Good News, Bad News for Miami's Music Scene

The Culture Edit, September 15th-28th

Author

Susan Bannon
September 14, 2025

Photo Credit: Joe Ramos

We’ll start with the good news! Churchill’s Pub, the Little Haiti dive bar and headquarters of Miami’s underground music scene that closed in 2020 after more than forty very loud years, reopened last week to round-the-block crowds. (Word has it the patio is new and improved, but the bathrooms aren’t.)

And Las Rosas, another grungy local music mecca in Allapattah that closed in 2022, suddenly reopened last month, giving Miamians allergic to dance clubs another shocking comeback to celebrate.

The bad news? At almost the same moment, the owner of Gramps, the laid-back Wynwood refuge and staple of Miami’s local music scene, announced it will close in January. Comments on social media channeled the communal dismay - “this is my 9/11,” “RIP Wynwood” - and hope that the beloved spot will find a new home in the city somewhere.

Back to the good news, there’s a ton of new art, dance, music, and indie cinema to enjoy over the next couple of weeks - read on!

Let’s get planning...

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Thursday, September 18th

FilmGate Fusion: Immersive Art for Wellbeing

Filmgate Miami and Frost Science present FUSION: Light, Sound, and Memory/Immersive Art for Wellbeing, a selection of animated films (like this one) at the nexus of art, technology, and mental health, mounted on an epic scale on the planetarium screen. I saw their last FUSION screening, simulating a space launch, and it was pretty mind-blowing in the giant dome. You can prepare yourself with pre-screening cocktails, as the ticket price gets you one drink ticket.

6pm, Frost Museum of Science Planetarium, $40

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

Also on September 18th:

  • The Bass Museum hosts one of its free Third Thursday events with a performance by cellist Guy Michel, a panel by local film collective White Elephant Group, and a self-portrait collage workshop, from 6:30-8pm.

  • UM’s Lowe Art Museum hosts a reception to celebrate the opening of How Much a Heart Can Hold, a career retrospective of work by multimedia artist Petah Coyne, from 7-9pm.

Friday, September 19th

G Flip at the Bandshell

The Rhythm Foundation presents Australian-born, LA-based G Flip at the Miami Beach Bandshell for a first-ever Miami performance. With the brand new release of her third studio album, Dream Ride, G Flip takes her signature 80’s-style synths, powerful vocals, and stadium-sized ambition to the next level. Disco Cowgirl was the first single off the album and it looks pretty great.

8pm, Miami Beach Bandshell, $43

Neighborhood: North Beach

Also on September 19th:

  • Ascaso Gallery celebrates the opening of Reciprocity, a group show bringing together the work of legendary Cuban-born artist Julio Larraz and eleven contemporary artists influenced by him, with a reception from 6-10pm.

  • UK-based piano phenom AyşeDeniz Gökçin brings her playing into conversation with AI-trained avatars of Chopin and Vivaldi in this unique concert at UM’s new Knight Center for Music Innovation, at 7:30pm.

Saturday, September 20th 

Jayne Kennedy at Books & Books

Books & Books is proud to welcome trailblazing sportscaster, actress, model, and early fitness icon Jayne Kennedy to discuss her first-ever memoir, Plain Jayne. The book chronicles the high’s and low’s of her singular career, from becoming the first black Miss Ohio, through breaking barriers as the cohost of CBS’s NFL Today, and on to her mentorship today. She will be in conversation with legendary Hall of Fame sportscaster Leslie Visser.

7pm, Books & Books, $34 (with book) or Free

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Also on September 20th:

  • ICA Miami hosts a curator-led symposium on the work of textile artist Olga de Amaral at their new expansion space in the former De la Cruz Collection building, from 2-6pm.

  • N’Namdi Gallery celebrates the opening of Ocean Rise, a solo show of new work by Nigerian textile artist Samuel Nnorom, with a reception from 4-7pm.

  • Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami hosts a special Dancers Hour performance and reception at their intimate Palmetto Bay studios, from 6pm.

  • Multi-Grammy Award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir brings its joyful African freedom songs, plus music from American icons like Aretha Franklin, to the Moss Center, at 7pm.

  • Award-winning young conductor Tianyi Lu leads the New World Symphony in a final “pay-what-you-wish” pre-season concert of Bartok and Brahms, at 7:30pm.

Happening NEXT Week:

Because maybe your friends are busy this week. Or you're busy this week. Or this week just seems too soon to pull your act together and make a plan.

Monday, September 22nd

Hambre: Screening with Director Q&A

O Cinema presents a special screening of Hambre, a tragicomic story of life in today’s Venezuela, with a post-film discussion with writer/director Joanna Nelson. The film depicts the agonizing “do I stay or do I go?” decision facing every single Venezuelan through a romance between two characters with opposing views. In Spanish with English subtitles.

