Armin Van Buuren in 2015

Armin Van Buuren

Photo: El Pics/Getty Images

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Ultra Music Festival 2018 Phase 1 Lineup: Armin Van Buuren, RL Grime, & More

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The first batch of top tier DJs, live headliners, and supporting acts for the 20th installment of ULTRA Music Festival have been announced
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Dec 19, 2017 - 1:29 pm

The first phase of headliners and supporting acts for the 20th-anniversary installment of the massive three-day electronic dance festival ULTRA has officially been announced.

Inside Miami Music Week with top DJs

Many of the biggest names in dance music, including previous ULTRA headliners, are featured heavily in the phase one announcement, which touches all major dance/electronic genres fairly evenly. Names like Carl Cox, Armin van Buuren, Eric Prydz, RL Grime, Empire Of The Sun, the Crystal Method, Infected Mushroom, and Marshmello are certainly no surprises for any dance festival lineup these days.

But there are a few unexpected bookings as well, with controversial rap/hip-house artist Azealia Banks joining the live headliners group alongside the somewhat surprising inclusion of the Wailers and Julian Marley. (How might a classic reggae act play off against a surrounding sea of thumping bass music?) There's also Porter Robinson's mysterious new hard house/trancestyle project VIRTUAL SELF.

The 20th installment of ULTRA Music Festival will take place on March 23–25, 2018, at Miami's Bayfront Park. Some GA and VIP tickets are still available but are likely to sell out soon.

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M.I.A., 2018

M.I.A.

Photo: Dominique Charriau/Getty Images

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MIA, Gucci Mane, Jhené Aiko: AMF Fest Announces Inaugural Headliners

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The first edition of Gary Richards' new Los Angeles festival boasts a strong bill of headliners
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Apr 19, 2018 - 11:55 am

Former HARD Events founder and new LiveStyle majordomo of North American activities Gary Richards has announced the slate of headliners for his new downtown Los Angeles-based multigenre music festival All My Friends L.A.

Set in downtown L.A.'s ROW outdoor venue near the former American Apparel warehouse, the two-day, three-stage event will feature landmark headlining sets from RL Grime, Gucci Mane, and Jhené Aiko on its opening day, and M.I.A., Jamie XX, and Armand Van Helden to close out the weekend.

The full lineup of supporting acts for the weekend remains forthcoming, but this initial headliner tease promise big things to come.

Prior to launching his new flagship festival, Richards has been slowly teasing the rollout for the AMF brand with a series of activations and smaller events, first teeing up the inaugural voyage of Friend Ship cruise festival – which has already sold out almost a year before the event dates – then hosting a marathon day party during Miami Music Week under the "All My Friends" banner that kicked off at 5 a.m. and ran until midafternoon.

All My Friends L.A. is set to rip up downtown Los Angeles Aug. 18 – 19. The first tier of Early Bird tickets have already sold out, but tier 2 tickets are still available. Tickets and more information are all available from AMF's official website.

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Will Smith, Marshmello at Ultra 2018

Will Smith and Marshmello

Photo: aLIVE Coverage/Ultra Music Festival

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Inside Ultra Music Festival's Record-Breaking 20th Anniversary

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Look back at the amazing surprises and record-setting stats from Ultra's 20th anniversary
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Apr 5, 2018 - 2:16 pm

As the event set to celebrate a whirlwind 20 years in the game grew closer, expectations were unbelievably high for Ultra Music Festival 2018. The dizzying, non-stop bacchanalia spread across three gorgeous days saw staggering attendance, record-setting viewer numbers on the official livestream, and countless amazing surprises.

With marquee performances by festival mainstays like Tiësto and David Guetta, plus a whole host of incendiary sets lighting up the floor throughout the weekend, Ultra 2018 had something for every flavor of dance music fan. With such a variety – and immensely high quality – of both talent and production, it's no surprise that the 20th anniversary of the festival drew over 165,000 attendees from 60 countries around the world, while the official livestream drew a record-shattering 30 million (!) viewers worldwide.

Surprise appearances by music's biggest acts are always a part of the energy and excitement  that takes over downtown Miami each year, but for their 20th birthday Ultra pulled out all the stops. Along with scheduled performances from both Rabbit In The Moon and Josh Wink – both of whom played the very first installment of the dance festival in 1999 – attendees were treated to shocking surprise appearances by Above & Beyond, Halsey, Desiigner, Yo Gotti, and even Will Smith, who took the stage with Marshmello and banged out his timely international smash hit "Miami."

And of course, the close of the festival brought about what will undoubtedly remain one of the most talked-about surprises of the 2018 festival season: the triumphant return  of Swedish House Mafia after a nearly five-year hiatus following their supposedly last-ever performance together at Ultra 2013.

The intersection of the event's special anniversary, its unparalleled slate of scheduled talent and unbelievable roster of surprise guests led Ultra to once again take the crown as No. 1 trending topic on worldwide social platforms over the weekend for the fifth year in a row. In addition, the festival's extensive advance communication and collaboration with local, state and federal authorities helped pave the way for a collective execution of security and safety measures that was categorized by EDMTunes as, "the safest Ultra Music Festival ever."

Attendees still buzzing from this year's massive intersection of dance music and culture – as well as the untold millions still working to get over their post-festival F.O.M.O. – need not fear the long interim between now and next year's Ultra, as the dates are officially confirmed for their 21st installment: March 29 – 31, 2019. Mark your calendars now!

