It was a weekend full of coconuts, pirates, and some of the best rum in the world. The Miami Rum Renaissance Festival was held at the Miami International Airport Convention Center from April 15-21.  A ticket granted you entry, a quick survey got you a souvenir glass, and then you were free to sample and drink as much as your heart desires.

Being my second year at the festival there were some big shoes to fill from the amount of fun I had the first time around. This year things were held at a larger venue then last year’s South Beach location. Although it is great that things are expanding the feel of it was a bit different. There’s something about when you see palm trees and the beach right outside the window while you were sipping on deliciously concocted beverages that makes you think; “this is the life.” But when you are in a large windowless, concrete floored, warehouse style building the magic of the tropics is slightly lost.

Photos by Liz Dzuro

Be that as it may, there was new plenty of new things that I was excited to try. Whether you are a rum connoisseur or someone who just enjoys the pirate life there was something there for you to drink.

There were the classic big name brands like Bacardi, Appleton, and Mount Gay. Then there were also newer brands and lesser-known rums (at least to me) set up shop right next to the big guys and serving up delicious drinks. Many made punch bowls with juices and ginger beer, and other just had straight sample shots.

The most interesting drink that I sampled had to be The Wild Geese, which they infused with a cigar. Yes, a cigar. Bitters was added, poured over ice, and garnish with an orange rind. It was the color of a coca-cola but the taste was… different. I imagine cigar aficionados with a like for rum would very much enjoy this, but not being one for cigars I drank about half of it and that was enough for me.

One drink that had a line at least 30-40 people long the entire time was booth for Botran. These geniuses cornered the market of something cool that people wanted to drink. It was literally a fresh coconut that some guy with a machete would hack off the top bit of, pour some rum in there and stick in a straw. If that doesn’t say classic island life right there then I don’t know what does.

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The second night of the Wayward Festival at Propaganda turned out to be a huge success.

The Deacon Bones show, his second time going solo live, drew in quite the crowd. Tony Bones, as the one man band, played his guitar while getting his cardio - stomping on a wooden box as his drums. It was good to see an old familiar face in town again.

S.S Web and The Darling Sweets got the crowd dancing while Carry Nation and the Speakeasy made everyone feel a little dirtier.

Everymen didn't hold back. Setting off for tour, they brought out the confetti and silly string South Florida had in stores. On their last song, they were joined by a drumline and some Bobo fire breathing.

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Wayward Festival Night 2

Photos by Stephanie Colaianni

The Wayward Parade has taken over Propaganda once again and dragged the masterminds of Aces High Tattoo with them. So many bands are playing that the festival needed to be split into two nights and a stage was added outside.

Tally Ho! and Rescue Kid started the night off inside while Pretty Girls took over outside. Steph Taylor kept it classy as usual playing piano with some beats and vocals to back up her fingers.

The Howling Winds didn't let the stage give them limits. Leaving the drummer on stage, the guys came to the dance floor to get close to the crowd.

For headliners Bonnie Riot, this show was just a measly practice for their upcoming cd release party - April 6th at Propaganda.

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Wayward Festival Night 1

Photos by Stephanie Colaianni

If you've been to an Everymen show, most likely you've ran into Chuck - that guy running through the crowd playing washboard. I had no idea until this night that he plays, not only other instruments, but plays them at the same time. He calls himself Jangle Leg OMB (One Man Band). "That guy right over there. He inspired me to do this." he said onstage inbetween songs pointing at headliner LoneWolf OMB.

Jangle Leg, with borrowed guitar, seemed to impress the Monday night crowd. I hope to hear more from him in the future.

Photos by Stephanie Colaianni

LoneWolf played the Swamp Stomp but due to Miami traffic, I missed the show. I was so happy to see him in such a personal setting at Propaganda. The guitar, drums and harmonica were not enough for him. He rigged a high-hat with tamborine and set a crash symbol on the floor to kick. All while making good blue-grassy music. All in all, it was a good low-key relaxing night. Perfect.

