MMW Day 3: Sunshine State Of Bass (Blackbird Ordinary)

MMW Day 3 arrived all too quickly and we chose to spend it at the 5th annual edition of Sunshine State of Bass.
The venue is Blackbird Ordinary, a club located near downtown Miami just a block from Metrorail‘s Brickell station.
Since our Miami Music Week visit last year, the building has been heavily renovated and this curtain in one corner is all that remains from its previous blackbird theming.
The renovations have made this club’s large backroom much more upscale than it was and there is no shortage of shiny disco balls.
The girders and glass ceiling might serve as ideas for downtown Orlando outdoor venues faced with new noise ordinance restrictions.
The large bar that used to occupy one wall of the club was relocated to this corner but it can still handle large volumes of guests.
And there is now a proper DJ & Tech booth along the entry wall, replacing the makeshift booth Blackbird used to operate with. The dance floor remains large.
We arrived during the 5PM hour to find the music had already started. The show opened at 3PM so we missed sets from DJ J-ROK (USA), DJ Mojo De Fay (USA) and DJ Lifeless Tissue (USA).
In the booth, DJ N-Hance (USA). We had seen him play on the patio at “The Get Down” on Friday night.
Breaks & Electro were the order of the evening last night too!
At this early hour, only a few handfuls scattered around the venue.
At 6PM, DJ James Wolfe (USA).
He had played at last year’s edition of Sunshine State of Breaks too.
This guy was all over the place!
Early party in VIP!
Early dance floor occupant.
When the music is THAT good!
The official timetable listed Dropzone (USA) as the 7PM entry but this was DJ Soltek (USA).
Oh! Well it turns out that Soltek and DJ HiCue perform together as Dropzone. I didn’t know that! Both had played separately at Friday night’s “The Get Down”.
Just a little dance floor activity at this early hour.
Next up, DJ Kounterakt of electronic duo Code Rising (USA).
Doing a DJ set.
A few more people out there.
First time seeing him play individually.
We had seen him perform as Code Rising last month at Ace Cafe in Orlando.
SSOB takes place in that large room at the rear of Blackbird Ordinary. But the front room is a bar/club of its own and it has this amazing lighted Lucite dance floor.
It was here we spotted DJ Mojo De Fay busting some moves in her 90’s retro attire.
Awhile later the dance floor would see more-normal activity.
And it would get packed for Hip Hop and Top 40 hits. But enough of that, we wanted the good stuff!
First you take DJ Rob E (USA)…..
Add some DJ Dave Gluskin (USA)…..
Put them together and you get DJ duo Audiotrap (USA).
A few more on the dance floor.
They began with almost a Chill song but soon got the music cranking!
That look you get from great Breaks!
Audiotrap had performed at last year’s Electric Daisy Carnival – Orlando as shown above.
At this juncture the lasers came on.
And I do mean ON!
10PM meant DJ Mizzo (USA).
He had played at Neon Beach in Orlando just last month.
Mizzo at Neon Beach.
Not sure of the song name but one themed as “Red Bull & Vodka” had the club bouncing.
His set in Orlando was good but his set last night in Miami was amazing!
David Noller dba Scratch-D (USA) was up next.
Part of electronic duo Dynamix II (USA), he was performing solo last night.
He had everyone moving!
Playing with balls.
Seen here with Todd Walker last month in Orlando as Dynamix II.
The queue to get inside got long!
Which made the dance floor that much more difficult to move about.
We ran into lots of peeps. Some we knew and some were new.
Spotted on the dance floor: Hollywood film maker Louis Iacoviello. He is producing a full length film about Orlando’s famed dance music history to be titled “The City BEATiful”. The Edge, AAHZ, Firestone will all likely figure into the movie. He has been working with some of the original DJ’s that were part of the Orlando dance scene back in the day. Interviews and filming have already begun.
Another famed duo was next! First you take DJ Johnny Dangerously (USA)…..
Add DJ Storm (USA)…..
Put them together and you got The Brothers of Funk (USA).
And add some Analog Hustlers (USA) to make it even better!
Dance floor was jammed!
Back-to-back-to-back-to-back Breaks remixes amazed! I’ve seen them perform numerous times over the years and this was my favorite set of theirs.
The music was so good, even Rose was dancing!
It was soon 1AM and headliner of the evening had arrived! Bunny from Rabbit in the Moon (USA).
Advertised as only a DJ set, we didn’t really know what to expect.
He was animated, he was vocal, he was loud!
Comparing blonde dreads!
Bunny normally performs with DJ David Christophere for Rabbit in The Moon shows.
Excitement on the dance floor!
And then with about 10 minutes remaining in his set, out came the mask!
He put it on and out came that famous grinder!
And straight-out of a Rabbit in The Moon show, he grinded away! Many had never seen a RITM show and were blown away by the spectacle. (Our last RITM show in 2021 can be seen here.)
2AM and shift change time.
DJ Ondamike (USA). We would call it quits at this juncture due to an early flight back to O-town so sadly we would miss Jimi The Genius (USA) at 3AM and Bobby Buzz (USA) at 4AM.
But wow, what a show! A good time was had by all.