Black Cobra’s Rafael Martinez, left, and Jason Landrian, right. Colombian native and former South Florida resident Rafael Martinez has been involved with some of the most electrifying bands in metal since leaving Miami in the mid ’90s to pursue further training and education at the Berklee College of Music in…
Photo by Marta Xochilt Perez Alabama Shakes Fillmore Miami Beach Wednesday, December 4, 2013 Better Than: An abbreviated Kendrick Lamar set, a weird party not thrown by Lady Gaga on North Beach, drinking warm beer in Wynwood. As the rest of South Beach clamored about to secret parties, cramped galleries,…
Music vet and New Times scribe Lee Zimmerman offers his insights, opinions and observations about the local scene. This week: How to screw up your kid from day one. The holiday season is only now getting underway. but it’s the perfect time to pick out a musical gift for any…
Don’t be misled by the fact that the Howlin’ Brothers made their bow on Brendan Benson’s Readymade Records label. Howl has nothing to do with the modern pop motif that Benson is known for, both on his own and as a collaborator with Jack White in the Raconteurs. Howl is…
“One of the hardest things about winning American Idol is winning American Idol,” says Lee DeWyze, the 27-year-old singer-songwriter from Illinois who was crowned winner of Idol’s season nine back in 2010. “There’s this perception that if you come from American Idol, in some cases, you can’t possibly be a…
Bonnie Raitt with special guest Paul Brady Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino November 30, 2013 Better than: Ever? Bonnie Raitt is as feisty as ever at the age of 64. Here is a woman who was nurtured early on by such immortal legends as…
Jillette Johnson is the girl in high school whom all the nerds openly adored and all the jocks secretly loved — all the other girls would have been jealous, if it weren’t that the pretty, bubbly brunet was just so darned sincere. She listens to everything from Radiohead to Josh…
Funny how Jimmy Eat World’s most famous song is called “The Middle,” given it was released in 2001, landing almost exactly smack dab in the middle of the Mesa, Arizona band’s 20 year career. At first listen, with its impossibly cheery lyrics, “The Middle” seemed like the work of either…
It’s tough to get in the Christmas spirit in South Florida, what with the eighty degree weather, the iguanas outnumbering the reindeer, and the old ladies who cut you off in traffic while saluting you with their middle fingers. But for those who want to feel like Santa Claus is…
Johnny Marr Culture Room, Fort Lauderdale Tuesday, November 26, 2013 Better than: Whatever you’ll be doing on that night when Morrissey cancels his show because he has a tummy ache. It is a rare air indeed that has filled the lungs of Mr. Johnny Marr over the course of an…
The famed large yellow school bus that occupied a portion of the dance floor inside former downtown Miami hotspot, the Pawn Shop Lounge, will be rolling on up to Clematis Street come February. According to Pawn Shop’s operating partner, Paul Brown, the rumors that have been reverberating across South Florida’s…
Chris Corsano is one of the most sought-after percussionists in the nebulous sphere of intentional aural insanity that constitutes free music and its various iterations as noise, psychedelia, and having-something-to-do-with-jazz. Since the late ’90s, Corsano has performed solo and in infinite combinations of players — both heartily obscure and incredibly…
What do real, passionate music lovers do when faced with a scene marred by commercial interests and that no longer caters to their discerning tastes? They pool their resources, say “fuck this industry,” and take matters into their own hands! “We’re doing it because we’re really passionate about this music,”…
During a career that’s – so far – spanned well over 40 years, Bonnie Raitt established herself as an indomitable force in the music community. Known for her brilliant guitar work, bluesy ballads, searing, soulful vocals and, of course, mass of flaming red hair, it turns out, there’s plenty about…
Back in the 1990s, we wore Blossom hats. That’s right. And we rolled the sleeves up on our oversized T-shirts. We put on comically massive jeans called JNCOs and parted our hair so far over, that our comb-over gave our Uncle Jerry’s a run for its two dollar bills. Despite…
Certainly there are local shows aplenty blowing out eardrums all over the 954 and 561, but we’d like to tell you about a few huge concerts storming through our area this week. A few are throwbacks, and a couple are dubstep. And that’s what it’s all about up here: dichotomy…
The excess that characterized the 1980s has since been, decried, extolled, and examined ad nauseam. The musical landscape that developed during that decade was one of the most compelling in history, not necessarily based on the content that flowed through the mainstream (which was unique in its own right), but…
The music cruise industry has really taken flight — or, shall we say, set sail — in recent years, spawned by a desire by fans and musicians alike to take the fun of a festival to sea. After all, music cruises offer certain advantages, specifically a variety of bands all…
Nobody embodies Miami in the eyes of popular culture the past few years like rapper Rick Ross. When Jay Z came to town, he made sure to have Ross on stage with him. When they show the celebrities sitting court-side at the Miami Heat games, Ross is always on the…
Rock musicians. They usually have big hair, tight jeans, an insatiable appetite for yayo and even bigger-haired sexual companions. Well, that’s the image of the narcissistic, power-hungry wannabe rock god many of us have in our heads. But we hate stereotypes around here. That’s why when we saw that West…
Before the honey-sweet vocal harmonies of indie folk darlings Tegan and Sara, there were the Indigo Girls. Their brand of heartfelt folk rock had commercial appeal from the beginning, leading to a quarter-century-long career for the singer/songwriters, who continue to write and tour today. But as two openly gay best…
Florida is an unstable place: The populace is largely transient, the weather is unpredictable, and the very soil we walk on is shifting and eroding in a state of perpetuity. However, we do have a few steadfast constants we can rely on amid the ebb and flow of humans and…
