WMC: The Hangover Edition. Satisfied?
Miami is in mourning this week. After record-breaking crowds (buoyed no doubt by the anemic dollar and increasingly strong euro) swarmed South Beach last week for the annual dance music confab known as the Winter Music Conference, Collins Avenue hotels are now back to hosting New Jersey college students flossin on their spring break -- or worse, elderly Canadian couples seeking respite from a still bitter winter.
This past weekend, however, the festival was in full swing, with momentum that hasn't been witnessed at WMC since the late '90s. London dance label owners mixed it up with DJs from Berlin and employees of burgeoning Internet upstarts such as MP3 giant Beatport at swank hotels, i.e., the National and the still-under-construction Gansevoort Miami. In fact, the Gansevoort claimed one of the hottest nights of the fest with an exclusive Paul Oakenfold set. Believe it or not, brazen groups of men actually bum-rushed the velvet rope to get into the new hotel, much to the surprise of the overwhelmed staff.
But for many, the highlight of the week of DJ-centric festivities was surely the massive Ultra Music Festival. Taking place far from South Beach over two days at downtown Miami’s Bicentennial Park, Ultra did not disappoint. Sets from Sweden’s Eric Prydz, France’s David Guetta and Underworld defined the Coachella-like gathering (think multiple sweltering tents and scores of seemingly Ecstasy-addled kids bouncing between them to catch their favorite acts), with Underworld getting the biggest response from the 20,000 + strong crowd (per day), despite early technical problems that plagued the English duo responsible for one of the biggest (and unlikeliest) dance hits of the 1990s, “Born Slippy.”
But Saturday didn’t end with Underworld’s set. For the Miami club set, evenings start at midnight ... and a jam-packed downtown club scene proved it. At Studio A, New York promoter Josh Houtkin (a.k.a. JDH) hosted the hottest late-night party, with blistering sets from Boys Noize and Simian Mobile Disco stretching past 4 a.m. The crowd, of course, was still ordering mojitos right up until the end, perhaps knowing their chances of getting a cab in a packed-yet-still-gritty downtown were slim to none.
Nearby, the scene was less crowded at the Poplife party at White Room, where Scottish MySpace sensation Calvin Harris performed to a rapt audience. The lanky “Colours” singer debuted one new song at the show, and said he was ready to start work on his new record. Clearly, Harris is tiring of his kitschy-yet-catchy collection of songs that have brought him a modicum of fame in the U.K. (and increasingly America), such as “The Girls” and “Vegas.” Audiences can expect a “very different sound” for his next record, he promised after his gig.
Prior to Harris' energetic set at the White Room, buzzing New York (via Los Angeles) thrash electro outfit Hearts Revolution surprised the crowd with its particular brand of dissonant dance music that sometimes verges on punk and owes more to acts like Sonic Youth or Crystal Castles than perennially popular DJs like Tiësto that typify the scene at WMC.
One such DJ who does represent what Miami (and WMC) is all about is Benny Benassi, who performed Sunday night at South Beach's Set. The Italian spinner-producer is fresh off a Grammy win for his remix of Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise." Overseas, he is perhaps best known for his massive 2005 hit “Satisfaction."
The vapid, decidedly Euro crowd was dressed to impress at Set. Many of the women wore slinky designer dresses that clung to their lithe bodies. While Benassi failed to build much excitement during his set, which some paid hundreds of dollars to see (bottle service seems to be an idea tailor-made for showoffs in Miami), he finished strong with a pulsing take of his "Satisfaction" mixed in with the Rolling Stones' better-known version.
The 13 words Benassi made famous to house heads worldwide are surely still echoing through dance fans’ heads as a fitting coda to another wild WMC:
"Push me/And then just touch me/Till I can get my/Satisfaction."
-- Charlie Amter
Photo courtesy Max Dall'Aglio/Bennybenassi.com
| Bookmark it: |
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/816965/31963796
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference WMC: The Hangover Edition. Satisfied?:
WMV 2008 was epic!
I agree with Charlie on Benassi. Saw him Tuesday during WMC at Mansion and he was a huge let down after Boys Noize and MSTRKRFT.
We ended our week with Bob Sinclair and Axwell at Mansion and it Axwell blew our minds! He brought the crowd into a frenzy and we were all jumping with our hands in the air!
Got a lot of videos from WMC here: http://www.youtube.com/lifesabeatvideos
LA does not seem that exciting right now after a week in Miami and WMC... :)
Posted by: Life's a Beat | April 02, 2008 at 08:35 PM