Dante’s HiFi director Rich Medina tops opening weekend at Water Street’s Alter Ego cocktail lounge

Water Street Tampa’s first “music-forward” cocktail lounge, Alter Ego, soft opened last weekend, and gets going in a more official capacity starting this week with a set by perennial Bay area favorite DJ Blenda.

Justin “DJ Casper” Layman is the Musical Director at Alter Ego and told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that he and Blenda will deploy vinyl records covering all genres for their sets on Thursday, April 18.

Local house and dance music DJ Parker rounds out the weekend on Sunday, April 21, but Friday and Saturday feature a couple of heavy hitters. WEMF alum Angelica Rose—playing Friday, April 19—calls Miami home now, and it’s where she spins everything from classic hip-hop to straight up dance floor ragers.

Topping the lineup, however, is Rich Medina, Music Director at Miami’s famed Dante’s HiFi (where Casper plays regularly). The 53-year-old plays Saturday, April 20, and is a literal scholar of music with one of the deepest vocabularies in the DJ scene. You’re not going to be able to Shazam a lot of what he plays.

“Be ready for a truly musical ride,” Casper—who’s handling bookings at Alter Ego and warming up the room before special guests—added.

Longtime fans of Medina are no strangers to seeing him spin locally at Crowbar’s Ol’ Dirty Sundays (ODS), but Casper says that Alter Ego will have a completely different feel and sound from anything else in Tampa—but still adhere to his philosophy of that the set should tell a musical story.

“ODS was built on a true school hip-hop feel but was never just hip-hop. That ODS party has always been about the DJ first and foremost. This allows the DJ to really dig deep into their bag and play those songs they love, new and old, truly express themselves,” Casper said. “Alter Ego will have that same freedom when it comes to the talent I’ll be bringing week after week which will really resonate with our clients coming through the doors.”

There’s no cover for any of the DJ sets at Alter Ego Tampa, but reservations are highly recommended due since the space can only accommodate less than 100 people. More information is available via alteregotampa.com.

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This article appears in Apr 11-17, 2024.