Art galore in Delray Beach, a surrealist play for the “Black Mirror” set, and an animated comedy for grown-ups. Plus, Garbage’s swan song and more in your week ahead.
THURSDAY
What: Andy Thomas’ Workingmans Dead
When: 7 p.m.
Where: Funky Biscuit, 303 S.E. Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton
Cost: $28.14-$33.56
Contact: 561/395-2929, funkybiscuit.com
Once again, Boca’s Funky Biscuit is playing host to an up-and-coming talent on the precipice of an ascendant career. Andy Thomas, best known as the frontman for Richmond, Va., Americana favorites the Trongone Band, recorded his gritty debut album this summer, a typically genre-blending affair produced by Widespread Panic bassist Dave Schools. Honkytonk, southern rock and folk rock find purchase in Thomas’ rootsy sound, which owes a sizable debt to the Grateful Dead’s Workingmans Dead, the group’s iconic back-to-basics reinvention from 1970. Thomas will perform Dead classics along with tunes from his forthcoming solo debut, with support from longtime regional singer-songwriter Jerry Leeman.
What: Opening night of “Last of the Red Hot Robots”
When: 8 p.m.
Where: Empire Stage, 1140 N. Flagler Drive, Fort Lauderdale
Cost: $15-$25
Contact: latinetheaterlab.com
Fans of “The Twilight Zone,” “The Outer Limits” and “Black Mirror” should find plenty of absurdist humor and biting social commentary in this world-premiere omnibus comedy from playwright Brian Harris. Four interlocking tales, contained in a swift 90 minutes with no intermission, explore various science-fiction concepts: In the short that gives the play its title, a domestic robot interferes in a couple’s suburban marriage in a subversive way; and in others, aliens masquerades as Earthly seductresses; astronauts filmed for a reality show while on a mission to Mars descend into madness; and an online influencer’s DNA test, revealing that she is majority Neanderthal, goes viral, prompting a reassessment of her career goals. This slapstick burlesque runs through Sept. 27 courtesy of Latiné Theater Lab, one of South Florida’s newest theatre companies.
FRIDAY
What: First Friday Art Walk
When: 6 to 9 p.m.
Where: Downtown Delray Beach
Cost: Free
Contact: 561/243-1077, downtowndelraybeach.com
This weekend, downtown Delray Beach’s myriad art spaces play host to a bevy of special activities in conjunction with the city’s monthly Art Walk. Friday marks the opening of Arts Warehouse’s newest exhibition, “Modular,” which showcases the latest work from the venue’s 13 resident artists. Over at Old School Square, guitarist Phil Fest will perform in the Cornell Museum, while outside, on the museum’s plaza, six artists from Art Connect will engage in live painting. Visitors can partake in a free figure drawing class at the adjoining Creative Arts School, while DssArt, a new gallery in Pineapple Grove, welcomes live music from the Kittens. Pick up free snacks and beverages at the Hub at Space of Mind, featuring art curated by Craig McInnis and Jessica Kirby. Other participating galleries within walking distance include Blue Gallery, Addison Gallery, DeBilzan Gallery, Gallery Mavruk, MAC Art and Sundook Fine Art Gallery.
What: Garbage
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Pompano Beach Amphitheater, 1801 N.E. Sixth St., Pompano Beach
Cost: $61.13 and up
Contact: pompanobeacharts.org
If you’re even a casual Garbage fan, and you’ve sat out the band’s most recent South Florida performances—co-headlining with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds in 2023, and opening for Tears for Fears in 2022—you’ll want to pony up for tickets this time around, because it’s likely the group’s final headlining tour. “Nothing stays the same forever. Everything must change. All beautiful things come to an end,” the band posted to Instagram in a de facto retirement statement last month. If true, the tour will cap a remarkable run that began in the early 1990s, in the golden age of alternative rock’s commercial dominance, and continues all the way to this year’s “Let All That We Imagine Be the Light,” Garbage’s eighth album. A rarity in rock, Garbage’s founding lineup remains intact after more than 30 years of shifting trends and genre explorations. Expect to hear classic sing-alongs like “Queer,” “Stupid Girl” and “Only Happy When it Rains” alongside fan-favorite deep cuts.
SUNDAY
What: Screenings of “Boys Go to Jupiter”
When: 1 and 5 p.m.
Where: Savor Cinema, 503 S.E. Sixth St., Fort Lauderdale
Cost: $10-$12
Contact: 954/525-3456, fliff.com
An adult animated comedy by, and seemingly for, the alternative-comedy set, “Boys Go to Jupiter” marks the feature film debut for the largely self-taught and distinctive 3D animator Julian Glander. Populated by voice actors from the deadpan or surrealist comedy fringes—Julio Torres, Elsie Fisher, Eva Victor and Janeane Garofalo among them—“Boys Go to Jupiter” is set in a familiar suburban Florida neighborhood, where Billy 5000, a teenager working for a food delivery app, dreams of securing $5,000 and pursuing a more fulfilling life. Oddball workaday hiccups straight out of movies like “Clerks” interrupt his reveries, to say nothing of the gelatinous blob from outer space that’s taken residence in town. Lo-fi pop songs help carry the coming-of-age narrative, which hides a critique of predatory capitalism underneath its witty, colorful veneer.
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