The musical career of Lake Worth’s irrepressible troubadour John Ralston has had as many twists and turns as the tail of the dragon. Much like the Tail of the Dragon, a notoriously windy 11-mile stretch of U.S. Route 129 on the Tennessee/North Carolina border. It’s just a stone’s throw from…
The anticipated delivery of REBEL’s new EP Locations was finally actualized at Green Room in Fort Lauderdale this past weekend. The band spent time out of the limelight since last November, but you wouldn’t know it by their essentially flawless performance. When we talked with the trio last week, they…
Musicians since they were wee lads, Zach Morillo and Will Mills (yes, that’s his real name) met in the jazz program at University of Miami, Frost School of Music. They’ve performed together in about four bands since then, including reggae act Jahfe and Studio City. Together, as Sounduo, their newest venture,…
Joan Rivers filled many a Depends diaper with a bit of laughter-induced pee last night at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood. The filthy, brilliant old broad spent her whole set telling the audience who was allowed to stay and who had to go. The Fashion Policer decided that nowadays, she’s…
I’m an unabashed fan of Ex Norwegian, mostly due to my fondness for their music (of course!), but also because I love to make jokes about their name. What’s the significance of an ex-Norwegian, I’ve asked them time and time again without getting any kind of serious response. And yet,…
Rock and roll by Montage, vulgar ukelele folk songs by Maddie Besser, food from Dada: What more could you ask from a Friday night? Booze. Yes, well, there’s booze. So, you’re in luck! This Friday, Besser will be singing about what Montage’s Ben Pachter, her current beau describes as, “mental…
Das EFX with DJ Immortal and DJ KlassikGreen Room, Brown Bag Wednesdays May 16De La Soul’s “Eye Know” was wafting out onto the street as I walked into a pretty empty Green Room. Like a bourgeois living room, there’s a two-story open space with balcony views from all angles, chandelier hanging dead…
In April 2011, Jimmy Pagano, a valued local drummer, promoter, and friend, was murdered trying to break up a bar fight at Fishtales Bar and Grill, where he himself hosted a weekly Pro Jam event. It was a huge blow for the Fort Lauderdale music scene and also for those…
Better than: The last Indigo Girls tourLast night, Melissa Etheridge brought her heartfelt songs, massive voice, and undeniably rocking band to the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, where she played an unexpectedly raucous set of songs spanning the length of her entire career. High on the list of songs we never…
In a time where the popular music market often presents us with poseurs and easily forgettable performers, where in the world does a cover band fit? When examining a lack of originality in the music industry — the endless supply of teeny-bopper pop (the Biebs, anyone?) and commercial rock ‘n’…
Adrenaline Mob delivers what its name promises: a rush of heavy energy powered by raw guitar force. The New York-based group is, in fact, a metal supergroup. Singer Russell Allen has also fronted Symphony X, while guitarist Mike Orlando and drummer Mike Portnoy formerly played in Dream Theater. Because of…
San Diego quintet Through the Roots boasts what is probably the quintessential California sound: breezy, beachy, and freely crossing through any number of laid-back genres. Unsurprisingly, the group’s sound is mostly grounded in reggae, but it often comes blended with rock, pop, hip-hop, and whatever else melodically fits into the…
With so many acts, rock, R&B, and otherwise, leaning toward a heavily electronic sound, it’s no wonder that at least a few rising pop groups would decide to take things back. Way back. In the case of Under the Streetlamp, we’re talking at least 50 or 60 years back —…
Nitty Scott, MCSpeakeasy Lounge, Lake Worth May 15, 2012Golden Underground and Conflict Rhymes, two of South Florida’s rising hip-hop conglomerates, teamed up last night to bring female boom bap rapper Nitty Scott, MC to the Speakeasy Lounge in Lake Worth. The Michigan born, Florida raised emcee has been crafting her rhymes…
Raphael Alvarez is not only a noise musician that’ll make your mind all woozy by way of your ears as Chrome Dick, but he also makes wavy, sludgy rock with Fort Lauderdale’s Suede Dudes. We asked him about a new monthly at Radio-Active Records of which he is a big…
Many people would have you believe that advanced age and rock ‘n’ roll are simply not in sync. That’s understandable really, given the fact that rock, especially in its earliest incarnations, was always a young person’s game. For its first couple of decades, it was a sound synonymous with rebellion…
The Growlers, Jane Jane Pollock, Honey TrainPropaganda, Lake WorthMay 14, 2012Better Than: Sitting in your room on a Monday night, waiting for school, waiting for work, waiting to die. A light pre-summer rain set the scene outside of Propaganda, Lake Worth, last night for the Growlers show, presented by TheHoneyComb and…
On May 17, Sigur Rós will debut its latest EP, Valtari, during a 24-hour global listening party appropriately entitled the “Valtari Hour.” Almost two weeks before the release date, listeners around the world can tune in for a streaming of the full album. The stream will take place on the…
Pitchfork babies Beach House are another product of the sonic empire/website’s desire to force the masses to listen to and love what we now call “indie” music. Indie music these days is starting to sound more and more like the same old same old, but hey, people go nuts over…
Washed OutCulture Room, Fort LauderdaleMay 14, 2012Better Than: Listening to chillwave in a blizzardThe air inside Fort Lauderdale’s Culture Room was as dense and stagnant as it was outside following a spattering of pre-sunset rain. The throngs that turned out didn’t give an inch. Following performances by wintry supporting act…
Clear your holiday weekend calendars, folks. The epic DJ collective known as JAMS is bringing record heat to local watering hole Laser Wolf for a Sunday afternoon Memorial Day bash. The party goes by the brilliant name: Jamburger Hill. DJs Esoteric, Kristof, Damask, and Mikey R. of Radio-Active Records will be…
The movers and shakers of local creative collective, Black Locust Society, have a way of bringing the Fort Lauderdale community together. Whether at one of its quarterly Swarm warehouse parties or a swap meet, you’ll always catch a melting pot of folks partaking in the festivities. There’s never a velvet…
