WHISKEY ON BEER: load
LOAD DOCUMENTARY: WHISKEY ON BEER
In spring 2016 PureHoney first talked to Gary and Tarek Ahmed, brothers from Connecticut who had stumbled upon a long-gone South Florida punk band called LOAD and were so blown away they wanted to make a film about the band. All they had then was a promotional trailer and an Indiegogo campaign. Today, they are director and producer, respectively, of “Whiskey On Beer,” a featurelength documentary named for a LOAD song that has its world premiere on Feb.1 at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. In the South Florida scene of the 1990s that produced Marilyn Manson, Nuclear Valdez and Collapsing Lungs, LOAD were infamous for partying as hard as they played. They were good enough to attract music-industry interest but too unstable to maintain it. Singer-screamer Robert H. Johnston, aka Bobby Load, was the band incarnate — a force-of-nature frontman who died in 2012. LOAD guitarist Jeff Tucci passed away two years later. Drawn in by the music, the Ahmeds decided to track down the surviving members and chart the band’s muddy legacy. The lengths these first-time documentarians went to is a tale of its own. They turned to crowdfunding, but didn’t wait for donors. They hit the road, collecting interviews on their own dime, two fans plowing through scarce funding, ineptitude and other people’s wariness, buoyed by belief. “There were a lot of regrets not having the right equipment or messing something up because we didn’t have the proper crew,” Gary tells PureHoney by email. “Some interviews were unusable because of audio issues, some interviews just didn’t come out well due to my own inexperience as a filmmaker.” The South Florida music scene is in many ways jaded toward any attention lavished on it by outsiders; we get excited and suspicious. Having coughed up thousands of dollars on Kickstarter to someone else for an unmade film about Churchill’s Pub, the fabled Miami punk dive, locals understandably had doubts. “[W]e can’t really malign anybody for their impatience after sooo many people got burned by the Churchill’s documentary,” writes Tarek.
KILL YOUR IDOL
There was also the memory hole left by Tucci and Johnston. “There’s not many audio interviews or home video footage of the two during or after the band was active,” Gary writes. “The few clips that we were able to dig up for the film are pretty cool and hopefully will give the audience a window into who they were as people and performers but a lot of things I think Jeff and Bobby unfortunately took to their grave, as far as their perspective on the whole thing.” There is footage of Johnston saying he doesn’t want to be remembered. In some respects, he wasn’t alone. One of the biggest interviews the Ahmeds struggled to get was with LOAD’s manager, Bob Slade, who they had tracked to a radio station in Colorado. “He didn’t understand why we thought he was such an important part of the story,” Gary writes, “but I think Bob Slade and the work he did through his radio show Off The Beaten Path on WLRN really contributed to the popularity that LOAD had in their time. “If you look through old LOAD flyers there’s a period where LOAD opened for almost every national rock and alternative act that came through south Florida and I think Bob was a big part of that,” Gary writes. Slade agreed to an interview. “I was the only person on set that day,” Gary recalls. The microphone died during filming, but this time he had a backup and the footage was saved. “Each round of shooting ended up looking more professional as we figured out the technical and aesthetic elements of shooting a documentary film,” Gary writes. “Overall I’m happy with how the film turned out and I think it looks remarkably professional considering the budget.” Art is toil in the hope of creating something that connects