DJ BMF's Friday at Lil' Indies is still Orlando's best free history lesson

Greg Lentz's long-running music-video night on Mills Avenue rolls on the Friday before Halloween: 10 p.m., no cover, 21 and up.

Some Orlando traditions come with a ticket price and a parking garage. This one comes with no cover and a stack of music videos. On Friday, October 30, DJ BMF is back behind the decks at Lil' Indies on Mills Avenue for another BMF Friday, doors at 10 p.m., 21 and up, free.

That is the whole pitch, and for regulars it is enough. The Will's Pub calendar lists the night every week under the same simple line: BMF Fridays with DJ BMF at Lil' Indies, 10 p.m., no cover, 21+. The October 30 date is on the Will's Pub listings alongside the rest of the run, and it lands on the last Friday before Halloween.

DJ BMF is Greg Lentz, and if you have spent Friday nights on Mills Avenue you have probably danced in front of him. Our own records count hundreds of his Orlando dates, which makes him less a booking than a fixture. Orlando Weekly calls him a veteran Orlando DJ.

The audio-visual part is the point. BMF does not just play records; he plays the videos with them. Orlando Weekly describes the sets as VJing, a hybrid of the classic DJ set with an equal focus on the accompanying videos. You dance to the track and watch it at the same time, which turns a bar night into something closer to a communal rewatch of the records everyone grew up on.

You dance to the track and watch it at the same time.

He also likes a theme. The paper has covered his annual Michael Jackson party at Lil' Indies, and a Native Tongues tribute that doubled as a birthday night. Will's Pub has billed a New Jack Swing night with him too. When Orlando Weekly reported that he had taken his themed music-video sets to Twitch, the headline called them raucous, and anyone who has caught one late in the night will not argue.

We have not seen a theme announced for October 30, so don't assume a Halloween special. With BMF, though, the songs, the screens and the crowd usually do the job without one. If you want to come in costume, nobody at Lil' Indies is going to stop you.

The room is part of it. Will's Pub describes Lil' Indies as a non-smoking, full-liquor cocktail bar. It sits at 1036 N. Mills Ave., next door to Will's Pub itself. It is not a big room. It does not need to be. A long-running free Friday works because it is always there: you can drift over after a show at Will's Pub, meet friends after dinner nearby, or make it the whole night.

There is no new release to sell here and no tour to plug. What DJ BMF offers is rarer in a city that keeps changing around it: the same bar, the same night, the same promise every week. Get there after ten, find a spot where you can see the videos, and let him run the history lesson.

Sources: Will's Pub: DJ BMF at Lil' Indies (willspub.org); Will's Pub home / calendar (willspub.org); Will's Pub: Lil' Indies venue page (willspub.org); Will's Pub: New Jack Swing Night w/ DJ BMF (willspub.org); Orlando Weekly: Veteran Orlando DJ BMF brings his raucous themed music video sets to Twitch (orlandoweekly.com); Orlando Weekly: DJ BMF's annual Michael Jackson party at Lil' Indies (orlandoweekly.com); Orlando Weekly: Native Tongues jam named Friday at Lil Indies (orlandoweekly.com)