Machine Gun Kelly. Road Trippin’ Tour. Presented by Dope Entertainment. Thursday, August 27, 8 p.m. Grand Central, 697 N. Miami Ave., Miami; 305-377-2277; grandcentralmiami.com. Tickets cost $30 plus fees via ticketweb.com. All ages. Ohio’s own Machine Gun Kelly is living the dream. Signed by Diddy in 2011, the rapper eventually landed on the cover of XXL magazine…
Last year, iHeartRadio — the annual Latin music-focused mini-festival from the internet radio platform owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. (formerly known as Clear Channel Media and Entertainment) — held its first-ever Fiesta Latina in Los Angeles, starring Ricky Martin, Pitbull, J. Balvin, and many more. Back in May, iHeartRadio announced that they’d…
As a teenager in the late ’70s, Miami-based musician Tomas Diaz was one of many Cuban youths captivated by American rock ‘n’ roll and what it signified: freedom of expression. Diaz risked his life with every secretive listen and street performance of Jimi Hendrix’s music, and his love of a…
What does it feel like to release an anthem — a track that becomes unanimous with a genre? Is there any hint of what’s to come in the recording studio? Does the sky blacken and the thunder clap closer until, finally, the song is done and a flock of golden…
On the day I speak to Umphrey’s McGee keyboardist Joel Cummins, he’s psyched about the privilege to throw out the first pitch at a Brewers-Cubs game (a matchup his hometown Cubbies wind up winning 6-3.) Additionally, Umphrey’s McGee is scheduled to perform both the national anthem and the seventh inning…
J. Cole. Forest Hills Drive Tour with Big Sean, YG, and Jeremih. Tuesday, August 18, 6:30 p.m. Perfect Vodka Amphitheatre, 601-7 Sansburys Way, West Palm Beach; 561-795-8883; ticketmaster.com. Tickets cost $21 to $63.75 plus fees via livenation.com. From 2014 Forest Hills Drive to 601-7 Sansburys Way, Fayetteville rapper J. Cole has come a long way since a…
Despite his inconsistent output of songs (OK!), despite his repetitive shouts and interruptions (Yeah!), despite even his rhetorical questions and exclamations (What?!), Lil Jon has remained a relevant figure in music for 15 years. Indeed, the King of Crunk was the producer of the early ’00s. Ever since his partnership…
Brandon Flowers has cancelled his show at the Fillmore Miami Beach that was supposed to take place next Wednesday, August 19, at the Fillmore Miami Beach. In fact, he’s cancelled a whole string of shows this week — six in total — so at least we can take comfort in…
With his debut album, Brown Sugar, a 21-year-old D’Angelo helped invent a genre. Five years later, the sexually and spiritually explicit Voodoo revealed the maturation of a young man and perpetuated the artist’s spectacular rise. After a 14-year hiatus full of personal ups and downs, the founder of neo soul…
Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you get exactly what you wish for. In the case of indie rocker Colleen Green, homegirl is getting just what she wanted. In her latest LP, I Want to Grow Up, Green reflects on the millennial struggle of being broke and single and, well, growing up…
Forget the fact it’s been nearly 30 years since Howard Jones wrote the songs that made him a radio staple. With a string of chart triumphs including tracks such as “New Song,” “Life in One Day,” “Like to Get to Know You Well,” “No One Is to Blame,” “Hide and…
Rey Pila is of a different era. It seems the group hitched a ride with Doc and Marty in 1989 but forgot to hop back into the DeLorean. The nostalgic synth-rock band’s music, mood, and even name owe credit to the ’80s — to one artist in particular. The name…
Trap is kind of old hat. The 808-driven, drug-smuggler sound has been a hip-hop staple for 20-plus years. Even its most recent takeover of the EDM world is a phenomenon pushing four years, a lifetime in trend-speak. It seems whatever can happen in trap already has — unless you’re talking…
Of all the guys who’ve been singing songs since the ’80s, Weird Al Yankovic is one of the most adaptable and resilient. This makes him remarkably still relevant. The tales surrounding his album Mandatory Fun are the stuff of modern-day myths. After his label told him it couldn’t afford to…
“But if you’re a DJ, all you need is a laptop, some talent, and one track.” Those are the words that come out of the chiseled jaw of Zac Efron in the trailer for his new movie We Are Your Friends, an upcoming film that follows four bros in their…
Travi$ Scott. Presented by Who’s Who and Vybenation. Friday, August 14, 6 to 10 p.m. Grand Central, 697 N. Miami Ave., Miami; 305-377-2277; grandcentralmiami.com. Tickets cost $30 plus fees via ticketmaster.com. All ages. He growls. He flashes gold grills with fangs. He’s Travi$ Scott. And this week, the 23-year-old Houston rapper — who just so…
There’s no better place to pop your cherry than Miami, and Skrillex is about to find out. The dubstep dynamo is set to make his Life in Color debut as one-half of the upcoming festival’s first officially announced headliner; Jack Ü. The dream-team duo pits Skrilly against Florida’s own Diplo…
Psychemagik. With Patrick Walsh. Friday, August 7, 10 p.m. The Electric Pickle, 2826 N. Miami Ave., Miami; 305-456-5613; electricpicklemiami.com. Admission is free before midnight with RSVP via eventbrite.com. “Music is the celestial sound,” Psychemagik writes on their Facebook description, “and it is sound that controls the whole universe.” Experience the mystical vibes of the…
The story of Kansas’ Appleseed Cast is not lacking in complexity or dramatic shifts. Over 18 years and several lineup changes, the band’s sound today hardly resembles the emo-tinged one that put the group on the map. But through it all, founding member Christopher Crisci has retained a singular hold…
In a large office space at MADE at the Citadel, the shared workspace in the former Bellsouth building on NE Second Avenue, III Points has a small squad of people working hard to make sure this year’s festival eclipses 2014’s edition. The III Points team is made up of young…
Eons’ latest EP marks a turning point in the Miami synth-pop duo’s career. “I think we raised the bar a little bit and we were kind of more picky in particular on what songs were to make it onto the EP,” says Johnny Deezal (AKA Johnny D.). He along with his Eons…
The walls were so thin at their old place Afrobeta could hear the parade of hookers marching in and out of their neighbor’s apartment. Luckily, the Miami natives invited us to their new home/studio for this interview. Their friend AholSniffsGlue’s ubiquitous artwork covers a wall next to the new and…
