The large ‘U’ festival celebrated a fantastic return to South America recently.
When you think of Ultra Music Festival, you likely gravitate towards Miami straight away. But we’re lucky enough to have them all over the world, celebrating parties far and wide. That is certainly a blessing for energetic crowds living in somewhat further places in the globe, like South America.
I’ve been here for a while, and it’s safe to say it’s growing a strong community of Dance-devoted madmen like me. I’ve been lucky enough to get to know the Argentinian scene fairly well, and also those in its neighbouring country, Chile. This is a country where Hardstyle reigns supreme, and genres like Techno and its branches are seeing a roaring uptrend in the number of fans and followers. So much so, that Ultra themselves decided to pay a visit. A two-day visit, mind you.
Ultra Chile: Its History
Chile had its first Ultra in 2013, with the next two years also calling artists from around the world to come together on the far southern end of the globe for Ultra Chile 2014 and 2015. The year after, Chile received a more compact Road To Ultra, as well as in 2017, for the Ultra host of those years was the continental giant, Brazil. After that, Chile would have to wait some time before the brand set foot on it again.
2023 saw Road To Ultra return to the long country for a Halloween party, headlined by Marshmello, Nicky Romero, Oliver Heldens, and Two Friends. And this year, the acclaimed main branch returned in full force, with two days of unstoppable beats coming from a handful of places, and showcasing an impressive plethora of talents, established, up-and-coming, returning… everything.
It was held on Friday, April 19th, and Saturday, April 20th, in Santiago’s iconic go-to place for massive events, Espacio Riesco.
Day One: Friday
Day One kicked off late in the afternoon, at 7 PM to be precise. The crowds started to appear from very early on. Once inside, it was time to have a look at the place, and, oh dear, they truly made the most out of the venue. Three of the four stages were on that day, the Mainstage, on the back of the property and boasting an impressive open-air setting, the Resistance stage, a blacked-out, massive former plane hangar to welcome the best Techno represents in the world, and the Carolina stage, a local-lineup filled stage out on the open.
Day One Winners
Jumping between the Mainstage and the Resistance stage allowed me to watch basically all artists for a little. That’s life at a festival, you can’t really marry one particular DJ. That said, I think I’ve got my favourite artist of the night, and it is Stephan Bodzin.
I had never watched him play, so I was basically going in not knowing what to expect. Add to that, I was at the Main seeing Armin before, so I didn’t really know what I was about to witness. Walking into Resistance, the first thing I noticed was that there was A TON of space to dance and just be yourself. The Mainstage was filled to the brim with people, and well, that left the Techno-devoted stage with a crowd that was truly enjoying Bodzin’s magic. I did too.
I swear, ten minutes in I was already fully hooked. Eyes closed, moving side to side, that kind of hooked. Him playing a live set was a tenfold amplifier as well, since he was interacting a lot with the audience, and the audience interacted a lot with him back. Ask me to name one track from his set, I can’t. But what I CAN recall vividly is how happy he was managing his instruments, and how happy the people dancing beside him were. I was one of them, fully gone away in a trance. A star for you, mate.
Day Two: Saturday
Day Two started quite earlier, promising twelve endless hours of good music. My friend — who flew in from Buenos Aires for the festival — and I entered the place just past 2:30 PM. And after a little day tour of the venue, we headed straight to the brand-new Resistance Square stage. Reason being, Daniella Da Silva was on at 3:00.
The stage itself was really interesting to me, since the Ultra guys turned this giant conference place into the host for the darkest, most energetic beats of the entire day. I remember my highschool once took me for University speeches or something of that kind literal years ago, and seeing it changed to fit a literal Ultra festival blew me away.
The other stages were just as breathtaking as the day before, and now places like the Mainstage enjoyed the geographic surroundings of Espacio Riesco: mountains for days. It was another level. Point for you, day parties!
Day Two Winners
Daniella Da Silva
My friend wanted to see her so badly, and I wanted to learn from someone new to me. Good. Lord. Those were 90 minutes of nonstop dancing. There are pictures and videos of me absolutely losing it during her set which I won’t show for, reasons, but let me tell you, her energy is sensational. Dark, Hard Techno. I’m not of the kind to enjoy that in a car ride or on a normal day, but I for sure allowed myself to enjoy her beats at Ultra. I felt slightly sore after that, and that should tell you enough of how good of a set hers was.
Hardwell
My childhood hero. How wouldn’t I have enjoyed Hardwell’s set when he was my role model when I was in school back in the day? Growing up loving ‘Encoded’, ‘Spaceman’, and his remix of ‘Man With The Red Face’, it was about time to see him again. Absolutely nuts. Lots of what he played I had heard before at his Ultra Miami set from earlier this year, but far from taking away from the experience, it allowed me to sing my lungs out. Special shoutout to that ‘Strobe‘ x ‘Save The World‘ mashup which nearly got me crying.
Kasablanca
These guys take the gold for me, no question. Seeing Hardwell, you know beforehand that it’s going to be a phenomenal show, but I had never seen Kasablanca before. I’d only heard their Anjuna tunes. And so my friend and I got to the very front of the Mainstage to see them. We could not have decided better.
They played a live set, just like Bodzin had done the day before. The difference here was the setting: While Stephan Bodzin played inside the warehouse vibe of the Resistance stage, Kasablanca did it out in the open. And their set just so happened to occur during the last hours of the day and into the night, sunset included.
They absolutely rocked it. From synths to vocals to literal choreography, their set had it all. They truly made good use of the Mainstage speakers as well, with their fat-bottomed tracks. I can’t tell you just how magical that time was, even the landscape fit the vibe of their music. Mountains all around, the clouds turning slightly red at sunset (see a few pictures above), and the moon reigning high aloft by the time they dropped their remix of Above & Beyond’s ‘Black Room Boy’. The duo take the gold, and my heart with it. I won’t turn down the possibility of seeing them in the future.
Final Thoughts
It had been a while since I last attended a big festival, since I’d been much more inclined to go to artist-focused events. It was a refreshing treat to come to Ultra Chile and soak in the festival experience again. My mate and I had a great time, enjoyed the food (shoutout to Papa John’s), the Gin Tonics, and the feel-good atmosphere. For now, be right back, I’ll be listening to Kasablanca!
