Here’s the post you’ve been waiting for P&Bers. Ultra Music Festival review! The craziest weekend any person can have. I’ll be dropping the newest tracks and some awesome festival footage. Shout out to my partners in crime for this epic 3 day weekend Neal, Yann, Daniel and of course Barret. You’re coming next time TeeFizz.
Let’s Get it.
Day 1: Are we in yet?
Benny Benassi
Benny opened with a fucking Tron remix! My first thought was, “Oh shit”. Anyways, Benny brought the main stage to its knees, dropping that heavy electro house he is known for, as well as some pleasant surprises in the form of dubstep and dirty dutch. Like always, Benny brought the energy, even for a fairly early set, and hit us with some drops including the dubstep remix of “Satisfaction” and “Limit to Your Love” by James Blake. All in all, a great set, the old boy still got it!
Benny Benassi – Cinema (Laidback Luke Remix)
James Blake – Limit To Your Love (Benny Benassi Remix)(UNRELEASED)
Avicii
This boy Avicii, he’s something else I tell you. Every time I listen to this guy, I’m like “how did he think of that?” Avicii dropped a couple new tracks on Friday, and had people moving like a 2 for 1 sale at your local strip club. He had the crowd roaring track after track, and shit got berserk when he hit us with his remix of ‘Swede Dreams’. That bassline gives me chills every time I think about it. Solid set, definitely in my top 5 of the whole festival.
Avicii – Sweet Dreams (Avicii Swede Dreams Remix)
Royksopp
Ah Royksopp, the boys from Norway. What a show! With their already sizable fan-base, the love was immeasurable when they took the stage. Although the tempo for a Royksopp show is definitely slower to most of the acts that day, the familiar melodies and lyrics had people chiming in to create a great atmosphere. Poor Leno was played and absolutely killed!
Royksopp – You Don’t Have A Clue
Chris Lake
A pioneer in the tech-house and minimal arena, Lake was on fire with his usual repertoire of groovy 4 to the floor goodness. The bright sounds and infectious grooves captured the audience until midnight struck. He featured a great ‘Only One’ remix along with great minimal tracks that have yet to be identified by the internetz.
Chris Lake & Nelski – Minimal Life
Nightriders – Hey (Chris Lake & Marco Lys Re-Edit)
Vids:
BT
Although BT had a main stage performance for Sunday, Ultra let him play a mini set at their radio stage and he took advantage of it! Usually known for his Trance and Progressive House, BT dropped serious dubstep tracks including Skrillex’s Cinema and Bass Cannon by Flux Pavilion. It was great to see a DJ of that status to just play whatever he wanted. At times I thought he was having more fun than we were. Coincidentally, it set us up for the next day, which was littered with dubstep artists.
Day 2: Day of the Dubstep!
Afrojack
Not dubstep, but still a great warm up for the madness to come. The Dutchman brought out that dirtiness that we at P&B love so much. The mixing was flawless as usual, but nothing spectacular I must say. But all in all it was a great main stage set. Seriously, as long as he keeps playing that Hide and Seek remix, I’ll keep coming to his sets.
Nero
Beginning of the fucking end! Nero kicked off what would be 3 hours of deadly bass induced drops. Taking place in a decently sized open tent, the space immediately filled with dub-heads and uhhh…regulars heads? Either way, shit was packed and ready to bounce to the beautiful sounds of the British duo. Although I can’t remember the order in which they were played, Nero received intense cheers as they played their remix of Stress by Justice, which is pretty much the best track you can play in a live setting. ‘Innocence’ was played along with their remixes of ‘Hypnotize You’ (Pharrell) and ‘The Recluse’ by Plan B. An incredible set, did not disappoint!
N.E.R.D. & Daft Punk – Hypnotize U (Nero Remix)
Plan B – The Recluse (Nero Remix)
And in the number one spot of the entire festival comes these masters from South London. Skream & Benga brought the most energy and dropped the dopest tracks hands down. With a mixture of a classic dubstep sound and something that I can only describe as “bounce” music, the crowd was in a sustained state of euphoria throughout the set. And as radio jockeys, they didn’t hesitate for a second to engage the crowd and even pulled some reggae DJ type shit like rewinds and track banter (i.e. PUH PUH PUH!), which just made the set more engaging. Seriously, if Benga didn’t keep asking if we were still with him, my mind would have been lost in wonderland. But anyways, I wish I can drop all the hype tracks they were playing, but there is just no setlist in site right now. I’ll keep checking P&Bers, in the mean time here’s some of Skream and Benga’s hits. Check the vids below to witness the sheer awesomeness of the show.
Cassius – I Love You So (Skream Remix)
Vids:
Skream’s favorite record AMAZING!!!
Rusko
This was my second time seeing Rusko and I must say this guy goes harder than Charlie Sheen. Anybody can smoke 7 gram rocks, Rusko does it to face-melting dubstep. Even after Skream & Benga’s monster set, Rusko jumped right in and blasted the crowd with more bass. Playing his bangers like ‘Hold on’ and ‘Woo Boost’, shit was crazy yet again. The one thing I like about this guy is you clearly see him enjoy his time at the decks and the enjoyment definitely passes on to the crowd. Oh, and he dropped a bunch of new tracks so I’ll be on the look out for those. Big ups to Rusko and thanks for not playing any of your Britney tracks.
Vids:
Dropping “Land’s End” and More – HQ sound so crank that shit up.
I heard Moby played a monster set too. Here’s his set.
Day 3: AAHHHH ZOMBIES!!!!
Skrillex
So Skrillex took the decks for the third time in the festival and we finally were able to catch it. With his recognizable glitchy dubstep, the crowd was immediately engulfed by the time ‘My name is Skrillex’ started up. The kid seriously couldn’t have done any better. And he dropped his new track ‘Equinox’, which sounded amazing live. Other than that, a solid Skrillex set, no complaints here.
Skrillex Feat. 12th Planet – Needed Change
Benny Benassi – Cinema (Skrillex Remix)
Vids:
Great Mixing! bad filming.
Crystal Castles
Ah yes, the Crystaline Castles. Just a breath of fresh air after so much booming dubstep. Flawless performance by the ensemble, did not disappoint their fans, me included.
MSTRKRFT
Somebody changed their sound!!! MSTRKRFT, usually known for their aggressive distortion driven electro, kept to the electro format, but really eased up on their signature overpowering distortion. It’s evident from their new single that they’re going back to their instruments and cutting out some of that mechanical sound.
Armin Van Buuren
For all you Trance lovers out there, Armin was hosting his 500th episode of ASOT on the last day of the festival. The sites were breathtaking as well as the music. Here’s all the amazing sets.
Armin Van Buuren, Marcus Schossow, Cosmic Gate, Gareth Emery, Ferry Corsten, ATB, Sander Van Doorn.
Honorable Mentions:
Deadmau5 feat. Tommy Lee on the drums. Full Set
Kaskade – Amazing Set!
Sorry for the late submission P&Bers, the music literally made my laptop overheat and melt. Thanks to Yann and Barret for the pictures and shout out to all my music appreciators. Email us if any of the links go down.
- El Guapo
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