Miami Nights

Phase II has been announced and it looks like a good one. Aside from the yearly regular Paul Van Dyk I like that Moby will be spinning and Prodigy headlining. We got to see Moby spin at Studio A a few years ago and let me tell you he tore the shit down. Nothing like his produced MTV music. Moby spun a long, hard, deep set including a variety of all EDM genres. Truly an amazing show. I believe the Ultra peeps are finally understanding that they need to make sure they have a diverse product as opposed to the usual repackaged crap they have had for years on end. Good for you Ultra.

SECOND NIGHT HEADLINER THE PRODIGY AND AUSTRALIA'S PENDULUM ALONG WITH APPEARANCES BY DJ TITANS PAUL VAN DYK AND ARMIN VAN BUUREN, PLUS AN EXCLUSIVE SET FROM MOBY

Is there anyone on the lineup still missing that you would like to see? Let us know in the comments. I would love to see some Onur Ozer, Oxia, Marc Houle and Ricardo Villalobos to name a few. For the time being though I am pretty happy with the current lineup. You can still purchase tickets for $129 (additional fees not included obviously) for both days. Get em while they are still moderately priced. Click the thumbnail for a full sized image of the lineup.

Well well Ultra finally announces what we can expect for 2009. I have to say I am pretty surprised with the selections thus far. Is Ultra moving from a pure EDM festival to something a bit more diverse? Here's a snippet from Crossfade. For more deetz hit the Crossfade link below.

Cut Copy and Crystal Castles! The last time Crystal Castles were here was WMC 2007, before they really blew up, and as for Cut Copy.... If they've played here at all in the last couple of years, I don't remember -- but their live show is a lot of fun, no matter how many times you've heard their indie-club hits.

Also returning to Miami, but making an Ultra debut, is Simian Mobile Disco, who totally destroyed the eyes, eardrums, and minds of the crowd who caught them on the last Saturday of WMC at Studio A this past spring.

Looks like the Ultra people are starting to finally listen to the cries of those who want an assortment of talent as opposed to strictly EDM.

[Via Crossfade]

Not much word on a lineup yet but ULTRA tickets are already on sale for $99 for both days, VIP $350. That's a pretty sweet early bird deal. Only a limited amount of tickets are available at this price so if your a junkie for repeat acts then jump on this (Am I being to pessimistic to early about the lineup?). Not included however is EMT services in the likely case you will OD by the close of day 2. If you have any insider deetz on the schedule feel free to comment. Better yet, who do you think Ultra should book? Keep in mind I'm looking for acts that haven't graced the Ultra stages every effing year like clockwork.

UPDATE: I'm hearing disturbing rumors of the possibility WMC will be moving to Vegas in 2010 and Ultra going to Orlando...Mind you these are rumors being churned over at Talknightlife, which doesn't mean anything. But isn't there always a sliver of truth to rumors?

From the newly redesigned -- thank fucking god, last years was an orgy or too many colors and flashy things -- Ultra website comes the announcement they will be selling tickets this month. Congrats on finally moving to a blog-centric style site.

ULTRA MUSIC FESTIVAL MIAMI
EARLY BIRD TICKETS ON SALE THIS MONTH

Ultra Music Festival 2009 Event Dates and Early Bird, Reduced Priced Tickets will be released this month!!! Check back soon as we begin releasing essential festival information over the next few weeks.

Here's hoping we get a lineup the likes of Sonar this year. Diversity is key Ultra peeps!

Last year's Get Physical party at Studio A was perhaps the most talked about party and M.A.N.D.Y. was largely responsible for that. This year Patrick Bodmer and Philipp Jung return to kick some more Miami ass at the Get Physical 2 party as well as Ultra Music Festival. So before we let them here our bodies talk (sorry, I had to), Miami Night's asked Jung a few questions about their appearance at Ultra, the Get Physical party and more! 

MN: Last year's Get Physical party during WMC was one of the most talked about parties. What do you think is it about the Berlin and Get Physical sound that people love?

