Cover Story
2020 is finally over. Here are 10 Orlando moments to remember from the year that wasn’t
So, let’s review 2020: We shopped online for masks. We sat around in sweatpants. We baked bread. We checked out each other’s bookcases and hoped for our colleagues’ pets to pop up onscreen during interminable Zoom meetings. And we experienced many of the important happenings in Orlando through our screens, as the 2020 lockdown dragged…
Orlando’s ‘Ladies Rock Camp’ to happen virtually this year
Orlando’s annual Ladies Rock Camp is still happening in 2021, but like most music things over the last almost-year, it’s going to be virtual. Run by the same able and enthusiastic group that puts on Orlando Girls Rock Camp (and put that on virtually with success last year, it should be noted), Ladies Rock Camp is…
Creative City Project to take Orlando ‘Down the Rabbit Hole’ in February
Fresh off their immersive holiday lights experience Dazzling Nights, the Creative City Project are heading straight into 2021 with the announcement of “Down the Rabbit Hole” set for February. Though Dazzling Nights only just wrapped last weekend, the Alice in Wonderland-inspired Rabbit Hole is set to launch on Saturday, Feb. 6 and run through March…
Thousands of doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine arrive in Orange County on Tuesday
Thousands of doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer arrived in Orange County on Tuesday, A total of 19,500 doses of the Pfizer vaccine were received by Orange County government this morning, and were immediately whisked into specialty freezers that Orange County had already purchased for this very purpose back in November. And it’s an…
Uno Pizzeria and Grills in Central Florida offering discounted pizzas to restaurant workers in January
Boston-based pizza chain Uno Pizzeria & Grill is offering discounted pizzas to restaurant industry workers in January and Central Florida locations are taking part. The Uno’s restaurants in Orlando, Kissimmee, Lake Buena Vista, Melbourne and Winter Garden will be offering $5 pies — individual deep dish or Chicago thin crust — on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays as part of this…
Lil Indies to host ‘Hey Grrrl’ group show highlighting women artists in Orlando
Mills 50 establishment Lil Indies will this month see a return of the “Hey Grrrl” group art exhibition, spotlighting women artists from Orlando. Organized annually by Heidi Kneisl, “Hey Grrrl” assembles a group of local artists working across a range of media. In 2018, the exhibition even included a a compendium of unsolicited — and inevitably creepy — texts and chats. Featured…
Classic Albums Live band to rip through ‘Led Zeppelin II’ at Orlando’s Hard Rock Live in February
Cover song chameleons Classic Albums Live Band may have just played the Hard Rock live on NYE as the Beatles, but they’ve already announced a February return, this time in the guise of Led Zeppelin. On Feb. 20, the band will play the British hard rockers’ 1969 album Led Zeppelin II in full. Led Zeppelin…
There’s still time to celebrate Milk District eatery Pom Pom’s anniversary with bargains all week
Milk District sandwich haven Pom Pom’s Teahouse & Sandwicheria has been celebrating their 15th anniversary with 15 days of bargains since the tail end of December, and there are still approximately a week’s worth of deals and promotions left for us late starters. Here’s the final stretch, starting today: Tuesday, Jan. 5: The first 15…
Orlando electronic musician Kurt Rambus debuts dazzling new music video
Orlando electronic act Kurt Rambus — the experimental side project of longtime Orlando DJ Nigel John — has dropped a stunning new music video featuring local singer, puppeteer and burlesque performer Tymisha Harris (aka Tush). The video for “Hayek and His Black Friend,” a standout track from his 2020 concept album The Misadventures of Hayek Von Pinochet and…
2020 highlights (and one lowlight) in the Orlando music scene
Time again for This Little Underground’s annual Undie Awards … even in a canceled year, some local music scene superlatives still emerged. Fullest concert response to the pandemic: The Frontyard Festival There’s been considerable hustle this year by the city’s live music venues to adapt to the times for safety and survival, but none have…
Orlando Fringe Winter Mini-Fest is here to help us shake off the hellish past year
Perhaps no area organization exemplifies the dizzying pivots artists have been forced to perform since March better than the Orlando Fringe festival, which was among Orlando’s earliest major arts events to go fully virtual back in May. Under the leadership of executive director Alauna McMillen and producer Lindsay Taylor, Orlando Fringe hosted nearly two solid…
Nicolas Cage explores the etymology of obscenity in ‘History of Swear Words’ on Netflix
Streaming premieres this week perfect for bingeing with takeout. Premieres Wednesday: Best Leftovers Ever — In a helpful and educational new series, $10,000 goes to the contestant who does the best job of turning holiday leftovers into inventive delicacies. That’s great news if you’re currently sitting on your sofa, staring into the kitchen and wondering…
Film in the time of corona: Even in the midst of a pandemic, cinema soldiers on
According to Benjamin Button, “Our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss.” And so went 2020, a year of lost opportunities. But if there is a cinematic silver lining to this annus horribilis, it’s that small flicks and new filmmakers gained opportunities passed up by big studios and established moviemakers, many of…
Orlando music year in review: 20 things we loved in an unlovable 2020
It’s been a hard year. And somehow, our local music scene continued to create, to record, in the face of an endless cycle of bad news that made it almost impossible to think about making music. So as we close the book on 2020, we present an unranked mixed-media assemblage of Orlando music happenings that…
Top Tables 2020: The best restaurants that opened in Orlando this year
WHAT. A. YEAR. After COVID-19 ravaged and battered our restaurant landscape, struggling restaurateurs were all but forced to trim staff and rethink their business models. Scores of restaurants shuttered. Out-of-work cooks and servers waited (and waited) for unemployment benefits, while lines at local food banks grew longer and longer. “Social distancing” entered the cultural lexicon,…
New Year’s Eve 2020 events in Orlando
Here are some things going on for NYE. Please choose wisely
Two questions: Are all lesbian relationships drama? And what’s with the “price of admission”?
Q: One of my very close friends, a lesbian, has been married for a couple of years now. It’s been nothing but drama since the day they met. My friend had a terrible home life growing up and doesn’t understand stability. She also has zero self-confidence. My friend and her wife are constantly calling the…
Top Tastes 2020: The 10 best dishes we tried in Orlando this year
2020 was a hell year for many of us. I haven’t sat down to eat in a restaurant since March 7, but I’ve ordered lots of delicious takeout throughout the year, to help support the local restaurants I love. These are some of my favorites among the dishes I’ve enjoyed this year, including several from…
2020 proved beyond a doubt that there’s no price to pay for shameless behavior in America
If you’d told me on Jan. 1, 2020, that Donald Trump would lose, I’d have been relieved. If you’d told me it took 300,000 deaths and more than 20 million lost jobs to get that result — and that Trump would come within 50,000 votes of winning the Electoral College anyway — I’d have been…
