Fat Mike and NOFX are excellent party hosts, both onstage and off. Between the mess of Yuenglings and cake back stage, some powdery favors on the tour bus, and the barrage of greatest hits firing through the speakers, the band hosted an intense and liberating punk blowout for a capacity…
SunFest 2016 kicks off Wednesday, April 27 with British new wave staple Duran Duran headlining day one. Through the rest of the week, acts from across all genres will hit the festival’s three stages, from Grammy-winning pop star Meghan Trainor on Wednesday to ’90s “Push It” duo Salt-N-Pepa Saturday to…
Laramie Dean is about one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. His bright smile, slick haircut, and dapper attire only solidify this. His roots in music go back to Schenectady, NY where he wrote his first song in 1986, “Surf Wolf” — though he had never actually heard…
Santigold has worked with everyone from EDM godfather Diplo to hip-hop legends Beastie Boys to underground-turned-mainstream rapper ASAP Rocky and has written songs for pop stars like Lily Allen and Christina Aguilera. Her 2008 critically acclaimed debut, Santogold, solidified her as a genre-defying songwriter who makes it her point to…
In 1994, I was the world’s most lovelorn middle-schooler. And through the throes of my unrequited love for my eighth-grade crush, there for all the highs and lows, I had one constant companion: Boyz II Men. Maybe it sounds cheesy now, but that’s kind of the point: The Philly four-piece…
Around a month ago, just as the first rays of sun were beginning to peak over music festival season 2016, the New York Times’ team of music critics published an op-ed titled “Why We’re Not Making Plans for Coachella and Bonnaroo.” In the piece, they explain that they’ve essentially run…
Coachella, man. Wow. Like a fine wine, you just keep getting better with age. After gorging ourselves on Sumo Dogs and indie-pop, dancing ourselves dusty, head-banging to Death Grips and “Welcome to the Jungle,” and maybe drinking a beer or seven, we sifted through the rubble and our reporter’s notebooks…
Ever since Coachella announced its 2016 lineup, one band has dominated discussions about the festival: Guns N’ Roses. According to Twitter, 64 percent of all tweets about the Coachella headliners are about #GnFnR. It’s the greatest goddamned reunion in rock & roll history. So surely, when Axl’s throne wheeled out…
The fourth annual Tortuga Music Festival may be all said and done, but we’re still mulling it all over. For one thing, the fest expanded to three days this year. But if 2016’s numbers tell us anything, organizers may want to consider adding opening the gates on Thursday next year,…
Day one of the fourth-annual Tortuga Music Festival began as a languid, low-key beach hangout — until it wasn’t. Eventually, the heavens opened up and weather became the main story. But that’s for later. For the first time in Tortuga’s short history, organizers added a third day to the weekend. The…
The band has drawn comparisons to Frank Zappa and jazz supergroup Return to Forever, according to the Miami Herald. But Aaron Lebos plays in a reality all his own. The music of the Aaron Lebos Reality isn’t easily defined. Specializing in their own original mix of styles and influences, the…
Tortuga has officially set up camp along Fort Lauderdale Beach for tomorrow afternoon’s three-day music festival kick-off, which means it’s time to get your ass in gear, put together a game-day plan, and take a moment or two to read over all the boring fine-print. Here’s everything you need to…
Rukkus Tickets, a new ticket-buying mobile app that launches today, aims to stir up the rapidly growing online concert ticketing market. Based out of NYC, the app’s development team includes three University of Miami graduates: Jake Sharpless, Andrew Nasrinpay, and Rob Wyant. They describe their new venture as “a secondary…
Just over two years into their professional relationship, Muddy Magnolias’ Kallie North and Jessy Wilson are already that couple finishing each other’s sentences. Their paths first crossed in Nashville, both searching for that big break, and their instant connection set everything in motion. North’s Southern roots meshed seamlessly with Wilson’s…
This coming weekend is all about the beach, beer, babes, and of course, America. Fort Lauderdale’s annual Tortuga Music Festival successfully sets the stage for good times and great music to be enjoyed right in our backyard. This perfect combination of Corona Light, sunshine, and good ol’ country tunes puts…
Sam Hunt is the kind of 31-year-old Southern charmer you bring home to your mom. At his first-ever Grammys red carpet this past year, he donned a tailored, baby-pink suit that hugged his six-foot-four former athlete’s frame, his thick brown hair slicked back into a modest pompadour in the style…
The big names need no introduction: Blake Shelton, Dierks Bentley, and Tim McGraw will draw the biggest crowds of Tortuga 2016. But it’s the little guys, the wildcard acts at the massive, annual country-music beach party, that will provide the surprise thrills. Though most are relative newcomers, several of the…
After a 20-year hiatus from playing South Florida, Pearl Jam returned to the BB&T Center Friday night at 8 p.m. to kick off their latest North American tour. The arena was invaded by a decidedly middle-aged demographic, several fans donning band tees, graying ponytails, and throwback goatees. One even sported…
You won’t have worry about getting sand in your cowboy boots while trekking to Tortuga Music Festival this weekend. This year, Water Taxi is introducing express routes that will provide all-day service to Fort Lauderdale Beach during the country, roots and rock extravaganza, which will feature headlining artists Blake Shelton,…
Ah, Pearl Jam. The band founded in Seattle just over 25 years ago and long-associated with that city’s grunge scene of the early-’90s has continued to inspire as much fandom as it has vitriol in the music community. Outspoken activists with strong political leanings, their well-publicized battle with Ticketmaster cemented them as…
Tortuga 2016 is around the corner, and as one of South Florida’s fastest-growing music festivals, it has a lot to prove for its fourth time around. After selling out last year’s two-day Fort Lauderdale Beach event, Tortuga has added on a third day and kept fans hyped with a lineup…
There comes a day in your life when you find yourself either too old or too uncool to have an LSD hookup. Most evenings, that’s fine. You have Netflix to entertain you. But when of Montreal comes in town, it’s a small tragedy. What the Merry Pranksters set in motion…
