Wednesday 3:05
The Shelborne
There’s something about Miami during the Winter Music Conference. Time simply fractures. So now, short of a trip to publix, some random conversations about whether or not to see Danny Howells in bed (at BED) tonight and why the music sounds so good from the 15th floor of the Shelborne and why the people look so Mtv. But the sun is out, the breeze is blowing, and America’s biggest party seems to be on it’s way.
Neil Feineman has been writing about music and pop culture for the past three decades, as a journalist for publications including the Los Angeles Times, the Face and seminal magazines such as Beach Culture and Raygun, for which he was the founding editor. He has worked with a variety of musicians over the year, including John Hiatt, John Wesley Harding, the Psychedelic Furs and Chris Isaak. After running Napster’s music program for a year, he has spent much of the past three years on the road, writing about his travels with artists such as Sasha and John Digweed and Sigur Ros. The author of more than a dozen books, his work has not just won numerous awards but reflects a life lived with passion and commitment to the ideal of positive change.
The Sasha and John Digweed boat party may have upheld an annual tradition but tweaked another. In the past, the party was on a Friday, the night after they played at the Mansion. This year, you had about two hours to get from the boat to the South Beach super club, and the process was jarring.
Writing about the Sasha and John Digweed boat party is a thankless task because the truth is no words, no pictures and no video can adequately approximate the magic of being there.
Not that the details can hurt. Imagine a yacht, the kind where polite people welcome you to the party as if they were happy to see you. Then glance around the deck and see people like Dj Dan, Hernan Cattaneo, John Graham, Nick Warren hanging out, catching up on things. Eating a prime rib dinner, making as many trips to the open bar as you wanted. Oh, and sailing across Miami with a bunch of your favorite people, who you haven’t seen since the last party, while Sasha and John play the perfect, sexy “backyard” set of the year. Throw a circle of good energy around the enterprise and it’s suddenly like maybe there really is a reason to believe in Santa Claus. Because this party, if you are lucky enough to be there, is the ultimate gift.
Even more to the point, it is probably the last of the Miami traditions left standing. The Masters at Work Party, Danny at Space, all are barely memories now. But the boat party, which began back in the days before the dot com boom had burst, is alive and well. And, for me, it’s still the real reason to make the trek to Miami.
Words by Neil Feineman, Photos by Jipsy
Photos by Jipsy for Nefariousgirl.com