Summer 2023

Freaks on Parade Tour

WHEN: Aug. 27, 6 p.m.

WHERE: iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre, 601-7 Sansburys Way, West Palm Beach

COST: $42 and up

CONTACT: 561/795-8883, westpalmbeachamphitheatre.com

Shock rockers from two generations coheadline this legacy bill. Equal parts heavy and theatrical, Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie have led metal bands for decades, prizing elaborate makeup, lyrics inspired by horror fiction and double kick drums. Cooper, now 75 and an elder statesman of a subgenre he all but created, fronted his original eponymous band for seven enormously influential albums in the 1970s, followed by a solo career of more than 40 years; hits such as “School’s Out” and “No More Mr. Nice Guy” have transcended genre and era. Rob Zombie, in some ways Cooper’s immediate heir, makes movies and music that take B-movie schlock to levels of feverish hysteria; “Living Dead Girl” and “Thunder Kiss” are among his iconic favorites. Arrive early for bands that are legendary in their own right: Ministry, one of the foundational industrial bands of the 1980s, and Filter, the Midwestern rock band marrying heavy riffs with occasionally dreamy atmospherics.

Concours d’Elegance

WHEN: June 17, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

WHERE: Old School Square Great Lawn, 51 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach

COST: Free

CONTACT: 561/927-8605, delrayconcours.com

Boca Raton has long enjoyed its own Concours d’Elegance, a winter showcase of, and competition for, lovingly preserved vintage automobiles. If Boca’s version is haute, Delray’s Concours is hot, and decidedly more laid-back. Launched last year by Max Zengage—an automobile buff, Delray native and FAU graduate who became the youngest member of the city’s Public Art Advisory Board in 2021—the second-annual event is described as a “classic car garden party with a Delray flair.” More than 100 cars and motorcycles dating earlier than 1975 will be on display, vying for the gold in more than 15 judged classes, including American Prewar (and Postwar), Italian Best in Show, Porsche Best in Show and the possibly dubious “What Were They Thinking?” award. Four handpicked judges arrive with expertise from organizations such as Ford Motors, the Rolls-Royce Owners Association and Ferrari. There will be live music and vendors throughout the day, and the event will benefit five local nonprofits.

“Witness to Wartime: The Painted Diary of Takuichi Fuji”

WHEN: May 6-Oct. 6

WHERE: Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, 4000 Morikami Park Road, Delray Beach

COST: $9-$15

CONTACT: 561/495-0233, morikami.org

It is the artist’s responsibility to create, even in— especially in—times of existential strife. Takuichi Fuji was a living embodiment of this urge to portray life as he saw it, in all of its historical ugliness. Fuji, a Japanese American, was 50 years old and living in Seattle when World War II broke out between the U.S. and his native country. He became one of 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry to be incarcerated in detention camps, first in Washington and later in Idaho. All the while, he never stopped making art, keeping a diary and supplementing it with illustrations, to the tune of more than 250 ink drawings and more than 130 paintings. An artist of innate skill and boundless compassion, Fuji wrote and painted like a historian, capturing detailed visions of the camps and the daily routines of his fellow-inmates that were never seen until the publication of the 2017 book The Hope of Another Spring. This traveling exhibition celebrates his legacy while shedding light on this shameful period of America’s past.

Juneteenth Think Tank

WHEN: June 18

WHERE: Pompey Park, 1101 N.W. Second St., Delray Beach

COST: Free

CONTACT: 561/243-7356

Following the racial-justice protests of 2020 and the recognition of Juneteenth as a federal holiday a year later, this celebration acknowledging the date, in 1865, when the last of America’s slaves were freed, has grown in national relevance. Last year’s inaugural Juneteenth Think Tank, spearheaded by Kenya Madison of Healthier Delray, recognized the increasing importance of the holiday, and this year’s second-annual gathering will continue to provide both learning opportunities and cultural celebrations. In partnership with up to 30 community organizations, including the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum, the Think Tank will fall on Juneteenth Eve, and will be centered on a theme of “Black Kings.” In addition to live entertainment, food and vendors, “we’re looking at organizing with male leaders in our community, as we talk about fathers and father figures, and what does leadership look like in 2023 and for the foreseeable future,” Madison says. “We’ll have different pillars or anchor areas for our community engagement and conversations. … There will be deep intention embedded for the day.”

Tori Amos: Ocean to Ocean Tour

WHEN: June 17, 8 p.m.

WHERE: Kravis Center, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach

COST: $39-$149

CONTACT: 561/832-7469, kravis.org

Any tour by this reigning lioness of adultalternative music is a big deal, but we Floridians have extra-special reasons to be pumped for this one. After all, Amos hasn’t performed in the Sunshine State in nine years, and this appearance, in support of her 2021 release Ocean to Ocean, will be the first show in a nationwide jaunt through the United States. A child piano prodigy at the age of 5, Amos was the youngest person to ever be admitted to the esteemed Peabody Institute conservatory in Maryland, only to be forced out at age 11 due to “musical insubordination”— effectively establishing her punk cred even as a prepubescent. Amos emerged as one of the leading women in rock with her instant-classic 1992 debut LP Little Earthquakes. Fifteen diverse and musically sophisticated releases have followed, wedding the rigor of classical training with socially conscious lyrics; the songs on Ocean to Ocean, for instance, were inspired by life during the COVID lockdowns and the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

JOHN THOMASON