III Points Weighs Matthew Options: "It's Going to Be the Dopest Hurricane Party Anyone's Ever Thrown"

UPDATE: III Points will start on time on Friday. But, sadly, without headliner LCD Soundsystem, who had to cancel due to travel issues.

David Sinopoli is calm. Or, at least, as calm as he can be right now. "When it comes to shit you can't control, you have to try and remain positive," the III Points cofounder says. This week, Sinopoli and the III Points team have been drawing up a game plan to deal with a very annoying uninvited guest: a swirling asshole known as Matthew.

The hurricane, which made landfall in Haiti yesterday morning, is currently projected to scrape the east coast of South Florida on Thursday. III Points has been watching the storm's progress as closely as anyone in Miami, and right now, Sinopoli says there are basically three ways Friday — day one of III Points — could play out.

In the first and most optimistic scenario, the storm veers slightly to the northeast and Wynwood is hit by only rain and mild winds. In this scenario, not much changes in terms of Friday's plans. "That's the most optimistic and positive scenario," Sinopoli says. "And that situation really doesn't change anything. We were fortunate enough to have a couple extra days of load-in from Mana. So, we're ahead of schedule right now, and if we had no issues whatsoever, we'd be set up and ready to go by Thursday. But, considering that there are some things that are going pretty high in the air and the safety of our crew and our staff is paramount, we've just kind of slowed back our production a little bit and watched some of the things that are more wind-bearing that we have to be cognizant of."

Still, with only minimal wind and rain, Sinopoli is optimistic his team can get ready for Friday on schedule.

The second scenario is a bit stickier: "Scenario number two is that the first two hours of III Points — the outside main stage — won't go on," Sinopoli says. If the storm hits Wynwood worse than expected, with wind and rain severe enough to delay any progress on Thursday, then the first two hours of the scheduled sets on III Points' outdoor stages will be canceled in order to prepare for the night's concerts and conduct a soundcheck for LCD Soundsystem. Still, even if that happens, the two indoor stages of III Points will go on as scheduled. "And then at 7 p.m. everything would return to normal."

Option three is even more of a headache. But, still, Sinopoli is confident his team can pull it off. "Option three is that if it looks like it's coming closer to us and things get more bleak as the day goes on, I'm going to move the main stage inside. I have another 75,000 square feet of unused production facility inside of Mana." And Sinopoli says he's willing to use it to house the main stage if necessary. It's where Friday's headliners, LCD Soundsystem, would perform.

The band, Sinopoli says, has been cooperative and patient throughout the process. The members have been informed of all three scenarios and are fine with each. "Thank god LCD Soundsystem is a bunch of real human beings, because they're down to track it with us and make those calls," Sinopoli says.

There will be, of course, a lot of spur-of-the-moment decisions made onsite. But III Points should know which of the three scenarios they'll have to pick by the end of the day today, and we'll update the story as soon as more information becomes available. The festival says it's also equipped with plenty of backup generators to deal with power outages. Luckily, Saturday and Sunday's scheduling should remain completely unaffected.

In the meantime, Sinopoli assures us that no matter which situation plays out, it won't dampen the III Points spirit. "No matter what, it's going to be the dopest hurricane party anyone's ever thrown."

III Points. 5 p.m. Friday, October 7, through Sunday, October 9, at Mana Wynwood, 318 NW 23rd St., Miami; 305-573-0371; manawynwood.com. Tickets cost $99 to $299 via iiipoints.com.