After 3 years the Ultra Music Festival returned to South African shores to mesmerize and thrill local electronic dance community. Cape Town and Johannesburg were treated to some of the best in international and local artists over Friday and Saturday with an unconfirmed record crowd for the Johannesburg leg. While there were many despondent comments after the final line-up was released, with the lack of headliner acts for the main stage especially, the ones who were named did not disappoint!
Local acts such as Kyle Cassim, Gold Fish and Grammy award winning artist Zakes Bantwini got the masses going on the main stage before the international acts took over. Gold Fish who have toured the world with their mixture of electric and live sounds, signed with Armin van Buuren's record label Armada have been entertaining crowds world over, and their set in Johannesburg was nothing short of world class.
Next up, that crazy Australian Fisher took to the stage with what can only be described as electric energetic performance that had the crowd jumping on their feet. Dutch DJ Oliver Heldens got the groove on with his future house style deep melodic sounds before Swedish maestro Alesso played probably the best set of the night for me, kicking up classics like his remix of Pressure by Starkillers before ending his set with the iconic "If I loose myself Tonight" with One Republic which had the entire crowd singing in harmony. Ending the night on the mainstage was another Aussie, Timmy Trumpet. His hardstyle big room music took the crowd over 150 bpm as it was a rather raucous end to the night.
Resistance stage as always did not disappoint with Dane DJ Kolsch and Adam Bayer sending the crowds into pure ecstasy with their sets. I was a bit disappointed with the lighting and stage design for Resistance as I felt it was cut down a lot compared to the 2020 show. Being in an indoor venue there was so much more that could have been done in terms of lighting. Overall though, Ultra SA 2023 proved to be one for the record books with massive crowds, excellent organization and plenty of stalls for beverages, food and top up kiosks for the cashless wristbands. I'm glad to hear that the festival will be back next year on the weekend of March 1st, with shows confirmed for Cape Town and Johannesburg.
One sad thing to come out from the festival was the passing of Costa Titch who sadly passed away after collapsing on the Smirnoff Stage midset. Condolences go out to his family, friends and fans.
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