whether or not it leads to fame and riches. Some artists strike gold; some get close. Most are repaid in memories. South Florida gets accused of lacking memory or drinking it away. “Where dreams go to die” is the cheeky motto of a Fort Lauderdale bar where Tucci’s guitar hangs near one of Johnston’s paintings. But two visitors are helping us remember what makes a scene. “Whiskey on Beer” premieres February 1 and repeats on February 2 at Savor Cinema in Fort Lauderdale with a 9pm party, 10pm screening and filmmaker Q&A afterward both nights. $10 advance, $12 door. fliff.com ~ Tim Moffatt
RAD SHOWS, ALCOHOL, ETC. OPEN TIL 5AM DAILY 222 ESPANOLA WAY MIAMI BEACH SUB-CULTURE.ORG/KILL-YOUR-IDOL
LUNG PLAY SQUID AT VOLTAIRE In a post-big band, post-wall of sound world, less is often more. And in some instances the more creatively minimal the musicians get, the finer the découpage. The Ramones found success by stripping rock ’n’ roll down. William Burroughs hit on a new lyricism with his randomized, cut-up texts. More recently groups like Mates of State and Mommy and Daddy have used the keyboard/ synth and drums combo to great effect while more niche acts like No Comply have mined drum and bass guitar to violent hardcore ends. Somewhere in a stark space between sweet electro pop and all-out punk-rock anarchic disorder stands Cincinnati’s LUNG, taking the drums and marrying them with cello and franticto-operatic singing. Built around the cello and voice of Kate Wakefield and kept on line by the drumming of Daisy Caplan, LUNG is dark and light — LUNG rays of hope dotting a forbidding landscape. The classical influence is no chimera: Wakefield is a former opera singer who fully understands the destructive gloom that often drives that old-world genre. Caplan’s metrics display a power and girth learned in stints with rockers Foxy Shazam and punkers Babe Rage. In their short existence they’ve delivered a cohesive debut, 2017’s “Bottom of the Barrel,” and followed it a year later with “All the King’s Horses,” a delightful album with a sequencing and flow that feel unerringly novelistic. Even when they deploy a cover — David Bowie’s “I’m Afraid of Americans” — it feels perfectly placed and matched to the album’s originals, and LUNG make the song their own in the most hauntingly beautiful way. Wakefield and Caplan are collaborators since 2016, but their chemistry is an evolution made possible by what they did in separate projects beforehand. Their energy, coalescing here so seamlessly, is the rendered artistry of having worked it all before and pared everything down to just what is necessary. Wakefield’s voice — because you can never take the opera out of the girl — is the greatest beneficiary of this distillation. If you’re wanting to hear something new and wondering what music at its essence sounds like, LUNG would be a perfect band to catch live. Lung performs with Adam Sheetz at 8pm on January 8 at Voltaire in West Palm Beach. lungtheband.com ~ Abel Folgar
ELECTRIC KIF w. ISAAC TEEL (TAUK)
With jazz roots fused to psychedelia, jam, funk and prog, Miami’s Electric Kif makes music that is distinct yet versatile enough to resonate in just about any performance space, from living rooms to festival lawns. Like jazz itself, band members Eric Escanes (guitar), Jason Matthews (keyboards), Armando Lopez (drums) and Rodrigo Zambrano (bass) came together from wildly contrasting backgrounds to create a synchronized sound. Hailing from France, Philadelphia and Mexico City as well as Miami, the four found ELECTRIC KIF an undeniable commonality and bonded over a shared love of instrumental music. Though the quartet is close-knit, they have a knack and passion for outside collaborations. As evidence, Brooklyn-born drummer Isaac “Mr. Funknasty” Teel of the band Tauk will sit in on Electric Kif’s upcoming show at Voltaire