There's always a party at AnnaMaria's house

As Coconut Grove changes so that we don't know it anymore, I like to look back at the times we had when the Grove was fun. AnnaMaria Windisch-Hunt sent me this on Facebook. She asked me about the kids, if they are in college now and what they are up to. I don't know anything about them, just that this Saturday night was a lot of fun, I remember it very clearly. This post is from August 29, 2010; seven years ago, the fun was the night before, August 28, 2010.

 
Saturday night was one of those incredible organic unplanned Coconut Grove nights. At the Windisch-Hunt Gallery, AnnaMaria has been showcasing local talent on weekend nights. The performers come in and jam and do their thing among the art.


Last night "Fear the Turtle" took to the "stage." We suspect they just made up the name on the spot due to Ariel Labi's t-shirt because when asked, they weren't sure of their band name, so in the future, if these guys become big and are known as the famous band "Fear the Turtle," you'll know it happened last night, on the spot in Coconut Grove.

Flanking Ariel, drummer, are Andrew Martinez, left, singer, and Harold Trucco, on guitar.


It was a matter of art immitating life or vice versa as the guys played among the musicial paintings that surrounded them. Perfect karma for something good to happen.


They played classic rock that was from a time long before they were born, like Led Zeppelin and things like that. They were amazing at "Stairway to Heaven."


Eloisa Flament, left, and Maria Gimaraes, enjoyed the show and so did Peggy the pooch. There was quite a nice crowd present. But then the magic and the karma started . . .


Right on cue, as happens every Saturday night, the Hare Krishnas entered the gallery and blessed everyone present, especially the band, with flowers. The Krishna temple is just a couple of blocks away and each weekend this is the ritual around town. The band didn't know what to think, this was all new to them.


The Hare Krishnas even shared their megaphone with the band and had them sing the Hare Krishna chant.


And like magic, the gallery filled with people, more people than the gallery has seen since the last Gallery Walk night. The Krishnas have that affect. It reminded me of the fashion show that time when it was a serious-type thing and all of a sudden, the Krishnas entered and turned the mood around to lightheartedness and fun. (Sorry about the photo overlap at the previous story, it was from our old blog format).

So Ariel, Andrew and Harold, "Fear the Turtle," ended up having a pretty large audience for their little jam session and the whole evening turned into quite a magical thing. As the night went on, more and more people heard the music and came in -- singles, couples, families, groups of friends, it was a beautiful thing. As people left, we reminded them of next Saturday's Gallery Walk, and they promised to come back and exprience all the galleries in town.

It's amazing how these organic nights just turn out so special, nothing is planned, it just happens.