The men tend to hog the spotlight when it comes to guitar lore, but it’s good to be reminded that the shredder’s hall of fame is not exclusively a boys’ club. That reminder this week is roots music icon Carolyn Wonderland, who’s coming to town to hold court for two performances in a single night.
In terms of chops, this Texan six-string slinger can melt butter with her ace guitar work. She was the only female lead guitarist in the storied history of John Mayall’s band — which, by the way, was a mythical hotbed that included legends like Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones’ Mick Taylor, and Fleetwood Mac’s John McVie and Mick Fleetwood.
Unlike some of her self-indulgent male peers, Wonderland doesn’t let her virtuosity overshadow the music. As a songwriter, her progressive blues sound blends certified tradition with stylistic adventurism. She also happens to pack a smoldering voice and notable skills in lap steel, mandolin, piano, accordion and trumpet as well. So bow down, bros.
We’ve wrapped up what felt like an eternity of a year in the City Beautiful, and now we’re already looking forward to some of the biggest new things and positive changes coming to Orlando in 2026. It’s so far shaping up to be another huge year for live music, the arts, theme park happenings, hometown drag heroes, sports, food and all the rest.
Vans Warped Tour 2026 Nov. 14 and 15 After Orlando was graced with being one of only three cities to host a revamped Vans Warped Tour in 2025, the music fest is set to come back to the Camping World Stadium grounds again this year. Expect nostalgic alternative music, up-and-coming artists, huge crowds, crowdsurfers, not-so cheap beer and endless Liquid Death. Credit: Ian SuarezHalloween Horror Nights Select nights Aug. 28-Nov. 1 While exact dates have yet to be announced, we do know when this year’s Halloween Horror Nights kicks off and wraps up. Dates, haunted house and scare zones themes, and other details will be announced in the coming months, Universal says. Credit: Halloween Horror Nights/FacebookFree parking in downtown All year (or until funds run out) Park DTO offers free two-hour parking (when users enter a code in the ParkMobile app) at all metered and non-metered parking spaces downtown. It’s part of an effort to encourage locals and visitors to patronize businesses and explore the city’s center. And as of early January, it’s been extended until Dec. 31, 2026, or until allocated funding is expended, the city says. Credit: Downtown Orlando/FacebookMyki Meeks reps Orlando on RuPaul’s Drag Race season 18 Season airing now Maybe you’ve seen her perform as one of the core members of Best of Orlando-winning drag night Off the Record. Maybe you’ve seen her hosting Orlando’s own take on Drag Race, YouTube series The Gig. Maybe you caught her as part of the Ren’s Nosferatu aftershow, V-Bar. Myki Meeks is one of the busiest drag artists in the City Beautiful, and her calendar got a hell of a lot more full with her recently becoming a contestant on Season 18 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Credit: CourtesyRolling Loud 2026 May 8-10 Hip-hop music festival Rolling Loud is rolling out of Miami for the first time ever, and it’s heading into Orlando for its only U.S. event of the year. Rolling Loud 2026 is set to take place at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium May 8 through 10. Presale tickets are on sale now at rollingloud.com. Credit: Rolling Loud/FacebookSpooky Empire May 29-31 Spooky Empire returns to Orlando for a weekend of chills and pop-culture fun. Founded back in 2003, the event has grown from a small gathering into one of the largest horror conventions in the country. Fans can meet celebrity guests, show off impressive cosplay and geek out all weekend. Credit: Houda EletrEola Food Hall opens April Eola Food Hall, the two-story venue across the street from the downtown Orlando Public Library, is on target for an April 2026 opening. The 15,000-square-foot space will house 10 vendors, a “small fine dining restaurant,” a wine room/speakeasy and a cocktail bar, not to mention panoramic, floor-to-ceiling views of Lake Eola Park. Credit: Image via Eola Food HallOrange County’s mayoral race Primary election: Aug. 18 | General election: Nov. 3 The electoral showdown for Orange County’s next mayor is set to take place this year. Current county Mayor Jerry Demings is term-limited from seeking re-election. Candidates so far include Orange County Commissioner Mayra Uribe, Tiffany Moore-Russell (who currently serves as Orange County Clerk) and local tech entrepreneur Christopher Messina, who unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2022. Credit: Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings/FacebookOrlando Museum of art hosts a David LaChapelle retrospective Jan. 31 to May 3 Famed celebrity photographer David LaChapelle is getting the retrospective treatment in the City Beautiful next year, courtesy of the Orlando Museum of Art. David LaChapelle: As the World Turns — opening Jan. 31, 2026 — will reportedly be the largest U.S. museum retrospective of the photographer’s works to date, presenting more than 100 of his photographs. The works featured will include well-known works and fantastical portraits of the likes of Amy Winehouse, David Bowie, Madonna, Muhammed Ali, Charli XCX, TuPac Shakur and Doja Cat, as well as a number of previously unseen shots. Credit: Courtesy OMADoja Cat Nov. 14 Speaking of Grammy-winning rapper Doja Cat, she’ll be spending much of next year out on tour and that includes an arena show in Orlando. Her “Tour Ma Vie” World Tour kicks off in November in New Zealand, and a year later will land in Florida for shows in Tampa, Miami and at Orlando’s Kia Center on Nov. 14. Credit: