Ultra Music Festival made its triumphant return to Bayfront Park after its 2019 stint in Virginia Key. The energy and vibes that the festival brought to downtown Miami this past weekend was undeniably electric; as was the lineup. With seven stages and limited time, it was impossible to see everyone on my wishlist this year. But here are my (emphasis on “my”) top three sets of the weekend.
Alesso
Progressive house DJ and producer Alesso returned to Ultra this year after releasing a handful of new singles and collaborations, including one with pop star Katy Perry. Fully utilizing the production setup of the main stage, Alesso blended refreshed elements of his wildly popular 2019 Ultra set with his new projects to whip the crowd into a frenzy. No surprise here, as progressive house is a favored genre in Miami.
Watch his official set via the official Ultra Music Festival Livestream below:
Armin van Buuren (Mainstage)
The energy at trance legend Armin Van Buuren’s main stage sunset set was something you have to witness in person. Armin, like Alesso is no stranger to playing at Ultra. He had played a ‘State of Trance’ set at the Ultra Worldwide stage the day prior, so I went in with expectations for a similarly mellow vibe and was proven wrong immediately upon the first drop. He pulled out all the stops, and played a high-energy set that had the crowd jumping for almost an entire hour of the hour and fifteen-minute set.
Watch his official set via the official Ultra Music Festival Livestream below:
Madeon Live
The French DJ, producer, singer, and songwriter is currently on his Good Faith Live Tour and his most recent stop was Ultra. This set was hands down my personal favorite of the weekend and in all honestly, completely blew my mind. Not only did Madeon deliver a cohesive show with unique visuals, he also gave us live vocals and a dynamic stage setup where he integrated his own silhouette into the LED screen’s visuals. At the climax of the set, he was elevated two stories up on a hidden platform and sang live to the audience from above. It was a truly spectacular show that unfortunately was only streamed for 10 minutes on the official Ultra Music Festival Livestream.
I shakily recorded part of the end here for you all to get a taste.
If you have chance to go see Madeon at one of his future Good Faith Live shows, I highly recommend it
