Three Miami Music Week takeaways in about 300 words. Let’s do this.
- 3100 NW 7th Avenue – With the sad demise of both Mecca and Grand Central, as well as the rebranding of Finnegan’s On The River in 2015/16, so departed many of the week’s best parties. The claustrophobic, industrial-in-not-the-cool-way shack of The Hangar (even when that rusted out plane cabin was the only bit of decor among the concrete) lacks the charm of a maze of 7 rooms each filled by a headlining DJ playing a killer set, or a separate section of floor space and couches where you can kick it and watch the best flow artists in the world practice their crafts. This unnamed venue (or is it?) in Allapattah, however, has the potential to fill that void. Outside stage, 3 rooms inside, lounges, room for art installations, competent security: Future Sound Of Breaks, we got a new home for ya! Now if only they’d install a water fountain, but it seemed raping overheating ravers with $7 bottles of Publix brand tap water and $9 Cokes was the norm this year. Staring hard at you, SWARM.
- WTF was up with security? – Multiple partiers from around the country told me how taken aback they were with the lack of bag checks and pat downs, even at the week’s biggest shows. At RC Cola Plant on multiple nights there wasn’t a single guard checking backpacks, fanny packs, or bodies for weapons (I know because SWIM watched all 5 security lines to smuggle in Gatorade and water bottles). The world is what it is right now and until our country starts using common sense, security at every public gathering is going to have to step up their game. The only destruction a tripping tourist should have to think about is the stuff being done to his hearing.
- DJ Craze with the madness – DJ SS’s Miami stop on his World of Drum and Bass tour has held a special place in my heart since I was an underage git using my brother’s ID to sneak in. The talent always brings the fire, but Craze stole the show Thursday night at the fun Ssh Lounge with his scratching. The talent always brings the fire, but Craze stole the show Thursday night at the fun Ssh Lounge with his scratching. Though the old school may be a little stiff in the knees these days, her pulse still beats hard af.
