Latin Alternative Music Conference, Day 4

Ernest Barteldes Latin Alternative Music Conference, Day 4 Saturday, July 12,2008 Central Park Summerstage, New York With no more panel discussions to attend anymore, we headed out to Central Park’s Rumsey Playfield during a mild Saturday afternoon for the final round of concerts for this edition of the LAMC. Like…

Last Night: Dave Matthews Band at Cruzan Amphitheatre

Dave Matthews Band Saturday, July 12, 2008 Cruzan Amphitheatre, West Palm Beach Better Than: Eating, drinking and being merry with a side of chocolate-covered weed brownies. After what seemed to be the perfect return to West Palm Beach by the Dave Matthews Band Friday night, fans wandered back to the…

Cita Set To Groove In Grove

Used to be that you couldn’t name ten worthwhile restaurants at which to dine in Coconut Grove. Still can’t, but we’re getting closer. When Ideas Restaurant opened two years ago it gave the food-deprived neighborhood its’ first fine upscale establishment since the nineties. The recently opened George’s In The Grove…

Latin Alternative Music Conference, Day 3

Ernest Barteldes Latin Alternative Music Conference, Day 3 Friday, July 11, 2008 Roosevelt Hotel & Prospect Park, New York On the second day of panels and networking at Midtown’s The Roosevelt Hotel, former producer Moses Avalon discussed the various pitfalls faced by young musicians in the dog-eat-dog world of show…

PrunkTV – The Reinvention of Tom Gabel

Against Me! will be in town this weekend for the Vans Warped Tour. I interviewed their lead singer and founder Tom Gabel last year while the band was in Europe and as you can hear, I am an “obnoxious reporter.” var so = new SWFObject(“http://media.newtimes.com/players/vvmMiniPlayer.swf?audioFile=http://media.newtimes.com/2336228.0.mp3&autoPlay=no”,”theSWF”, “91”, “32”, “8”, “#FFFFFF”); so.write(…

Last Night: Gravy Train!!!! at White Room

Jose D. Duran Gravy Train!!!! perform at White Room Thursday night. Gravy Train!!!! with Mission Veo and Jose El Rey Thursday, July 10, 2008 White Room, Miami Better than: Er, gay porn I suppose. Gravy Train!!!! (yes, the exclamation points are part of the name) are one of those bands…

Republicans for Obama?

A couple weeks ago, a 20-something named Roy Rodriguez phoned the political group Little Havana for Obama to ask for a bumper sticker. A man with a Cuban accent answered the phone and told him, with sass, “No stickers. But Obama will be back soon. He’ll call you back.” That…

Philly Pretzel Factory Twists Its Way To Miami

The modern age of pretzel making began in 1935 when the Reading Pretzel Machinery Company invented an automatic pretzel-twisting machine. It was hailed as the greatest thing since sliced bread, and sliced bread hadn’t even been invented yet. The modern age of Miami pretzel-eating began just this month at the…

Pretty in the City – The Nose Knows at Medhur

Within minutes of meeting Maria — my waxer-to-be at the Medhur Day Spa — she had me lying on my back with two wooden sticks pointing out of my nostrils. The ends of those sticks had been dipped in hot wax, which she then pushed into my virgin nose-holes with…

Latin Alternative Music Conference, Day 2

Ernest Barteldes Los Fancy Free perform at the Bowery Ballroom Thursday night during the Latin Alternative Music Conference in New York. Latin Alternative Music Conference, Day 2 Thursday, July 10, 2008 Roosevelt Hotel, S.O.B.s and Bowery Ballroom, New York On the second full day of the Latin Alternative Music Conference…

Monday: DJ Blaqstarr at White Room

If you haven’t been to White Room’s Monday night party Exposure, I don’t blame you — you are probably thinking why party at the beginning of the week when so much happens on the weekends. Well, sorry to tell you that plenty of action happens during the week, and Exposure…

Live Nation Taking Over Bayfront Park

Move over Fillmore Miami Beach, Bayfront Park Amphitheater is about to get in on some of the Live Nation action. Whether you love or abhor it, Live Nation, one of the nation’s leading concert promotion companies is set to take over the operation of Bayfront Park Amphitheater in Downtown Miami…

Latin Alternative Music Conference, Day 1

Ernest Barteldes Cucu Diamantes, lead singer of Yerba Buena, performing at Central Park in New York. Latin Alternative Music Conference, Day 1 Wednesday, July 9, 2008 Central Park Summerstage & Mercury Lounge, New York An overcast sky over Central Park and a severe weather forecast that never came to fruition…

On The List – Klever, Danny Daze, Fistfight and Bella Rose

Bertha, the first hurricane of the season formed in the Atlantic this week, and while its no threat to South Florida, it definitely brought with it the summer slowdown we’ve been expecting for a while. Nightlife pickings are slim this week and probably won’t pick up until the fall. Such…

Saturday: Laptop Battle at Churchill’s

Machinery will go head-to-head in a battle for blood at Churchill’s Saturday night. Okay, so probably blood won’t factor into the battle, and the most we could hope for is that someone throws their MacBook across the room. Nope, this is just a simple battle for laptop musicianship supremacy. The…

StreetWorks – Commercial Graffiti

Jose D. Duran This mural is brought to you by the Ford Motor Co. So as some of you pointed out last week, the mural I photographed on NE 14th Street was nothing more than a paid advertisement by the Ford Motor Co. I revisited the mural today and you…

Tuscan July

Miami Spice has proven such a successful promotion tool that each year we see more and more restaurants stretch it out by creating their own similarly priced specials for the month of July. Like Miami Spice, the deal’s worthiness is wholly dependent upon what kind of menu is being offered…

Gay-Friendly Cuba?

The Cuban government’s policies on their gay citizens have been in the news quite a bit these days. Mariela Castro-Espin, daughter of the famed Fidel, successfully fought for approval of government-funded sex change operations in the country, a startlingly progressive shift in attitudes. They even had a gay pride parade…

Thursday: Gravy Train!!!! at White Room

Gravy Train!!!! I was debating whether to start this post with “All aboard the Gravy Train!!!!” But, er, I resisted the temptation. But don’t resist on checking out the California quartet Gravy Train!!!! (yes, the exclamation points are part of the name, I suppose to express utter joy) at White…