Slow Roast Records lived up to its name Sunday by hosting the dopest BBQ Blowout of Memorial Day Weekend in Miami.
Craze and the gang teamed up with L.A. party smashers The Do-Over and invaded Brickell’s Sidebar for a night of sipping, dipping, and more roasted lechón than a person could possibly eat in a week.
Best part: The whole thing was free, pig and all.
The Do-Over is beloved by party people across the country for its kick-ass Sunday Funday functions. It’s all gyrating bodies and block-rocking beats. It’s a backyard, daytime vibe with high-quality DJs who know what you want to hear, so you don’t even have to bother them with requests. When Slow Roast wanted to celebrate five years by kicking shit up a notch, a partnership with The Do-Over was a natural choice.
The result is a national mini-tour of BBQ Blowouts, from Miami to Seattle. But because this is Slow Roast’s hometown, they kicked things off in the 305. That it also sat squarely in the middle of three-day weekend was clutch.
Y’all were clearly hungover from partying the previous night, so things kicked off at 4 p.m. with warm-up tunes from Louie Arson. As the hours slipped past, sunglassed faces bobbed into Sidebar, with some partiers staking claim to the indoor pool table while others mingled around the club's lush yet cozy outdoor spots. It wasn’t too early to hit up one of the two bars, and folks with hungry stomachs (perhaps unaware of what was to come) helped themselves to delectable food truck offerings.
After Arson stoked the fire, Mike Deuce came through on the ones and twos. He laid down a set so funky, so all over the board, we had to get up off our comfy couch and get to groovin’. It was somewhere around this time that the oinker showed up. No, not Sir Ludwig, the Slow Roast mascot — that would be later.
We’re talking about a full pig, slow roasted and served gratis alongside mashed yucca with red beans and rice. Tender pork was scooped out in mounds or mashed into a bun. And because it was a whole hog, everyone got the chance for seconds. The crunchy skin was served last. Everything was to be eaten, and everything was.
While revelers munched and Instagramed the shit out of that massive porker, Peachfuzz’s DZA took over DJ duties. He had the place head-nodding along with hip-hop from the turn of the century to today. And as the sun went down, the spot got even more packed.
The Slow Roast and Do-Over vibe had reached next-level by the time Ape Drums hit the stage. As Slow Roast’s resident dancehall selector, he let loose the riddims, as if to alert the party people that, yes, it was now OK to dutty wine. Folks slapped beach balls through the air and made idle talk between jam-out sessions and trips to the bar. Then the mobile photo station went operational, wacky accessories and all, as everyone made sure to snap a strip of memories — or two.
Finally, Ludwig Von Pig appeared, ready to make the dance floor shake and bitches swoon. It was a free-for-all as he snaked his way through the crowd rubbing his rump against others’ behinds and posing (or not posing) for selfies. It was a real laugh, a sure sign that the turn up was real.
Around 9 p.m., Craze took his place at the Serato throne, giving people plenty of bass-driven gnarliness and all that scratchy showmanship for which he’s come to be famous. Homie grabbed the mic a few times, egging people on to scream and shout out the lyrics and do whatever freak-nasty things they wanted to do. Meanwhile, his posse of beat wreckers stood behind the booth, lookin’ like a bunch of dudes who knew they had just thrown the tightest party in a 20-block radius.
The day's “secret special guest” turned out to be Cosmo Baker who came through to murder the evening into its final moments. Despite some laptop and turntable trouble, he managed to wow the crowd. And when midnight rolled around, there was some sadness. Why did it have to end? Can’t we just, like, I don’t know, get a Do-Over? Like, can we do this again, please? Pretty please?
This is us asking, unabashedly, for more Slow Roast and Do-Overs. Seriously, when the tour is over, we’ll be waiting.