Mr D & I went this year, expecting an American Ibiza... em. No. It was hot. And expensive. Don't get me wrong... the music is dead on, and people are really there for the music. But I think it really is an industry thing. There's a lot of who's who and who are you with and VIP this, VIP that. And while there were cues to get into places, once you got in, they weren't slammed with shiny happies like at our beloved Space or Amnesia... and that's supposed to be the BIGGEST week of the year. It was flat out wierd.
The cool factor is you're hearing the tunes of the summer before anyone else and big times like Roger Sanchez or Pete Tong dropping them... but other than that, the vibe isn't the same. I think the problem is you have that week competing with college students down in Miami for spring break -- which is messy and not so cool -- for example if you think San An is deficient, those are the types that seek out party destinations for spring break (although Miami is LOADS less messy than Panama City or Cancun).
La Troya had a night there and it was probably 30% capacity... which is, well, wierd. The music was hot and dead on... but the ratio of security to clubbers was probably 1:3, which is really really bad and adds a certain layer of paranoia to what's already a wierd clubbing experience.
We were going to go to Space (there's one in Miami), which was just reopening -- the entry fee was $100 -- NO JOKE. There's no effing way I'm paying $100 to get into a club, and on top of that pay for drinks. Not a chance. Friends of ours went, said it was dead on, but come on. That's just a pi$$ take. When you've had the experience of a euphoric and FREE Bora Bora, and you go down to Miami and someone wants to charge you $100 to get IN to their club, no way. Plus, all of the entrance fees are jacked up for this week. We bought our tickets in advance for everything and still it was bs waiting in line at some places. For example, Oakenfold at Opium Garden... it was completely mad how many bodies were packed into that space (this one is an exception for the not-being-packed comment) -- we purchased tickets in advance and still had to blag our way in. They had totally oversold the place and it was really a mess, which is kind of crap because, I mean, hey -- we really wanted to spend the night with Oakie.
I think if you don't have Ibiza as a reference point, WMC is probably just fine and dandy. And I'm not knocking Miami as a city -- I just think the WMC thing is overrated for those of us not in the industry and not looking to make deals or get noticed or something. That being said, unless you're close with locals, Miami is not all about Miami Vice. Really. We met up with loads of other people from the UK there and everyone was bemoaning the non-vice aspect of Miami -- I think people think it's easy/breezy because it's clublife, but it's also America, the country who invented the war on drugs.
That's my fitty cent.