…And so is the band’s whole tour, apparently. Here’s the official scoop: “YES CONCERT SCHEDULED FOR AUGUST 1 AT HARD ROCK LIVE HAS BEEN CANCELED HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – The Yes concert scheduled for August 1 at Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino has been canceled…
I may be late to the Internet viral video game again with this one, but it made me LOL pretty hard so I had to share. Of course, the most common criticism of musicals is that in real life, people don’t just burst into narrative song. But what if they…
The best DJs are those who have, of course, an extensive knowledge of music — but often what’s more important than depth, necessarily, is an accompanying breadth. Members of the iPod generation rarely want to hear hours of even their favorite musical style any more — but they do want…
I’ll be honest — I had more or less forgotten about Yngwie Malmsteen’s existence until recently, while riding in a car with a Swedish metal type. “So where does Yngwie live?” he asked out of nowhere. And that’s when I remembered — Oh yeah, that swifty-fingered guitar legend with the…
(Image via miami.metblogs.com) Every year, for the print edition, Esquire magazine rounds up a few of its favorite bars in the country. How do they define what makes a bar great? “If it’s a dive, it’s Christ-this-place-is-a-dive dive. If it’s an Irish pub, it’s not an “Irish” pub. If it’s…
A new Rick Ross/Pharrell collabo, “Get Down,” has just leaked all over the Internet. With production by the Neptunes, the beat is more of their usual quirky, club-ready stuff, but definitely a lot faster and more trebly than anything the Boss usually rocks. Forced to rap at that speed and…
It’s been a while since we checked in on Can You Rock a Little Softer, the weekly Wednesday event that Miami New Times just named Best Open Mike night. If you don’t already know, the schedule is thus: From 9:30 to 10 p.m., there’s an acoustic open mike. Then, from…
The contrast between Jamey Jasta, normal guy relaxing, and Jamey Jasta, frontman of crushing metalcore latter-day legends Hatebreed, is striking. Onstage, the compact 29-year-old is a man possessed by righteous rage, lathering up a roiling pit of burly guys who pressure-cook just short of a full-blown melee. Often rocking a…
Hip-hop artist Camu Tao, known for his membership in acclaimed underground assemblies MHz, S.A. Smash, the Nighthawks, and the Weathermen, passed away Sunday afternoon after a two-year battle with lung cancer. Born Tero Smith, he was two weeks shy of his 31st birthday. In his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, he…
Turkey: Mor ve Otesi – “Deli” (Insane) Turkey was ballsy and pretty ass-kicking on two levels here: 1) For entering a straight-ahead contemporary rock song, with band members actually playing their instruments, and 2) For singing in Turkish. That effectively prevents any kind of crossover success, even within Europe, but…
Because today’s a slow, lazy holiday, here are some more highlights from last week’s and weekend’s Eurovision song contest. The previous blog entry looked at some countries’ intentionally funny entries. Now is time for some possibly unintentional lulz. Azerbaijan: Elnur & Samir – “Day After Day” It looks like they’re…
This last weekend marked the finals of the Eurovision song contest’s 2008 edition…. What, haven’t heard of it? If not, you’ve missed out on years of amazing spectacle, full of slinky costumes, little-heard languages, and some of the most painful strains of Euro dance pop we’ll never hear widely on…
The Nylon Summer Tour With Switches, the Virgins, Be Your Own Pet, and She Wants Revenge Revolution, Ft. Lauderdale Wednesday, May 21, 2008 Better Than: Seeing Switches, the Virgins, or Be Your Own Pet in the future at whatever bigger venues to which they will graduate. The Review: Everyone seems…
In this week’s issue of the Miami New Times, for my Suicide Blonde column I spoke with JWL B and Shunda K of the Tampa-based electro-rap group Yo Majesty. Click here to read my explanation of why they’re one of the most punk rock things out there right now. But…
I miss Franz Ferdinand. Yes, unfortunately the Scottish quartet has continually suffered massive overexposure of all its singles. But that’s because you absolutely cannot fail with top-notch, hooky, angular U.K. rock that works as well on a dance floor as on a concert stage. Luckily, to fill in that gap…
Critical Miami recently pointed out Pitchfork Media’s pretty unforgiving review of Trilla. Yes, that’s a decimal point — on Pitchfork’s sort of infamous 10-point scale, I’ve never understood how reviewers arrive at the exact number. Why is it a 2.4, and not a 2.6 or a 2.3? Is there some…
Sayre Berman Duran Duran Mizner Park Amphitheater, Boca Raton Monday, May 19, 2008 Better Than: Just about every other show in the last six months by a band existing for more than fifteen years. The Review:Last night Duran Duran, now at some 28 years and running, managed to achieve nearly…
So, who doesn’t want to gently easy into their Monday afternoon with a good 20 minutes of time-wasting bad Internet videos? The smartest YouTube searchers know that the site’s treasures are often found simply by typing “worst” whatever in the search box, or, for a grab bag, just “worst” itself,…
The Square Egg, once upon a time, was one of THE best live acts going in Miami, with a live hip-hop/jazz/soul kinda thang that has yet to be paralleled in quality in this town. But eventually, as too many people do, frontman Lee decamped to Brooklyn – boohoo! Luckily, though,…
There’s no ignoring Ben Taylor’s musical lineage: With James Taylor as dad and Carly Simon as mom, Ben’s prowess in songwriting and performance is proving itself to be as impressive as his parents’. Yet his unique style is less hippie and more hip-hop. Ben’s set to open up for mom…
Tomorrow afternoon and evening, snag a free spot to learn some of the latest hands-on electronic beatmaking programs with George Acosta, Miami boy and legendary trance and progressive house DJ. (In 2007, Acosta was voted America’s Best DJ in DJ Times magazine. Also, remember those days at the Mix afterhours,…
Duran Duran boasts a rare longevity in the world of pop music — 12 albums and some 30 years in the business. The group’s two distinguishing members, synth master Nick Rhodes and vocalist Simon LeBon, still speak to each other. Fans have accustomed themselves to the periodic, reptilian sloughing of…
