Page 28 - WRY-Magazine-April-2024

EDITORIAL > ULTRA MUSIC FESTIVAL 2024: A TALE OF TRIUMPH

Ultra pulled off the impossible on Saturday, but there
was still one more day left to be written. With a normal
start time, there was not a cloud in sight, and the festival
was going to end on a high note. The day began with
Kapuchon (Afrojack’s house alias), Disco Lines, Nora en
Pure, Oliver Heldens, ARMNHMR, Andy C, Artbat, Trivecta
and others. Then came Afrojack, who surprised the crowd
with a multitude of new tracks, including a few that were
drum and bass-inspired. On the Megastructure, Eric
Prydz returned to the Ultra stage to give a jaw-dropping
experience while Wooli rattled the Worldwide stage with
an unbelievable bass set, followed by Black Tiger Sex
Machine, who brought their very rare ‘Anime Show’ visuals
to Miami. However, it was Armin van Buuren who had the
guest appearance of the weekend when he welcomed
rock legend Jon Bon Jovi to perform a remix of the band’s
1992 song, ‘Keep The Faith.’ With a set that couldn’t have
headlined any other stage, there was still one more act to
go.

The entire weekend, through all its highs and lows, had
led to this moment. It had been over a decade, but for the
first time since 2014, the iconic Calvin Harris was about to
return to the mainstage of Ultra to close out the festival.
As the production crew quickly set the stage, an influx of
people packed into the area to have the opportunity to
witness one of those historic moments that only Ultra can
pull off. A massive crowd waited for one of dance music’s
most commercially successful artists, and then the lights
dropped out, and the first part of the intro began, and
everything that had happened through the weekend was
forgotten for the next 75 minutes. Harris opened with ‘This
Is What You Came For’ followed by many other classics,
but he had impressively reworked them to fit the sounds of
today. The set came with incredibly high expectations, and
he exceeded every one of them.

Harris ultimately closed with the original mix of ‘Miracle’ but
then used Hardwell’s remix of ‘Miracle’ for the closing drop.
If you think about it, this moment perfectly summed up
Ultra 2024. What Ultra pulled off this year to keep the festival
going and to recover after being faced with unprecedented
adversity was miraculous. One artist who never gave up
was Hardwell, who kept working to try to find a solution
to give the fans what they wanted, and he did. That was
the epitome of the Ultra community the entire weekend.
Never give up, and find a way. Ultra Miami 2024 showed the
beautiful resilience that can come out of this community
when push comes to shove and that Ultra is the best at
what they do when their back is against the wall. It was by
far one of the proudest moments in Ultra’s history. And with
the final fireworks going up in the air, Ultra had done it. They
delivered another once-in-a-lifetime experience. They kept
the magic alive. They pulled the rabbit out of the hat.

PC: RUDGR
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