via Live NationFlorida’s minimum wage increases to $15 Sept. 30 After Florida’s minimum wage was raised to $14 last September, the state standard is on schedule to increase yet again this year due to inflation. Starting Sept. 30 this year, Florida’s minimum wage will rise to $15 per hour. Credit: by Monivette CordeiroWelcome to Rockville May 7-10 Heavyweight music festival Welcome to Rockville is confirmed to rock out for a 15th year in Daytona this spring. The lineup with a lineup features more than 160 bands including Guns N’ Roses, Foo Fighters, My Chemical Romance, Five Finger Death Punch, Godsmack, Staind, Turnstile, The Offspring, Parkway Drive, Bring Me the Horizon, Breaking Benjamin, Motionless in White, Lamb of God, A Day to Remember, Rise Against and many more. Credit: Jacquelin GoldbergEpcot International Food & Wine Festival Dates not yet announced The signature Epcot food and bevs event kicks off in the coming months and is expected to continue providing international sips and eats through the fall. The extensive food-focused festival features more than 25 Global Marketplaces (food stalls) serving up international cuisine from six continents, including Canada, Spain and India. Credit: Photo via Walt Disney World/Instagram“Weird Al” Yankovic May 29 “Weird Al” Yankovic takes the stage at Orlando’s Kia Center this spring. Bring your listening ears and be ready to laugh (and maybe cringe a little). Credit: “Weird Al” Yankovic/FacebookFlorida’s gubernatorial race Nov. 3 The race to elect Florida’s next governor will take place this fall as Ron DeSantis’ term ends. Naples Republican Byron Donalds is a front-runner with the backing of Donald Trump and Rick Scott, while leading Democratic contenders include Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and politician David Jolly. Credit: Byron Donalds/FacebookBlue Man Group open in Orlando May 1 After a welcome ceremony and groundbreaking in September 2024 for the blue-hued international entertainment group’s return to Orlando, the Blue Man Group will now open at its new 580-seat Icon Park theater this spring. Tickets go on sale Jan 16. and the show starts May 1, according to the Blue Man Group website. Credit: Photo via Blue Man Group/FacebookJack in the Box makes its Florida return in Orlando Timeline not yet announced California burger chain Jack in the Box announced in 2024 plans for a whopping 10 new locations in Florida, the first time the chain will call the Sunshine State home in more than 30 years. And one of those locations is set to be right here in Orlando. Credit: ShutterstockOrlando Fringe May 12-25 Orlando’s metric ton of local and national underground theater is heading back to town this spring. There’ll be shows for everyone and all interests, plus live music performances, interactive events and much more. Stay tuned. Credit: Photo via Orlando Fringe/FacebookOrlando Weekly events Various dates Orlando Weekly is looking at yet another year packed full of our bites- and bev-heavy annual events like Whiskey Business, Brunch in the Park and Orlando Beer Fest. Credit:Patrick Scott Barnes and Jesse AnnOrlando’s getting a UFL team Spring The Orlando Storm is set to debut in spring 2026, alongside two other new franchises in Columbus, Ohio, and Louisville, Kentucky. Home games will be played at Inter&Co Stadium, the 25,000-seat venue that serves as the home to both Orlando City and Orlando Pride (who also play football, but not American football, as the UFL does). Credit: via Inter&Co Stadium/FacebookEDC Nov. 6-8 Orlando’s premier electro music fest comes back to town this fall at Tinker Field. This year’s lineup has yet to be announced, but we know last year’s more than 100 artists — including Zedd, Tiësto, Armin van Buuren and Green Velvet — got loud, weird and freaky. There will also likely be the return of a trippy Ferris wheel, interactive art installations, themed environments, and a sea of fans dripping in neon, glitter and more than a little sweat. Credit: by Matt Keller LehmanWaymo Timeline not yet announced Self-driving taxis from the Alphabet-owned company Waymo are coming to the streets of Orlando in the coming months. This will make Orlando one of the first 10 cities in the country to offer the autonomous vehicle service. According to a city spokesperson, Waymo “has been keeping the city in the loop about their plans” to expand to the City Beautiful, but said that there are no city approvals needed for them to operate. The company, at the same time, announced plans to expand to Dallas, Houston, Miami and San Antonio this year. The cost of a Waymo ride can vary based on factors such as distance and duration. Credit:WaymoPeaches Feb. 21 Musician, director, performance artist and icon Peaches heads to Orlando’s Beacham this February on the “No Lube So Rude” tour, which follows the release of her first new album in more than a decade. Credit: LiveNationFinding out whether Epic Universe is actually planning an expansion Unknown After only a few months in existence, Universal Orlando’s newest park Epic Universe may already be looking toward making some changes, according to permits hinting an expansion. Universal Orlando filed for a permit on Nov. 7 detailing plans for utility and foundation work on a 150,000-square-foot building. The address listed is 1001 Epic Blvd., the official address for Epic Universe. But it is unclear whether the building is located within the park or just on Universal Boulevard property. We’re keeping our eyes peeled. Credit: Epic Universe/Facebook
Tele & the Ghost of Our Lord Credit: Courtesy photo
If you’re done listening to Christmas music, check out this rundown of 15 local music releases you need to acquaint yourself with. OW’s music writers argued it out and here’s the result.
