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The guys of the long-grinding Miami quintet Alukard hail from all
over the city but have made it their new mission to bring live rock
back to the suburban expanses of Kendall, a couple of years after
staple venue Kaffe Krystal’s demise. “They were known for bringing a
lot of emo, screamo, punk rock, and indie bands, and they would pack up
the house every Saturday. This was something going on that wasn’t
covered by everybody, but all the young kids knew about it,” says
Level, Alukard’s singer/guitarist. “All these kids were able to just
walk or skate to this place, instead of driving their cars for a
million miles.” So a few months ago, the guys scoped out a venue
similarly situated – Sandbar, near Miami Dade College’s Kendall
Campus. Since then, on Wednesdays, Alukard has been hosting a
well-attended “closed mike” event. But its biggest booking to date will
be this Saturday’s show by the decade-plus-running Indiana pop-punk
band the Ataris. The group was set to end its current national tour
after its May 22 Orlando date, but Alukard bassist Pupo persuaded
longtime friend Kristopher Roe, the Ataris’ guitarist and frontman, to
hop south. “It’s more of a favor, for-fun type thing for them,” Level
says, “but it’s a nice little venue and Kendall’s got a good
demographic for the crowd the Ataris pull.”
