Concerts

What a cover of Toto’s “Africa” can mean for the music industry.

I got into the indie-rock legends not long after they had broken up in 1993. It took a couple listens for me to fall into their spell of the dynamic that inspired Nirvana, Radiohead, and every other band of the era. Their music had no dead spots. It was all energy and drive. The lyrics, though, were what kept me coming back. They were mysterious enough that it was hard to know what singer Black Francis was hollering about.

Having the Pixies open for Weezer would have been indie rock sacrilege. Not to worry, the two bands are co-headlining this Friday’s show at Coral Sky Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach. For a complete change of pace, you can catch bro country poster boy Luke Bryan at the same venue on Thursday night. Debaser plays Revolution Live that night, and the Black Dahlia Murder headlines the Fort Lauderdale venue on Saturday night.  Here’s a look at all of these and more of the best concerts in South Florida this week.

The Pen & The Piano Tour hits Revolution Live this Friday.

Styles, who shot to international fame at the age of 16 with the boy band One Direction before launching his recent solo career, has spent the past eight years performing for stadiums of preteen and teenage girls.

Judging by its name, you might think Combichrist is a Sunday-morning church band. But then you hear those notes of super-aggro-industrial electronic music ripping through the air. It all becomes beautiful blasphemy built exclusively for raging like a maniac.

Who’s responsible for those catchy breakup bops you’ve been replaying in your head for months? The culprit is surely English singer and model Dua Lipa, whose “New Rules” and “Idgaf” have become the undeniable single ladies anthems of 2018. She’ll bring those songs and impeccable fashion to Bayfront Park this Tuesday. But if pop stars aren’t your thing, you might be interested in the total opposite end of the musical spectrum, namely Norwegian industrial metal band Combichrist at Culture Room this weekend. And if you’re somewhere in between, Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness wraps up the work week with a show at Revolution Live this Friday.Here’s a look at all of these and more of the best concerts in South Florida this week.

LGBTQ fans have long played a crucial role in the careers of pop stars, but artists have not always returned the favor. Tour mates Harry Styles and Kacey Musgraves are rewriting the rules about how queer communities and identities should be approached within the mainstream medium of pop music.

The free party offers one of the founders of Joy Division and New Order, Peter Hook, who will perform with his band the Light. Respectable Street owner Rodney Mayo explains why this booking is a personal triumph. “I am the biggest Joy Division fan. I’ve been trying to get Peter Hook to play for 30 years,” he says. Now that’s commitment.

No one can say summer is a slow time for music in South Florida. From Britney Spears to the Smashing Pumpkins, some of the summer’s biggest tours are stopping here. We’ve compiled a list of the summer blockbusters heading south this June through August. From shows at the American Airlines Arena to tour stops at Hard Rock Stadium, here are the ten biggest concerts coming our way.

L.A.-based rockers make music with very little wasted motion, instrumentally or lyrically — they get to the point.

The Canadian pop-country singer known for her girl-power anthems, tragic childhood, and “perfect” face, Shania Twain, recently said in an interview with the Guardian that if she were a U.S. citizen, she would have cast a ballot for known pervert Donald Trump. “I would have voted for him because…

Yesterday the Fort Lauderdale music venue Revolution Live issued a news release announcing an act called Debaser will play there Thursday, June 21. Ever heard of Debaser? Me neither. But because “Debaser” is the name of one of my favorite songs by the Pixies, I scrolled down the screen, eager for more info. Under the “who” subheading of the news release, where normally every facet of a band’s existence is usually recounted, all it said was: “DEBASER – A CULT BAND!”

The songwriter known as Bahamas says he works best while he’s out of his element.

For Justin Timberlake, the way forward is in the past. In January, Justin Timberlake told Zane Lowe of Beats 1 that after being labeled a pop artist despite his best attempts at crafting R&B records, he had a moment of clarity. “I just felt like, Let me do whatever the…

It’s been quite a year for Chris Carrabba. In February, his band Dashboard Confessional released its first album in nearly nine years, Crooked Shadows. It’s everything you’d imagine from a reemerged Dashboard. There are hints of romance, reflection, and classic angst, all conveyed in a slightly poppier and more modernized style than he’s employed in past work.

Attention: Dan Campbell is making his return. No, Dolphins fans, not that Dan Campbell — the interim Fins coach in 2015. It’s Dan Campbell the lead singer of the Philly-bred pop-punk outfit the Wonder Years. The band — also featuring guitarists Matt Brasch and Casey Cavaliere, bassist Josh Martin, drummer Mike Kennedy, and keyboardist Mikey Kelly — will play Revolution Live in Fort Lauderdale May 12.

“Two more spine injections and then I’m free.” That is not a text a writer typically receives before interviewing a musician, but there’s nothing illicit about the message. The man sending it is Dr. Jay Kuchera. He plays guitar for the blues-jam-rock-bluegrass-melding band the String Assassins, which will rock the Ford Stage at SunFest this Saturday, May 5.

Grouplove has always come across as a synth-pop band in the studio but performs with the energy, excitement, and loudness of a rock band.

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez doesn’t want to be forever cast as “the activist rapper,” though he acknowledges his music career and work as an environmental advocate parallel and support each another.

By any measure of success, Little Dragon has had an enviable career. Since its formation in 1996, the Gothenburg, Sweden-based synth-pop band has traveled the world, cultivated a devoted following, and collaborated with its musical heroes, as well as inspired a new generation of artists.

Just days after Revolution Live hosted a benefit concert for the families of the 17 people killed in this month’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, AEG Presents and the City of Pompano Beach have announced another fundraiser. Members of New Found Glory, Dashboard Confessional, and Yellowcard will take the Pompano Beach Amphitheater stage May 16. Proceeds from all ticket sales, concessions, silent auctions, and sponsorships will go to the Broward Education Foundation, which will distribute funds to the families of those killed or injured in the shooting.