A strange thing happened within the South Florida live music scene during — not after — the COVID-19 pandemic, especially between the fall of 2020 and summer of 2021. The outdoor Pavilion at Old School Square, the 3,500-person-capacity amphitheater in Delray Beach, charted an unlikely renaissance and became a major concert draw and destination. Yet the seemingly overnight … [Read more...]
In Delray concert, King Crimson continues to astonish
Nearly 52 years after its first-ever show in South Florida, King Crimson again appeared before a capacity crowd at the outdoor Pavilion at Old School Square in Delray Beach on July 23. And while the performance wasn’t as historic as that of guitarist and guru Robert Fripp’s original lineup -- which included future Emerson, Lake & Palmer vocalist/bassist Greg Lake and … [Read more...]
PB Chamber Music Festival returns scaled-down, but live, for 30th season
The 30th anniversary season concerts of the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival, which arrive this week, amount to a statement of survival. The series returns for one week and six concerts over three days from this Friday through Sunday, and will be presented, as always, in three different parts of the county. One of the venues will be wide open, the two others less so, with … [Read more...]
Prog rock legends King Crimson to play Delray
When it comes to historic progressive rock royalty, only one band wears the crown. King Crimson formed in London in 1968 and emerged with its groundbreaking 1969 debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King, which reached the Top 30 on the American album charts, the Top 5 in the U.K., and even replaced The Beatles’s Abbey Road at No. 1 in Japan. The group has since … [Read more...]
Led Zep tribute band makes big impact before small audience
One could seemingly throw a rock in any direction recently and hit a musical tribute act in South Florida. Which often doesn’t seem like a bad idea, especially when considering the numerous ones honoring artists and bands that are still actively recording and touring themselves. But New York City quartet The PreZence (www.facebook.com/ThePrezence), in offering “An Authentic … [Read more...]
Arts buzz: Kravis posts classical lineup; Buffett in Delray; PB Opera announces season
WEST PALM BEACH — Major performers and ensembles in the classical music world have been scheduled for the coming Regional Arts season at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, in the expectation that vaccinated audiences can return to the West Palm Beach venue. The season, announced April 6, will feature a dozen programs, and include appearances by the much-beloved … [Read more...]
Tommy Emmanuel shows how to be an acoustic guitar hero
If you want to become a guitar hero, history dictates that you should probably play an electric instrument within popular music's broad spectrum of vocal-driven styles. It’s worked for a scroll of icons both living (Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Keith Richards, Pete Townshend, Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, Tom Morello) and deceased (Jimi Hendrix, … [Read more...]
Dozen young singers make for a beautiful PB Opera Liederabend
Another night when Palm Beach Opera beats the virus with an outdoor song recital. This time the venue was the spacious veranda of the well-groomed National Croquet Center. Twelve singers, six each from the Benenson Young Artist and Apprentice Artist programs, were accompanied by the distinguished pianist Ksenia Leletkina, whose doctorate is from the Eastman School of Music … [Read more...]
Blackberry Smoke brings welcome Georgia style to Jupiter
Occasionally, a band or artist defies genre-based categorization by appearing on a multitude of different Billboard charts. And many — like Atlanta-based group Blackberry Smoke, which entertained a COVID-be-damned capacity audience at the Abacoa Ampitheatre in Jupiter on Feb. 25 — emerged from Georgia. Late vocalist/keyboardist Ray Charles’ blend of gospel, blues, soul, R&B … [Read more...]
Amid happy innovations, PB Opera mounts beautiful ‘Bohème’
The pundits tells us life will be different after the pandemic. By switching to outdoor performances Palm Beach Opera may have stumbled on a panoply of new ideas for its future. Using the iThink Financial Amphitheatre at the South Florida Fairgrounds, with singers’s voices slightly enhanced, made for a reproductive quality not usually heard in smaller houses. Also, having … [Read more...]