According to our tireless reviewer Esther Park, this year's Best of the Best concert was even more intense than the last. With so many big-name artists scheduled to perform every year, there are always unexpected changes, pleasant surprises, and, it seems, a crazy sprint through the final leg of the show. More >>

The front and back of Fela Kuti's 10-inch EP, which was a Record Store Day exclusive

​Saturday was the absolutely perfect day to run around, buy records, drink a moderate amount of Strongbow cider, and consume a cornucopia of live music. Except: impressive Record Store Day events were planned for both Radio-Active Records in Fort Lauderdale, and Miami's Sweat Records, and there are 27.5 miles separating these two fine establishments. Who needs speed limits, anyhow!

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Countless videos of the Paul McCartney show went up on YouTube almost immediately after the concert. Most of the best come from user dsmpaul, who seems to have been sitting somewhere in the first few rows, and who seems to have uploaded damn near the entire concert in song-by-song clips. More >>

Okay, okay, so this is the last time we'll blog about Artopia for now -- we just really want you to come to the next one, if you missed this time. (We'll give you presents.) Miami New Times' event last Thursday at the Freedom Tower was packed -- who knew people loved free booze and food so much? And between all the chewing and swallowing, there was plenty of visual art, fashion, attention-seeking goths in costumes performance art, and music to check out. Seems like the music part especially freaked out the squares a bit. Otto von Schirach's headlining set was cut short, for unclear reasons to which nobody really wants to admit.

Here's a little clip summarizing the festivities. The local artists you hear during the video are:

0:00 - 1:00: Afrobeta
1:00 - 1:25: BFGF
1:25 - 1:35: Brimstone127
1:35 - 2:35: Afrobeta
2:35 - 3:35: Otto von Schirach

The next Miami New Times event is a Tweet-Up social networking party for all of our friends, fans, and followers on Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace. It's from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Playwright Pub on South Beach, 1265 Washington Ave. For those two hours it's open bar, so be over 21. See you there.

via @loveonedove

​Over here at Crossfade, when we're home alone, chained to our computers and wasting away from lack of food, booze, and human company, we like to live vicariously through Twitter. (It's also good for checking when to actually pay attention to some long, boring crap like the Grammys.)

And so it was that while Nouvelle Vague was serenading Little Havana last night with its global-lounge versions of post-punk, we hit the tweet crack for the scoop. For just 140 characters a pop, we felt like we were really there. And we learned to be even more paranoid about leaving our cars near the Manuel Artime Theater. (Sorry, @GoEddy.)

Follow us on Twitter at @Crossfade_SFL and let's all procrastinate en masse. Here's a timeline of the evening, thanks to people we stalk follow. One particularly industrious tweeter even uploaded videos practically in real time (see below). From all us shut-ins last evening, thank you.

6 p.m.:

@RoBerTWEETo: http://twitvid.com/D94B4 At theater and look what I bumnped into. Checkout the marquee! Nouvelle Vague w/ Liset Alea

9 p.m.:

@lizawalton: Opening band for Nouvelle Vague is amazing! #RhythmFoundation @marciamartinez http://tweetphoto.com/11632477

@loveonedove: Nouvelle vague lead singers are so quirky & cute! I feel like I'm in the 60's. http://twitpic.com/13oul8

@kevinlcoster: At nouvelle vague! Great, small venue, but smells funny in here!
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While most of the city was freaking out over the Super Bowl, some other legends were in town on Friday night: Phil Lesh and Bob Weir, formerly of the Grateful Dead. In a pretty unusual booking for downtown Miami, the two touched down at the recently revamped Bayfront Park Amphitheater to kick off a tour by their band's current incarnation, Furthur. If you missed it, no worries -- this is a Dead-related band, after all, and taping has evolved into recording video for YouTube. Check out our review of the gig, which includes a full set list, and watch these fan snippets from the show.

From YouTube user RootsLvr, here's a bit of "Terrapin Station," with John Kadlecik of the famous Dead tribute band Dark Star Orchestra.


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While some people just don't get that the wave of fan videos is unstoppable -- hello Fontainebleau on New Year's Eve, and the entire Universal Music Group -- other bands have welcomed that kind of participation and sharing from the beginning. People have been trading concert tapes since the technology was available, but before electronic file sharing, Phish really became the kings of encouraging fans to do so. For Phish's recent four-night run at American Airlines Arena, as usual there were separate taper tickets... Anybody could capture the shows on YouTube, though!