PJ: WE WERE QUITE A BUNCH A PEOPLE AT THIS PARTY. OUR PHYSICAL CREW WITH ALL THE FRIENDS, THE BARCLAY (CLAUDE VAN STROKE) POSSE, THEN DIXON, EVERYBODY INVITED SOME NICE FRIENDS, SO THERE WAS ALREADY A SOLID PARTY CROWD TO GET THE PARTY GOING. AND THEN THERE WERE A LOT OF WONDERFUL PEOPLE SUPPORTING OUR EVENT! THINGS LIKE THIS YOU CAN'T REALLY EXPLAIN! THE GUYS LIKE ADAM [AND DIEGO] AND OUR AGENT JOEL ZIMMERMANN DID A VERY GOOD JOB PROMOTING THE NIGHT. SO IT ALL WENT RIGHT!

Click here to read full article..

We bitched, we complained, and we were heard. Ultra Music Fesitval organizers are now selling one-day passes for a limited time. A pass for Day 1 goes for $69.95 plus fees, while Day 2 is $89.95 plus fees. Two-day passes are still priced at $129.95. Now if only they could work on their dismal lineup we'd be in business.

Editor's Note: This a three-part series of our choices for the best WMC parties. Duran, B.A.C. and Lackner will give you their top 5 picks on what you absolutely cannot miss during the week of WMC. Don't forget you can post your WMC even on Miami Nights by clicking here.

In 15 days Winter Music Conference will finally be here! I already have everything planned out on what I must attend, and now I will offer you a bit of knowledge on what I think will absolutely be the best parties during the week. Some of you might disagree with me, but just so you know I'm always right. So here we go:

MSTRKRFT, Benny Benassi, Boyz Noise, Fischerspooner & friends @ Mansion Tuesday

Why? Because where else are you going to see such an amazing lineup? Mansion’s Tuesday night WMC opening party is becoming legendary in my book. The Opium Group takes a huge risk in booking progressive acts that stand out amongst their tried-and-true lineup of the usual suspects. Last year it was Peaches, The Presents, Crystal Castles, Junkie XL, Brazilian Girls and DJ Hell, and this year they followed it up with more amazing bookings. In addition to the aforementioned artists, hometown hero Lazaro Casanova and more are expected perform as well.

DJ Hell, Tommie Sunshine, LA Riots, Jesse Rose, Treasure Fingers, Kill the Noise and more @ The Vagabond Tuesday

What was once just considered the day to have most of the low-key WMC parties, it turns out that Tuesday this year will be a killer. The Vagabond will jump into to the Miami club scene with its first proper party this day. And what better way to get things started than with Tommie Sunshine and LA Riots? Un-fucking-believable.

Downtown Riot 2 @ Studio A Wednesday

Maybe I being a little biased here because Miami Nights co-hosted the Downtown Riot party last year. But last year’s lineup of MSTRKRFT, Tommie Sunshine, Princess Superstar, Chromeo, Lazaro Casanova and Conway was amazing even if it didn’t pack the house like the Fixed and Get Physical parties the nights before. Well I have a feeling this year will be a bit different. Switch, Sinden, Jesse Rose, Annie Mac, Duke Dumont and Drop the Lime take the helm. I think it’s going to interesting to see how the sounds of London, Berlin and New York blend together into one cohesive party.

Ultra Music Festival Day 1 @ Bicentennial Park Friday

If you have to choose a day to go to Ultra, please choose Day 1. While Day 2 is stuck in dance music past, Day 1 is well balanced and varied. Justice, Deadmau5, Digitalism, M.A.N.D.Y., Boyz Noise and the dark horse booking The Bravery. What’s the only thing wrong with Day 1’s lineup? The fact that Tiesto is headlining when we know the man will be back in town probably a week after Ultra. Organizers should have given his ass the boot and paid more money for Justice to bring down the glowing cross and Marshall stacks.

Fixed NYC @ Studio A Saturday

Three words: Simian Mobile Disco. Not convincing enough? How do the names Erol Alkan and Gui Boratto sound? Add on to that emerging and soon to be household names like Radioslave and Riton plus Fixed resident DJs Dave P. and JDH and you’ve got yourself a fucking party. My only disappointment is that the Ed Banger crew is nowhere to be found. 

