The week began with a light show early Monday, the Super Flower Blood Moon, an eclipse bathing the lunar surface in red. Here on Earth, in our corner of it, red will be the color of the week as the Florida Panthers and the Miami Heat continue to stoke playoff excitement in sports bars, restaurants and family rooms across South Florida.
This is history, folks. Never have these two local teams been this deep in the playoffs at the same time, and each is playing a bitter rival. What’s more, the Heat-Celtics playoff opener on Tuesday in Miami will happen around the same time the Panthers are dropping the puck in Sunrise against the reviled Lightning of Tampa Bay. That “beep-beep-beep” you hear is two bandwagons backing up so you can get aboard.
Here are some of the recommended main events in the week that will be.
Gogol Bordello
7 p.m. Monday, May 16, at Revolution Live, Fort Lauderdale; $30.75+; JoinTheRevolution.net
Led by dynamic frontman Eugene Hütz — Chernobyl survivor and Ukraine immigrant — “gypsy punk” band Gogol Bordello is raising money for Ukraine at each stop in the 15-city East Coast swing of its Solidaritine Tour.
Halsey
7 p.m. Tuesday, May 17, at iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre, West Palm Beach; $20+; LiveNation.com
This is the opening show in Halsey’s Love and Power Tour, supporting the singer’s 2021 album “If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power,” a collaboration with Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross that was Grammy-nominated for Best Alternative Music Album. Opening are beabadoobee and PinkPantheress.
“Our Dear Dead Drug Lord”
Thursday-Sunday, May 19-22, at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami; $55+; ArshtCenter.org
This is the final weekend of this critically praised Zoetic Stage production of Alexis Scheer’s genre-defying dark comedy about four teenage girls in a Miami treehouse and the ghost of Pablo Escobar. “As theatrical experiences go, it’s a doozy,” writes Artburst Miami’s Christine Dolen in a particularly enthusiastic review. Performances run through May 22 at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday, 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday.
The Lumineers
7:30 p.m. Friday, May 20, at iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre, West Palm Beach; $26.50 (four pack); LiveNation.com
It’s been 10 years since The Lumineers first put the ear-wormy “Ho Hey” in your head, a song that, frankly, did not predict the burgeoning popularity they continue to enjoy. Their Brightside World Tour takes its name from the sixth single to hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Alternative Airplay chart in the past decade, the most for any act during that time.
Skid Row, Warrant, Quiet Riot
7 p.m. Friday, May 20, at Pompano Beach Amphitheater; $48+; PompanoBeachArts.org
There was a moment when Sebastian Bach (Skid Row), Randy Rhoads (Quiet Riot) and Warrant’s “Cherry Pie” ruled, and perhaps more so than any other local venue, the Pompano Beach Amphitheater understands the large South Florida audience that wants to crack open that time capsule every so often. On Sunday at 7:30 p.m., The Amp will host Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo (with opener John Waite).
Los Van Van, Havana D’Primera
8 p.m. Friday, May 20, at Charles F. Dodge City Center, Pembroke Pines; $49+; Ticketmaster.com
One of the most important and influential bands in the history of Cuban pop music, Grammy winners Los Van Van continue to share the legacy of late founder Juan Formell with new generations. The Cuban all-star band Havana D’Primera, led by the great trumpeter Alexander Abreu, will open.
SongFest for Vets III
2-11 p.m. Saturday, May 21, at Mizner Park Amphitheater, Boca Raton; free; MiznerAmp.com
Subtitled “Building Bridges to Ukraine,” this fundraiser and Armed Forces Day celebration will include Ukrainian food, beer, art and music, as well as covers from top South Florida tribute bands KISS Alive, Erasmith (Aerosmith), Shoot to Thrill (AC/DC), along with classic rockers Shovelhed.
Afro Roots Fest
4 p.m. Saturday, May 21, at Hollywood ArtsPark; free; AfroRootsFest.com
The popular free, family friendly series makes its Broward County debut on downtown Hollywood’s Young Circle stage with a global lineup that includes Jesus Hidalgo (Venezuela), Philip Montalbán (Nicaragua), Gilmar Gomes, (Brazil), Miamibloco (Brazil), along with locals The Resolvers and DJ Le Spam.
Comedy Off the Green
7 p.m. Saturday, May 21, at Mizner Park Cultural Center; Boca Raton; $30-$45; ComedyOnTheGreen.org
A night of laughs with New York City-based comedian Jon Fisch (as seen on both “Late Show with David Letterman” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”). The indoor shows are from New York stand-up comic and writer Dave Siegel and wife Stephanie Tsoflias Siegel (now Boca Raton residents), creators of Comedy On the Green, the outdoor, socially distanced comedy picnics at Mizner Park Amphitheater.
Bill Burr
8 p.m. Saturday, May 21, at iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre, West Palm Beach; $74+; LiveNation.com
Working around a film schedule and shooting on his Netflix series “F is for Family,” mega-popular Bill Burr’s abbreviated schedule of arena and amphitheater performances is called the Slight Return tour. A few dozen tickets are available.
Sting
8 p.m. Sunday, May 22, at Hard Rock Live, Hollywood; $95; MyHRL.com
The tour titled Sting: My Songs is described as a “dynamic show featuring his most beloved songs” from his solo career and years with the Police. You, too, may be happy to know that on most dates on the tour he is finding room for “Driven to Tears,” a relative obscurity from the 1980 Police album “Zenyatta Mondatta.” If only he would immediately charge into “When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What’s Still Around.” As you might expect, there are very (very) few tickets to be had.
Inter Miami CF vs. New York Red Bulls
6 p.m. Sunday, May 22, at DRV PNK Stadium, Fort Lauderdale; $24+; InterMiamiCF.com
Nice stadium (right off I-95), best uniforms in the league, and we still have them until David Beckham moves the team to West Allapattah. Anytime we can get together in a stadium with a few beers and root against a team with NY on their shirt, it almost doesn’t matter what the sport is.
Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com.
