Kings of Leon

We found this blurb on Yahoo!, describing the Kings of Leon’s official Web site: “Rock band from Tennessee whose songs teem with primal emotions and rangy rhythms.” First, somebody from the Kings’ camp wrote this. Second, somebody in the Kings’ camp thinks their songs teem with primal emotions and, moreover,…

Reverend Horton Heat

It’s difficult to believe it’s been almost 20 years since the Reverend Horton Heat released his first album — and he hasn’t changed a bit. Of course, the whole point of psychobilly is an unabashed dedication to purity of sonic identity. (That, and getting just fucked up enough to let…

Last Night: Juliette & the Licks at Culture Room

Juliette and the Licks October 30, 2007 Culture Room Better Than: Patti Smith fronting the MC5 – or just as good anyway. It’s a sad state of affairs when more people turn out on a Tuesday for the Tiki-fied floor show at Mai Kai than for a second South Florida…

Last Night: Lil’ Blaze and Yungen at Cameo

Last Night: G Records Presents Lil’ Blaze & Yungen Monday, October 29, 2007 Vice at the Cameo, Miami Beach Better Than: Watching reruns of I Love New York 2 on VH1. OK … so maybe it’s not as good as watching Tailor Made get his ass beat by Midget Mac…

Last Night: Toots and the Maytals

Toots and the Maytals Sunday, October 28, 2007 City Limits–Delray Beach Better Than: Getting Swept in the World Series Reggae fans around the world should be familiar with the raspy yet powerful voice of Toots Hibbert, enigmatic frontman of legendary band, Toots and the Maytals. The group has left their…

Last Night: DJ I-Dee and Q-Bert at Studio A

DJ Qbert October 24th, 2007 Studio A, Miami Better Than: The fat lady singing on a gondola in Venice Q-Bert All photos by Eddie Rosenstock The Review: If you’re not familiar with Qbert, he is the best scratch DJ on the planet earth, zectar and any other distant solar system,…

Ryan Joy

Avril Lavigne should be looking over her shoulder with chicks like Ryan Joy around. The Tampa-based minidiva manifested a love for show biz at age 10, taking up voice lessons in the hope of someday becoming a part of the cultural landscape like her childhood heroes Kiss, Mötley Crüe, and…

Tommie Sunshine

Electro-rock remix superstar Tommie Sunshine has one of the most formidable resumés in music, but ’tis beauty that whips this beast. Sunshine — a ZZ Top look-alike, with his long, scraggly beard and Cousin It hair — has remixed them all, like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Good Charlotte, Ladytron, Avril…

Annie Lennox

Annie Lennox has sung onstage with greats like Aretha Franklin and David Bowie. She has recorded alongside Al Green and Paul Simon. She has won four Grammies, seven Brit Awards, a Golden Globe, and an Oscar. She has sold some 80 million records with her former band the Eurythmics and…

The Genitorturers

In 2004, Hustler magazine named the Genitorturers “world’s sexiest rock band.” It was about time: Throughout most of the Nineties, you could catch the band’s erotic blend of heavy metal and BDSM performances at clubs like Washington Square in South Beach. The band soon became famous for piercing fans’ penises,…

Last Night: Evanescence at the BankUnited Center

Evanescence October 23, 2007 BankUnited Center Better Than: Entering a bat cave with an angel by your side. It seems only natural that Amy Lee is perfectly at home in arenas. After all, her voice is the size of the sky. Even at a coo, it rises from the horizon;…

Last Night: Cat Power at Studio A

Photo by Jeffrey Delannoy Cat Power October 22, 2007 Studio A Better Than: Finding out Syd Barrett still sings in honky tonks. The Review: The last time I caught Cat Power at Studio A, it was just her, her pain, her anger and her keyboard – and a crowd of…

Last Night: Poco and Firefall at Gulfstream Park

Poco/Firefall October 20, 2007 Gulfstream Park Before Uncle Tupelo, before Son Volt, before Steve Earle, before the other champions of roots rock and insurgent Americana, there were bands like Buffalo Springfield, the Flying Burrito Brothers, and Poco, groups that helped etch a well defined link between rock ‘n’ roll and…

Last Night: James “Blood” Ulmer at the Colony Theatre

James Blood Ulmer October 20, 2007 The Colony Theatre, Miami Beach Better Than: A back alley brawl between jazz and blues. The Review: Back when I first moved in New York, one of the greatest musical pleasures I had was catching James Blood Ulmer get all “avant-gutbucket” at a dingy…

More on Hot Hot Heat at Culture Room

Hot Hot Heat October 19, 2007 Culture Room Better Than: A B12 shot of mid-‘80s nostalgia. The Review: I hate beginning with a negative (there’s too much bad in the world already), but I will say this: if I never had to stand through another song by Bedouin Soundclash, my…

Concert Review: Hot Hot Heat at The Culture Room

Hot Hot Heat October 19, 2007 Culture Room It’s exactly 8 p.m. when I pull up to the parking lot of Culture Room. The night air is surprisingly cool and comforting as I freak out about not being able to find parking. A few maze-like trips through the lot yield…

Last Night: Second Annual Jamaican Vintage Music Festival

The Skatalites: Many Rivers to Cross. More Jamaican Artists that you can shake a stick at. Bergeron Rodeo Grounds October 20, 2007 Better Than: Watching the Miami Dolphins lose to the New England Patriots in the ‘Manhandle South of the Panhandle.’ Jamaica as a nation has an incredibly rich musical…

Concert Review: Kid Rock at The Fillmore

Kid Rock The Fillmore Theater Miami Beach October 18, 2007 Better than: A Miracle Whip and Wonder Bread sandwich Love him or hate him, Kid Rock makes an impression. From the moment the house lights went down at Miami’s Fillmore Theater Thursday night, the air in the room was electrified…

Concert Preview: James Blood Ulmer at Colony Theatre

Miami may be in the south but it’s about as far from the Blues as you can get. Thankfully, you can break out the bourbon and revisit the hard times this Saturday when James Blood Ulmer, a high-powered, sharp-picking blues guitarist, blows into town. The Village Voice has called Ulmer…

Last Night: Al Jarreau and George Benson at Hard Rock Live

Photo by Jeffrey Delannoy Al Jarreau and George Benson Hard Rock Live October 17, 2007 View the concert slidehow. A good friend of mine recently said to me, “I know you like photographing old people.” Well, in response to that, I have to say that when I have the chance…

Spank Rock pulled from Best Buy

Rumor has it the new Spank Rock and Benny Blanco CD, Bangers and Cash got pulled from the shelves of Best Buy this week because management just noticed its x-rated cover art. Apparently, this is all about the back cover where a partially obscured dildo can be seen in the…

Kid Rock

In this month’s Penthouse magazine, 36-year-old Bob Ritchie, better known as Kid Rock, is asked about the title of his latest album, Rock and Roll Jesus. His response: “I believe in Jesus; I think it’s great to promote his name.” It’s the kind of working-class, well-what-did-you-expect, is-he-or-isn’t-he-serious answer that has…