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.

The Shelborne, 6:39 p.m,

Mark Knight just turned in a housey set that drew the best energy out of the place but, as the sun fades, the mounds of trash build and the porta potty becomes less an option, you realize the Miami conundrum: once you’re in, you can’t leave.

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There are two reasons I come back to Miami year after year: Sasha and John Digweed’s boat party and the family of people you run into on the streets. This year the magic started early, at the Fort Lauderdale airport, where a friend happened to be driving by en route to south beach.

Two hours later, another friend stopped by and off we were to Coconut Grove, just because it was a nice night to see old Miami. And then it was 3:30 in the morning and the armchair I was sitting in became a bed all its own.

Which brings me to my first partner in crime, David Barr. We met in Miami last year, went on tour with Sasha and John Digweed and it was he who met me at the airport. His second year here, he’s the person who is currently trying to subvert a brutal door that I would have walked away from. That refusal to take no for an answer makes even rejection an adventure.

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The Hotel room, 12:20 a.m.

With the exception of Dubfire and James  Zabiela, who made the admirable “mistake” of cramming too much complexity into an hour, the Shelborne may not have been worth the wait. But as a kickoff event, reminding you how small and warm the community really is, it was a pretty perfect welcome to Miami.There are two reasons I come back to Miami year after year: Sasha and John Digweed’s boat party and the family of people you run into on the streets. This year the magic started early, at the Fort Lauderdale airport, where a friend happened to be driving by en route to south beach.

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.

By Neil Feineman