Pumps Monthly Party Puts Women in Electronic Music at the Forefront

Grrrls to the front! The ladies of the Pumps Collective are here to give Miami a monthly ritual that guarantees good vibes, female empowerment, and groovy dance-floor beats: Pumps, presented by Mashene Radio. From Miami to NYC, the party has had many iterations. It’ll return April 6, beginning at Wynwood’s Electric Pickle.

Fedde Le Grand Talks “Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit” at Ultra 2017

In 2006, “Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit” catapulted Dutch house producer Fedde Le Grand into the spotlight. Beyond that, it helped revive a flagging industry and is commonly regarded as one of the crucial tracks of the rebirth of dance music. This past Sunday, Le Grand delivered one of the best headlining sets at Ultra Music Festival 2017.

A 62-Year-Old Mom and Her Son Bonded at Ultra 2017

Generally speaking, society has defined the way mothers and sons bond. It usually involves shared interest in geeky passions or time at familial gatherings. Heads nodding in sweaty, immense crowds to techno typically doesn’t make the cut. Try telling that to Thomas Marshall, who’s 29 years old, and his mother…

We the Kings Keep Their Florida Roots at the Forefront

As grownups living out their teenage rock-star dreams, it’s only right that the five guys who make up We the Kings named their band after the Bradenton middle school they attended. “We all went to Martha B. King Middle School,” keyboardist Coley O’Toole confirms. “Travis Clark and Hunter Thomsen started…

Ultra Music Festival 2017 Was Strangely Apolitical

Music has always been a way to escape, and dance music embodies this mission more than any other genre. Following the “disco sucks” movement of 1979, marginalized groups — black, Latino, and gay — were once again pushed outside the mainstream. Genres like house and techno were born in the warehouses in which these groups sought refuge.

Is Live Music at Ultra Dead?

Currently, 18 of the first 30 songs listed on Billboard’s Hot 100 are electronic, hip-hop, or a style that contains some element of either. This year, the 19th edition of Ultra Music Festival was a reflection of that trend. The main stage, headlined by the biggest names in EDM — DJ Snake, David Guetta, Martin Garrix, Steve Aoki, etc. — drew the largest crowds.

DJ Crespo on Finding Success: “DJing Is a 24/7 Job”

Though Daniel Crespo spent the first years of his life in Chicago, his family’s move to Miami when he was 6 years old was what shaped the performer who became DJ Crespo. “Both Chicago and Miami have a special place in my heart, but Miami has definitely become home,” Crespo…

Ultra Music Festival 2017 Winners and Losers

Sunday night, Ultra Music Festival let downtown know that its three-day party was over with a fireworks display at the end of DJ Snake’s set on the main stage. Condo dwellers breathed a sigh of relief knowing they would finally be free once again to roam the city.

Concert of the Week: Nouvelle Vague at the North Beach Bandshell

Though you might want to attend Radiohead at the American Airlines Arena, tickets cost more than your first-born. So we turn our attention to another act. Nouvelle Vague, the French New Wave band that has made a career out of covering pop songs set to bossa nova grooves, returns to Miami for the first time in more than ten years.

Phoenix Returns to Rock the Fillmore Miami Beach May 12

The last time the French alt-rockers of Phoenix rolled into Miami, they were at the tipping point between indie darlings and household-name status. Their 2009 album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, with hits like “1901” and “Lizstomania,” was getting play everywhere from college radio to Super Bowl ads. No wonder, then, that their 2010 appearance at the Fillmore Miami Beach was packed with fans, from Wavves’ opening set till Phoenix’s final song.

Miami Music Week 2017: The Best Things to Do Saturday

Still alive? Still ready to rage? Day One of Ultra Music Festival 2017 is history lying beneath a layer of mud and wood chips on the grounds of Bayfront Park. Oh my, but is there a laundry list of Miami Music Week events within and without on this (hopefully) less…

Laidback Luke Is Serious About Kung Fu

Martial arts is the sort of hobby world-famous DJs might dabble in because they can. Maybe it’s just a narcissistic exercise in looking cool, tucked in between fist-pumping all-night ragers and early-afternoon orgies spent in Jacuzzis with a gaggle of supermodels. Unless that world-famous DJ is Laidback Luke, who is, long story short, a certified badass.

Miami Music Week 2017: The Best Things to Do Friday

Today is the day. Ultra 2017 is upon us, and our bodies are ready. One of the luxuries of a metropolis like Miami hosting an internationally revered festival such as Ultra is that the music bleeds into all the city’s nooks and crannies. The have-nots — those without tickets to Ultra — can still be the haves because so many of the headliners throw their own parties.