It’s been a more than interesting run-up to this year’s mad Miami festivities – mainly, of course, because they’ve attached themselves, for the first time, to two separate weeks. The Winter Music Conference is running two weeks earlier than last year, this week in fact. Its long-term dance partner Ultra, however, has stuck to a late March slot and chosen to extend its programme - the Ultra Music Festival is now a three-day party monster, ready to pounce March 25-27.
A precise explanation for the Miami schism is still lacking. Rumours persist that Ultra’s organisers were unable to secure a special events permit for Miami’s Bicentennial Park in the week of WMC, and yet Conference organisers have given no indication, it seems, of trying to re-schedule to keep Miami’s busy springtime dance calendar unified.
Clubland’s leading lights gave up weeks ago trying to predict how things might pan out in Miami-Dade County this year; for them, Miami 2011, is unknown territory. But now that WMC is here, have we learnt anything new?
Miami’s hotelier community certainly thinks so. “For us it’s great because we’ve got two loads of people coming in for that type of music.” say Karlene Palmer-McLeod, Marketing Manager at the sold out Clevelander hotel. “The hotel’s busy and there’s a buzz.”
The Clevelander is fully booked this week, as well as during Ultra, when it will be hosting several related parties. It’s the same elsewhere. The South Beach Group, which owns the Catalina Hotel, Chesterfield Hotel, Hotel Shelley, Whitelaw Hotel and Hotel Chelsea, is throwing events for both WMC and Ultra, and is sold-out across its portfolio throughout most of March. Menin Hotels, owner of the mighty Shelborne Beach Resort, is also experiencing high demand across the month, and planning events accordingly.
Menin’s founder, Keith Menin, believes the split will work well for the tourism industry, as does Rolando Aedo, Senior Vice President for Marketing at the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau. Aedo points out that local tourism officials are expecting, if not already experiencing, a huge boost in hotel room occupancy for the two separate weeks this year: “We anecdotally hear that some attendees will be coming back into town to attend both events whereas they would have done this over the course of one weekend.”
The latest estimates of WMC organisers are that over 100,000 clubbers will attend the conference this week. Conference head honcho Bill Kelly has remarked, before now, that separation from Ultra and the consequential absence of certain major party “institutions” will resurrect WMC’s professional standing and association with the kind of credible, serious-minded individuals responsible for securing dance music’s long-term future. But others aren’t so optimistic.
Wolf+Lamb’s Gadi Mizrahi, based in Miami with partner Zev Eisenberg for several months of the year now, claims that WMC is attracting an older crowd focussed on clubland’s more archaic, dustier forms of music: “We speak to people and there does seem to be a shift happening in Ultra’s favour. People are still here for the Conference this week but not perhaps as many; and the Conference seems to be tying itself in even more tightly with older forms of house and dance music. Ultra, on the other hand, is attracting the new disco, house and techno scenes. Most of the big parties are happening there; that seems to be where it’s at.”
Matt Brookman, General Manager of Ovum Records, is also unsure of Miami’s dual schedule. “Josh [Wink] and I heavily debated whether or not to throw our party this year” he reveals. “I mean, it’s a big unknown right? We think the numbers will be off for parties this week and during Ultra, and anyone that disagrees is foolish to do so. Will punters really support both weeks in this economy? We really don’t think so but then it’s hard to know what will happen this year. We’ll be trying to get a pulse on things.”
Fortunately, Ovum has kicked on with its original plans for a Miami 15th anniversary party at the end of March. Taking place on March 24 at Shine (within the Shelborne) Ovum’s event promises the usual high-quality, forward-thinking line-up (Wink alongside Steve Bug, Nic Fanciulli, Luca Bacchetti, Shlomi Aber and David Squillace) as well as music from cult LA deep house imprint Culprit. “We’re really glad we’re back this year; we have some great performers.” Brookman says. “But there are a few nerves; compared to last year, interest in the party does seem a little quieter… we still don’t really know who’s coming!”
Ovum, like many record labels and promoters, made a preliminary booking for Miami as far back as last November. The Ultra and WMC date shifts inevitably followed, and Brookman and Wink had a tricky dilemma in terms of what week in March to target. “The financial reality is that we couldn’t really do two separate events” Brookman confides. “We originally made a booking for the end of March, and so we’ve stuck with that. Who knows if people will come in for all of that week; we have moved things to the day before Ultra but, look, it’s going to be interesting to see what happens. We can only focus on our music, and reassure ourselves that it does look like people are waiting for Ultra, rather than heading in to Miami for the Conference…”
Legendary Miami-time promoters Made Event concur, opting to position their two main Ice Palace-hosted events (March 24’s Anjunabeats In Miami, featuring John Dahlback and Jody Wisternoff, and the March 25-27 Sunday School techno fest, special guests including Richie Hawtin, Victor Calderone and Luciano) outside of the Conference. Ticket sales are already very brisk.
“The split has had no effect on us” Made Event co-founder Mike Bindra comments. “The timing doesn’t matter anymore; it’s about the events and what’s being offered to the fans. Customer demand is healthy, definitely better than last year.”
And what about for a debutante like Rejected, the label headed by Edwin Oosterwal and Joris Voorn? “We’re hosting our first ever Miami showcase at SET on March 23 and customer interest is great!” Oosterwal confirms. “The split was very confusing but most people will be in Miami for Ultra Week. And from what I understand people have not been attending the conference in recent years.”
A large portion of MN2S’s DJs and live artists are performing in Miami this month but the London-based house label isn’t officially hosting anything; it will, instead, monitor proceedings with interest before a potential return in 2012. MN2S isn’t alone in this approach.
Back to Wolf+Lamb, meanwhile, and plans are well under way for their March 24 gathering at Electric Pickle – part of a world tour with Soul Clap, promoting their new co-fronted DJ Kicks album, and featuring special guests Slow Hands and Benoit & Sergio.
“This whole split thing is irrelevant to us” Gadi asserts. “Our events usually have a really intimate focus so if, as we suspect, the crowd is a little lighter at the Pickle then it won’t matter. I think there are a number of smaller, creative set-ups in electronic dance music like us, for whom Miami’s usual events don’t really apply. Perhaps we need a third week in Miami next year, but then what do you call it?!”
Thoughts on a postcard...
Words: Ben Lovett
Most Rated Miami '11 is out 21st March - listen & pre-order