Because tomorrow, I will finally see the light! Miami Nights will be going on a road trip to Club Firestone in Orlando tomorrow. B.A.C. and myself are giddy with excitement! For you poor souls missing out, don't worry Justice will be performing at Day 1 of Ultra Music Festival -- sans Marshall stack and glowing cross. I know, it's a crime.

Far be it for me to heed rumors, but this bit of info piqued my interest and I couldn't resist asking, "Is there any truth to this?" We all know there is some hint of truth to every rumor, no matter how far fetched. The grape vines in Miami have fed me this tid bit of info to exciting to pass up (unless it's common knowledge, in which case I feel like an ass). I think it's pretty well known through this site that we find Ultra's lineup to be to monotonous. So upon hearing of an alternative to Ultra I immediately asked for deetz. Obviously being a rumor not many were available but it was interesting non the less, and so I share them here to verify.

From what I heard there would be an entirely separate electronic dance music event held the same Friday as Ultra Day 1. With a completely different type of lineup and format I was told the event would be held in a large warehouse like venue sectioned off into rooms with over 30 artists spanning the globe. Rumors of broken contracts, closed door meetings and Ultra staffer meddling abounds. This was definitely some juicy industry bullshit. I can say the person feeding me the info is reliable and I have a knack for sniffing out bullshitters (pfft, who am I kidding. I'm as gullible as a blond).

Doesn't this sound interesting though? An alternate to Ultra? Much like the all the satellite art shows that occur during Art Basel, it would force an evolution for conference week. I would love to verify these "rumors" and be interested in hearing details if indeed this alternate occurs. Any readers heard about this? If I can get my hands on some solid information I will post it immediately. Until then let us know what you think or have heard in the comments!

He likes them white girls, black girls, brown girls and mixed-race girls. It's Calvin Harris, who is no stranger to WAO. At only 24 years old, Harris has exploded onto the indie-dance music scene to become a pop music darling in the UK, already producing tracks for Kylie Minogue and Sophie Ellis-Bextor. His own album I Created Disco received a bit of mixed reviews, but so far most of the singles have been big dancefloor hits -- well at least in Europe; the States has been slow to catch on.

Calvin Harris' appearance at the Scion Penthouse Party at the Raleigh Hotel on Friday and Ultra Music Festival Day 2 on Saturday will mark his first time performing in the States after achieving much success. I find it hard to believe that more people aren't clamoring to get this guy over here regularly. Also word is Harris will be performing live, not DJing, at Poplife at White Room after his Ultra appearance. So if you love Harris, White Room will provide a super intimate show that you aren't going to get at Ultra.

Anyways, I leave you with the first proper record he released, Acceptable in the '80s, which is still to this day, my favorite track. It's synth-y and borderline cheesy, but it's gold:

Not sure if Ultra Music Festival's lineup is complete, but more acts were added. Organizers added The Bravery, Eric Prydz, Junkie XL, The Veez, Monk, Galaxy Girl, Les Schmitz and Brian Cross to the Day 1 lineup. In addition, I guess the hype around Deadmau5 reached Ultra organizers as they bumped him up from the Dance Rock Stage to the Main Stage. Day 2 sees the additions of Uberzone, The Freestylers, Hydroz, D-Lerium & Phaze, Brazen, Autonomous Bass Heads, Killa Kela, DJ SS feat. Green Law, Sub Focus, Simon Bassline Smith, John B and DB. Also you may want to look over the Day 2 lineup as some acts have mysteriously disappeared -- although none of them I would consider major acts.

If this is the final lineup, Day 1 is clearly the winner here, although Underworld and Calvin Harris on Day 2 are tempting to me. I also sort of refuse to believe the best headliner Ultra organizer could get for Day 1 is Tiesto; there has to be another announcement waiting to happen.

Now all that is left to do is for Ultra to offer damn day passes! 

Last year Futuremob brought a ridiculous schedule of events to Winter Music Conference and without fail WMC 2008 will be just as insane. Leave it to the FutureMob boys to put together some of the most explosive and innovative conference schedules year in and out. Much respect goes to them for not booking the status quo DJs. I suggest you get your tickets early at wantickets as last years events sold out.