The band wisely uploaded some of its own high-quality footage, though. From Phish's official YouTube channel, here's the band's countdown to midnight at the New Year's Eve show. The video includes the whole disco ball cannon gag our reviewer described, right up to the point where "Sarah from Pittsburgh" sits down to fill in on drums.


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photo by John Twomey

​Blowfly
With Jacuzzi Boys and Mr. Entertainment and the Pookiesmackers
Saturday, January 2, 2010
The Monterey Club, Fort Lauderdale

Better Than: Rotten fish cunnilingus.

The Review:

Happy New Year! Out with the old, in with the new. Right? Not at the Monterey Club Saturday night. The new was in, no doubt about it, but the old was right there, too. And they were both kicking still-hung-over ass on January 2nd. After veterans Mr. Entertainment and the Pookiesmackers started things off, the fresh kicks of The Jacuzzi Boys hit the stage. The boys dished out a howling set of their surfy garage-rock tunes that had the joint bubbling. Considering how packed the place was, and how irresistible to the hips that the music was, I'd be surprised if no one was impregnated that night. Especially since Blowfly was the closing act.

For those unfamiliar, old-timer Blowfly (the alternate personality of successful songwriter Clarence Reid) is the most legit, oddly lovable, and foul-mouthed MC you'll find. He is Boise Bob's "fucking idol" and many consider his 1965 hit "Dirty Rap" to be the first rap song. If that's not enough to drop your jaw, seeing him perform surely would be. Saturday night, the 65 year old legendary Miami artist strutted across the Monterey Club stage fully decked out in his sparkly, gold, super-villain costume. He spit an endless stream of vulgarities into the mic as his backing band laid down funky grooves. Those jaws that had dropped during jams like "Porno Freak" closed abruptly as he reached the chorus of his Michael Jackson parody "Eat It" ("even if it smells like rotten fish").
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Sweet Bronco with The Pretty Faces, A Hunters Pace, and Retrocities Saturday, December 26, 2009

Propaganda, Lake Worth

Better Than: John Elway and John Wayne dodging ponies as rodeo clowns.

As Sweet Bronco rocked the stage at Propaganda Saturday night, people were moved in various ways: Some shouted "Yeehaw!", most bobbed their heads while gripping PBR tall-boys, and a couple dudes strutted across the dance floor like they were choreographed by the zombie incarnation of Syd Barret (truly, some bizarre moves).

Sweet Bronco is the latest project of long time South Florida musician Chris Horgan (formerly of Catalonia, Chlorine, and Terremoto Wombat). Though Chris has been performing solo as Sweet Bronco for a couple of years (the video above is from more than a year ago), this was only the fourth time that the full band has hit the stage. The line-up features Chris on guitar and vocals, Jessica Glisson on bass, and fellow South Florida music veteran Steven Copeletti on drums. Chris' songs provide a trustworthy foundation, and from there the band rumbles and screeches outward. It's wholesome music with an experimental edge.
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Alright, I promise this will be the last Miami Music Festival post for a while. But in case you wanted to see what you missed -- because you missed it, didn't you? -- check out these YouTube clips of a few choice performances.

First, I'll post a few from Saturday because that's the day I actually attended. I missed the set by Saints on Fire, upstairs at Tobacco Road, to check out the tents. Also, I had been vastly turned off by the disastrous start to the set there by the New York band Autodrone. They're a shoegazy, 4AD-style band that relies heavily on reverb and effects, and the "technical difficulties" that plagued this otherwise good band argued for why sound checks were so badly needed.

Anyways, though, here is a new excellent Miami rock and roll band. Who'da thunk. They're clearly going for an Iggy kind of deal, which has been done, but so what? Not enough people are doing it in the land of laptop music.

These guys are definitely not spring chickens. Drummer Bobby MacIntyre is a legend on the Miami scene since forever, and played for a while nationally with the Afghan Whigs offshoot the Twilight Singers. Singer Gil Bitton was in the local almost-made-its of nu metal, Endo, as is Saints on Fire's bassist, Zelick, who apparently just toured with Scott Stapp. That last sin especially would be pretty unforgivable, if this new act didn't seem promising. It would be nice if Bitton had some more hair to whip around, but oh well. Here's a video from YouTube user QueenoftheScene305, who's also the promoter of the same name, obvs.
 

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