Bars & Music >>

• Best Hip-Hop Artist (2 Comments)
  ¡Mayday!
  Almost three years ago, ¡Mayday! released its self-titled debut solo album to serious Internet buzz and positive critical reception. On the strength of that disc's breakout single, "Groundhog Day," which featured Cee-Lo singing the hook, it seemed like ¡Mayday! was ready for national... More >>
• Best New Electronica Artist
  Panic Bomber
  Playing live around town for less than a year, the shadowy character known as Panic Bomber has already developed some minor lore. Legend has it that once upon a time, Richard Haig was a local rock musician who got fed up with the grind of being hustled offstage in time for the night's main event... More >>
• Best Band (3 Comments)
  Awesome New Republic
  To call these guys simply a "rock band" would be woefully leaving out a large chunk of their musical stew. Disco, soul, funk, and a large dose of the Purple One all figure into the sound. Still, it rocks. And though they broke up for a minute a couple of years ago, it didn't last long, and ever... More >>
• Best Metal/Hardcore Band
  Poison the Well
  Is Poison the Well a surprise pick? No, but it's time to give credit where it is long overdue. Frontman Jeffrey Moreira reps Hialeah (hard), and the rest of the members hail from towns across South Florida. Poison the Well sprang from the same fabled anything-goes, late-'90s South Florida... More >>
• Best Latin Singer
  Jean
  Here in Miami, there's certainly no lack of talented Latin crooners. Still, the young balladeer known as Jean stands above the rest. This Puerto Rican-raised popster, who's also the younger brother of Latin superstar Luis Fonsi, has been building a solid and loyal following through a unique take... More >>
• Best Latin Band (1 Comment)
  Electric Piquete
  There's something truly refreshing about Hialeah's six-piece Electric Piquete. They don't seem to be concerned with following trends, so their fresh, jazzy Latin sound is miles away from that of any other local band. Founded in 2007, Electric Piquete debuted at Churchill's yearly HialeahFest,... More >>
• Best Latin Alternative Rock Band (1 Comment)
  Kayakman
  Every once in a while, there's a band that gets everything right: the right sound, the right look, and, more important, the right vibe. The genre-defying Kayakman fits perfectly with our city's eclectic ambiance. The group's Latin American musicians love mixing things up, fusing sultry tango... More >>
• Best Caribbean Band (5 Comments)
  Dangerflow
  There's something to be said about a killer rhythm section. A great drummer combined with a gifted bassist can make or break any band. Luckily, the stunning boys of Dangerflow know very well how to get down and dirty with thick-ass bass lines that will make you jump to the nearest dance floor.... More >>
• Best Solo Musician (2 Comments)
  Dino Felipe
  Straight up, Dino Felipe is weird. This should come as no surprise given the local label through which he releases his music. Schematic is home of fellow freaks such as the scatologically obsessed Otto von Schirach. Dino doesn't tour much, blithely explaining it away with his lack of a job,... More >>
• Best Jazz Musician
  Silvano Monasterios
  Local jazz fans are lucky to have a star such as Silvano Monasterios playing in our mist. A bona fide piano prodigy, he was born in Venezuela and schooled at the University of Miami's prestigious music program. The always-cool Monasterios then stuck around the city and became the most admired... More >>
• Best Acoustic Performer
  The Big Bounce & Brendan O'Hara & Komakozie
  South Beach loves music that inspires snorting lines or sweeping the ground with one's hind parts. But it's not so hot for the kind of melody that makes people swing-dance, two-step, and do the running man. Yet each Tuesday night at the Florida Room, the Big Bounce — Brendan O'Hara &... More >>
• Best Percussionist
  Joe Collado
  Back in the '70s, when Joe Collado was a boy living in New York City, he was lucky enough to witness many of the greatest percussionists in the history of Latin music. It was during that time when Collado — taken in by the rhythms of Fania legends such as Ray Barretto and Mongo Santamaria... More >>
• Best Collaborator (2 Comments)
  Kentsoundz
