A few weekends ago Miami saw the sixteenth installment of Ultra Music Festival, which showcased some of the biggest names in the world of dance music. Naturally, TNG was there to see how things went down and as ever, we’re keen to report back to you!
Since its conception back in 1999, Miami’s Ultra Music Festival has experienced a meteoric rise in popularity, which has seen the Ultra brand expand to events across the world, in locations such as Ibiza, São Paulo and Tokyo. The original Ultra Miami event is seen as one of the world’s premier dance music events (probably only Belgium’s Tomorrowland can claim to be bigger), playing host to the world’s top DJs, over three days at location in the city’s centre. The music, combined with the amazing weather, jovial vibe and eclectic international crowd, has seen Ultra develop into one of the most highly acclaimed festivals on the planet.
Day 1
When we arrived on the first day, the festival was bathed in sunlight, with the buzz of anticipation so great, it was almost tangible. With a choice of six stages and a whole host of DJs, we decided the first act we’d see would be Mad Decent’s Grandtheft. As this was the first act we saw in the festival, to say anticipation of something special was high, would be an understatement. Thankfully, the Toronto native didn’t disappoint!
Grandtheft really set the tone for the first day, as he was followed by powerhouse performances from Afrojack (undeterred by a brief tropical storm which ensued) and Techhouse stalwart, Carl Cox, who delivered the first of two sets of Ultra Festival, from the aptly named Carl Cox Stage.
To round the night off, it was a toss up out of Tiesto and Maceo Plex for who we saw. We decided to see the former and unfortunately Tiesto comfortably provided the biggest disappointment of the day, with a frankly flaccid attempt at closing proceedings. He disappointingly seemed more interested in bringing out underwhelming “special guests”, than actually playing his mediocre set, meaning that an otherwise impressive first day petered out with a whimper.
Day 2
Ultra’s second offering started off with Seth Troxler, who delivered a set stooped in the seamless mastery we’ve come to expect from him. Next up was Steve Aoki on the main stage. For fans of Aioki’s brand of music, this was probably a pretty good set; many in the crowd certainly thought so. For myself however, I felt Aoiki’s set was very similar to Tiesto’s from the previous night, in the sense that it was filled with a few too many gimmicks. Though in parts the music was excellent, the overall delivery had too much emphasis on would-be showmanship, which I feel took away from the overall delivery.
Axwell Ingrosso’s set was very much similar, in the sense that it was average without really setting the world alight, but day two certainly did have some incredible performances to speak of, which more than diluted any mediocrity which had passed beforehand. Carl Cox somehow managed to outdo his previous night’s performance, whilst Loco Dice and Hardwell both put out strong sets of their own. Martin Garrix also delivered an excellent performance with the help of R&B superstar Usher, though this night undoubtedly belonged to Armin van Buuren. The Dutch Trance legend proved exactly why he’s widely renowned as the best there is in his field, with truly majestic performance.
Day 3
If the first two days set the bar for what this festival was all about, the final day well and truly surpassed expectations. We started the day off by watching Eric Prydz, who delivered a set steeped in pure class and sheer mastery, before treating ourselves to another masterclass from Dutch Trance deity, Armin van Buuren.
What followed next was a set of epic proportions from David Guetta, who well and truly rose to the occasion. In the past, I must admit that I’ve personally accused the Frenchman of being “hit and miss”, but tonight, he was well and truly on point, with this Hip Hop influenced set which wowed the onlooking crowd.
It was left to Skrillex to close the main stage, and he certainly did so in style! He set off at 100mph delivering his usual brand of Dubstep/Electro House, to the delight of the capacity crowd, whom he had bouncing and dancing, in an almost maniacal fashions. Aside from the fact that everyone in the crowd seemed to be having the time of their lives, what really impressed me, was the way in which Skrillex quietly went about his business. He felt no need to address the crowd every five minutes to ask nonsensical questions of them like so many of his main stage predecessors; he instead let his music do the talking. He even managed to refrain from pausing to introduce his highly impressive collection of special guests and instead just quietly let them come on one by one, which worked to stunning effect, as the systematic realisation of each guest’s appearance ran through the crowd like a metaphorical wave of excitement, which really added to the magic.
Skrillex’s special guests included Canadian pair Kiesza and Justin Beiber, as well as his Jack U partner and Mad Decent head, Diplo. The pick of the special guests however, was undoubtedly the appearance of legendary Hip Hop superstar turned business mogul, P Diddy. Skrillex’s set seemed to have something for everyone and the eclectic Miami crowd seemed well an truly united in their appreciation of the LA native’s set.
Ultra Festival 2015 was a huge success, with the overall standard of the music on show was more often than not of the highest calibre. Though there were one or two disappointing performances here and there, these were quickly pushed out of mind and diluted, by a weekend littered with stellar performances by some of the world’s finest DJs.
With the music, location, crowd and even the weather on its side, it’s easy to see why Ultra is regarded as one of the premier dance festivals on the planet. We already can’t wait for next year!
Words @khonje9
