MIAMI BLOG: DAYS THREE-FOUR

Due to some technical issues with the site and also the fact that Miami quietened down hugely after week one of ultra finished - you get two days blog in one. Anyone who has been to Miami will testify to the fact that things don't always work out as planned over here!

We'll be back to the daily dynamic now that the parties have kicked back in, in the lead up to weekend two of Ultra festival. It's going to be a busy few days on South beach!

MONDAY MARCH 18th

In the wake of the first weekend of Ultra, Miami felt a little quiet The self proclaimed #Ultranauts seem to have left town. Or maybe they are still trying to wash Steve Aoki's cake out of their hair? 

While we are on that particular hot (potato) cake, thanks to the 114+ of you who debated Aoki's Ultra party piece over on our Facebook page. Lots of vitriol out there. Not that Steve really strikes us as someone who cares to much what people think...

It was also the day that the heavens opened. The rain fell hard and long as if washing away the sins of the weekend and making way for the next stage of the week. 

There were still parties to attend tho... (this is Miami after all!) 

Outside at the stunning new SLS hotel, Chris Lake fired out big room electro in the rain to a surprisingly hardy crowd.

The evening saw us skip between Aeroplane at Hyde (also at the SLS) and the jam-packed Mobilee & Apollonia party at Treehouse.

TUESDAY MARCH 19th 

Tuesday was all about setting up for our big opening party at Delano. When we checked in the stage was being installed in the shallow end of the pool, creating what we believe to be the first ever swim-up DJ booth. If we are wrong we want pics (tweeted to @djmag). Extra points if you include a better/more exposed posterior than below.

We also spent a lot of time with our distribution team as they hammered Miami with 10,000 copies of our Miami special!

If you are in Miami, or coming over the next few days you can get a FREE copy of the aforementioned issue, which features coverstar Hardwell, a Free CD from Marquee Las Vegas and the ultimate guides to the DJs, parties and events that need to be on your Miami radar!

You can pick up a copy from the lobbies of the key South Beach Hotels, our street team who are working Collins Avenue or the WantTickets box office (in The Shelborne). If you register with WMC you will also find a copy in your delegate bag.

However, while we were busy getting the magazines across Miami, we didn't want you guys to miss out on any party action, so we enlisted our friends at DJ Mag Canada to report on the parties they attended. 

Here is what they had to say...

Tuesday presented another wide range of options as the overcast skies turned into a hot sunny day with pool parties happening all over South Beach.  In the same day that Dutch house DJ Gregor Salto won an ASCAP award for his track Echa Pa’lla, we hit Nikki Beach to soak in his set while catching some sun with the sand between our toes, sipping on minty mojitos for the annual Miami Massive party, which also featured Tocadisco, David Tort, Prok & Fitch, Plastik Funk and a long list of quality tech and house DJs.  The crowd was still growing when we decided to head out for dinner and a short rest before the night of mayhem ahead. 

Now, DJ Mag doesn’t always rave to big room progressive house and trouse, but when we do – we do it in a proper room like Mansion, where Morgan Page presented an impressive and diverse lineup headlined by himself, W&W and Mord Fustang.  Arriving in time to catch the final 10 minutes of Jochen Miller’s set, we soon found ourselves with hands in the air as W&W proved why they have been one of the biggest success stories of the year.  Following an hour of high energy euphoric melodies, Morgan Page took over at 1am to bring the room to a boil, layering vocal acapellas over the biggest progressive and electro-house bangers of the year, much reminiscent of a Hardwell set in his precise mix of mashups, original productions and his own remixes. 

By the time he dropped Sweet Nothing to close the night, Morgan Page had thousands of fans in the palm of his hand (us included), singing along and hanging onto every note this man dished out to the full house at Mansion.  At 3am Mord Fustang took over, and took things into the darker side of hard-hitting electro, when we decided it was time to get some rest before the huge day ahead at the Delano, where DJ Mag is presenting an all-star lineup featuring Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, Dennis Ferrer, Eats Everything, James Zabiela, and Hardwell among others.

 Thanks guys! We will see you tomorrow the DJ Mag Opening Party.