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Tobacco Road hosted the 5th annual Swamp Stomp 2013. Fishbone headlined with Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, but the highlight of the day/night was all the awesome local acts.

I've seen Los Bastardos Magnificos two or three times in the past but not like this. Past shows always turned out to be an accoustic show with just El Bastardo and MnM killing it on the autoharp. This show blew me away. The band worked so well together and their country twang went perfect with the sunset over Miami. My favorite was their rendition of "The Weight" passing the vocals around. My only complaint was that I couldn't hear the MnM at all. She was just kind of there.

I had never heard of Bento Box and they were quite a nice surprise. So funky and full of soul, these kids have talent. They played more like a jam band, following the lead on how many more bars to play. They have a slight Dave Matthews feel and I would go out of my way to see them again.

Stop the Presses was one of the lucky bands to play inside, out of the super cold wind. The No Doubt comparitive band's leading lady, Ali Culotta, struck my attention with her cover of Eminem's "Forget About Dre". I just wish the stage was bigger so they could move more.

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Photos by Stephanie Colaianni

Wholetones, wholetones, wholetones. I've never had a bad time at a Wholetones show. I got the impression that the crowd was new to the crazy-super talented quartet. "Ooo"s and "wow"s were thrown around between the crowd. Alex Dorris, banjo and cello, and Taylor Freydberg, vox and guitar, didn't miss a string with their poor fingers in the 50 degree weather.

Radioboxer - the girl is batshit crazy (definition from www.UrbanDictionary.com "A person who is batshit crazy is so nuts that not only is their belfry full of bats, but so many bats have been there for so long that the belfry is coated in batshit. Hence, the craziest of crazy people are BATSHIT CRAZY.") The band from Hia-fucking-leah, started their show off simple with only smoke bombs. The blood, confetti, toilet paper and a monkey-faced man shortly came later in their set. Lead singer, Vanne, stole the crowds beers and t-shirts while spazzing and dancing on stage. No band puts on an entertaining show like Radioboxer. (If you friend them on Facebook, you can download their album for free.)

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Every year Old School Square in Delray Beach has an overwhelming aroma that'll keep sparkly night creatures away for miles. But for everyone else, it's a 3-day weekender of amazing food, fun and live music that brings the community out in the "cloves" for The Garlic Festival.

There are tents with vendors selling anything and everything South Floridians want. That includes beach themed decor, booze accessories to go with the booze you've already bought, and shiny things that you have to have.

Photos by Liz Dzuro

Then you get to the food area. There was garlic-infused everything. Even ice cream and funnel cake. The line was definitely the longest for the Garlic London Broil all day long.

The only problem that a lot of people ran into was; all food, drinks, and carnival rides were based on a ticket system. You had to wait in line to get tickets, $1= 1 Ticket, then go wait in a food line, then go wait in the drink line, then go wait in the rides line, and if you ran out of tickets before you got to each place you had to go wait in the ticket line again. It is what I imagine purgatory to be like.

Once the sun set, a crowd came out for Saturday night's headliner, Pepper. The crowd was packed in to the tented stage area to see this Hawaiian-based Reggae Rock band and then a different smell started to overpower even the everlasting garlic scent, if you know what I mean.

The huge crowd was going nuts every song they played and the band was amazed. Their phrase of the night was, "Why do we not live in Florida!?"

So? What's stopping ya? We're tanned, drunk, stoned, and now smelly.

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After hearing so much good things about the Goddamn Gallows from multiple people I was kinda stoked I could finally make it out to on of their shows on Thursday, February 7th at Propaganda.

To say that I had a blast is an understatement.

The night started off great with the Delray Beach bands Mylo Ranger and then Amore Delirium. After a quick acoustic set by James Hunnicutt, the madness was off to a start. Jayke Orvis and The Broken Band killed it and had me shouting out "Ya'll Mother Need Jesus!"

