Strum Your Ground

You needn’t be El Kabong to know how difficult it is to inflict injury with a guitar, with or without the tablature for the Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris.” There’s got to be a better way, friends, and that way is guns. Not only are guns an efficient way to kill your fellow Floridians, but they’ve also become so trendy among children that Guitars Over Guns is raising money for after-school mentoring for at-risk Miami youth with music education, performance, and time with local musicians who have used art to avoid the gangs, drugs, and violence of these same neighborhoods. Spoiled sports. These guitars are so over those guns, you guys, and to prove it, they’ll present the Choose Your Sound benefit concert this Saturday in the backstage Gleason Room at the Fillmore Miami Beach (1700 Washington Ave., Miami Beach). At the benefit, there will be performances by students from the Guitars Over Guns program, along with their mentors in Suénalo and the Spam Allstars, along with a solo set by Tomas Diaz. Is Hot People Over Guitars more your style? Singer and telenovela heartthrob — no cold, dead hands here — Jencarlos Canela will make a special appearance. The whole shebang (she-strum?) will be hosted by New Times Best of Miami 2012 winner Roxanne Vargas of NBC 6. Can’t usually hear auctions over all the nearby gunfire? Try the silent auction of a wide range of enviable gifts (not guns), including art by Lebo, Krave, and Bhakti Baxter. There are a bunch of liquor sponsors too, so y’know, booze and all that. The event runs from 7 to 11 p.m. Tickets cost $83.50, a tricky number to remember, so Ticketmaster is generously charging a $16.50 service fee to get the price to an even $100. All proceeds are due to benefit Guitars Over Guns, but presumably not the Ticketmaster fees, because you don’t always need a weapon to steal from at-risk youths. Visit guitarsoverguns.org.
Sat., Aug. 23, 7-11 p.m., 2014