Editors’ Selections: Miami Music Week EditionEditors Selections 2

Editors’ Selections: Miami Music Week Edition

In place of our normal weekly Editors’ Selections, we decided we’d share with you our staff’s greatest memories of Miami Music Week 2013. We were on the ground at Ultra both weekends, all over pool decks, rooftops, yachts, buses, clubs, and cabanas — trying to soak in as many experiences (and DJ sets) as we possibly could. Everyone had that magic moment, that one thing they’ll be able to recall twenty years down the line. Read on to relive with us.

Dylan Farella, Senior Editor:

Pick just one memorable moment? How about getting half naked for Major Lazer? Or Afrojack opening with “Amanda?” Eric Prydz playing as Cirez D wasn’t a big deal or anything. What about watching Steve Angello prepare his Size Matters set in our cabana? Or watching him drop it at the Fontainebleau pool? How amazing is the secret sauce from La Sandwicherie? It’s always fun partying in nightclubs twice the size of your house. What was Mac Davis doing on stage with Avicii? Wasn’t that Swedish House Mafia’s last show? Which DJ overdosed on what? Was that Jeremy Shockey drinking with us? I will ask underaged DJs to take a shot with me until I’m blue in the face. What pool party are we going to? Who’s playing back-to-back? Who’s playing back-to-back-to-back? I’m stumped.

Andrew Spada, VP of Creative:

The rooftop of the Dream Hotel featured some of the best and most exclusive parties of the weekend, namely the OWSLA showcase where Alvin Risk and Skrillex went back to back for an intimate crowd. Something about the stripped down, no frills set embodied Miami Music Week for me. Alvin and Skrillex ditched their mainstage personas and spun a set that was as eclectic as it was fun – it isn’t often that the king of dubstep drops the original “P.Y.T.” in its entirety to a crowd of 60 die hard fans.

skrillex:alvin risk

Cara Daley, News Writer:

Successfully using “banana pants” as a password to get past a surly bouncer at Hyde Beach and catch amazing sets from Classixx, Flight Facilities, and Miguel Campbell. 

Kevin Shiuan, Digital Operations:

Improving oral hygiene with Toothpaste Man at Ultra. 

Brett Kernan, VP of Product:

Experiencing Seth Troxler for the first time on a yacht as the only American. How do I know I was the only American? It was probably a combination of being constantly surrounded by indiscernible accents and my clear lack of style paling by comparison to the trendy internationals. While I may have been the least cool fan on the boat, I boozed and schmoozed with the best of ’em. 

Allegra Dimperio, News Writer:

Seeing Showtek perform for a few hundred people at Nikki Beach two days before nearly every big name at Ultra sampled them in their sets. Not even rain could stop the brothers from bringing down the house with their unrelenting electro, and though the weather took the video out it did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm: Sjoerd gleefully sprayed the crowd with nitrogen, the sand shook, and the crowd roared when the duo dropped their Anchorman sample into “Cannonball.”

Fred Hwang, Digital Business Development:

Pryda and his portfolio of developing talents provided a rollercoaster experience as a music fan. While the astounding sets of Fehrplay and Jeremy Olander blew away even the most rabid of fans, Prydz’s Ultra showcases did not translate to his flop Friday night as his performance was cut tragically short. I was convinced at the last minute to catch his intimate Cirez D set the next day, a tech house masterpiece which ended in a standing ovation fueled by “one more song” chants. Leaving the venue, his manager asked us rhetorically how this compared to last night, reading the silent awe and fandom in our eyes.

Jake Lifschultz, Photographer:

I think my favorite moment of MMW (although there were SO many, I had a smile on my face a majority of the time) was jumping with Tritonal and the Stafford Brothers in a crowd of maybe 30 people tops at The Clevelander. It was such a small venue that it was like a little private rager, and it was incredible. Smiled the entire time. We almost hit our heads on the ceiling but it didn’t even matter!

Also, another small moment I appreciated was the complete luck I had on the way to the airport after leaving Sasha at SET. I hailed a cab to catch my flight on time and the first one that shows up? One of our DA cabs.

Enes Kolenovic, DA Radio:

Rooftop. Diplo. Express yourself. Unreal.

diplo rooftop

Matt Medved, News Writer:

Becoming fully aware of the perfect storm of talent that is Brodinski. As far as I can tell, he’s the only artist to boast equal levels of credibility in the divergent worlds of dark techno and hip-hop. Like some sort of arcane French chameleon, the Bromance label-head exudes coolness and seems fully capable of slinking into any party and effortlessly winning over the crowd. While I’ve always been a fan of his music, his performances left my jaw lying on two separate dance-floors  His HARD Miami and Fool’s Gold sets could not have been more different, nor could they have been more perfectly suited to their respective scenes. Doesn’t hurt that he’s also the most charismatic human I’ve met since Barack Obama. 

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