It’s been an interesting week for EDM.
In artist news, Paris Hilton has announced she’ll produce a “house music” album. Feed Me announced he’ll retire. (We’re not sure if the two are related.) And talk show host Wendy Williams completely dissed Pasquale Rotella, Insomniac Events CEO, and dance fans around the world.
But, here in the real world, we’re ready to kick off summer and welcome festival season with open arms. EDC Chicago, Summer Camp and Movement are all kicking off as we speak.
Here’s a look at some of our favorite festival/event news bits from the week:
1Ultra-expensive festival tickets
Ultra Music Festival 2014 tickets went on sale this week. Early bird tickets, set at $149 for a three-day pass, were snatched up within four minutes on Tuesday amidst significant server troubles at Ultra’s ticketing company. As if a secret bidding war emerged, “advance” ticket prices went on sale for $274.95 later that afternoon, before jumping to an unprecedented $399.95 price point just 20 minutes later.
When you add in all the fees, a ticket to Ultra 2014 will cost you $490, making it the most expensive electronic festival in the States (if not world).
Backlash on the internet immediately spread, though Ultra officials promise the pricing is “worth it.” Wondering how these prices compare to previous years and competing festivals? Stay tuned, we’re working on an in-depth piece to share soon.
2Sensation announces US expansion
After a wildly successful launch with two sold out nights in Brooklyn last October, Sensation USA is returning to New York this fall and expanding to three additional cities: Miami, San Francisco, and Las Vegas.
Show dates for 2013 will be announced in the coming weeks. More here.
3Life in Color fall tour dates
Life in Color (formerly Dayglow) organizers announced the second phase of dates for their 2013 “Rebirth” tour. The tour is wildly popular on college campuses and will stop through several EMW cities this fall including New Braunfels, Louisville, Nashville, OKC, St. Louis, Lincoln, Chicago, Dayton, Knoxville, Indianapolis and more. Check out the full list here.
4Spring Awakening chalk art
Spring Awakening Music Festival asked fans to create sidewalk chalk masterpieces for the chance to win four VIP tickets to the festival and a comped hotel room for the weekend. Some of the results are really impressive. Check out the submissions here.
5Spring Awakening and Electric Forest schedule predictions
Since most festivals are waiting until the last minute to release set time schedules, we thought it’d be helpful to scout out individual tour schedules for each artist and compile day-by-day schedule predictions. It’s never too early to start planning, so here are our findings for Spring Awakening and Electric Forest. Both are being updated continuously so come back for updates.
» Electric Forest daily performance schedule match ups
» Spring Awakening daily performance schedule match ups
