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The inevitable Paradise! The BPM Festival Review…

The anticipation of the holidays is behind us and that means only one thing, it’s BPM boogy time! After weeks of family affairs, friends, food, champagne and dancing on tables, don’t feel blue when it’s over as the end of one means the beginning of another.  The 2013 debut is Playa del Carmen’s sun and BPM fun.

BPM Festival 2013

With just a few years under its belt, BPM seems to be rapidly growing with increased interest and attendees in the small area of Playa del Carmen, Mexico.  Within just 40 minutes away from Cancun, Playa had become the new dance hot- spot for worldwide partiers and clubbers. The area between gorgeous Tulum and little Playa del Carmen turns into heaven for the true house heads.  Non-stop parties and events with favorite underground labels and their artists with the Maya spirit and energy make it the perfect after-holiday get away.  What better way to start the year than two weeks of dancing on the sand under the stars?

Kicking things off with My Favorite Robot Records, January 4th promised to be a smooth and delicious transition into a 10-day marathon of excitement.  In a perfect tranquility the label showcased their artist under the Mexican sun and progressively turned the beach venue of Canibal Royal into a tropical, musical paradise with the soundtrack of their melody.  Finland’s Jori Hulkkonen, established musician and recently responsible for the Acid Symphony Orchestra assembly back home, was a must see performance of unique stile, transformed through Jori’s musical talent.  Canada’s Bastard Love and Sid Le Rock put their mark behind the decks until the MFR trio had the last call through a diverse musical selection and a lot of their recently finished new album material, coming out on Art Department’s label #19 this spring. The dancing, laughter and music rolled the evening into a night to remember.

Continuing on into the BPM adventures, every minute turned into a reunion and every hour an increasing excitement for more.  January 5th was the Wolf+Lamb time to shine and “Crew Love” really meant true love.  With friends from every corner of the world and the label’s slow and sexy bass lines, the beach was an inevitable paradise.  Mamitas turned euphoric as soon as No Regular Play stepped into the booth and played their magic.  Tanner Ross put his mark and Charlie and Eli aka Soul Clap with Gadi Mizrahi aka Baby Prince closed things appropriately with their disco oldies and a lot of sexy funk. Dan Ghenacia, Dyed Soundorom and Shonky were shaking things up for those after funky dance needs with their Apollonia showcase, which is always a guarantee for fun.

BPM Festival 2013Mid-marathon and N19 time it was.  Art Department and their artists took Mamitas on musical adventure the next day.  Tone of Arc’s live performance and Art Department’s 4 hour extended set with Martina Topley Bird’s, turned the event into a dance music gathering of music lovers, scene participants and a lot of boogies.  A fascinating musical journey that carried into the night for the Social Experiment after hour with old school NYC legend DJ Three, Jonny Cruz and Nitin’s tag team extravaganza.

Wednesday had to be a day of birthday shot outs; Jonny Cruz’s rooftop birthday bash at La Azotea was filled with sexy ambient, intimate vibes and friends from around the world.  After-hours was in the hands of Hot Natured in “Paradise”.  Jamie Jones, Lee Foss, Richie Ahmed and more spread the love with their music back on the beach.

As progressively the number of people on the small beach of Playa increased with each day, the parties kept rolling but some venues were sold over capacity.  A great example had to be Circoloco’s growing interest and massive attendance.  The party turned out to be more than loco as tickets were over sold and people turned down.

Life & Death, Magda, Damian Lazarus’s Rebel Rave, Tini & the gang, and many more, are what BPM’s entertainment looks like for those two weeks of fun on the sun and non-ending music days and nights.

If the dancing was exhausting and your feet hurt, a relaxing day trip to the lovely beaches of Tulum with a coco loco drink in hand is always a great alternative.  Besides the dance music entertainment, Playa del Carmen is relatively close to a lot of tourist nature attractions worth checking out.  An educational trip to Chichen-itza or Kukulkan Pyramid, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, will cost you up to about 30$ and it varies depending on the tour operator.

Moving on in a different direction of BPM exploration, there was the peculiar phenomenon of bottle services guests, which once again brings us to the question” is the underground dead and is it all for the image”?  In just a few years BPM has grown from an intimate music get away to a massive commercial money machine.  Unique for its special atmosphere and professional music lovers, the sixth edition of the BPM festival is most likely to reach higher attendees compared to the years before.   With growing interest there is also a growing need for cashing in.  As the festival proves economic growth for the time being in the area of Playa del Carmen with creating extra jobs and increased tourism, a question pops up: is commercialization around the corner?  With beach parties already being charged for, compared to free entrance last year, and drink prices 10-12 US dollars, is Playa already loosing its charm?

Until then, if you didn’t make this sun and fun 2013 BPM vacation and you are looking to see all your favorite artist in one place, get excited for 2014 because it will be even bigger.

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