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This was my very first time going to Churchills believe it or not. Back in the day I guess I wasn't cool enough. Until this year I thought Churchills was in Hialeah or somewhere in Broward because the only people I ever knew who went there were my Hialeah friends. Then it was the whole thing of..."you don't wanna go there". I was warned I wouldn't like it. That it was seedy and rough and dirty and not for me. So I heeded these warnings and never went. Lucky for me there was Studio A at the time. This was 2 years ago. I was lucky enough to see The Slackers there and it was amazing. I totally fell in love with Studio A after that. It was nice, spacious, plenty of room to sit or dance, a place I could bring my parents to (I got my parents into The Slackers), not to mention it was about 20 min away from my place. However, since it was in Downtown there was the shadiness factor and the parking situation. Why are all the venues in the downtown area?? Anyway we all know how that story ended. Just like all good Miami venues, it shut down.

To read more and see pics and videos click on "read more" ------------------------------------------------------->
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So I bought my tix to The Slackers show online through Churchills. Awesome. $10. fine. done. I think for 2 ppl it came out to $25. Very reasonable. Then I go to buy the tix for LTJ who are playing the next night at Revolution. These tix unfortunately are for sale through Ticketmaster. Fucking Ticketmaster. And get this...the tix come out to $56 for 2 ppl!! FUUUUCCCCCKKKK THAT!! Seriously? Is it Ticketmaster? Is it Revolution? I mean I've never been to Revolution so I looked at some pics. Its not a show place...its a concert place. It's like a big theatre. That sucks. I like going to shows. I only go to concerts for like..really huge acts. 

I really just can't justify spending $56 on a show when I have other shows to go to as well not to mention its Christmas time and I'm already struggling. Its a recession folks. I'm gonna attempt to drive up there and see if we can get some tix at the door but honestly the whole thing has left a bad taste in my mouth. Just don't know if its worth it. LTJ doesn't even play ska anymore.
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Ska Is Dead 11/25/2009
 
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I'm kind of late with this entry because i was out of town but here we go. This was my first time at The Culture Room. The parking situation is terrible. The club itself is in a strip mall and parking just does not accommodate the huge crowd that place can hold. So if you do go there, get there early to find a spot. Otherwise you'll be parking elsewhere. And fair warning my friend has gotten a ticket twice at that place. So don't just park anywhere.

The actual club is fantastic. They have this outdoor patio area where the show is being projected onto the wall. So if you wanted to hang out and drink something and maybe get some fresh air you can do that without missing the show. But it looks even better on the inside. We walked in when the Voodoo Glow Skulls were playing. They played the one song I was hoping to hear "La Migra" which I always thought was called "Velveeta". But we pretty much came at the tail end of their set. 

Mustard plug was next. I was really pleasantly surprised. I'm not a big fan of theirs. But they had the best energy and the crowd that night was so great. Everyone was all smiles, it was fantastic. Mustard plug played all my fav songs of theirs. They were great. They ended up being my fav act of the night. I should also mention that The Culture room is set up with a camera on the ceiling somewhere and they periodically project the footage behind the band. This is so fun! Because you're in the crowd and all of a sudden BAM you're on the big screen! It makes for more crowd participation. It was really fun. Very cool feature I haven't seen at other clubs.

The Toasters...another band I'm like meh about. Don't get me wrong, they are THE TOASTERS but I'm just not that big on them. But they were great. Its a little lame that the singer is the only original member and everyone else is young but I didn't mind because the trombone player was 10 diff kinds of adorable. At the end of the set they brought the house down when.....i'm sorry i don't know his name...but this guy got on stage and started...umm whadda ya call it..well you'll see its on video. But my friend Daniel said that the circle pit turned into a regular pit for this song. He was putting his keys in his pocket when it became rotary again. Frankly I prefer the circle pit myself.

After the show we got to meet the singer from Mustard Plug (wtf is his name?) and Bucket from The Toasters. Unfortunately I missed Deals Gone Bad but I heard they were really good. You guys this isn't a review. I'm terrible about this stuff. This is just an account of my experience that night. And it was  a REALLY fun night! If all the people in that venue would join the mission, we could get this scene up and running in no time at all.
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The Toasters (sans 'Bucket')
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'Bucket' signing my drumstick
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Ok guys (and gals), I get that you're all punk and shit but its hard for me to enjoy a band when you're next to me and I'm gagging  from the smell. That shit might fly at the Warped Tour but thats because its an all day outdoor event, so you get a pass. You don't, however,  get a pass at clubs. So I thought I'd post a couple tips for you to follow in order to ensure that we all have a pleasant funk free time at shows.

