Levon Helm performs with his band at Pompano Beach Amphitheater. (Veda Jo Jenkins / sflimages.com)

Photos: Levon Helm/Ray LaMontagne at Pompano

It’s tough to tell who’s having a better time these days — Levon Helm or the crowd wanting to experience The Band with one if its founding fathers?

Helm seemingly lives to perform, refusing a laryngectomy when he was diagnosed with throat cancer a decade ago, instead undergoing rounds of radiation to he could continue sharing his gift with others.

He spent the 2000s inviting the public to the Midnight Ramble, intimate gatherings at his home and studio in Woodstock, N.Y., where he jams with friends and guests like it’s the Basement Tapes recordings all over again.

On Thursday, Helm made a stop at the Pompano Beach Amphitheater on the second date of an eight-show tour through the south, where he’s splitting the bill with singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne.
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Bob Dylan at the 2009 AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Michael Douglas. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images file photo)

When 23-year-old Bob Dylan penned the lyrics “I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now,” he unknowingly glimpsed into the future to describe his 69-year-old self.

The fact that Dylan’s first South Florida show in five years — in a 4,500-seat auditorium in Davie — didn’t quite sell out on Wednesday speaks volumes about Dylan’s recent reputation as a performer.

He disappointed many fans in the 1980s and early 1990s. He was a fading star then, seemingly just not there, and fans grumbled about how Dylan lost it.

Then he reemerged, releasing four outstanding albums since 1997 and regaining not just his unmatched creativity, but a youthful burst of energy that makes him so much younger on stage than he was 20 years ago, his rugged old-man cowboy voice notwithstanding.
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Neil Young performs solo at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood. (Veda Jo Jenkins / sflimages.com)

Photos: Neil Young at Hard Rock Live | Young shares his ‘green’ machine

Every so often there’s a concert your gut tells you not to miss, but you almost skip because it’s an hour’s drive away on a work night. A friend talks you into going (or you snag a credential), and you leave wondering how you nearly missed out on a master doing something special.

Until Thursday, I had never seen Neil Young. Although he tours semi-frequently, he hadn’t swung through Florida since 2003 when he played Cruzan Amphitheatre with Crazy Horse. Even my parents (much closer in age to Neil than to me), who saw many of the great acts stop by the Miami Jai Alai, Hollywood Sportatorium and Dinner Key Auditorium, were seeing their first Neil Young show.

This concert, at Hard Rock in Hollywood, billed solo Neil Young, and I envisioned a two-hour acoustic set of Neil young and old — an impressive feat in itself considering Young has one of the most distinct falsetto voices that would seem prone to burning out at 64.
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Rome Ramirez, Bud Gaugh and Eric Wilson play the Sunset Cove Amphitheater as Sublime with Rome. (Christina Mendenhall / rhythmscene.com)

Photos: Sublime with Rome and Matisyahu at Sunset Cove Amphitheater

You can’t mention a Sublime with Rome concert without a confused friend asking two questions: 1. Isn’t Sublime without Bradley Nowell called the Long Beach Dub All-Stars and 2. Who or what the hell is Rome?

Word leaked out across South Florida this weekend that Sublime with Rome, the legally-allowable name for Bud Gaugh and Eric Wilson to play Sublime songs with a new lead singer, is giving fans the opportunity few received: the chance to hear classic Sublime songs live.

It was a modest return to the big stage on Sunday, with Sublime and their new 22-year-old lead singer Rome Ramirez sharing the spotlight with the reggae/rapper Hassidic Jewish superstar Matisyahu at the 3,000 seat capacity Sunset Cove Amphitheater in suburban Boca Raton.

Matisyahu, always expanding his musical horizon, gave the best performance of the night. But all eyes were on Sublime, with fans curious to see if Bud and Eric had anything left in the tank and if Rome could come anywhere close to channeling the late Bradley Nowell.
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John Fogerty at a concert in January in Los Angeles. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

The best kept secret about a John Fogerty shows these days is that it’s Creedence Clearwater Revival all the way.

After years of acrimony between Fogerty and the rest of the legendary band from decades ago, Fogerty doesn’t play with his former band mates, and he doesn’t use their name.

But he’s playing their songs again, and he’s doing it with the energy and passion of, let’s say, a 40-year-old and not a 64-year-old.
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For Grateful Dead fans too young to see Jerry Garcia in person, and long-time Deadheads might be a bit dismayed to realize that’s almost anyone under 30, Furthur’s done the unthinkable by channeling Jerry in an uncanny way.

For the rest of the folks, who followed the Dead and have unsuccessfully tried to fill that small void in their life for the last 15 years, the party ain’t over yet.

No one will ever replace Jerry, but by bringing John Kadlecik to the mix, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir have added the missing link – the man who sounds so much like Jerry in every way.

Furthur, the new incarnation of the Dead starts with Phil and Bobby, but it’s Kadlecik that could make this the best post-Jerry experience.
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Phish's Trey Anastasio and Mike Gordon play on the first of four nights at American Airlines Arena. (Christina Mendenhall / Rhythm Scene)

Photos: Phish in Miami

When you indulge in eight sets of Phish over four nights, you have time to take in the atmosphere. On Monday – the first night of four Miami shows leading up to New Year’s Eve – I found myself intrigued by the staff at American Airlines Arena. What did they think of this influx of fans from around the country pouring into the Miami Heat’s home to watch a band rock out to 15-minute improvisational jams? The drummer wears a muumuu for God’s sake.

