Ten Headlining Acts to Catch at III Points 2025

Usually, a music festival needs that one “I-have-to-see-this-person-no-matter-what” headliner. III Points, however, has gone another direction this year. Instead of that one coveted act, the festival’s team has opted for myriad acts, focusing more on spreading talent across slots and stages instead of clogging its Mind Melt main stage for ninety minutes.

So, explore far and wide on the festival grounds with this non-exhaustive list of ten headliners that you must catch at III Points.

10. Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso
Mind Melt. Friday at 7:15 p.m. – 8:15 p.m.
The Argentine duo has blown up in the last two years thanks in no small part to their NPR Tiny Desk show, which boasted their animated aesthetics, reggaeton, cumbia, and unforgiving funk. For production, look no further than “El Dia Del Amigo,” featuring robotic, Daft Punk-like vocals, disco strings, breezy pads, and video game-sounding bits. The luscious vocal work makes you feel like cracking stone crabs on the beach with your special someone. There’s no need to brand the duo as “reggaeton” because they carry the new flame of genuinely fun music suitable for all. 

9. Darkside
Mind Melt. Saturday at 9:00 p.m.  – 10:15 p.m.
It’s hard to think of a person who embodies the III Points ethos more than Nicolas Jaar. He has played the festival several times, each set more memorable than the last. This year, Jaar returns as a band member of the revered Darkside that Jaar and Dave Harrington spearheaded in 2011 while at Brown University. The Rhode Island band has taken breaks between albums throughout the years, but is now on a tour with their new work, Nothing, and their additional member since 2022, Tlacael Esparza, on percussion. The nine-song album reignites the band’s affinity for experimental and downtempo music, but with new twists and turns. “Grucha Max” is almost hardcore at times with its distorted riffs. “Hell Suite, Pt. II” is an emotional song that employs a church organ and vocals that evoke a sense of vulnerability. To see Darkside perform is to know the foundation of III Points on stage.

8.Fcukers
Sector 3. Saturday 9:40 p.m. – 10:25 p.m.
Look no further than New York City’s Shannon Wise and Jackson Walker Lewis (AKA Fcukers) if you’re seeking high-adrenaline blitzkriegs. In three years, the duo has been heavy on the releases, including their tour de force E.P. Baggy$$, released off Technicolor, an offshoot of the legendary Ninja Tune label.”Heart Dub” has breaks, downtempo akin to early 2000s electronica, and vulnerable vocal work. The duo is also heavy on the collaboration side, with remixes for LCD Soundsystem and Jacknife Lee, each putting a spin on a track to make it suitable for a New York lounge or steamy club.

7. Jadya G
Isotropic. Friday. Isotropic 8:30 p.m.  – 10:00 p.m.
It is by now axiomatic that Miami and disco mix perfectly, as shown throughout the decades. Surprisingly, disco and house queen Jadya G has only paid homage to Miami a handful of times throughout her tenure. But Miami now has a limited window to party with the disco queen as she makes her III Points debut. The Canadian artist, and recent mother, gained strong momentum with her 2020 track “Both of Us,” which has now gained over 75,000,000 streams – not to mention her official remix of Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” under her belt. Her sound and sheer joy of playing is infectious and can make any crowd lose themselves in disco fever and house euphoria. Stars, open space, and disco? Jadya G is ready to take you on the journey.

6. John Talabot
S3QU3NC3. Friday, 1:00 a.m. – 2:00 a.m.
III Points veterans can fondly recall memories from the Spanish DJ/producer John Talabot. His music navigates a delicate line between dark and eerie techno and slow-burning psychedelic music. Importantly, his techno sound is not the product of speed, as is the case for more commercial techno today. Talabot’s dark sounds are slow, often distinguishable only with a danceable beat. It’s less running for your life and more treading through the dark, scary forest. The sounds can also dive into a psychedelic quality, especially when joined by his colleague and fellow III Points booking, Axel Boman. It’s hard to keep your wits when running, eating, and stage hopping at a festival. Talabot encourages this loss of capacity, but with dark sounds under a dark sky.

