By Carolyn Frawley and Nila Do Simon
Past the towering palm trees, away from the bikini-clad tourists, and deep into the heart of Fort Lauderdale exists a gritty night scene with the amps turned all the way up. These venues aren’t too hard to find, with Revolution Live and Culture Room leading the list of our city’s finest live music spots. Just walk past all the beachside Jimmy Buffett impersonators and listen for the distinct sound of electric guitars and a cheering crowd, and you’re almost there.
Well-known acts have long come to Revolution Live and Culture Room, celebrating in the venues’ intimate nature. Indie bands from around the nation favor the rugged atmospheres, their less-than-polished ambiences, and appreciative audience members who run the gamut from high-school students to business executives.
“It’s an authentic way to see a rock show or a band you like,” says Jonathan Bridges, an attorney whose downtown Fort Lauderdale office is a few miles south of Culture Room, located just south of Oakland Park Boulevard on Federal Highway. His first taste of the venue was seeing Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, an indie-folk band from California and a national act that’s been known to tour with Mumford & Sons. Bridges couldn’t believe the group was coming to a venue like Culture Room.
MUSIC MAN: Jeff John, owner of Revolution Live, has brought nationally recognized acts to his stage, such as Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and The Weeknd.
“The thing that’s cool about Culture Room is that it’s basically like a big local bar,” he says. “You get to be really close to the band. I like seeing live music. I like seeing people play instruments.”
Fort Lauderdale’s other well-known music venue, Revolution Live, is less than 5 miles south of Culture Room. With a capacity of approximately 1,000, Revolution is the largest local live venue on the club level in Fort Lauderdale. Owner Jeff John works directly with Live Nation to create a successful lineup, a science that requires a mixture of booking solid, well-followed bands and those groups who might rocket to fame in the near future.
When they were still fighting to make it, dozens of current superstar acts played at Revolution. These groups now tour South Florida and play to audiences of 20,000 at the BB&T Center and 19,000 at the AmericanAirlines Arena. Both Lady Gaga and Katy Perry played at Revolution Live in April of 2009 before they were selling out arenas. Same for Canadian alternative-R&B singer The Weeknd, who played at Revolution in 2012.
“No doubt there will be some great live music being played, so get up and go see it.” -Woody Graber, concert publicist
The turnout for another then-up-and-comer, Matisyahu, was so overwhelming that John recalls being cursed out by parents in the street because their kids couldn’t get into the show. “I had half a riot outside for this guy,” John says. “There were 3,000 people in the street mad as hell that they couldn’t get in to see him.”
Located between Broward Boulevard and Second Street in downtown Fort Lauderdale, Revolution is just half a block off the main party drag. Dozens of bars surround the venue, including America’s Backyard, which John transformed into a multilevel outdoor space that can fit up to 2,000 people for concerts, private parties or your run-of-the-mill Friday night. John also opened a new, smaller venue for live music in November called Stache. An intimate speakeasy, Stache frequently features local bands and serves up a widely touted menu of exotic mixed drinks.
THE SOUNDS OF MUSIC: Local indie-rock group Kids started as four friends playing music at their church in western Broward County, and now they have played to huge crowds, including at Revolution Live.
Woody Graber, longtime concert publicist, has always been impressed with the risks Revolution takes. “They are imaginative. They push the envelope. They are not afraid to try new and emerging bands, and they keep the mix very creative,” he says. “Most importantly, Revolution doesn’t ignore its own backyard.”
Local indie-rock band Kids came home shocked after their last tour up the East Coast. “We were selling. When we got home from the tour, we were in the black,” says Joshua Diaz, frontman of Kids, who played a recent show at Revolution. “For an unsigned local band, that is the best success you can have.”
Ashley Reda, lead singer of local indie-blues group The Goddamn’ Hustle, would know. The band got its big break when the owners of Poorhouse in downtown Fort Lauderdale finally noticed them.
“They said, ‘We didn’t know you guys were talented at anything. We’d love to help,’”?Reda recalls. “They started letting us play, and it went up from there.”
ROCK OF AGES: Revolution Live credits itself for taking risks when booking music acts, mixing big-name groups with up-and-coming ones, like when noted local band Civilian took its stage.
The demand for live music has even the smaller venues building stages for live acts. While popular club-level music venues Revolution and Culture Room pull in the national groups, on any given night, bars such as Blue Jean Blues and Fat Cats have live music pounding.
Perhaps Graber sums it up best with this piece of advice: “People need to get off their asses. Don’t sit in front of the TV on a Tuesday night waiting for the weekend. No doubt there will be some great live music being played, so get up and go see it.”
Originally appeared in the Fall 2014 issue.
