Concerts

Natural Causes perform Friday, May 11, at 10 p.m. at the Office, 2701 Collins Ave., Miami Beach. Visit www.myspace.com/naturalcausesrock.

There is something special that occurs in the universe when Walter Becker and Donald Fagan of Steely Dan get together; perhaps it is akin to a musical meeting of cesium and water, resulting in a strong reaction of melody and lyrics with a few shouts from the amen corner. The…

In the days of the British Invasion, it was the Beatles and the Stones. In the days of early Jamaican reggae, it was Bob Marley and Toots Hibbert. OK, it may not seem that way now — Marley’s posthumous fame has dwarfed that of the very-much-alive Hibbert, who has been…

Call him the comeback kid. Truth is, Jay Boy Adams is happy he was called, period. When you’ve been away from the music biz for 25 years, you’re grateful if someone remembers your name. With a new album, The Shoe Box, perched high atop the Americana charts, this Texas troubadour…

At a Gwen Stefani show, you are not a citizen of the world but the subject of a commanding cultural empress whose red-lipped orders are your new desires. This is because on stage, Stefani exists in a hugely successful, colorful, and fun Gwen Nation. Not for Stefani is the unrestricted…

So how does a vaguely punk-oriented band, bred in the usual circuit of grungy clubs, adapt to platinum-sales and an arena tour? On Sunday night at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, warning signs taped to the entrance doors offered a clue: “Tonight’s performance includes the use of pyrotechnics and strobe…

There’s a natural tendency to dislike anything that comes out of Orange County, California. Known for its rich residents and terrible TV shows of the same name, the O.C., with all of its glitz and glamour, isn’t a place that evokes much sympathy. Down-to-Earth music lovers probably wouldn’t expect to…

You’d be hard-pressed to find a group that makes more overt concessions to pop than Texas-based four-piece Bowling for Soup. That said, you’d also have a difficult time finding a band with as much panache and flair. The group specializes in crafting harmonized pop-punk ballads that are carefully put together…

For those of you still shaking your heads in dismay at the botched Supremes reunion tour in 2000, here’s your chance for catharsis. Diana Ross is headed back to South Florida to put on a new solo show — though chances are she’ll be unabashedly pulling from her long line…

With machines replacing instruments and songs manufactured on an assembly line, it’s hard to find the soul in music nowadays. But there was a time when bands boomed with rich brass and singers gained notoriety for their talent without having to compete on a TV show first. That era, known…

You’ll have to go to Albertsons to get it, but Smokey Robinson now has his own line of grocery products, aptly titled “Smokey Robinson Foods,” featuring select meals he’s fallen in love with while touring for the past 50 years. Sure, he’s a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Grammy…

Southern California is home to a wide variety of music acts, but few are as strange as the Locust. The group has been around for more than a decade, making post-futuristic synthetic punk rock and breaking down barriers along the way. With the subtlety of a sledgehammer, the quartet speeds…

These days, East Coast indie rockers Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have appeared everywhere from The Late Show with David Letterman to tons of glossy music magazines while trying to become the next big act to take over rock music. It’s a success story worth mentioning, as the band managed…

At times, hip-hop is famous for its Voltron-like music cliques. The genre has always had its share of groups and solo artists who reside within “crews” for performance purposes — Juice Crew and Boot Camp Click come to mind, but the list of these affiliations are endless. Here in South…

One look at the cover of April’s Alternative Press magazine and it’s clear that this group’s name isn’t exactly ironic. Cute Is What We Aim For’s collective hairstyle can be described only as carefully coifed, controlled shagginess. The photo shows two of the four strong-chinned Buffalo, New Yorkers, puckering up,…

It’s no secret that within Broward County’s reggae clubs, dancehall rules the scene. Tunes by Mr. Vegas and Bounty Killer can be heard on a nightly basis, and there’s no shortage of topnotch selectors spinning the newest 45s straight from Jamaica. But what about the roots crowd? Older heads are…

Throughout its 20-year career, Pittsburgh political punk outfit Anti-Flag has had to defend and/or explain its name far too many times. You would think the old Samuel Johnson bon mot, “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel,” would sum it up, but instead, the group lets its music speak…

It’s getting harder and harder to figure out what the kids are listening to these days. Case in point: Ratatat. Does the Brooklyn duo of Mike Stroud (guitars) and Evan Mast (synthesizers) make nouveau electronica? Or instrumental hip-hop? Or low-fi IDM? Or alt-hop trance? Whatever you call the stuff, it’s…

In the early ’80s, legendary rock critic Jon Marlowe, writing for the Miami News, traveled to New York City to catch a concert by Meat Loaf, singer of the Jim Steinman-written 1977 album Bat Out of Hell, which would eventually sell 34 million copies and remain on the charts for…

Heartfelt passionate lyrics about love, loss, and the next emotional crisis dominate Boys Night Out’s lyrical landscape. The group’s verbal acrobatics are highlighted by intricate musical patterns and saccharine vocal melodies, replete with spot-on harmonization. The Canadian group has evolved from the standard so-called post-hardcore fare through more pop-driven moments…

Futurepop pioneers VNV Nation bring their 1984 imagery and positive-mindedness to Studio A on Thursday for an all-ages show. The band, made up of Londoners Ronan Harris and Mark Jackson, have taken their time in becoming electronic music’s next big thing; they’ve been together since 1990. But let’s back up…

Sometimes, blues music sounds better coming out of a woman’s mouth. The sultry lyrics and hard-knock lifestyle just have a more poignant ring to them when a woman is belting them out — and it’s almost guaranteed that they’ve lived through everything they’re singing about. Anyone who feels the same…