Photos by Liz Dzuro

Once The Goddamn Gallows took the stage, everyone was warmed up and sweaty. A mosh pit broke of instantly, which I was not expecting. The accordion/washboard player was hamming it up to the crowd as they danced till the very end.

The next day I couldn't stop telling people about my night. Hopefully I helped get them a few new fans because of my enthusiasm.

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Wayward Parade never fails to put on a good show.

The Parade brought in local trio KillBillies to start the night at Propaganda. I had heard of the group but never got the chance to see them. I was not disappointed. I was impressed to see only three guys on stage with the amount of sound coming from the stage.

Rickett Pass came down from Michigan and stole the night. Their animated and comedic blue-grass set kept the dance floor full.

I put my camera down during the majority of the Everymen set. I never danced so hard in my life.

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Photos by Stephanie Colaianni

I haven't been to the South Florida Fair since I was 11. Not being fan of rides, I was curious what the fair had in store for me.

I had a blast. As noted in the pictures, the petting zoo and elephants were a highlight. The rides were fun to watch without the nausea that follows. My kettle corn and cotton candy craving was fullfilled. Even walked in on a wedding in front of the sausage stand.

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Photos by Stephanie Colaianni

It was not a normal reggae night at Propaganda on Thursday, January 31. Instead of the usual local acts, nationally touring act Ballyhoo! swung into town on thier Winter Wonderland tour.

The show started local acts including Making Faces, Future Presidents, both from Palm Beach, and Kayavibe from Vero Beach. Who is actually joining Ballyhoo! on tour up the east coast.

Photos by Liz Dzuro

The show got off to a later start and Ballyhoo! did not take the stage until about 11:45pm, but it did not stop the younger crowd from jamming out the whole time. Singer, Howi, kept the crowd engaged and the girlies in the front row swooning.

After their set ended, at 1am, they hung around at the merch booth taking pictures and signing things for anyone that walked up.

If you missed your chance to catch these guys, don't fret. They will be back around in March to take part in the 311 Caribbean Cruise, setting sail from Miami.

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During the Deerfield Beach Festival of Arts, the surf shop Island Water Sports held their very own craft fair set up right in their parking lot. They provided the tents and the locals provided the art.

Everything for sale seemed to be themed towards the beach or music. Which had everyone milling around the booths seeming to really be interested in everything on the tables.

Photos by Liz Dzuro

In addition to the art for sale there was also art to win in a raffle from various vendors. The raffle benefited the Empowered Creative Organization, which gives people with physical and cognitive disabilities the opportunity to create art, which was also for sale.

And of course how can the snacks be passed up? There were delicious smoothies to help cool down from the beautiful yet cloudless day and cookies that were all warm and gooey from the hot sun to put a smile on your face.

The artist's definitely brought their A game to this craft event so I couldn't just walk away empty handed. I had to have a cute piece of original art I had been eyeing.

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Propaganda in Lake Worth has started the new year right. Unforunately, I missed openers Mylo Ranger (the bands have actually started playing on time).

The Goddamn' Hustle did it right. The trio put a start to the night with a great flow of energy. The exception of their greatness was a cameo of a "rapper" getting on stage. All I heard was the name Justin Bieber and then continued to get fresh air outside.

Photos by Stephanie Colaianni

The Darling Sweets are sweeter than ever. The recent engagement of Lindsey Sayre and her main man Adam Sheetz got everyone in the dancing mood. I did miss their Zombie hit, but I did like the new music. Even though one song was only played twice previously by the band, the crowd would never have known it. It was also quite nice to see a certain basist back on stage making sweet, sweet, raunchy love to his musical instrument.

The Sweet Chariots brought a different sound to this mix. Their 1960's inspired look and heavy-doowop made everyone sweat their dancing shoes off.

Everymen, headliners, spent most of their time on the dance floor than on stage. A high energy show with theatrics kept everyones attention. They always seem to out-do their last performance.

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