Vinyl on Lido Beach

Every good festival has their Gal Friday, AKA the woman who keeps the **** together, when it gets crazy. In this case, it was Assunta, smiling even with the crowd bursting through the doors as Esca's Vinyl house party last night.

"It was un-be-liev-able," Assunta said. "We were totally unprepared for the number of people that showed up. It was wall-to-wall!"

A nice problem to have, as this is Vinyl's debut in Sarasota. If they were worried about attendance, at least one fear was laid to rest.

Good thing they relocated to the expansive white sands at the Lido Beach Resort Saturday morning, where Campanele, Drager and DJ Diamond featured their mix of Electro, Progressive and House.

Difficult to determine exactly where the party began, many people spilled out from the tiki bar and pool area of the resort, to the outdoor Bud tent and food bar (Cash only, if you please.)

One only had to follow the rhythmic heart beat base of the pumped up music, to find out where the outdoor party was.

The day was a mix of music, beach combing, cooling off on lido, and maybe a game of beach volleyball, in between that Bud Lite.

Vinyl: Music for a Cause

Next week, VINYL kicks off for the first time ever in Sarasota.

With an impressive list of DJ artists, and an equally respectable round up of venues, the Vinyl Music Festival is gearing up for an explosive entrance into the county's cultural music scene.

From July 16th - 19th, you can get your fix of funky house, progressive trance, and hardcore electronic, mixed by internationally recognized DJ artists, including Paul Mendez, DJ Diamond, Drager, Master Jay, and Dee Jay Barry.

And if you don't know what "funky house" and "progressive trance" means, you can find out when you visit Horsefeathers, Esca, Kanaya, Arosa, Pacific Rim, Selva Grill, Lido Beach Resort, Gwiz, or the VIP party at the Sand Bar.

Tickets are $20, and get you into all main events. But come early, because if the place gets overcrowded, you may not get in. Holders of a $50 VIP pass, however, get into all main and exclusive events, and are admitted first.

But there's more behind the music. After speaking with Vinyl's co-founder, Matt Orr, it became clear that it's music for a cause:

Me: I noticed that a portion of the proceeds were going towards autism research. Can you tell me a little more about which organizations you are supporting?

Orr: We are supporting an organization called Autism Speaks. Their organization is one of the most dynamic non-profits we have seen work in all aspects including research, education and helping families across the world.

One interesting tie in with the festival is that Autism Speaks provided critical support to the State of Qatar in creation of the first ever World Autism Awareness Day (WAAD), sanctioned by the United Nations, and to be celebrated on April 2nd in perpetuity. And one of our headlining artists - Master Jay - is the top DJ out of Qatar. We believe music is one of those powerful ways to communicate - and it represents what we are trying to support with Autism Speaks.

Me: How did you "spark" on the idea of putting this festival together?

Orr: Sarasota Florida is already very rich in the arts, and we wanted to expand our reach to a new generation in our city. We felt an electronic music festival was an excellent way to bridge the gap. The idea was launched out of the HuB - which has a goal to expand the socio-economic landscape of Sarasota - and this just made sense as the first project.

Tickets for Vinyl may be purchased online at www.vinylmusicfestival.com

POSTPONED: Aerosmith/ ZZ Top concert

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry confirmed Friday, July 10 on 102.5 The Bone that Saturday's show at the Ford Amp is postponed at least until October. Apparently Steve Tyler has sprained his leg and it has yet to heal. This follows the cancellation of the Charlotte and Raleigh shows. Perry did reveal that he'll be making an appearance on the beach helping out Mote Marine Aquarium's Beach Cleanup Day Saturday.

Here's the offical release from Live Nation:

AEROSMITH POSTONE CONCERT AT FORD AMPHITHEATRE ON JULY 11
(July 10, 2009) Aerosmith has postponed their scheduled show for July 11th at the Ford Amphitheatre in Tampa, FL due to an artist injury. A rescheduled date will be announced soon. Tickets purchased for the Ford Amphitheatre concert will be honored at the rescheduled date. For additional tour and ticket information, please visit www.livenation.com or www.aeroforceone.com.

4th of July at the Selby Gardens

With so many options for 4th of July this year, it was a tough choice. But we ended up at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens for their Independence Day Celebration.

$18 got visitors access to all of the outdoor gardens, live music, and choice outdoor seating for fireworks over the bay. Food, beverage, and 3-D glasses or light-up pink tambourine noise-makers were extra, and it was BYOB...No, not "Bring your own beer," but "bring your own blanket." Seating was limited to lawn chairs and blankets.

The proceeds went to support Selby Botanical Gardens, though a few people did grumble that the price of admission didn't include any perks.



Personally, we would have been happy with a simple guest map, letting us know that Local Coffee and Tea was open on premises late, selling cranberry chicken wraps, chai tea and assorted healthy goodies, before hundreds of us stood in a half hour line at the Morton's Market table for a burger. More than one food vendor for the crowd would have been preferable. But on the plus side, the service was fast and efficient as members of the Morton's team arrived as early as 12noon, working in 90 degree weather, and still smiling the whole time.



There were several beverage stations serving soft drinks, water, draft and bottled beer, and wine. Two ice cream and sorbet stations, plus baked goods from the Wired Whisk were set up close to the Children's area, which included a Bounce House and varied activities. Restrooms were easy-to-find, and the lines short.

The fireworks were launched on the marina, prefaced by the band leading us through the Star Spangled Banner, hand over our hearts, and looking out over the water. The spectacular display was met by lots of "oohs and ahhs", among the politest group of people. No one yelled, "Down in front!" when gapers stopped along the path where everyone was seated, blocking the view. Instead, one man called out, "Could you please sit down, so we can all see?" And, the potentially hour-long traffic jam was cut in half, by each car waiving the other to go through, one at a time, in a unified fashion.

Other than a few "bugs" that could be worked out for next year, it was a fabulous event, hosted entirely by a team of dedicated Selby volunteers.