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Sophie Allison of Soccer Mommy, 2017

Sophie Allison of Soccer Mommy

Photo Courtesy Fat Possum Records

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SXSW 2018: Fader Fort Will Host Soccer Mommy, SOB X RBE, Debut New Location

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One of the premiere events at South By Southwest has announced its official lineup for 2018
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Mar 6, 2018 - 12:22 pm

South By Southwest is so close we can taste it, and that means it's time for the event lineups to start rolling in. Who will make a splash this year? Which acts will take that crucial step from hanging on the verge of fame and walk out into the spotlight?

Long known as one of the premiere events to see new acts break at SXSW, FADER magazine's three-day "Fader Fort" concert series has now revealed its 2018 lineup. It's packed with some names we've had our eyes and ears tuned towards lately, namely Soccer Mommy, SOB x RBE, Mozzy, Now Now, YBN Nahmir, and BbyMutha, with more acts still to be announced.

Soccer Mommy is the band project of 20 year-old Nashville songwriter Sophie Allison – a tight-knit four-piece whose sound belies their young age. Allison began playing music at the age of six, but largely kept her songwriting and recording a secret from her local friend group, choosing instead to release her songs online without publicizing them. As she got older, however, the recordings on her Bandcamp page caught an organic buzz that led to bookings for live gigs, eventually landing Allison a record deal the summer after she graduated from high school.

SOB x RBE meanwhile, have been riding a rocket all through the first quarter of 2018, thanks largely to their fantastic contribution to the No. 1 charting Kendrick Lamar-curated and produced Black Panther: The Album. Their track "Paramedic!" has managed to become one of the standout tracks on a soundtrack album packed wall-to-wall with hits. As a follow-up to their success as part of Black Panther: The Album, SOB x RBE were next tapped to join the lineup for Post Malone's huge 45-date summer world tour alongside 21 Savage, which kicks off next month on with a two-weekend stint at Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival. Tickets for the tour are still available; purchase links and additional show date details can be found on Post Malone's website.

Playing the Fader Fort at SXSW has proven to be a crucial step in the careers of some of today's biggest acts. Over the past 16 years has played host to the breakthrough moments for acts such as Odd Future (introducing the world to Tyler, The Creator, Earl Sweatshirt, and Frank Ocean, et al.), Kid Cudi and Amy Winehouse, meaning that its annual presence at SXSW is always a hotspot of activity for brand ambassadors, artist managers and industry reps of all kinds who are in Austin looking for the Next Big Thing.  The first 15 years of the Fader Fort will soon be documented in a new book called FADER FORT: Setting The Stage, which FADER will premiere at this year's event.

Goldlink at the Fader Fort, 2017

Photo: Roger Kisby/Getty Images

For its 17th annual installment, the Fader Fort has once again changed venues, moving up the street to 1501 East 7th St. in Austin, a joint indoor-outdoor space just three blocks from last year's venue.

"We wanted a little more space to be able to accommodate more fans at [the] Fort," explained FADER president and publisher Andy Cohn about the decision to change venues for the third time in three years. "We also wanted to enhance the experiences for artists with a larger stage, but still maintain the special, intimate experience with great sound quality that Fort is known to provide."

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Carl Cox, 2016

Carl Cox

Photo: Future Music Magazine/Getty Images

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Carl Cox, Adam Beyer: ULTRA Music Festival 2018 Drops RESISTANCE Miami Lineup

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The official lineup for Ultra's RESISTANCE stages – the Carl Cox Megastructure and Arcadia The Spider – has been announced
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Feb 1, 2018 - 1:55 pm

2018 marks the 20th anniversary of the massive three-day ULTRA Music Festival.  Held in Miami annually during Miami Music Week since 1999, the festival has grown into one of the world's premiere electronic dance events.

Inside Miami Music Week with top DJs

The phase one lineup for ULTRA 2018 has already been announced, and just this week the festival promoters have followed-up with the official lineup for their house and techno stages, branded jointly this year as RESISTANCE.

11 Must-Attend 2018 Music Festivals: SXSW, Coachella, Lollapalooza & More

With an exciting stable of some of the biggest names in underground dance music, the RESISTANCE stages – the Carl Cox Megastructure and Arcadia The Spider – will be helmed by legendary DJ Carl Cox and dark techno visionary and Drumcode label boss Adam Beyer.  Along for the ride with Cox and Beyer, house heads at the Carl Cox Megastructure will be treated to a special joint b2b2b set featuring Dubfire, Nicole Moudaber and Paco Osuna, as well as the minimal techno stylings of Pan-Pot, the bouncy crossover U.K. vibes of Jamie Jones, and the special brand of ethereal melodic ambience always brought to the table by Maceo Plex.

Dancers at the Arcadia The Spider stage – a fan favorite spider-shaped staging structure from previous years that is making a welcome comeback in 2018 – will be treated to a series of supergroup sets, courtesy of J.E.S.u.S. (Jackmaster, Eats Everything, Skream, and Seth Troxler) and Better Lost Than Stupid (Davide Squillace, Matthias Tanzman, and Martin Buttrich). The stage will also play host to the live synthesizer wizardry of Stephan Bodzin, the patented tech-house of Patrick Topping, Technasia, Matador, and Hot Since 82, as well as the inimitable track selection prowess of Pete Tong, Nic Fanciulli, and Friday night headliners Sasha & John Digweed.

ULTRA Music Festival will take place in Miami on Mar. 23-25. General admission tickets are still available, but will likely sell out before the forthcoming release of the festival's phase two lineup.

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