Girl About Town 2/6

February 6, 2008 2:40 PM
by chipi [email]

This weekend was a serious change of pace for your Girl About Town. For once my weekend endeavors included daytime excursions. With the week's weather pulling into the homestretch, my new Big Apple roll-dawg and I did a few laps around the beach in mid-70's temp, with a cool breeze all around. Taking a break from my nocturnal ways on Friday night afforded me the energy to cruise Ocean and Collins, checking out the beautiful people and taking a break for a drink or two.

One thing I couldn't help but take notice of is all the construction, renovation and gutting happening on South Beach. My temporary NYC partner in crime brought up an interesting point in asking how all of these hotels could afford to be closed during Winter Music Conference. My only hope is that the Euro's will find other places to spill over during their week of invasion.

All building gripes aside, Saturday night found me back to my old ways and in fuller force than ever. The party started at Studio A with GirlTalk. It's a little challenging to describe the evening. It wasn't what you'd call "live music" and not just a DJ session. I watched as security taped all of GirlTalk's equipment down to the table and wrapped everything in plastic wrap, even his laptop. When the smoke was cued from the smog machines, the crowd began to rush the stage. Rather than being deflected by the big boys in black, GirlTalk's entourage helped the kids on stage and filled every space they could, barely leaving room for his place in front of the laptop. When Gregg Gillis, a skinny white boy from PA, finally came out and stood on top of the table that housed his decks, it was impossible to contain myself. He got on the mic and started hyping up the crowd before he went to work.

True to the reputation he's built for himself, he was popping and locking, bobbing and weaving and working the room up into a veritable frenzy as he mashed track after track of hip-hop, indie rock, R&B, disco, new wave and Motown hits. Towards the end of the night, the air was so thick with the smell of sweat that no one questioned the guys on stage who had stripped down to their underwear, or the fact that GirlTalk himself had gone from a T-shirt and Hoodie to just sweat pants that were hanging around his knees, exposing the burgundy boxer briefs he was rocking underneath.

Looking around the room, the crowd was made up of parts of every scene and no particular age demographic. Thanks to the size of the venue and the diversity of the audience, by the time GirlTalk walked off the stage, the night really felt like a giant house-party, probably the best house-party you've ever been to, multiplied by infinity and taken to the depths of forever.

Just two doors over and in another universe entirely, the night continued at Space for after hours with the king of charisma, Eric Morillo. The line outside was steadily cramped until around 5 am and working past the main room to get to the Terrace created a huddle before the good people of Space cleared the way. Once upstairs, I realized the source of the huddle below: the terrace was slammed. Filled to the brim with more Space-heads than I'd seen there in some time, the terrace's back room was opened up and monitors were screening shots of the DJ through the deck cam. I was brushed aside by security as they rushed Morillo to the booth at around 2:30, followed by the stampede of fans that trailed behind them, trying to catch a glimpse of the star before he reached the VIP.

Once he was safe and sound behind the turntables, Morillo got on the mic and gave the crowd what they came for, a good show. Say what you want about his style, record selection, attitude...Morillo is the snake charmer of the House music community. Even if you don't appreciate what he's spinning, you can't help but respect his affect on the crowd or keep yourself from dancing. The fans showed up in literal throngs to worship him in the best way they could, flooding the dance floor and staying until an obscene hour Sunday morning.

I stayed until around 5am, pulling myself away from the crowd to drag my new bud to the departures lane at MIA. The adrenaline was still pumping when I got home, so after a late afternoon crash I was in no shape for a Sunday night bang up. Rest assured I'll be making up for it with my week day picks.

Weekly Picks

Wednesday 2.6 - Wasted Wednesdays @ Automatic Slims (on the beach)
Cheap drinks and no cover make hump day count at this regular CJ hang out. DJ's Saul Good, Undertone and Dirdee spin Hip-Hop, 80's and indie rock all night long to help you pound them back.

