4th Annual South Dade Food & Rock Festival

Returning to their Homestead roots, show promoters Florida Rock Stars rang in 2014 with their 4th Annual South Dade Food & Rock Festival. On February 1, the weather cooperated at Homestead’s Harris Field Pavilion, the crowds cheered and the bands hit the stage.

We South Floridians don’t know how good we have it listening to live music outdoors all winter long. With six hours of continuous rock and roll, Florida Rock Stars made this show hard to beat.

Besides quality food and music, with each event Florida Rock Stars supports a charitable cause. This time around, it was Relay For Life Homestead. Teri Weinstein, Relay For Life 2014 Event Chair explains, “Florida Rock Stars allowed us to raffle off a $600 electric guitar from Music Depot. Each and every dollar goes towards our cause. This year our signature event is on May 10 at Homestead Hospital and will be filled with fun, hope and dedicated people.”

First to the stage was Homestead’s own Jade Sanders, who has written over 70 of her own songs and is quite popular on YouTube. She wowed the crowd with her unplugged, folksy guitar as she ripped a 45-minute set of covers and originals, including Journey’s “Lights.” Amazingly, Jade is not quite 15 and plays like a pro. She clearly has a future…

As dusk set in, Main Highway took over. For 13 years, they’ve traveled across South Florida covering great rock tunes. Among others, they played a blistering version of Bush’s Machinehead and a great flute-less version of “Aqualung” by Jethro Tull.

Next, Head First took over. They put on a spirited double-length set. Headed by a new lead singer, Janae Deleon, who also happens to be Miss Miami 2013, Head First also has Mickey Filippucci as their guitar. Mickey is one of the principals behind Florida Rock Stars.

Besides the music, food is always part of each Florida Rock Stars festival. With seafood, BBQ and everything in between, there were lots of great choices. Drinks also poured at the cash bar in the back of the venue.

The headliner of the show was Colbert. Formed five years ago, Colbert is one of the premier cover bands in all of South Florida. They energized an already pumped crowd. Like I said folks, nothing like winter in Miami for a rock and roll fan!

VIDEO STORY