Three little letters: EDM. How do we define it? More important, how do we experience it? Electronic dance music is not a new phenomenon. We've been raving for decades, and we're surprisingly not tired yet.
EDM, though, has morphed into something of a new animal in recent years, fueled by growing access to new technologies; a renewed, pulsating neon spotlight on the pop-culture stage; and, of course, the most popular girl in school, Molly.
Let's face it: DJs are the new rock stars.
Although Miami has long been a hot spot for thumping bass, flashing lights, and all-night ragers, a few spots north of Dade caught on to the techno explosion that's happening all over the world. Here are our top five picks for the best EDM parties going on in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
5. Digital Fridays
Every Friday at Off the Hookah, 111 SW Second Ave., Fort Lauderdale. Tickets cost $10 before midnight. Call 954-761-8686, or visit offthehookah.com.
Finding your way through the cacophony of "dance" sounds polluting the sidewalks of downtown Fort Lauderdale on a Friday night ain't easy. But at the end of each workweek, you can take refuge at Off the Hookah. Scantily clad young'uns wait in line for Digital Fridays, letting the full impact of the bass assault their ears and send vibrations deep into their chests.
The night offers different EDM acts each week, usually bigger-name national and international acts, along with a cast of resident locals whose main objective in life is to make you sweat. This July 19, Spanish DJ/production duo Chus+Ceballos will grace the stage, bringing their signature underground "Iberican" tech house to the raving masses.
4. Spank
Sunday, July 28, at McSorley's Tonic Club and Lounge, 837 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd., Fort Lauderdale. No cover. Visit Facebook.com/Spankpartiez.
Organizer Ed Whitty, at the first evening of his new monthly party, said jokingly, "We wanted something cheeky." And cheeky is what you get at Spank, where the message is "F**k Monday. Spank Sunday."
The rooftop dance party at McSorley's' newly renovated and rebranded Tonic Sundeck adds an eclectic, open-format mix of high-energy techno and tech house music to the otherwise blasé rotation of Top 40 tunes dominating Fort Lauderdale beach. The vibe at the launch party was relaxed and unpretentious, while the off-the-main-strip back-door entrance up to the Tonic Sundeck gave the party a cool underground feel. Think the energy and spirit of a rooftop soiree in South Beach, with fewer douchebags and less douchey music.
3. TRAPt Thursdays
Every Thursday at Speakeasy Lounge, 129 N. Federal Highway, Lake Worth. Women over 21 are admitted free; everyone else pays $5 to $10. Call 561-540-6328, or visit facebook.com/speakeasylw.
TRAPt is a new Thursday party at Lake Worth's chilled-out, saucy but sleek Speakeasy Lounge. Featuring the best in that slowed-down, chewed-and-screwed, low-end booty music, plus an open-format mix of hip-hop, rap, and house, this new night is sure to get crunk real fast.
Adding to the fact that Speakeasy is the only venue open past 2 a.m. in Lake Worth, Thursdays are also ladies' nights, meaning the honeys will be there to get their free drinks after 10 and their freak on all night long. Plus, 18-and-over guests are welcome too.
2. Too Future
Monday, July 15, monthly Monday party, at Original Fat Cat's, 320 Himmarshee St., Fort Lauderdale. No cover. Visit facebook.com/toofutureFL.
If you bring the bass, they will come. That's what we learned after hitting up the monthly Monday dubstep party Too Future at Original Fat Cat's. Put together by a crew of longtime South Florida drum 'n' bass heads, Too Future has brought down respected names in underground dubstep like Youngsta,Vivek, and Amit from across the pond.
Despite the unlikelihood of an underground electronic dance on Himmarshee, the gritty bar fills up with a crowd of subtly hip and pleasantly low-key 20- and 30-somethings.
1. Down the Rabbit Hole
Every Saturdays at Club Fate, 601 Silks Run, Hallandale Beach. No cover. Call 954-456-3283, or visit facebook.com/ClubFateFl.
Gulfstream Park's latest nightlife venture, Club Fate, offers the upscale club vibe of SoBe: red velvet ropes, door girls wearing heart-shaped glitter nipple pasties, fire dancers, sophisticated lights and sound, and weekly programming featuring everything across the mainstream EDM spectrum. And Saturday nights, it's Down the Rabbit Hole you go, with a roster of resident and guest DJs playing hard-hitting EDM power sets late into the late.
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