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.
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