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…
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…
Electro DJ N-Ter is from Croatia, a fact that instantly incites curiosity among history dorks about how he survived the small European country’s bloody civil war. He’s the wrong tree to bark up, however. “I can say that my generation doesn’t care much about politics. My generation is trying to…
The last time the Miami rockers of Shufly got some extended New Times love was in 2001, when it was duly noted that a bunch of teenage girls found them hot. That’s not a hard thing to believe when you’ve got singer Scott Smith’s soap opera waif-stud looks. Then there’s…
Looks like everyone’s favorite Hassidic reggae singer/rapper might just outlast his novelty status after all. But that doesn’t necessarily make it safe to go back in the reggae waters for anyone aspiring to stand out based on his, uh … demographic makeup alone. On one hand, it’s unfortunate that Matisyahu’s…
I’d be willing to wager that, in 1995, more Americans knew all the words to The Nanny theme song than to Coolio’s chart-topping rap single “Gangsta’s Paradise.” Both were cultural phenomena in the mid-Nineties, but no pop single has the broad-spectrum appeal and mass distribution of a major TV sitcom…
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…
Ernest Barteldes Brazilian musician Gilberto Gil performs at the Fillmore Miami Beach Saturday night. Gilberto Gil Saturday, July 5, 2008 The Fillmore Jackie Gleason Theatre, Miami Beach Playing to an audience mostly formed by his many Brazilian fans, Gilberto Gil closed his six-city U.S. tour with a two-hour set designed…
Lee Zimmerman Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band July 3, 2008 Seminole Hard Rock, Hollywood By now, the traveling nostalgia show that tours annually under the banner of Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band has been honed to a tee. Ringo offers up his best-known Beatles songs and…
John Hood Tom Waits performs before a sold-out crowd at the Times-Union Center in Jacksonville, Fla. Tom Waits July 1, 2008 The Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts, Jacksonville Better than: Having a hobo in your home for supper – and having him sing murder songs for it. (Dateline: Jacksonville)…
Jamie Lidell Genre-bending musician Jamie Lidell will be stopping by Heathrow Lounge, a new UK-inspired club on South Beach, July 18. Who else could be behind this booking except the people from Poplife, which will be celebrating 9 years of bringing indie music to the masses that very weekend. The…
Gameboy/Gamegirl sans fourth member and beat producer Miami Horror. Here was what I can’t figure out about Australian quartet Gameboy/Gamegirl, are they embracing hipster culture or are they making an absolute mockery of it? With lyrics like “Vodka and cranberry/Shake it like it’s February/Gin and tonic/The shit is ironic,” it…
Joan Jett never seemed overly concerned with glass ceilings. A very tough girl in a very male-centric industry, Jett simply showed up, rocked her ass off, and returned the next night to do it again, never referencing her gender to benefit her career. She was not a girl who played…
“I have a hard time with modern technology,” Brazilian icon Gilberto Gil says, describing the theme of his latest CD, Banda Larga Cordel. “I admit that I use it with moderation, but I am nevertheless fascinated by it.” This awe was the inspiration for his first disc of original material…
The pale, delicately boned wraith known as Peter Murphy gained his seat as an anointed dark king in the Seventies and Eighties as frontman of the legendary Bauhaus. Channeling the glam theatrics of David Bowie by way of the morgue, he was drama incarnate, a Count Vlad look-alike who sometimes…
Ewun, hailing from Rochester, New York, has made a lot of drum ‘n’ bass hay out of his love for hip-hop, distortion, and glitchy breakbeats. Unbeknownst to d’n’b scenesters, though, a set of Justice-like electro grooves has been lurking in his hard drive, waiting for the right time to make…
