Fort Lauderdale Pirate Festival Launches at Esplanade Park

Ahoy, matey, have ye a brand-new eye patch and nowhere to wear It? Are ye disappointed there is no new Pirates of the Caribbean movie coming out this summer? Are ye suffering the effects of scurvy? If ye answered “aye” to any of these questions, the inaugural Fort Lauderdale Pirate Festival just might be the event for you.

Jaialai Aims to Make Videos as Psychedelic as Its Music

When you dub yourself a psychedelic rock band, the look can be just as crucial as the sound. If you’ve ever seen the local space rockers of Jaialai play live, you’ve experienced their dedication to pleasing audience’s eyes as well as the ears with the help of their light artist and honorary fifth member, Mikihumo. Now the Miami-based band is bringing its brand of trippiness to a pair of music videos.

Miami’s Nine Best Jazz Nights

Most people think of New Orleans or New York when they think of American jazz, but Miami also has its share of hot spots where listeners can catch local and international artists playing skat, hard bop, mainstream, fusion, and Latin jazz.

Miami Author and Music Critic David Rolland on His Novel The End of the Century

Everyone thinks their hometown is unique, and everyone is probably right. But as any regular reader of Miami New Times can attest, our city is a special kind of odd. It’s the kind of place where the richest of the rich, the poorest of the poor, the most uptight, and the most laid-back are all melting in the same impossible heat. Through the eyes of two out-of-towners, I attempted to write not exactly a love letter to Miami, but a memorable postcard that would make its recipients wish they were here.

Hip Hoppa Locka Wants You to See Opa-locka with New Eyes

Opa-locka was founded in the 1920’s with an Arabian theme. “Hollywood was making movies about the Muslim world and there was a romanticized stereotype of Muslims as sultans with swords instead of terrorists with bombs.” Kathryn Garcia, executive director of MDC Live Arts, explains. “Developer (Glenn Curtiss) wanted a city…

South Beach’s Ora Nightclub Closes

Not even two years after opening at 2000 Collins Ave., Ora Nightclub served its last cocktail earlier this month. Not long after hosting a full week of parties for Miami Music Week, the team behind Ora decided to call it quits. The vision for the club was to provide a more refined, sophisticated version of the stereotypical South Beach night. Unfortunately, that plan did not work out, according to managing partner Greg See, who made this statement to New Times:

No Amount of Blood Will Stop the Revivalists From Singing Blues Rock

In April 2017, this story was published: “The Revivalists’ David Shaw Gets Mauled by Tiger Onstage, Keeps Going.” The post was an April Fools’ Day joke. There was no tiger involved, but the blood gushing from the Revivalists lead singer was as genuine as his work ethic. “I was at Okeechobee Fest…

The Black Angels Play Heavenly Psych Rock

If you’re looking for someone to blame on the psych rock renaissance, you can cast the first stone at Alex Maas. Singing for the band The Black Angels Maas has taken audiences on cosmic sonic journeys since 2004.  But while The Black Angels’ home base of Austin, Texas is now…

Thelma and the Sleaze Aim to Sound Like a Monster Truck in a Thunderstorm

LG, guitarist and singer of Thelma and the Sleaze, has three goals every time her rock band hits the stage. “I want people to get turned on as a sexual experience. I want people to be a little frightened wondering if I’m going to hit them. And I want people after the show to go home and want to play their guitar to make rock ‘n’ roll to share with the world.”

Smvt’s Ale Campos on Writing Punk Taylor Swift Songs

Why does Ale Campos pronounce her band’s name, Smvt, as smut? “When I first started the band, it was me playing aggressive music by myself,” she says. “It was really heavy. Smut was the most intense, gross word I could think of to describe those feelings,” Campos explained. Campos is Miami born…

Plans for Miami Beach Pop Festival Pushed Back

After two public meetings with Miami Beach residents, the organizers of Miami Beach Pop Festival have decided to delay their proposal for the event. The three-day fest was originally planned to happen the weekend after Art Basel on the beach between Fifth and Tenth Streets and expected to attract 30,000 people per day.

Al Pacino’s Five Best Miami Moments

On March 3, movie fans will have the opportunity to spend the night with Scarface himself. At An Evening With Pacino, the Academy Award-winning actor Al Pacino will take the Fillmore stage, where he will reminisce about his past, share his acting techniques, and answer questions taken from the audience.

Soul Singer JJ Grey Is Finally Happy

It took years, maybe decades, but soul and Southern-rock singer JJ Grey is finally happy. “I spent a lot of years complaining in my head, resentful,” he says. “I was angry about a lot of things. After a while, I realized all my soul and reggae heroes were positive. I needed to stop crying, bitching, and complaining and start living.”

Forgotten Troubadour Rodriguez Makes South Florida Debut

The Oscar-winning documentary Searching for Sugar Man introduced the world to the forgotten psychedelic-folk singer Rodriguez. One viewing and you wonder how his sound, reminiscent of Bob Dylan’s and Donovan’s, never found an audience. But time and a movie have remedied that error. Rodriguez is now touring the world and will stop at…

Paradise Kitty Adds a Feminine Twist to Guns N’ Roses

If you missed Guns N’ Roses when they played Marlins Park last summer, the rock gods have smiled upon you. You will now have a chance to hear all of their rock staples from Appetite for Destruction and Use Your Illusion in a live setting. There’ll be just one not-so-subtle difference: Instead of seeing Axl Rose at the mike and Slash noodling on the guitar, you will witness Paradise Kitty, the all-female GNR tribute band.

Go Go Gadjet Brings a Taste of Philadelphia to Super Bowl Weekend Party

When Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino booked three Philadelphia bands to play Super Beach Poolside Party during Super Bowl weekend, the Philadelphia Eagles hadn’t yet made it to the big game. “Eagles fans have been through so much disappointment,” says Jeff Tomrell, multi-instrumentalist for the band Go Go Gadjet…

Pop Singer Robbie Elias Puts His Spin on Motown

Robbie Elias was about to quit the music business when his father-in-law suggested he watch a music documentary. “It had Phil Spector in it,” Elias recollects. “He started talking about making the Ronettes song ‘Be My Baby.’ It got me digging into soul and pop music from the ’60s.” After…

David Grutman Brings the LIV Experience to Pegasus World Cup With Post Malone and Ludacris

Mention Hallandale Beach, the sleepy Broward city just over the line from Aventura, and it probably conjures images of bagels, lox, and a giant statue of a winged horse defeating a dragon. You don’t expect bottle service and hip-hop. But with the Pegasus World Cup coming to Gulfstream Park Saturday, January 27, David Grutman, the mind behind Miami Beach megaclub LIV, might change your image of Hallandale.