As 0 Miles Per Hour has evolved as a band, so has their sound. In an almost complete turnaround from their 2019 debut single, “Chicas,” the group’s latest album, Shell, trades indie leanings for something far more raw and profoundly angsty. This newly complex, Title Fight-esque release speaks to the future of the band, defined by heavy guitar riffs, gnarly breakdowns and an abundance of screamed vocals.
Heavy Heart is seven tracks of elegant synth allure. The songs are richly stroked with a 1980s palette but favor the supple dream states of Cocteau Twins and Kate Bush over nervy new-wave angularity. Although highly stylistic, the album is an exercise more in timeless sophistication than art-school flash. This is the work of an experienced artist, not a freshman hobbyist.
Cat Ridgeway’s latest album, Sprinter, showcases a new, rockier sound and deep emotional resonance for the local fave singer-songwriter. Described by Ridgeway as “indie rock for overthinkers,” Sprinter might just be her strongest musical statement yet.
She may claim to be Made to Fade, but on this new album, Central Florida darkwave artist Crimesididntcommit demands permanence. This 12-track album proves that raw is law — angsty, unfiltered and garish; a testament to trans resilience in a time of fear and uncertainty in DeSantis’ Florida.
Recorded at a promising time when Damage were beginning to tour regionally and play alongside legends like Adrenalin O.D., Dead Kennedys, Battalion of Saints and SNFU, Synthology is a bit of both Orlando music history and ground-breaking punk. Punk rock and synthesizers are so historically divergent as to be almost mutually exclusive, especially in the 1980s. But Damage dared to break and blur those boundaries, wielding keytars like cudgels.
Orlando’s Debt Neglector reaffirms our love (and desperate need) for punk rock with their latest release, Kinda Rips. Raw and rebellious, it’s equal parts political and personal — tearing down fascists, challenging capitalism and unpacking the fears of fatherhood in a perfectly punchy 13 tracks in 34 minutes.
Longtime local experimentalist Dunn stepped out on his own with a vision quest in search of not so much the style but the soul of Americana. He tapped a rich, ancient vein and conjured a romantic American spirit that lives now more in lore than in real life. It’s a nice thought, and a gorgeous soundtrack.
From the songwriting to the singing to the sound, Falls’ aesthetic is honed and locked-in here. With Side A as an auspicious harbinger that’s equal parts feeling and swagger, LVRS Paradise is well on its way to being an opus that cements him as a young contender on the R&B vanguard.
Fast Preacher’s latest single, “Full Moon,” is full of rhythm that will make you bob your head while asking, “Where have I heard this before?” The tune by Daniel Hanson, head Preacher, has a melody that feels familiar, yet unexpected. A modern classic, in other words.
Busy local singer-songwriter Hannah Stokes at last released debut album Right Where I Belong this summer, and the wait was more than worth it. This sensual and smooth collection of jazz-inflected folky confessionals shows her relentless gigging has paid off in terms of confidence and style.
All-star folk ensemble I’m With Her — Aoife O’Donovan, Sarah Jarosz and Sara Watkins —is only one-third Orlandoan (O’Donovan) but we’re claiming them. And this is quite the score. Wild is an ethereal meld of folk and bluegrass with the members’ high lonesome voices.
The Cranberries-sampling, hopelessly romantic Orlando MC delivered a near-flawless mini-album for the lustful and the lonely. And it got heads turning far outside the city limits.
The Sourdrops are saving Orlando music; though my brother’s friend Nick really did not think so. Just Throw It In is classic raucous jangle madness that Nick sadly doesn’t understand, but Lou from Ragdoll Records sure does. Drops’ frontpeople Kate and Matty singing is perhaps the sweetest thing in the world
Wielding an often confounding sense of the absurd and a technician’s precision in songwriting, Matt Kamm as Tele and the Ghost of Our Lord has achieved a rare alchemy by allowing the disparate expressions of his musical history and personal mythology to coalesce on The Jukebox Has Gone Sentient. A Frankenstein’s monster with the face of Van Dyke Parks and the quick-witted grace of a rodeo clown, this album is by turns eerie, ebullient and thrillingly silly.
Struck Dead, released appropriately on Halloween, serves as a sonic elegy of sorts, a goodbye to the past (and drummer Alex Bent) and the start of a new creative chapter. Or it’s pure feral rage. Six of one, half-dozen of the other.
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OK, adorable miscreants. It’s my closing column of the year, so that of course means that it’s TLU’s annual, unbelievably exciting and inarguably definitive Undie Awards honoring 2025’s standouts in local music. And this year, the flowers go to …
THE 2025 UNDIES
Best scene service: Chris Cortez
He spearheaded independent jazz venue Blue Bamboo first into prominence and then into a new, high-profile location this summer against steep odds. Then in October, the longtime Boo icon shocked when he stepped away to battle brain cancer. Thank you for everything you did, Chris. You will be missed.
Most hyperlocal release: 407 F.R.
Homegrown EDM artists Arina Krondeva and Propah Ganda handily win this one with an excellent EP that 1) is built on field recordings of downtown, 2) features a song named after famous Lake Eola goose Lucy and 3) proudly picks up the mantle of Orlando breaks. It doesn’t get any more Orlando than this.
