Peak season: 24 shows to see in 2024

Despite the banner year 2023 was for concert-going, there is one area we can hope for better in the new year. And no, we’re not referencing the type of ticket-buying hoops fans had to jump through to see Taylor Swift — who graciously has given South Floridians 14 months to get to her three October shows at Hard Rock Stadium.

What we’re referring to began with the passing of Gordon Lightfoot last spring, only a month before he was scheduled to appear at The Parker in Fort Lauderdale. The news, let’s say, did not arrive as a shock. Part of a rare Florida tour, his appearance here had already been postponed three months earlier for health reasons. Still, despite his 84 years and major medical issues he’d suffered in recent years, the carefree highway continued to exert its allure. His demise denied South Florida fans what doubtless would have been their last chance to catch the beloved Canadian troubadour in concert.

Only a month after Lightfoot’s death, Madonna postponed her Celebration tour, including dates at Miami’s Kaseya Center, after a bacterial infection put the 65-year-old in the ICU for five days in June. Then 74-year-old Bruce Springsteen’s peptic ulcer and 75-year-old Steven Tyler’s fractured larynx caused tour cancellations, including Aeorsmith’s farewell appearance at Sunrise’s Amerant Bank Arena. Blues legend Buddy Guy canceled fall appearances, including a Clearwater festival, due to medical problems — but, hey, he’s 87! — and, startlingly, guitar guru Al Di Meola, 69, survived a heart attack onstage during a European performance.

This appears to be the kind of news destined to become old news as more venerable performers, notably those of the generation once named for youth, continue to defy the odds of aging. And why not? After all, the White House is home to its first octogenarian — and he hopes to extend his tour until age 86.

Now, fingers are crossed that other performers — and ticket-holders — don’t suffer similar cancellations. However, as South Florida enters the peak of The Season, an embarrassment of cultural riches awaits in the wings for any show failing to go off as scheduled. And yes, while many may cater to a boomer sensibility, most shows appeal to audiences not necessarily, as they say, age-adjacent.

Here are 24 highlights from the next three months, ranging from national touring acts to presentations by the regional arts companies whose particular season this is to shine.

Hadestown, Jan. 9-21, Broward Center, http://browardcenter.org

A hell-raising journey to the underworld and back, the acclaimed Broadway musical blends modern American folk music with New Orleans-inspired jazz. The most honored show of the 2019 Broadway season, Hadestown won eight Tony Awards, including Best New Musical. Singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell’s sweeping ancient tale originated as an indie theater project and album before being reimagined for Broadway with director Rachel Chavkin.

Wicked Child, Zoetic Stage, Jan. 11-28, Arsht Center, http://arshtcenter.org

Pitting political beliefs vs. familial bonds, the award-winning company’s world premiere by David Rosenberg is as topical as it is troublesome. When a New York lawyer shucks his job to join the Israeli Defense Force, the lawyer’s family is forced to reevaluate its positions toward the state of Israel, its secular Jewish identity and how much one owes to the community. Leading the pack with 20 nominations, Zoetic Stage won four Carbonell Awards last season, including Outstanding New Work, Play or Musical for American Rhapsody.

Beethoven’s Ninth, New World Symphony, Jan. 13, Arsht Center, http://arshtcenter.org; South Florida Symphony, March 3, Broward Center, http://browardcenter.org

How fitting for two orchestras to celebrate the two centuries of classical music’s masterwork. Fort Lauderdale-based Master Chorale of South Florida gives voice to New World Symphony’s Ode to Joy. South Florida Symphony’s production features the South Florida Symphony Chorus with internationally known soloists, who round out the program with performances from Carmen, La Boheme and other exalted arias.

Pinchas Zuckerman, Palm Beach Symphony, Jan. 15, Kravis Center, http://kravis.org

Following a live-streamed pandemic appearance attended only by distance-seated board members and major donors, the esteemed violin virtuoso returns to perform a program of uplifting works for a full audience. The Symphony’s golden anniversary season also features renowned pianists Emanuel Ax on March 6 and, on Feb. 5, Vladimir Feltsman performing a world premiere by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize in Music.

Nu Deco Ensemble, Jan. 20, Miami Beach Bandshell, http://miamibeachbandshell.com

An orchestra apart, Miami’s eclectic hybrid blends and bends multiple genres as it collaborates with musicians, composers, choreographers, dancers, mixed-media artists and, on this night, Joy Oladokun. Appropriately enough, the up-and-coming singer-songwriter also embodies a rainbow of styles. Also on the Nu Deco bill is an original work, Stravinsky’s Dumbarton Oaks Concerto and a reimagination of the music of the Police.

Tosca, Palm Beach Opera, Jan. 26-28, Kravis Center, http://kravis.org

Honoring the centennial of Giacomo Puccini’s death, the West Palm Beach-based company opens its season with the composer’s legendary work of intrigue in the Eternal City. Set against a backdrop of real-life locations in Rome, the production is notable for the U.S. debut of Siri in the title role — Uruguayan soprano Maria José Siri, that is — on the 26th and 28th, and the company premiere of Caitlin Gotimer on the 27th. Conducted by David Stern, the opera is sung in Italian with projected English supertitles.

