It was a scene straight out of an ’80s hair-band video. Stacey — an attractive, sophisticated-looking girl with glasses and tied-back hair — seemed oddly out of place amid the bar full of tattooed arms, loose tongues, and loud mouths. This was a Southern Flaw/Trapped by Mormons show, after all…
MOMIX dances with rattlesnakes SAT 2/12 The lights dim, the music starts, and the dancers appear to have been eaten by the giant Gila monster crawling across the stage. Huh? No, there wasn’t a peyote button in your taco — it’s Opus Cactus, the latest offering by dance illusionist group…
When’s the last time you saw dancers share the stage with an alligator wrestler? Probably around the same time you viewed an art exhibit outside a rodeo ring. And if you’re familiar with the annual Seminole Tribal Fair and Rodeo, chances are you’ll be experiencing it all again this week…
And a real suit of armor too SAT 2/5 Assuming you’ve finally taken down all those bulky holiday decorations, it’s time you filled your living room with something of artistic value. But before making such an investment, you should know that the alleged Chagall you’re looking at in one booth…
See the world through old maps FRI 2/4 Who needs a 1763 map of Philadelphia anyway? Find out when 50 antique-map dealers from around the world — armed with newfangled Mapquest printouts and rental car keys — descend on the Miami International Map Fair to show off their collective cartographic…
As the comedy world mourns the loss of late-night god Johnny Carson, don’t look to Bill Cosby to lend a Kleenex. Once again ensnarled in a nasty controversy (this time it’s sexual harassment allegations), the Cos had to bow out from his January performance in Fort Lauderdale. But there’s no…
You want me to do what? WED 2/2 So the legendary Second City comedy troupe chose to sit out this year’s Miami Improv Festival. A loss, no doubt, but hardly a deterrent; with six more troupes than last year’s festival (including the Groundlings, the alma mater of megastars like Will…
Wyeth keeps it real THU 1/27 When Andrew Wyeth’s parents pulled him from public school in the middle of the third grade (due to his whooping cough), the boy might have become one of those home-schooled weirdos who think the devil lurks around every corner of our flat Earth. Fortunately,…
in the blues pond TUE 1/25 Eric Bibb is an American music blue-blood. His father (Leon Bibb) led the New York Folk Revival of the ’60s; his uncle (John Lewis) was the founder of the Modern Jazz Quartet. As a child, he learned from master bluesmen like Taj Mahal and…
Beware of loose dragons SAT 1/22 A hundred years ago — back when people read for entertainment — the art of magazine illustration was in what is now considered its golden age. Leading the way were artists like Maxfield Parrish, whose luminous skies and fantastic imagery graced the pages of…
Poets are like rock stars FRI 1/21 In 1998, just after she’d been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, writer Patricia Smith was fired from the Boston Globe for having fabricated material in her columns. The scandal pretty much spelled the end of Smith’s journalism career. From her home in Westchester…
How’s this for fan loyalty? A week after the release of its first album in 15 years, Camper Van Beethoven was greeted last October at its Montreal gig by some conniving crooks who figured the band’s gear would look better in a pawn shop than on a stage. Great –…
Baboons defy classification but demand attention SAT 1/15 Reviewers have struggled to classify the music of the Baboons ever since the band premiered a decade ago. “Spicy rhythmic gumbo!” said one. “Afro-Cuban funk and roll!” declared another. “Urban-tribal funk,” one more dribbled. And so on. Would it help if we…
FRI 1/7 Like any art form, dance is open to interpretation. So when Veronica Robleto and Brooke Waszak decided to participate in the Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art’s (601 Lake Ave., Lake Worth) exhibition “I Feel Mysterious Today,” the theme allowed them to keep details about their routine on…
Look at the publicity photo of New York City’s Elefant. Now consider the title of the band’s debut album, Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid. We know what you’re thinking: “Oh, great, more Strokes wannabes.” Granted, the photo does make the guys look as ostentatious as the most bling-happy rapper (Is this…
Waaay far out SAT 1/1 Garage rock is so 2001, ain’t it ? Sure, if all you know is the Billboard version of it. Never mind that the genre has been carried on for the past 40 years, from the Sonics in the ’60s all the way down to today’s…
Just like the scores of rock musicians who get rich by stealing guitar riffs from their heroes (insert Rolling Stone’s flavor of the month here), the visual arts are rife with those who earn their way by impersonating the masters. Some overtly pay tribute, while others try to conceal their…
The following letter, regarding Damon Wayans’ sitcom My Wife and Kids, was posted on PetitionOnline.com, where it received 140 signatures: “To: Touchstone Television “Re: My Wife and Kids on DVD/VHS “My Wife and Kids is a show with moral values that covers relevant issues for young people today. It displays…
No Tinky Winkies here TUE 12/21 Oh, how cute — a Japanese doll collection! It must be full of cuddly little animals like the ones on those adorable Pokémon cards. Er… not exactly. The dolls in the exhibit “Ningyo: Antique Japanese Dolls” are even older than those in your grandma’s…
Two outs, bottom of the ninth, and our team is getting its ass thoroughly pounded in what has been a disappointing season for South Florida music festivals. It’s 11 months into the year, and there hasn’t been a single, all-encompassing rock ‘n’ roll fiesta — something that caters equally to…
Driving on Powerline Road through northern Pompano Beach, it’s hard to imagine that anything remotely artistic exists amid the scores of retail buildings and nondescript warehouses (and, of course, that beautiful mountain of a landfill). But if you venture to the last warehouse on 32nd Street and enter Bay 7…
THU 2 Sometimes in comedy all it takes is the right quote or a really outrageous character to make a lasting impression. John Witherspoon has experience with both, from simple sound bites like “Bang! Bang! Bang!” from Boomerang or hard-headed characters like the father in Friday. Though never quite able…
