The DJ Mag party at Delano is just one of the hedonistic delights we experience on another mad whirlwind trip to Miami for the WMC and Miami Music Week. Here’s our day-to-day diary of what
went down... Words:JOE ROBERTS, CHARLIE SMALL, BEN MURPHY Pics: ALEX PATERSON & NICOLE MASTROGIANNIS FOR IHEARTRADIO
Wednesday It’s a new dawn for DJ Mag in Miami. Our parties in Florida’s state capital have become the stuff of legend over the last five years, an essential pitstop in the annual hedonistic scramble that is the Winter Music Conference. Each year we make the pilgrimage to the States in late March to take the temperature of the dance scene, and we’re just as excited this time, hoping to make our party go with a bang and search out the best shindigs the city has to offer (as well as doing some actual “work” too while we’re there).
Still, with a new party venue after the last few years at the Shelborne, we’re not quite sure what to expect as we stroll through the baking heat of Collins Avenue, already dodging scores of American ravers in the early afternoon sun, their new appetite for the all consuming beast of EDM palpable. This time we’re hosting our party at Delano — arguably the swishest spot on Collins. An Art Deco edifice seemingly carved from ambrosial marble, its interior is designed by renowned architect Philippe Starck, while the gardens and pool area (where our party is) is replete with luxury cabanas and oozes class and sophistication. There’s a sense that
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this venue might be just a little too posh to party, but it turns out our worries are misplaced. With the elevated DJ booth facing away from the pool towards the bar and the beach behind, and a large space for dancing, it looks good. The weather gods are smiling upon us, too, and with our sick line-up, things are bound to go swimmingly.
After a cool opening set from DJ Mag Allstar Joe Roberts, warming up the early doors crew, deck duties are handed to Danish deep house dude NOIR, who raises the temperature as heads start to flood in. Dropping fresh, bass-inflected tunes by the likes of Breach & Midland, (‘Somewhere’), he teases new tunes from his Noir Music label, setting the scene for Anjunadeep and Aus duo, DUSKY, whose original take on bass, techno and house ups the excitement levels when they take on the mantle later. We tuck into a few vodka and oranges, and chat to LUKE SOLOMON, who’s in fine fettle, enjoying the Miami heat, and SKREAM, who’s already in full party mode. NIC FANCIULLI rolls out his chunkin’ tech house flavour, getting an ever bigger crowd going with tunes like the wicked Saso Recyd remix of Burial’s ‘Archangel’; a
pleasant shock to the system, and dancefloor nitro. DENNIS FERRER, a mainstay of DJ Mag’s parties over the last few years, brings his raw house flavour to bear as the weather takes a turn for the worse, pissing down with rain, but far from dampening spirits, it seems to catalyze the dancers, and a rammed outdoor area rejoices in the bizarre weather. It’s EATS EVERYTHING who arguably steals the show, though. Pure charisma onstage, he dances behind the decks and exhorts the crowd to crazy displays of rapture, pumping out bass-heavy house and psyche electronic grooves that have us jumping like a jackrabbit. JAMES ZABIELA, another DJ Mag Miami party staple, delivers his intricate technoid trickery in classic style, offering up proggy techno grooves and a slamming drum & bass denouement, much to our delight. Stadium house giant HARDWELL headlines, and a little the worse for wear (maybe the vodka...), we witness the place go apeshit, with tons of Hardwell fanboys and girls losing it to his immense electro trance sounds. SUNNERY JAMES & RYAN MARCIANO take it back to the house, but still with a big room vibe, before SIDNEY SAMSON closes out the party in a blizzard of his
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