I pagliacci, Florida Grand Opera, Jan. 27-28, 30, Arsht Center; Feb. 8, 10, Broward Center, http://browardcenter.org

Director Jeffrey Marc Buchman shakes things up in revisiting a production the company last performed 15 years ago. He turns Leoncavallo’s classic into “a show within a show,” opening with an Act Two expanded by a series of Neapolitan songs. “There is a long and wonderful connection between opera and Neapolitan songs,” he says. Folding them into the tragic opera creates “an added exploration of the dramatic content and continues the arc of its story.” The opera is sung in Italian with projected translations in English and Spanish.

Al Di Meola, Jan. 28, The Parker, http://parkerplayhouse.com

After clutching his chest and walking off a Romanian stage in September, the guitar god is not letting a heart attack keep him from coming back electric. Though the acoustic has largely been his latter-day guitar of choice, Di Meola returns to “The Electric Years” with a full band on this tour. Expect fretwork fireworks from the instrumental luminary whose ’70s genre-defining excursions with Chick Corea in Return to Forever pushed the envelope for both jazz and rock.

Groundup Music Festival, Feb. 2-4, Miami Beach Bandshell, http://miamibeachbandshell.com

Always eclectic, this year’s iteration amps up the international vibe. You get that impression with one look at the lineup: Kinga Głyk, Varijashree Venugopal, Bassekou Kouyate, Grupo Afrocuba De Matanzas, Los Muñequitos De Matanzas, among others. Of course, it’s really Snarky Puppy’s party, co-founded seven years ago by its bandleader Michael League. The innovative, Grammy-winning collective plays full sets each night, and for the first time, its members and other artists will dine with guests during Friday’s Snarky Puppy Family Dinner, which also features a one-time-only performance from “a very special artist.”

Lucinda Williams, Feb. 3, Coral Springs Center, http://thecentercs.com

The unofficial grand dame of Americana returns after a 2020 stroke that took the guitar from her hands but left her vocals as sassy, vulnerable and distinctively drawled as ever. On this tour, Williams interprets literally the titles of her latest album, Stories from a Rock n Roll Heart, and recent memoir, Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You. Evocative of Springsteen’s Broadway shows, the 70-year-old songwriter strikes a reflective tone with old photographs, family videos and long-form storytelling.

Winter Mix, Miami City Ballet, Feb. 3-4, Kravis Center, http://kravis.org; Feb. 9-11, Arsht Center, http://arshtcenter.org; Feb. 17-18, Broward Center, http://browardcenter.org

As is its custom, MCB presents programs that mix the masters with promising, often local, choreographers. Here, it revives its 2019-20 season standout, Firebird, the balletic battle between good and evil with choreography by Balanchine and Robbins matching Stravinsky’s fantastical fireworks. Balancing out the bill are two world premieres by up-and-coming choreographers: Analogo, the second commission for MCB by Miami-native Margarita Armas; and PAGANINI, In Play, the third such premiere by Durante Verzola, MCB School’s resident choreographer.

Chucho Valdés: Irakere 50, Feb. 9, Arsht Center, http://arshtcenter.org

The Cuban pianist and composer returns to the Jazz Roots series, following the world premiere of his epic masterpiece, La Creación, in 2021. This time around, Valdés comes for an anniversary party for Irakere, the legendary Cuban jazz band he founded half a century ago. Accompanying him, the new iteration of Irakere extends into a new century the innovative fusion of Afro-Cuban ritual music, Cuban dance music, jazz, classical and rock credited with changing la percepción of Latin music.

Mike Birbiglia, Feb. 17, The Fillmore, http://livenation.com

Perhaps the most famous living sleepwalker in America, the navel-gazing comedian brings his “Please Stop the Ride” tour to a recently reawakened Fillmore. Birbiglia’s endearingly confessional stand-up often centers on his various health issues, which with his somnambulism take up almost the entirety of his latest standup special, The Old Man and the Pool. Birbiglia’s engaging delivery is so effortless, his storytelling comes off less like a performance, more like a hang.

“Symphonic Stories,” Symphony of the Americas, Feb. 20, Broward Center, http://browardcenter.org

True to the enduring Spanish sensibilities of its artistic director and conductor, Pablo Mielgo, the Broward-based orchestra leads off its program with Spanish Symphony, featuring violin soloist and fellow Spaniard Francisco Fullana. Following French composer Edouard Lalo’s foray into Spanish culture is a magic carpet ride through The Arabian Nights via Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade.

John Pizzarelli Trio, Feb. 21, Broward Center, http://browardcenter.org

In his 40th year as a recording artist, the fleet-fingered guitarist and gossamer vocalist swings back by popular demand into the Gold Coast Jazz series. An acclaimed Great American Songbook interpreter, he’s also not shy about incorporating artists like Joni, Jobim and McCartney. However, Pizzarelli sticks to his specialty on his latest album, Stage & Screen. Those chestnuts from Broadway and Hollywood are sure to figure prominently in this Amaturo Theater performance, backed by a new trio featuring bassist Mike Karn and pianist Isaiah J. Thompson.

