Wow you guys are awesome! I get so excited reading about the shows and I totally understand not wanting to stand around and film when you can be enjoying the moment instead. If you didn't get footage, that's OK. As long as you raged hard and lived to tell about it, that's all that matters.

KNE, on 31 March 2011 - 9:27 AM, said:

Thanks for finding that clip for me, that is really bizarre.

@Grannock certainly understand why you didn't up filming any of it. And what a great review, sounds like an amazing 3 days.

Grannock, on 30 March 2011 - 6:29 PM, said:

When your in the moment, everything else becomes an after-thought!

I'm glad you had the best Chems experience possible Grannock!

whirlygirl, on 30 March 2011 - 3:28 PM, said:

Mark my words.....The shows in Mexico will be phenomenal. There's so much word of mouth right now about the Ultra show, and it's just gonna get bigger and better within the next 2 weeks.

i say coachella stage... dammit!!!

INCHEMWETRUST, that picture is incredible! Are there any more?

inchemwetrust, on 30 March 2011 - 10:01 PM, said:

The Mexico shows are going to be nuts - from what I've seen their Mexican fans are absolutely crazy for the Chems!

And that picture is phenomenal. I may have to ditch my Chems Hollywood Bowl desktop pic for this new and exciting one!

apostle, on 31 March 2011 - 1:13 PM, said:

http://www.flickr.co...emicalbrothers/

KNE, on 31 March 2011 - 10:54 AM, said:

As of right now, there's still no word where the Chems are closing either the Main or Sahara! I think the Chems are still working it out those issues!

But the Ultra stage is massive!

Jesus Christ I'm really going to explode in one week!!

mx/, on 02 April 2011 - 11:48 PM, said:

Now that was funny hahahah!!!

I loved the set personally. Knew it wasn't going to have everything, since it was a festival set. And I had intentionally not read any of the reviews for the shows on the tour up to now so I would not have any expectations. They rocked it, start to finish, and was the highlight of the festival for me.

Galvanize has never particularly been a favourite of mine but the way they work it live is fantastic. That, Swoon (my fave Chems song ATM), and Escape Velocity (screw-up and all) were highlights for me. I actually didn't catch the mess-up on Escape Velocity at the time because I met a girl right at that time and was distracted for a minute or two. Star Guitar was majestic, Leave Home was banging. I had never heard Superflash so I was rattled that there was a tune I didn't know. They kinda teased It Doesn't Matter and had the robots up on the screens but never actually played it. My only "complaint" per se is that I wasn't a fan of Block Rockin Beats as a closer. When they dropped it I was excited to hear it but figured it was the "warmup" for another one or two tracks after to close out the set.

Nevertheless, I had a blast. None of my friends on the trip were familiar with the Chems at all (most were asking why they were closing instead of Guetta. I told them not to worry, they'd find out soon enough) and they were all blown away. The crowd was actually relatively sparse for the Chems (as compared to, say, Guetta or Deadmau5), I think because people were trying to leave early to beat the ridiculous traffic and catch cabs. Still, everyone who stuck around (and don't get me wrong, it was still a LOT of people) were treated to a great show. And there was enough room there to get my dance on, which was a nice change from Deadmau5 the night before (who I was actually slightly disappointed with, compared to the other 2 times I'd seen him).

(Second post, about my week in Miami in general to follow.)

Some notes from Ultra in general and my entire week in Miami (I got in on Tuesday):

I didn't see as much of the festival as I would have liked, mostly due to going out every night and going deep throughout the week. We also did a lot of shopping and didn't get to the festival until late afternoon/early evening on Saturday and Sunday (and skipped Friday altogether). In particular, I really regret missing Wolfgang Gartner (who I will be seeing in Winnipeg this month), Avicii (who I saw at Mansion's closing party), and Simian Mobile Disco (really, REALLY regret that one). Also missed Skrillex, Cut Copy, Boyz Noize, Laidback Luke, Fake Blood, Crystal Castles (who I've seen before), MSTRKRFT (ditto) and others.

Of the acts I did see, I was surprised and impressed by Kaskade (way better than I expected) and Erick Morillo (who I've never particularly been a fan of) who had P Diddy as a guest during his set. Guetta was a highlight for most of my friends and I enjoyed his set as well. Underworld were great but a little bit laidback for the mood I was in. Deadmau5 put on a solid show that featured Sofi + a live drummer for a few songs but, to be honest, it was the least impressive of the three times I've seen him. Most of that is probably due to the fact that this time was at a festival, whereas the other times I saw him were at small clubs (<200 people the first time, under a thousand the second). Saw Armin van Buuren, who I could really care less about. Afrojack, on the other hand, was great.

The festival is in a great location and laid out pretty well. Washrooms were WAY too congested (why didn't anyone queuing near the front and blocking the way realise all the toilets in the back were empty and clean????). Beautiful weather, lots of funky costumes and a good crowd overall.

Miami as a city and a clubbing destination is fantastic, but expensive. We went to probably the four best clubs in Miami and it cost a LOT of money to get in and have a good time.

Went to LIV (probably Miami's most exclusive club) to see Steve Angello's Size Matters party (since we weren't going to be seeing the Swedish House Mafia). LIV was a solid club, fantastic sound system and definitely a place to be seen. Ingrosso joined him on the decks so it was like a SHM set and they banged it hard. However it took a long time to get in and even offering $100 per person to get in we weren't getting past the ropes without girls (which we did not have). Eventually one of the promoters got us in and we were off to the races. Great start to the week.