  Join us live, all stream-of-consciousness style, as we browse the MySpace page of local electro maven Kentsoundz, AKA Kent Hernandez. Oh, look up there in the music player. There's his well-loved tune "Not Goodbye" with folkster Raffa Jo Harris. It reminds us of those simpler times when we first... More >>
• Best Songwriter
  Honor Roll Music
  Around the turn of the 20th Century, the New York City songwriting collective that came to be known as Tin Pan Alley turned out some of the most memorable hits from that era. Sixty years later, the Brill Building housed legendary songsmiths such as Carole King, Burt Bacharach, and Neil Sedaka,... More >>
• Best Tribute Act (1 Comment)
  Rockit to Russia
  Die-hard Ramones fans will readily admit it doesn't take a lot of technical skill to faithfully reproduce the New York punk rockers' power-chord assault. What it takes, though, is a kind of scrappy joy that revels in that simplicity and harnesses it into a slap-happy party. South Florida's... More >>
• Best Band Name
  The Electric Bunnies
  This quartet's appellation is as plugged-in, fuzzed-out, and likeable as its lo-fi garage punk. More >>
• Best Band to Break up in the Past 12 Months (2 Comments)
  The Remnants
  Since the Remnants' inception around 2004, the foursome had been a live favorite across the South Florida rock-dive circuit. The group was a grimy, swinging, rock 'n' roll outfit, led by firecracker frontwoman Cynthia DuVall, that described itself — quite appropriately — as "the Who... More >>
• Best Solo Album
  Rachel Goodrich, Tinker Toys
  It's been a good year for South Florida's quirky local indie darling, Rachel Goodrich, what with a glowing shout-out from the New York Times this past November and her official debut appearance at South by Southwest in the spring. It was all well deserved and timed with the October 2008 release... More >>
• Best Local Album
  Torche, Meanderthal
  The underground metal cognoscenti revered the 2005 self-titled debut album by heavy hometown heroes Torche for its melodic take on sludgy sounds. But it was last year's followup, Meanderthal, that won the band a wider audience and even more critical praise. (And even though at the time the album... More >>
• Best Local Anthology
  Charlie Pickett, Bar Band Americanus: The Best of Charlie Pickett and...
  South Florida had two kinds of rock aficionados in the '80s: those who whined about the barren wasteland before them and those who thanked their lucky stars for a musical oasis named Charlie Pickett. In reality, the scene wasn't quite that bad, but mention Pickett to a roomful of veterans, and... More >>
• Best Music Festival to Die in the Past 12 Months
  Langerado Music Festival
  The sudden cancellation of the Langerado Music Festival this year was one of the sadder events of the local scene. Critics, however, would say it was expected. Long ago (well, in 2003), Langerado began as the brainchild of hometown promoters Ethan Schwartz and Mark Brown. At first, it was an... More >>
• Best Music Festival (2 Comments)
  Ultra Music Festival
  Once upon a time, Ultra was a one-day beach party, a rogue daytime rave coinciding with the annual Winter Music Conference. Some 11 years after its birth, though, it has morphed into a two-day, multistage extravaganza that long ago received the official WMC blessing; it's become an international... More >>
• Best Concert Series
  DWNTWN Concert Series
  When was the last time you went to Bayfront Park for any reason — besides attending a music festival, showing around tourists, or boarding a casino boat? If you can't remember, don't worry. The folks at the Miami Downtown Development Authority gets it. So this past spring, they started the... More >>
• Best Venue for Live Music (1 Comment)
  White Room
  Sure, there're the AAA, the Arsht Center, the Knight Center, and all of those wonderful monsters that fill our downtown. They are loud and cool and we love 'em. But the White Room, ah, the White Room! It has welcomed plenty of local acts to play on its modest stage, including Otto von Schirach,... More >>
• Best Club DJ (2 Comments)
  Danny Daze
  Danny Daze has been doing the DJ/producer thing for a while now, but he has definitely been getting plenty of attention. He spends as much time on the decks at clubs around the nation as in Miami, and when he's here, you can catch him at South Beach bashes such as LIV's Wednesday-night Dirty... More >>
• Best Latin Record Store
  Spec's Music
