Ever since Washington Square closed its doors in 1993, live rock music on South Beach has been a critically endangered species. Sure, you had joints like Rose's and (very briefly) Stephen Talkhouse following the Square in the 90s - but they were psuedo upscale joints with unadventerous booking practices that had no grit.
South Beach Pub was the closest the beach had to a real rock club following the square, but that joint has been closed long enough to have teenage children. The last stab this decade was monday nights at Senor Frogs - and there was a certain charm to it -- but Rock and Roll can visit Mexican Restaurants -- not thrive there long term.
If the closing of PS 14 has taught the live music scene anything - it is that Overtown is not the sole answer. While sure, it's nice to have a nightclub district with rents that aren't completely insane -- the majority of people who like live music don't want to park in a neighborhood that's been rough since before the current generation of clubland was born. Furthermore - one live band, one night a week (Fridays at the Vagabond) does not a scene make. Moving PS 14's live band night from Saturday to up against the Vagabond's Friday night was retarded - and eventually led to their demise.
Which brings us back to South Beach. Tired of sitting by and watching South Beach be over run by bottle service bling joints like BED, The producers of the documentary Cocaine Cowboys started up Bella Rose last year, in the hopes that they could make a cool, laid back joint like Mickey Rourke's old place, "The Spot" - where you don't have to take out a 2nd mortgage to buy a round of drinks.
One year later, enter Heavy Hitter productions, helmed by Michael Wright, a veteran of LA's Sunset Strip heyday and one time employee of Motley Crue's original managerial team. Wright is determined to build upon Bella Rose's decontamination of South Beach and bring back Original, Live Music to South Beach.
Kicking off this mission is Halloween Night's, "Hellraiser's Ball" starring Broward Hard Rock act Planet Abyss , a promising bunch of 18-20 year old kids who aren't old enough to drink - but can rock the house sans shirts with no shame.
So forget "Wild On E" This Halloween. Instead, go to the Bella Rose, drink some Jack Daniels and howl at the moon with Planet Abyss. It'll keep you safe from a zombie attack.
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