Girl About Town 5.13.2008

May 13, 2008 6:08 PM
by chipi [email]

Summer has officially arrived! Being a meteorologist in Miami is going to be pretty easy for the next three months - "It's really f*cking hot" will be enough to accurately describe our climate situation. As such, ladies have been bringing the girls out on the beach and in the club with a little more fervor than usual and shirtless Miami bro-dawg sightings will be on a geometric progression until October rolls around.

That being said, this weekend was an especially sweaty one. Not that it in any way, shape or form affected my usual black-on-black and blazer uniform, but I probably looked like I had just gotten out of the shower for something like three days straight. I kicked things off at the Vagabond with my Friday night date. This weekend brought local boys The Jean Marie to the patio out back, energizing the crowd with their danceable tracks and holding their attention with a solid performance.

With some new friends showing up to check things out, I told Mike Deuce to bring it on when he had his turn at the decks. Homeboy did not disappoint, he had the crowd pulsing on the dance floor. I called it an early night but later heard that Mike spun to 6am or some ungodly hour of that nature. With crowd-pleasing performances every week, it's no wonder The Vagabond made the New Times "best of" this year, with only five weeks under their belt.

Saturday felt something like a marathon night. The starting line shot off with the Uh Huh Her show at Studio A. Camila Grey and Leisha Hailey of The L Word and The Murmurs fame filled the room up with every SoFlo lesbian for several square miles. Normally, this would please me beyond all belief, but cries of "We Love You Leisha!", "Marry me Alice!" and "You're Hot!" made me feel like I was at one of Nastie's chick wrestling parties rather than a legitimate music happening.

Nonetheless, these ladies were in good form. They performed all of the tracks from their EP and and a few from their yet to be released album Common Reaction. While they may have a bit left to learn when it comes to stage banter, these two pulled off a tight performance with little to complain about musically. Angie Mattson opened things up for them and is probably to blame for some of the crowds bad behavior, inciting them with a story about a fan who put Mattson's band merch buttons through her nipple piercings and then took a picture. She challenged them to do better. If anyone did, I'm sorry I missed it.

After the show, I hung around with Brick and some of the Studio A staff, talking over the venues drama and theorizing over a possible come back. I left when the melancholy was just beginning to sink in and headed over to the Miami Art Space for the Hexagone exhibit in the Wynwood District. Art Walk was just beginning to come to a close and I felt like I'd walked into a time warp. Suddenly I was back in elementary school, playing on the aqua see-saw and bouncing around with the giant Friends With You balloons like some avant-garde McDonald's ball pen. Except eventually things got shut down because a) someone busted their hand against a glass window pane and b) one of my ball-pen play pays threw up their free booze. Too much bouncing around for drinking adults.

The rush from Art Walk to PopLife was at the forefront of my mind as I cut out of Wynwood and made the mad dash for 14th street. As expected, things were out of hand, at the door and inside. I ran into Duran on my way in, sporting his famous grey cardigan and we chatted about sweating in the name of good fashion sense. It was the usual in bougie tackfest inside, all the indie darlings were sporting their Saturday night best and sweating off the generous Belvedere helpings they were catching outside.

I cut out around 5am and felt my insides mutinying against me. In an effort to control the revolt and make it successfully to afterhours, I popped into La Moon on the other side of the Downtown bridge. Now, maybe it's just me but Colombians and out of this world hotdogs did not go hand in hand in my mind. As it turns out, they're serious about their wieners. I ordered a ridiculous hotdog covered with finely shredded french fries, ketchup, mustard, mayo, bacon, onions, tomatoes, avocado, a quail egg and Jesus Christ himself. Or at least, thats what it tasted like. The service was quick and if you can deal with hearing Radio Mambi at 5:30 in the morning then you're sure to be obsessed.

After this quick bit of nourishing, I dragged my slightly delirious ass to 11th for afterhours. As per usual, I was complaining internally and climbing the stairs to the terrace like a bitter brat, begging for bed. Once in the crowd I recognized that same feeling I get every Sunday I spend with my favorite house heads. Day begins to break and you suddenly realize you're experiencing something that most people in their lives will never know. Whether thats for the worse or better is up for dispute, but I digress. Having grown up sneaking into and gossiping over Space, I sometimes forget that in the eyes of the world, afterhours is a groundbreaking thing. A good Sunday session always puts me in my place though, like Church for the dance music obsessed.

Sunday was spent hanging with the family and recuperating from the mornings work. I checked out the Cafe at Books and Books for a bit too, a great way to unwind from the weeks wear. Many thanks to Jermaine, the sweetest waiter ever. Not only did he open a new bottle of Chianti for me but he comped my glass and my shot of espresso all because I didn't give him any flack for forgetting to tell me the kitchen was closed. Definitely my new Sunday evening hang out.

