I wasn’t lying about this being a sick exercise of compulsion. In case you’re as compulsive as me click here for a link to part 1 and click here for a link to part 2, click here for part 3, click here for part 4, and finally click here for part 5. Away we go…
137. Ludacris – May 26, 2011 – American Airlines Arena – I forgot about this “concert”. The rapper played a free show in exchange for courtside seats for when the LeBron James Miami Heat were the biggest show in the world. My thoughts, “He had the crowd moving and cheering when he spoke of how the Miami Heat were going to kick the collective ass of the Chicago Bulls. He reminded himself, “Lot of young ones out there so I’m going to keep this a clean show.” But then a couple moments later he went into the hit song with the rousing chorus, ‘Move bitch, get out of the way… get out of the way….'”
138. The Black Keys & St. Vincent – December 15, 2014 – BB&T Center, Sunrise.
139. Gregg Allman – January 4, 2015 – Hard Rock Live, Hollywood – My thoughts, “The man who was as synonymous in my mind with Southern rock as anyone this side of Lynyrd Skynyrd gave a performance that was more Chicago-blues-based than rock ‘n’ roll from below the Mason-Dixon.”
140. Alice Cooper – February 18, 2015 – Hard Rock Live – My thoughts, “You could complain that Alice Cooper’s voice sounded strained Wednesday night at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida, but that would be like visiting the zoo and whining about the quality of the food. If you go see the Godfather of Shock Rock live, it’s not to hear a fine baritone, it’s for the sheer, utter spectacle. And last night Alice Cooper was an animal.”
141. Gogol Bordello – March 11, 2015 – Culture Room – My thoughts, “I know there’s a documentary about the band, Gogol Bordello Non-Stop, that backs up Hütz’s story of growing up in the shadow of Chernobyl. And when I interviewed him, his accent seemed fairly consistent, but the way Hütz took the stage Wednesday night — stumbling along as if he were drunk, brandishing a mustache as vast as the Caspian Sea — I still couldn’t help but think he’s nothing but a persona. But whether Hütz is who he says he is or some New York hipster doing performance art, the packed house at the Culture Room was smitten.”
142. Elvis Costello – March 18, 2015 – Broward Center for Performing Arts – My thoughts, “Standing in a blue suit under a white hat that would fit an 1890’s carnival barker, Elvis Costello told the crowd at Broward Center for the Performing Arts, “I thought being in Fort Lauderdale, I would just sing my songs about love and fidelity. But that would be a short set.” On the final night of his Detour tour, this set was anything but short. Closing in on thirty songs, with three encores, Costello belied his sixty years by performing for over two and a half hours.”
143. Black Lips – March 20, 2015 – Culture Room.
144. Miami Beach Centennial – March 31, 2015 – South Beach – Flo Rida, Gloria Estefan, Andrea Bocelli, Barry Gibb. My thoughts, “It’s hard to imagine how the founders of Miami Beach envisioned their island paradise a century in the future. It’s unlikely that they foresaw Miami Beach residents in 2015 using selfie sticks or drones. They also probably could not see Flo Rida coming.”
145. The Ting Tings – April 16, 2015 – Revolution Live – My thoughts, “The only inefficient thing about the Ting Tings might be the name. Singer/guitarist Katie White and drummer Jules De Martino powered through thirteen songs at Revolution Live last night in just under an hour, not even going through the charade of leaving the stage and having the crowd chant their name for an encore. These two from Manchester, UK, with their dancy, catchy beats and angular guitars, lived up to their reputation of either being the last big Britpop band or the first successful Britpop revivalists.”
146. Sunfest Day 1 2015 – April 29, 2015 – West Palm Beach – I went to see Wilco, but Lenny Kravitz was there, and a pre-fame Lizzo. My thoughts, “The two headliners were Wilco and Lenny Kravitz, who were playing at the same time on opposing stages. You would think having to choose between the two biggest draws would be a problem, but it was more like going to the movie theater and learning Fast & Furious 7 and the new Noah Baumbach movie are playing at the same time.”
147. Sunfest Day 4 2015 – May 3, 2015 – West Palm Beach – Pixies! Pixies! Pixies! My thoughts, “The Pixies are notorious for cutting all fat or dead spots from their sets, and the band has never been confused with being a jam band. But on this set, Pixies played around with some old favorites. Opener “U-Mass” had a stretched-out instrumental intro. When Frank Black finally sung, it wasn’t as rapidly as the recorded version but rather with a laid-back drawl. “Nimrod’s Son” also had a verse where the tempo went down to a countrified Tennessee waltz time. The elephant in the room at all live Pixie shows was that original member Kim Deal is no longer with the band. She’s currently replaced by Paz Lenchantin. The band respects Deal’s absence by not playing the songs she sung lead on, like “Gigantic” or “Into the White.””
148. Neutral Milk Hotel – May 6, 2015 – Olympia Theater, Miami – My thoughts, “In a 90-minute set as beautiful and ornate as the Olympia Theater at Gusman Center stage upon which they played, Neutral Milk Hotel made believers out of the unacquainted under a ceiling painted as the night sky.”
