Red Lounge

Following our big night at Mansion, we woke up mid-afternoon to a beautiful sunny day. After grabbing a healthy lunch at an outdoor patio nearby and realizing that we had managed to sleep all the way to the beginning of happy hour, we made our way back to the apartment and started planning our party itinerary for the night. The DJ Mag pool party at the Shelborne sounded like our best option to start with so we headed from downtown to South Beach around 7 PM. As soon as we stepped out of the cab, we could hear the thumping beats coming from the back of the hotel. Downing the rest of our vodka Red Bulls in hopes of dissipating the last of the previous night’s hangover, we headed for the entrance, got our wristbands and were instantly dropped into a sea of half-naked, drunk twenty-somethings, grinding and fist-pumping to James Zabiela’s music.

His style is definitely unmistakable and long before we could see who was behind the decks, we definitely knew it was him. What other house DJ’s do you hear scratching in the middle of their set or use the effects as much as this guy does? The constant adding of various sounds and effects give his music that distinctive mechanical thumping sound, and the pool-side crowd was eating it right up.

Towards the end of his set, through Farshad’s connections, we found our way back stage into the VIP area where we connected with Carl Craig and his entourage. Having met Carl in Vancouver a few weeks before when he played at Lotus definitely helped make the experience surreal for us as he and his lovely wife introduced us to their close friends: Luciano, Matt (Radioslave) and another Detroit techno legend Stacey Pullen.

After Carl’s set, we were invited to tag along to the Planet-E party next door, at Shore Club, where Carl opened up with some soul for the first hour as a few of us grabbed a bite to eat and mingled before the crowds arrived. As much as we loved hanging out with our newfound friends, this was still only our second night in South Beach, and with that many things happening, we were itching to go out and explore other clubs and parties. Shortly after meeting up with JJ and his sister, who had just arrived form Vancouver, we decided to get a move on.

One artist I really wanted to see this week was Joris Voorn. For the past two years, I have bought most of his releases and I was really anxious to hear what he sound like live. Having turned Farshad into a huge fan himself, to the point where he bought all of his releases on vinyl, he was just as excited to see him as I was. The Rejected showcase featuring Voorn was taking place at Set, another beautifully designed nightclub in the heart of South Beach, so we decided to head that way and check it out.

After a couple rounds of shots and some exploring around the club, we claimed our spot on the dance floor as Joris Voorn was getting ready to play. As soon as he got on, the energy in the club shifted and the vibe became more bouncy, driven by the classic house beats. Over the course of the following hour and a half, he took his set from house to tech-house with a slight diversion into the Double 99 classic speed garage anthem Rip Groove, all the while keeping the constant funky bass line that has become his signature. Overall, I would have to say this was the best DJ set I have heard so far this year and with so much happening this week, I am really happy we managed to catch it.

We left the club around 4:00, made one last quick appearance at the Shore Club where we had the pleasure of meeting Martin Buttrich. From there, we went for some late night eats at Gerry’s diner, where we were served sliced avocados and told to make our own guac, as well as poached eggs that looked like they were boiled in urinal water. Note to self: stick to cheap pizza slices.

So far Miami Music Week has been amazing and I can’t wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us.

Our flights down to Miami were fairly uneventful and we landed just as the sun was setting. A quick cab ride took us downtown and in no time we were sipping champagne with our good friend Celine who is hosting us for the week. The girls wanted to catch up so Farshad and I decided it was going to be a boys night out. Not many people had arrived in Miami yet, since Ultra doesn’t begin until Friday, so the streets were relatively calm and there were not that many good clubbing options. We did, however, want to hit Mansion at some point in the week, and the Calvin Harris-Congorock-Riva Starr and Benny Benassi lineup seemed like a great excuse to pay the legendary club a visit.

Having no idea of the size or type of venue mansion would be, we walked in and made our way through the entrance foyer, flanked by a bar on one side and a majestic stairwell on the other. Making our way to another smaller area, we could hear and see the main room ahead and made our way through the crowd, down a few steps and straight onto the massive dance floor. The setup was quite impressive; originally built as the French Casino in 1936, the interior is reminiscent of an old theatre, with two large bars on each side of the dance floor and a massive balcony area used mostly for bottle service. The visual and light displays were very impressive and the place truly felt like a world-class super club.

Benny Benassi was behind the decks when we arrived and stayed on for the two hours we spent there. True to his style, he played crowd-pleasing hand-in-the-air electro and even sprinkled it with a slight dose of dubstep (what is the world coming to?).

We were really hoping to catch Riva Starr, but two hours of Benny is all we could take so we decided to go explore the area and celebrated the fact that we could still buy Jagr shots and lap dances at 5AM by, well, buying Jagr shots and lap dances at 5AM. Massive hangover ensued.