“If you like good songs, we’ll have a really good time tonight,” David Crosby promised shortly into the second show of his current solo tour. Looking healthy, trim and respondent dressed in all black, his full mane of white hair offsetting his features like an eternal halo, Crosby held court…
Free concerts are a rare thing. Any time we hear about one, we think: Sure, but what’s the catch? We want to see free live music just as much as the next guy, but we don’t want to have to give away our social security number in the process. Well suspicious…
Looking back on the past 50 years, there are many indelible iconic images of David Crosby that come to mind. There’s the beaming young man in a cape with the mischievous look in his eyes who gazed with a kind of beatific innocence from the covers of those early Byrds…
As both Artistic Director and resident director of Actors’ Playhouse, David Arisco can claim the one thing most denizens of the theater world only dream of: a steady gig. An opportunity that arose purely by chance has now stretched into a 27 year tenure at one of Miami’s most prominent…
Don’t ask Chris Carrabba why his band Dashboard Confessional is making a comeback. Never mind the fact that he and his outfit have been on a self-imposed hiatus for the past six years and that they haven’t had a tour or a new album since late in the last decade…
In an interactive age of downloads and mobile devices that bring the world to any tiny cellphone screen, the idea of actually reading a book is rapidly become something of an anachronism. It’s little wonder then that the six characters that inhabit Karen Zacarias’ comedy The Book Club Play are…
The blues has given modern music any number of iconic individuals over the course of the past 100 years, but none were more beloved and respected than Riley B. King, better known as B.B. The legendary guitarist died on Thursday night at his Las Vegas home from complications due to…
Whenever a homeboy makes good, it’s reason for the rest of us to feel proud. And when there’s a celebrity association involved, it’s all the more reason to express admiration and admit a bit of awe. So credit David Rousseau with inspiring a lot of both. In the last ten…
Chris Alvy ranks among the most accomplished musicians South Florida has to offer. Born in Cuba, he’s been making music on his own and with others for the better part of the past twenty years, most recently with his band The Super Fuzz. The group – Alvy on vocals and…
When it comes to concert venues and other showcases for live music, Miami-Dade and Broward are more or less on equal footing with one another. Each county has its share of clubs and venues. Each has world class arts centers, and each has mammoth arenas to host the biggest acts…
The Who Hits 50! With Special Guests Joan Jett and the Blackhearts American Airlines Arena April 17, 2015 Better Than: Most bands of a similar stature (Hey, this is The Who, after all!) First things first: despite the hype and hoopla surrounding the fact that one of rock’s quintessential bands…
Although he’s played a critical role in dozens of high profile projects over the 30 years, Frank Simes is hardly what one would consider a household name. Yet he also claims one of the greatest dream jobs any musician could imagine. As the Who’s musical director, band leader and participating…
Elvis Costello Au-Rene Theater at Broward Center For The Performing Arts Wednesday, March 18, 2015 Better Than: Most singer/songwriters going it alone. There’s an old expression that suggests a leopard will never change its spots. I’m not exactly sure how a leopard could change its spots, even if it were…
Elton John’s All the Hits Tour American Airlines Arena, Miami Friday, March 6, 2015 Better Than: This is Elton John — you decide! It’s no secret that South Florida has always held a certain lure for senior citizens. The warm weather, abundance of recreational activities, and popularity of early-bird specials…
Were it not for the extroverts, rock ‘n’ roll piano players would be at a decided disadvantage. Though a frontman who wields a guitar has the mobility to move about the stage and pose and posture, your average keyboardist is forced to remain in a stationary position due to the…
When one thinks of the sensitive singer/songwriter types who thrived in the early 1970s, certain artists come to mind: James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, and Neil Young were the big buzz, and yet, though their songs embodied a starry-eyed sensibility, none of them could squeeze more pathos from their platitudes than…
Billy Joel American Airlines Arena, Miami Saturday, January 31, 2015 Better than: The Billy of old? Just maybe… Most artists are defined by their songs. That’s certainly the case with Billy Joel. Though some would dismiss him as merely another pop artifact, Joel has written songs that have become even…
It’s easy for cynics to dismiss Billy Joel’s decades-long career as nothing more than a continuing cycle of hot singles, alcohol abuse, and roller-coaster relationships. But he has also earned the distinction of being one of the most successful singer-songwriters in music history with indelible melodies that inevitably become standards…
Amaluna, the latest Cirque du Soleil spectacular, is one of founder Guy Laliberté’s most ambitious productions yet. Audiences are transported to a mysterious island governed by goddesses and guided by the cycles of the moon, which, if you think about it, seems a far better reality than what we have…
Anyone remember North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il? He’s the now-defunct daddy of the country’s current weirdly coiffed dictator, Kim Jong-un, and he apparently had a zany knack for obsessive accumulation. Take, for example, the International Friendship Exhibition. Originally a repository for all kinds of kitschy knickknacks the elder Kim…
They seem to be everywhere, these incredible denizens of the Marvel Universe. It’s practically impossible to turn on the TV or go to the local movie theater without seeing them on a screen, big or small. So if your idea of star-studded entertainment is watching these costumed crusaders, clad in…
No matter if you’re a geek or a Greek — specifically those of the FIU fraternity variety — the 2014 FIU Comic-Con will provide fans of fantasy and sci-fi a taste of the extraordinary expo that San Diego hosts each year, albeit on a modified scale. So if your image…