in West Palm Beach. It’s a performance that promises even more electricity than usual with the addition of a second set of drums to, possibly literally, bring the house down. Showcasing both unhinged creativity and superior technical musicianship, each member of Electric Kif is a certified musician’s musician. All have been mastering their distinct crafts since boyhood and play with the level of proficiency and synergy that is vital to their medium. Rather than try to categorize their genre fusions with an endless string of hyphens, Electric Kif has dubbed its music “post-nuclear.” One listen makes the meaning of that modifier clear. Like freestyle poetry, improv comedy or traditional jazz, “postnuclear” was incubated and fostered through organic riffing and cohesiveness. Having played a slew of festivals nationally and internationally over the years, Electric Kif knows how to bring big-crowd energy to any setting. While the band communicates without vocals and lyrics, its collective instrumental voice is unmistakably born of the emotions and experiences we all recognize as our own. The medium just happens to be the beautiful and bafflingly harmonious expression of jazz. Through accumulating volleys of musical tension and release, Electric Kif builds a musical language of human experience, the peaks and the valleys, all born of the joy, anxiety, mania and general confusion that come standard with any model of human existence. Electric Kif + Isaac Sinclair Teel of Tauk performs 8pm January 11 at Voltaire in West Palm Beach. electrickif.bandcamp.com ~ Freddie Zandt
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27
VOLTAIRE: Woolbright, Palomino Blond, Boston Marriage, Winded DADA: MIXTAPE “New Year’s Revolutions” CHURCHILL’S PUB: All Folk’d Up
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28
HULLABALOO: Mood Swing CWS: Marcus Amaya Band STACHE: Retro Wave with DJ Lindersmash KILL YOUR IDOL: Immersed BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Mitch Herick & The Homegrown Sinners KELSEY THEATER: Simply Tina MATHEWS BREWING COMPANY: Spider Cherry
ROBOT BREWING CO: VIBEAT with Adrian Acuna VOLTAIRE: A Surfer Blood Holiday Rocker! Special Guests: Tingy Thick, Nervous Monks, Dirtbike, Vagnauts SUNDAY, JANUARY 6 REVOLUTION LIVE: JJ Grey & Mofro FILLMORE: Draco Rosa ARTS GARAGE: Benny Goodman and Friends VOLTAIRE: Ray’s Dntn: Sons of a Tradesman DADA: Xotic Yeyo KILL YOUR IDOL: Shameless Burlesque
RESPECTABLE STREET: MASS
MATHEWS BREWING COMPANY: The Cravens BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Mike Mineo
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29
VOLTAIRE: Sushi Session Saturdays with MARK III RESPECTABLE STREET: Litmas 3: Ugly Sweater Party FILLMORE: Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker DADA: Tasty Vibrations KILL YOUR IDOL: The Wire Hip-Hop Party ARTS GARAGE: Haka and the Cuban Hipsters MATHEWS BREWING COMPANY: Big Jam Theory CWS: Mike Mineo
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 30
VOLTAIRE: JM & the Sweets FILLMORE MIAMI: The Roots Holiday Run
ARTS GARAGE: Jazil Brazz MATHEWS BREWING COMPANY: Bryce Allyn Duo CWS: The Basement Presents Funk Brunch
MONDAY, DECEMBER 31
DADA: Karaoke KILL YOUR IDOL: Gameshow Sundays BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Plant Nite CWS: Nyne2Five (A.M.) / The Basement Presents Funk Brunch (P.M.) MATHEWS BREWING COMPANY: Altered Roots Duo ARTS GARAGE: Marcus Roberts Trio
ROBOT BREWING CO: Poetry/Short Fiction Readings
MONDAY, JANUARY 7
VOLTAIRE: YUM YUM ITB w DJ Infante, DJ Ddubbz DADA: Open Mic KILL YOUR IDOL: Drag Mondays
TUESDAY, JANUARY 8
VOLTAIRE: SQUID: Lung (Ohio), Adam Sheetz ARTS GARAGE: All Arts Open Mic DADA: Spoken Word Open Mic KILL YOUR IDOL: Open Jam
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9
THE GROUND AT CLUB SPACE: Mineral, Tancred DADA: Jordan Laurenti KILL YOUR IDOL: Chris Rod Duo
