After leaving Nashville at 8am, I arrived at Fort Lauderdale airport around 11am. I shared a shuttle bus to South Beach with an aspiring avant-garde electronic singer/songwriter, a bartender from SpyBar-Chicago and an Estonian Tennis fan. Seeing this many views of dance music was quite the welcome to Winter Music Conference.

The day went surprisingly smooth with the room at the Kent being ready upon arrival and quick registration at Winter Music Conference.


I caught up with friends and fellow industry people and shared stories and party tips for the week. Much fun is made of the schedule that I carry with me but without the excel spreadsheet, I would have no clue where to be at any given moment.

After a late lunch with promotions goddess Lainie Copicotto and few hours of relaxing and fruitful shopping, I walked around downtown and heard the voice of Ultra Nate singing "Free." I ran to a hotel pool and saw a huge crowd partying and enjoying the classic being shared live. Needless to say, I am a big fan of live performances so I stuck around for a little while and listened to Ultra Nate sing selections from her forthcoming cd "Grime Silk Thunder." This kind of thing could only happen during WMC in Miami. After a quick change at the hotel and email catchup (Thank God for wireless internet), sitewriter Dewight Barkeley joined me for the evenings festivities.

First stop was the Global Underground - oops - Party All the Time event at Suite featuring Sharam.

We figured this would be a great place to start as it would end up being packed and would be hard to check out later in the evening. We arrived at 10pm (opening time), well-dressed and with smiles on our faces and waited for entry. Even though our name was on the PRESS list, we were refused entry because I had a camera. Press people take pictures - what an advanced concept! The doorman rudely suggested that I leave it at the cashier stand, but of course they would not take any responsibility if the item was lost, stolen or damaged. Rather than let this setback ruin our evening, we went on to the next event with the happy realization that we would not need to visit Club Suite again for the entire week.

We walked up Washington Street and ended up at Twist where the door people were friendly and welcomed us into their establishment. This was a wonderful way to start the week - with a great program of artists singing their current and debut singles. Performers included - Pepper Mashay, Georgie Porgie, Michael M, Liquid 360, Ira Levi, Jacinta, Jason Antone, Giorgio, E-Ha, Shelina, Unique Monique, Tara Barbarino, Adam Barta and this British hunk who for the life of me - I cannot remember the name of. Performances were energetic and the crowd was very into it.

New songs to watch for:
1. Jacinta "Can't Keep It a Secret"
2. Ira Levi "Let the Children Dance"
3. Jason Antone "Be Free"

Things learned on day 1:
1. If you are going more than 40 blocks, try the bus instead of a cab - it will save a lot of money.
2. Wearing flat ironed hair and lip gloss is not practical.
3. The management/booking agent for Fedde Le Grand and Kaskade deserve a raise. Those two guys are on every flyer for every party.
4. For some unknown reason, Alan Freed has left BPM/XM. This change worries me greatly.
5. The lyrics to "Macarthur Park" are really hard to remember.
6. Guys in Miami like to wear shirts with bedazzled and embroidered skulls on them. At least that's what I assume since every clothing store I walk by displays shirts with bedazzled and embroidered skulls. Maybe its a baking in the heat reference.
7. If your night starts on a crappy note, walk away and go some place else. There are plenty of parties out there. Sort of like, there are many fish in the sea.