Click the thumbnail for a full view of the flyer and events or click the "Read more" link to see the entire lineup. Keep your eyes peeled because Miami Nights will be giving away free tickets and even bottles for some of these events (you love us). I would like to call out in particular a few events on the below flyer:

Wednesday March 26th @ Set: Danny Howells - Dig Deeper

• This will be a WMC Exclusive performance. 7hr set All Danny, All night!

Thursday March 27th @ Studio A: Get Physical Miami featuring

• M.A.N.D.Y.
• Heidi
• Tiefschwarz
• Junior Boys
• And more...
• Click here for pics from Get Physical 2007 @ Studio A

Friday March 28th @ Studio A: James Zabiela & Nic Fanciulli

• Click here for our review and pics from Zabiela's most recent show in Miami

Saturday March 29th @ Studio A: Fixed WMC Freakout (this is the Coup d'etat of the year)
• Erol Alkan
• Simian Mobile Disco LIVE (this is gonna be the tits)
• Rory Philips
• And more

Click here to read full article..

Heads up people. If you are looking to save some money for Winter Music Conference, the deadline to register at $350 price has been extended until tomorrow. After that the price bumps up to $395 until March 12. After that only walk-up registration will be permitted at $440. But even at those prices WMC is a bargain. Why? You get access to plenty of WMC badge holder events, discounts at parties, admittance into the seminars and tickets for both days of Ultra Music Festival.

Also the schedule of events has been updated with a lot more in-depth information. They already have a list up of confirmed panelists which includes a good mix of record executives, producers, media specialists, artists and more. Check it out, it's all very informative and for anyone looking to do much needed networking, it provides you a good idea of place you probably want to be at during Conference.

Today I bring you Alexander Ridha, the Berlin DJ/producer better known as Boys Noize. A lot of people tend to think Boys Noize is a duo -- it's not. Maybe because of the plurality in the name. Anyway, last year he released the superb album Oi Oi Oi, ushering in the new dirty electro-house sound that everyone thought only the French could do. You could argue he is Berlin's response to Justice. But -- I may shock you right now -- I think he's better. 

Look take it this way, if a bill for any WMC event says Boys Noize is going to be there, you should definitely make it your priority to be there. I heard him spin last year at the Fixed/Ed Banger Records party at Studio A and it was a killer set. This year, the man is everywhere and my pick for potentially suffering WMC over-exposure ala MSTRKRFT last year. He'll be at Mansion on Tuesday, the Scion Penthouse Party at the Raleigh on Thursday, Ultra Music Festival on Friday and rumor is Studio A on Saturday along with Simian Mobile Disco and Erol Alkan.

I leave you below with some of Boys Noize's highlights. First is his latest single "Lava Lava" followed by his take of Feist's "My Moon My Man", arguably the best remix ever created by man.

Club Space and The Pawn Shop have released their Winter Music Conference lineups and I have taken the liberty of selecting a few standouts in my opinion. You can read the entire lineups by clicking the link at the end of this post to read more. Also don't forget you can post your WMC events on Miami Nights for free. Also if your club or company has a lineup ready email us. These are in no particular order.

Club Space:

Thursday, March 27th
• FERRY CORSTEN (MAIN ROOM)
• SANDER VAN DOORN (MAIN ROOM)
• ERIC PRYDZ (TERRACE)
• DAVID GUETTA (TERRACE AFTERHOURS)

Saturday, March 29th:
• DEEP DISH AND FRIENDS
• PETE TONG

The Pawn Shop:

Wednesday, March 26:
• Danny Tenaglia - 18 Hour set (holy fuk)

Friday, March 28
• Gabriel & Dresden

Sunday, March 30th:
• Sunday School for Degenerates - TRUEE!! Matthew Dear will be killing it~

Click here to read full article..

So with Winter Music Conference and Ultra Music Festival creeping up, from now until the end of March every WAO will feature someone coming to town for Conference. So here we start this week with Los Angeles duo LA Riots. They have been touring lately all over North American with Canadian duo MSTRKRFT and Miami's very own Lazaro Casanova (Revolver). They came into prominence last year with stellar remixes for Justice, Kylie Minogue, Chromeo and Kid Sister. So far they don't have a lot of original tracks under their belt, but as long as they keep morphing songs into club bangers, I could care less.

