Photo Credit: AMANDA MARCOTTE
BY AMANDA MARCOTTE
As March 15 approached, my excitement was uncontrollable. Having the chance to experience one of the world’s largest music festivals was remarkable. Ultra Music Festival 2013 was one for the history books and will be remembered by hundreds of thousands of people from all around the world, including yours truly.
Ultra Music Festival, also known as UMF for short, celebrated its fifteenth anniversary by adding a second weekend this year. I was one of the fortunate people who attended both weekends. Ultra Music Festival is an outdoor electronic music festival held annually in Downtown Miami at Bayfront Park. From 1999 to 2006 UMF was a one-day festival that later expanded into a two-day festival and expanded again into a three-day festival. This past March, to keep up with the demand, UMF took over the city of Miami for two weekends. With Miami’s scenery and South Florida’s perfect weather, this festival isn’t something you can afford to miss out on. UMF put together seven stages, along with food and drink canopies, free water stations and more. Don’t even get me started on the unique people you come across dancing or even walking between stages. UMF was the greatest and most memorable weekend of my entire life, and as of right now nothing even comes close to comparing to it.
The Ultra Music lineup featured top DJs from all around the world including: Above & Beyond, Afrojack, Armin Van Buuren, Avicii, Bassnectar, Calvin Harris, Carl Cox, David Guetta, Fatboy Slim, Kaskade, Knife Party, Richie Hawtin, Swedish House Mafia, Tiesto, The Bloody Beet Roots, Boysnoize, Crystal Castles, Deadmau5, Disclosure, Hot Chip, Major Lazer, Matt and Kim, Modestep, Alesso, Benny Benassi, Eric Prydz, Fedde Le Grand, Hardwell, Laidback Luke, Nicky Romero, Porter Robinson, Pretty Lights, Steve Aoki, Zedd, and many more.
Weekend One
Day One: March 15
The day that everybody was patiently waiting for was finally here. It was opening day and Miami’s streets were now a pathway for 300,000 festival-goers. Two miles from Bayfront Park I saw people dressed in Ultra attire, which showed how popular Ultra has become. As I approached the gates I could feel my blood flowing through my veins and my heart beating at an accelerated rate. The first place I went when I got inside was the new and improved main stage, complete with LED lights and screens. The view was astonishing, with the stage up front and Miami’s tall buildings in the back. Taking the main stage at 7 p.m. was Dutch DJ Nicky Romero, who opened with his new song “Stranger” featuring Avicii. During this song he stopped the lyrics to hear the crowd yell “I could be the one to make you feel that way, I could be the one to set you free.” The effect of this communal experience was breathtaking. Afrojack later took the stage and at 10:30 Swedish House Mafia closed with a headlining set to complete a successful first day of Ultra Music Festival 2013.
Day Two: March 16
Exhausted from day one, I decided to arrive a little later to be well rested for day two. As soon as I arrived I headed straight over to the main stage for Israeli DJ Borgore. Throughout the night I attended performances by Flux Pavilion vs. Doctor P, Porter Robinson, Hardwell, Knife party, Kaskade, and Martin Solveig. I started watching Deadmau5 close out the night, but was quickly disappointed. After being let down for a good fifteen minutes, I made my way over to another one of my favorite DJs, Benny Benassi, who didn’t disappoint me.
Day Three: March 17
I began to question my health and stamina Sunday morning. How I could possibly dance for nearly 20 hours? Yet, sore legs didn’t stop me from experiencing the best day of my Ultra experience. Arriving just before nightfall, I was feeling adventurous and decided to travel from stage to stage every thirty minutes or so to try a bit of everything Ultra had to offer. Doing this I began to lose track of who was performing, however, one performance stood out. It was French house music producer David Guetta, who performed a joyous and exhilarating set. This experience justified my decision to step out of my comfort zone to explore other DJs. Weekend one was a success.
Weekend Two
Day One: March 22
After what seemed like an endless wait, the second weekend finally arrived and kicked off an amazing spring break. First stop was main stage, where I watched full performances of R3hab, Martin Solevig, and Eric Prydz. Afterward, I migrated over to Ultra Brasil to catch the last twenty minutes of Nicky Romero following Fedde Le Grand’s perfect performance. Then I headed for the main stage for the last ten minutes of Avicii and the closing performance by one of my favorite DJs, Tiesto. Tiesto left me at a loss for words with his songs and drops as well as the creative color scheme on the stage’s LED screens. The overall effect was mesmerizing.
Day Two: March 23
For my fifth day all I could think about was how I would maneuver to see other DJs, but soon decided that I would just stick it out at the main stage for the entire night. Starting with Laidback Luke, I threw my double L’s high in the air to represent while raging to one of my favorites. Following his outstanding performance was Benny Benassi, Fatboy Slim, Calvin Harris, David Guetta, and finally Deadmau5. During the performance by David Guetta, I got separated from my friends but continued to dance the night away. During the break between David Guetta and Deadmau5, I met a group of people from Colombia, who I spent the rest of my night with. I decided that I would give Deadmau5 a chance to change my mind after his underwhelming first weekend performance. The first twenty minutes of the set dragged, but the group of people I was with made this experience unforgettable. Luckily my friends listened to me when I said, “If we ever separate, meet at the store!” Indeed they did.
Day Three: March 24
My sixth and last day was bittersweet. Another eleven hours to experience, but after that, it would be over and another long year of waiting would begin. I watched performances by Zedd, Porter Robinson, Steve Aoki, Hardwell, Knife Party, and Swedish House Mafia’s last ever performance. Hardwell’s performance was astonishing, but after Knife Party took over the night really began. Knife party killed with their set and made the crowd beg for more. I’ve never felt the music in my veins like I did during Knife Party’s performance. After that, the wait for Swedish House Mafia’s final performance began. Swedish House Mafia is an EDM trio consisting of three DJs by the names of Axwell, Steve Angello, and Sebastian Ingrosso. These three DJs are each remarkable solo artists, but as a group they are transcendent. After their final performance at Ultra they went on indefinite hiatus. Their final words as a group were heart warming and had thousands of people choked up. Millions of people viewed their final performance through a live stream over the Internet, making this a once in a lifetime experience. The final day of Ultra Music Festival 2013 was an outstanding and memorable adventure that will forever have me reminiscing.
After living through both weekends of UMF, I decided that weekend one was better overall. There were less people and more room to dance and walk, better performances and more effort from the DJs. The experience I had at UMF was unforgettable, astonishing, remarkable, and did I mention that it was absolutely spectacular? Thank you so much Ultra Music Festival for the best six days of my life.
“We came. We raved. We love. We thank you. Goodnight.” -Swedish House Mafia
