Even though Winter Music Conference and Miami Music Week have turned into a nine days of EDM, we've keep it pretty low key. Until last night.
First stop: The world premiere of Ultra Music Festival's Can U Feel It concert documentary. Standing there on the red carpet was sort of surreal -- mainly because we've never worked as press on a red carpet. We spotted contributor Tracy Block along with South Florida Music Obsessed's Lauren Perlstein as they waited for stars to come down.
But here's the problem, most DJs kinda, sorta look alike.
Except for appearances by instantly recognizable famous faces like Tiësto, Carl Cox, and Nervo, the conversation went something like this:
A: Do you know who that is?
B: No? Do you?
A: No! Dammit! Does anyone know who that is?
[Blank stares]
Other than getting to see Ultra Music Festival: The Movie, we considered the premiere to be an opportunity for a sneak peek at the Ultra 2012's festival grounds. And honestly, the setup looks beat-freaking awesome. But then again, anything is better than last year's barren and dusty setting at Bicentennial Park. We are still coughing up dirt.
Next stop: The Absolut Greyhound party at Soho Studios for the absolute worst-kept secret performance by Swedish House Mafia (minus Steve Angello). You know that irreversible hearing damage we mentioned earlier? Pretty sure whoever was at the soundboard was on a mission to guarantee everyone left the party deaf.
Old man complaints aside, the party was a mini-preview of what Masquerade Motel has in store for Miami. Even Sebastian Ingrosso admitted they were taking it a bit easy and saving up their energy for Friday and Saturday. And have you seen the massive stage setup at Grand Central Park?
Speaking of Grand Central, moombahton was the star last night as Hard and Mad Decent teamed up to honor the relatively new(ish) genre. If you can get enough of it, Miami, there is a the monthly Moombahton Over Miami party that Shake does at the Vagabond.
We didn't stay long enough to catch Diplo. But if you read Kat Bein's review earlier today, you already know the crowd ate it up. This is like the 100th time (give or take) Diplo has DJed at Grand Central in some capacity and we're not sure if Miami will ever get tired of it. His latest track, "Express Yourself," is the best thing Mr. Pentz has produced since he was into the favela sound and throwing the Hollertronix party.
Things got pretty bromantic toward the end of our evening when we hit up the Paris Social Club's Bromance party at Mamushka's. Bro jokes were endless, and it gave us the strange feeling we should take a mancation soon with our bros.
Local nightlife collective The Overthrow had a hand in the Midtown throwdown, which starred headliners like Jacques Lu Cont and Brodinski playing under a white tent in the back lot. Oddly enough, we felt the volume could have been a little louder. But then again, you don't want Miami code enforcement showing up to threaten you with a fine.
Spotted just hanging out was Scissor Sisters Jake Shears. Unfortunately, there was no impromptu performance of "Filthy/Gorgeous."
Speaking of Mamushka's, we are wondering if the bar/gallery will survive post-WMC/MMW. There has been some employee-management drama that seems to be killing what Miami needs: another awesome music venue.
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