Make sure to catch LA Riots at Day 1 at Ultra Music Festival in the Dance-Rock Stage as well as Thursday, March 27 at the Banana Split party at the Gansevoort Hotel along with MSTRKRFT, Steve Aoki, DJ AM, Pase Rock and more!

Anyway, I couldn't decide which song to post so I posted their remixes for the Scanners' "Lowlife" and Justice's "Tthhee Ppaarrttyy", deal with it. They deserve a cookie for their Justice remix, because they turned the absolute worse track on † into dancefloor gold.

Miami New Times is running a pretty badass contest for a lucky Miami-Dade, Broward or Palm Beach DJ to get a chance to spin at Ultra Music Festival. No lie! I mean you probably aren't going to go on before Tiesto or Paul Van Dyk, but it's better than spinning in your mother's basement.

In order to enter you must be a resident of one of the aforementioned counties, 18 or older, and submit a mix tape along with your DJ name, real name, address, phone number and e-mail. Submissions should be sent to: Caterina Falcone, 2800 Biscayne Blvd Suite 100. Miami, FL 33137. Winners will be notified by phone no later than February 25.

Click here if you want to read all about and know for sure I'm not lying. 

Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of posts highlighting what we, the editors of this reputable Nightlife outfit, deem to be acts that you surely cannot miss during Winter Music Conference. Expect an opinion, a short bio, a track and hopefully your comments!

So last year the good folks over at FutureMob invited me to the Get Physical party to "experience" M.A.N.D.Y. and Booka Shade. To be completely honest with you all, I had only heard of the mentioned acts but never actually listened to their music before. Or as I was about to learn, had heard their music before but just never knew it was them.

Naturally I was intrigued and anything electronic from Germany can't be bad so I enthusiastically accepted the invite. The moment I walked in it felt like some crazy, sweaty European dance party. Resembling nothing I have ever experienced partying all these years in Miami, I was taken aback by the sheer energy and desperation that was being exuded from the stacks. M.A.N.D.Y. brings about a vibrant mood that forces your body to dance. Spinning like they were reading a children's book, the duo keeps the crowd captivated with smooth tracks and beautiful tech-y beats. With dance floor classics like "Body Language" the pair are savants on the decks. You can also find them remixing for the likes of The Knife, Seelenluft, the Sugababes, Hans Peter Lindstrom and Fisherspooner.

If you go to ANY party this year during WMC I highly recommend the Get Physical event. Last year's event was jam packed so get there early. If last year is any indicator of this year's potential then take my word and mark your calendar for Thursday, March 27. Get Physical Miami 2 will be held at Studio A, 60 NE 11th Street. Tickets are available for $20 here.
Click the jump for a short bio and for musical reference enjoy the below track:

Click here to read full article..

In addition to adding the Phase 2 announcement, Ultra organizers have done some snazzy changes to the Web site. It's all Flash-tastic and whatnot. Two-day general admission tickets are still going for $129 plus an absurd amount of fees, which pushes the final price dangerously close to $200. I'm still waiting for Ultra to sell Day Passes, because I could care less about Day 2. Yea, I'd probably want to see Underworld, but maybe I'll just try to make friends with someone who lives along the Biscayne Wall facing east and watch it for free -- 'cause I'm cheap like that.

Also, there is still the Final Phase of acts to be announced, so stay tuned!

The recently announced Phase II of UMF10 finally gives us non-trance fanatics a reason to go to the unforgivably stagnant day 2 of the fest.

The true headliner of the fest is now the UK's famous Underworld crew. I've personally never seen their show but have heard convincing accounts of it rivaling the greatness of Daft Punk's mind-melting pyramid sets. Also added are Moby, MSTRKRFT, Digitalism, The Crystal Method, etc, etc.

Disappointly, however - the poster confirms two pieces of bad news for those of us looking forward to Justice. Not only will their UMF appearance be a non-lit up cross and Marshall stacks DJ set, but the poster confirms that it'll be their only WMC appearance. It looks like Orlando or bust for those of us who want to see the real show.

The phase II poster after the jump.

Click here to read full article..