BEST VENUE FOR LIVE MUSIC

It's been a perennial complaint from local rockers and rockeros alike: "There's no place to play in Miami!" Well, stop your whining, because Miami is now blessed with the kind of club this city's musicians have long clamored for: a space not merely booked by passionate fans of underground sounds, but run by them as well. That kind of devotion has made I/O a prime destination for some of the nation's leading alternative-rock outfits, many now making South Florida a regular -- and long overdue -- touring spot: The Walkmen, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Cat Power, Los Amigos Invisibles, and Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, for starters. Add in a solid P.A. run by a soundman who's more interested in fidelity than in causing deafness, free parking, and a patio to catch your breath or grab a smoke, and you have one of the brightest spots in Miami's musical renaissance.