L.A. DJ Matt Cerf rocks Jazzid. (Photo JP Bonin)

Eric Morillo shines at ULTRA
(Photo Jason Cook)

Backstage at ULTRA with Second Sun and Cedric Gervais, and friends.

Prodigy smacks ULTRA'S bitch up. (Photo Jed Luczynski )

Junkie XL is solid Gold at Crobar. (Photo Jason Cook)

- Antoine and Adam from Second Sun start off the ULTRA party. (Photo Jason Cook)

BEACH DAY! YAY! (photo- random beach person. Thanks!)

Sander Kleinenberg shows Nikki Beach how to rock!
(Photo Jed Luczynski)

- RADIO 1 party at Nikki Beach! (Photo Jason Cook)

Great friends, awesome music at RADIO 1!

Written by Jason Cook

Rain-showers. Overcast skies. Where's the sun? Guest-list nonsense. Miami flu. No sleep till Brooklyn. Beach Party. Pool Party. V.I.P. Wristbands. Dance-offs. Wobbly knees. Smiles. Laughing. Memories. New friends. Amazing music. Photos. Cel Phones. Powdered donuts, 1000 Text messages. Craziness. Insanity. Wuwuwuwuwinnnngg Zone! Aero boats. Seeing double. Fun Glasses. ULTRA. Terraces. Stories. Splitting up. Meeting up. Taxi cab confessions. Veggie rice. Rustica Pizza. Smoothies. Wraps. Row Row Row your boat beach stylie. 5am arrival. Get some sleep. Can't sleep. Wired. Wet Willies alcohol smoothies. "Call a Cab" "Shock Therapy" Melon Madness" Laughing till it hurts. "Traffic Reporter by day, Raging alcoholic by night." Emails. Drunk Dials. Drunker texts. Long lines. ATM Fixations. Mojitos!! YAY! Red Bull. More. More. Remixes. Live shows. Second Sun. Beach Day. Spray tan. Cel Phone charger. Hook ups. Matt Cerf. PIzza Delivery. Bed Buddies. RADIO 1. Photo pass. Business cards. Cafeteria. Lincoln. Wild Oats. Red Truck. Studio. Front step conversations. Back Stage Access. Killers LIVE. Trailer FUN. Nocturnal. Bed. Space. Nikki Beach. Jazid. Onda. Crobar. More. All in 5 days?!? Wow.

This being my third trip to Miami for WMC, I was pretty damn excited the week leading up to my departure from L.A. FINALLY the day arrives to leave and I flew out at 9:20 and got into Miami at a little after 5am. One of the things I love about the flight out there is that you know a good deal of the peeps on the plane are going there for the conference so there is not just a cool vibe, or an auditory feast of previous WMC war stories to tap into, but a lot of looks and knowing glances, like "Yep. We all get it. See you there." The baggage claim at the airport is a frenzied mess of half awake partiers. DJ's waiting for their records to come down the chute. Random people wondering where all these strange looking kids are coming from or what they are doing. A cab costs 32 bucks to get into South Beach. No luck in trying to find someone to split it with me. Awesome! A couple of my friends who are music producers and just got a place in South Beach put me up for the week. I arrive at like 6am and there smoking on the front steps is my good friend Chris who I haven't seen for forever! What a way to start the trip. First things first tho. I'm getting some sleep.

Day 1: Thursday. I wake up at around 11am throw on some shorts and check out my accommodations for the week. Looking good. Also I see my friends for the first time in a while. Hugs and High 5's all around, then it's time to plan the day. My friends, Second Sun, are performing at the Wet Grooves party that night. They are the final act at like 9pm. It's around 1pm now and we are all about to go out and grab some food when seriously the sky just opens up, and POURS rain. It's also windy outside as well so the palms are bending, and the rain is falling sideways, and it looks eerily a bit like the hurricane footage from last year. Anyway, it's not till 4pm that we finally get over to Wet Grooves at the Albion Hotel. Getting in is no problem, and within a few minutes I run into some friends from NY and L.A. and learn that the rain had totally punished the party but that everyone was just dancing away in it anyway. That's Rad.

Donald Glaude was spinning when we showed up. He's always fun. Within about 20 min though the Miami PD arrives and threatens to shut the party down unless the music gets turned down. NO! So there we are. Donald is playing literally out of the monitors. That's it. It's the equivalent of 200+ people partying to the sound of a loud car stereo. There were like 6 cops there too monitoring the sound level so there was no way of really bringing up the volume. Donald finishes up and then Eddie Halliwell, considered one of the best, if not the best DJ's in the UK, went up to rock the party. During his set I meet up with DJ Dan, and talk to him about his set. He was a really nice guy, as I have always heard. I had not seen Eddie before and he really is one of the best technical DJ's I have ever seen live. He is super clean and watching him perform live was pretty awesome. D-FUSE went on next. He played live "electric" drums while he DJ'd and he had an MC perform as well, but I couldn't really understand him and didn't "get it."

