In a “can‘t miss” night of free music and entertainment, Hurricane Productions will bring the thrill of the Ultra Music Festical to UM Thursday.
Funk Dirty, a hip-hop/funk group fresh off an appearance at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, will be opening up the night with a performance on the Rathskeller patio. DJ Motion Potion, famous for his yearly concert at the Bonnaroo Music Festival, will be headlining the event and spinning inside the Rat as part of his Silent Soundclash Series tour. Funk Dirty kicks off the evening outside at the start of Happy Hour, and Motion Potion’s performance is set to begin inside around 8 p.m.
“There’s no way any music fan should be missing this,” Hurricane Productions chair Max Winik said. “It’s going to be a special night at the Rat.”
Motion Potion, who has performed at Bonnaroo for the past seven years, is taking his music on the road for the first time ever. He will be spinning his signature “silent disco,” a medley of tunes that are pumped into wireless headphones that will be distributed before the concert. Only the first 250 students who show up with a Cane Card are guaranteed headphones.
“For a DJ like myself who’s always been genre-blind, the silent disco format has been a true gift,” Motion Potion said.
With a style that lead singer and University of Miami junior Miles Dotson describes as “the sound of new funk for the future,” Funk Dirty will be opening up the concert with an eclectic mixture of hip-hop, rock and jazz. Their set will be located on the patio near the Registrar’s office adjacent to the Rathskeller. Thursday is the first of back-to-back concerts for Funk Dirty; on Friday night, the group opens up for Julian Marley at the Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale.
“I think Miami is a city of many influences, which matches up with our style of music,” Dotson said. “I’m excited for this, we’re going to have everyone dancing and feeling good.”
Despite having played concerts on a much larger scale than his upcoming Rathskeller performance, DJ Motion Potion also described his excitement about his first visit to the U.
“I didn’t start DJing until I was 23 years old,” Motion Potion said. “Playing for college audiences gives me a chance to remind younger cats that their lives have not even begun. This is one of the events I’m most excited about.”
Camron Ghorbi may be contacted at cghorbi@themiamihurricane.com.