Weekend things to do: The Weeknd, The Who, Cirque du Soleil’s ‘OVO’ and OPAW in Oakland Park

Here we are in South Florida in the middle of August, the dead of summer, when there’s nothing going on. Oh, wait. This is a great weekend for music, from big shows (The Who and The Weeknd) to superior local talent (The Somethings and Joel DaSilva). There are interesting movies (Popcorn Frights Film Festival and Subtropic Film Festival), comedians (Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias and Rick Glassman), “OVO” in Miami, OPAW in Oakland Park and a new Tiramisu Espresso Martini. Let’s go.

THURSDAY

Local sound: One of the most exciting developments on the local music scene in 2025 was the debut of The Somethings. This funky, soulful quintet features members of Fort Lauderdale’s The Heavy Pets joined by two internationally touring jam-band figures: multi-instrumentalist and singer Josh Schwartz, a new South Florida resident best known for his time with Turkuaz (then Cool Cool Cool), the Zac Brown Band and the Jerry Harrison-Adrian Belew project Remain in Light, and guitarist Danny Mayer (Eric Krasno Band). Heavy Pets members are Jim Wuest, Jamie Newitt and Chris Patsis. The Somethings will return to The Funky Biscuit in Boca Raton at 7 p.m. Thursday, aided by the vinyl artistry of DJ Travis Acker. Doors open at 5 p.m. Tickets cost $33.56 for general-admission standing room, with some table seating available starting at $39.24. Visit FunkyBiscuit.com. For more on The Somethings, visit TheSomethingsMusic.com.

Bugging out: Cirque du Soleil is bringing its insect-themed spectacular “OVO” to the Kaseya Center in Miami for seven weekend performances. Showtimes will be at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 11 a.m., 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday; and 1 and 5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets start at $66.80 at KaseyaCenter.com. … The production will move to Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise for nine performances from Aug. 20 to 24. For ticket information, visit AmerantBankArena.com.

Joe Perry and friends: The Joe Perry Project, the Aerosmith guitarist’s all-star side gig, stops at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood on Thursday featuring musicians from The Black Crowes and Stone Temple Pilots. Also performing will be Perry’s Aerosmith bandmates Brad Whitford and Buck Johnson. Tickets for the 8 p.m. show start at $82.30 at MyHRL.com.

Weekend martini: My wife will get in the car for a good espresso martini, as will I for any bar named after a Merle Haggard song. I’m happy to report that the newly refreshed cocktail menu at downtown Miami dive Mama Tried includes the Tiramisu Espresso Martini ($15), a fusion of Patrón Reposado, fresh espresso and hazelnut, with a fluffy Baileys-infused cream cheese topping and ladyfinger garnish. A longtime favorite among late-night lush lifers, Mama Tried is at 207 NE First St., a block west of Bayfront Park and a short stroll from PAMM. Visit MamaTriedMiami.com.

When pigs die: As part of its Caribbean Cultural Institute programming, Pérez Art Museum Miami on Thursday will host a screening and discussion of the documentary “The Creole Pig: Haiti’s Great Loss,” a powerful look at how environmental dominoes can fall. Accompanied by a conversation with filmmaker Dudley Alexis, artist Edouard Duval-Carrié and Florida International University professor Chantalle F. Verna, the film tells the story of the Creole pig, a vital part of Haitian rural life, and the impact of its mass extermination in the 1980s on the economics and culture of a struggling nation. The evening begins at 7:30 p.m., with the film from 8 to 9 p.m. and a Q&A session from 9 to 9:30 p.m. The film is free with museum admission ($18). Filmgoers can continue the debate during a post-film gathering at 10 p.m. in Little Haiti with drinks and bites for purchase at Lakou (207 NE 59th St.) and, a few doors down, IPC ArtSpace (225 NE 59th St.). Visit PAMM.org.

