Michael McKean first broke out on a mass scale in pop culture in the late 1970s, as the greaser doofus Lenny on the TV show Laverne and Shirley. As a hopeless but likeable sap, McKean was the quintessential top-rate comic actor: believable and empathetic, even as the most ridiculous of…
You’re up to speed on the Heineken TransAtlantic Festival here in SoFla. I know you are because we’ve been telling you about it for weeks. Right here. And here. And via any of a number of other posts to Crossfade in recent days. So you know about this fantastic series…
People From Venus may be one of the most aptly named bands on the local circuit — it can seem, at certain musical moments, as though the band has beamed in from another planet. Take those weird eerie beeps and bloops at the beginning of “Lipstick,” the band’s should -…
The protopunk glamazons the New York Dolls, or what’s left of them, will be playing the Culture Room on June 10. Guitarist Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan died in the 1990s, but archival material surfaced, Urban Outfitters made some T-shirts, and whad – da – ya – know, the New…
If you’ve ever gone on YouTube and searched for Miami bum footage then you’ve probably seen a SmokeNProfits video. For the past few years this group of friends from Miami Springs has been documenting South Beach bum culture, hip-hop music, parties, festivals and holidays and putting ’em online for the…
Dino Felipe is one of those Miami guys who has a nice little national rep for himself. People who are in the know about underground currents of off-kilter sounds know what’s up. This is wrong. This shouldn’t be the case. In a just universe he would be touring the world,…
BoomkatWednesday, April 22, 2009LIV, Miami BeachWorse Than: Taryn Manning’s supporting role in Britney Spears’ Crossroads. Seriously. It’s hard to believe that an actress like Taryn Manning left her growing silver screen resume in Hollywood to pursue her dream of being a hot shot electro vocalist. Perhaps, the crafters over at…
Ft. Lauderdale-based record label Teggno has announced the release of its first artist compilation this month. Teggno was founded in 2007 by Lance Blaise a.k.a. Tattoo Detectives with the goal of putting out “quality techno music for the 21st century” and has so far gained support from some of the…
Is anyone excited about Better Than Ezra coming to the Culture Room on July 11? The most prolific song they’ve made since 1993 is “Juicy”, which was played incessantly during Desperate Housewives promos a few years back. Deluxe, the band’s best-selling album thanks to the single “Good”, was released over…
16 year old actress and pop star Demi Lovato is kicking off a huge summer tour in support of her debut album “Don’t Forget” and is hitting the BankAtlantic Center on August 1. Demi is also the current star of Disney Channel’s Sonny With A Chance, so if you have…
Living ThingsWednesday, April 22, 2009Culture Room, Fort LauderdaleBetter Than: Any damn glam rock band you’ve ever heard up close and personal. First things first: Last night Living Things played in the wrong place at the wrong time. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I dig Culture Room. In fact, I’ve spent…
If you’ve danced to anything with a four – to – the – floor beat anytime over the last 25 years or so, you’ve done so because DJ Frankie Knuckles made it possible. Yes, from his stints at Chicago’s Warehouse (where the name of the music comes from, naturally), through…
Okay, I’ll admit: I like Louis — a lot. It completely goes everything I believe a nightclub should be (drinks are too expensive and the door policy is frustrating), but dammit it’s an awesome venue! It’s cavernous, the lighting is crazy and the bookings at times are unbelievable. I spent…
Joe Ely and Joel Guzman Live Cactus ely.com Though he hails from the same West Texas environs that birthed Buddy Holly and he practices the same roots regimen as fellow Flatlanders Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely is still an original. A crossover country troubadour, he delivers dust-blown…
Whoever said models can’t cut it on the decks obviously never met model DJ La Trice. Featured in campaigns for Nicole Miller, Pantene, Ed Hardy, and Converse, and found on the cover of glam rags such as Pasha, La Trice definitely has the kind of look folks want to know…
So if it’s true that President Obama will bring us together as one nation to heal the wounds of the past eight years, end the Iraq War, bolster the middle class, teach the world to sing, and render the red-state/blue-state distinction irrelevant, then whither Nickelback? What will become of the…
If someone were to tell you the next pop superstar would be named after the bastard son in one of the English language’s first — and finest — examples of the novel, you’d probably scoff. If someone also happened to mention the book in question was more than 200 years…
For the better part of two decades, 311 has been cranking out album after album and trotting almost nonstop around the globe. Of the band’s eight previous albums, four went gold, one went platinum, and one triple-platinum. And oh yeah, it had seven singles that hit the Top 10 on…
We’re still trying to figure out just who Katy Perry really is, although it’s possible the former Christian-pop singer doesn’t know yet, either. Raised in the Santa Barbara area by parents who were pastors, she brims with musical talent and potential, stalking the stage with natural (although she calls it…
Fridays at the Vagabond consistently book national acts that are on the edge of mass consciousness or just above the radar, and this Friday, L.A.’s Gliss continues in that vein. The three-piece has moved past the hype of being Billy Corgan’s favorite band and is simply existing as a legitimate…
Swamp Stomp is truly a homegrown party, a superindependent minifestival that has steadily grown since its inception in 2007. The first edition was pretty much a house party in some UM kids’ back yard, and students from the U are still behind this event. But with some 500 attendees last…
Those who believe Venezuela’s most valuable export is good old 100 percent crude black gold, the stuff of which Middle Eastern wars are made, would be incorrect. Though oil has been the South American country’s chief export since 1926, it doesn’t hold a candle to salsa singer Oscar D’Leon, whose…
