage to catch as many acts as I could. Highlights included The Glitch Mob whose bass heavy songs saw the crowd getting low. They finished with an intensely awesome dub-step remix of The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army.” As I headed over to MSTRKRFT, I caught some of David Guetta’s set. It pretty much reminded me of New York City clubs, and the audience was getting down and grinding. MSTRKRFT kept those who weren’t at Guetta dancing, playing popular tunes like “Heartbreaker.” Headliners The Chemical Brothers put on a riveting show with an insane visual backdrop. While the Brothers were playing, a giant human figure made of lights was seen dancing on the backdrop, only intensifying the drops and getting the audience more involved. It was hard to break my eyes away, but I had others places to be at the conclusion of the festival.
Although the festival was technically over, the dedicated fans stayed in downtown Miami to attend the Disco Biscuits official after-show at Grand Central. If people were tired from raging Ultra all day, they certainly didn’t show it. The Biscuits themselves were full of energy and got everyone moving to their two-set, double encore performance.
Before entering the Ultra grounds on Friday evening, I braced myself for what I was sure to see: thousands of teenagers on ecstasy, sucking on pacifiers with “rave candy” up to their elbows. What I discovered throughout the course of the weekend, however, was a bit surprising. While there were plenty of these ravers on the festival grounds, they were by no means the majority. Of all of the festivals I’ve been to, Ultra was by far the most diverse. People flock to Ultra from all over the world. There were young people, old people, foreigners from almost every country imaginable, rainbow dressed people, business casual dressed people and everything in between. Ultra was a definitely a spectacle to experience and a place to come and dance with your good friends.
