The Deep End

With both Ultra Music Festival and the Winter Music Conference fast approaching, South Florida is already bracing itself for countless fans of house, techno, trance, ambient, glitch, and every other form of music made with a turntable and a drum machine to start flooding local venues. Although most of that traffic is headed to Miami, some dance heads up here in the FTL are hoping to start an annual tradition of their own with this week's inaugural House Music Festival. This Himmarshee-based electronic throwdown is more than just a pregame event to Miami. Eighteen DJs will spin house and progressive tunes throughout the night with the goal of giving Broward a stronger music reputation in the process. Helping to bring an established name to the party is San Francisco-based house guru Behrouz, whose recent collaborations have sent him DJing worldwide with the likes of Carl Cox, John Digweed, and Deep Dish. As a 20-year industry veteran, Behrouz has a distinguished global vibe and an eerie ability to warp sultry world sounds and eastern flair around feverishly produced house beats. But don't worry about the local DJs, as they're showing up in full force as well. Electronic mix-masters such as Irish transplant Ed Whitty, Voodoo lounge resident Cato K, and last year's Ultra DJ Battle winner, Eran Hersh, should be audible proof to all tourists that Broward County can throw one hell of a dance party as well.