This might take some strain, considering the Twitter-fueled micro-attention-span of early 2k9, but think hard back to 2007. Did you watch a lot of music-themed reality TV? If so, you may remember a Fuse program centered on the Bodog-sponsored national Battle of the Bands. It set some 16 bands into…
Swamp Stomp Music FestivalSaturday, April 25, 2009Jimbo’s, Virginia KeyBetter Than: The average assignment.The Third Annual Swamp Stomp independent music festival, under a mystical cloud of weed smoke, joyfully stomped the shite out of the swamp Saturday night. It was a down-home backcountry bait shack stomp-fest at Miami’s official fugitive hideaway/fashion…
Need an excuse/reason to go check out the casino on May 14th or June 17? Here it is: local independent jam rockers the New Planets are playing a couple free shows before the Don Henley and Bad Company concerts. Think of it as a fantastic way to augment your current/future…
Tom JonesSaturday, April 25, 2009The Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason TheaterBetter Than: A time-capsule set to 1971Of all the many remarkable things to be said about seeing Tom Jones stage these days — and trust me, there are many remarkable things to be said — perhaps the single…
Fleetwood MacThursday, April 23, 2009Bank Atlantic Center, SunriseBetter Than: A Big MacHaving seen Fleetwood Mac at least a dozen times, and Stevie Nicks on her own probably twice as many, suffice to say I have a bit of history to compare Thursday night’s stop in SoFla for the Fleetwood Mac…
The Hukilau seems to be stepping up it’s game this year with at least one of this writer’s favourite surf instrumental bands, Los Straightjackets. Aside from their musicality and deft picking, the band is also noted for it’s decision to don mascaras de lucha libre whilst wearing business attire. The…
On any given day in South Florida, there are literally hundreds of band playing. Here are a few of the highlights for this weekend:Kill Miss Pretty is playing the super swanky Pangaea in Hollywood on Friday at 8 p.m.The Pretty Faces are at Propaganda in Lake Worth at 8 pm…
Michael McKean first broke out on a mass scale in pop culture in the late 1970s, as the greaser doofus Lenny on the TV show Laverne and Shirley. As a hopeless but likeable sap, McKean was the quintessential top-rate comic actor: believable and empathetic, even as the most ridiculous of…
You’re up to speed on the Heineken TransAtlantic Festival here in SoFla. I know you are because we’ve been telling you about it for weeks. Right here. And here. And via any of a number of other posts to Crossfade in recent days. So you know about this fantastic series…
People From Venus may be one of the most aptly named bands on the local circuit — it can seem, at certain musical moments, as though the band has beamed in from another planet. Take those weird eerie beeps and bloops at the beginning of “Lipstick,” the band’s should -…
The protopunk glamazons the New York Dolls, or what’s left of them, will be playing the Culture Room on June 10. Guitarist Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan died in the 1990s, but archival material surfaced, Urban Outfitters made some T-shirts, and whad – da – ya – know, the New…
BoomkatWednesday, April 22, 2009LIV, Miami BeachWorse Than: Taryn Manning’s supporting role in Britney Spears’ Crossroads. Seriously. It’s hard to believe that an actress like Taryn Manning left her growing silver screen resume in Hollywood to pursue her dream of being a hot shot electro vocalist. Perhaps, the crafters over at…
Is anyone excited about Better Than Ezra coming to the Culture Room on July 11? The most prolific song they’ve made since 1993 is “Juicy”, which was played incessantly during Desperate Housewives promos a few years back. Deluxe, the band’s best-selling album thanks to the single “Good”, was released over…
16 year old actress and pop star Demi Lovato is kicking off a huge summer tour in support of her debut album “Don’t Forget” and is hitting the BankAtlantic Center on August 1. Demi is also the current star of Disney Channel’s Sonny With A Chance, so if you have…
Living ThingsWednesday, April 22, 2009Culture Room, Fort LauderdaleBetter Than: Any damn glam rock band you’ve ever heard up close and personal. First things first: Last night Living Things played in the wrong place at the wrong time. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I dig Culture Room. In fact, I’ve spent…
If you’ve danced to anything with a four – to – the – floor beat anytime over the last 25 years or so, you’ve done so because DJ Frankie Knuckles made it possible. Yes, from his stints at Chicago’s Warehouse (where the name of the music comes from, naturally), through…
We’re still trying to figure out just who Katy Perry really is, although it’s possible the former Christian-pop singer doesn’t know yet, either. Raised in the Santa Barbara area by parents who were pastors, she brims with musical talent and potential, stalking the stage with natural (although she calls it…
Fridays at the Vagabond consistently book national acts that are on the edge of mass consciousness or just above the radar, and this Friday, L.A.’s Gliss continues in that vein. The three-piece has moved past the hype of being Billy Corgan’s favorite band and is simply existing as a legitimate…
Swamp Stomp is truly a homegrown party, a superindependent minifestival that has steadily grown since its inception in 2007. The first edition was pretty much a house party in some UM kids’ back yard, and students from the U are still behind this event. But with some 500 attendees last…
Those who believe Venezuela’s most valuable export is good old 100 percent crude black gold, the stuff of which Middle Eastern wars are made, would be incorrect. Though oil has been the South American country’s chief export since 1926, it doesn’t hold a candle to salsa singer Oscar D’Leon, whose…
Last summer, when New Times interviewed guitarist Juan Montoya, cofounder of Florida underground-metal powerhouse Torche, he explained one of the differences between him and his bandmate (and friend of 15-plus years), singer-guitarist Steve Brooks: “Steve is the more realistic one in the band… and I’m the one that’s always like,…
Although trumpeter Chris Botti is, by his own admission, neither a particularly daring improviser nor a bravura technician, he has carved out a highly lucrative niche in the jazz world by emphasizing melody and mood. Whether paying tribute to his Italian-American heritage on his CD Italia, or tackling standards from…