George Acosta went on next and literally put everyone to sleep. I have never seen a well known DJ with such little enthusiasm as Acosta that night. Finally Second Sun finished the night. They played their new remix of Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" (which was thoroughly awesome) and The U2 inspired "Let Go" Everyone danced their asses off to "Playground", "The Spell" "Crush," and more. After Wet Grooves we took a little break and then went over to to Crobar to see Junkie XL. The scene at Crobar was HECTIC. Guest-list issues caused some of my friends to walk home. I was lucky enough to get in. The ever chain-smoking Junkie XL was up when we got in and the place was totally jumping! He is so great, and threw down some really fun remixes throughout the night. Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence", Coldplay's "XY" Fischerspooner's "Emerge" and he finished the night off with a remix of the Beastie Boys "Fight For Your Right" which basically tore the place down. After Junkie finished Ferry Corsten went up but we were feeling a change of place so we went to Onda to check out the Reversible Records Label Party and meet up with some friends. Chris Fortier, Nightriders, and Matt Rowan spun the beats. We finished up the night at 5:30 or so.

Day two: Friday was super lazy.. Not much partying till the evening really. Lots of running around. I had to pick up my ULTRA pass from the remix hotel at 3 so that killed off any early parties. Went to the beach for a little while. It got cold though. Really weird weather for Miami this year! Still had so much fun. I met up with a bunch of friends, had some drinks, laid out on the beach. Super Chill. Super Perfect. That night I went to see my friend Matt Cerf play at Jazzid. He was great. The Dj's before were not my style though. Well My friend Maggie's secret text message of "THIS DJ SUCKS DONKEY BALLZZZ" kind of best sums it up really.

Day 3: Saturday. I went to ULTRA MUSIC FESTIVAL. We got there at like 11am. There was already a line wrapping around the marina. Thankfully I had a press bracelet and bypassed most of the nonsense right away. The event didn't start on time so there were a TON of us just milling around the entrance, meeting eachother, fielding cell phone calls, and anxiously waiting to get in. Finally they open the front gates and everyone starts to get herded inside. MOOOOO!!! This was my first ULTRA and I honestly didn't know what to expect. My first goal was to see my friends Second Sun play on the main stage which I was really excited for. My friend Erica and I run over there, grab a bite to eat and settle in. Soon the small crowd morphs into a much larger one, and Second Sun start their set. Wow it was sooo cool to see them play in front of such a large audience! I'm super stoked for them. They rocked their set as usual and after their show I go backstage and find out my cool orange wristband could get me up on stage to shoot pics as well! If only I had known this earlier!

Eddie Halliwell goes up and starts spinning. I grab a few shots and then go back down to hang and talk with the Second Sun boys and my friends. I met Cedric Gervais, Miami's own resident at Space. We all hang out for a bit shoot some fun pics, and then I'm off to run around the grounds, looking for the V.I.P. area for some FREE vodka. ULTRA is freakin' HUGE!! There are stages everywhere you look, 1000's of peeps dancing, running around, plenty of different kinds of food to eat, and Red Bull/Water tents were on every corner. After some drinks I meet up with my friends, Erica and Nicole, and my new friends Phil and Erica. We all rock out in the house tent to Seb Fontaine, and Bad Boy Bill. Everyone is having a blast. It's getting dark so we head back to the main stage and meet up with our friends backstage again. We have an insanely funny little party in one of the trailers (there were boobies involved) and then all of us head over to watch the Killers Live show at the Live Stage. I had an opportunity to see the Killers play live in Los Angeles back in 2004 in a really small venue. This was cool too, but certainly not as intimate.

After the Killers show we went back and caught the tail end of Eric Morillo's set. I shot some pics from the Main Stage again. Paul Oakenfold went on next. By this time the crowd for the Main Stage was just a sea of people as far as you can see. It was so awesome seeing that from the perspective of being up on stage! After Oakenfold's set Prodigy went on. I have never seen them play live before and had to watch them from inside the crowd for a while. They put on a great show and the energy of the crowd was infectious!

We left shortly after because we knew someone who had a table at PAWN SHOP in downtown Miami, or there was the option of hitting up Lee Burridge at BED. After walking down Washington for a bit, and seeing the line to get into BED we decide to head over to PAWN SHOP to check out Miguel Migs, Andy Caldwell and DJ Harvey at the Aquabooty party. This place was DOPE! I have never been there but it's pretty much a renovated warehouse in downtown Miami that has all kinds of eclectic decor like: an old school bus was a V.I.P. area, and the fuselage from a gutted airplane was a lounge, and there was even a subway car in the mix as well. Such a cool different club! We rocked out to Migs, and Caldwell all night and early in the a.m. DJ Harvey brought the party up another level with all kinds of super funky house to dance to. I ended up leaving at like 7am. What a KILLER day/night!!