RESPECTABLE STREET: The Basement Presents RESPECTABLE STREET: New Years Factory Party VOLTAIRE: NYE MASQUERADE BALL w The Cube Guys THURSDAY, JANUARY 10 DADA: Mixtape CASA MANNABLISS: Sol Circus RESPECTABLE STREET: DMDYTH CWS: New Years Eve with Nyne2Five STACHE: New Years Eve with FUSIK
CWS: Victoria Cardona
TUESDAY, JANUARY 1
FILLMORE: L. Agutin, A. Varum, V. Leontiev, K. Orbakaite, Julio Iglesias Jr.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2
FRIDAY, JANUARY 11
DADA: Spoken Word Open Mic KILL YOUR IDOL: Open Jam
VOLTAIRE: Penne a la Vodka Comedy Show DADA: 23:19 & Castafellas KILL YOUR IDOL: Grizzly Atoms
RESPECTABLE STREET: The Basement Presents
THURSDAY, JANUARY 3
BREWHOUSE GALLERY: All Arts Open Mic KELSEY THEATER: Cash Unchained MATHEWS BREWING COMPANY: Crazy Fingers Trio ARTS GARAGE: Poetry Open Mic DADA: Mixtape
FRIDAY, JANUARY 4
MATHEWS BREWING COMPANY: Crazy Fingers Trio BREWHOUSE GALLERY: All Arts Open Mic
VOLTAIRE: Electric Kif w/ special guest Isaac Sinclair Teal (of Tauk) RESPECTABLE STREET: Punk Rock Karaoke MATHEWS BREWING COMPANY: B-Side Band DADA: Thoughts REVOLUTION LIVE: Take This To Your Grave w The Storkes CWS: Guavatron HONEY: Johnny O & Cynthia KILL YOUR IDOL: Bermuda Beach / No Wave BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Ukelele Russ KELSEY THEATER: Tinsley Ellis ARTS GARAGE: Karina Iglesias and the Nu-Thang
ROBOT BREWING CO: Side Hustle, Tame the Lyons VOLTAIRE: Laurence Gartel Closing Show, Geenius & the Spotless Minds JANUARY 12 RESPECTABLE STREET: Jigsaw Youth, Killed by Florida, SATURDAY, FILLMORE MIAMI BEACH: New Order All the V Words RESPECTABLE STREET: Afterife CD Release Party MATHEWS BREWING COMPANY: El Dub Band VOLTAIRE: DFS Saturdays, Sushi Sessions w B-STEW Trio DADA: Ella Herrera MATHEWS BREWING COMPANY: Crazy Fingers Band REVOLUTION LIVE: Cash Unchained DADA: Steve Pomeranz Band CWS: Mike Mineo BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Subgroove ARTS GARAGE: Watermelon Slim
ROBOT BREWING CO: Daniel Dratch & The Blues Crusaders, The Dones Collective
SATURDAY, JANUARY 5
ARTS GARAGE: Jose Fajardo Jr. Orchestra
HULLABALOO: Jakob Takos Trio KILL YOUR IDOL: Breaks Yo! BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Citizen Badger ARTS GARAGE: Spring into the Arts, Uri Gurvich Quartet Brain Emoji ft Joe Marcinek, Michael Bryant, members of Heavy Pets!
SUNDAY, JANUARY 13
VOLTAIRE: Ray’s Dntn: Midnite Johnny w Kilmo VOLTAIRE: DFS Saturdays, Sushi Sessions w Deb Silver BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Blues Jam DADA: Moon Kaboom
CWS: Mike Mineo (A.M.) / Basement Presents Funk Brunch (P.M.)
ARTS GARAGE: Kofi Bakers Psychedelic Trip
ROBOT BREWING CO: Dungeons and Drafts, Storytelling Slam with Caren Neile
TUESDAY, JANUARY 15
VOLTAIRE: SQUID TUESDAY: 50% off for Musicans, $4 High Life w. Whiskey Shot DADA: Spoken Word Open Mic KILL YOUR IDOL: Open Jam
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16
DADA: Particles Collide + Brown Bear & Fitch
VOLTAIRE: Cat Eye Club KILL YOUR IDOL: Ellisa Sun
RESPECTABLE STREET: The Basement Presents
THURSDAY, JANUARY 17
VOLTAIRE: FUNKTION: Public Sounds, VIBEAT DADA: Mixtape KILL YOUR IDOL: Karaoke
RESPECTABLE STREET: Coral Canyons
MATHEWS BREWING COMPANY: Crazy Fingers Trio BREWHOUSE GALLERY: All Arts Open Mic ARTS GARAGE: 3rd Thursday: Art Meets Music
FRIDAY, JANUARY 18
RESPECTABLE STREET: Randy of Trailer Park Boys DADA: Of One Mind KILL YOUR IDOL: AmericanGrime BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Songs From The Road Band KELSEY THEATER: Bob Marley Tribute CWS: Nyne2Five STACHE: Punch Drunk Love ARTS GARAGE: Bria Skonberg
ROBOT BREWING CO: The Vibe, Oddessey
SATURDAY, JANUARY 19
