When the Tricky Beans formed in 1996, the Finnish outfit was as far from heavy metal as the Spin Doctors. That’s no simple analogy – the Beans covered Spin Doctors songs. But the band also covered Megadeth and by 1999 had embraced a heavier sound, as well as a new…

Sunday night isn’t the most lucrative time for pub owners. Long after the weekend drunks have closed their tabs, only the most loyal customers remain… OK, them and the crowd watching the live rock bands. Sure enough, when the customers are away, the bands play. For the past year and…

When we see photos of comics posing with U.S. troops in Iraq, it’s tempting to think of it as crass opportunism – another attempt by American entertainers to cash in on 9/11. The reality, though, is that it takes real chutzpah to tour the Middle East. Forget the risk of…

Forget Marilyn, Liz, or even Britney (especially Britney). The real sex symbol is and always will be Venus, the Roman goddess of love. She’s the quintessential muse, the woman who launched a thousand paintings (and sculptures, books, songs, etc.). And she’s once again in the spotlight, thanks to Rachel Hoffman…

MTV is up on it. Rolling Stone digs it, too. So when will South Florida finally get hip to garage rock? Screamo this, emo that… even noise bands have more of a scene than those reared on Iggy Pop and Lou Reed. So it’s not surprising to learn that when…

Twenty years have passed since the Annual Outdoor Juried Art Festival debuted at Mizner Park (433 Plaza Real, Boca Raton). Needless to say, the event has grown considerably in the past two decades, thanks in no small part to its sponsor, the Boca Raton Museum of Art. Now boasting some…

Steven Soderbergh’s independent film, Bubble, made headlines when it premiered in theaters January 27. But it wasn’t the film’s content that raised brows; it was Soderbergh’s three-pronged strategy to release the film on DVD and TV just days after it opened in theaters. Of course, such marketing stunts only concern…

The Poplife DJs might have moved their party out of I/O (30 NE 14th St., Miami), but that doesn’t mean that crowd has abandoned 14th Street altogether. Right next door is PS14 (28 NE 14 St., Miami), where the throbbing throngs get their groove on for Vibrator Wednesdays. While house…

It’s hard to imagine a time when MTV played metal videos only once a week (Headbangers’ Ball). But that’s how things were in the late ´80s. And while the PMRC (remember them?) were after mainstream bands like Twisted Sister, newer, more underground groups like Deicide were taking metal to its…

Not all bands reared on ´90s pop-punk grew up to become smarmy alt-rock pretty-boys like Yellowcard. Many went in the opposite direction, embracing a more roots-oriented style of punk. When Miami’s Getback released its first EP in 2003, the band had finally come into its own, combining the bluesy guitar…

Fort Lauderdale painter Alfred Phillips has brought home his fair share of art awards. Ten of those awards Phillips won in 2004 alone. It was a pivotal year for the artist, whose acrylic-based landscapes, wildlife portraits, and studies of carnival masks earned him points with the local arts cognoscenti. But…

Artists working in mixed-media often fall into the trap of burying their subjects in a sea of collage-driven overkill. But not Maurizio “Mamo” Martinoli, the man behind the exhibit “Principium.” The Italian-born Miami artist may be into photo manipulation and other multimedia tricks, but Martinoli aims to reveal his human…

Only a desperate and depraved man would fake a heart attack to get out of his mother’s funeral. Jaeckie Zucker is a bit of both. As the harried protagonist in the hilarious German film Go for Zucker!, the professional gambler/pool shark is facing a mountain of debt and heavy consequences…

During the communist witch hunts of the late ´40s and early ´50s, New York folkies the Weavers had more to worry about than getting their names on a record contract. First, the group had to make sure its name stayed off a blacklist. So it wasn’t surprising when, amid pressures…

Back in the days of fauvist painter Henri Matisse — the early 20th Century – the problem of attention deficit disorder hadn’t yet reared its head. It wasn’t like Matisse to suffer burnout and lose interest in a subject. He was actually remarkable for his perseverance, and the results are…

It’s fair to say that Charles Manson maneuvered his followers like a puppeteer handles his creations. The details of Manson’s megalomania are all laid out in Vincent Bugliosi’s book Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders. But what if, say, it’s the year 3069 – in a post-apocalyptic…

The name Juanes may not carry the same weight in the United States as, say, Ricky Martin. But that’s changing. Sure, Juanes hasn’t had his “La Vida Loca”-type breakthrough hit. But then again, that’s not really his style. Though Juanes’ first solo album, Fijate Bien, came out a year after…

Just what is the elusive quality we call the soul? More important, if we could see it, what would it look like? That’s one of the questions tackled in the exhibit “Introsp3ctives.” Now, you’ re probably wondering about that 3. But don’t worry about that. The only three you need…

Part of responsible parenting means not playing favorites with your kids. Though, when one of ´em is the result of a romantic side project, there’s little chance of equal treatment. In the Chinese film Beauty Remains, Fei and Ying are two sisters whose recently deceased and incredibly wealthy father has…

Growing up, Lothar Berfelde’s biggest fashion influence was his cross-dressing aunt. Through her, the young tranny in training learned of Magnus Hirschfeld, the physician and sexologist who championed gay rights. Not surprisingly, familial support of Lothar’s transvestism ended with his aunt. His father, well, he was a Nazi – and…