So that happened, I got to play at UMF! Well technically speaking I did, in reality I was playing outside UMF next to the entry gate as people were walking in, so they would all walk past me as I was spinning from the Red Bull event jeep/truck, but hey, least I got to play, happy about that but of course it didn’t go completely smoothly, last min things never do…
So, UMF, firstly lets talk about that, it is arguably the biggest EDM festival going around the world, and it is relatively consistent, however the line up and quality of most of the headliners… yeah on the main stage this year they were rubbish! Above and Beyond I left because I was so bored, and Steve Angelo was all over the dam place till he finally found some rhythm towards the end of his set, honestly the smaller stages and gate keeper DJs were a hell of a lot better from what I saw but I think by now most people are starting to realize this trend, big name DJs are shit, they are just producers who play their crap while it seems like its the tier of DJs underneath them that are the real crowd pleasers and the ones that really work on their craft
So as you can see I am not a fan of UMF, the only reason I went was because I got to DJ there, have to give a shout out to Red Bull for hooking it up, being able to hang out and at least say I have been there is definitely something to go down on the winning at life list
So, as for my set, well playing for a big ass line of people constantly moving past you is an interesting DJ dilemma, people aren’t staying in one place long enough for you to properly engage them but at the same time you are their first impression as they are coming thru the gate into the festival, so trying to not play the same music every 5 minutes yet keep the level at pretty much 100% isn’t the easiest thing. I ended up playing a typical club set but just mostly electro based and did manage to keep people entertained as they were coming thru with people cheering etc, dancing around, snapping photos etc but I think the festival staff in the area were more appreciative of the whole thing instead of hearing just the droning bass coming from the stadium. Friday night was definitely the busiest, people coming from work late to try and catch the last few acts kept the line pretty packed up till 9.30-10, sucks for those people because they missed the majority of the day and best acts. Sat started off good, I got to go around, watch a few acts and relax before jumping into my set, it started off really well… until the speakers blew, one was totally gone, the other I managed to keep using but with reduced sound it killed the impact I was having, which was annoying because I was just starting to get into my groove but ah well, shit happens.
So, ill briefly go over what happened with the gear. Red Bull got the event truck delivered to them last week, so they had no time to actually go over it and check all the audio settings etc, the default setting I was using was messed up to say the least, everything was wrong and of course the speakers couldn’t handle it at all and nothing was being redlined either, the sub levels were all over the place and the echo feedback was a pain in the ass not to mention the turntables couldn’t be moved so I had to use them long ways instead of battle style which was annoying. No laptop stand and little room for Serato as well, who ever designed it obviously hadn’t thought it thru very well at all, the basics of what could have been an awesome set up are there but just stupid little things, they really should have consulted with a DJ…
Well that pretty much sums it up, UMF in Seoul 2014… while people might be singing its praises if they were being honest it would be a different story and the headliners just weren’t that great, but personally half a mission accomplished and I got to play so I am happy with that, next time thou I definitely want a stage!!
akadjblaze 