Best music campaign: Swamp Xistas
Practically no local music groups are more dedicated to community service than Beth McKee’s Swamp Sistas. But this year, they outdid even themselves with Power Lines. As Swamp Xistas, this even more expanded corps of benevolence launched the yearlong singles release series to raise funds for Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. Their second single, “One Step Closer,” just dropped last Friday.
Best musical monument: Posthumous Richard Sherfey album
Former longtime Orlando musician CJ Mask proved himself both a devoted friend and an inspired music director when he took on the herculean task of turning demo fragments from dearly departed local Americana figure Richard Sherfey into a finished and deluxe album. Rendered with a gusto that matches Sherfey’s soulful croon and printed as a gatefold vinyl album, the recently released No Distance is both labor of love and extraordinary feat. CJ Mask made it happen.
Best scene gateway: OGRC’s Youth to the Front concerts
This year, the increasingly seminal Orlando Girls Rock Camp have upped their game with their Youth to the Front shows. As a matinee concert series open to all ages, these nurturing events are safe spaces that give Orlando’s youth early, almost unprecedented access to the real local music scene. No Kidz Bop shit here.
Best at-long-last debut: Chris LeBrane’s Campaign
Inauguration, the debut album by scene veteran Chris LeBrane, is remarkable both for its nearly decade-long gestation and its nostalgic perfection. Of all the throwbacks happening right now, nobody here is working the 1980s niche where R&B and new wave converge like LeBrane. Inauguration is a luscious synth-funk clinic that’s pure neon fantasy. Forget vaporwave, this is 1980s redux done in living, vivid color. I shook more ass to this than any other local release this year.
Best cover: The Ludes & Skinny McGee
There are cover versions and then there are reinventions. When The Ludes and Skinny McGee released their spaghetti Western take on Kraftwerk’s “The Model” this year, it was a revelation. Their reimagining of the song is so inspired that they’re owed some authorship daps just for the idea and execution alone.
Best cover act: New Eagles
Man, fuck “Free Bird.” Comprised of decorated veterans in the city’s indie-rock scene, this all-star group kicks out jams by bands like Guided by Voices, The Thermals, Archers of Loaf, Jawbreaker and The Replacements. It’s guilty pleasure done with connoisseur taste.
Best creative blitz: Cloud Crew’s WAM series
Since its spring launch, this international music charrette spearheaded by Orlando’s Paper Aviator has yielded four remarkable albums, each created in the breathless span of a weekend by a global rainbow collective of digital fusion artists. The whirlwind collaboration exercise is a wonder of hive creativity. What’s more, all proceeds come home to benefit crucial LGBTQ+ service organization Zebra Youth.
Best confluence: The San Francisco Renaissance & Alien Witch
These two notable young bands got so in sync during the making of their self-titled split album that they sound like a single psych-rock powerhouse delivering a magnum opus. The album isn’t just a high-water mark for both bands, it’s a new Orlando touchstone of psychedelia.
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Related Stories
Proof positive of a band that cares more about songs than stripes
The third annual Orlando Girls Rock Fest is back this week to ensure local rock thrives. The daylong music showcase spotlights the members, volunteers and community who make Orlando Girls Rock Camp what it is: a space for local artists to instruct girls, nonbinary and trans youth about all things music.
It’s a can’t-miss showcase of the long hours and passion that go into uplifting our local youth, Orlando’s arts scene and the next generation of rockers. Live performances come courtesy of bands formed within the camp and other area talents, like Boston Marriage, Cat Nap, The Dropdeads, Holly Pocket, Misspel, The Mystic, M.A.C.E., Real Teen Suicide, Pinko Beats, Please Be Kind, Tiger54, Trashworld and more.
What a year for live music in Orlando! From Warped Tour to Kraftwerk to Orlando Girls Rock Camp, our photographers were down in front catching the action.
Alice Cooper at the Hard Rock Live on Feb. 6, 2025 Credit: Fabio BraggionThey Might Be Giants at the Beacham on Feb. 27, 2025 Credit: Matt Keller LehmanSantigold at the Beacham on March 5, 2025 Credit: Jim LeathermanDropkick Murphys at the House of Blues on March 6, 2025 Credit: Gustavo PonceKraftwerk at Steinmetz Hall on March 19, 2025 Credit: Jim LeathermanShannon and the Clams at the Social on April 10, 2025 Credit: Jim LeathermanMelvins at the Beacham on April 25, 2025 Credit: Matt Keller LehmanSeun Kuti and Egypt 80 at the Beacham on May 2, 2025 Credit: Matt Keller LehmanThe Damned at the House of Blues on May 12, 2025 Credit: Jim LeathermanGreen Day at Welcome to Rockville in May 2025 Credit: Jacquelin GoldbergOrlando Girls Rock Camp Showcase at Conduit on July 12, 2025 Credit: Jim LeathermanThe Weeknd at Camping World Stadium on Aug. 24, 2025 Credit: J.D. CastoThe Schizophonics at the House of Blues on Aug. 16, 2025 Credit: Jim LeathermanGarbage at Hard Rock Live on Sept. 3, 2025 Credit: Jim LeathermanThe Delusionaires at the Will’s Pub Shriektacular on Sept. 5, 2025 Credit: Jim LeathermanColony House at the House of Blues on Oct. 14, 2025 Credit: Ian SuarezChat Pile at the Beacham on Oct. 22, 2025 Credit: Matt Keller LehmanDescartes a Kant at Foreign Dissent on Oct. 20, 2025 Credit: Jim LeathermanRico Nasty at the Beacham on Oct. 25, 2025 Credit: Matt Keller LehmanJack’s Mannequin at the House of Blues on Nov. 1, 2025 Credit: Ian SuarezChris Cortez and Friends at the Blue Bamboo on Oct. 30, 2025 Credit: Jim LeathermanMagdalena Bay at MadSoul on Dec. 6, 2025 Credit: Jim LeathermanWarped Tour at Camping World Stadium, November 2025 Credit: Ian SuarezElectric Daisy Carnival 2025 at Tinker Field Credit: Matt Keller Lehman
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Chris Cortez — musician, founder of the nonprofit performing arts haven Blue Bamboo Center, and the man who guided the venue to its expansive new home at the old Winter Park Library building on New England Avenue with wife, Melody — has passed away.
