"Are you having fun?" asks British DJ John Digweed in the middle of his set at the Ultra 3K party at Winter Music Conference 2001. Glancing at the seething mass of revelers packed in the Twilo tent in front of him he smiles. "It's organized chaos," he says and laughs, turning back to the decks. Although he was only speaking in the first few hours of the five-day Miami-based event, the progressive house DJ nailed it on the head. Winter Music Conference with its numerous club outings, announcements, and general music mayhem, is just plain crazy.

Hosting some of the world's highest profile DJs including Fatboy Slim, Paul Oakenfold , Paul Van Dyk, Richie Hawtin, Derrick Carter, Stacey Pullen, Timo Maas, Danny Tenaglia, Sandra Collins, DJ Dan, Steve Lawler, and live acts including Roni Size and Reprazent, Basement Jaxx, and Electric Skychurch, the conference, originally meant as an industry meet and greet cum new music seminar, has turned into an excuse for celebrity bad behavior, poor organization, and a place for random revelers to go wild on holiday. "Five years ago you could come here," says techno kingpin and Novamute record boss Richie Hawtin, "and DJs could get out on the dance floor like a regular. But now you'll be dancing and people will keep coming up to you, tap you on the shoulder and ask you to sign this, sign that. Now more and more it's become the Spring Break of Electronic Music."

And just like Spring Break there's too much to do and too little time. Throughout the conference party schedules were full of choice every evening. But despite the congestion, there was always an event that managed to cause a scene. On Saturday that honor belonged to Ultra 3K which hosted 10,000 plus revelers dancing to several stages including ones hosted by New York City superclub Twilo and Britain's Gatecrasher. From early afternoon the event managed to create a buzz, especially when one of the club's stages found itself short on turntables. Then there was minor chaos when the guest list shut down after some tickets were allegedly stolen. Still with a storming set by John Digweed, the only performance of his that was easy to get into (his sets at Crowbar and at a boat party on Monday left many shut out), fans were none the wiser.

Sunday belonged to Roni Size and Reprazent at the Winter Oasis party. The Bristol, England crew put on a performance of legend on the last date of their American tour in the extremely sweaty Space Club downtown. The room's entrance had to be blocked off at the capacity event and even several notables were unable to squeeze in to see the crew throw down some wicked beats, a few new tunes and a meteoric jam featuring singles from the group's individual members' solo albums.

Ricky Martin turned up at the Urb Magazine/Essential Records boat party Monday afternoon featuring Pete Tong and Boy George as the cruiser docked at a mansion. Fatboy Slim and Basement Jaxx held court at the Astralwerks party at Nikki's Beach Hut later in the evening, mixing in summery tunes for fans sipping cocktails and chowing down on BBQ. Still later on at the Subliminal Sessions at Crowbar, Fatboy Slim, a.k.a. Norman Cook, once again made waves, this time with former Underworld member, Darren Emerson playing a game of DJ tag team. And Danny Tenaglia's legendary sessions at Space lasted from late evening 'til midday, complete with a what some described as a sort of bizarre fashion show in the wee hours of the morning.

On Tuesday, the last date many attendees had booked in the coastal town before they had to return home, a host of cooler events chilled fans for the evening including Scanty Sandwich on the balcony at the hotel hosted by L.A.'s Giant Club, and the Studio K7 party which featured the soulful stylings of Mark Rae. Elsewhere, some funky Chicago House was spun by Derrick May, Stacey Pullen, Kevin Saunderson and Ken Ishii.

With the weather bearing inklings of change, and far fewer people remaining, Wednesday was quiet. Still the likes of Derrick Carter, DJ Sneak, Danny Rampling and Seb Fontaine held court across South Beach leaving many rushing to catch their flight straight from the club.

JOLIE LASH
(March 31, 2001)