Or maybe you were among the silent vigil for Steve Forbert's masterful acoustic show at Stephen Talkhouse. The last time Forbert played the Talkhouse he had to raise his voice and punish his guitar to be heard above the din of yammerers. I remember a long time ago seeing Joe Williams -- the smoky and godlike vocalist -- at Musicians Exchange. Some yups were sitting at a table jabbering about that afternoon's tennis matches. While Joe Williams was singing! (The corpses can be found in a ditch off I-75.) Forbert is so subtle that one blabbermouth can disrupt his entire presentation. He beat it down last time, and this time he was shocked. Am I really in Miami? he asked the crowd. You people are so polite, you actually came to hear the music, this is great. The audience grew very noisy when it came time for the encore. Beautiful. Yeah, Stevie, this is Miami, too.
All of you, whoever you are, who are wondering where Gary King and the Dream are -- they're on tour until August 12.
A benefit auction for Body Positive takes place Tuesday at Bash. You can bid on a gold record of R.E.M.'s Out of Time, Marky Mark's signed underwear from C.K., a signed copy of Elton John's One CD, plus a handwritten letter from Michael Stipe and a photo he took "of some people in Seattle," says a spokesman. Perky homegirl Gloria Estefan sent a CD, the spokesman adds, "and Madonna is sending us something, but we don't know what yet." Frightening. Anyway, the thing happens from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. Your $10 donation at the door includes open bar and food. Call 576-1111.
blind profet (sorry, but I'm not going to spell your name with asterisks) releases a single and performs at Churchill's Hideaway on Sunday.
Everybody's a critic. Sorry, I really shouldn't joke around when things get this serious. Eric Tallman of Erotic Exotic was visiting New York for the New Music Seminar. An angry patron approached the Danceteria just as Tallman was leaving. The angry patron had a firearm, the trigger of which he pulled. One of the bullets hit Tallman in the head. (As one flack put it, "See, tourists don't get shot only in Miami.") This Friday Young Turk, Farrcry, Smokin' Jane, Psychodrama, and Erotic Exotic with guests will perform a benefit to help Tallman (who reportedly is recovering nicely) pay his medical bills. The place is Plus 5 Lounge in Davie and it's all-ages.
The other day a friend played for me a bootleg tape of Widespread Panic live and made me sorry I missed the band's show last time they were down. I've always liked them, and you, whoever you are, should love this: After playing a couple of weeks ago in St. Louis, the Panic donated its performance fee to the Red Cross Flood Relief Fund.
dimestore genies (what is it with these no-capital-letters band names?) play a full electric set tomorrow (Thursday) at the Square. The genies consist of Zac, Paul Roub, Mike Verrico, and Steve Planas.
This Saturday Excessive rocks the Button South.
Black Janet plays its first show in Palm Beach County, tomorrow at Revolution in Delray Beach.
I have no fondness for cable company TCI (mostly because they refuse to sell me cable -- it's a long story, but trust me they're the butt-horns). However, Caribbean Satellite Network I'm down with, so I'll note that the islandic network has been added to TCI's Channel 9 in North Dade and South Broward.
Local reggae outfit Le Coup, who I've seen make you dance your butts off, goes to Kingston (Jamaica, duh) for Reggae Sunsplash '93. They're the only band from the States going, and they say they're proud to be "representing Florida." The band has also signed to TCA management.
Kilmo and the Killers play tonight (Wednesday) at the Monte Carlo Lounge in Hollywood.
Some guy called Charlie Pickett and a band going by the name of Rooster Head hit the Talkhouse on Saturday. I don't know who these folks are, but I'm certain you do.
Butthorn of the week: Who are they? Ocean Drive magazine recently ran a very nice photograph of Whitesnake. It said Whitesnake right there in the caption, and if we didn't spend so much time in the clubs getting beer spilled on us, we'd think it was Whitesnake in the photo. It wasn't, though. The picture was of local heroes Young Turk.
The media circus: Who is he/she? The former Prince, as you surely know, has changed his name to a symbol. But Prince played in New York a couple of weeks ago. That's because a Canadian keyboardist, Bob Wiseman, has picked up the dropped moniker, renaming himself "Prince." Why didn't you think of that?