Ultra Music Festival’s Average 20th Anniversary

It’s been two years since our last Ultra Music Festival in Miami. This year marked the festival’s 20th anniversary, and we had high expectations. What was going to make this year more special than any year before? What kind of surprises awaited?

Ultra Day 1

After waiting in line for 45 minutes, we got inside in time to see the first artist on our list, JOYRYDE. (Did you see us on the livestream!?) His set was very similar to the ones we’ve seen in the past (aka super hype). Just as we suspected, he sprinkled in some fire new IDs. He also paused the music to announce he had just undergone a major back surgery, so it’s amazing he was still there, able to perform and dance with the crowd during his set.

Shuffling at Oliver Heldens

We left early to go see our favorite guy, Oliver Heldens. We were unfortunately not impressed with his set. He did a lot of mashups using rap and classic songs (like from Madonna and Michael Jackson), but we wanted more of the classic Oliver and Hi-Lo songs. The energy was also just a lot lower than what we are used to getting from his sets! It didn’t help that the speakers on Main Stage were going in and out as well. That’s okay, Ollie, we still love you.

REZZ Threw Down on Earth

Another set of the day worth mentioning is boss babe and space mom, REZZ. Blown away as usual! How many times can you say “wow!” in one set? She is one of those artists you could see 100 times and never be bored. You’re just not going to find another artist with a sound and visuals like hers. She was definitely one of our top artists from the weekend, and she also announced some new IDs.

Connecting with Virtual Self on Another Level

Casey: After REZZ, we made our way to the Live Stage for Virtual Self. We snagged a perfect spot at the back where we could see everything. This was one of the sets I was most excited for all day and I knew it was going to be my favorite of the weekend. We have never connected with an artist during a live performance the way we did with him that night. He was telling a story—his story—and his emotions were pouring out through the music, lights, and visuals. It was a completely different experience than any other artist will give you. You don’t see it or hear it, you feel it. I left with tear streaks down my face.

Ultra Day 2

We had a much easier time getting in on Saturday (we were inside within 5 minutes) because we headed to the fest before 2PM for Brohug. This trio was on the top of our list to see at Ultra, and we were not disappointed. They were super high-energy and played all of our favorites (“Paparazzi,” “If I’m Wrong,” and their remix of Alesso’s “Falling”) plus a handful of new IDs. We were lucky enough to get a quick hug from them at the meet-and-greet as well!

Sign Us up Twice for Fedde Le Grand

Claudia: We thought Fedde Le Grand was such a blast at DJ Mag on Wednesday that we had to see him again at Ultra. (I actually re-listened to his Ultra set while writing this recap.)

Jauz Will Always Rock the Party

Casey: Well this might have been my 12th time seeing Jauz (I’ve lost count at this point). You’d think after seeing someone this many times you would get bored. WRONG! He is one of those artists that will keep surprising his fans by doing bigger and better things. I hate to use the word, but it truly was lit. The whole crowd was jumping together nonstop. Jauz was definitely my favorite of the day. Look out for new music from him soon!

The Megastructure

Our night ended in the Megastructure with Jamie Jones and Carl Cox. We can’t believe we didn’t spend more time here two years ago, but we just weren’t into the type of music at this stage (we sure are now!) We could’ve spent the entire day under the Megastructure. It’s really something else with the arched ceiling, all its moving parts (Claudia didn’t notice anything moved for the entire first day of the fest), and laser beams shooting down the tunnel. Jamie Jones and Carl Cox are legends. Their music will always be a hit.

Ultra Day 3

Missing Moksi

Casey: Day three started out pretty rough. We were rushing to see Moksi at 2PM and were already running late after our crazy night out. Our friend Melissa forgot her ticket and had to jump out of the Uber to go back for it. We finally passed through the three different security checkpoints and got to the front of the GA line, ready to head in.

Casey: Claudia showed her press pass wristband and the security team looked dumbfounded. They called over their boss who said she had to leave the entire line and head all the way around (half a mile) to the designated press access point. He knew it was a press pass and that it was a legit ticket but wanted to make things hard for us. He told us we were wasting time by arguing with him and then forced me to show him my ticket even though it was already scanned. We finally gave up and Claudia ran all the way around the fest, missing half of Moksi’s set.

Claudia: Basically, Moksi was the number one set I was looking forward to out of everything happening during Miami Music Week, and I missed half of their set because someone was on a power trip. 🙁 Also, they didn’t play any of my favorite songs (“In Your Eyes,” “Good Love,” “Get U There”) but it didn’t even matter to me—they were still amazing.

Time-traveling with Vini Vici

Casey: We were back at the Megastructure to time travel with Vini Vici! Their set was incredible and was everything we could have asked for. The beat of their music pierced through our bodies and made us dance uncontrollably. I felt as if my soul was going to float out of my body from the spell they were casting through their tribal lyrics. I only wished it was at night and that we were closer up. It doesn’t help being 5’2”!

Claudia: I cried twice.

David Guetta Disappoints

We weren’t planning on seeing David Guetta, but we happened to be chilling at the Main Stage when he came on. Honestly, had we not known it was him, we would not have been able to guess who was playing. He was horrible. His set was all over the damn place, switching drastically between harder dubstep to classics off his 2011 Nothing But The Beat. What’s worse is the builds for his classic songs were almost always followed by drops from completely different songs.

Claudia: I’ve seen David Guetta a few times, but I’ve never heard him drop “She Wolf (Falling to Pieces),” which was actually my favorite song off Nothing But the Beat 2.0 when it came out years ago. That album was some of the first EDM I was getting into, and I think I would have cried to that song live. Imagine my stoke level when I heard it begin! But of course the drop was a different song, which ruined the moment for me.

To top it all off, we saw him at both LIV Nightclub and at Ultra two years ago, and he was great both times. Maybe it’s just our taste in music changing.

The Arcadia Spider

J.E.S.u.S also made us dance uncontrollably. The Arcadia Spider is sick—with laser beams shooting out of its eyes, fire shooting out of its head, and tentacular claws moving like cranes about to snatch up a human. The lights on the skyscraper in the background synced up with the music too. Nice. We were mesmerized and hypnotized.

Each song after the other would build and build and build up to an insane drop accompanied by blasts of angry fire and blinding laser beams. We were super stoked for this set, and we were right. It was almost impossible to leave for the “surprise” closing set—we could have stayed for the entire four hours of this one!

Overview

We can’t ignore the fact that Swedish House Mafia did reunite and play together for the first time in five years. That was awesome. The whole world was crying. But was that enough for Ultra Miami’s magnificent 20th anniversary?

It seems like Ultra has been doing things the same way in recent years instead of evolving. They get away with it because they are a huge brand name, and people will continue to go no matter what because of the legacy they’ve created.

For the 20th anniversary, we were expecting everything to be over-the-top—from the artists’ sets, the production, and organization to the workers’ attitudes and porta potty cleanliness. We were generally disappointed. This year felt exactly the same as when we were there two years ago.

The stages were the same, security was actually ruder, and First Aid legitimately did not have Advil (they instead told us we could run across the street to Walgreens, no joke). We’ve repeated festivals before, but each time still felt special and like a unique experience. We can’t say the same for Ultra Miami.

However, the vibes of the crowd (which is always a huge factor to us) were generally respectful and loving. That and the location being Miami still made this one a really fun experience.

Maybe we are spoiled after attending Tomorrowland Belgium, Holy Ship, and even Electric Forest, but for the price of an Ultra ticket, we would recommend looking into something that goes above and beyond to give you the ultimate festival experience. For us, it’s more than just who is on the lineup.