The raunchy smell of the angry, youthful proletariat roaming the streets looking for good times and how to burn down the establishment will be in the air. Thirty bands will descend on Clematis Street to whip up the throngs of kids wearing studded jackets, crushing PBR tall boys with their foreheads, and styling their overgrown mops into liberty spikes.
The Ejected will be among those bands, coming to destroy the fabric of humanity. UK punk legends and forever misfits in society, they have written some truly poetic ditties, like “Cop’s Are Coming,” “Gang Warfare,” “I’m Gonna Get a Gun.” With choruses like “Cops are coming, Run! Run! Run! / Cops are coming, Run! Run! Run!,” they speak to any kid that has ever felt the need to vandalize a bank or throw a brick through the window of an insurance company. Their 1982 album A Touch of Class is a classic Brit punk record that still kicks the shit out of everyone when you listen to it.
Songs like “Young Tribes of England” and “Fast ‘n’ Loud” are the perfect records to fight your friends to. Punch each other in the face, stomp around with your tongue out, and tear off your bloody shirt — that’s how you show the band love.
The Ejected are a staple of the East End style that has been made famous countless times. The cockney swagger mixed with council-flat wage earnings that bands like the Ejected have been birthed from is a special brand of “fuck you.” Some of the great London brawlers have come out of London’s East End, and if it weren’t for the blue-collar, rough-and-tumble environment Ejected members come from, they wouldn’t be able to articulate the rage of humanity so damn well. We Are the Punx 3 Fest. With Lower Class Brats, Haram, Who Killed Spikey Jacket?, and many many more. 6 p.m., Friday through Sunday, February 28-March 1 at Respectable Street, 518 Clematis St., West Palm Beach; 561-832-9999; sub-culture.org/respectable-street. Tickets cost $60 to $80 via eventbrite.com.
Stay ahead of upcoming shows with New Times' South Florida concert schedule.
Whole Damn Mess
Here’s some smooth rock ‘n’ roll to combat your weekly panic attack.“Irons in the Wrong Fire” on their latest EP, Princes Turn to Thieves, is a fascinating record, honestly. It shows how Whole Damn Mess, like many worth their salt, is managing to grow the concept of pop rock. The song is extremely thematic and shows off the vocal range of lead singer Don Miggs. The tune “Another Sad Reminder” has a very ‘80s new-wave vibe that I’m really fucking digging.
Whole Damn Mess is a true guitar band — they make that bastard sing on every record and just when you think you’ve found their “sound,” they spin you around and you don’t know where the hell you are anymore.
The first track on the Princes album, “Wouldn’t Have It Any Other Way,” opens the record up with a roar and gives you the attitude you need to shake off that shitty job you’re stuck with and the traffic you’re stuck in to get there. Opening for Candlebox. 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, February 28 and 29 at Culture Room, 3045 N. Federal Hwy., Fort Lauderdale; 954-564-1074; cultureroom.net. Tickets are $35 via ticketmaster.com.
Nikki Hill
The Blues is coming! The blues is coming!Nikki Hill and her band are bringing her 2018 album Feline Roots to South Florida — and leave it to Hill to shake us out of our slumber and sound the alarm.
With songs like "Get Down, Crawl," Hill shows off her chops and her band lays down some real slick shit that folds like Buddy Guy would praise. Besides being an outstanding singer and songwriter, Hill also takes famous records of old and reshapes them into something new and exciting. Nikki Hill is a burst of fresh air to the world of blues and soul. 9 p.m. Friday, February 28 at the Funky Biscuit, 303 SE Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton; 561-395-2929; funkybiscuit.com. Tickets are $20 to $40 via eventbrite.com.
Gladys Knight
Are there other soul singers in contemporary American music that rival Gladys Knight?If so, there aren’t many.
Songs like "Midnight Train to Georgia" and "Neither One of Us" have completely opposite feelings and take a different approach to the music composition, yet Knight and her vocals made them into significant hits. The Empress of Soul was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and is still able to wail it out and bring on that groove that so many Americans love. As one of the many stars on Motown Records, Gladys Knight & The Pips enjoyed tremendous success both nationally and internationally. 8 p.m. Saturday, February 29 at Hard Rock Live, Seminole Hard Rock Resort & Casino, 1 Seminole Way, Hollywood; 866-502-7529; seminolehardrockhollywood.com. Tickets are $45 to $90 via ticketmaster.com.
Jacquees
Since we’re talking about greats from Georgia, we need to talk about what is happening now in the Peach State — and that thing is Jacquees.With his album King of R&B, released in November 2019, the "Cash Money" artist is claiming the sovereign mantle, and he isn’t playing around either. The song has an impressive supporting cast, as does the album — from Young Thug and Gunna to Tory Lanez, Future, T.I., Quavo, TK Kravitz, and a bunch more. The song "Verify" is a tremendous blend of Jacquees' smooth vocals and Young Thug's notoriously mars-ish approach. The record is Georgia-heavy and proves just how deep the talent runs coming out of Atlanta. With FYB and Bluff City. 7 p.m. Friday, February 28 at Revolution Live, 100 SW Third Ave., Fort Lauderdale; 954-449-1025; jointherevolution.net. Tickets are $26 via ticketmaster.com.
