One of the burdens of living is that we all must work. At this moment, as you read this, you may be seated at a desk you would rather not be at, or you may be seated on a sofa, unemployed, wishing you were at a desk you would rather…
For nearly a decade the indie community has been making the trek to West Palm Beach to hit the dance floor at Flaunt, Respectable Street’s weekly Thursday night party. The DJs play everyone’s favorite hits from electro to 80’s rock, and it’s almost a guarantee that you’ll hear the sounds…
What can be written about Miami music legend Rat Bastard that hasn’t already been typed? Not much. Perhaps that’s why musicians Rob Elba and Brian Franklin orchestrated the music and lyrics to the Hearing Damage: Songs Inspired By the Life and Noise of Rat Bastard (AKA Rat Opera), which honors…
Buckethead With Lynx Culture Room, Fort Lauderdale Wednesday, September 21, 2011 Better than: Buckethead on Guitar Hero The enigmatic, avant-garde metal guitarist Buckethead came out to a nearly sold out crowd for the mid-week billing at the Culture Room. Sporting the staple KFC bucket on his head and expressionless mask…
Bad BrainsWith Birdhand and Furious Dudes Revolution, Fort Lauderdale Wednesday, September 21, 2011 Better Than: Any of the Henry Rollins / Bad Brains collabos. The Reunion Mania of the 2000s is a curious phenomenon. Sometimes (usually?) it’s all a bunch of nostalgic, cash-in bullshit. Every now and then — like, for example,…
The Spirit of the Suwanee Music Park is always a beautiful and sacred place. A couple times a year, though, the spirit grows especially warm and inviting — once in the fall when Magnolia Fest is held, and once in the Spring for Springfest. With Mag Fest just around the…
New-wave nostalgia hits Respectable Street hard when lauded ’80s act Modern English drops by West Palm Beach. Although the band did technically get back together in the late ’90s and record new material, albeit with a slightly different lineup, it’s the group’s mid-’80s heyday for which it’s most beloved. Back…
Baton Rouge-based guitarist Tab Benoit is an artist for whom geographical context is everything. As a solo performer and songwriter, Benoit has specialized in just the kind of swampy picking and throaty, rough-around-the-edges singing you would associate with his home turf. But though he’s a true bluesman, he’s not afraid…
Sundays can be emotionally fraught. There might be a little hangover issue to deal with, and then for the 9-to-5ers, there’s the additional looming specter of the even more dreaded weekday, Monday. Luckily, for this particular edition of the end of the weekend, Sunday is a fun day thanks to…
In the ’90s, a new breed of frontman was born. Clawed from the guts of the defunct spandex-wearing, teased-haired, makeup-wearing cock-rockers. These newcomers had no qualms about stealing bread from the mouths of their decadent predecessors as they rose to prominence in those odd times. Perhaps the best known of…
Lady Gaga is not the first artist with a kooky, eye-catching wardrobe — nor will she be the last. The fashion parade presented by James Brown, Madonna, Elton John, Prince and, hell, even Liberace has kept goofy getups integrated in pop music for decades. She’s all the rage and has…
Want to step in the name of love with R. Kelly? Details are still scant, but the R&B superstar is set to bring his classy self to South Florida for a weekend of high-end festivities around the state. The events are billed “Black & White” parties because Kelly would like…
These days, it seems that Miami is in no shortage of bands who like to party. With endless ragers like Jacuzzi Boys and Pool Party, the town has made something of a name for itself in the category of sweaty, drunken dance-offs. Jumping into the fray is none other than…
Many Floridians observed last week that the sweltering beast that is summer is beginning to break. Though the heat is still upon us, its intensity is waning at this point, and it will soon be safe to go back outside. Indeed, the coming of autumn (AKA weather in the 80s,…
Love those My Morning Jacket dudes, but it’s gotta be said that they are not quite normal. The Louisville, Kentucky staple of Bonnaroo has done much to defy stereotypes of being an alt-country/roots act by experimenting with many psychedelic sounds, and weird Muppet-esque videos.Now, Jim “Yim Yames” James and his…
JourneyWith Foreigner and Night RangerCruzan Amphitheatre, West Palm BeachSunday, September 18, 2011Better than: Running off with a member of Styx. Recently, the ultimate melodic rock powerhouse that is Journey has found itself riding the wave of a massive resurgence. Credit both in no small part to The Sopranos’ final episode…
Anyone who has taken part in a Japanese tea ceremony (who hasn’t) knows that the preparation of the tea, and cleaning up afterwards, are just as important as the act of sipping the tea. And we at County Grind know that this idea applies to attending a rock show as…
John Mayer has scrapped many of his plans this fall that involve singing while he receives treatment for “something next to my vocal cords called a granuloma.”The pop singer-songwriter posted a message on his Tumblr page today announcing that he will not perform at next weekend’s iHeartRadio Music Festival, and…
Lake Worth’s hard-to-classify swampy-punk, crusty-folk movement’s female-fronted the Darling Sweets is set to unveil its recorded debut at Propaganda tonight. Sounding like something out of a dusty Mississippi Delta roadhouse dive, this quintet’s self-titled 6-song EP is comprised of material put together by the group’s fiery-haired lead singer Lindsey Sayre and guitarist/ mandolin-player Adam…
Two Man Gentleman BandMonterey Club, Fort LauderdaleThursday, September 15 As they waited to play, the Two Man Gentlemen Band sat on the couch at the back of the Monterey barroom. It’s on the plush side, and has surely harbored a fair share of public indecency. In a sea of beards,…
The original running of DIY experimental music festival Death to the Sun occurred in September of 2009 at Harvey’s by the Bay at the MiMO (“Miami Modern”) American Legion outpost. It was a 12-hour local music marathon and, as curator Ricardo Guerrero describes it, “the ultimate farewell-to-summer party.” That first…
It has been a good several weeks since Hurricane Irene was shivering anyone’s bones in South Florida, but its reverberations are still felt today. The makeup date for Skullcandy’s Identity Festival, which was supposed to happen at Miami’s Bayfront Park on August 25, has been canceled.There was a brief glimmer…
