by Miguel Bravo | Apr 26, 2011 | Music
Readers of this site are probably well aware of the FTLC’s love of weekly Thursday party Digital Love. Just about every week, we name-drop the party in our weekend previews and/or music-related posts. Yes, it’s true — I’m one of the two resident DJs of the party; however, that’s not the main reason why we continually plug the event on a multi-post basis. The fact is, Digital Love has hosted some amazing local musicians from all over our tri-county area (and in 1 case, all the way from Chi-town, track #11). To celebrate the inaugural 2 & 1/2 months of the event that’s re-inventing FTL Thursday nights, we’ve decided to release a mixtape of all the musicians that have graced Digital Love’s raised stage.
If you enjoy what you hear, make sure you ‘Like’ this post to help spread the word on some of our local acts.
FYI: Panic Bomber (track #10) and Pocket Of Lollipops (track #8) perform this coming Thursday, April 28th.
Download the entire compilation HERE or stream below.
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/739617″ height=”300″]
by Miguel Bravo | Apr 23, 2011 | Fort Lauderdale
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by Miguel Bravo | Apr 14, 2011 | Art, Music
We’re anticipating another explosion of goodness this weekend in Broward County. Here are some choice cuts for the next four days:
Thursday
Tonight, Ft Lauderdale’s weekly indie music soiree Digital Love hosts Chicago-based mash-up mistros The Hood Internet. Unfamiliar with the DJ duo? Just peruse blog aggregator Hypem or the pair’s website to listen to one of their numerous mixes. Think Girl Talk, but edgier. Cover is $10, PBRs and shots of Jack will still be on special, $2 and $5 respectively.
Friday
The hottest new franchise in town, the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, play their second home game at Lockhart Stadium against the notoriously dirty NSC Minnesota Stars. We had an insane amount of fun last Saturday for the opening game, and we’re expecting the same tomorrow night. Kickoff is at 8:30, but try and show up 6pm to tailgate with the Miami Ultras and South Florida United. Tickets are cheap ($15 at the box office, but look out for high school kids selling tickets for half off). DEFEND THE FORT!
Being called “Fort Lauderdale’s newest craze” by its organizers (hardly a new craze in our opinion, but who cares), the FTL Bus Loop is back for another installment. This time the trolley route takes you around the north end of FTL Beach (Blue Martini, The Parrot Lounge, McSorley’s, etc). 20 bucks if you prepay, 25 bones the day of. Check-in begins at 5:30 at either the Galleria Mall or Shooters/Bootlegger. The proceeds go to a number of worthy charities. Check out the FTLC’s bus loop post from back in the day.
One more option for your Friday evening: Dr. Dog at Culture Room . Tickets are $18. Check out Beached Miami’s interview with the bassist.
Saturday
South Florida has way too much stuff going on Saturday, but we’re going to try and navigate from event to event. Radio-Active Records headlines this busy day with their Record Store Day celebration. The record store really outdid themselves this time for RSD: Brooklyn’s Blank Dogs and Jacuzzi Boys headline, with additional performances by Miami band Axe & Oak, Tampa-based Merchandise, and DJ sets by Esoteric, Kems, Lance-O, and Urodub Soundsystem. Come out early and take advantage of all the vinyl specials and limited releases. Click for set times and some RSD exclusives.
After watching the Heat beat up the Sixers, make your way to Huizenga Plaza (the park across from the Art Museum) and join the Crohn’s Disease Walk to help find a cure for this annoying digestive disease that affects 1 our of every 200 Americans. Festivities begin at 6pm, the walk starts at 8pm. If you can’t be there in person, you can make a donation on their Ft Lauderdale website.
Although not the official after party for Radio-Active’s RSD festivities, we feel that the Spred The Dub show at divey 1921 is a perfect way to cap off a hectic but fun Saturday. Doors open at 10pm and there’s a $5 cover. Every time I’ve seen this band live, I’ve had a good time.
Sunday
A collective of South Florida EDM DJ’s will be spinning electronic music all day at North Beach Park in Hollywood to raise money for victims of the Japan earthquake. This event called Red Dot Relief is free, but the organizers are asking for donations through their Crowdrise site or directly to the America Red Cross site. Instead of spending the day at Ft Lauderdale Beach like every other weekend, try something different and head a few miles south to Hollywood Beach for this fun event. The music starts at 1pm and goes till 11:30pm.
