It's been a busy end-of-the-winter season in Detroit for the dance music community. We have had a number of huge events showcasing the top in electronic music right now, including some of our well-traveled hometown heroes.
February brought us Borgore and Stacey Pullen, opposite ends of the spectrum but each renowned in their own realm.
If you love Dubstep and bass music, I sincerely hope you were able to check out Borgore's show at Elektricity. The tracks you play on Spotify don't compare to the live show this guy puts on. It's grimy, it's dark, it's dirty and it's like you are lost in an erotic horror fantasy with enough drops and bass wobble to hold your attention for hours.
Hailing from Israel, Asaf Borger (Borgore) is former drummer of Israeli death metal band Shabira. Self-described as "Gorestep", his music incorporates triplet drum patterns with heavy metal influences. Playing to a packed house - Borgore confidently dropped his own twisted versions of the most popular EDM songs of the moment as well as his own current favorites.
Stacey Pullen returned to one of my favorite dance venues in town, the Grasshopper Underground in Ferndale for a special long set. One of Detroit's top DJs, Pullen's incorporation of house and garage with techno has been cited as an influence of many electronic artists. Stacey will be playing a handful of gigs next week in Miami and we are excited to see him there representing the D for Miami Music Week.
March makes every electronic music fan excited because we know what comes with spring - Winter Music Conference / Miami Music Week / Ultra Music Festival. With Ultra Music Festival's addition of a second weekend to celebrate its 15 years, March 15 marks the start of a two-week block saturated with the best from all over the world.
Both Ultra and Miami Music Week have great phone apps for scheduling, lineups, pricing and ticket purchasing. For those of you that will be meeting me down there - I highly recommend these tools to help keep organized and give you updates on the best parties!
On the "road" to Ultra, headliners Tiesto and Fedde Le Grand stopped thru to get us hyped up for our EDM Spring Break.
Tiësto announced the return of his “Club Life College Invasion Tour,” the largest dance music tour to ever hit the American college market. Tiësto stopped once again at Eastern Michigan University's Convocation Center bringing down the house with top notch production and a flow of old and new for the diverse range of listeners in attendance.
Tiësto has transcended musical genres to create a global “Tiësto” brand. His achievements include: a Grammy nomination, numerous MTV awards, performing at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games to an audience of billions, and even a wax statue at Madame Tussauds.
Finally - with support from Sultan and Ned Shepard, the 'ROAD TO ULTRA' tour bus will move through six states as it stops off to delight music lovers in ATLANTIC CITY, NEW YORK, BOSTON, SYRACUSE, PONTIAC, CHICAGO, AUSTIN, SOUTH PADRE ISLAND and HOUSTON. Spearheading this assault is Fedde le Grand who will bring a bit of the experience of the world's premier electronic dance music event to club-goers for the festival's first ever North American club tour before ULTRA MUSIC FESTIVAL kicks off.
Sultan and Ned Shepard
Sultan and Ned Shepard
Fedde Le Grand is no stranger to ULTRAstages and brought the same expertise behind the decks at Elektricity that he will when he lands in Miami on the first Friday afternoon to rock the ULTRA MUSIC FESTIVAL 2013 Main Stage.
BY THE WAY - if you can't make it to the sunshine state... you can STREAM Ultra Music Festival Live via UMFTV on youtube
We are just under 3 hours away from the biggest party on earth... see you there!