The Shows Go On

Cat Power, Studio A, Miami, October 22: Chan Marshall loves her adopted hometown, and Miami loves her right back. The comfortable, friends-and-family vibe contributed to her best area show yet. Marshall was slinky and sultry as she — along with her new backing band, the Southern-tinged, soulful Dirty Delta Blues — slid through a revue of material past and present. Originals and covers alike were warm and transporting — and a rapt audience responded by not budging an inch until the end.

Juan Montoya, Otto Von Schirach, and Melt Banana, Studio A, Miami, November 19: I could just write, "any Otto Von Schirach show ..." or "any Torche [the band for which Juan Montoya wields the axe] show...," but here we got a two-fer. Plus an excellent, rarely seen headliner, the adorable noise/grindcore/punk Japanese act Melt Banana, finally played in a space larger than Churchill's!

Iggy Pop, the beach at Collins Avenue and 21st Street, Miami Beach, December 7: This year's "Art Loves Music" event on opening night of Art Basel Miami Beach was the best edition yet, featuring a set by adopted hometown guy Iggy Pop and all of the remaining Stooges. The crowd was an amazing mashup of aging rockers, little punk kids, rich collectors trying to be down, and straight-up drunks peeing in the nearby dunes. Iggy was properly shirtless, writhing, and berserk, and an adoring mob rushed the stage, making it look as though "No Fun" were performed by a gigantic sweaty pink centipede.