Valentine’s Day can be a rough day – even for those in relationships – which is why Miami alternative rock band Morata’s Facebook post advertising its Valentine’s Day show at House of Rock was a piece of marketing genius: “Have a date tonight? It don’t matter. You know Manuela is always down. We’ll be showcasing some new tunes today. Come check us out at House of Rock in Doral tonight at 10 [p.m.]”.
Going to concerts in Miami, especially local ones, can be an interesting experience. Saturday’s show was no different. When I pulled up to the venue around 10 p.m., Morata and some friends of the band were standing outside the venue. There was discussion about entry fees and who had to get up early the next morning. Some headed back to their cars while everyone else went inside to wait for the show to start.
Once inside, we were greeted by a venue that was empty except for the two or three bartenders. Even for Miami – known for its late start times – this was odd. Around 10:30 to 11 p.m. there’s usually at least a small crowd. It could also be said that this was a side effect of the show happening on a holiday like Valentine’s Day.
Then the first sign of a seemingly rapidly thrown together concert began to show itself: Morata was ready to start but as soon as they got on stage to sound check, they discovered there were mic stands, but no microphones. This led everyone in attendance, from the band to the band’s friends and family members, having to wait about an hour or so until the venue owner/sound person arrived with the microphones. So how do you kill an hour where all you can do is wait and it’s freezing (for South Florida) outside?
You watch the various rock music videos playing on the screens all around House of Rock. First it was an older Asking Alexandria video,“The Final Episode”, where the main feature was on cups of water and tea spilling and eventually falling to the floor. This appeared to be a theme with the videos that night – bands getting soaking wet or featuring water in videos. In fact, fellow patron/friend of Morata, Aijalon Booker, made the point that this is actually a recurrent theme at House of Rock: “What is with all the water in these videos? Are they [the bands] dehydrated? Every time I come here there are always videos with water”. Vocalist/rhythm guitarist Deshantin Accius fielded the reply: “But look how cool it looks!”
It was at least another half hour before the venue owner came with the microphones and some other show supplies. Once everything was set up, Morata took the stage to sound check and the show finally got underway.