Lee DeWyze Wins American Idol, Visits BankAtlantic Center August 3

American Idol season nine is finally over, and no amount of spoiler saving is going to keep you from finding out that Illinois native Lee DeWyze won the crown Wednesday night. According to a compelling assessment from the New York Times’ Jon Caramanica, runner-up Crystal Bowersox should have been the…

Art: The Swell Season at Fillmore Miami by Iron Forge Press

Fort Lauderdale-based Iron Forge Press creates some of the most eye-popping rock posters we’ve ever seen. Whenever possible, we’ll share their designs right here on County Grind.Iron Forge Press’ Chuck Loose and Ian Rowan can take any type of music, and come up with a way to match — better…

Murs Tops Culture Room’s Hip-Hop Bill

Knotty hip-hop wordsmith Murs just can’t stop. With more than 20 albums to his credit since the mid-’90s, he has just dropped Fornever, a collaborative album with producer 9th Wonder. The album marries two creative types obsessed with pushing the boundaries of hip-hop, including a fresh revisit to Common’s classic…

Kill Miss Pretty Plays Florida? Yeah! at Poor House

In the latest edition of Florida? Yeah!, curated by Fort Lauderdale arts collective the Bubble, Boynton Beach dark-wavers Kill Miss Pretty headline a varied local bill. Fresh off an appearance at Exxxotica in Miami in mid-May, the vivacious Alicia Olink and band are working a new single, “Judy Garland,” a…

This Week in Print: Stonefox Reunites and Big Things Are Afoot

You may have heard that New Times’ favorite blues-rock noisemakers Stonefox, profiled expertly last year by Arielle Castillo, broke up. And then they got back together. Here is the review featuring my conversation with Courtney Hambright regarding the “unofficial” Stonefox reunion show at Poor House last month, and here is…

Moving Units: Radio-Active Records’ Top 5 Releases for May 18-24

In our Moving Units column, Mike Ramirez at Fort Lauderdale’s Radio-Active Records graciously keeps us up-to-date and comments on the current releases flying out of his store each week.Radio-Active’s assistant manager Paul Poletz kept the column alive last week while Ramirez went and abused his wallet in New York. There’s…

Christina Aguilera and U2 Postpone South Florida Concerts

Let the Xtina-Gaga rivalry rumors continue as Christina Aguilera has postponed her summer tour and will not visit Cruzan Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach on August 7. The current plan is to slide the dates to 2011 and to promote Bionic, in stores June 4, at that point. “The singer…

Ex-Hold Steady Keyboardist Franz Nicolay Joins Against Me!

Anticipation is building for this evening’s Heineken Inspire concert at Miami’s Moore Building (4040 NE 2nd Ave) in the Design District featuring Cold War Kids and the Hold Steady. Unfortunately for mustache fans the world over, we found out in our recent interview with Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn that…

Givers Hand Over Infectious Indie Pop at Propaganda

Givers’ infectious indie pop recently caught the ear of the Dirty Projectors, and a touring partnership was formed earlier this year. Now the Lafayette, Louisiana, quintet is out on the road as a headliner, and groove-heavy songs like “Ceiling of Plankton” have been positively aligned with Vampire Weekend’s Afro-pop influences…

The Hold Steady Returns to South Florida for Heineken Inspire Event

The Hold Steady’s lead singer/barker, Craig Finn, quits drinking every year for a month and a half for Lent, but he’s back to imbibing for the headlining slot at an event in Miami’s Design District sponsored by the king of green-bottled beers, Heineken. The group’s just-released fifth full-length album, Heaven…

Broward-Palm Beach Nightlife Columnist Visits, Likes the Bubble

Image courtesy of Jason CrosbyThis Elvis Costello got us pumped up until we found out it was $2,500​Based upon how much Crossfade covers the Bubble and Surfer Blood and, uh, Nonpoint, readers might assume that we’re a bunch of skinny-jeaned, asymmetrically coiffed brats over here, and they’d probably be kind…

Moving Units: Radio-Active Records’ Top 5 Releases for May 11-17

Sorry guys, I think this cover is the most interesting thing about the National​In our Moving Units column, Mike Ramirez at Fort Lauderdale’s Radio-Active Records  graciously keeps us up-to-date and comments on the current releases flying out of his store each week.This week, Radio-Active Records’ assistant manager Paul Poletz fills…