Written by Zack Kostaras
Photos by Albert Lalamaiev
Returning to Miami for its 16th installment, Damian Lazarus and the Crosstown Rebels crew have done it again with another successful year of Get Lost. One of the leading, marquee events during Miami Music Week, Get Lost is a 24-hour nonstop carnival that takes over the Factory Town complex. With several stages, carnival games, and state of the art visual production taking place at the former warehouse complex, it is very easy for time to fly by while having fun.
This was the second year Get Lost was held at Factory Town, and there were some notable improvements made to the event grounds. The Garden of Eden stage was a new edition adjacent to the House of Freaks stage, and there was a new XXtra Lost (VIP only) stage that was in between the Time Tunnel Stage and Sunshine Alley Stage. Unlike like last year’s start time of 5am, this year the event start at 12pm which allowed for an earlier start time for multiple stages. The weather was gorgeous in Miami when we arrived in the afternoon, with the sun beaming in the 80 degree temperature.
In the spirit of Get Lost Tradition, Wizardry (Damian Lazarus, Dj Three, DJ Tennis) commenced the ceremony at the indoor Time Tunnel stage. Redesigned from last year, the stage setup allowed for more room and eliminated the queuing to get in last year. At the same time, the Desert Hearts crew opened up the Sunshine Alley for a groovier vibe in the sun. While it can be overwhelming to catch as many of the 90+ artists that perform in the 24 hour period of the festival, the stages are located in a conducive layout conveniently close to each other with minimal sound bleeding.
By far, our favorite sets were the ones at the Sunshine Alley stage later at night. When we returned to Get Lost after a break (the festival allows all ticketholders re-entry), we caught Danny Tenaglia from 1-3 am followed by Kolsch. Having seen Danny perform before numerous times, this was hands the down the best set I have listened to from him. Between some upcoming unreleased tracks on Nervous Records and the modern club hits making the airwaves he played (Dixon’s rework of RadioSlave’s “Wait a Minute” comes to mind), something special was going on behind the decks during his set. Kolsch played an impressive follow up set playing many originals and including his remix of London Grammar’s “Hell to the Liars”.
We love a good surprise, and Get Lost has many of them. This year, surprise sets include Maceo Plex performing live on the main stage “Carnival of Souls”. After Kolsch’s set at the Sunshine Alley, Dubfire played a surprise sunrise set that was truly something special. Then, at the Circus of Freaks stage indoors, the legendary British Sasha took over the helm for two hours playing some melodic and progressive house that kept the crowd dancing until the wee hours of the morning.
With another year down in the books, Get Lost has once again set the bar very high for electronic music in the United States. The in-demand lineup of the hottest house and techno dj’s coupled with state of the art lighting, sound, and pyrotechnics, cements itself as the pinnacle event for Miami Music Week. Until next year, we can’t wait to Get Lost.