ULTRA AUSTRALIA Phase 1 Review

Ultra Music Festival (UMF) is a music event known for bringing some of the biggest artists from around the globe and with the release of phase 1 for Ultra Australia, this is no exception. 

Ultra begun its inception in Miami, USA and is renowned for being the hub where artists drop their latest music. Since its creation, Ultra has turned its brand into a world wide event, with 13 global Ultra Worldwide shows and Road To Ultra, which has travelled across 14 destinations. This amounts to a massive 38 shows being toured annually by Ultra around the globe. Ultra Miami is known to be the grand finale of Miami Music Week.

MMW is a week long event that in 2018 boasted over 1,200+ artists that performed at 300+ events, hosted across 85+ venues. Coming into its 10th year, MMW is known to be the holy grail of industry events; where nearly every major artist and label come showcase everything new in EDM. Venues include nightclubs, pools, boats, and pop-up spaces/venues throughout locations and is a must do for any EDM lover.

Last year Australia received its first official Ultra Worldwide, after Ultra brought the Road To Ultra edition down under in 2018. With the success of both events, all eyes were on Ultra Worldwide awaiting word of whether they would return in 2019.In August we were excited to read the official announcement that Ultra would be hitting our shores once again in 2019. 

Now, Ultra loves a good tease. With so many events around the globe, it's easy to understand why. Ultra Australia dates were released with no line up announced which left some festival goers wondering when they would drop it and who would be a part of the line up etc. 

During the past weeks, official Ultra Facebook pages begun posting cryptic messages of eyes, and the pages were blowing up with excitement. Surely this meant the line up was soon. 2 days later the email we were all waiting for; PHASE 1 LINE UP IS HERE. 

If you follow us here at Behind The Decks, you would know in the past week we released 2 articles hinting at artists heading to Australia. Our first was Eric Prydz and his beautiful tribute to James Lillo. We don't know how on earth we missed the underlying hints in this post as 4 days later, he was announced on Ultra Australia’s line up.

The second article we dropped was on the return of Dash Berlin, and our prediction was correct, Ultra are bringing back Dash once again!!

We take you deep into each artist Ultra Australia has announced for phase 1!!!

After being momentarily blocked from performing as part of Dash Berlin in 2018, Jeffery Sutorius makes a triumphant return to the stage with the departure of Kalberg and Molijn from the group. It is clear that the rebirth of Jeffrey performing again has made him extremely happy, as watching him perform all you see is pure JOY!

The breakthrough for Dash Berlin came in early 2007, with their ICONIC track "Till The Sky Falls Down". The track skyrocketed to the top of the trance charts worldwide and was recognized by the GOAT of trance himself Armin Van Buuren. Armin loved it so much that he later signed Dash Berlin to his label, Armada Music and from there the rest is history. Watching the return of Dash Berlin this year has been incredible; Jeffrey is  bringing so much energy to his sets, showing just how much being a DJ means to him. Even if you are not a trance lover, this pure love and energy is why he is a MUST see on your Ultra list.

Zedd is known for his electro house vibes, but has diversified his genre and musical style, also drawing influences from progressive house, dubstep, and classical music. He’s catapulted into the scene when he released his album “Clarity” in 2012 which included a bunch of killer tracks. His single “Clarity” was later released in 2013 and was so well received it won Zedd a Grammy. This track is one we hold very close, and we're sure anyone who has heard it agrees, it gives you the ULTIMATE FEELS when you hear it and no matter how many times its played still has the same effect.

We are so pumped to have Zedd here again, as in the past he has been frequent artist at Australian festivals; he must LOVE us Aussies! If you are looking for a set that you can hug your mates though and belt out some lyrics, Zedd is sure to give you just what you need!!

Afrojack, being a regular on the Ultra circuit, came as no surprise when he was announced on this lineup. If you have attended an international EDM festival, he is usually close by, as he is a frequent on many of the worldwide festival circuits. Afrojack had a passion for music very early scoring his first DJ gig at 14 - WOW!