ESPLANADE PARK: Florida Flow Fest- WONDER, a CIRCUS ARTS festival, feat FlintBlade RESPECTABLE STREET: Ghost Lion, Vesper Wood VOLTAIRE: DFS Saturdays, Sushi Sessions w VIBEAT ROBOT BREWING CO: TGTG, The Deep Web, Moonmen MATHEWS BREWING COMPANY: Franscene Band DADA: The State Of REVOLUTION LIVE: Cagezilla 54 CWS: Spred the Dub STACHE: Burlesque HULLABALOO: Joey George & The Dead Beat Daddies KILL YOUR IDOL: Keep It Deep BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Mona Lisa Tribe KELSEY THEATER: Rust Market, In The Light Of Led Zeppelin ARTS GARAGE: Max Rabinovitsj Trio
RESPECTABLE STREET: The Basement Presents
THURSDAY, JANUARY 24
VOLTAIRE: Hell & Hollar, Raised by Wolves, North by North, Castafellas DADA: Mixtape REVOLUTION LIVE: Young Dolph
RESPECTABLE STREET: Hell & Hollar
BREWHOUSE GALLERY: All Arts Open Mic MATHEWS BREWING COMPANY: Crazy Fingers Trio
FRIDAY, JANUARY 25
VOLTAIRE: Post Hunk, Fun Isn’t Fair RESPECTABLE STREET: MASS: Dark Music
ARTS GARAGE: Steve Leeds: From the Rainbow Room to Arts Garage BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Brett Staska DADA: Humble Waters STACHE: Fusik CWS: Bobby Lee Rodgers Trio KILL YOUR IDOL: Shameless Burlesque MATHEWS BREWING COMPANY: Still Alive – Pearl Jam Tribute
ROBOT BREWING CO: Sonali & Jessica Morale O’MALLEY’S: I See Stars Acoustic
SATURDAY, JANUARY 26 DADA: Bitter Blue Jays
VOLTAIRE: Mark Fanciulli, Sushi Sessions w Mark III HULLABALOO: News From Bree REVOLUTION LIVE: Crash Test Dummies CWS: Mike Mineo KILL YOUR IDOL: The Wire
RESPECTABLE STREET: Craft Fair
BREWHOUSE GALLERY: The Rightly So & Damien Louviere MATHEWS BREWING COMPANY: Spred the Dub ARTS GARAGE: Mardi Gras Ball
ROBOT BREWING CO: Robot Winter Comedy Festival
SUNDAY, JANUARY 27
VOLTAIRE: Ray’s Dntn: JM & the Sweets
KILL YOUR IDOL: Gameshow Sundays LAS ROSAS: Windhand, Genocide Pact CWS: The Basement Presents Funk Brunch (P.M.) BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Blues Jam ARTS GARAGE: Emmet Cohen Trio
ROBOT BREWING CO: Sick Puppies Improv Troupe
MONDAY, JANUARY 28
VOLTAIRE: Monday Grind ITB DADA: Open Mic KILL YOUR IDOL: Drag Mondays
TUESDAY, JANUARY 29
SUNDAY, JANUARY 20
VOLTAIRE: SQUID TUESDAY: 50% off for Musicans, $4 High Life w. Whiskey Shot
CWS: Marcus Amaya (A.M.) / Basement Presents Funk Brunch (P.M.) ARTS GARAGE: Rachelle Coba Quartet
DADA: 432 Vibes KILL YOUR IDOL: Off Orbit
MONDAY, JANUARY 21
BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Think & Drink Trivia KELSEY THEATER: Joyce Manor, Jeff Rosenstock, Remember Sports
DADA: Open Mic KILL YOUR IDOL: Drag Mondays
VOLTAIRE: The Darling Fire, Kids, InMotion, TBA
DADA: Spoken Word Open Mic ESPLANADE PARK: Florida Flow Fest- WONDER, a KILL YOUR IDOL: Open Jam CIRCUS ARTS festival, featuring FlintBlade VOLTAIRE: Dark Water Rebellion, The Guttertones, Adam ARTS GARAGE: Arts Garage Jam Session Sheets WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30 BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Nip & Tuck VOLTAIRE: RAW KILL YOUR IDOL: Gameshow Sundays
ROBOT BREWING CO: Sick Puppies Comedy VOLTAIRE: Monday Grind ITB
RESPECTABLE STREET: The Basement Presents
THURSDAY, JANUARY 31
TUESDAY, JANUARY 22
DADA: Mixtape KILL YOUR IDOL: Karaoke
DADA: Spoken Word Open Mic KILL YOUR IDOL: Open Jam
BREWHOUSE GALLERY: All Arts Open Mic MATHEWS BREWING COMPANY: Crazy Fingers Trio
VOLTAIRE: SQUID: CHEW, Pleasures, Glass Body
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23
DADA: Tone & LaLa KILL YOUR IDOL: Martini & Kamakozie
RESPECTABLE STREET: Dark Water Rebellion ROBOT BREWING CO: Preservation Road
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1
VOLTAIRE: Marbin, Ben Delaurentis
RANDY OF TRAILER PARK BOYS Aten
Hitch this to your water and sewer line: A man’s gotta eat. And no man has been in more need of cheeseburgers since the days of J. Wellington Wimpy’s rampant gluttony than actor-comedian Pat Roach’s character Randy in the Canadian hit series “Trailer Park Boys.”
