It’s a rare week when one has the opportunity to check out 30 plus local bands, playing five different stages in two separate counties.
Starting with the Dashboard Confessional Show Nov. 10 and ending with the City Link Music Fest Nov. 17, the local music scene was bursting at the seams. While each show was comprised of homegrown talent, the similarities ended right there. The shows were polar opposites in every conceivable aspect; particularly price, vibe and attendance.
Dashboard played to a packed house rife with hormone-charged, slightly post-pubescent, scantily-clad young’uns. Here, clear crowd favorites included “Screaming Infidelities” and “Don’t Wait.” In fact, lead Dashboard singer Chris Carrabba once took a step back during “Infidelities” and let the crowd do the bulk of the singing.
It was a great show. All 55 minutes of it.
As the homegrown Carrabba bid all a good night, it seemed like the obligatory pre-encore break. This seemed to be the consensus as nobody within eyeshot moseyed toward the exits. Considering the fact that he grew up and attended classed miles from where he currently wailed, it seemed logical to assume they may play an even longer set. Not so much.
“At 30 bucks a ticket, this show’s running almost a dollar a minute,” mused an equally dismayed and dissatisfied FAU grad student, Christopher Bolender.
Bolender wasn’t the only disgruntled concertgoer. Several were overheard complaining in a much less articulate, expletive-laced fashion.
Once the bewilderment ebbed, it was hard to say which lasted longer: the show or navigating the logjam of cars leaving Mizner Park.
In stark contrast, Nov. 17 witnessed the 13th annual City Link Music Fest in downtown Ft. Lauderdale, where one could have sampled 30 bands that played as long as Dashboard’s set, for $30 less. The Fest dished out a diverse mix of local flavors rocking four different stages, from late afternoon to the wee hours of the morning.
And yet, outside of a City Link cover story printed two days before the show, the event was woefully under-publicized.
Recent FAU grad Kyle Alvare happened to be downtown that night, but “didn’t know a damn thing about the show.”
Alvare and his cohorts agreed that Brendan O’Hara and the Humble Ones stole the show with their eclectic mix of jazz, funk, hip-hop and blues. A close second was a band that defies easy classification, Zombies Organize. Lead vocalist Mary Magdalen’s squealing rap verses set against baby drums and old-school Casio keyboards made for quite a scene. As far as crowd attendance and energy, that award goes to The Freakin Hott. Few, if any, in the crowd were motionless and some broke into full body convulsions. The peak of the frenzy arrived in the form of “Brass Snatch,” just a bad ass song.
Those in attendance danced from venue-to-venue and drink-to-drink, generating a killer vibe.
People often belittle the South Florida music scene, but the Fest that night dispelled that criticism. Despite lacking in attendance, enthusiasm more than compensated.
It’s not necessary to wait for the “big bands” playing large venues at huge prices to check out a good show. What is necessary is a bit of effort and time, both much easier to come by than cash for the average college student.
