Ultra South Africa 2018 - Review

Celebrating it's 5th Anniversary in South Africa, Ultra Worldwide was bound to put on a music spectacular that would leave festival goers in awe of what they had witnessed. Having attended the Johannesburg leg myself, I can tell you first hand that not only did this years Ultra break records but it certainly set them for years to come! 

On February 10, Nasrec Expo Center opened it's gates to over 32,000 revelers, it a set-up much bigger and better than other years, crowds had easier access to bars, food stalls and ablution facilities, also with the introduction of cashless systems again, it made buying refreshments and food all that more easier. There was however reports of long queues to enter the venue, with some people having to wait almost two hours to get in. Organisers have yet to comment on what the delay could have been caused by. 

With 4 stages for attendee's to choose from, showcasing the various artists, international and local, people were spoiled for choice. With good reason though, the Main stage was the center of attraction to many. With LED Screens decorated with lasers, blinders, pyrotechnics and streamers, combined with the hottest DJ's in the world, would you blame anyone from not wanted to leave their spot? It all kicked off with the local DJ's, of home FeU and TimoODV were standouts, then came on the first International act, Carnage who did what his name says and got the crowd going with his hardstyle music. While Afrojack and Hardwell played great sets, the stand out for me had to be Armin. The man isn't rated as one of the best DJ's of all time for nothing. His set was a combination of music and lighting which got the crowd into a state of trance. He was also joined on stage in a surprise performance by Mr Probz, where performed their collaboration track "Another You" and "Waves". The night on the Main Stage ended with Axwell /\ Ingrosso, who captivated their crowd with some of their old Swedish House Mafia tracks as well as many of their new stuff as a duo. The stand-out was definitely their current hit track "More than you know" which had the crowd belting out the chorus. 

.The Resistance stage was back again to please the many deep house fans that made the journey and it did not disappoint! This year saw the dance floor being moved into a new warehouse space at Nasrec which catered specifically to the house and techno community. Local artist which included the likes of Da Capo, DogStarr, Ryan Murgatroyd, TranceMicSoul and many more heated the floor up before the mega stars took to the decks. Local and global sensation, Black Coffee got on to raptures from the crowd before Dubfire and Eats Everything blew the fans away with their hypnotic performances. 

"Ultra SA brings new surprises each year and this year was no exception. It also brings new magic each time we produce the show, and 2018 was the most magical yet. Speaking on behalf of the full Ultra SA team and sponsors, we are blown away by the support of the fans and industry and cannot wait to see what 2019 brings." said Shaun Duvet after the 48 hour music spectacular which took place in the two cities. 

We will be releasing our very own after movie of Ultra SA 2018 soon, so be on the look out for it on our instagram page!

Monday Choon: Armin van Buuren feat. Josh Cumbee - Sunny Days (PureNRG Remix)

Its Ultra South Africa week! Come Friday, dance music fans will be in ecstasy as some of the biggest names in Electronic Dance Music will hit the stage, starting off in Cape Town and ending in Johannesburg in the early hours of Sunday morning. In our final artist feature for the build up to the event, we have none other than the legend of Trance music, Armin van Buuren. He is regarded as one of the frontiers for electronic music, getting it more well known in the industry to reach the levels it has now. With his weekly podcast show, A State of Trance, he reaches millions around the world, playing the latest that has been cooking in the Amarda kitchen. With his record label, he has brought through some amazing talents of whom have grown to massive names in the industry now. 

Today's featured track from the Dutch maestro is one of his latest releases which have been given the PureNRG treatment. It's a song he did last year with Josh Cumbee on the vocals call Sunny Days, they even produced a slower version of the track over December titled "Christmas Days" which was really cool. This fast paced remix is one of the popular ones of the track and you can bet your bottom dollar that Armin is going to drop this in his set at Ultra! So get ready for what is going to be an epic event. I personally cannot wait to see Armin again, the last time he was here, his set was nothing short of epic and I expect more of the same this year. 

Ultra South Africa 2018 - Set times

With just 1 week to go, the official set list and times is now available for Ultra South Africa 2018! But its only accessible through the Ultra Worldwide App which is on both, Google Playstore and Apple App Store. So if you're heading to Ultra next weekend, download the app now, check the set list and timings for the various stages and also get a look at the site map to see where everything is so you can pre-plan your Ultra journey and make sure you don't miss anything! The app will also bring you all the latest news regarding the festival as well as all the other Ultra Worldwide Festivals taking place across the globe, it is a must have for a fan.

If you haven't gotten your tickets yet, you'd be please to hear that there are still some left, and if you buy them using the Budweiser promo-codes budfridayjhb / budfridaycpt you will get R100 pre-loaded on your Howler wristband for use at the event. 

Monday Choon: Axwell /\ Ingrosso - Dreamer

With just 12 days remaining in the lead up to Ultra South Africa 2018, today's featured artists are a duo whom were part of the iconic trio, Swedish House Mafia before they decided to go their separate ways, however Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso formed the duo Axwell /\ Ingrosso there after and have enjoyed much success since then. Where or not things got a bit rough with Steven Angello in the SHM days, we're not to sure as long as the continue to bring us great music. 

After their last hit "More Than You Know" which ended up topping most charts towards the end of last year, the talented Swedish Duo are back with another great track, "Dreamer". It features the vocals from Trevor Guthrie who most trance fans will know from his collaborations with another DJ icon, Armin van Buuren.  The song has that same sort of dance tempo which much of their newer stuff has, lots of melodies and no real drop as such. Still a great track none the less. 