7pm, O Cinema South Beach, $12-$14

Neighborhood: South Beach

Wednesday, September 24th

Subtropic: Max Strang at Mayfair

Books & Books hosts award-winning architect Max Strang at Mayfair House to discuss Subtropic, a gorgeous new monograph on the work of his namesake firm, STRANG. Internationally recognized for championing Florida modernism, STRANG’s invariably stunning projects center our unique climate and Floridian sensibilities. That this discussion will be in the garden at Mayfair House, Coconut Grove’s 1980’s tropical modernist gem, is just icing on the cake.

5:30pm, Mayfair House Hotel & Garden, Free

Neighborhood: Coconut Grove

Thursday, September 25th

Voloshyn Gallery presents Proxies, a new exhibition by Szuper Gallery, the long-term collaboration between artists Susanne Clausen (Germany/UK) and Pavlo Kerestey (Ukraine/Germany). For this show, the two artists combine video, drawing, painting, and hand-crafted puppets to explore how art can respond to war and displacement. 

6-8pm, Voloshyn Gallery, Free

Neighborhood: Allapattah

Also on September 25th:

  • The FilmGate Miami Music Video Festival, showcasing work by local filmmakers, screens at the Miami Beach Bandshell at 6pm.

Friday, September 26th

Vince Mendoza & The Henry Mancini Orchestra

UM’s Frost School of Music welcomes multi-Grammy award-winning composer and arranger Vince Mendoza and the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra for an evening of Mendoza’s high energy big-band and orchestral pieces. At the forefront of jazz and contemporary music for the last 30 years, Mendoza has collaborated with artists from Björk to Gregory Porter and Sting, racking up eight Grammy’s and thirty-eight nominations for his big-band sound that bursts with brass and rhythm.

7:30pm, UM’s Gusman Concert Hall, $15-$40

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Also on September 26th:

  • Los Amigos Invisibles bring their annual Latin-funk party to the Miami Beach Bandshell, with a new album out but plenty of their classics like Mentiras, at 8pm.

Saturday, September 27th

Papou: Sun Bleached

Spinello Projects celebrates the opening of Sun Bleached, the first Miami solo gallery exhibit by South Florida-native artist Papou. This new body of vibrant, large-scale paintings reflects the artist’s experience growing up around here - dolphins, palm shadows, bubble gum, the smell of chlorine after a day at the pool - and her personal symbolism, including a recurring chicken that represents her inner voice. How Miami is that?

6-9pm, Spinello Projects, Free

Neighborhood: Allapattah

Also on September 27th:

  • Coral Gables Art Cinema presents a screening of Naked Ambition (see below) followed by a Q&A with directors Kareem Tabsch & Dennis Scholl, at 1pm.

Sunday, September 28th

Naked Ambition: Screening with Director Q&A

Coral Gables Art Cinema hosts a special screening of Naked Ambition, a new documentary on groundbreaking pin-up photographer Bunny Yeager, followed by a Q&A with co-director Kareem Tabsch. “The World’s Prettiest Photographer,” Yeager literally defined the look of sex appeal for mid-century America, making icons of both herself and legendary pin-up’s like Betty Page. Naked Ambition chronicles her artistic vision and the “anti-smut” backlash that hounded her career (check out the trailer here).

3:30pm, Coral Gables Art Cinema, $16

Neighborhood: Coral Gables

Planning Ahead:

Miami's most anticipated events sell out and those new restaurants you want to try book up. For the ultimate plan-ahead guide, you have my complete Highlights of the Fall Season, but if that’s too much trouble, you can just plan for these two…

October 4th-5th

New World Symphony Season Opener

New World Symphony kicks off its 38th season with a salute to revolutionaries! Artistic Director Stéphane Denève conducts the New World Fellows in works dedicated to Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, and Napoleon Bonaparte. The latter work is of course Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony (Symphony No. 3), one of classical music’s most celebrated works, and alas, an object lesson in how our idols let us down. (After Napoleon declared himself Emperor, Beethoven reportedly tore the dedication page of this work to pieces.) *Saturday’s performance will be projected for a free WALLCAST concert in adjacent Soundscape park.

7:30pm Saturday, 2pm Sunday, New World Center, $40-$175

Neighborhood: Lincoln Road

Nearby Eats: Casa Tua, Blue Ribbon Sushi, Joe’s Pizza NYC | Drinks: Sweet Liberty, Water Lion at the Sagamore

October 17th-19th

Miami City Ballet Dances Peck

Miami City Ballet dancers performing “Heatscape” by Justin Peck, 2015.

All eyes are on Miami City Ballet for their 40th season, the first under new Artistic Director Gonzalo Garcia. Like Edward Villella and Lourdes Lopez before him, Garcia comes to us from New York City Ballet, steeped in everything Balanchine. And while there’s plenty of Balanchine on the menu this season, their opening program is a high-octane celebration of Tony Award-winning choreographer Justin Peck, including Heatscape, Peck’s love letter to Wynwood, with “graffiti” backdrops by artist Shepard Fairey.

7:30pm Fri. & Sat., 2pm Sat. & Sun., Ziff Ballet Opera House, $35

Neighborhood: Downtown Arts & Entertainment District

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