The Five Best Concerts in Miami This Weekend

South Beach Jazz Festival. Now in its fourth year, the South Beach Jazz Festival has established itself on Miami's cultural calendar. The festival is being kicked off on Friday, January 3 with a performance by multi-Grammy award winner David Sanborn. His is one of just two ticketed shows across the festival’s three days; most events are free. Among these is the culminating performance by legendary percussionist Sammy Figueroa taking place on Sunday, January 5. The Miami-based Figueroa has worked with artists including David Bowie, Luther Vandross, Sonny Rollins, the Average White Band and the Spam Allstars, in addition to leading his own ensembles. His career spans six decades so far and shows no sign of slowing down, despite a recent heart attack. Read all about Figueroa and his comeback after a health scare in Tracy Fields' "South Beach Jazz Festival Spotlights Local Acts and Grammy-Winning Talents." Friday, January 3 through Sunday, January 5 at various locations around Miami Beach; sobejazzfestival.com. Admission to ticketed events costs $40 to $75.

Killing Time. Seminal hardcore act Killing Time is set to play Churchill's, where the band will unleash its gritty, spirited laments on Miami's miscreants. Killing Time has retreated into several hibernations since its 1988 inception, but since reforming in 2006, the bandmates have been touring aggressively. Joining them onstage for this Friday's show are South Florida favorite Day by Day, which offers a take on metallic hardcore that's as uncompromising as it is sincere. Completing the lineup are Boston's Dominant Force, whose members describe the band as "too hardcore for smartphone punks; too punk for clap-mosh losers." Fans of hardcore music, mark your calendars. Read all of Douglas Markowitz and Olivia McAuley's "The 15 Best Things to Do in Miami This Week." 9 p.m. Friday, January 3, at Churchill's Pub, 5501 NE Second Ave., Miami; 305-757-1807; churchillspub.com. Tickets cost $20.
Luciano. With Ms. Mada and Thunderpony. Now that the regrettable 2010s are behind us, it seems appropriate to cleanse ourselves with a fiesta at Club Space spurred by Luciano. The Swiss-Chilean producer, DJ, and Cadenza Records label founder performs like a Juilliard conductor who spent one night at Amnesia in Ibiza and swapped his baton for turntables. While many DJs prefer the ubiquitous two CDJs and a mixer for spinning, Luciano — real name Lucien Nicolet — unloads his sound through four channels via the DJ program Traktor. Luciano's versatility and brio make him an excellent fit for Club Space. His appearance will be a reunion of sorts — Luciano was one of the first DJs to play at the club under new ownership. Till light filters through the roof Sunday morning, Luciano is sure to inject a hotblooded sound into the nervous system of Miami’s club culture. Read Grant Albert's "Luciano Will Return to Club Space With Tenacious Style and Flair." 11 p.m. Saturday, January 4, at Club Space, 40 NE 11th St., Miami; 786-357-6456; clubspace.com. Tickets cost $11.25 to $22.50.
ODD. With Sister System and True Vine. The collaborative efforts of Miami-based DJs True Vine and Sister System date back to 2013. The two South Florida natives, born Santiago Vidal and Alexis Sosa-Toro, met on Facebook through a shared love of the Chemical Brothers; only a few years later, they're kicking off 2020 by taking over the downtown Miami nightclub Floyd this Saturday. The duo started out by throwing house parties in the mid-2010s, an undertaking that evolved into their first rave, Droogfest, a 2016 gathering they claim happened in the middle of the Everglades. "We would U-Haul people from a gas station to Old Pembroke Road and then to a spot in the Everglades,” Vidal explains. “We built a stage out there; we even mowed the lawn.” The mini-festival brought a crowd of 400 to a generator-powered patch of the Florida slough. Read more in Grant Albert's "Sister System and True Vine Bring Collaborative Expertise to Floyd." 11 p.m. Saturday, January 4, at Floyd Miami, 40 NE 11th St., Miami; 305-608-2824; floydmiami.com. Tickets cost $11.25 to $30.

Heavy Metal Beach Party. Do you know that Portlandia episode when the beach goths bump into Glenn Danzig while he's catching some rays? Well, it seems a similar scenario will actually happen in Miami. Though "heavy metal" and "beach party" don't seem to belong in the same sentence, the unmitigated success of the Heavy Metal Beach Party, which has taken place annually since 2011, suggests otherwise. What started as a preparty for the 7000 Tons of Metal Cruise has become a proper event in its own right. The 2020 iteration will take over Historic Virginia Key Beach Park and, for the first time, will be a bona fide music festival with a full lineup, local craft beer vendors, and some of Miami's best food trucks. Although headliner Goatwhore had to cancel, the party is still on with acts such as Paladin, Soulburner, Solemn Vision, and Miami's own Maedusa, and tickets are now available at a discounted rate. Read all of Douglas Markowitz and Olivia McAuley's "The 15 Best Things to Do in Miami This Week." 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday in Historic Virginia Key Beach Park, 4020 Virginia Beach Dr., Virginia Key; heavymetalbeachparty.com. Tickets cost $20 to $149.