Ultra Miami returned to Bayfront Park over the final weekend of March, following a move to Virginia Key Beach in 2019 and a COVID-19 enforced hiatus in 2020 and 2021. The festival welcomed around 165,000 people over three days, with attendees drawn to a line-up featuring some of the biggest names in electronic music.
Funktion-One Vero made its Resistance debut at Ultra in 2016 when it was deployed on the Arcadia Spider. The following year, Vero became Resistance’s sound system of choice for its main stage: the Carl Cox MegaStructure – the same year the DJ and producer became the event brand’s global ambassador. Cox and his production team were unequivocal in their request for Funktion-One sound for the MegaStructure. This year, Funktion-One rental partner Beware Productions – supported by US distributor Coherent Distribution – provided the sound system and crew for the 12,000-capacity arena.
Beware Productions’ Robert Wells commented: “The Funktion-One system that we provided for Resistance included a full Vero system, Dance Stacks for front fill, Evo 7T in-fill, mono stacks of 20 F124s and eight F132s, plus PSM318 DJ monitors. The Dance Stacks weren’t necessary for the front fill coverage, but the dedicated people really seem to like having stacks to dance in front of, so we included them.”
Discussing the bass and sub-bass, he added: “F124 has an incredibly natural and full tone and combining them with the ultra-low frequency F132 allows the system to track any music programme that it is presented with. Carl’s live sets are high fidelity with great transients, and it was truly a blessing to get to experience a live set on a system like this.”
Reflecting on this year’s Ultra, Beware Productions Eric Anderson said: “Ultra is an amazing event. The fact that they are able to build something like that in the middle of downtown Miami is incredible. We absolutely loved the festival and look forward to working with Funktion-One, Ultra and the legend himself, Carl Cox, next year and for many more years to come.”
Jim Baggott, Carl Cox’s Production Manager, who also oversees the production worldwide for Resistance, feels this year was the best yet. “I’ve been doing this stage for around 15 years and it’s the best one we’ve had. The production looked brilliant and it sounded amazing. All of the artists were very pleased.”
Describing Funktion-One’s performance characteristics, he added: “You’ve got great bass, but it’s not uncomfortable bass. Then you’ve got the clarity of the mid and high end, so it’s very clear. It’s great coverage all round. It can be really loud but you can listen to Funktion-One for 12 hours and you don’t come away with ringing ears, which you do with some other systems.”
Baggott’s appreciation of the sound and the connection he has with company founders Tony and Ann Andrews means Funktion-One is his preferred sound system. “I’ve had a relationship with Funktion-One for many years, because I’ve been involved in events in Ibiza for 20 plus years,” he explained. “When we’re doing our own shows, whenever possible, we’ll use Funktion-One – it’s our system of choice.”
This article originally appeared in issue #270 of TPi, which you can read here.
