A night out with close friends and family is usually how most people celebrate their birthday. But when you’re a millionaire baller DJ/producer like Tiësto — a guy who flies around the world in his private jet — you’ve got to roll a lot harder on your special day. Tiësto celebrated turning the big 4-5 this weekend by playing his residency at Hakkasan Las Vegas. At the stroke of midnight on Friday, Tiësto was treated to a massive fireworks display that illuminated the Sunset Strip. The birthday boy stood outside Hakkasan Las Vegas and posed for photos while fireworks light up the sky.
Coincidentally, Friday was also Calvin Harris’ 30th birthday. Harris was presented with a cake and got to pose with one of the dancers from the club.
Tiësto received birthday wishes from a variety of celebs who were in attendance, including pop star Joe Jonas of Jonas Brothers fame. Joe looks like he was having a blast, but give him some credit for .wearing earplugs and protecting his moneymaker.
Tiësto’s birthday party continued on Saturday night, and Joe Jonas returned with his brother Nick to whoop it up. Don’t they look like they’re having a blast?
What’s a birthday party without a cake? Nothing! Tiësto was presented with a massive four-tier cake, and he held it up in the air like he’d just been presented with the Stanley Cup. Talk about an Instagram moment.
When all was said and done, Tiësto put on his letterman jacket, a fashion staple every 45-year-old should have in their wardrobe, and proved once again that he had lived up to the motto emblazoned on his chest under his name: Work hard, play harder.
What do you do when your songs have topped charts all over the world and you’ve earned bucket loads of cash? If you’re Scottish DJ/producer/singer Calvin Harris, you plunk down your hard-earned dough on a sexy, multimillion dollar home in the Hollywood Hills. TMZ is reporting that Harris spent $7 million for the abode, featuring 4 bedrooms, 7 baths, infinity edge pool, chef’s kitchen, home theater, built-in fire pit lounge, floor-to-ceiling windows, plus panoramic L.A. views. Harris, whose real name is Adam Wiles, reportedly put down around $2.1 million upfront, mortgaging $4.9 million on the property. According to our estimates, with a 30-year mortgage at 5 percent Harris is left with a measly monthly payment of around $18,564.92. Pssht, that’s only a fraction of what he gets paid for one of his DJ sets and he’ll still have cash on hand to build a proper studio and do a bit of customizing. Even better is that traveling to his regular gigs at Hakkasan Las Vegas at MGM Grand will be a breeze (Europe? Not so much). Here’s looking forward to what’ll no doubt be a great movie-in party.
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.”
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.
Day three of weekend one of Ultra Music Festival 15 was by far the maddest of all of all three days. The crowds were thick spilling out into the streets and lawns at every stage, worldwide music buffs getting their last fix for the weekend packing in every minute of beats, bass and lasers to take back to their native homeland. Camped out at the Mega Structure for most of the night, the night was nothing short of an amazing time, visually with laser light show mixed in just perfectly to the playlist picks of the talent on stage, you couldn’t have asked for a better ending to a weekend long of music mania.
With Avicii sliding up a slot to fill in for Calvin Harris who’s flight was delayed, he laid down sweet, body-moving sounds. Tiësto never ceases to amaze with people coming from every structure, piled deep from stage front all the way to the bar back, tuned in and fist pumping with the best of them. Taking brief breather popping over to the Life Stage to see the legendary ’90s superstar, classic and timeless, showing out on stage as only Snoop Dogg (or Snoop Lion as he is now known) knows how to. Head bobbin, hip shaking to the old and new grooves of this lyrical Rico Suave closing out with “Young, Wild, and Free” with the fans continuing the song on to their next stop. Although delayed,Harris showed and put on a show with the catchy radio stream hooks getting the crowd singing along as they danced their hearts out.
Closing out the night, David Guetta played his heart, transferred to the crowd where people danced their face off until the night came to and end. Weekend one of Ultra Music Festival 15 was the kickoff that Miami Music Week asked for and more.