  For many among us, there's nothing better than walking into a well-stocked record store and discovering a cool new artist. And while there's nothing wrong with getting music through the computer, there's still something magical about a real record palace. This being Miami, one of our most... More >>
• Best Rock Club
  Churchill's Pub
  Churchill's has pretty much stayed the same for 30 years while fancier newcomers have come and tanked. Why? Because the place has stuck to the magic formula of successful, no-frill rock clubs: a strict commitment to live music (no bullshit DJ nights), cheap drinks, and regrettable bathrooms.... More >>
• Best Underground Venue
  Goo
  The upstart warehouse venue Goo is quickly becoming something of a Churchill's Junior, with a bustling near-daily schedule of music and art shows. The important distinction, though, is that this place is strictly DIY — no bar and earlier start times make it friendly to the underage crowd.... More >>
• Best Latin Club
  90 Degree
  Traditionally in Miami, all the top Latin clubs have resided somewhere in Little Havana, but this year there's a new sweet spot. Downtown's newly christened 90 Degree is now boldly bringing Latin vibes to the house-music-oriented club strip on NE 11th Street. Every Saturday night, the place's... More >>
• Best Dance Club (1 Comment)
  Set
  Before Set opened in 2007, ultra-lounges such as Mynt and Mokai were popping up everywhere, aiming to taking over the Beach's — and the Opium Group's — high-end clientele. So what did these mega-club wizards do? They created a monstrous lounge with minimal dance-floor space but... More >>
• Best Hotel Lounge
  Louis at the Gansevoort South
  As the Opium Group expanded to national locales in New York and Las Vegas, the last thing we expected was a new addition to its Miami Beach portfolio. But 2008 brought exactly that with the introduction of Louis at the Gansevoort South Hotel. And while most beach hotel lounges are slickly... More >>
• Best After-Hours Spot
  Random Wynwood warehouse
  We could have gone the obvious route and chosen a locale in the Park West district, but where's the fun in that? In fact, for years there has been an (often-illegal) after-hours scene happening right under the city's nose. Though the Wynwood Art District enjoys plenty of crowds during its Second... More >>
• Best Weekly Party
  (((Shake))) at the Vagabond
  Hipsters love irony. But don't call the Sweat Records and ¿Que Pasa M.I.A.? crews responsible for this Thursday-night fiesta hipsters. That's totally not what they're trying to attract. They're more interested in spicing the event with scrumptiously dirty 305 flavor and enticing those who... More >>
• Best VIP Room
  Skyboxes at LIV
  So you secured a smoking-hot date for the evening and you want to be like Bruce Wayne taking out a Russian ballerina. Flash your credit card at the nearest exotic car rental, select that gunmetal-gray Lambo, pick up your honey, and head to LIV at the Fontainebleau. Find the VIP host and request... More >>
• Best Nightclub to Die in the Past 12 Months (1 Comment)
  Studio A
  M.I.A., Justice, Simian Mobile Disco, Girl Talk, Bonde Do Rolê, Chromeo, Moby, Cat Power, and many others graced its stage. It hosted a slew of infamous weekly parties, including Revolver, Plastik Fantastik, SceneWolf, and Misfit. It was the city's only rock 'n' roll nightclub and its only... More >>
• Best Concert of the Past 12 Months
  Ladytron at Studio A (June 12, 2008)
  A few weeks before the demise of Studio A, British electroclash quartet Ladytron kicked off its North American tour in this downtown venue. News of Studio A's closing was already public knowledge, making the night bittersweet. Ladytron put on an unforgettable show to a packed space, complete... More >>
• Best Sports Bar
  Splitsville Luxury Lanes and Dinner Lounge
  There are two kinds of acceptable sports bars. One is the dive: a hardscrabble, hole-in-the-wall with cheap drinks, bad neon, and a decidedly partisan clientele; it's the kind of place where you'd be stupid to wear the visiting team's jersey. The other kind is the upscale sports bar, which, to... More >>
• Best Gay Bar
  Club Azucar
  On the road to equality, it's important to stop at fabulous dance clubs. All of that droppin'-it-like-it's-hot can only be good for morale. And sure, the Beach is still the best place for stylish gay boys and their stylish gay martinis. But for a grittier, more authentically Miami experience,... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Bar/North
