The past week was filled with multiple concert and show announcements. Perhaps the largest was Ultra Music Festival. For those not up to date, the EDM festival celebrating its 15th anniversary now expanded to two weekends. The lineup was revealed last Friday, and features the usual crew: Tiesto, Carl Cox, David Guetta, Avicii, and Richie Hawtin, among others. In spite of his rant last year, Deadmau5 is returning to Ultra 2013. Nevertheless, the second weekend is causing controversy in Miami.
Aside from Ultra, A State of Trance: New York City announced its venue this week: Madison Square Garden. The show and A State of Trance 600: The Expedition tour are in celebration of the radio show’s 600th broadcast. The tour itself is apparently the largest Armin Van Burren has ever done. Along with New York, the tour is expected to have 11 shows, many of which will be broadcast live.
Also in New York, well-known club Cielo is celebrating its 10-year anniversary with a string of 10 shows that began on January 10.
The Eastern Electrics Festival, much like Ultra, expanded for 2013 — but to a whole weekend. The London-based festival, additionally, was moved to a new venue for its August 2 to 4 run.
On this side of the Atlantic, the Igloofest in Montreal was announced. The event is held on various days from January 17 until February 9 and features many Canadian DJs and producers.
As far as existing or past events are concerned, Tomorrowland won Best Major Festival at the Festival Awards Europe, held in the Netherlands on January 9.
While EDM festivals have a growing presence on a global level, Zedd gave a low-key performance on Letterman over the past week. Showing that the producer is more than a flash-in-the-pan who just pushes buttons, he did a live performance of “Clarity” on the piano.
As far as new music is concerned, two late 1990s pop sensations are getting on the EDM bandwagon a bit late. Justin Timberlake’s possible album – no one knows if anything is actually in the works – is rumored to have a dance music influence. Similarly, Britney Spears is expected to go in an EDM direction, although she’s put out two dubstep influenced tracks already.
For actual producers, Avicii announced he’s aiming to make the “biggest house track ever.” But rather than do just another major star or pop artist collaboration, he’s opening up the opportunity for aspiring producers to submit their beats and sounds. Interested producers have until February 13 to submit their sample. Get details at http://www.aviciixyou.com/.
Meanwhile, if you thought DJs and electronic artists were too friendly with each other, check out the latest Twitter feuds: most notably, Afrojack and Deadmau5 duel, and The Chemical Brothers compare Swedish House Mafia’s “Don’t You Worry Child” to Nickelback.
