Ultra Music Festival

31 Artists Playing Ultra Music Festival Resistance Announced (And They Don’t Suck)

Darren Ressler Leave a Comment

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Before Ultra Music Festival was dominated by a coterie of cookie cutter EDM DJs, lineups had a lot more diversity. From live sets by Floridian heroes Rabbit in the Moon to a full-on drum ‘n’ bass tent featuring Miami’s DJ Craze to a host of UK bad-asses, those looking to dance to a different beat had a lot more options. After years of carbon copying the same lineup, the bookers at UMF continue to broaden their horizons with the Resistance sub-brand, a non-EDM lineup that will span two stages in 2017.

In fact, the first 31 names released on the phase one announcement for Resistance, which takes place March 24-26, 2017, represents a continued shift toward techno. They’ve tapped the likes of genre superstars ANNA, Chris Liebing, Dubfire, Jon Rundell, Maceo Plex, Marco Carola and Matador.

While there’s a lot of focus on current and rising stars, they’ve also made a place for veteran DJs (all of whom have played Ultra Music Festival countless times in the past): UMF regular Carl Cox has been named Global Ambassador for Resistance, and Sasha & Digweed will perform together for the first time in the U.S. since 2010. Here’s the full lineup in alphabetical order:

RESISTANCE (in alphabetical order)

ANNA
B. Traits
Black Coffee
Carl Cox
Chris Liebing
Dosem
Dubfire
Eats Everything
Eli & Fur
Elio Riso
Hector
Hot Since 82
Jamie Jones
Jon Rundell
Joseph Capriati
Josefin Rosen
Kölsch
Maceo Plex
Marco Carola
The Martinez Brothers
Matador
Matthias Tanzmann
Nic Fanciulli
Reboot
RioTGeaR
Saeed Younan
Sasha & John Digweed
Seth Troxler
Tale of Us
Technasia
wAFF⁠⁠⁠⁠

umf-resistance-2017 lineup

Ultra Music Festival Co-Founder Alex Omes Dead at 43

Darren Ressler Leave a Comment

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Alejandro “Alex” Omes, co-founder of Ultra Music Festival and a mainstay in Miami’s club scene, died on Monday night. Omes, who was a native of Miami, was 43. There’s no word yet on the cause of death and his passing certainly took many by surprise.

According to the Miami Herald, Omes was discovered in his bed at his Miami Beach home after he failed to show Monday for a court date, said his friend Carmel Ophir, former owner of the The Vagabond in downtown Miami.

In a statement, officials with the festival wrote, “The organizers of Ultra Music Festival extend their deepest condolences to the family of Alex Omes and are saddened by the news of his passing. We will continue to remember and celebrate Alex for his love, passion and contributions to the Electronic Dance Music community.”

Omes started UMF in 1999 with then-partner Russell Faibisch. He left Ultra in 2010 and went on to present various shows for Swedish House Mafia while UMF expanded to Tokyo, Johannesburg, São Paulo, Seoul, Cape Town and Split and Hvar, Croatia.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

11 Breathtaking Crowd Shots From Ultra Europe

Yehouda Silverman Leave a Comment

Ultra Europe 2014-

While Ultra Music Festival in Miami has become a rite of spring for many dance-music fans here in the U.S., Ultra Europe is well on its way to following in sister festival’s footsteps.

Held July 11-13, 2014 at Poljud Stadium in Split, Croatia, Ultra’s organizers report that their second European edition attracted 150,000 fans from 125 countries. Expanding from two to three days just meant more music and performances as well as an exclusive Ultra Beach pool party on the island of Hvar at the Hotel Amfora Grand Beach Resort.

The bill was littered with all the usual EDM suspects (Above & Beyond, Afrojack, Alesso, Armin van Buuren, David Guetta, Example, Fedde Le Grand, Hardwell, etc.) and the production looked spot-on.

Have a look at these brilliant images shot by Rukes.com and Rudgr.com, which should hint at what lies in-store for Ultra Japan taking place in September.

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UMEK’s IDMA Award Ceremony Invite Caught In Spam Filter

Yehouda Silverman Leave a Comment

UMEK ULTRA MUSIC FESTIVAL 2014

When Slovenian DJ/producer UMEK’s first U.S. tour concluded in Miami last month with three events — he hosted his 1605 label showcase together with Deeperfect in The Clevelander, played Toolroom’s pool party at the Raleigh Hotel and finished with a set at Carl Cox’s Megastructure at Ultra Music Festival — amid all of the insanity that is Miami in March, the mixmaster says his IDMA invitation for Best Techno/Tech House DJ went to his spam filter. In fact, UMEK says he found out about winning the award, edging out Richie Hawtin, Joris Voorn, Loco Dice, Sven Vath, Adam Beyer and Tiga, on Twitter.

Cue sad trombone.

UMEK is moving forward without a hitch, preparing a collaboration with Waka Flocka due out this summer. In a statement he said, “I would never produce a track I wouldn’t then play on stage. I constantly want to try out new things. I turned my studio gadgets upside down and around to get some interesting sounds and now it’s time for me to experiment with human voice a bit. After all it’s an instrument we all know how to operate. I think it fits perfectly!”

With the cash that track will probably rake in, UMEK might want to hire someone to manage his inbox, right?