[NotMeAgain]

50 y.o. male spent most of his life in the 'burgs but now I'm trying to decide weather I should move into the big city or move down to Florida. I love live music and beaches and I was wondering what the music scene was like in the Melbourne area. Are there any good blues clubs? Any place where musicians hang out? How does Melbourne compare to Tampa/St Pete?

I realize this is very subjective but opinions would be appreciated. Thanks.

[brassylass]

Hi!

I do not live in Melbourne at the moment. I moved a year ago. There are lots of things in Melbourne if you are willing to explore. In historic down town melbourne there are a few places that have music on the weekends. THere are some nice bars and a great pub.

If you go up A1A North from there I know there are a few clubs many jazz and blues related. As for the jazz/blues scene, there are a lot of concerts and such during the year.
Jazzseries.com: Florida's Smooth Jazz Concert Connection!

Roland puts on a lot of concerts and there is a smooth jazz cruise every year too. Acoustic Alchemy and the rippingtones are there frequently I do beleive, as is Chris Botti who I am a fan of. There is also a swing time band and concert band residents can perform in. I was in it for a while. Melbourne Municipal Band

Have any particulars ask away, I will try and answer. A lot of people say there is nothing to do in Melbourne, but I think it is what you make of it. A lot of Florida beach communities are laid back (besides down south) I know Tampa has quite a bit of jazz going on to. The smooth jazz station I get at work (I live in Central Florida) is Smooth Jazz WSJT 94.1 - Homepage. Clearwater has several jazz concerts a year. One coming up has Boney James Headlining the 18th and Paul Taylor the 19th. Plus there is a huge event in the fall. Ruth Eckerd Hall has many concerts, BB King is in May Ruth Eckerd Hall - Tampa Bay's Favorite Performing Arts Center for Concerts.

[lovethebeach]

There are two clubs I know that specialize in Blues -- The Beach Shack on Minuteman in Cocoa Beach, and Lou's Blues in Indianalantic. (do a quick google search on these clubs and you can see the band listings) There also is some sort of Blues organization around here that I have heard of, but if you contact the Beach Shack they can give you more info. Hope this helps.

[NotMeAgain]

Thanks for the info. BTW, I've been checking out the I.T. job scene on DICE.com - what the heck is up with the wages down there? $30 - $35/hr for a senior level DBA or systems analyst? Is that normal down there?

[Otis_Nevins]

It used to be really interesting!
Ink 19 :: Music > Media > Thought