This year, the Winter Music Conference took place from Saturday March 6 to Wednesday March 10 at the Wyndham Resort in Miami Beach, USA. The newM3 Summit took place from March 5 to March 9 in Miami Beach as well. I decided not to register for any of these two conferences.
I arrived on thursday evening to be able to relax on friday and get ready for all the parties. When I checked in at the hotel, my old friend KitCat from Germany bumped into me and we decided to go eating and chat. We both went to bed early as we had an ten hour flight behind us.
On friday I met austrian DJs and producers Sergio Flores and Jeremiah for lunch. We talked about their upcoming projects and I had the chance to listen to some of them. Later we went to Uncle Sam, the most important record store for house music during the conference. On the outside, I met DJ Tony Wilson and singer Keith Thompson. Later Lorenzo Al Dino from 7th District came by. We chatted for some time before we left to prepare for the evening. The evening startet with a dinner of the ever growing InDaMix family including MFSB (Frederic Messant) and his fellows, Luca Monopoli and Davide Maffei (Houseconnection from Italy) and Choco from Cardiff/Wales (a promoter and DJ). Later we've met the promoter from Defected Records and arranged a few things. The party I went for the night was the Yoruba Gotsoul Party at Goddess. JoJo Flores was rocking the floor with a hot set. I met many people at the club, including DJ Pope, Jesse Outlaw, Osunlade and many, many more. There was an amazing live performance including Osunlade, Erro and Tortured Soul.
Saturday I went to the beach first to relax a bit before I checked out the Soulfood 002 Party at the Riande Hotel. Franck Roger, Dino & Terry, Marlon D amongst others rocked the spot and played some fine music. Lots of people showed up and I met many people I only had emailed before. I was leaving around seven to go back to the hotel to rest for two hours to be ready for the Soulshine Party. David Camacho played a fine selection of garage before Louis Benedetti took over.
Sunday I went to the MAW Imprints Party, where you could only get in with an invitation. Stacy Kidd kicked it off and was later followed by Franck Roger, Mr. V and Marcus Enochson. I had to leave early to meet up some people. Unfortunately, I missed the Jellybean Soul Party at Riande Hotel due to my packed schedule. I've been told that this party was hot... Instead, I went to the Soulful Sunday Soiree, organized by the Baltimore Washington Housing Authority that includs POJI Records and SancSoul Records amongst others. After chatting with DJ Oji and DJ Pope and others for a few minutes, I was leaving to attend Tony Humphries at his eight hour set. Again I was leaving early so I had the chance to see the live performance at the Phuture Sole & Slaag Records Party. After that, the King Street Records Party was the last one for that night.
The next day kicked off nice and not that hot as sunday. I went all the way down to the MAW Electronica Party that took place at Opium Garden. Unfortunately, we had to wait outside for more than an hour due to some unexpected problems with the system. As usual, the party was packed and much was going on. I then went over to the Soul on the Beach Party and then to the Purple Music & MAP Dance Party. In the evening, I went to the Large Records Party. The night came to an end with a private party in a hotel room at 3am. When I came in, they were still waiting for the amplifier for the system. Around 4am, everything was working and the party started going on. Shortly before 6am I was leaving to get at least a few hours of sleep.
Tuesday afternoon was reserved for the Defected Party for which you either needed a badge or to be on the huge guestlist. The party started at 1pm at the pool at National Hotel. Around 3pm, it was packed to the limit and the DJs of the likes of Kenny Dope, Dimitri from Paris, Brian Tappert and Jay J delievered hot sets. This was one of those parties where people did business by exchanging records and talk to each other. Tuesday was also the day for the Magic Sessions. Like the past year, Tony Humphries opened up and was followed by Tedd Patterson and Louie Vega. There weren't as much people as past year in the main room. Upstairs, there was the SoulFuric Party which was crowded and featured DJs Brian Tappert, John 'Julius' Knight, Jask, Copyright, Grant Nelson and Sheldon Prince. Not to forget to mention the absolutely amazing live performances by Ron Carroll and Shovell.
On the last day, I was simply relaxing. I met my friend KidCat and as I was invited to Barbara Tucker's birthday party, I went over there to meet lots of people and enjoy a fabolous barbeque. For the night, I decided to go to the ILOVEHOUSEMUSIC Party, organized by Brian Cabalic and featuring DJs Jesse Outlaw, Eric and JD from Deepswing, Master Kev and David Tobon from YellOrange, DJ Spen and Karizma. The party took place at the Chamber Loung which is a small place what turned into a problem as more and more people, including most of the people from the New York scene, showed up. It came down to a one out, one in policy as the place was overcrowded. All the DJ's rocked the place and took the audience from a high to another.