In case you didn’t already know, the mayor of Miami is not always Manny Diaz. Although Diaz is a nice fellow and knows a lot about politics, he can handle only so much authority and essentially presides over the city from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. But as nighttime approaches,…
Let’s see … a show at Churchill’s, a MySpage page headline that reads, “Fuck it up for the kids!” and a band name involving the word destroy. It’s a safe bet that Tuesday’s extravaganza at the premier rock dive in Little Haiti should include plenty of true punk-rock rowdiness, some…
Not one to forget the eight years he lived in Miami, New York rapper Nickel is holding two CD-release parties, one here and one up there. The occasion is his debut LP, The Journey of Plato the Orphan, 65 minutes of head-jerking beats and nervously clever flows hammering out a…
Logan Fazio Erykah Badu and the Roots Mizner Park Amphitheater, Boca Raton Tuesday, May 20, 2008 Better than: Listening to Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop” on the radio for the umpteenth time. You never know what you’re going to get when you see the Roots concert. The band has roughly 14 years…
Sayre Berman Duran Duran Mizner Park Amphitheater, Boca Raton Monday, May 19, 2008 Better Than: Just about every other show in the last six months by a band existing for more than fifteen years. The Review:Last night Duran Duran, now at some 28 years and running, managed to achieve nearly…
Ivon David Rojas THE POLICE CRUZAN AMPHITHEATRE SATURDAY, MAY 17, 2008 Better Than: What’s better than sitting in traffic for three hours? Somewhere in Palm Beach County there is a sadistic concert-hater who said, “I know, let’s close half of Southern Boulevard out by the Fairgrounds – that way it…
Speak to anyone in their fifties about Carly Simon and their eyes flicker. It’s like asking today’s youth about Jay-Z or Radiohead, a musical powerhouse that changed the trajectory of boomer culture. Simon’s life story is made for daytime television, from her early rise in her hometown of New York…
Going to see the Spencer Davis Group these days is a bit like drinking nonalcoholic beer. The name’s the same, but the oomph is all gone — that oomph, of course, was Steve Winwood. Davis is a talented musician in his own right, but it was Winwood’s bluesy, gritty vocals…
Ahh, to be an aging rock star. What better possible way could there be to live out one’s golden years than trying vainly to relive one’s golden youth? Leather pants, screaming groupies, pharmaceutically enhanced machismo. The Dennis Hopper-endorsed, carpe diem boomer mentality has given second wind to bloated rock corpses…
The last time Donald Cumming, the 25-year-old frontman for the New York quartet the Virgins, visited Miami, he ended up in jail. Somewhat forcibly transplanted by his mother to the horrors of northern Florida from his native Manhattan, then-15-year-old Cumming took a bus down to meet an old friend. “We…
There’s absolutely no reason for Mindless Self Indulgence to be around in 2008. For starters, their aggressive, quasi-industrial sound – on paper, at least – is long past its sell-by date. Furthermore, they’ve been up and down the indie-major-indie label rollercoaster and should now be experiencing their inevitable decline into…
Uh Huh Her sounds like one of those slightly glitchy L.A. pop bands you hear during your favorite edgy cable TV series and consequently keeps you watching through the closing credits to find out who it was. Luckily for that comparison, cofrontwoman Leisha Hailey happens to play Alice Pieszecki on…
People are still talking about DJ Heather’s set at this year’s Om Records WMC party. Still touring in support of last year’s Summer Sessions 2 compilation (a joint effort with Om Records veteran Onionz), she’s been putting in a ton of studio hours toward a forthcoming artist album. Along with…
It’s time for all you late-night hot-bodies to give some love to the new guy, Patrick M, the Argentine DJ who has taken Miami as his home and the Sunday a.m. terrace gig at Space as one of his vocations. This Sunday finds Patrick releasing his new track, “Hulk,” a…
Don’t let Tera Melos fool you with its textbook cover. For this California three-piece, “math rock” means much more of an affinity for chaos theory than for the staid and stoic world of algebraic expressions. In fact to the uninitiated, the term might call to mind things like precision, restraint,…
A couple of years ago, Atlanta rapper Young Jeezy was seen as the last great Southern hope. He had the hood respect of T.I. and garnered the admiration of practically every drug dealer in North America. It’s not that he’s overly gangster or that his rhymes aren’t crisp. He’s plenty…
Seminole Hard Rock/Tom Craig Eric Clapton and Robert Randolph Hard Rock Live Monday, May 5, 2008 Better Than: Watching TV pundits continue to treat Hillary Clinton’s campaign seriously. Is Eric Clapton God or just a higher power some choose to call God? Unfortunately, the decades-long debate over Clapton’s exact theological…
Ari Rothenberg RADIOHEAD CRUZAN AMPHITHEATRE MONDAY, MAY 5, 2008 Better than: Singing about the techno-apocalypse by yourself in your room. Thom Yorke wears a white linen jacket, Jonny Greenwood’s mop of hair dangles in front of his stooped head like the curtain in front of the Wizard of Oz. Stalactites…
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND BANK ATLANTIC CENTER FRIDAY, MAY 2, 2008 Better than: Watching Steven Van Zandt on reruns of “The Sopranos.” The lines between rock ‘n’ roll show and revival meeting were effectively blurred beyond distinction Friday night as Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band…
B.B. King and Joe Bonamassa at the BankAtlantic Center Saturday, May 3, 2008 Better Than: When you ask your baby for water and she brings you gasoline. At 82, the good news is that B.B. King can still play and sing with aplomb. The bad news is that he’d rather…
Sayre Berman Carlos Santana and Derek Trucks Hard Rock Live Wednesday, April 30, 2008 Better Than: Sitting home and watching the speeches of Rev. Jeremiah Wright loop constantly on every channel. There are three sure things at a Santana show: 1) Carlos will display the highest level of improvisational virtuosity;…
They were hailed far and wide as digital visionaries last fall, when they offered up their newest album as a “pay as you like” download. But Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke says it’s not likely to happen again. “It was a moment in time,” he tells the Hollywood Reporter. In…
