What you need to know from Ultra Day 4
The second weekend of Ultra Music Festival kicked off with an even bigger bang than it closed the first on. Country legends on the main stage and disco legends back stage. Back-to-back sets and back-to-back-to-back sets. New track premieres and new albums premieres. Jump below the break for all that you need to know about Ultra day 4.
Avicii’s grand album unveiling
After a 45-minute selection of melodic tunes, heavy electro, and funky disco mixed rapidly to hold the squirming attention, Avicii brought forth his long-awaited work in progress. For the final half hour, he was joined by live musicians to share the currently completed pieces of his debut artist album. These country-tinged sounds weren’t your typical dance tracks and represented a sharp departure from his usual sound. It was a move that intrigued some but baffled others. The productions were impressive but did Avicii revolutionize DJing or did he take a risk without the expected pay off?
Fun Fact: Eric Prydz’s “Power Drive” sounds even better from the main stage.
Afrojack shows split personality
Afrojack played two sets on Friday during weekend two — the first as Nick van de Wall — his birth name — on his own Jacked stage. During his earlier 6:30 time slot he warmed up with classic Afrojack music and then moved onto upcoming records for the second half of his set. The rain only served to increase the energy of Afrojack’s blistering set. That night he went on to close Ultra Worldwide, where thousands got the festival set the Dutch house kingpin is known for.
Quintino and R3hab go back-to-back
At 11pm, Quintino took the Jacked stage for his closing set. He went to work in SupersoniQ fashion and an hour in, was joined by friend, and Jacked resident, R3hab. The two dropped their remix of “Chasing Summers” and took turns standing on the booth to pump up the crowd.
Fun Fact: Martin Solveig premiered a new track, “Hey Now.”
Nile Rodgers?
Nile Rodgers was spotted backstage at Ultra yesterday for reasons still unknown. His presence in the dance music community can be attributed to two artists recently, Avicii and Daft Punk, both of whom Nile has produced records for their upcoming albums. Let the speculation begin…
Fun Fact: The Bloody Beetroots brought the Live Stage to life with their Church of Noise during the closing hours.
Luciano closes out Mega Structure in an exclusive Weekend Two set
The Swiss-Chilean Luciano and his Vagabundos crew are known for throwing some of the most exotic and expressive parties the world has to offer, and his finger-wagging set was quite the treat for the second weekend of Carl Cox and friends arena. With headliners like Afrojack and Tiësto closing out some of the other stages, tribal techno fans were cleared to have room to groove in the Mega Structure.
Categories: Music