Cortez was diagnosed with brain cancer in October. He decided to step away from his day-to-day duties at the venue and headed west with Melody to California to be near family. He played his last show on the Blue Bamboo stage in front of a packed house on Oct. 30.
“Chris Cortez, founder and visionary of the Blue Bamboo Center For The Arts, may you rest in peace, knowing that your vision and your dreams are part of your legacy,” read the post — very fittingly. The expanded Blue Bamboo 2.0 facility in the old Winter Park Library is a testament to his tireless work on behalf of Orlando arts and music.
“I hold deep gratitude for Chris’ talent, his generosity, his belief in artists and the home he made for so many of us,” wrote Orlando musician and community-builder Beth McKee on social media.
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CJ Mask finishes the musical mission of Richard Sherfey Credit: Nick Kramer
The landmarks and the memorials, those are for glory. But true inspiration is the light you leave in the hearts and minds of others. By that count, country rocker Richard Sherfey is a hero, and when you’ve also got close, talented friends to help carry the torch, magic happens.
Sherfey was an Athens musician who went from touring through Orlando to relocating here in the 2000s and becoming a local Americana luminary. At the time of his untimely passing in 2018, he was in the embryonic phase of making a new album. Thankfully, even through the wreckage of loss and dashed creativity, Sherfey’s seasoned collaborator and friend CJ Mask saw the ideas.
In the immediate aftermath, Mask — an erstwhile Orlando music pillar now based in Nashville — corralled everything he could of those ideas that Sherfey shared with him. Demo fragments, texts, anything he could retrieve from Sherfey’s own laptop —Mask cobbled it all onto a hard drive. Then he stepped away, to grieve.
After the shock settled, Mask returned to it. Under his stewardship, the effort swelled to a collective campaign that, naturally, includes some hometown stars like Jeff Irizarry (Gasoline Heart), Mike Dunn and John Fortson (All God’s Children, Squad Five-O, Gasoline Heart). Somehow, through perseverance and duty, he turned those rough threads into a full tapestry. The result is the remarkable No Distance, a new posthumous Richard Sherfey album helmed, arranged and finished by CJ Mask.
For something whose source material was often germinal and lo-fi, this collection is lush and seamless with full rock arrangements replete with keyboards and violin. The recordings pack enough body and texture to aptly accompany Sherfey’s famously full-throated singing, which is just about the ultimate triumph for any posthumous endeavor. Together, Sherfey’s voice and Mask’s arrangements soar in unity to conjure soul that could stir in both late-night bar and church alike. I knew Richard, and I think that’s exactly what he would’ve wanted.
Unquestionably, Sherfey deserves full salute as the voice and mind behind the tunes. But Mask merits rare credit for his significant, personal and executive role in making No Distance happen at all. It’s a feat of not just craftsmanship but of the deepest love and respect for the man and the material.
“I got to spend another year with him in a very creative space,” says Mask. “And I got to work with him again and spend more time with him after he passed. … It’s given me a space to kind of grieve and be with my friend. And I hope now that it’s done, people can take the album and have that same space to grieve and live with Richard again.”
No Distance now streams everywhere and is available on limited-edition gatefold vinyl and CD on Bandcamp.
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Will’s Pub is hosting a Pledge For a Prosperous Palestine benefit concert over this holiday weekend, with a legion of local acts uniting to raise funds for aid organizations.
The lineup pulls from Orlando’s indie, punk and alternative scenes with sets from Fatties, Future Bartenderz, TV Dinner, Caustic Bats, Platonic Valentine and Jordan Schneider all on deck.
Every dollar raised from the show will be donated to humanitarian organizations including Heal Palestine, the World Food Program, the Ghassan Abu Sittah Children’s Fund, Medical Aid for Palestine and Doctors Without Borders.
If you’re looking for a way to spend a Sunday night in a way that blends activism and aesthetics, this is a solid bet.
His recent record ShaShe is a strong comeback featuring a very indie blend of soul and jazz. Now, he’ll be making a live return with his first performance in years.
Also playing will be Newman collaborator Paul Mauceri and Orlando alternative rockers Distant Stations. Go welcome the scene vet back and bask in his new vibe.