  Point Lounge and Package Store
  It's well documented that people from Milwaukee and other Midwestern locales enjoy an escape to Miami. Less known, though, is that Miamians sometimes want a taste of the laid-back, unpretentious, and inexpensive Milwaukee-esque lifestyle. But we don't really wanna, you know, buy a plane ticket.... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Bar/West (1 Comment)
  Hopping from the patio of Bahama Breeze to Gatsby's to Kendall Village Diner
  Kendallites love their chains. There are the figurative ones that seem to lock them to their red-tiled roofs and peach-colored walls. And they adore the literal ones as well — the Targets, Best Buys, Denny's, and... honestly, did Don Carter's and one of the last strawberry fields in the... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Bar/Central
  The News Lounge
  It seems like Mark Soyka's 55th Street Station can do no wrong when it comes to providing urban dwellers with a one-stop gastronomic oasis. Soyka and Andiamo! have long been local favorites, and now the News Lounge is quickly becoming a preferred watering hole. The 1-year-old spot offers indoor... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Bar/South
  Little Hoolie's Sports Bar and Grill
  Aging cover band? Check. Blue-collar Betties dancing to "Hit Me with Your Best Shot?" Check. Dudes in Hawaiian shirts chugging Bud Light? Check, check. Said dudes in Hawaiian shirts hitting on blue-collar Betties? Check again. Spicy chicken wings on a table somewhere? Check. Sports game... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Bar/Miami Beach
  Bleau Bar
  In most parts of the world, the term neighborhood bar brings to mind those smoky holes-in-the-wall where you can comfortably wile away afternoons drinking with the regulars — a place where everybody knows your name. Well, this is Miami Beach, baby. And our neighborhood bar, like our hood... More >>
• Best New Bar
  Bella Rose
  In the Boom Boom Room's former digs, with the help of Cocaine Cowboys producer Alfred Spellman and tastemaker Keith Paciello, a unique lounge has blossomed. What keeps this Rose from wilting are reasonable drink prices and no shortage of debauchery. Bella Rose welcomes everyone. There's no door... More >>
• Best Poolside Hotel Bar
  The Viceroy
  The Viceroy wants to make sure you never have a cocktail near or below sea level again. As part of the ten-acre Icon Brickell compound and one of the newest (and most fab) buildings to spring up on the Miami skyline, this place is chic defined. The 15th-floor pool deck is outfitted with a... More >>
• Best Dive Bar
  Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3559
  It's the kind of joint you'd see in Fight Club or a snuff film. It's hard to believe the place could actually exist. Smack in the middle of South Beach is a grimy, real-life dive bar you've never heard of. So you check it out. You head to the Floridian, a towering condo on West Avenue located a... More >>
• Best Billiards
  Bird Bowl
  Have you ever had an old boyfriend for whom you always had a soft spot, despite the fact that he was, well, a little lacking in certain important places? Then a few years later, you run into him randomly, hit the sack for nostalgia's sake, and it's like, "Whoa! Where did that elephant's tail... More >>
• Best Drunk Bingo
  Bingo Night at the Standard
  This ain't your great-aunt's bingo night. Every Sunday, a mostly 20- to 30-something group of hipsters and other drunks packs into the comfortable Art Deco lobby of the Standard Hotel to dab with giant markers at paper game cards. The atmosphere gets a bit raucous, nudged on by the hilarious... More >>
• Best Place for Cocktails
  Sunset Lounge at Mondrian South Beach
  One of the perks of living in Miami is the opportunity to sip a cold, refreshing beverage while basking in the sun and enjoying spectacular water views. Luckily, the outdoor Sunset Lounge at hipster hotel the Mondrian makes good use of its waterfront locale to offer sweeping vistas of Biscayne... More >>
• Best Place to Taste Wine
  Cavas Wine Tasting Room
  Like a well-aged Brunello, Cavas Wine Tasting Room hits the (visual) palate with a complex burst of impressions. The décor lands first. Casual leather sofas rest near floor-to-ceiling windows looking out on the masses wandering happily along Española Way. Chic, tall black tables... More >>