In 2010, Afrojack made his debut into the DJ Mag Top 100 in 19th. Since then, Afrojack has remained in the top 20 artists, year after year. He is most known for his big room festival anthems, but crosses into many genres of EDM. Afrojack received international success with the song "Take Over Control" which is still an absolute BANGER!!

If you have never seen him live before, we say it is worth a watch as he will put on a classic throw down set that is sure to get you jumping.

Eric Prydz is rounding out phase 1 main stage headliners. He is arguably the most forward thinking DJ on the planet right now when it comes to pushing the limits of both light and sound. The Prydz name is affiliated with beautiful melodies, amazing builds and spin tingling drops. He couples this with what can only be described as mind blowing lights and visuals, if you have not seen one of his HOLO shows or where not one of the lucky few to see Holosphare at Tomorrowland 2019 Weekend 1, then we suggest to stop reading this right now, google it and come back!!

Unfortunately for us, we will not see anything like Holosphere in Australia, however, his main stage performances are something to behold. If you want a taste of his main stage shows, check him out at Ultra Miami 2015 or Tomorrowland 2017.

This set will be made even more special by the fact that Eric will be traveling with a very special someone, James Lillo. If you are unsure about who this is, please read our James Lillo article.

Prydz will also feature on Ultra's very own Resistance stage, under his techno alias Cirez D.

RESISTANCE will play a major part in taking this year’s edition to the next level, bringing the brand’s revered production, vibe and artists to Australia for the second time. The inaugural partnership with RESISTANCE will showcase sets from the most in-demand names in house and techno. The RESISTANCE stage consist of the following artists; Deborah De Luca, Eats Everything, Umek, Cirez D, and Luciano. 

Deborah De Luca was last seen on Australian shores in 2018. Deborah has an extraordinary following on social media, over 1 million world-wide followers on Facebook, which is a substantial amount, especially for a techno artist. Her music has become a high quality brand, a good fusion of hard techno and minimal sounds. Having quite an inspirational story, Deborah shot to fame and is now one of the major players in the world of techno, playing some of the biggest venues in the world alongside some of the hottest names in the business. Her latest track "Come Get It", released on October 14, will definitely get you going. 

With spectacular performances at Resistance events around the world, UK's Daniel Pearce, better known as Eats Everything, makes his Ultra Australia debut this March! He won DJ Magazine’s ‘Best British DJ’, became the only DJ ever to do two BBC Radio 1 Essential Mixes within the space of a year, and was charted at #13 in Resident Advisor’s Top DJs poll. Releases like ‘Jagged Edge’ and ‘Vertigo’ attained “underground dance floor anthem” status, meaning Dan’s figure would be in the limelight for some time to come.

Eric Prydz will perform a second set under his techno alias, Cirez D. Famous for the track “On & Off” and his B2B sets with techno titan, Adam Beyer. Prydz releases all his techno records on his very own Mouseville Records. This will only be the second time he will play a Cirez D set in Australia! The first was only a couple of years ago at Electric Gardens Festival. 

The Slovenian techno legend, Umek, will be coming back to Australian shores. His last appearance was back in 2016 for a NYE party. UMEK is personally responsible for kick starting the electronic music scene in his home country, by first organizing illegal raves and then becoming one of Slovenia’s most wanted export products and number one music ambassador to the whole world.

Ranking as one of today’s most influential and groundbreaking world traveling DJs and performers, Luciano, the Swiss born Chilean, has always been at the forefront of techno and house. He is a five-time DJ Awards winner and ten-time nominee. He helped promote the underground electronic music scene in Chile. His DJ sets are strongly influenced by Latin American music. Luciano's initial style of minimal techno has evolved into a blend of house and techno.

With such a strong first phase being dropped by Ultra, we’re beyond excited to see what they deliver with the second phase announcements. All we can hope is that we don’t have to wait too long to find out, as the suspense is killing us!!!

Let us know who you think Ultra will deliver for the second artist announcements by dropping us a comment!