149. Big Guava Fest – May 9, 2015 – Tampa – Made the drive to Tampa to see The Strokes, Pixies, TV on the Radio, and Run the Jewels. The review seems to have disappeared from the internet.
150. The War on Drugs – June 16, 2015 -Fillmore Miami Beach – My thoughts, “It’s safe to assume the Philadelphia-based rock band that played the Fillmore last night came up with the name the War on Drugs ironically. Its sound is, after all, one of pure 1980s cocaine excess. Its latest critically acclaimed album, last year’s Lost in the Dream, is basically ten different awesome variations of Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer.” On the band’s first visit to Miami, it was able to masterfully replicate its signature overproduced aesthetic in a live setting that had the audience clapping in spontaneous unison during the nearly two-hour set.”
151. Wyclef Jean – June 18, 2015 – Surfcomber Hotel, Miami Beach – Concert was ok. Biggest memory was my brother and I nerding out talking to then Miami Heat assistant coach David Fizdale.
152. Brit Floyd – July 16, 2015 – Fillmore Miami Beach – My thoughts, “Brit Floyd gave the packed crowd at the Fillmore a positive impression on the tribute genre last night. The band picked an artist in Pink Floyd that doesn’t have any iconic members whose images are etched in our collective memory. While a Led Zeppelin tribute band is required to have a singer with long curly locks to play Robert Plant and a Doors tribute band better have a singer who will take off his shirt, Brit Floyd didn’t have to waste energy on embodying the looks of Roger Waters, David Gilmour and gang. Rather they were able to concentrate on emulating the brilliant psychedelics that is the music of Pink Floyd.”
153. Marilyn Manson & Smashing Pumpkins – July 22, 2015 – Bayfront Park, Miami – My thoughts, “In their peak years, the Smashing Pumpkins and Marilyn Manson would have never toured together. Though they are both of the same genre, the two acts couldn’t be more different. It wasn’t too difficult to pick out the Manson fans from the Pumpkins fans at Bayfront Park Amphitheatre. Manson’s loyal army were a little more hardcore, dressed in black with no shortage of dark eyeshadow. Corgan’s people were a little brighter, nodding politely along as Manson screamed into his knife-shaped microphone.”
154. Zappa Plays Zappa – September 10, 2015 – Culture Room – My thoughts, “There was a technical difficulty midway through the set, when Dweezil was forced to stall for time and told about acting in the 1987 movie The Running Man, where he was witness to Arnold Schwarzenegger crassly hitting on any chick on set while lighting ten-foot flames. The punchline brought a lot of laughs from the house. Though Frank Zappa’s music was one part jazz, another part rock, and a portion Broadway showtune, Dweezel Zappa’s Schwarzenegger story would have fit right in to the lyrics of his father’s comedy music.”
155. The Jesus and Mary Chain – October 4, 2015 – Olympia Theater – My thoughts, “And as the Jesus and Mary Chain launched into its set, few dared to stand. Sure we were all older and the seat cushions were so comfortable, but it felt wrong to be sitting. But when the opening riff of “Head On” started, that course was corrected. Like dominos in reverse, one row stood up and then another until it reached the point where concertgoers were being told by tuxedoed ushers with flashlights not to dance in the aisle.”
156. iii Points Festival – October 9-10, 2015 – Wynwood – Saw Run the Jewels, a video concert of MF Doom, Toro Y Moi, and Warpaint.
157. Cheap Trick – October 22, 2015 – Hard Rock Live – My thoughts, “A bit after 8 p.m., what sounded like an automated female voice said over the Hard Rock Live loudspeaker, “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage the best fucking rock band you’ve ever seen — Cheap Trick.” That might be a bit of hyperbole, but last night, the aging Midwestern rockers with their tongues often planted firmly in their cheeks did indulge a hearty crowd with flashbacks of four decades of high-quality rock ‘n’ roll.”
158. Public Image Ltd – November 5, 2015 – Culture Room – My thoughts, “John Lydon, more infamously known as Johnny Rotten, earned his place in the books as lead singer of the Sex Pistols, but last night at Fort Lauderdale’s Culture Room, the legendary punk rocker proved his “secondary” band, Public Image Ltd, are second to none. Lydon walked on stage at 9:15 dressed in a ridiculous jailbird-striped set of pajamas, hair still spiky and bleached blonde, with looped earrings pierced into his lobes and that smart-ass punk rock attitude he trademarked in full effect.”
159. The English Beat – November 7, 2015 – Culture Room – My thoughts, “They ripped through nearly 20 songs, barely taking a breath in between rocksteady beats. There was not even the clichéd, ego-boosting walk off the stage having the fans chant their name.”
160, St. Paul & The Broken Bones – December 5, 2015 – Culture Room.
161. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Imagine Dragons – December 30, 2015 – South Beach – My thoughts, “But the main attraction was the hip-hop of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and the stadium rock of Imagine Dragons. While both acts are too over-polished and obsessed with positive messages for this music critic’s taste, it was hard to walk away from the show without appreciating the effort the two groups put into giving the crowd its money’s worth — which, yes, was technically $0.”
Starring Pablo Chiste 