If you weren’t able to make it to The Bubble’s 2nd Birthday bash this past Saturday, you’re in luck because we’re about to get you caught up. Below is a short vid from the night, which went down with almost a dozen bands, plenty of art, things to buy, delicious tofu tacos by Munchie One, and of course Birthday cake. Please pardon our home movie skills, or lack thereof, as we were having much fun. Thank you to The Bubble, the artists and musicians, and all the locals for coming out and making it an awesome night.
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.
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.
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.
Thursday nights have been so action packed these days, it begs the question: can we dub Thursday as the new start to the weekend? This coming Thursday is so overwhelmingly (in a good way) slammed with good music that I’m going to make the argument that it’s better than anything else going on in Broward this weekend (someone prove me wrong).
Here are 3 attendance-worthy events, in the order of when we think you should attend them:
1. The Invisible Children Free Movie Screening at Revolution
We recommend hitting up this event first, especially if you enjoy tasty Mexican fare for the intriguing price of $0. The first 100 attendees will receive a free dinner from The Whole Enchilada (we’re big fans of the burritos at TWE). But let’s not let the edible freebies get in the way of the real purpose of this charitable event: Invisible Children is an organization that aims to rid of the use of kid soldiers in Northern Uganda through the use of the arts and social action. This particular night they will be premiering the film Tony, a movie about a young boy who faced incredible hardships growing up in Uganda and his mission to restore peace to his homeland. In addition to a free viewing of this powerful film, there will be a live performances by Alexander and New City Lions, as well as art by a handful of artists. Oh yeah and there will also be a giveaway of some kind of new electronic device — something called an iPad2 (heard of it?).
Next on the night’s slate is just a block away, Dialect at downtown Brew. This event has been sufficiently previewed in the past on the FTLC. Just read here or here for general details about the party. This Thursday’s installment has DJ sets by Adam Foster, Utopia Syndrome, and Sensitive Side, plus artwork by Michelle Stevens, Juan Travieso, Juan Carlos Pagan, Richard Vergez, Curtis Jinkins, and Matylda McIlvenny. As usual, the party runs from 8:30pm to 12:30am.
3. Digital Love presents Radio-Active Records Night w/ Bonnie Riot
In addition to being Radio-Active Records Night with lots of gift certificate giveaways, a guest DJ spot by Mikey Ramirez, and the regular stylings of resident DJs Andie Sweetswirl and myself, this Thursday’s weekly indie soiree at downtown’s The Green Room is also being called the official Dialect after party and will include another guest DJ spot by local duo The Click and a live raucous performance by grrrl fronted Bonnie Riot. As usual, the party lasts all night long, making it a no-brainer as the final pit stop of the night.
Here’s a quality video of Bonnie Riot performing their song HALO.
Grace Potter’s publicist was nice enough to provide your nice local FTLC bloggers a couple of free tickets to her show this past Saturday night at the Culture Room and we are appreciative. Pay attention other local establishments/organizations (I’m looking at you Miami Heat).
Having never seen Grace Potter and the Nocturnals live before, I did not know what to expect. But her intensity and driving vocals were immediately apparent and kept the crowd enthused from start to finish. The packed house was rockin’, so much so that our photographer was unexpectedly forced to put real effort into his picture taking. Nobody seemed to care that for once, we were actually kind of working. And the Culture Room staff especially did not care that the word “PHOTO” was written on our plastic bracelets. Anyway, hope you enjoy the pics nearly as much as we enjoyed the show and consider checking out Grace Potter and the Nocturnals next time they grace the FTL.
The lack of originality, emotion, or substance on the radio really bothers me. For instance, how does Black Eyed Peas get away with randomly inserting generic party phrases, rarely ever having to write a meaningful or clever lyric, boggles my mind? Or does anyone else notice that Ke$ha and Katy Perry are sharing instrumentals? Does Pitbull ever use an original beat anymore?!? Anyway, if any of the above bothers you, I recommend you check out some of the sincere tuneage from local quartet What Glorious Things.
The most noticeable aspect of WGS is the passion they evoke on stage. I’ve have the good fortune to catch the band a handful of times, including their performance alongside Grammy winner Alex Cuba in Miami a few months ago. Every time I watch them, its evident that the band actually enjoys and believes in the music that they’re playing.
The best thing about their latest recording Magnitudes, is that the EP captures the intensity and emotional aspect of their live performance. My favorite track is Fail Safe Solution (which is streaming below, as well as the remix), but Heartstrings and Like Lines are also well crafted songs with deep meanings.
Lucky for you, the band has uploaded their album on the emerging music site Bandcamp (the new Myspace?) for your downloading pleasure — you name the price. Also, check out some pics of the band at last Thursday’s Digital Love party, courtesy of KRo Photography (http://www.flickr.com/photokat57) and Mik-E Fotographiti (http://mikefoto.shutterbugstorefront.com)
