When Bar closed, a whole group of broke party people were disenfranchised. They'd lost their favorite hangout. And after 2 a.m., many went home to bed, sad and confused, while a few house parties burned into the night, ruining couches and kitchens.
This town was made to rage till sunrise and people deserve to have fun without having to be 10 feet tall or pay out their ass at the door. So with the opening of Mamushka's in Midtown, harmony returned to Miami. And as the new bar's weekly agenda fills up with local acts, a ladies night, and an industry night, Troy Kurtz's Majorthreat is taking over Wednesday night with a wild mix of seriously good sounds.
"I wanted to do a party that was kind of not what people would expect from me," says Kurtz, one of the guys from art and nightlife collective The Overthrow. A producer and DJ, Kurtz has been with Overthrow "pretty much since the beginning."
He started DJing a few years ago while attending the University of Miami. And though he now produces mostly house, his life didn't start with the electronic. "I grew up on punk music. I kind of wanted to play my favorite songs from childhood." Of the audience at Majorthreat, he says, "I think there's a lot of kids like me," ones who were weaned on three chords before transitioning to turntables.
Kurtz will be playing music that warmed him up in his youth to surf or skate. You'll hear Fugazi's "Waiting Room," TSOL "Red Shadows," and old AFI.
"I just want it to be something you don't find on South Beach or a lot of places Downtown. A really eclectic variety of music. Anything from old school '60s and '70s UK punk to weird industrial stuff from the '90s," Kurtz says.
The DJ is a big fan of Mamushka's with its no cover and no dress code. There's little pressure to do anything other than relax, play pool, or maybe dance. It's a gathering spot for artists and musicians. Kurtz thinks it's "like a little clubhouse."
The booze is generally cheap too. And Majorthreat offers a $5 drink special, a special up-all-night concoction that Kurtz and a couple of the Overthrow guys developed during a drunken club sesh. "We were watching Tamara Sky DJ at LIV a couple of months back and we only had a bottle of Jack and Red Bull, so we made use of what we had and came up with the name Hot Rod."
Majorthreat's third week is this Wednesday. The party gets going relatively late with Kurtz starting to DJ just before midnight. And unless the happy-hour crowd gets smashed and stumbles over to Mamushka's, this will not be a very adult, 9-to-5 crowd.
It's an unpretentious night. Everyone's invited. And the music is unexpected -- partly because it's not electronic, but also because it's just really fucking good.
Troy Kurtz's Majorthreat. Every Wednesday. Mamushka's, 31 NW 36th St., Miami. There's no cover. Ages 21 and up. Call 786-991-3823 or visit Mamushka's Facebook page.
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