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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Last Night: Gilberto Gil at the Fillmore Miami Beach

Ernest Barteldes Brazilian musician Gilberto Gil performs at the Fillmore Miami Beach Saturday night. Gilberto Gil Saturday, July 5, 2008 The Fillmore Jackie Gleason Theatre, Miami Beach Playing to an audience mostly formed by his many Brazilian fans, Gilberto Gil closed his six-city U.S. tour with a two-hour set designed…

Last Night: Ringo Starr at Seminole Hard Rock

Lee Zimmerman Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band July 3, 2008 Seminole Hard Rock, Hollywood By now, the traveling nostalgia show that tours annually under the banner of Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band has been honed to a tee. Ringo offers up his best-known Beatles songs and…

Lulu’s Legacy

South Beach old-timers have long spoken of Lulu’s the way older old-timers recall Wolfie’s Delicatessen — with fondness not just for the place itself, but for the moment in time it was so emblematic of. When Billy Keen Jr. opened the restaurant on Washington Avenue in 1990, Lulu’s came to…

Jamie Lidell at Heathrow Lounge July 18

Jamie Lidell Genre-bending musician Jamie Lidell will be stopping by Heathrow Lounge, a new UK-inspired club on South Beach, July 18. Who else could be behind this booking except the people from Poplife, which will be celebrating 9 years of bringing indie music to the masses that very weekend. The…

Gameboy/Gamegirl: A Hipster Mockery?

Gameboy/Gamegirl sans fourth member and beat producer Miami Horror. Here was what I can’t figure out about Australian quartet Gameboy/Gamegirl, are they embracing hipster culture or are they making an absolute mockery of it? With lyrics like “Vodka and cranberry/Shake it like it’s February/Gin and tonic/The shit is ironic,” it…

Cheap Eats: Out of the Blue Cafe

Jose D. Duran The Midtown Steak Sandwich at Out of the Blue Cafe. Where: 2426 NE 2nd Ave., Miami 305-573-3800 What $15 Gets You: A sandwich, panini or salad with a drink. Located on the fringes of Wynwood, Out of the Blue Cafe feels oddly out of place among the…

Bye Bye Saigon

After three years in business at 1831 Ponce de Leon Blvd., Little Saigon City has closed shop. Although the mom-and-pop Vietnamese restaurant regrettably included sub-par Chinese food on its menu, the unpretentious, home-cooked buns, phos, spring rolls and desserts were quite good, and very well priced. But as high food…

Fourth of Jose with Jose El Rey at the Vagabond

Jose El Rey If you haven’t seen local artist Jose El Rey perform live yet, you are missing one of the best spectacles out there. He easily won my heart over when I saw him perform at White Room earlier this year. And when he gave his cousin (niece?) Yarisleydi…

That Pizza Could Kill You

Whoever imagined that a simple tomato pie with a bubbly, blackened crust (“bruciata,” in the trade) could potentially cause a cancer cluster? At least one Delray Beach-based letter writer to the Sun-Sentinel did, and she’s not alone (read the down & dirty responses that letter generated here). Whether or not…