On Sunday my friends and I just spent the wholeeeeee day at the beach. The sun was shining, we had some great tunes to listen to, and we just pretty much relaxed all day. Such a nice time. Made some new great friends that day. I even ran into an old friend I met at my first conference. When it got too damn cold we walked over to Lincoln and ate dinner at Cafeteria. F.Y.I.: The Mac N' Cheese is phenomenal there! That night a few of us had hookups up to see Desyn Masiello at Nocturnal for the Balance Records CD Party. Back in the cab to downtown!! After some guest-list shenanigans (AGAIN) we get in to Nocturnal. The place is pretty cool. Looks pretty "spacey retro." Glass everywhere and a big dance-floor. Upstairs, like SPACE, there is an outdoor Terrace. Desyn went on at like 12 and we were lucky enough to be able to get up to the terrace to see him. The terrace for the rest of the people was blocked off till almost 1:30. They missed pretty much all of Desyn's set which was a shame because he TOTALLY rocked it! He played a SIIIICKO Retarded awesome remix of "White Horse" by 80's duo "Laid Back" that inspired me to find new dance moves suddenly! Desyn is always great but it was such a shame to see him with only a handful of people able to enjoy his set.

After Desyn we went back downstairs for a while and met up with some friends who had a table. I make it a point to NEVER say no to free booze. Not my style. We hang out there in the V.I.P. for most of the rest of the night, and when they close the downstairs and funnel everyone up to the Terrace again, Chris Fortier is there greeting us with open arms and the funkiest beats. We keep the dance-off going till 8 or 9am and then head back home. Another killer night in the bag.

On Monday we go to the Radio One party at Nikki Beach!! More guest-list issues at the front but thanks to my awesome friend Mr. A we sort it out and get in once again unscathed. I'm pretty sure the Nikki Beach Radio One party used to be free, but this year it's being thrown by Club Space and it's 50 bucks at the door. Again, thanks "Awesome Friend!" We get in and my mission is to be drunk within the hour on Mojitos. Don't know why, it just sounded like a F.I.N.E. idea at the time. Inside Nikki beach is just as I remember. Beautiful people everywhere you look, everyone is dancing, amazing music, awesome vibe. Perfect! An hour in and three mojitos later I am indeed hammered and content at my mission accomplished.

That day I rock out to Sander Kleinenberg, Cedric Gervais (who has superstar DJ written all over him), the legendary Pete Tong, a super funky set by Deep Dish, and of course Desyn Masiello drops in again as well. Sander K. plays Second Sun's remix of "Another One Bites the Dust" and the "White Pony" remix as well. I'm loving the 80's flavor mixed in with the funky house beats and electro flavor. By the end of the party the clouds rolled in and hid the sun. Most people either bailed or went inside. We chose to leave, as we were going to get hooked up for Space that night to see Sasha and Digweed. That was such a killer party and even if I did have to pay the 50 bucks it would still have been an AWESOME time! Can't wait to do that one again!

That night our Sasha hookup fell through and we were faced with hitting up Sander K at Suite which would have been amazing and probably was, or doing something a little more chill for our last night. Most of us had started to lose our voice by this time, and our shaky knees were wavering, so we opted for a chill night out getting drinks. We ended up at Wet Willies for some deliciously tacky iced-alcoholic beverage smoothie drinks. The night ended up being a hilarious drunken romp with people running into poles, 1000 new things to laugh about being born, and we ended the night with a very drunken mission to find bbq chicken wings and cheese fries at 1 in the morning. Wuwuwuwwing zone (or "Wingzone" as they like to call it on Washington,) saved the day. If you go there get the $180.00 deal. It's a "real steal" that one.

I left the next day at like 5:50. It's always tough to say goodbye to your friends, especially when they live across the country, but make no mistake as plans are already in motion to keep the party going. WMC 06 was definitely the best one yet. I say that every year. Even though there were a lot of lame door politics and guest-list issues, this year was by far the most fun. This time I really did it a little differently than the previous years, and didn't go TOTALLY all out, and party non-stop. I had some breathers, and they were very welcome. No doubt I will be back again next year. Fo' Sho'!

WMC06: Another One Bites the Dust.

Big thanks to Alexandra Greenberg at MSO, Jessica Cohen at JCPR, and Georgi Crespo of Girlie Action for all the guest-list and hookups!

Jason Cook is a freelance editor for DJfix.com and Raves.com