FRIDAY

Weeknd weekend: Pop-chart prince The Weeknd brings his wildly popular and visually striking After Hours Til Dawn Tour (joined by Playboi Carti and Mike Dean) to Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens for performances on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. Tickets for Friday’s show are more scarce, with the cheapest seats in the $110-$125 range, while Saturday’s show starts at $91.15. Visit Ticketmaster.com.

Ticket alert: The Broadway touring production of “The Addams Family” musical is coming to the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach from Oct. 31-Nov. 2, with tickets on sale at 10 a.m. Friday at Kravis.org and at noon Friday via the box office and by calling 561-832-7469. Members can access tickets now. For information on memberships, visit Kravis.org/giving.

Weekend soundtrack: Fort Lauderdale blues-rock guitarist Joel DaSilva has a new album that captures him in his best setting, showing off incendiary guitar skills and vocal swagger in front of the people. “Live at Revelry,” recorded with bassist Mitch Mestel and drummer Rich Conklin at the retro-cool Pompano Beach restaurant-lounge (where head chef Paul Pincus is a music-scene veteran), includes eight tracks that will grab you with playful pyrotechnics (“Ollie’s Bounce”), swinging rock impulses (“Boogie Real Low”) and simmering tenderness (“Lover’s Rhumba”). You can get the full live experience when DaSilva (with keyboardist Scott Rowell) performs at The Fitz Bar in downtown Fort Lauderdale on Friday at 7 p.m. (visit TheFitz.bar), then returns to Revelry (with drummer Howard Goldberg and bassist A.J. Kelly) on Aug. 29 (visit RevelryFLA.com). For more information, visit Facebook.com/joeldasilvamusic.

Fluffy laughs: That Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias is one of the most popular stand-ups on tour these days — No. 3 on Billboard’s list of highest-grossing comedians in 2024 — is no surprise in South Florida, where ticket demand prompted him to add a second show this weekend at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood. Iglesias will have 8 p.m. performances on Friday (tickets starting at $66.90) and Saturday ($77.15). Visit MyHRL.com.

Other Friday laughs: Relentlessly likable Rick Glassman is many things: Actor with a respectable resume (Amazon’s “As We See It,” ABC’s underappreciated sitcom “Not Dead Yet,” NBC’s “Undateable,” the National Lampoon biopic “A Futile and Stupid Gesture”; podcaster (“Take Your Shoes Off”); and self-described Jewish heartthrob (we can confirm he is Jewish). Glassman will bring his national tour to the Fort Lauderdale Improv for performances at 7:30 and 10 p.m. Friday, and 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets cost $30.90+ at ImprovFTL.com.

Sights and sounds: This week’s edition of the Friday-night Art After Dark series at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach has much to recommend. Along with the usual exhibit tours and studio experiences, Subtropic Film Festival will offer five local short films in the Stiller Auditorium, followed by a post-screening Q&A session with the filmmakers and artists (details at Instagram.com/subtropicff). Nearby, the infectiously jammy local bluegrass band Low Ground will perform in the Great Hall from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Art After Dark tickets cost $10, or $5 for students, and can be purchased at the reception desk or in advance at Norton.org.

SATURDAY

Who farewell: Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey will bring some of the most consequential music of the rock ’n’ roll era to Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise on Saturday to kick off the North American leg of The Who’s farewell tour. This show will find Townshend and Daltrey returning to a traditional rock-band format (no 48-member symphony orchestra, as in 2019, no matter how magnificent that show was), joined by longtime collaborators Simon Townshend, Loren Gold and Jon Button joined by Scott Devours (replacing departed drummer Zak Starkey). The setlist is the soundtrack of multiple generations: “I Can’t Explain,” “Behind Blue Eyes,” “The Real Me,” “I Can See for Miles,” “My Generation” and “Baba O’Riley.” Led by the cult-fave actor, Billy Bob Thornton & The Boxmasters are scheduled to open the 7:30 p.m. concert. Tickets are available, starting at $52, at Seatgeek.com.

