No matter how bad Americans are at geography, there's one shape in the Union everyone can pick out when handed a blank map. That's Florida.
The uniqueness of the Sunshine State extends beyond the configuration of its borders. There are just certain Floridian qualities that capture the world's imagination -- usually pretty grimy, but oftentimes just plain tacky.
To celebrate the passing of another year of sweating through T-shirts and entertaining out-of-towners with mojitos, we present the ten most Florida concerts of 2014.
Drone films Tortuga Music Festival 2014 on Fort Lauderdale Beach from Eagle Eye: Aerial Filmworks on Vimeo.
10. Tortuga Music Festival
April 12 - 13, 2014
Fort Lauderdale Beach Park
With 1,350 miles of shoreline, only Alaska has more coast to party on than Florida. But even with all that beach on our hands, besides a few drum circles, not that much music is played by the ocean.
Tortuga Music Festival, which raises money for marine conservation, is one of the few concerts that takes advantage of our Atlantic-side views. And it does it total Florida style.
There's some reggae, with acts like Ziggy Marley, but mostly, the focus is on the twang. It's a total country concert, and that's demonstrated by the peoples' fashions. Folks wearing cowboy hats and boots on the hot sands of Fort Lauderdale Beach, it's a wild time with plenty of blondes, boobs, and Confederate flags in plain view.
See also: Tortuga Music Festival Announces 2015 Dates
9. SunFest
April 30 - May 4, 2014
Downtown West Palm Beach
Given that the sun is always shining bright, even when the rain's falling, naming a massive five-day outdoor festival SunFest in downtown West Palm, seems appropriate.
The best, most Florida thing about this long-running outdoor affair though is the acts that perform. They always give local musicians a chance to share the stage with legends like Smashing Pumpkins or Jimmy Cliff. This past year, local aspiring Justin Bieber Austin Mahone even broke out some dance moves on the SunFest stage to the tween screams of a packed lawn.
See also: Five Reasons SunFest Is Unusual, in a Good Way
