If you’ve got kids heading off to college, make sure they share their i-tunes before they go. Otherwise you’ll be suffering from acute withdrawal, never having realized how current carpooling kept you.
That may already be the case if you don’t instantly know who Lana Del Rey is, especially if you don’t watch Saturday Night Live, where the where the singer’s national TV debut fell notoriously flat two years ago. Since then, though, the moody New York-born beauty has definitely redeemed herself, especially with her latest album, Ultraviolence, for which her tour is bringing her to West Palm Beach on Tuesday.
People may still find her a strange flower; her blend of pop with a sometimes profound melancholy is set against a1960s vintage Hollywood glamor. There’s an almost robotic stillness to her stage presence, more befitting of film noire than of a stadium concert.
She’s the sort of chanteuse you would rather see in a smoky club in the East Village. But Coral Sky Amphitheater will have to do. We’ll share her with a few thousand fans if we have to on June 16 – and trust me, those fans will be rabid. She’s an artist you either adore or despise.
For the sort who relishes that sort of cinematic persona, a Del Rey concert would make a fine date night. Or you could leave the Parrotheads at home and head out with your edgier friends. Take some young people, whatever you can drag out of the back bedroom, or a youthful co-worker if you’re lucky. And get an update on the music world on your drive down.
(Google “family share Apple” to find out how to tap into up to six members’ music, apps and books. Better yet, get your kid to do it. You’ll be in teen-free tech hell soon enough.)
Assuming carpooling doesn’t sate all your cultural needs, summer is a time for resourcefulness when it comes to seeing shows. When the usual venues have blank squares instead of stars on their calendars, you may have to resort to bars for live music.
We already know Sebastian’s riverfront has a lively rock and blues scene, and the mainland has Sandy’s Grille and Blue Lion. And in the last few years, Vero’s downtown has nurtured a crawl-worthy cluster of bars, from the Grove, to Kilted Mermaid to the latest addition, Blue Star Bourbon Bar, a transplant from the island modified to include hard liquor.
Kitty Wagner, Blue Star’s chef/owner, has inaugurated a blues jam on Tuesdays with Dave Scott as the linchpin. Anyone who can play is invited, and so far, he’s attracted a number of professional musicians, Wagner says. “And I’m still working on that gospel brunch,” she says. Wouldn’t that be sweet.
As for the space Blue Star vacated on the island, it’s now Grind and Grape, a coffee house and wine bar run by Barbaralee Monday whose mom owns the building. The family is also famous for the Cardinal Drive cake shop Frosting, and the American flag-waving, motorcycle-riding cupcake of a former Dodger, Rick Monday, who is married to Barbaralee.
The music is booked by Barbaralee’s ex, Rick Wykoff (there’s some harmony for you). Wykoff describes himself as a “big music nut”; he used to be a local radio deejay. Wykoff says he books the bands for Hibiscus Festival. A lot of them, including the Landsharks, have played at Grind and Grape since its soft opening at the end of March.
In addition to the usual open mic nights and rock and blues, Grind and Grape has come up with a jazz open mic night on Wednesdays, led by guitarist Joe Caragol and his South Florida musician pals, and open to anybody who knows how to play.
Most of the bars have websites saying who’s playing when.
Heads up for Father’s Day: If the dad in your life likes food, wine and jazz, you might consider spiriting him away to Fort Pierce for an afternoon of tuneful wine tasting. The Bluebird Education Foundation, the group that jazz buff Darryl Bey formed to bring music to school kids and soulful sounds to Sunrise Theatre, is having a fundraiser called Wine, Food and All That Jazz, benefiting literacy and music education. Roy’s Liquors and Fine Wine, probably the best independent wine shop around, is supplying the wines, and the Kenny Clarke B3 Quartet is playing. It all starts next Sunday at 4 p.m. at Sunrise’s black box theater. Tickets are $65 and are available at Roy’s or by calling 772-461-3097.
Then again, if your dad can handle delayed gratification, you could spring for a couple of tickets at Plaza Live in Orlando (and maybe tie in dinner in Orlando’s actual downtown which is very nearby). The venue has a range of offerings and depending on the sort of man we’re talking about, there’s the 10th annual Hippiefest, August 16, featuring The Family Stone, Badfinger and Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels.