RANDY
Cheeseburger Picnic.”
Rivaling the popularity of other Canuck exports like poutine, hockey, politeness and sensible healthcare, “Trailer Park Boys” has become a living cult with worldwide appeal. And Roach as Randy is back on the road, on a tour he’s calling “A
It’s all sometimes hard to believe considering how niche it seems: A running mockumentary of the misadventures of a trio of buddies — trailer park denizens serving as stand-ins for a North American class underbelly. But that’s the power of comedy, folks, along with the fully believable, au naturel comedic chemistry of the cast. Early on, many of the show’s principals continued their real off-screen lives, with Roach famously working as a regional sales manager for a bottled water company and as a personal finance consultant. All this from a man whose gut defies gravity and who is completely comfortable topless in front of millions of viewers. As the assistant park supervisor for Dartmouth, Nova Scotia’s fictional Sunnyvale Trailer Park, Randy might be the greatest poster boy in the fight for body acceptance. There is something undeniably beautiful about the greasy rub of his matted, coarsely-haired torso. Roach has kept the myth alive off-camera by working the comedy circuit in character — usually alongside his series comedic foil, the beloved John Dunsworth as fellow trailer parker Jim Lahey. Following Dunsworth’s death in 2017, Roach is continuing Randy’s legacy in a world without Jim. “He wanted people to move forward,” Roach told a University of Wisconsin student newspaper. “He would be very pleased that Randy went back up and did Cheeseburger Picnic.” Roach on tour mixes up standup, silliness and downright burgering-not-buggering for TPB devotees. Until a thirteenth season surfaces, “Bobandy” will do whatever he must to keep himself in cheeseburgers. So listen to the liquor and don’t frig off. Randy of Trailer Park Boys presents: A Cheeseburger Picnic at 8 pm January 18 at Respectable Street in West Palm Bech, $20. trailerparkboys.com ~ Abel Folgar
DRACO ROSA at fillmore X
A multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy Award winner, acclaimed singer-songwriter, actor and two-time cancer ass-kicker, Draco Rosa is returning to rock Miami on the new leg of a tour promoting his latest album, “Monte Sagrado.”
DRACO ROSA
It’s difficult to talk about Rosa’s creative endeavors without mention of his complicated and turbulent life, as the two are so intricately entwined. “Monte Sagrado,” which translates to “Sacred Mountain,” lays bare the challenges faced by this boy band alumnus turned rock en español star as illness threatened his work and life.
The album is Rosa’s first since 2013’s “Vida,” and he has offered it as a kind of sister album to his influential 1996 release, “Vagabundo.” Garnering little critical acclaim on its release, “Vagabundo” (released when the artist was recording as Robi Draco Rosa) has finally claimed its proper place, being named to Billboard magazine’s list of “The 50 Greatest Latin Albums of the Last 50 Years.” Rosa burst into view in 1984 as a member of golden-era Menudo. Though he left the Latin kid-pop ensemble just three years later to chart his own path, he maintained an important relationship with a fellow Menudo graduate, the King of Latin Pop himself, Ricky Martin. Through bouts of depression, in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde fashion, Rosa’s music-factory alias Ian Blake was born — Blake being a credited author of Martin’s teen heartthrob hits “She Bangs,” “Livin’ La Vida Loca” and “Maria.” But Rosa and his restless alter egos were far from done: The Nuyorican rocker had ambitious solo albums, production credits, acting gigs, and entrepreneurial projects in and out of music still to come. Rosa told Billboard that “Monte Sagrado” was first conceived in a somber tone reflective of his second bout of cancer. But a recovery that also buoyed Rosa’s psyche steered the album in a livelier direction. Rosa reseasoned the songs with a dollop of distortion, a pinch of naivety, a layer of experimentation and more than a dash of Pique. Themes of rebirth and resurrection infuse “Monte Sagrado,” just as they have Rosa’s entire life and ever-evolving career. Draco Rosa performs 8pm January 6 at The Fillmore Miami Beach at Jackie Gleason Theatre. dracorosa.com ~ Freddie Zandt
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CASH unchained at revolution
CASH UNCHAINED
There are very few people who can capture energy. Without delving into poetics or proselytizing too much, Johnny Cash, the Man in Black, was one of those people. With each year since his passing in 2003 at age 71, Cash’s legacy continues to intensify and new fans hop aboard the blue train. It stands to reason that 15 years hence, Cash idolatry should reach new heights.
