Raina McLeod Janelle Monae performs at the Florida Room at the Delano Thursday night. Janelle Monae Thursday, July 17, 2008 Florida Room at the Delano, Miami Beach She came out from behind a curtain of strobe lights and fabricated smoke, but all of the faux atmosphere in the world couldn’t…
The world’s favorite Miami R&B quartet, Pretty Ricky, just released a video for its latest single, “Knockin Boots ’08.” And again, we’re reassured that the boys are totally celibate virgins…. Kidding! This video is full of grade-A, Madonna-in-the-early-Nineties style beefcake (I guess they needed to save wardrobe budget money? hah)…
Summer’s heavy precipitation might have you thinking Fort Lauderdale’s Flamenco in the Sun Festival is a misnomer. Then again, that brow-beating Andalusian sunlight is probably what got the Southern Spanish region’s rhythm-makers crying long, mercy-begging ojalas in the first place. With all that stomping and pounding, it’s hard for God…
It’s ironic, of course, that consistency, longevity, and predictability have come to be the hallmarks of “true punk,” but that’s where we are more than three decades after Johnny Rotten blew his nose all over things. As Jello Biafra recently sang, there’s all these bands singing their “hits from the good…
Dweezil Zappa can’t stop talking about his late father. “Frank’s music just needs to be heard,” he says. Alongside brother Ahmet and several of Frank’s former sidemen, Dweezil now re-creates his dad’s music on the Zappa Plays Zappa tour, featuring material from the elder Zappa’s mid-’70s heyday. “People tell me…
Listening to the music of the Jacob Jeffries Band is better than any antidepressant you can imagine. The talented foursome is one of my favorite local bands right now, as their songs and stage presence manage to keep everyone at their shows in a good mood. How do they do…
Going for the Haitian vote. Lord knows the Democrats are going to have to pull out all of the stops this November to take over the White House and this latest news might help them do it…or it could backfire. According to NME, part-time Miami resident Wyclef Jean along with…
Here’s the latest variation in the ever-popular Guitar Hero competition circuit: a Hard-Rock-Cafe-sponsored bonanza focusing specifically on the game’s all-Aerosmith edition. The Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Rocks the Hard Rock national tour takes place in 15 different cities; next Monday, July 21 marks the Miami date. And while the Seminole Hard…
Ari Justin Rothenberg Gym Class Hereos performing at the Warped Tour’s Miami stop at Bicentennial Park. Vans Warped Tour Saturday, July 12, 2008 Bicentennial Park, Miami It was hard to say whether any band or artist stood out most on this year’s Vans Warped Tour. The sounds varied from the…
Juan Luis Guerra Saturday, July 12, 2008 American Airlines Arena, Miami Roaring airplanes – on dual screens – and luggage towing flight attendants on stage, albeit uninspiring production tools, were clear indicators that Juan Luis Guerra could not be far behind. And while his mere presence seconds later was welcomed…
Dave Matthews Band Saturday, July 12, 2008 Cruzan Amphitheatre, West Palm Beach Better Than: Eating, drinking and being merry with a side of chocolate-covered weed brownies. After what seemed to be the perfect return to West Palm Beach by the Dave Matthews Band Friday night, fans wandered back to the…
I just got word that Miami’s favorite girl band, A.K.A. is playing a show at the Vagabond tonight which is sure to be a good time. If you’re not hip to them yet, go and get acquainted. They were just voted best female band by the New Times (since when…
Jose D. Duran Gravy Train!!!! perform at White Room Thursday night. Gravy Train!!!! with Mission Veo and Jose El Rey Thursday, July 10, 2008 White Room, Miami Better than: Er, gay porn I suppose. Gravy Train!!!! (yes, the exclamation points are part of the name) are one of those bands…
Charles Sweeting There’s a good chance that you’ve been hearing his new hit, “She Bout It” a few times a day if you’ve listen to Power 96 lately. His name doesn’t initially seem ready-made for stardom but his sound definitely is. And when you think about it, if you’re a…
More than just a handy reminder to aspiring poets and lyricists everywhere, the Miami-based group Nothing Rhymes With Orange strikes a perfect balance of shoegaze, pop, and anthemic guitar rock. Although it may not seem so imaginative to list the likes of Oasis and Ryan Adams as influences, this four-piece…
How long does it take to fall in love with Cat Shell’s voice? Depending upon how open your heart is to melodic, blues-tinged rock ‘n’ roll, not very long. The gorgeous singer/songwriter is an ace guitar player and a witty lyricist, and she has been a veteran of the local…
Want to make a hipster snarl? Just utter the following innocuous sentence — “Wanna go see the Dave Matthews Band?” — and watch the fun begin. The mere suggestion of attending such a patchwork and patchouli-laced event will make your tight-pants-wearing, electronic-music-loving friends recoil in horror. Few bands are as…
These days, there aren’t a lot of venues left in Broward County to catch live hip-hop. Most of the clubs where the genre used to thrive have either shut down or no longer cater to that type of music. So it forces hip-hop heads to get creative when it comes…
Hey vinyl lovers and electronic fans, the highly under publicized Karma Records in Fort Lauderdale just announced that they’re having a huge sale for the rest of the summer. I normally wouldn’t advertise a business specifically on the blog, but supporting independent record stores is a different animal all together…
Based on looks, I think they failed. Cute Is What We Aim For is likely the perfect 21st-century pop band. Almost purpose built for short-attention-span marketing campaigns, the four gents in CIWWAF focus so heavily on pop sheen, hooks, and scenester touchstones that it’s often difficult to figure out just…
Gravy Train!!!! I was debating whether to start this post with “All aboard the Gravy Train!!!!” But, er, I resisted the temptation. But don’t resist on checking out the California quartet Gravy Train!!!! (yes, the exclamation points are part of the name, I suppose to express utter joy) at White…
I’ll post a full review later on, but I wanted to get the set list up for the very excellent Peter Murphy gig last Saturday at Revolution. Because his current tour is billed as a “retrospective,” I know I’m not alone in obsessively Googling his set lists (hey, I was…
