If you go see Ratt in concert tonight, be warned: Singer Stephen Pearcy is no longer with the band. Six months ago, Pearcy bitched to FoundryMusic.com about his ongoing battles with his former bandmates. "I would really like to know who the fuck is really in that band I started called Ratt," he said. Um, Stephen... we hate to tell you, but the guy who's had your job -- for the past five years -- is named Jizzy Pearl. Pearl called us from one of Ratt's tour stops in Texas. "If anyone comes to a show and doesn't know there's a new singer, I don't know what to say," he told us. "It's been half a decade!" His name, he said, is "a metaphor for the way I live my life. Don't you know what a pearl necklace is?" In the early '90s, Pearl scored an MTV hit ("Blackout in the Red Room") with his old band, Love/Hate, then stepped in as the replacement singer for L.A. Guns before joining Ratt. Pearl told radio station KNAC, "Actually, I was hoping to sing for Dokken and Warrant too! Thereby completing the Triple Crown." At least the new guy has a sense of humor. You may not recognize the singer, but you will hear "Round and Round" during the "Rock Never Stops" tour, which also features Cinderella (still with lead singer Tom Keifer), Quiet Riot (still with singer Kevin DuBrow), and Firehouse (would you even recognize the old singer of Firehouse?). Cum on, feel the noize at the Pompano Beach Amphitheatre (1806 NE Sixth St., Pompano Beach). The show starts at 7 p.m., and tickets cost $28.50 to $42.50. Call 954-523-3309, or visit www.ticketmaster.com. (DF)
FRI 8
Bet you didn't even know there were nine female-fronted bands in South Florida. Lucky you -- you get to get schooled heavily in just one night during a "Ladies of the South Florida Music Scene" show at the Hideout (7200 N. Dixie Hwy., Boca Raton) from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Circuits Between Us, Candace, Hunger-Thump, Three Blind Mice, Cat Shell, Christine Luther, Gilded Lily, Meg Myers, and Alex Bach share the bill. It's all ages till 10 p.m., 18 and older all night. Admission costs $5 to $8. Call 561-994-9494. (DF)
SAT 9
The company And 1 (which basically means "this player's so good, you could foul him and he'd still make the shot") started out in 1993 making T-shirts for trash-talking streetballers, with slogans like "Call 911, I'm on fire" and "Here's $5, go buy a game." In 2000, And 1 shot footage of Rafer Alston (otherwise known as "Skip to My Lou") playing ball at Harlem's Rucker Park, then set it to a soundtrack of unreleased hip-hop tracks. To get your hands on a free copy of the VHS tape, you had to go to a Foot Action store and try on a pair of kicks. In less than three weeks, all 200,000 tapes had been given away and an underground bootleg industry had been sparked. Alston has since moved on to the NBA (briefly with the Heat), and And 1 has released eight volumes of mixtapes. Today, the And 1 Mixtape Tour (the subject of a reality show on ESPN) stops at the American Airlines Arena (601 Biscayne Blvd., Miami). Tour officials are looking for local challengers to take part in an "open run" (tryouts) starting at 4 p.m. The best three locals will play against the And 1 team --- which includes AO, the Professor, Prime Objective, Baby Shack, Spyda, Pharmacist, Half Man, and Helicopter -- at 7:30 p.m. Visit www.and1.com. (DF)
SUN 10
When most of his peers were busy chewing on crayons and looking for the cookie jar, 3-year-old Victor Wooten followed in his brothers' footsteps and took up music, learning to play bass guitar. So when Wooten came of age in the 1980s, his career path was pretty much chosen; he joined his brothers' R&B band the Wooten Brothers and later (and more famously) signed on as bassist for Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. With such a solid résumé, Wooten shouldn't have a hard time with his current solo efforts. His new album, Soul Circus, is a powerfully upbeat mix of funk, jazz, and rock that isn't afraid to add some lyrical weight to the heavy rhythm section. Songs like "Natives" (about Native Americans) and "Higher Law" (about religion) prove that feel-good music can make you think too. Wooten performs tonight at the Culture Room (3045 N. Federal Hwy., Fort Lauderdale). Show starts at 9 p.m. Tickets cost $20. Call 954-564-1074. (JB)
MON 11
Remember the '80s? Actually, they're pretty hard to forget, what with this whole retro synth-obsession that's been sweeping indie music lately. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Take Miami's Frogger Phrampton, for example. Its lightly layered electronic tunes are an obvious homage to the decade of Day-Glo, but its songs are thoroughly modern, adding guitar and bass lines to the steady synth beat -- sort of like Magnetic Fields meets Duran Duran. Frogger Phrampton hops over tonight to the South Shores Tavern and Patio Bar (502 Lucerne Ave., Lake Worth). The free show starts at 6 p.m. Call 561-547-7656. (JB)
TUE 12
Like most boys who came of age at the height of the cold war, Robert Felthaus was urged by his parents to swallow the American Dream like a hot slice of apple pie. Be a baseball player, not an artist. And above all else, don't be gay! So Felthaus hung up his paint brush, burying it in the closet with his sexuality. But by age 45, he had had enough and came out -- as a gay man and as an artist. More than a decade later, Felthaus has exhibited his Matisse-inspired paintings on both coasts, starting in California -- where he was a member of Legacy Art Studio and Gallery in Santa Ana -- and now in Fort Lauderdale, where he works with ArtsUnited. Felthaus' figurative works are currently on view at the Stonewall Library and Archives (1717 N. Andrews Ave., Fort Lauderdale). The exhibit runs through July 30. Call 954-530-2723. (JB)
WED 13
Regular karaoke usually draws hard-core Elton John fans who take themselves way too seriously. That can be scary. Scary Okee Karaoke at Sonar (2206 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood), however, is actually more funny than frightening. Club owner Inbal Lankry laughs just thinking about the regular Wednesday-night happening. Lay down vocals over everything from Elvis to Nine Inch Nails to Salt 'n' Pepa. Lyrics are projected onto the club's wall-sized screen, "so everyone can sing along with you and drive you crazy," Lankry says. There's no cover; the action starts at 8 p.m. Call 954-920-8777. (DF)