What’s in a name? Sometimes, everything. In the case of Orlando band Please Be Kind, that unabashedly tender moniker is true, both to their mien and intent. No ironic twist or sardonic backhand here. Just a warm, inviting world of sweetly soft indie-pop dreams. I’m already checking to see if one-way tickets are available.
Please Be Kind have been around for more than a handful of years, but it’s their recent resurgence that’s especially worth watching. After some small pre-pandemic releases and then an extended hiatus, the group helmed by bandleader and songwriter TJ Perry (they/them) are back and in high gear, now gigging regularly and finally ready to release their first full-length album.
On Nov. 14, Please Be Kind will drop the Silver Lining LP. It’s a pop exercise in indie timelessness, with one foot each in dream pop and indie rock. The 10-song collection maximizes its tapestry with a bright blend of organic and electronic instruments and a palette that goes from acoustic (“Darling”) to fully electronic (“True Blue”). Mostly, however, the album is an effective amalgam that allows the soft, caressing melodies to take flight in vivid, prismatic strokes. It’s a sedate splendor that lies somewhere between Alvvays and Fear of Men that climaxes in songs like the perfect fuzz-pop effervescence of “Meteor Shower,” the twilight exhale of “Suburban Fever” and the synth glide of “Pink Parallax.”
Silver Lining will hit major streaming platforms on Nov. 14. But Orlando gets an early premiere the night before at Please Be Kind’s release show presented by Montgomery Drive at Stardust Video & Coffee (7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13, $15), where they’ll perform alongside openers Sky Navy, Paracosm, Paperback Romance and Philos. Advance CD copies of Silver Lining can be scored at the gig for nonperishable donations to help local food banks.
There’s this idea the world has of Orlando as some sort of pixie-dusted utopia. That is, of course, elaborate bullshit. Those of us who live here know this. And those of us in the Orlando music underground know that it can actually be a dark, hard and heavy place. Death metal, black metal, metalcore, sludge, grind, gore — we’ve got it all in spades.
But at some point, all that intensity becomes white noise and the shock becomes schlock. Contrary to what Al Jourgensen said, Halloween cannot, and should not, be every day. And for all our extreme stripes, what we’re surprisingly lean on is good, straightforward heavy rock.
One of the most notable local saviors of this concept is DeLand’s Kaupe, whose sound is like Maserati gone metal. Although their elements are culled from a decidedly progressive palette, their groove is unified and ever-forward like a perpetual motion machine. As a band that cites influences ranging from Meshuggah to Perturbator, the quartet of Brett Walker (guitar), Marc Larabel (drums), Pete Medrano (bass) and Patrick Ross (keys) cover a lot of stylisticbground.
On Destroyer of Worlds, their first new album in four years, Kaupe have taken their same signature template and tricked it out with some new, flashy components. Kaupe have always been a band predicated on dynamics, and their instru-metal locomotive steams onward here as a thundering ride of rock heft, widescreen melodies and soaring synths. This time, though, the previously all-instrumental band have added some noteworthy guest vocalists for the first time. And the payoff is immediate.
On “Next Time Wear a Black Shirt,” the raging vocals of Matt Decker (Tangent, Ginkgo Balboa) join Kaupe’s thrash charge to give the album a hard metal jolt. “RMR-1029” features Scott Angelacos (Junior Bruce, Hollow Leg, Bloodlet), one of the greatest metal voices to ever emerge from Florida, along with sample artist Viewer Discretion (formerly of ACP Pro) to respectably enter Ministry-esque industrial-metal turf.
Destroyer of Worlds is still an undeniably Kaupe album in chassis and horsepower. But the very welcome new detailing adds poignancy and fury to their messages of technological cynicism. The album now streams everywhere and the big release show this weekend features Kaupe alongside a stocked local bill of Hutch, The Dark Arctic and Bunaand (8 p.m. Saturday, Nov.1, Will’s Pub, $15).
The Band Camino brought their NeverAlways tour to Orlando on Monday, with massive hooks and cinematic gestures to spare. Oh, and a Justin Bieber cover.
KT Kink releases new album ‘Passion’ Credit: Matthew Moyer
KT Kink is synonymous with raw. Her sound, her words, her execution — it’s all fueled by raw power. Ever since her arrival on the Orlando music scene a handful of years ago, her untamed anti-pop ways have brought much-needed bleed and edge to an electronic underground usually dominated by cold, sleek vibes.
After her relatively sedate previous album, 2024’s The Fog, Kink has returned to basic instinct on just-dropped new album Passion. “Musically, I tried to lean more into the synth-punk elements of my earlier releases,” she says. “Where The Fog was gentle, I wanted this to be abrasive.”
KT Kink has always been most natural when she slashes. And Passion cuts close to bone and nerve. It’s a soundscape of industrial minimalism with feral vocals and mechanistic rhythms, not just a return but a distillation of her original essence. In moments like the punk throb of “The Boys Club” and the synth stomp of “The Devil,” this album kicks harder. Most crucially, in moments like the heaving lurch of “Passion” and the bewitching blood drain of “Space to Breathe,” Kink is back working the viscera again, where she began and where she’s best.
“This LP was certainly all over the place in terms of theme,” she says. “But it all sort of ties into coming to terms with aspects of the self that maybe aren’t so great and putting a name to it. While some songs focus more on vice, others call for transformation: accepting that these things are a part of the self and letting them go as an act of self-love.”