Dining for good: Palm Beach Meats in West Palm Beach will host its monthly all-Wagyu Steak House Night on Saturday from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m., with chef Dan Ramos elevating the luxe meat with fresh herbs and vegetables from his Red Splendor garden. The à la carte dining experience, as always, will have a charitable component, this time sending 15% of the proceeds to CARP Inc. The West Palm Beach nonprofit works with underserved individuals dealing with substance use disorders, a mission that is close to the heart of PBM co-owner Eric San Pedro. For information and to make a reservation, visit PalmBeachMeats.com.

Walk this way: The Oakland Park Art Walk returns on Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m., the perfect time to immerse yourself in moments of serendipitous diversity just steps away from each other along Northeast 12th Avenue as it hugs Dixie Highway. You want food? There’s The Butcher’s Barrel, Nour Thai Kitchen, Red Sea Eritrean & Ethiopian Cuisine, Marc’s Cuisine (Haitian food), BMC Smash Burgers and Bandoleros Tacos. Drinks? Check out Rebel Wine Bar, Satellite Pinball Lounge (cocktails), Black Flamingo Brewing (they also make a great burger), Voodoo Brewing, Tripping Animals and (the godfather) Funky Buddha Brewery. Shopping? The Wander Shop and boutique GG Says Hello are filled with apparel and accessories that my wife would certify as “really cute.” Co-sponsored by Art Fusion Galleries, the event will be centered in a two-block area between Northeast 36th Street and Northeast 34th Court, where you’ll find live entertainment, creative vendors and an open-air gallery with works by local artists. Admission and parking are free. Visit OaklandParkFL.gov/opaw.

Pigging out: LauderAle Brewery & Tap Room in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday will host Operation Hops & Hogs, a family friendly, whole-hog cookout party and competition pitting Battle Rig BBQ vs. La Porka Nostra. Everybody wins. There will also be live music A $30 package gets you pork tastings, a few sides and a beer from LauderAle, plus a vote for whose hog was the best. For information and tickets, visit Facebook.com/lauderale.

Yes, Christian ska: Sprung from a small subgenre within a narrow musical niche, Five Iron Frenzy are longtime favorites among fans of Christian ska, singing songs filled with indignation about how faith has been used as a cudgel for greed and prejudice. Get an earful at the Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $40.55 for general-admission standing room at CultureRoom.net.

Spam filter: NOBO Brewing Co. in Boynton Beach will throw its annual End of Summer Hawaiian Luau on Saturday from noon to 8 p.m., with island-inspired beers such as Mai Tai Sour and themed bites including something with Spam. Intrigued? Visit Facebook.com/nobobrewing.

SUNDAY

Photographic memories: Most of the pictures I have from childhood are black and white — for a long time I assumed this was due to my parents’ “arty” impulses, then learned it was a money thing — so I am still enchanted by the warmth and depth of color photography from that time. This is our last weekend to see the work of one of the masters of the idiom in the exhibit “Joel Meyerowitz: Temporal Aspects,” up through Sunday at NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale. A photographer with an intuitive sense of light and timing, the Bronx-born Meyerowitz was an early disciple of color photography. The NSU Art Museum exhibition celebrates its commitment to photography with the recent acquisition of more than 1,800 streetscapes, landscapes and portraits from the Meyerowitz archive. Admission to the museum: $16, or $10 for seniors, $5 for students age 13 to 17 and college students, and free for children age 12 and younger. Veterans and their dependents (in the same household) get in free. Visit NSUArtMuseum.org.

Let’s get together: Soulful reggae star Freddie McGregor will be the headliner at The Art of Music Festival on Sunday from 2 to 10 p.m. at Sunset Cove Amphitheater in Boca Raton. Tickets cost $65+, or $30+ for kids age 6 to 12. Visit Facebook.com/SunsetCoveAmphitheater.

Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com. Follow on IG: @BenCrandell.