Recap: Ultra Music Festival – Weekend 2, Day 2 [Gallery]

UMF

Ultra Music Festival fans somehow managed to pull themselves together after day one and were eager to get started for more of the same thrill, masses and music on day two (read our recap of day one here). They filled the venue in no time to get this party started.

On the Bayfront Stage Nic Fanciulli, scheduled for a solo set, played a surprise tag team set when he was joined by fellow house DJ associate Joris Voorn. A catchy, memorable moment was when the duo dropped a remix of Snap’s “The Power.”

Fatboy Slim

One of the anticipations and then highlights of Ultra Music Festival was Fatboy Slim’s spirited set on the main stage. He was obviously and visibly having a blast playing the archives for the veteran fans but also furnishing a new twist of remixes for the newcomers and did not disappoint either group. His winning set included remixes of his famous “Star 69,” an anthem from Ultra of years gone by. He dropped an unlikely but pleasantly surprising (Fatboy) mashup of Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” with Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep” while also displaying an Andy Warhol style image of Ms. Summer. The image was decorated with sparkle highlights reminiscent of her glitzy disco era from which she vastly contributed.

Fans planted themselves along the crowd-control gates of the main stage for hours and periodically waved flags from their home country, held hand-made, posterboard signs of “I’d Rather Be At Ultra” and endured the hot sun in dedication to catch their favorites.

Speaking of dedication, a male fan in a wheel chair allowed himself to be hoisted up in the third row during Zeds Dead at the Dropzone Stage to be more up-close-and-personal to the artists and show his ultimate fan support. He garnered cheers and applause becoming an instant crowd favorite.

At the Dropzone Stage drum ‘n’ bass great Subfocus played the dance heavy “Out The Blue” and “Get Free” featuring the vocals of Amber Coffman of Dirty Projectors.

For a man who needs no introduction these days, Calvin Harris charmed the Main Stage crowd with, “Hello Miami. I’m Calvin Harris. And you’re looking beautiful tonight.” He dropped his Rihanna collaboration smash hit “We Found Love” and his former (and still) Ultra hit “In My Mind.”

Over at the Live Stage German house duo Booka Shade played a live set with their signature percussion, synths, drums and chimes blending a magical variation of sounds so fitting for this tropical evening under the stars in the amphitheater setting.

Throughout the year, under the air of discussion of will he or won’t he play Ultra, Deadmau5 indeed played Ultra and closed out the Main Stage in true Deadmau5 fashion. Recognizable only by his silhouette, donning a mouse head that was a sphere of LEDs with LED covered ears, he appeared flanking his personalized decks, waved to fans then hopped up to man the music controls. He started off significantly deep with a slow mix of his Kaskade collaboration “I Remember.” He played on with “Raise Your Weapon” as the crowd chanted along. Zelda images appeared on the backdrop and DJ deck screens while “Zelda’s Theme/You Need A Ladder” boomed in the background. Periodic blasts of cryogenic and multi-colored streamer shoots filled the stage front and filtered throughout the crowd marking numerous grand finales of Ultra Day Two.

Images by Kathy Vitkus

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Contest Alert! Win Tickets to Ultra Music Festival

ultra-music-festival

Ultra Music Festival 2013, taking place March 15-17, 2013 and March 22-24, 2013 at Bayfront Amphitheater in Downtown Miami, is celebrating its 15th anniversary the only way it knows how — by once again booking some of the world’s best DJ and electronic talent to perform at its world-famous event.

We’re giving away a precious pair of tickets to weekend one to a lucky Big Shot reader courtesy of our friends at UMF. The jaw-dropping bill includes a lineup of stellar international DJ talent: Swedish House Mafia, Armin van Buuren, Paul van Dyk, Yeasayer, Eric Prydz, Infected Mushroom, Avicii, Boys Noize, Martin Solveig, Ferry Corsten, Kaskade, Fedde Le Grand, Rusko, Booka Shade, Bassnectar, Above & Beyond, Sub Focus, Major Lazer, Pretty Lights, Wolfgang Gartner, The Weeknd, Porter Robinson and many more.

Excited? You should be!

To enter the contest tweet the following:

I want to win @ultramusic tickets for #UMF weekend 1 from @bigshotmagazine
http://bit.ly/12R59Od

Remember: you only need to tweet the above sentence once in order to enter the contest. Good luck!

The Rules:

• Entrants must be following @bigshotmagazine and @ultramusic
• Winner must be 21 or over
• Winner is responsible for transportation to/from UMF 2013
• Anyone found using multiple accounts to enter will be ineligible
• Contest ends at 12:00 pm EST on March 8, 2013

Like Big Shot on Facebook. Follow us on Instagram @bigshotmagazine.

And the winner is…

Congratulations to @AliDegan! Big thanks to everyone who entered.

AliDegantweet

Booka Shade Join Steve Aoki’s Dim Mak, Drop ‘Honeyslave’ EP

Thanks to releasing a steady stream of quality house tunes over the years, German house duo Booka Shade — Arno Kammermeier and Walter Merziger — need no introduction to Big Shot readers. Yesterday it was announced that the Teutonic duo known for running the mighty Berlin-based Get Physical label have inked a deal with Steve Aoki’s LA-based Dim Mak. The relationship has gotten off to a quick start with Dim Mak just releasing Booka Shade’s Honeyslave EP.

Obligatory press gush from Steve Aoki about signing Booka Shade: “One of the first records that really got me into house and dance music was Body Language. It was at the time when electro started peaking its head out into the world and I became immersed in that culture. Seven years later, I am proud to say that Dim Mak is releasing this incredible EP by the legends Booka Shade. Their sound has been consistent and always getting more and more fresh. This EP is a testament to that.”

Have a listen to the title track below which boasts a cool, phased sound and driving melody line.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/54756007″ iframe=”true” /]

BSTV: Booka Shade

There’s a little more than four months left in 2008, but it’s safe to predict Booka Shade’s The Sun & The Neon Light will be on nearly everyone’s year-end list of best albums. Big Shot talked with Walter Merziger and Arno Kammermeier backstage at The Fillmore in New York City earlier this month. Walter and Arno chatted about playing huge festivals like Glastonbury and Benicàssim, and told us how touring inspired the songs on their latest album. (Oh, and they also dropped a hint about a new soundtrack project they’re itching to begin working on!)