It’s Phish, and after so many years it’s still one of the most unique concerts experiences on the planet.

A decade after the band’s legendary New Year’s performance at Big Cypress, and less than a year after reuniting from a four-year retirement, Phish is showing no signs of letting up. The mediocre shows of the early 2000s, which were still great by most bands’ standards, are in the past.

Of course, Monday was just a warm up. The arena was only two-thirds full, with $50 tickets selling outside for $5 shortly before the first set.
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The Dave Matthews Band plays at the Cruzan Ampitheatre August 14, 2009. ( Allen Eyestone/The Palm Beach Post)

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Most groups could only dream of enjoying a small taste of the Dave Matthews Band’s success.

Since forming in Charlottesville, Va., in 1991, the band has sold tens of millions of albums and become one of the country’s highest grossing bands.

This weekend was no different, when fans flocked to the Cruzan Amphitheatre in suburban West Palm Beach to watch the jazzy rock quintet make its annual pilgrimage to South Florida for two nights of concerts, ending tonight.

Floridians and fans from as far away as the Carolinas and New York spent Friday afternoon grilling burgers, chugging Bud Lights and smoking marijuana in the blazing August sun, waiting to hear a cultural icon.
Yet unlike touring legends such as the Grateful Dead and Phish, two other bands that could fill a parking lot of that size and attract traveling fans , the Dave Matthews Band has managed to become commercial kings.

It sells massive amounts of albums — its latest, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, debuted in June at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the fifth consecutive one to open at the top spot.

But many loyal fans refuse to see them as a mainstream band, instead wanting DMB to be their version of the Dead or Phish, bands that also change their set list from night to night and play improvised jams.
The difference is that Phish and the Dead never catered to the radio market.

“DMB are mainstream but still respected by the underground circuit,” said Larry Eckstein, 25, of Boca Raton. “They’ve been true to themselves. After their big three albums (from 1994-1998) they did sell out a little bit, but this new album has been out of control.”
Dave Matthews’ appeal across the music spectrum is what made the parking lot at Cruzan a diverse flood of music fans.

“You have the dirty hippies, the frat boys, and the high school kids,” Eckstein said. “It’s a good combination. I like it.”

Included in the mix was a 69-year-old grandmother from St. Petersburg, who received a ticket to Friday night’s show as a Mother’s Day present from her daughter and granddaughter, both in attendance.
“I’ve met some of the nicest young men,” JoAnn Dalessio said.

“Everyone’s polite and there’s none of the rowdiness you’d think of at concerts. It’s good, fun-loving kids. I’m very old-fashioned, but I haven’t seen one thing that’s been offensive.”

While Dave Matthews, the band’s guitarist and lead vocalist, is 42, the group continues to draw much of its crowd from college frat houses.
“Those guys are over there, I can tell they’re from ” the University of Florida, said Joey Domagala, 22, a University of Central Florida student, pointing to a group. “They’ve got their keg, they’re playing beer pong, and I don’t like them. But the thing we all share is DMB. I can go up to them, drink a beer with them because we all love the environment, the music.”

Michael Jackson's death: latest news, photos, videos, tributes

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Moonwalkers and other fans who grew up dancing like Michael Jackson were mourning Friday, but even a class full of dance students born long after Jackson topped the charts felt his passing.

Jackson’s music and dance moves live on at the Academy of Dance, Music & Theatre in West Palm Beach.

Not only were the students ages 4 to 14 moonwalking across the dance floor Friday, but they were rehearsing an already scheduled performance of Rihanna’s Disturbia, with all the moves modeled after the zombies in “Thriller.” Read the full story

So many brilliant musicians explode into our lives for a moment, releasing a masterpiece or two before they fade away. Music is timeless, and we’ll forever have these works of art to cherish. But in so many cases, we’ll always wonder what could have been. Would Buddy Holly, a musical genius, have continued to create innovative works that transcended early rock and roll? If Jimi Hendrix was already the world’s greatest guitarist at 27, what could he have been at 37 or 47? What would popular music of the 1970s and 1980s have become if the Beatles continued to crank out new albums?

Had Bob Dylan not survived his 1966 motorcycle crash, or had he chosen to retire into obscurity at that time, we would have had seven stunning albums and a lifetime of curiosity — where would Dylan have brought music? Even after his first seven albums, Dylan was in the running for the century’s most innovative and influential musician. He certainly clinched that title by releasing another 26 albums after 1966 that continued to explore every avenue of American music. While not every album is a classic, Dylan refused to become a novelty act, recording everything from Christian rock, acoustic folk, blues and even a forgettable dance track. Some of his greatest work has come in the last decade, as he continues to write relevant rock well into his 60s.

It’s impossible to come to a consensus when creating a subjective list that attempts to put one Dylan album ahead of another. Feel free to chime in and give your opinions, because no two lists will be exactly the same. On top of 13 live albums and 14 compilation albums, Dylan released 33 studio albums. This list excludes two of those. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, released in 1973 as a soundtrack to the film that featured Dylan and includes mostly instrumental songs (and one classic, “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”), should be considered a soundtrack and is impossible to rank among the rest of the albums. The Basement Tapes, recorded in 1967 but released in 1975, is as much a Band album as a Dylan album — some of the tracks exclude Dylan. Had “The Basement Tapes” been included on this list, it probably would have fallen around No. 6 or 7.

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