• Best Happy Hour
  Fridays at Tobacco Road
  Ninety-six isn't necessarily a cool age. Your diaper has to be changed every few hours, walks through the mall are as tiring as watching young whippersnappers such as that bow-tied punk Larry King yammer on your talking picture box, and Metamucil comes in only so many flavors. But if you're a... More >>
• Best Bloody Mary
  Clarke's
  With truly serious cases of Sunday sickness, there's absolutely no time for an experimental hangover cure. In these situations, the only acceptable remedy is a proven one: the ever-reliable bloody mary. And Clarke's serves the staple right. Their version includes pulpy tomato juice spiked with... More >>
• Best Nightlife Trend
  Bringing a flask
  Perhaps you've noticed longer lines to the bathroom at your favorite bar. Or you've seen revelers sneakily turning their bodies into nightclub corners to hide some illicit activity. It's not Miami's newest white-powder renaissance (that we know of). In today's economy, it's hard out here for a... More >>
• Best Place to Smoke a Hookah
  D'vine Hookah Lounge
  "Is that a real freaking watermelon?" Get ready to answer this question from more than one tourist when you head for D'vine Hookah Lounge. At this Lincoln Road establishment, they don't mess around with conventional hookahs. Order the watermelon special for $35 and you'll get a hookah pipe... More >>
• Best Bar Food
  Scully's Tavern
  Leave it to Guy Fieri — a cook who whips up dishes with names like "Tater Tot Halibut" prepared in a way that "would make your lunch lady proud" — to find escargots served in mushroom caps ($8.95) at a Kendall bar. This is precisely what he did in an episode of his Food Network show,... More >>
• Best Karaoke (1 Comment)
  Out of the Blue Cafe
  All of those residents in the new downtown and midtown condos finally have a cool place to get happy. Every Thursday from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Out of the Blue Café, things get a little crazy with some great karaoke action courtesy of the most talented amateur singers in Miami. An excellent... More >>
• Best One-Nighter
  Lil Wayne's Birthday
  This is Weezy F-Baby, and in case you ain't heard, I am the greatest rapper alive, Man, even Michael Phelps can't get into my T-Mobile fab five, So he didn't get the text message invitation to my birthday soirée this past October 7, When I took over Mansion and turned it into Cash... More >>
• Best Party to Disappear in the Past Year
  Money Shot
  It seems like all the best things in Miami crash and burn in a glorious spectacle. For example, Money Shot, which made its debut in late 2006 at the now-demolished Pawn Shop Lounge as a way to popularize indie hip-hop (or hipster-hop, to be exact). After a few months, it moved to Love Hate... More >>
• Best Radio Station (1 Comment)
  WDNA 88.9 FM
  When Clear Channel-owned 93.9 FM changed its format to a guilty pleasures station that unironically played Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up," jazz on commercial radio in Miami became a thing of the past. But serious jazz lovers knew they still had WDNA-FM (88.9). While other noncommercial... More >>
• Best Recording Studio (5 Comments)
  The Shack North
  Operating under a self-imposed mandate to foster the South Florida indie scene, this Hialeah recording/rehearsal studio is a creative crash pad paradise. The design ethic is post-ironic thrift hipster, mixing sombreros, Christmas lights, retro sofas, and lots of blond wood. Likewise, the gear... More >>
• Best Record Label
  Financial Ruin Records
  Not long ago, South Florida had a relatively thriving community of small, independent labels, mostly run by kids who released singles and their friends' CDs out of their bedrooms. Some of these eventually grew (see: Fiddler Records), but most just fizzled out. For years, the true upstart indie... More >>
• Best Liquor-Fueled History
  Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba
  Living in Miami, it's all too easy to feel like you already know everything there is to know about Cuba. Why on Earth, you're already saying to yourself, would I read another sentence about the island's past? We'll tell you why: Because Tom Gjelten, a veteran NPR correspondent, decided to tell... More >>