Ultra South Africa 2018: Resistance

Deep house is certainly a genre that took off locally in 2016 and the same hype and drive of it followed into last year and continues into this year. It's with this that organises of Ultra South Africa have announced the return of the Resistance stage to this years festival with killer line-ups for both the Cape Town and Johannesburg legs. It will be it's 3rd year that the Resistance Stage features at Ultra South Africa and the crowds for it are ever growing, hence the call to bring in more talent has been answered with the likes of SA's on Black Coffee and the international acts from the likes of Dubfire and Eats Everything will headlining the stage. A list of the full line-ups for both Cape Town and Johannesburg can be found below.

Monday Choon: Davey Asprey - Fallout

It's our first post for 2018 and while today's featured track was released late last year, I think it's worth the hype for it to being the first track that we have on the Monday Choon this year. Armin vaan Buuren rated this track as the official anthem for his ASOT mix of 2017. And speaking of the Dutch legend, in less that 2 months we will see him play LIVE at Ultra South Africa! We cannot wait for that and will be bringing you exclusive features of the DJ's that are due to perform at this years events, so stay tuned for more! Until then, here is Fallout from Davey Asprey of Walsall in the United Kingdom to lead us into 2018 with some trance!

Ultra South Africa 2018 - Phase 2 Line up

Celebrating its 5th Anniversary in South Africa, Ultra is pulling out all the stops to ensure that next years event is going to be one to remember. Phase 2 line up was announced last week, and unless you were living under a rock, you should have heard the news by now but if not, no sweat, we got you covered here. In the official announcement video, along with phase 1 announced Dutch heavy weight DJ's Armin van Buuren and Hardwell, Ultra showed the likes of Afrojack, Axwell/\Ingrosso and Dubfire bringing up the international headliners as well as the return of the Resistance stage. Carnage see's a return to the country forming part of the international acts and a first time debut for Malaa. 

At the Resistance stage, fans of the Deep House beats can enjoy the music of South Africa's most successful electronic music export, none other than Black Coffee. Along with him see's Dubfire on the stage as well, taking the audiences on a musical journey with their highly sort after sounds. 

Cape Town's event takes place on Friday the 9th of February 2018 at the Cape Town stadium which was a firm favourite with event goers last year. While Joburg's Nasrec Expo Center hosts the event on Saturday the 10th of February for the 5th time as well. 

Ticket information:

Cape Town

	Tier 1	Tier 2
General Access	R700	R800
VIP	R1250	R1500

Johannesburg

	Tier 1	Tier 2
General Access	R800	R950
VIP	R1500	R2000
VVIP	R4000

*Table booking information to be released soon*

For more information, follow Ultra on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or their website. ultrasouthafrica.com/

Ultra 2018 - Pricing

Following our post last week on confirmation of the 5th anniversary of Ultra South Africa. This week we bring you the pricing and tier structure of tickets to next years event. Please note of the amazing early bird specials are limited so register now to gain access to these!

Cape Town
General Access	Early Bird: R600 (Limited) Tier 1:        R700 Tier 2:        R800
VIP	Early Bird: R1000 (Limited) Tier 1:        R1250 Tier 2:        R1500

Johannesburg
General Access	Early Bird: R600 (Limited) Tier 1:         R800 Tier 2:         R950
VIP	Early Bird: R1000 (Limited) Tier 1:         R1500 Tier 2:         R2000
VVIP	Early Bird: R3000 (Limited) Tier 1:         R4000

*Table booking information coming soon*

Booking fees are excluded from prices. 

Follow Ultra SA on Twitter and Facebook for more updates on next years event. 

Ultra South Africa 2018

Its confirmed! For a 5th year running, this global dance festival will be visiting South Africa to mesmerize audiences in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Organisers confirmed yesterday that Ultra South Africa 2018 is a go with early bird registration now open! People can log onto the website and register to receive notification as soon as early bird tickets go on sale to avoid disappointment. 

Ultra SA is more than just a music festival, boasting state of the art stage, lighting, pyrotechnics and not forgetting the some of the best DJ's in the world, it's an experience that you won't forget. Dates and venues have been confirmed for both cities with Cape Town hosting first on February 9th at the iconic Cape Town Stadium in Greenpoint. It's the second year that this event will be hosted at this venue, last year saw thousands descend upon it and it proved to be easily accessible and a great venue at large for Ultra Cape Town. With Ultra SA 2018 being held there, it will just cement it as the venue for years to come. 

The following day, the 10th of February see's Ultra South Africa return to Johannesburg's Expo Center in Nasrec. It's very much the home of Ultra SA as it draws the largest crowds and greater atmosphere. The unparalleled festival venue will play host to the largest music show the people of Gauteng know and adore. Every year this one gets bigger and better , I speak from experience as I've attended everyone in Jhb since it's inception. 

As mentioned before, registration for early bird tickets to the 2018 shows will be done via their websites. One has to obtain an Ultra Passport on www.ultrasouthafrica.com, complete this process as soon as possible or you will miss out! By getting your Ultra Passport, you will be part of the global Ultra Family which will put you in good steed to get tickets for other Ultra Global events. With this Ultra Passport you will earn points for every festival you attend and will be rewarded for them depending on what tier you're in. Points are earned for enrolling in the programme and attending events, and points are valid for 25 calendar months, so it makes sense for SA Ultranauts to register now and start earning!