Miami Heat

July 12, 2010





SPAM Allstars

Miami Heat

Friday evening, Kathy & I hit the road for a quick trip to the mainland to attend the 2010 Redbull Flugtag in Miami. We had booked a hotel just across Biscayne Boulevard from the site of the event, which was being held at Bayfront Park. Miami was in a festive mood with the signing the previous evening of LeBron James to join NBA stars Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh with the Miami Heat for the upcoming season and a festive party atmosphere was prevalent throughout the city- the perfect time for a little weekend escape from Key West.





Happy Heat Fans



When we arrived at the hotel, we noticed crowds of people wearing Heat gear headed just up the street to the home of the Heat, The American Airlines Arena. We decided to wonder down and see what was going on. We got there too late to get in, the place was full as over 18,000 fans packed the arena for a rally to officially welcome LeBron. They also had a big screen set up outside and thousands more fans were lining the steps to the AAA as bands played and people literally danced in the streets. You would have thought they had already won the NBA championship.











The entire Bayfront area, packed with Heat fans and Flugtag fans felt more like South Beach than downtown as we walked down to the staging area after watching the introduction of James, Bosh & Wade. The entrants in the Flugtag were all silently lined up waiting for the next morning’s event and we got to take a close look without the masses around.

Kathy







After checking out the entries, we caught a taxi over to the Transit Lounge to catch the late night show from one of our favorite Miami bands, The SPAM Allstars. We usually catch them in Key West at the Green Parrot, but wanted to see them play on their home turf. The Transit Lounge is about as close to a Key West style bar as you will find in Miami. A true music venue rather than the posh lounges which are much more typical in South Beach, the club is a great venue.





The band hadn’t started playing yet, so we took the chance to walk around the corner so that I could show Kathy one of my all-time favorite Miami haunts, Tobacco Road. Another amazing Miami iconic music venue, Tobacco Road has been around for years and hosts all sorts of great music. This night, the band playing was a recreation of the Blues Brothers band which I initially wrote off as a novelty until watching them play a few songs. They were actually quite good and we stayed for a set before heading back to Transit.



The Blues Brothers

The SPAM Allstars were just getting going when we got back and the large crowd was jamming. The band was great, the larger stage giving them a chance to put on more of a performance than we see in the cramped quarters at the Parrot. They even had a groovy video screen behind the band that played a mix of interesting short clips that accented the music. It was a late night, but a great hot time in Miami.

Transit crowd

SPAM Allstars

Miami Bayfront from Hotel