Less charitable but probably just as fun is Poorhouse’s BBQ dubbed Hootenanny. The entertaining lineup consists of Viva le Vox, The Sawyer Family, Joe Buck Yourself, Heavy Boots, and Boise Bob. The event is free and there will be delicious barbeque for sale. It begins at 5pm.
by Miguel Bravo | Apr 7, 2011 | Fort Lauderdale
So we’re a little late with our Rebecca Black reference in our post title (that was soooo 87 million views ago). We recommend not being late on some of the good stuff going on this weekend because it’s going to be a good one. Here’s our picks for tonight, Friday, and Saturday:
Thursday
Tonight at The Green Room, check out FTL’s go-to eccentric rock/folk/jam band band Travalonia. Rumor has it, the band is pushing an old-school gym theme for their performance. Feel free to wear your shortest middle school gym shorts and vintage neon sweat bands. No cover, $2 PBRs. Party starts at 10pm.
Friday
According to GoRiverwalk.com, Friday’s Riverwalk Get Downtown located in the YOLO plaza is Fort Lauderdale’s largest outdoor cocktail hour. Even though I think that every weekend at the beach is FTL’s biggest cocktail hour, I’m sure this will be an enormous gathering of beautiful people and plenty of extra tasty beverages. $25 gets you 2 drink tickets ($20 prepaid online), lots of free samplings from local eateries, and live entertainment from Funkette. The party runs from 5pm-8pm. Click here for more info.
Saturday afternoon
We recommend starting your day off downtown by the New River to enjoy the inaugural Red Bull Candola. Watch 25 teams race their homemade gondolas along the river for 1/3 of a mile, starting from Huizenga Plaza and ending at Esplanade Park (right by the Broward Performing Arts Center). Expect some super creative and unique vessels. The action starts at noon. Here’s the official Candola website for more details
Saturday night
Celebrate the re-arrivial of FTL’s storied soccer franchise The Strikers as they take on our dreaded rival from the north, Edmonton FC . Even though Miami FC has been playing in Broward all along, it’s so much cooler now with “Ft Lauderdale” in front of the team name. Tickets are only $10 (will go up to $15 for the rest of the season) and kick-off is at 7:30pm at Lockhart Stadium (just west of 95 off Commercial).
Sunday
Go watch some horse races at Gulfstream. We had a good time last weekend doing that.
by Miguel Bravo | Apr 6, 2011 | Fort Lauderdale
Seems like every day I read about a new budget cut to the public library system. One side of me is not surprised – let’s face it, how many people do you know that regularly hang out at the library? Another side of me is disappointed because the library is an excellent place to get work/blogging done, rent free movies, see rotating exhibits, attend free classes, and of course, use really fast internet. Inside the Main Library in downtown FTL there is a sandwich eatery called Charcuterie Too! that not only serves your standard array of deli sandwiches (tuna, roast beef, chicken salad, turkey, etc) and rotating entrees, but also pours a fairly priced cup of coffee and espresso. Excited about another perk of the public library, I’ve been meaning drop in and get some work done over coffee and a tuna sandwhich, but its daytime only hours have made it nearly impossible. Since I’m neither retired or work downtown, the limited hours bother me just a tad; however, my main problem lies elsewhere.
I came to the library today for a particular reason: to get some much needed blogging done. In order to log into WordPress and do what I got to do, I kind of need the internet. Enjoying a cheap jolt of caffeine inside the library’s cafeteria seemed like the perfect way to spend my allotted blogging time. Problem is that despite the fact that the restaurant is located at the top of the escalators of the library and ten yards from the book check out, THERE’S NO EFF’N Wi-FI in the RESTAURANT! Correction: you can get maybe one bar, possibly two if you sit at closer to the entrance, but it’ll disconnect before you can say “Damn, wish I just went to Brew”. I’d be somewhat OK with this if I was allowed to walk into the library with my large coffee I just ordered. Now I’m forced to blog in Microsoft Word and chug a 16oz cup of joe that I would never have ordered had I known.
All I’m saying is, would it kill the library to extend the wireless to the Charcuterie Too? Or, would it kill the restaurant to add their own Wi-Fi connection? I don’t care either way. Even though the food is probably really tasty and the coffee is acceptable, I won’t be blogging at this sandwich shop again. It’s a shame too because a place to get a quick bite and liquid energy can only help bring more people into the library.
Side note: From the majority of reviews that I’ve read, the food is excellent at the Charcuterie Too! If you don’t need the internet, I’m sure it’ll be an enjoyable lunch spot. Also, this is no knock on the main library. I highly recommend doing work at a public library, especially on one of the higher stories. Here’s my backdrop on the 6th floor as I upload this post:
