Orlando Music Festivals A-Go-Go

Knock, knock. Who’s there?

Banana. Banana who?

Knock, knock. Who’s there?

Banana. Banana who?

Knock, knock. Ugh, who’s there?

Orange. Orange who?

Orange You Glad (I didn’t say Banana, yuk yuk) musical festival kicks off tonight at Will's Pub and it's chock-full of local bands playing local venues for your supporting pleasure. Peep the full weekend schedule here.


And yet another music festival began last night – The Florida Music Festival. Two festivals in one weekend??? Seriously? We couldn’t have, like, spread it out between two weekends or something? It’s a good thing for Orlando but geez… what about those weekends where I don’t have a lot to write about? Anyways, enough about me. Check the FMF schedules by day:

Thursday schedule
Friday schedule
Saturday schedule

Also, don’t miss the Rock Walk, an art show in conjunction with the FMF at the City Arts Factory. I can’t find a lot of information about the show, but I do know that Andrew Spear has painted two dope murals on the wall, which are probably both worth seeing in person. This is one of them:



Finally, if music festivals aren't your thing, but overdramatic theater people are, then you won't want to miss Orlando Fringe Festival, which also kicks off tonight. This cover of Watermark pretty much sums it up:



Have a fun-filled festival weekend!

Jellyfish and Other Weekend Events

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, my apologies for less-than-frequent updates as of late. My home computer has finally died a nasty death, leaving only my work computer to access the internet. And in today’s hard economic times, my jobby job is very important to me. Ok, enough woe-is-me talk – let’s get some weekend action up in this piece.

First off, we have an art installment from Doug Rhodehamel. Remember when he was collecting all those plastic bottles a few months back? Turns out he wasn’t cashing them in to pay he rent, he was creating sea creatures. Night of a Thousand Jellyfish takes place at the City Arts Factory from 7 to 11 PM with music by DJ Nigel. It’s 2 bucks or you can opt to bring a cheap bottle of wine. I know which one I’m choosing!



And over at the place you never thought would open, Will's Pub, catch The Empyres – a band consisting of ex-members of The Hatebombs, Fantasie and View-finder. Or Dave Ewing, Jeff Orlando and Aaron Zacktan if you need names to go with the faces. Special guests: The Bell Towers. $5, 10 PM.



Continuing down the 17-92 pub crawl, we have The Future on Films in Space playing at the Peacock Room. $5, 10 PM.



Househeads should stop in at Crooked Bayou this evening, where DJ Chang (best known as resident DJ at the ecstasy-filled nights of club Simon’s in Gainseville) will be the special guest. No cover, 10 PM.



Kick your Saturday off with a group art show dedicated to life in Central Florida. Altered State features work by Johannah O’Donnell, Joseph Williams, Linda Hartmann, Morgan Steele, Pam Treadwell, Patricia Coyle, Peg Martin and Tom Hope. Each artist will be showing their perspective of life in our fair city – it should be interesting to see the outcome. It’s being held at my favorite bight-orange building, Say It Loud. $5, 7 PM, soundscape by Adriaan Mol.



Also on Saturday, The Spam Allstars will be heating up The Social. The 9-pice band blends “electronic elements and turntables with Latin rhythms, funk, hip-hop and dub to create an eclectic, original sound.” Special guest: The Gerry Williams Band. $10 in advance, $12 day of show.



And finally, the last Saturday of each month marks the Dublife party at Crooked Bayou. Hosted by Jungala, No cover, $10 PM.



Have fun :)

I Ain't Afraid of No Ghosts!

Halloween is a messy holiday. There's just something about mixing costumes with alcohol that leads to a super distorted sense of reality. And Halloween weekend in Orlando always means one thing -- a bunch of unprofessional drinkers (dressed as Pimps and Hos) descend upon downtown, drink themselves into oblivion and turn into complete and total douchebags. While you're bound to encounter a handful of these amateurs, you can steer clear of them by avoiding Church Street/Wall Street, and by attending any of the recommended events below:

If you're looking to engulf yourself in the chaotic mess of the annual downtown block party -- it's fun if you don't drive -- you're best bet (read: FREE) is to hit up the Halloween edition of Get Mental at Sky60. As homage to the upcoming election to rid the White House of Satan himself, the password for the evening is "Scarier Than Politicians." $5 without password.



In their annual Halloween tradition, Crooked Bayou will be hosting everyone's favorite Misfits cover band, Psycho 78. Jerry Baloney seems to like them, anyway. $5 cover.



The older and slightly eccentric crew will be over at the City Arts Factory for the Shine Psycho Circus Halloween Masquerade. Tons of stuff going on there -- check the over-saturated flyer (if you can read it) for details. $20 cover.



If the downtown mayhem ain't your scene, then make your way down Mills to Peacock Room for their annual Halloween party. I've seen people pull out all the stops to win the costume contest so it should be pretty interesting. $7 cover.



Ride your bike to Stardust Video and Bold Hype for their joint parking lot OMG WTF Halloween party. No cover.



More non-downtown action can be found at Taste in College Park, who is hosting A Funky Boogie-ween with the Windham Group and The Good Rub. $8 cover.



And finally, if you just want to get the fuck out of Orlando altogether, head over to party in Ybor with the Pulp kids for Lol-O-ween. Special guest (and my hero) DJ Mega. No cover with costume, $5 cover without.



Be safe, kids. If you do go out, I'll bet a million dollars you hear at least one of the following: Thriller, Ghostbusters or Highway to Hell. Bonus points if you hear all three!