Miami Blog

Power Player.

In business and politics, it's all about who you know. And connections are connections -- even if the power player in your Rolodex likes the taste of his own feces.

Yesterday morning, Riptide experienced a first: In a post-interview chat with a prominent Miami businessman and former city politician who shall go unnamed, he name-dropped a dog.

Y'see, the businessman counts Ted Kennedy among his clients, and he says while T-Ken was down in Key Biscayne undergoing chemotherapy, he had a chance to play with a very special puppy, then known as Charley. Not long afterward, the Portuguese water dog took a red-eye to Washington, where he became Bo -- the Obama family's first puppy.

Straight-faced: "So, yeah, I knew Bo before he was Bo. He's a very well-trained dog."

It's 4th of July weekend, so things seem to be extra busy, so lets just hop right into to it. Here are the things you don't want to miss this weekend.

Aero Bar (247 23rd St., Miami Beach) seems to have sorted out its permit issues, because its now foraying into Thursday night territory with Guilty Pleasures. The man behind the night is none other than former Revolver/Black Lipstick/Damaged creator Joshua Menendez. With DJ Ross One as the night's resident DJ, this new night has potential.

Everyone's favorite indie/hip-hop party Money Shot turns one tonight and to celebrate its bringing out the Miami booty bass in full force. And who better to get rumps shakin' than 2 Live Crew. The Vagabond (30 NE 14th St., Miami) will be graced by a live performance by the group, along with the usual suspects Contra, Induce and Mike Deuce on the decks.

Monday, I went out to the White Room (1306 N Miami Ave., Miami) for its latest weekly party Exposure, a new venture by the same people who have brought you Spiderpussy for the last, oh, I don’t know how many years but plenty. Confined to the small red room at the front, the space was packed, which lead to the infernal temperature inside and the cloud of cigarette smoke that irritated my eyes. If that sounds like fun, have at it.

A Monday night is a pretty difficult night to get people to go out, but if they can keep bringing in people, there could finally be a suitable bar party to replace Damaged, one of my all-time favorite weeklies held every Wednesday the Mark (now closed).

I hate to admit it, but Saturday, for the first time in weeks, I wandered over the causeway to South Beach. Why? Well I had bumped into DJ Lazaro Casanova at the Daily and he said I should stop by and check out his set at Mansion. I’ve been curious to hear what Casanova’s sets consisted of these days since I haven’t heard him spin since he was a resident DJ at Revolver.

Surprisingly, getting into Mansion was easy. So I proceeded to spend my night on the stage behind the DJ set up, where a sort of “secret” VIP area is located. His set was full on electro-house with touches of tribal and jungle beats (er, I know, taking it back to the ‘90s).

You know you’ve had a good weekend when you wake up Sunday morning and you have a litter of text messages reading:

“WTF!!?! What happened to you last night?”

or

“Did you get home OK?”

and

“You were so fun last night!”

Having to recollect what occurred the previous night through the dozen of text messages, voice mails and anecdotes means you achieved one of those gloriously unforgettable nights (well, except to you that is), where, despite have to have your head hovering over the toilet every now and then, you actually had fun. And with all there is to do this weekend, attempting to achieve that level of greatness won’t be too hard.

Tonight, the perennial South Beach lounge Rokbar (1905 Collins Ave., Miami Beach) celebrates 4 years of existence. The celebration includes open bar, courtesy of Belvedere and Moet-Chandon, from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. And the soundtrack to the party with be provided by DJs Tommy Ryk and Gunars. Four years is unheard of in South Beach, where clubs come and go faster than most of us can keep up with.

It was Saturday night, when it finally hit me – Miami is going through a seasonal renaissance. At 4 a.m., I was still wandering around the Overtown/NE 14 Street area when I stumbled into the Vagabond for the Dirtybird Invasion. Despite the low light and my blurry vision, it seemed to me like everyone was having a good time. It left me feeling good about the city, that maybe, just maybe, this summer wasn’t going to be so bad like year’s past, and that despite the threat of humidity and hurricanes, promoters might still be able to book quality acts.

Well if this week is any indication, things are going to be rather busy this summer.

Have you heard of a little party called Money Shot? No? Well then I suggest you stop by the Vagabond (30 NE 14th St., Miami) tonight. Money Shot is kind of a house party in a club setting and with better DJs. No importance is placed on the way you’re dress or bottle service, instead you’re expected to have a good time. If you stroll in, local boutique Our Fly Lives will be there handing out free goodies along with Stussy, so arrive early. To top it off, New York DJ Egg Foo Young will be stopping by for a special guest set.