Second night was SET for Joris Voorn. Bought a table to skip the line and it was well worth it. The club is small but with great lighting and fantastic sound. The VIP tables were right in the middle of the club and not secluded so having bottle service meant we had girls with us the whole night without having to put in any effort. Great set from Voorn and although my friends left before I did, I ended up destroying the dancefloor, meeting a lot of people, losing my credit card, and ended up on the beach at 6 AM where I helped some people find a missing camera. I think.

Thursday we went to Josh Wink's party at the Shelborne but we got there WAY too early and it was dead. Music was great but the scene was whack. Although it was picking up by the time we left it wasn't what my friends were looking for. We ended up at Space where there was a colossal line but we elected for bottle service again (a couple more friends had flown into Miami that night and we wanted to show them a good first night out). Loco Dice and Martin Buttrich were playing the upstairs terrace. This club is MASSIVE. Well over 2000 people I'd guess. Our table was elevated and right next to the DJ booth on the main floor where the resident DJ, Boris was spinning. Unlike SET, the table was segregated from the rest of the club and we couldn't even bring people/girls up there with us, which kinda defeats the point, IMO. And Space didn't close until 3 PM the next day, though I think we left by 5 or 6 AM. Earlier in the day we went jetskiing (so much fun!!!) and relaxed on the beach for the most part. Also, when we got back to our hotel (The Clevelander, which has its own bar/club and was banging until 5 AM every nght), my buddy and I blagged food and drinks by pretending to be a DJ (him) and the DJ's manager (me). DJ Hectic got hooked up by the hotel manager, Eddie. LOLZ!

Friday we were already feeling the effects of the previous three nights so we skipped the festival (Tiesto? meh...) to save energy for Mansion, where we had a table for David Guetta's Fuck Me I'm Famous party. Even with a prepaid table (and the price for this was steep), we had to wait over an hour to get in, that's how hectic the place is. The club, however, is fantastic, Guetta played a party-blasting, crowd-pleasing set filled with his standards (a lot of fun, if not the sort of music that is critically acclaimed). Afrojack was an unbilled special guest and he laid it down thick and had the place going off. Met a lot of fun people, including a group of girls on a bachelorette party. I think this night was the highlight of the week for most of my friends. After Mansion, a couple of us went to Noctural, an afterhours place next door to space. It was alright but we decided to try to go to MYNT Lounge, where Felix da Housecat was spinning, unfortunately we didn't realise it was after 6 AM when the club closed. (Friday we had also changed hotels, with half of us at the luxurious Loews resort and the others at The President, which was ok.)

Saturday we went shopping and to the festival. No afterparties for us, though I wanted to go to the Mau5trap party at Arkadia because I was pretty sure Deadmau5 was going to be spinning as an unbilled "special guest". Everyone was too exhausted though.

Sunday was the festival, highlighted by Morillo, Guetta, and the Chems as described above. Fantastic close to the festival. Anyone who was wondering why the Chemical Brothers were closing the festival over any of the other acts weren't wondering anymore afterwards. I was supposed to meet up with a girl I had met at Grand Central to see Disco Biscuits but, as usual, I chose music over the girl and got us into Mansion to see Avicii's closing party. While getting some action would have been nice, Avicii made the sacrifice well worth it. The place was going off, Avicii was deadly on the decks and we had a fantastic time. Avicii's remix of Robyn was a particular highlight for me, though his entire set was euphoric. A couple celebratory bottles of Moet at the end of the night capped off a fantastic Miami Music Week. Unable to sleep due to excitement, I spent my final hours in Miami in a hot tub at the resort, watching the sun come up.

(Post-note: We got stranded in Tampa on the Monday due to a late plane departure and after 6 days of perfect 25-30 C weather with not a cloud in the sky, it was a downpour in Tampa. Ended up having to stay in Tampa at a low-budget hotel paid for by the airline and flying back to Winnipeg the next day, where I saw my parents briefly and then we had to make the five hour drive back to Sioux Lookout. I also caught a respiratory infection from one of my friends and have been sick since I got back.)

All in all, Miami Music Week and Ultra Music Festival was one of the best vacations and, even, one of the best weeks I've ever had. I can't recommend it enough. I have some regrets about missing a couple of the acts but the clubbing and food and drink and overall vibrancy of the city left me in awe. In fact, one of my roommates and I have actually started looking into what it would take to get licensed as a pharmacist in Florida, what we need to do to immigrate, and what it would cost to live in Miami Beach. It's possible that I may be taking my talents to South Beach in the next 12-18 months. That is how great a time I had and how much I loved the city.

Sorry for the epically long post but it's the first time I've put my thoughts down on paper since returning.

Daaaang!! I think I need a vacation after reading about your vacation, Darkstar! Sounds epic! I'm amazed at how much you packed in during your trip to Miami and so glad you had such an amazing time at the Chems and at Ultra overall!

Wow, what a week. If the Chems do Ultra again next year I might have to take a trip.

I can't possibly recommend it enough. Miami has a vibe about it that I've never seen before. South Beach does not sleep, shops are open until midnight or later in some cases, electro and techno are blasting everywhere. The scenery (both geographical and female) is incomparable. I don't know what it's like the rest of the year, but Miami Music Week/Ultra Music Festival is something that needs to be experienced. I thoroughly recommend going early in the week to get the lay of the land and hit the deadly parties if your budget can handle it.

Darkstar, you ma hero. ::hugs::

Wow, I need to go to this next year. I also need to hit up that festival that the Chems played in New York recently - I heard that that was amazing too!

Yeah but Pooter, I missed SMD! So choked that I messed that one up.

Big love to you too, though!

Oh, and next year Wrestlemania is in Miami the weekend after Ultra. Might try to do that too as a laugh.