Thursday 2.7 - Basic Thursdays @ Suite
This party is still alive and kicking with open format to make everyone happy and reasonable drinks to keep everyone loose. Smac has and will continue to do their thing making this one of my weekly staples.

Friday 2.8 - Stereo Fridays @ Parkwest and Rehab
Shawn Rudnick will be running the show at Parkwest and as much as I love this Miami hero, I'll be spending most of my night with Jay-You at Rehab for a special open format set.

Saturday 2.9 - Steve Angello @ Mansion
The Swedish House Mafia is coming to Mansion. Angello is bringing Sizeism to the beach on Saturday night with opening sets by Lazaro Casanova and Chico Secci. If you check out the animated invitation on Mansion's website you can hear for yourself why this night is worth catching.

Sunday 2.10 - Kulcha Shok Muzik @ Jazid
Fourth Dimension and The Three of We will be performing at the night voted best in reggae music for 2007. Lance-O brings the energy as regular host and as ever, Jazid is all about the music. Kulcha Shok brings a rich blend of reggae styles and a bi-lingual experience on an uplifting and positive frequency.

Monday 2.11 - Secret Society @ B.E.D
With DJ Radamas working the decks on that Hip-Hop and R&B tip, B.E.D has been called every gossip columnists dream on Monday nights. Empire Events puts on a good show and attracts a few celebrities every week. If you want to bed a couple of A-listers in one night, this is the place for you to be.

For Live Music Junkies Friday 2.8 Kingsley @ PS-14
These local boys have been picking up speed lately and will be opening up for Hellogoodbye along with the Jean Marie on the 21st. With a progressive alternative sound, Kingsley will lull you into a sway without putting you to sleep. They have a buzz machine that grows more insane by the minute, you'll want to catch them on their own before you have to buy your tickets to the big show.

Queer Picks of the Week
While all of my picks of the week are always LGBTQ friendly, I'd like to give you the heads up on where the queer crowd is headed. Going out should be about being yourself and not being ashamed or embarrassed to let loose, so if you're a little reserved around the hetero's:

for boy-on-boy action Thursday 2.7 The Simple Life @ Buck 15
While Score holds the attention of every pretty thing young and old, the cool crowd heads to Buck on Thursday nights for The Simple Life. With DJ Daisy D spinning for the boys, this lounge gets slammed early on in the night. The venue is pretty small, it feels more like someone's apartment than a lounge, but it's a good kind of cramped and an even better excuse to brush up against a new friend.

for girl-on-girl calamity Saturday 2.9 Screw @ PS-14
Lady Admix and EveInterrupted have perfected the art of Ladies Night. This week they're taking their girly free for all to PS-14. While the door is $5 and 18+, the crowd is always grown and sexy. Local favorite DJ Heather Holiday will be commanding the decks and she's sure to make you stand up and pay attention.

I can't stop spinning...

In my iPod: Lazaro Casanova - Venganza. This up and coming electro-house superstar has been blowing the critics hair back all year. You can catch him this Saturday night at Mansion warming things up on the dance floor. More importantly though, keep an eye open for him around town, he's a Miami boy and just moved back home.

If you're on that local tip: Rachel Goodrich - Blue Brass Bear. The self-described psychobilly songstress brings a twang to the local scene. A Miami Beach native, Goodrich plays everything from the slider guitar to the kazoo and croons something remarkable on this track with a vocal range you've surely never heard up close.

On Celluloid:
The Miami Film Festival is rolling around the bend (February 28th-March 9th). From now until the end of that cinemaphile fantasy I'll be choosing films from their line up, which you can download at the festival's website.
At the moment I'm most excited for Colombian director Carlos Moreno's debut film Perro Come Perro (Dog Eat Dog). It follows two gangsters who are facing impending death and has been billed as film noir with a touch of magical realism. Apparently, these two are met with everything from black-magic, jealous boyfriends and an amalgam of deviants in an underworld painted vividly by Moreno's dark imagination.

Don't let me slack cool kids. As always, I want to know where you're hanging. Let me know which way I should be pointing my lens.

peace love and music,

chipi

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