If you’re a live music-loving South Florida native, it’s a great time to get your tunes on. It wasn’t that long ago that the southern stretch of the Sunshine State was a musical Siberia. Plenty of arena- and stadium-filling acts – Elton John, U2, The Rolling Stones, and Lady Gaga – would regularly and dutifully venture south of Orlando, bringing in tow tickets ranging in the hundreds of dollars – before the scalpers unleash their bots and resale pillaging.
But bands more befitting a smaller theater or concert hall – and tickets rarely topping $30 – avoided the last 200 miles of the state. After all, 400-plus miles r/t is a heluva road trip to play to a few hundred loyal fans.
That was yesterday. As Bob Dylan sang five decades ago, Times, they are a changin’. We’re gaining some concert momentum of late here in SoFla. Not a week passes that some smaller but significant jam-band, alternative, or Americana act drops by or sits in. That’s atop a fairly robust local live music scene. Around these parts, it’s cause for excitement.
Part reflection, part exultation, this blog is a uniquely South Florida observation. Indulge us as we celebrate…
Sure, West Coasters, big city folk, and those anywhere along the Eastern Seaboard, from Asheville to the New York metro area, even up into New England, may shrug and say, “Hold my beer. I’ve got yet another show to go to.” We get that. In a recent interview with RoadtripMojo, Lockn’ Festival founder and Brooklyn Bowl and Capital Theater owner Peter Shapiro said he’s been going to live music every night for 20 years.
We’ve been live-music orphans stranded by distance for more than a generation. But that was yester-year. This weekend, Willie Nelson & Family played near Fort Lauderdale. Next week, Gary Clark Jr. will play the Fillmore Miami Beach. A week later, Keller Williams and his Keller Pettygrass Tom Petty tribute will play Revolution Live, which itself a week later will host the Wanee Block Party with The Marcus King Band, North Mississippi Allstars, and former Allman Brothers Band drummer Jai “Jaimoe” Johanson’s Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band.
Since New Year’s 2019 alone, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong and opener The Fritz flew in (OK, they drove, but hey, it’s a metaphor). A week later Spafford stopped by. The Black Crowes founder Rich Robinson’s Magpie Salute played a set recently; estranged brother Chris Robinson Brother has dropped in a few times, too. Los Lobos and Lettuce regrettably played on the same Friday night in February. St. Paul and the Broken Bones lit up the local Culture Room. Joe Marcinek and Dead’ish guitarist John Kadlicek have rolled through.
Last year saw moe., Aqueous, JJ Gray and Mofro, Marcus King, and the triple-bill Gov’t Mule, Eric Gales (who played again this week), and Elvin Bishop stuttin’ his stuff. Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, The Infamous Stringdusters, Turquaz, and Trevor Hall are booked for the spring.
Bob Weir and Wolf Bros. will play the Fillmore on March 26. Grateful Dead and Allman Brothers’ bassist and Boca resident Oteil Burbridge is a common sight on area stages.
And these are just the acts that #RoadtripMojo put on its shared Google Calendar. The dates of late have far outpaced our ability to see them all. Oh, to have Pete Shapiro’s – ahem – job obligations.
It helps that venues have come alive. Seriously long-time locals will remember the slim pickin’ days when the Hollywood Sportatorium, the Miami Marine Stadium, the Dania Jai-Alai Fronton, even Pirate’s World (host to Led Zeppelin, the Grateful Dead, and others) were all we had. Today, large acts call on Hard Rock Stadium (still called “Joe Robbie” by locals), and the AmericanAirlines Arena and BB&T Center, and the Coral Sky Amphitheater, home to Dave Matthews Band’s recurring summer-time sweat fest.
“Intimate” better describes the venues that have come on line to match smaller acts. A quick list reveals Revolution Live (capacity 1,300), the Fillmore Miami Beach (a 2,500-seat venue known to old-timers here as the Jackie Gleason Theater), historic Parker Playhouse (1,200), Culture Room (650), even Funky Biscuit (300), and Boca Raton outdoor venues Mizner Park Amphitheater (4,200) and the Sunset Cove Amphitheater (6,000) on the edge of the Everglades.
Festivals have grown has interest has, though some have been stymied by high costs or other business realities. Before taking a hiatus in 2019, The Tedeschi Trucks Band’s Sunshine Music and Blues Festival made a six-year run here, bringing Susan and Derek, along with Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Phish bassist Mike Gordon, and Gov’t Mule. EDM-heavy Okeechobee Music Festival made a three-year run 90-minutes north before pulling up stakes after 2018. As an aside, the venerable Wanee Music Festival pulled the plug for 2019, and has been replaced by Suwannee Rising Festival later this month.
This year’s Ultra Music Festival will bring more than 20,000 EDMers to Miami’s Virginia Key.
Bluegrass billies have the Baygrass Bluegrass Festival in Islamorada in the Florida Keys; the Everglades Roots Festival at the Trail Lakes Campground in Ochopee offered a quaint trip back in time. Some acts make South Florida a waypoint on their way to bigger billings. Before and after setting sail on Boca-based Cloud 9 Productions’ Jam Cruise, which sails annually out of Miami Beach, bands like Umphrey’s McGee have done stand-alone shows. This year’s official pre-party Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe and with opener Electric Kif.
Yeah, the South Florida music scene has come a long way, thawing from some remote Siberian outpost to a hotbed for jam-band, indie, alternative, and Americana acts – and the loyal fans who love them. Around these parts, it’s cause for exultation even some West Coasters, big-city folk, or Eastern Seaboarders may appreciate.