And at that apex stands Cash Unchained: The Ultimate Johnny Cash Tribute, fronted by teen-ager James Tamelcoff III and backed by “some of the finest musicians in the state of Virginia” in the role of Cash’s backing combo, the Tennessee Three. The full quartet renders Cash’s legacy in a perfect baritone and the crisp boomchicka-boom that underlines youthful Cash style. With one of the most diverse catalogues to pick from, it’s hard to comprehend how no one had tapped into this rich musical vein before with the gusto and energy these young guys bring to the stage. And their youth is a testament to the captivating power of Cash’s music. Tamelcoff was a kindergartner at the time of Cash’s death. Yet by age 15 he was YouTubing full-dress Cash covers with just himself on voice and hollow body electric guitar. So, where this band could be brushed off as nostalgia miners, it is important to make a hard distinction: This isn’t a sappy retread; this is music appreciation 101. They don’t replace Cash; they exalt his legacy through sight and sound by recreating the Arkansas-born icon’s early days on the road as a country and rockabilly tornado. On the band website, Cash Unchained points out a simple truth: “Johnny Cash may not have been the greatest singer or musical technician, but his sound was unforgettable.” Having acknowledged this, Cash Unchained is free to perform in his honor. They are true to the formula but they are not robots operating on total recall. And they are fine musicians, re-delivering some of that singular Cash energy, which can only grow with guys like these bringing it to life night after night. Cash Unchained: The Ultimate Johnny Cash Tribute at 7pm on January 4 at Revolution Live, Ft. Lauderdale. cashunchained.com. ~ Abel Folgar
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ARTLIT: a day of heroes
ARTLIT
With the rich and diverse set of cultures that make up South Florida, art always finds a way to flourish here no matter the literal, political or social climate. A case in point: Artlit, a free, all-ages Saturday of DIY artmaking, live music, virtual reality demonstrations and other interactive fun on the campus of the Pompano Beach Cultural Center and Library.
Highlights include a live paint-off with Pompano artists CHNK and Marcos Conde in friendly competition with peers from Miami (Sona and TeePOP), West Palm Beach (Liz Wizewood) and elsewhere in the region. The finished works will be raffled off. Artlit attendees also get to watch street painter and chalk artist Jennifer Chaparro bring her uncannily 3D-looking creations to life with just the sidewalk as her canvas. This edition of Artlit, subtitled A Day of Heroes, also coincides with birthday festivities for the Broward County Library branch that opened in January 2018 inside the $19.8 million Cultural Center — a 47,000-square-foot, city jewel of arts complex that turns two in May. Artlit’s parent organization, the local artists group ShangriLa Collective, is working with city and county cultural development officials to make the occasion a celebration of local artistic and literary life and, along the way, promote community bonding. “It’s about leaving a lasting impression on everyone we meet and have the pleasure of working with in this city,” artist Kelcie McQuaid, ShangriLa’s co-founder and creative director, tells PureHoney. “It’s about leading by example and connecting our current leadership to the core of our community, while executing great events that will inspire and motivate locals to get more involved in the arts.” Artlit is also a testament to Pompano Beach’s growing reputation in arts circles as a base for a number of up-and-coming talents and visionaries who are, in turn, helping the city stake a claim to South Florida’s cultural mojo. The more instant reward will be the “playful explosion” of participatory fun that Artlit organizers are promising as they do their part to lift our spirits and add color to our surroundings. Artlit: A Day of Heroes runs noon-10pm January 19 at the Pompano Beach Cultural Center and Library. Admission is free. ~ Freddie Zandt