The uhntz-uhntz hasn’t even died down. But just minutes after wrapping its six-day 2013 edition with Swedish House Mafia’s last show ever, Ultra Music Festival has already announced a plan for next year’s insane EDM extravaganza. “See you all next year at Ultra Music Festival 2014!” the fest’s organizers tweeted,…
Photo by Marta Xochilt Perez After going all country music on Ultra 2013 this weekend, Avicii’s taking vacay for a day. (At least until it’s time to return to UMF tonight and “come, rave, love” one last time with his countrymen in SHM.) And it’s totally obvious where the Swede…
Photo by S. PajotThere are robot masks in Miami’s streets. What are the odds of electro-mechanical machines (manufactured in France) descending upon Ultra Music Festival 2013 to enslave the EDM generation? We’d say the chances of a sudden and unsuspected robot invasion at UMF probably hover around 13 percent. Oh…
We here at Crossfade are still praying to the gods of robot music for a miraculous Daft Punk cameo at Ultra Music Festival 2013. But as YouTube user Deniz Korkmaz just ecstastically commented via UMFTV: “OMFG SLASHHH.” Of course, not everybody’s superstoked about the former Guns N’ Roses axe slinger…
Let’s get fucking weird. Indeed, that’s among the Beat Freak Generation’s fave mottos. But sometimes shit can get so weird that you end up praying face-down in a public park, slapping your own ass, and bounding around to a sweet beat while the cops slowly encircle your nude uhntz-uhntz-ing self…
Photo by S. PajotSave the Deadmau5e5!!!Will Ultra Music Festival 2013 descend into chaos? Probably not. The UMF peeps run a very tight operation. The kids have got access to lots of free water and wi-fi. There are cops all over the streets. And the vibe is almost universally pleasant. But…
Photo by George MartinezUltra Music Festival is a weird and wonderful place, where strange and spectacular creatures roam free and freaky — humping, fist-pumping, and just generally upending the natural order of shit. Take this human banana. A total anomaly of evolution. He’s about 100 times bigger than the average…
Photo by George Martinez What’s the most epic come-on in the history of Scandinavian EDM? Duh. “We’re gonna fuck this party in the pussy!,” as uttered by Swedish House Mafia, when Sebastian Ingrosso, Steve Angello, and Axwell were still young, up-and-coming electronic dance music studs. Today, though, the SHM dudes…
Photo by Sayre Berman Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard Hard Rock Live, Hollywood Thursday, February 7, 2013 Better Than: A cold beer, a shot of whiskey, and a good cry. All the old outlaws are only getting older. Last night, though, the Red-Headed Stranger and the Okie From Muskogee proved…
Wiseman Willie, Padre Nelson, the potheaded stranger — he’s known by many names, but this country legend and social activist has remained steadfast in his singular devotion to Mary Jane for nearly 60 years. He’s been busted. He’s been badgered. But he’s never backed down. And by God, everyone’s favorite…
Photo by Ian WitlenThurston Moore reading a poem “with Kurt in mind.”No one wrote “Kurt Smells Like Teen Spirit” on the wall. Still, the Olympia Theater at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts reeked, ever-so-slightly and not-so-literally, of sweaty punk armpits, greasy faded flannel, and the sweet stink of…
Russell Simmons on President Obama, Politics, and Hip-Hop
Oh, no… They don’t need no lovin’, no respect. ‘Cause it’s all about the sex. Even though the dudes of Mötley Crüe have all reached that advanced age when it often becomes necessary to pop a little blue pill if you wanna rock a long, strong, and sustained erection, they’ve…
Last September, erudite Englishman, ex-punk, and eyewear enthusiast Elvis Costello was forced to postpone his globe-spanning “Spectacular Spinning Songbook” tour, including a South Florida show, “due to matters pertaining to the very serious illness of a close family member.” At the time, Costello’s camp was secretive about the identity of…
Man, you ever get the feelin’ that today’s music ain’t got the same soul? Well, as Motor City rambler, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, and facial hair aficionado Bob Seger once sang: “Call me a relic, call me what you will/Say I’m old-fashioned, say I’m over the hill… I…
Dance music sucks. House music rules. Just ask British rave legend and Viva Music label boss Steve Lawler. “Dance music is not the same as house music,” Lawler told New Times in October. “Yes, it makes you dance — we all know that! But what I have seen happen in…
Totally contradicting Western civilization’s standard calendar, New Year’s Eve now lasts a lot longer than just one night. Especially on Miami Beach. Predictably, this totally irresponsible, extralong, end-of-year celebration will begin with Max Vangeli and AN21’s pre-2012 bash at the Fontainebleau’s glossiest nightclub, LIV. But not-so-predictably, your general-admission ticket’s only…
In the spring of 1789, a quiet revolutionary fervor seized the rebellious bourgeoisie in France. While King Louis XVI and his cake-eating wife, Marie Antoinette, fattened in Château de Versailles, war, economic strife, and class inequality swept the land. A good 222 years after the rebels sharpened the guillotine and…
According to the Emerald Isle’s Central Statistics Office, the average Irish male can expect to prowl around planet Earth for about 76 years, 9 months, and 18 days. Do you know what that means? It means that U2, as a band, is totally middle-aged. (Formed in 1976, the bombastic arena-rock…
Have you ever slipped into a pair of wet jeans, popped a pill, shared drinks with a stranger, rubbed private parts with 4,000 people, and danced so hard that you blacked out before waking up for another night of the exact same thing? If not, get ready for your first…
Hijacking his name from an old Nintendo videogame, local electronic-music producer Panic Bomber (AKA Richard Haig) exploded out of Miami’s underground in 2009 with a pair of EPs, Calling in Threats and Getting on My Mind. Full of furiously blenderized electro, tech-house, trance, punk, and pop, these early outbursts earned…
There was a certain millennial flash point when new wave-y New York City goth-pop quartet Interpol seemed as though it might play a major part in the cleanup of a half-decade’s crappy music. This was near the outset of the 21st Century, when the whole mall-crawling Western world and every…
