Miami and South Beach are an especially welcome winter relief. A late arrival provided just enough time to hit up The Clevelander for a quick interview with Sydney Blu following her performance at her BLU Party 5 Year Anniversary. She was delightful and candid about her career success in her home country of Canada, her relationship with deadmau5 and a famous lady who inspired her to do what she loves.
Wednesday was all about the Sirius XM Satellite Radio Music Lounge at the W Hotel. It featured free-flowing tropical cocktails and beer sponsored by Smirnoff and Heineken, A-list and emerging artists, high-profile drop-ins and networking from some of everyone’s favorites in the scene.
Early entertainment came from MOTi who jumped right in with the funk-ridden “Careless” by Dusky. A string of rousing sets started with the duo of Dzeko & Torres (above) who featured a rendition of the former Ultra Music Festival’s promotional track “Sparks.” The rapid-rising and enthusiastic Martin Garrix was briefly joined on stage by Afrojack (below) as he played their collaboration “Elephant.”
The event was a highlight but some particularly shining moments came from Seven Lions (below), who managed to meander through with an intro track like “A Thing Called Love” while projecting an emotive stature then transitioning into a dubstep track with appropriate head-banging and hair flinging antics.
He managed a unique dubstep version of “Clarity” and his own “Fractals.” He invigorated the dance floor just in time for Carnage to take to the decks and who’s name pretty much sums it up the description of his set.
Carnage (above) moved from “Slow Motion” into “Tequila” (yes, that version), tipping the mic to the crowd for a chorus cheer. He announced a new track and then added, “Shout-out to my dad, Tiësto. Tiësto is my biological dad.” The finale came from Carnage’s designated dad, the man of the hour, Tiësto. DJ spotting included: EDX, Kaskade, Morgan Page (below), Sunnery James and Ryan Marciano, Robbie Rivera, Paul Oakenfold and ATB.
A brief walk from the Sirius XM music lounge led to ATB’s cocktail party at The Baoli Miami to celebrate his latest release, Contact. The ambient lighting, intimate crowd and chill tracks filtering through the sound system created a moment of solace from the outside world. When asked about touring with his new album he offered, “I’m always on tour. I like touring. It’s not like I have a new album so I’m going to tour.”
The day was closed out with a midnight snack at Cocina Mexicana with a helping of chicken enchiladas that offered a nice blend of tomatillos’ tanginess and mole sweetness living up to the restaurants promise of bringing you the flavors of Mexico. For some inspired reason I walked out singing “Tequila” in my head.
Images by Kathy Vitkus and Dave Vitkus