Phish not enough for you, party guy? Several concerts occurring over the same time period are being billed as Phish-related parties, just in case you need to keep on noodle-dancing into the wee hours.
• The Heavy Pets. South Florida’s finest jam band — and one of the best in the nation, really — will perform Monday through Wednesday at Tobacco Road, 626 S. Miami Ave., in Miami. Each show begins at midnight, admission is free and concertgoers can get to the venue via the monorail. Call 305-374-1198 or visit Tobacco-road.com.
• Landarado. Cribbing its name from the sadly defunct Langerado Music Festival, this event, cobbled together by Humbert bassist and serious Phishhead Tony Landa, will feature a performance by Humbert — the band’s first outing since singer-guitarist Ferny Coipel suffered life-threatening injuries in a freak scooter accident (welcome back, Ferny!) — as well as the Nag Champayons, King Bee and Electric Piquete. The concert, meant to welcome arriving Phish fans to our beloved 305, will take place 9 p.m. Sunday at Churchill’s Pub, 5501 N.E. Second Ave., in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood. Admission is free. Call 305-757-1807 or visit Landarado.com.
• Black Curtains at the White Room. This Phish afterparty will feature national dubstep and electro acts such as Break Science (playing Monday), Boombox (Tuesday) and EOTO (Wednesday, Dec. 30), which includes Michael Travis and Jason Hann of the String Cheese Incident. Several local acts will share the bill, including Afrobeta, DJ LeSpam and the JeanMarie. The headliners at the Black Curtain shows will take the stage as soon as Phish exits its own. The concerts will take place Monday through Wednesday at the White Room, 1306 N. Miami Ave., in Miami. Tickets cost $15 in advance, $20 at the door, and the White Room is just a mile from American Airlines Arena. Call 305-995-5050 or visit Underonebeat.com.
• The Word. Just as Landarado will welcome fans to South Florida, so the Word will see them off. The group, which includes Robert Randolph, John Medeski and the members of the North Mississippi All-Stars, will play a Jam Cruise preparty, but the concert dovetails nicely with the Phish shows, so what the heck. The show will begin 8 p.m. Jan. 1 at the Culture Room, 3045 N. Federal Highway, in Fort Lauderdale. Tickets cost $30. Call 954-564-1074 or visit Cultureroom.net.
• Jam Cruise. For the true trustafarian, there is only one way to handle the new year –- Landarado, all four nights of Phish, the Word and, finally, Jam Cruise, which will leave from Port Everglades Jan. 3 for a six-day cruise that will stop in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, and George Town, Cayman Islands. Also onboard: STS9, the Word, Dweezil Zappa, Galactic, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Maceo Parker and two dozen other bands. The cruise is sold-out. We just included this to taunt those of you who aren’t going. But if you’d like to start plans for next year, check out Jamcruise.com.
— Dan Sweeney