But it’s the pulse here that brings it all back. KT Kink’s music doesn’t play like the product of studio deliberation. With neither filter nor fluff, she lays out her guts and exorcises the demons right there in front of you. That’s her spark. Passion owns the mess and turns the process into its own epitaph.
The album now streams everywhere and will see a special CD release on Orlando label Popnihil (disclosure: owned & operated by OW managing editor Matthew Moyer). You can see KT Kink live at Crux’s Halloween special (Oct. 25, Stardust Video & Coffee) and opening for Brood Faye (Nov. 4, Will’s Pub).
Arcade Apocalypse is ready to preview new songs Credit: Courtesy
Hear ye, all rivetheads: On Nov. 7, Orlando EBM artist Arcade Apocalypse releases the new Virtual Façade EP. But locals get an exclusive advance at this SoDo release show, where he’ll do both a DJ set and live performance at monthly industrial/goth gathering Dark Matter.
As a proudly old-school industrial act, Arcade Apocalypse uses real hardware synthesizers and drum machines in his music so the performance should be much more kinetic than your average electronic act.
The EP will resonate with fans of early Front 242 and A Split Second, which is exactly why it’s coming out on a Belgian label (FenixFire Records). DJ Satur9 will also spin.
8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, The Swirlery, no cover.
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Paper Aviator muses over whether to leave town Credit: Courtesy
The national ignominy, the fascist policies and the loud, proud-for-the-wrong-reasons dumbfuckery. These are barrel-bottom times in America in general and in Florida in particular. At best, it’s embarrassing. At worst, it’s willful oppression. For those who live here and have worked to put a lot into our communities, it’s an uncomfortable epiphany.
All it takes is a soul and a reasonable moral compass to sense it. If you want to know how actually threatening it really is, just ask someone nonbinary. That’s the sentiment behind the recent single by Paper Aviator, the solo vehicle for Orlando’s Kris Zaballero (they/them). “I Don’t Want to Leave” is an instrumental, but the title nutshells it.
“‘I Don’t Want to Leave’ is about the conflict I feel with my home state of Florida,” says Zaballero. “I’ve found an incredible community, I have so many friends here, I love the nature, the yummy food … but so many factors threaten my ability to exist here: our really horrible government, threats to LGBTQ+ rights, rampant development and destruction of the ecosystem, weather that seems to get worse every year, etc. etc. It’s probably smart to move out, but I’m hesitant to abandon it all.”
It’s a shitty conundrum. And the searching music on “I Don’t Want to Leave” embodies that emotional limbo. But as a digital fusion act, Paper Aviator doesn’t do traditional emo. Instead, that essence is translated to the digifu aesthetic. Rather than bummer guitars and sadboy wailing, this instrumental track is a pristine electronic soundscape of trilling keyboards, skittering glitches and VGM tones. The heart may be emo but the language is pure chiptune.
If that particular combination sounds hyper-specific, there’s an equally hyper-specific reason for that. “I Don’t Want to Leave” was Zaballero’s entry for Battle of the Bits, an online chiptune music competition. It competed in the “chipwest emo” battle, a category for chiptune interpretations of Midwest emo. Niche enough for you? At any rate, the song not only met those exacting parameters but also placed third.
As narrow as the sonic inspiration is for “I Don’t Want to Leave,” its theme and emotions are very relatable, especially for those of us here in Orlando and other bubbles of sanity. It’s a lovely little song that’s a reminder of the light in our midst even in the middle of the storm. “I Don’t Want to Leave” and B-side “Just a Second” are both on Bandcamp and most other streaming platforms. Paper Aviator and friends will be performing this weekend at the annual Halo Halo Music Fest spotlighting young local Filipinx artists (4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, Lil Indie’s, $20).
With a deep lineup of homegrown indie-rock notables Like Father, Funeral Homes and Lowtalk, this concert would already be worth recommendation.
What ups this show to an imperative is the return of exceptional Orlando band Boston Marriage.
After emerging in the late 2010s to become one of the city’s most promising acts, they went suddenly, utterly and agonizingly quiet. Now, Boston Marriage are miraculously rising again to show us what music of true indie integrity sounds like.
Chris Brown, who somehow has fans, will be bringing his Breezy Bowl XX tour to Orlando this week, along with road closures and likely lots of traffic.
The Grammy Award-winning R&B singer, rapper, dancer and actor convicted of assaulting his former girlfriend Rihanna is touching down at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium Tuesday, Sept. 30. And in preparation, the stadium has released a lengthy list of road closures planned to help mitigate the downtown crowds.
Closures are planned for parts of traffic-heavy roads including Pine Street, Church Street, Central Boulevard and more.
Camping World’s free downtown shuttle service runs from 3:30 p.m. to one hour after the event ends. All parking lots open at 4:30 p.m.
The stadium box office opens at 4:30 p.m.; gates open at 5:30 p.m.; and the show begins at 7 p.m.
Jhené Aiko and Bryson Tiller open.
Camping World Stadium recently beat its own record for highest attendance for an R&B artist when The Weeknd took the stage in late August.
Breezy Bowl XX tickets are still available via Ticketmaster to see the performer who pleaded guilty to felony assault over his treatment of Rihanna — just one of the many allegations against Brown.
