Major Lazer’s Walshy Fire, Diplo, and Jillionaire. Major Lazer shows are unlike anything else you’ll see at an EDM fest. The Diplo-led crew’s performances are an enthralling orgy of confetti-spraying machine guns, hyper-sexual dancing, and human-sized hamster balls, all set to a peculiar mixture of dancehall, dubstep, pop, and every…
Photo by Jacob Katel With Lil Wayne just out of the hospital after a series of seizures and a Codeine relapse, no one’s fronting about the role drugs play in the world of hip-hop. The EDM scene is also deep into intoxicants, and no one’s going to tell us otherwise…
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…
Photo by Victor Gonzalez Ultra Music Festival is a zoo. From land sharks to killer whales, pink flamingos to African zebras, UMF 2013 is starting to feel a lot like a World Wildlife Foundation fundraiser, complete with endangered species and cuddly critters. Sure, they’re inflatable. But try explaining that to…
Photo by Ian Witlen We knew we were in for something special after speaking with Swedish progressive house DJ-producer Eric Prydz about Ultra Music Festival 2013. Shit, just having the aerophobic house master on this side of the pond is enough an occasion to plant your ass at UMF’s main…
Photo by Jacob KatelSpaceGhostPurrp runnin’ the live stage at Ultra Music Festival 2013. SpaceGhostPurrp can be a prickly dude. He’s so young, smart, and deep. And all that online attitude. You can’t help but envy him his complexity and talent and resent what sometimes comes off as a sense of…
Photo by Victor Gonzalez A check of the weather: Sunshine and a ten-percent chance of rain. Which means we’re rocking nothing but underpants and furry boots for weekend two of Ultra Music Festival, just like the “Top Ten (Almost) Naked Raver Bros” we met last week. But girls just want…
Photo by Ian WitlenUltra 2013’s main stage with Tiësto (and not Kaskade). Kaskade and Tiësto, two undeniable titans of the current electronic dance music landscape, took to the decks on two different stages toward the end of Ultra Music Festival 2013 last night. They could have easily shared time on…
Things that are cool in one context are often not cool in others. For instance, if you arrived at the Pitchfork Music Festival in your kandi best, you would certainly not be the belle of the ball. You’d be a lame-o freak in neon, crying over a box of doughnuts…
Move over, bedazzled bodices, feather frocks, and rhinestone pasties. There’s a new burlesque in town. And if you’re thinking Hurly Burly Burlesque is anything like those muscly, baby-oil-slathered, overly tanned Chippendale’s dudes, think again. What this gritty, bearded, tattooed and, well, fitness-disinclined band of burlyesque “dancers” brings is beyond your wildest, or…
It’s still a month off, and advance and early bird tickets for the inaugural Tortuga Music Festival are almost entirely sold out. That’s not to say that you still can’t gain entrance to see the Fort Lauderdale Beach fest with Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, the Avett Brothers, and other big…
While it would be easy to guess that Ms. Joan Jett has joined the masses of geriatric rock and roll groups — the 10 piece accompaniment band, the bedazzled Nudie-style stage costumes and the pretentious audacity to murder modernized “covers” of their classic tunes — you would be wrong to…
Suenalo9:30 p.m. Friday, March 22, at the Funky Biscuit, 303 SE Mizner Blvd., Royal Palm Place, Boca Raton. Tickets cost $10 in advance, $15 at the door. Call 561-395-2929, or visit funkybiscuit.com.Throughout the history of international folklore, humankind has been obsessed with mythical monsters assembled from different parts of animals…
In the EDM world, it used to take years to make a name for yourself. With the genre’s rising popularity, it’s recently gotten a hell of a lot easier to get recognized as a celebrity — whether you actually deserve the credibility or not. DJ Scotty Boy has put in the…
If there exists one genre of popular music with the most cantankerous and anal fans and critics, progressive rock would take the prize. Some of rock’s most talented musicians work in the genre. They often bring experience from classical music and a working knowledge of music theory. Some of the…
Photo by Victor Gonzalez The status quo, namely the prudish American population’s stance on public nudity, has never favored the exhibitionist. At Ultra Music Festival, however, the status quo is tossed out the beat-freaking window, along with its attendees’ sense of shame. And while it may seem that the men…
The inner EDM lover in you is totally psyched that Fort Lauderdale will get a taste of Winter Music Conference this year with Vibe Music Week. As part of this week’s festivities, Miami producer and DJ Joe Maz will be returning to the venue to follow up his epic New…
The Mavericks were arguably the most unlikely band ever to emerge from South Florida. Led by a Cuban-American with a love for classic country music and an appreciation for the traditional sounds borne by his Hispanic heritage, the Mavs gained a rabid following in a place where Americana was not…
Via instagram.com/Diplo Diplo is undeniably a superstar now. He is well known beyond the confines of EDM. He is producing music for pop stars. And he’s got a face that brands want to use to hawk products. So, as expected, his side project, Major Lazer, is changing with him. And…
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 Jacob KatelWelcome to Ravetopia.Society got the best of ya? Go to Ultra Music Festival and leave the normal world behind. Here, you can feel free to get half naked, customize your brain, and put some neon in your life. Deep inside the endless well of bass, you just…