But that's neither here nor there, see you at this weeks picks.

Weekly Picks

Tuesday 5.13 - Takeout Tuesdays w/ Keen One @ Buck 15
This proper Hip-Hop party has been the jump off for some time now. DJ Keen One hosts and throws down on the ones and twos for everyone out there on the conscious tip. Cheap drinks and as always, that laid back Buck attitude.

Wednesday 5.14 - Damaged @ Rokbar
Make it a sloppy Wednesday night. Rokbar is the kind of venue you know you're going to regret having gone to in the morning - not that you won't go back next week. Stay away if you're a music snob, there's some definite Power96 mix action going on at times.

Thursday 5.15 - Pure House Sessions w/ Lazaro Casanova @ Dream
Our Miami homeboy is kicking it on Washington with the Pure House Sessions crew at Dream. Besides being an all around bad-ass, this guy has been headlining shows all over the country and the world - with crowds sticking around 10 to 15 minutes after he's done spinning practically causing a riot for more.

Friday 5.16 - Anthony Pappa and DJ Pride @ Shine
Anthony Pappa was raised by kangaroos, koalas and whatever other kind of freakish animal you find in the Australia. Making his way back to Miami after a great conference show, you can catch him with the ruler of the Circuit Party - DJ Pride - at Shine this Friday.

Saturday 5.17 - Deadmau5 @ Mansion
Enter the Mau5trap this Saturday at Mansion. After hearing Zimmerman's high energy set, you'll probably begin to sympathize with the mouse that gave him his namesake, getting accidentally fried when it crawled into his computer.

Sunday 5.18 - Patrick M & Ivano Bellini @ Space for Terrace Afterhours
On the rooftop at sunrise is where you'll find me this and practically every Sunday. Patrick M and Ivano are veritable Space veterans, so the thought of this being anything but the perfect formula for a great party is rather ludicrous.

For Live Music Junkies - 5.20 - Erykah Badu @ Mizner Park Ampitheater
Touring under her recent release New Amerykah: Part 1, the queen of neo-soul is bringing her show stopping act to South Florida next Tuesday. I caught her at the House of Blues in Orlando about a year ago and still get shivers thinking about it. She's very generous about playing her classics and enhances her performance with her midi controller, sampling old school instrumentals and impromptu scatting and rapping while on stage. Not to mention, she drinks her chamomile tea, burns incense and rocks her huge fake afro like a straight gangsta.

I can't stop spinning...

In my iPod: Telepopmusik - Breathe
A certain someone has had this song cycling in my playlist on the regular. An oldie but a goodie - it takes me back to the days of Genetic World and instantly brings down my heartbeat, steadies my breath, and lifts my spirits. Also, it's easier than yoga.

If you're on that local tip: Nacho- Tan Facil
Hailing from Medellin, Colombia - Nacho is the Latino acoustic heartthrob of the 305. Splitting his time between Miami, Latin America and beyond, his toned down guitar rock and poignant songwriting will have you falling for him and signing up for Spanish lessons at Dade in no time.

For Literary Letharios: Stephenie Meyer - The Host
With the conclusion of the Harry Potter series, the literary world was left yearning for another land of imagination that children and adults alike could make obsessed asses of themselves over. Enter: Stephenie Meyer. This Mormon momma of three shares little with Rowling other than the fact that their multi-million dollar grossing book series' began as a hobby rather than a manuscript. The Brigham University educated Meyer began writing her teen Vampire love series Twilight after having a dream about a young girl and a Vampire sitting in a meadow together. Fast forward four years later and she's on every best seller list in the country and abroad. Having conquered the world of adolescent fiction, Meyer has now invaded the adult market with The Host, a novel about a woman and an alien who are inhabiting the same body and are in love with the same man. Now, before you shudder at the thought of a sci-fi novel in your super hipster, I'll-only-read-Chbosky-novels-in-front-of-my-friends life, invest some time in Meyer's beautifully crafted and incredibly human novel.

On Celluloid: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
This film tells the story of journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby. Now before I go on to describe the plot, it's merits, etc. - the mere fact that the memoir on which this film was based was written in its entirety by Bauby blinking his left eyelid, should be enough to get your ass onto Netflix and get it in your cue. After suffering a massive stroke that left him with Locked-In Syndrome, Bauby had a transcriber recite the entire alphabet to him until he would blink, a signal that that letter was to be chosen. The transcription took about 200,000 blinks to write and each word was about two minutes. The book describes every day events through the eyes of a person with locked-in syndrome. Directed by Julian Schnabel - a world renowned artist who also adapted the brilliant Before Night Falls, this film has been praised by everyone in film and has probably changed the face of cinema forever.

See you around town junkies.

peace love and music,

chipi

To be notified when G.A.T is updated please click here and send me an email.