Ok tip #1: Take a shower!! If not right before the show then at least that day, or the night before.

Tip#2: Deodorant is your friend. Don't be shy. Get in there.

Tip#3: I know you wanna wear your fav band tshirt to the show and yeah maybe its dirty. But you've had time to wash it. You knew ahead of time when the show was. Don't pull it out of the hamper and put it on. Especially if its crusty.

Tip#4: If all else fails, spray yourself down with Febreeze.
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pictures are not from this show
This was my first time at Propaganda, hell it was my first time in Lake Worth. Didn't even know there was a Lake Worth till last week. The venue is great. Intimate but comfortable with enough room to move around and plenty of seats at the Bar. Not to mention I got a killer parking space right outside the club. Being that it was a Tuesday night the place wasn't packed but it still had a decent sized crowd which frankly I prefer. Being that its so intimate it was easy to shmooze with the guys in the bands. If you knew what they looked like.

I found myself sitting next to Ryan and Dave from Big D at the bar.......

For the rest of the story and a video  click "Read More"-------------------------->
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Sorry guys. My creative passions make me no money. So I can't afford the domain name right now. But that doesn't make this mission any less important!
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not actual dipiction
So I have the logo, I have the mission, now I need a nickname. Of course I do silly. No one is going to remember Melissa. If I'm going to make an impression and make a name for myself in this scene I need a name people will remember. But I have no idea. So...I'm welcoming suggestions. Let me know whatcha got. Be creative!
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My Mission 11/04/2009
 
So whats my figgity figgity mission? It's SKA, duh. Says so right in the title. Ok so I never grew out of the whole ska phase when everyone else around me did. This includes bands that stopped playing ska. I'm forever reliving my glory years and I find myself alone in a pit of peppy silly despair. I can't be the ONLY one. Right? RIGHT????? I hear about some ska bands lingering around. Some old bands that have managed to keep it up for years and some just starting out. It brings my old heart great joy to see the kids starting ska bands. So now what? Oh yes, the point of my mission. We know there's still ska out there. The problem is, it's not coming to Miami! Ugh...You know, there was a time when Miami was a happenin' place with a lot more rock friendly venues. Bands actually used to come down here. I saw many a great ones. I wish I had seen more. These days we  have a few places but I'll be honest, I'm out of the loop. It's hard to get back in the loop once you're out. So I know there's some (probably several) shows going on that I don't know about in Miami. Part of my mission is to weasel my way back into the scene. Although the scene here skews more towards rock bands like: Hawthorne Heights or Secondhand Serenade (what I like to call skinny jeans rock). Also those bands might not even be cool anymore.  Who knows? When it comes to that stuff I have all the knowledge of a middle aged parent trying to relate Jonas Brothers lyrics.  It's also abundantly clear that most of the good shows are in Ft.Lauderdale or further north. You know how much it stings to see killer  ska shows in fucking Tampa??  What am I supposed to do with that?

But I digress. My mission, to put it simply, is to bring SKA back to Miami. I know I'm not the first one or the only one to attempt this. However it looks like all the South Fla ska groups have fizzled out. So I'm picking up the torch. I welcome all the help I can get, as I am just one person. One person on a mission. A quest.
 I even have a theme song. But I'll save that for later.
What can you expect from this site? I'm still working on that. But here are some ideas:

-Upcoming shows
-List of venues
-New artists, music reviews, show reviews
-Featured artists (new or old)
-A whole section dedicated to ska bands that bit the dust
-A weekly er...bi-weekly...possibly monthly podcast where I'll play music, have special guests, do interviews, etc
- A blog
-Pictures, videos

It's important to note that not only am I looking for ska bands to come down here. I'm not just looking for venues in which to put said ska bands. I'm looking for the people  (and i'm hoping they're out there) who listen to ska.  I invite all of you to give me info, feedback, etc. Get me in the loop! I'm also very friendly so if you see me at a show come and say hi.

Well thats all I got for now. I'll update this soon. Gotta work out the kinks but I just wanted to get something up here. Please look around and come back often. The mission has just begun!!

-Melissa
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