The Second City: Comedian Rhapsody, Feb. 23, Aventura Center, http://aventuracenter.org; Feb. 24, Miniaci Center, http://miniacipac.com

The comedic cradle of Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Keegan-Michael Key and other names tantamount to late-night laughter, Second City unleashes the next generation of aspiring A-list comedians in this new touring production. Drawing on over 60 years of funny business, the revue merges classic and new sketches with songs and the troupe’s patented improvisations. Conceivably, with back-to-back area performances, you could double-up laughing.

Stevie Nicks, Feb. 24, Hard Rock Live, http://seminolehardrockhollywood.com

When Nicks and boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham hooked up with Fleetwood Mac in 1975, it crystallized the band’s transformation from British blues bangers to certified rock/pop phenomenon. Almost 50 years hence, their Rumors album remains among the top 10 best-selling of all time. With a vocal style and stage presence both enchanting and seemingly enchanted, Nicks is the first woman inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Last year’s Complete Studio Albums & Rarities box set collects her eight solo albums, one more than her Fleetwood Mac studio output.

The Eagles and Steely Dan, March 1-2, Hard Rock Live, http://seminolehardrockhollywood.com

A killer classic rock hitfest, “The Long Goodbye Final Tour” brings together two of the biggest groups to come out of LA — one countryfied, the other cityfied, both in 1971. Each now features only one original member (Don Henley, Donald Fagen, respectively), but more telling is the take-it-to-the-limit way both have carried on despite the changes. The Eagles long ago regrouped as pop-rock superstars with Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit, and after the passing of Glenn Frey, with his son Deacon and country star Vince Gill. Fagen’s Steely Dan, minus his late other-half, Walter Becker, continues touring as a brassy R&B outfit. Interpret the tour title literally. It may stretch into next year.

Olivia Rodrigo, March 6, Kaseya Center, http://kaseyacenter.com

In support of her Grammy-nominated second album, the 20-year-old pop sensation spills her Guts in a “world” tour that had to be expanded after it sold out in yet another Ticketmaster feeding frenzy. Her first arena tour was actually instrumental in the conception of the album it’s named for. “I wrote the album with a tour in mind,” she said, “so I think they’re all songs I wanted people to be able to scream in a crowd. Hopefully that’s what’s achieved.” Daresay.

Mavis Staples, March 8, Arsht Center, http://arshtcenter.org

At 84, the soul survivor of the Staple Singers still casts an imposing shadow over the musical intersection of faith and social justice. That she continues to do this with joie de vivre and without self-righteousness is among her greatest attributes. Another, of course, is the deep well that is her voice. Whether she’s belting it out on gospel rockers like Eyes on the Prize or hitting you in your humanity as on Jeff Tweedy’s You Are Not Alone (“Every tear on every face tastes the same”), two words spring to mind: national treasure.

Drake, March 23-24, Amerant Bank Arena, http://amerantbankarena.com

Six months after a SoFlo visit, the rap superstar returns with “It’s All A Blur Tour – Big As The What?” In Broward, the Canadian chart-buster will be on his own, unlike most tour dates with J. Cole and unlike his Miami shows last year with collaborator 21 Savage. At one of those, Drake saw a fan holding a sign referencing his album Her Loss. It explained he’d bought a ticket for a girlfriend who was now a no-show ex. Touched, Drake gave him $50,000. Just sayin’.

Juanes, March 30, Hard Rock Live, http://seminolehardrockhollywood.com

A comparatively short commute from his part-time Key Biscayne residence, this stop on the Colombian legend’s world tour is in support of his latest, lauded album, Vida Cotidiana (Everyday Life). The deeply personal collection is up for a Grammy for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album next month, after taking home the award for Best Pop/Rock Album at November’s
Latin Grammys.

Madonna, April 6-7, Kaseya Center, http://kaseyacenter.com

Leave it to Madonna to perform with topless dancers, some of her six children and, instead of a band, a backing soundtrack of her original recordings. Resuming four months after she suffered a serious bacterial infection, her Celebration Tour is a 40-song journey through her 40-year career. With 20-plus dancers, 17 outfits and a series of spectacular set pieces, the Material Woman for the first time embraces the breadth of her legacy as the biggest-selling female pop artist of all time.

Los Lonely Boys, April 11, The Parker, http://parkerplayhouse.com

The lifeblood of this second-generation band of Texas brothers continues to be family, now back after an extended break devoted to each’s own. They began playing as teenagers in a band with their father, who’d previously played with his own brothers in a conjunto band. For 17 years now, the Boys have been spicing up their own supple-yet-solid brand of “Texican rock & roll,” a bluesy blend of brotherly harmonies and licks slick enough to conjure Stevie Ray Vaughan. The trio’s first new album in 13 years is reportedly imminent.