On day one of Ultra Music Festival 2013, the main-stage DJ surprisingly played Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “By the Way.” It’s not one of the Cali crew’s early songs, but it’s a hit that came out when about 60 percent of the crowd (now dancing in tutus, “Show Me Your…
Will Ultra Music Festival 2013 descend into chaos? Probably not. The UMF peeps run a very tight operation. The kids have got access to lots of free water and wi-fi. There are cops all over the streets. And the vibe is almost universally pleasant. But there have been bad omens:…
There’s so much bass and lasers pumping through downtown Miami, it might break off the mainland and becom a new, free-floating island. That’s thanks to the millions upon millions of dollars that have gone into insuring that Ultra Music Festival 2013 is the most aggressively technological production in the history…
Ultra Music Festival is a weird and wonderful place, where strange and spectacular creatures roam free and freaky — humping, fist-pumping, and just generally upending the natural order of shit. Take this human banana. A total anomaly of evolution. He’s about 100 times bigger than the average banana. He speaks…
We found Molly. And if we’re ever at an electronic dance music festival in Brazil, we’ll know to keep an eye out for balas. Similarly, next time we’re in Ecuador and someone offers us pepas, we’ll know they’re taking about MDMA, at least according to Ultra Music Festival 2013 attendee…
We’re going to be honest with you. When Ultra Music Festival announced its entire 2013 live stage lineup, we were underwhelmed. The scope of the roster was perfect, but it seemed to lack the kind of anchor act that sets the standard for everyone else. Last year, Ultra had Kraftwerk,…
They danced. They rolled. They yelled: Glitter! Yes, these are ten talkative fashionistas of Ultra Music Festival 2013. Certainly, there were some better dressed, and others more sensibly garbed. But the following folks found during night one of 2013’s three-day shit fest — they were the ones who most caught…
What’s the most epic come-on in the history of Scandinavian EDM? Duh. “We’re gonna fuck this party in the pussy!,” as uttered by Swedish House Mafia, when Sebastian Ingrosso, Steve Angello, and Axwell were still young, up-and-coming electronic dance music studs. Today, though, the SHM dudes are superfamous. A little…
Lil Wayne (born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr.) is reportedly near death. Earlier this week on Tuesday, the 30-year-old rapper was admitted to Los Angeles’s Cedars-Sinai Hospital. He was released the next day. But just hours later, one of Carter’s bodyguards discovered him, unconscious on the floor of his room. He…
It sucks to be broke. Especially when Ultra Music Festival, only the best EDM festival on Planet Earth, is going down, and your friends, who were lucky enough to score tickets, are constantly reminding you of all the missed fun by posting pictures of Tiësto, Calvin Harris, and Swedish House…
When one club closes, another one opens. Well, at least that’s the how it goes in Miami. Wedged between clubs that have been bringing drunken shenanigans to NE 11th Street for years (including Space) is the strip’s latest addition, Therapy Miami. The new party spot will be launching tonight. And…
Too broke to uhntz-uhntz at Ultra? Stuck in Boise, Idaho? Well, no worries. ‘Cause UMF organizers have hooked up free, live broadcasts on both YouTube and online radio network Digitally Imported. So you can even rave and rage at home alone! And it’ll cost you absolutely nothing! Just like last…
Under normal circumstances, Ultra Music Festival has pushed even the most seasoned EDM addicts to the very brink of physical and emotional collapse. But now UMF has expanded to two entire weekends (AKA six whole days), which just might turn certain (weaker) members of the Crossfade team into pathetic victims…
Yes, Ultra Music Festival 2013 will still start tonight. Even though approximately 16 hours ago “a section of an LED screen fell” from the Ultra main stage “and injured three workers,” the EDM fest fully intends to stick with its two-weekend, six-day plan. According to Crossfade’s communications with Ultra reps…
Ultra Music Festival has never offered much homegrown local flavor. Even as the globally minded EDM fest has broadened its musical scope to include rappers, R&B stars, and indie bands, the other sounds — reggae, salsa, merengue, authentic Miami Bass — that keep much of the 305 dancing the rest…
With more work, maybe Dave Grohl (seated on drums) can finally find success in the music business. Being a successful musician really has to be a slice of heaven. And of course the chicks are great. It’s why from the beginning of time, men (and women) have taken up instruments…
The fight for Dada Land has stalled. Yesterday, Olle Corneer and Stefan Engblom of absurdist Swedish electronic dance music duo Dada Life had their IDs seized by customs while trying to board an airplane to Miami. They weren’t slated for sets at Ultra Music Festival 2013. But lately, Corneer and…
Back when most of us were only concerned with what kind of Underoos we were going to wear that day, Carl Cox was already peddling dance music. And while DJs today enjoy playing atop enormous stages with seizure-inducing light shows, it’s safe to say that in the late ’80s, Cox…
“Luxury and white-glove service.” That’s what South Beach socialites and club wreckers alike should expect from the new SET. In early January, we here at Crossfade reported that the Opium Group club would be closing for renovations in order to become the Miami nightlife spot “where true VIPs pop champagne.”…
Before the world was struck with EDM madness, there was old-school hip-hop. From Afrika Bambaataa to DJ Red Alert and Jazzy Jay, these guys were practically the first mainstream DJs. Somewhere in between those giants was Louie Vega, one-half of legendary house duo Masters at Work. As the nephew of…
The Ultra Music Festival 2013 stage looks epic. Unfortunately, according to eyewitness reports and a statement from UMF reps, “a section of an LED screen fell and injured two workers.” The accident apparently took place at about 8 p.m. this evening, while Ultra organizers and workers were prepping for tomorrow’s…
The $1-billion EDM pledge. That’s what has most recently made SFX Entertainment mogul Robert F.X. Sillerman famous. During the summer of 2012, the New York billionaire, who built his fortune throughout the 1990s by consolidating regional rock promoters into the company that eventually became Live Nation, announced his intention to…