5.Magdalena Bay
Sector 3. Saturday, 8:25 p.m. – 9:15 p.m.
The pop duo born in Miami carries an alternative rock and synth-pop sound that is classic to the festival. Their 2024 Imaginal Disk album features tracks like “Killing Time” with its disco feel of jiving down the street, while “Fear, Sex” is a nu-wave dream, featuring heavy synths covering Mica Tenenbaum’s poppy tone. The duo is a testament to how far a singer can modify her voice while keeping the synths from overheating on stage. The set shouldn’t be too heavy; you should be walking on clouds by the end of it.

4. Mita Gami & Meir Briskman Orchestra
RC95. Saturday, 7:00 p.m. – 8:20 p.m.
There should never be a prohibition on what a festival should book. III Points takes it a step further with Mita Gami & Meir Briskman Orchestra, a homologous mix of electronic music and strings. Based on the 2024 Burning Man set, there is a DJ/producer (Mita Gami) on one end and a conductor (Meir Briskman) on the other. The DJ plays tracks, such as a melodic remix of Moby’s “In This World” and other selections. At the same time, Briskman directs the whole ensemble of strings to merge two orbits usually seen at odds with one another for a night of bliss.

3. Nina Kraviz
S3QU3NC3. Friday, 2:30 a.m. – 4:00 a.m.
Whether it be in balmy Ibiza or a rainy night in Tokyo, Kraviz has never compromised her DJ’ing verités. What you get from a Kraviz set is a rigid blueprint that is drafted to transcend all soundscapes. This may include unforgiving, hazy techno, hypnotic house sounds hailing from Detroit and Chicago’s halcyon era, relentless, pulsating psy-trance, and her own languid songs. The Siberian DJ, producer, and label boss of Trip Recordings can also bless the sets in a rapid-fire of old school sounds and unreleased music. It’s suffocating and freeing; surging and blissed-out, and only Kraviz can keep you guessing what comes next and what to do once her set ends.

2. Sean Paul
Sector 3. Friday, 9:30 p.m. – 10:05 p.m.
Every III Points usually has a rapper on its lineup that breaks the mold of III Points being a festival for electronic music or indie acts. There have been Rick Ross, Busta Rhymes, and 3 6 Mafia (who, unfortunately, had to cancel). This year’s lineup features talent like the Jamaican phenom Sean Paul, whose three-decade-long career has kept stadiums, school auditoriums, bar mitzvahs, and house parties in a constant groove (plus, any Miami driver in 2005 can fondly recall singing along to “Temperature” on Y100). There is also “No Lie” featuring Dua Lipa with its riddim beat and tropical melodies that sing about seduction and attraction. Miami has never been so ready for Paul to make his III Point’s debut.

1. Turnstile
Mind Melt. Saturday, 10:40 p.m. – 11:40 p.m.
It’s a refreshing twist to see locals excited for hardcore and punk – and what a serendipitous time with the revival of Las Rosas and Churchills. Turnstile, the band hailing from Baltimore, has made waves over the last decade, earning millions of streams and praise from the likes of Charli XCX. Hey, the band even played at Miami’s Rolling Loud in 2023. All that aside, Turnstile is a hardcore group with a deep understanding of the genre, as their lead singer, Brendan Yates, explained to the New York Times: “Hardcore music in general can be about grief, sadness, anger, happiness, joy, triumph. It can be all of those things, but I feel like it always presents as something that makes you feel good.” Their opus is arguably the mercurial hit “Never Enough.” Wavy synths and almost choir-like preaching from Yates resonate until they snap with distorted arpeggios and intricate drum patterns. “Sole,” by contrast, feels like skating half pipes, or at least reminiscent of playing Tony Hawk Underground. With a bit of nostalgia here and a reinvigorating sound there, Turnstile cannot be missed.

III Points. Friday, October 17, and Saturday, October 18, at Mana Wynwood, 2217 NW Fifth Ave., Miami; iiipoints.com. Tickets cost $139 to $309 via iiipoints.frontgatetickets.com.