Dude, Langerado is dead. Forever.
So how's a Miami indie band like South Miami teen foursome Astronaut ever gonna get to play a big-deal rock music festival?
The answer: Win Bonnaroo's Road to Roo contest with a little help from Crossfade, local scene supporters Space Between Words, and the 0.5% of Miami's population that's interested in live music.
Right now, Astronaut's Cristian Hidalgo, Andres Echeverri, Christian Rivero (AKA Yoda), and Diego Martinez are ranking 12th in the Tennessee fest's band contest. But in order for these kids to have a shot at playing the Roo's 700-acre farm alongside Radiohead and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, we need to push these kids to the top before 11:59:59 p.m. on April 16.
So go vote, vote, vote every day. As Space Between Words' singer and Astronaut superfan Steven Weingarth says, "We should all get together behind these guys and help them as a community."
"A few months ago, Mario from Grand Central and I were putting together a local showcase at Grand Central. We needed a last band and we stumbled upon Astronaut online. We were both blown away, because here is a band with 2,000 Facebook fans, great music, and an awesome theme. But we had never heard of them.
"We booked them for the show. And then they played and I was floored. I was like, 'They aren't even old enough to be in the club.' But they owned Grand Central's stage in a way that I've seen very few people do.
"They're fun, dynamic and slick. You hear the tracks and hearken back to The Police and Super Tramp," Weingarth gushes. "Live, you are compelled to move your body and the sound is so fluid. Easily the best band to come out of Miami in the last few years.
"Plus, they are better musicians than me," he laughs.
But Astronaut guitar guy Cristian Hidalgo quibbles with that last claim. "Steve's just modest," he insists, adding, "We just like to try to add a lot interesting time signatures and scale changes like Radiohead often do. But try to sneak it in to funner sounding stuff. That way, people who may not be into such technical sounds still unknowingly like our songs."
"Our main thing is how too many bands have succeeded without much musical knowledge and it has almost become a trend to make dumb songs because they're easy to swallow," Hildago says. "OK, dumb sounds mean. I think songs lacking musical integrity is a more polite euphemism.
"Basically, we want to play Bonnaroo to show that being a DJ and using Auto-Tune is not the only future for music. And of course, we want to represent all the awesome uncredited local bands all over Florida!"
Astronaut and Space Between Words. Friday, April 20. Berries in the Grove, 2884 SW 27th Ave., Coconut Grove. The show starts at 10:30 p.m. Call 305-448-2111 or visit berriesinthegrove.com.
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