Feeling refreshed this breezy morning? Well you should be 'cause it's a short work week!
And what's better than having to wake up at an ungodly hour just to sit through bumper-to-bumper traffic, as you head to your dark cubicle to respond to countless emails and deal with pesky co-workers only four days this week? Music from rap legend Talib Kweli to English uhntz-uhntz sensation Disclosure to look forward to, of course.
Here are the five best concerts to check out.
See also: New Times' Concert Calendar
Flo Rida. Performing for unite4:good Day of Unity. Monday, January 20, 6:30-10:30 p.m., Ice Palace Film Studios, 1400 N. Miami Ave., Miami; 305-672-5117; big-time.com. The concert is free for volunteers who sign up via unite4good.org. For others looking to attend, tickets cost $50 plus fees via eventbrite.com. Visit unite4good.org. Give back to the community, get a "Good Feeling," and unite4good this MLK Day with Flo Rida. The 305's own rapper will be putting on a show to promote the non-profit's global initiative to spread kindness and positivity to the world. And if you volunteer with any of unite4good's projects for the day, including revitalizing murals in Overtown with Urgent Inc. and a list of other activities, you'll get to watch the lyrical master for free.
See also: Flo Rida to Perform Free Show for unite4:good Volunteers on Martin Luther King Day
KC & the Sunshine Band. With Higher Ground. Friday, January 24, 8 p.m., Hard Rock Live, One Seminole Way, Hollywood; 954-797-5531; hardrocklivehollywoodfl.com. Tickets cost $45-$65 plus fees via ticketmaster.com. The excessively shiny shirts and disturbingly tight pants of the '70s died over 40 years ago along with the musical genre that dominated the era, but the Magic City's disco masters are still doing their thang. So grab your mom and abuela, "do a little dance," and "get down tonight" with KC & the Sunshine Band.
Talib Kweli. DJ set with DJs Heron, Self Born, and Klassik for Beats & Rhymes Fridays. Friday, January 24, 10 p.m., The Stage, 170 NE 38th St., Miami; 305-576-9577; thestagemiami.com. Tickets cost $15 plus fees via chirrpy.com, or $20 at the door. Ages 21 and up. Ever since his Black Star days rapping about politics and social awareness with Mos Def in the late '90s, Talib Kweli was viewed as a revolutionary hip-hop artist who gave rap a deeper meaning than money, fame, and strippers. Guess that must be why the Prisoner of Conscious considers himself "a legend, like Tutankhamun or the Chupacabra, when it comes to this rhymin'."
Carcass. Brutal Boat Bash: Round V with Cyst, Made of Metal, Maruta, Paralysis, and Virulentus. Saturday, January 25, 6 p.m., Grand Central, 697 North Miami Ave., Miami; 305-377-2277; grandcentralmiami.com. Tickets cost $15-$22 plus fees via ticketfly.com. Carcass is "Unfit for Human Consumption." Maybe it's because they make your ears bleed and pupils dilate with all that extreme grindcore, or maybe it's just because they Reek of Putrefaction.
See also: Carcass' Jeff Walker: "Life Is Just Food For Maggots"
Disclosure. With Vic Mensa and Samo Sound Boy. Saturday, January 25, 9 p.m., The Fillmore Miami Beach, 1700 Washington Ave., Miami Beach; 305-673-7300; fillmoremb.com. Tickets are sold out. Visit livenation.com. "How do you feel your momentum, and how do you get into your zone?" With the killer beats of the UK's own sibling dance music duo Disclosure.
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