Wednesday, Aug. 30
Electric Barbarella: An '80s New Wave Dance Party Tribute to Billy Manes
Billy Manes was many things: a journalist, an activist, an amazing husband and friend. But most of all, Billy Manes was the life of the party, every party. This week, we get to pay tribute to the man – who passed away on July 21 – the best way we can: by dancing our asses off to the sounds of the New Wave. The music of the '80s was Manes' personal soundtrack, as anyone who ever mentioned Duran Duran around him learned quickly. And tonight, DJ Smilin' Dan, one of the area's best curators of retro anthems and should-have-been-anthems, plays tribute to Manes' favorite bands, ensuring a night of dancefloor excess straight out of the Me Decade. All proceeds benefit two of Billy Manes' favorite local nonprofits: Organize Florida, which works to strengthen communities and get their voices heard in government, and Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, dedicated to providing reproductive services and education to members of the community. Lift up your hands. – Thaddeus McCollum
7 p.m. | The Beacham, 46 N. Orange Ave. | 407-246-1419 | thebeacham.com | $10-$100 suggested donation
Wednesday, Aug. 30
Metro Boomin & H.E.R.
With apologies to Bryson Tiller – who cemented his live bona fides since a heat-seeking performance at the 2016 BET Awards – we're more excited about the opening acts for his Set It Off arena tour. Tiller has enlisted two young, cutting-edge sonic forces as openers. First: supernova-hot producer Metro Boomin. You've heard his work on productions for Drake and Kanye West, but he's venturing out of the studio on the heels of collaborations with Nav and Gucci Mane, and word is that he brings the same innovative focus that he brings to bear in his studio work to live performances. New R&B singer H.E.R., meanwhile, is that rarest of phenomena in the pop world – an enigma. Only seen in shadow and silhouette, and only known by her acronym (Having Everything Revealed), she contrasts visual obscurity with total emotional rawness on her thrilling Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 albums. Anticipation is high for this first round of extensive live work from both openers. Summer's going out with a bang. – Matthew Moyer
with Bryson Tiller | 7:30 p.m. | CFE Arena, 12777 N. Gemini Blvd. | 407-823-3070 | cfearena.com | $37.50-$47.50
Thursday, Aug. 31
Ed Sheeran
OK, OK, we get it. You don't like Ed Sheeran. Whether you're still mad at him for donning Lannister crimson for his cameo in Game of Thrones earlier this season – a cameo that was planned out as a surprise for Sheeran fan Maisie Williams, mind you – or you're just a low, scum-sucking anti-gingerist, your haterade has been noted. Sheeran seems to be the least popular guy ever to have three consecutive platinum albums. And for a guy to accomplish that in a beats-and-feuds-driven pop landscape while his whole thing is writing sensitive, sad-boy songs on an acoustic guitar deserves maybe a little respect, we think. Plus, that video where Sheeran gets drunk with his cat is still pretty funny, and maybe more than a little relatable. Minus the cat, of course. – TM
with James Blunt | 7:30 p.m. | Amway Center, 400 W. Church St. | 407-440-7900 amwaycenter.com | $36.50-$86.50
Thursday, Aug. 31
Epcot International Food & Wine Festival
This year's Epcot International Food & Wine Festival coincides with the 35th anniversary of Epcot itself – which, for all you food freaks out there, means more festival days (a record 75) and more wee food to ingest. This year's festival offers 35 kiosks with cuisine and beverages from countries across the globe. India, Spain and Thailand return to the global marketplace, along with some new ones – Active Eats (a nebulous assemblage of "action-packed offerings"), the Almond Orchard (desserts and beverages made with Blue Diamond Almond Breeze almond milk), Coastal Eats (seafood), Flavors From Fire (spicy fare) and Light Lab (bubbly drafts and spirited concoctions). But fear not, favorite dishes from previous years will be returning – meaning yes, there will be cheddar cheese soup at the Canada kiosk. – Faiyaz Kara
through Nov. 13 | Epcot World Showcase, 200 Epcot Center Drive, Lake Buena Vista | disneyworld.disney.go.com | admission free with park entrance; various food prices
Sunday, Sept. 3
Pulp Music Festival
Apologies to Jarvis Cocker, but this Labor Day weekend event at Will's Pub has nothing to do with the band that put out the greatest single album of the Britpop era, Different Class (also the greatest single album about Cocker's penis, and the fact that there's competition for that title tells you all you need to know about Cocker). What it is instead is a one-day festival that showcases some of the best young bands from several Florida cities. Tanner Jones, frontman of local emo revivalist troupe You Blew It!, reps the locals most prominently, but make sure to check out visitors from across the peninsula like the aptly named Northbound from Boca, rocking licks from Tampa's the Blonde Tongues, or the second-base overthinking of Gainesville's Sports Reference. Screamo-emo is the unifying theme, but if we're honest, with more than 30 acts playing, we're hoping for at least 30 covers of "Disco 2000." Let's all meet up; won't it be strange when we're all fully grown? – TM
2 p.m. | Will's Pub, 1042 N. Mills Ave. | willspub.org | $12-$15
Tuesday, Sept. 5
Patrick Martinez Artist Talk
Californian artist Patrick Martinez repurposes the detritus of everyday American life – supermarket-style birthday cakes, Pee Chee folders, inexpensive neon store signage – into ambitious and affecting art pieces about the devastating effects of institutionalized racism on communities of color. His first solo show, American Memorial, is at the Cornell Fine Arts Museum through Sept. 10, and the museum hosts the artist himself for a talk on Tuesday. Discussing "25 and Still Alive," his series of cake sculptures, Martinez says, "The people I paint on these cakes have been involved in street violence, have had brushes with death and are not supposed to be here. I think the pieces represent a large amount of how our youth is living and dying here in America." – MM
6 p.m. | Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Rollins College, 1000 Holt Ave. | 407-646-2526 | cfam.rollins.edu | free
Tuesday, Sept. 5
On the Road: A 60th Anniversary Celebration
At a certain age, it is very, very important to make Jack Kerouac your literary boyfriend. He's the rebellious nonconformist who opens your eyes to a whole new way of looking at prose when everyone else has been feeding you the patriarchal line about Hemingway's economy of language. He's fun. He gets drunk. He talks a lot. He listens to jazz. He's everyone's first cool date. And he eventually reminds his dates that boys and girls in America have such a sad time together. While you may be aware that Kerouac lived in his aunt's house in College Park for a while (and wrote The Dharma Bums there), you may not know that he was living there when his breakout, On the Road, was published in 1957 after years of revision. "The Drunken Odyssey"'s John King hosts this celebration of the novel's 60th anniversary, featuring live readings of passages from the book accompanied by cake and jazz. And while the publication of On the Road may have precipitated Kerouac's slide into disillusionment with success and alcoholism, there's no reason we shouldn't celebrate with cake. Careful what you wish for, kids. – TM
7-10 p.m. | Kerouac House, 1418 Clouser Ave. | kerouacproject.org | $10 suggested donation