In 2010, Brown’s application for a visa to enter the U.K. was rejected on the grounds that he was guilty of a “serious criminal offense” for alleged domestic violence, the BBC reports.
The following year, Brown allegedly punched a window at Good Morning America after being asked about the incident, according to the New York Daily News.
Brown was also allegedly involved in a 2012 brawl involving Drake and his entourage, Billboard reports. That led to the pair trading diss tracks about the Alien vs. Predator situation, in which one might be tempted to root for both sides to lose.
Former Spur Tony Parker was even caught up in the fray and had to have a piece of glass removed from his eye, nearly losing it, Yahoo! Sports reports.
In 2013, Brown was allegedly involved in a hit-and-run, according to CNN, although that case against him was subsequently dropped. Later the same year, he was arrested for felony assault in D.C. over an incident in which he allegedly punched a man after refusing to take a picture with him, according to hip-hop mag XXL.
In 2016, Brown was sued for battery, assault and false imprisonment by Mike G, the manager he had hired to repair his public image, as reported by Variety.
In 2018, Brown was arrested in Florida on a felony battery charge, this time for allegedly punching a photographer, according to CNN.
In 2022, Brown was sued by a woman who alleged he drugged and raped her on a yacht owned by Sean “Diddy” Combs, the BBC reports.
In 2024, a docuseries titled Chris Brown: A History of Violence detailed the rape allegations against the singer, as reported by People and CNN at the time.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Brown sued Warner Bros. Discovery in response, seeking $500 million in damages. The singer’s attorneys argued that the docuseries is “full of lies and deception” and that Brown has “grown” since the 2009 Rihanna incident.
Even so, Brown’s legal troubles have continued into this year. In May, he was arrested in the U.K. for allegedly smashing a tequila bottle over music producer Abe Diaw’s head, the BBC reports.
Brown was later released on £5 million bail to commence this tour, though he subsequently had to appear in court on charges relating to the alleged bottle attack.
San Antonio Current’s Digital Editor Stephanie Koithan contributed reporting to this story.
Preston Hardwick releases 2 new mini-albums Credit: Courtesy
Seeing Preston Hardwick on stage laying down the rock hard and heavy with noted Orlando bands like Weak and Audible Parts will give you certain ideas about where his artistic passions lie. But on his own, he actually drops beats. And it’s more than just a casual diversion. When it comes to electronic dance music, he’s a disciple driven by a thirst to not just know the classic forms but to create them himself.
As a teenager, Hardwick immersed himself in the EDM world first as an internet bookworm. “I was discovering the vast subgenre landscape with a newish tool on the internet, Wikipedia,” he says. “As funny as this sounds, I would comb through subgenres of music reading about them, and then going and illegally downloading them from some virus-infested P2P software onto my family computer.”
Those seeds would ultimately spawn a remarkably versatile practitioner of pre-millennial dance idioms, an EDM nomad with a crate-digger’s range. Over the years, Hardwick’s releases have traversed breaks, house and IDM. Now, though, he’s just dropped two new EPs in short order that further widen his scope.
On one end, there’s Now That’s What I Call Ambient, a collection that’s exactly as advertised. The six-pack of vaporous ambient drones is, as Hardwick puts it, “a love letter written to Frutiger Aero and Paulstretch.”
On the other, much more banging tip is DJ Smokeshop, a nostalgic hardcore trek that delivers altered states at breakneck BPMs. From the manic psychosis of “Bogo Vape” to the dubby jungle of “Push to Start Ziploc Bag” to the cerebral breakbeat of “3X Boner Pills” and “Chinese Glass,” it’s a tight crash course on drum & bass. “Yeah, jungle, breakcore, and early ‘intelligent dnb’ has been on my daily playlists since I was a teenager,” says Hardwick.
Now That’s What I Call Ambient and DJ Smokeshop are back-to-back testimonials of Preston Hardwick’s ability and studiousness as an electronic dance artist. Both EPs now stream everywhere.
After plenty of boy-band-fan demand and an already sold-out Orlando concert date, the Jonas Brothers have announced a second show at the Kia Center this October.
The Disney Channel-born musical trio of bros will now perform at the Kia Center on both Oct. 26 and 27 as part of their “JONAS20 Greetings From Your Hometown” tour.
The now two-night run will be the brothers’ latest visit to Orlando since the “Five Albums. One Night” tour that stopped in town back in October 2023.
The Jonas Brothers described this 20-year-in-the-making performance as their favorite tour so far, on a recent Instagram post.
And they’ve certainly made that clear, as they’ve featured plenty of big-name and fellow Disney Channel-launched special guests, among them Demi Lovato, Fifth Harmony and the Plain White T’s, at earlier dates so far on the tour. The tour’s setlist has comprised music from each of the members’ later professional careers, with plenty of heartthrob nostalgic sounds and sights sprinkled in.
The All American Rejects open the show.
If you missed the chance to snag tickets to the now sold-out Orlando show on Oct. 26, tickets for the new show on Oct. 27 are on sale this week. Artist presale kicked off Wednesday, and general public sale will start Friday, Sept. 5, at 10 a.m.
The Jonas Brothers will also play in Tampa on Wednesday, Oct. 22, and in Sunrise on Friday, Oct. 24.
