Everybody Looks Like a Rock Star

Ironically enough the information overload that is the Latin music industry -- record labels, TV shows, Internet companies -- is finally offering Miami more than photo ops with rockeros. Bands who only a few years ago would have never risked performing in rock-hostile Miami have begun invading our subtropical sound. Even apart from the showcases surrounding the endless Latin music awards ceremonies, acts are taking the time to play a gig while in town on promotion -- or, like Molotov, coming back just for a concert.

Perhaps the clearest sign that rock has taken over Miami, though, is the current release by my favorite Iglesias, homegrown Julio, Jr. While Julio's Tercera Dimension (Third Dimension) is a far cry from the in-your-face voltage of Molotov or the Mars Volta and nothing like the global implosion of Kinky (over breakfast at Jerry's Famous Deli on South Beach, he earnestly identifies his influences as Matchbox Twenty and the Goo Goo Dolls; c'mon, influences?), the sound is equally distant from the melodramatic balladry of his father and Latin loverboy pop of his older brother. And, bless his heart, Julio will be making a stop in Miami at I/O next month on his first rock and roll concert tour.

Hey Julio, do you think you might be able to stir up a mosh pit?