As part of our Guide to the Arts, which published in PRIME Magazine on Oct. 6, entertainment writer Ben Crandell offered his Critic’s Picks for the best in pop shows coming up in South Florida.
Taylor Swift
Oct. 18-20, Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens. Sold out; resale tickets are going for more than $2,000 each at vendors such as StubHub.
The colossus of pop culture finally comes to South Florida on The Eras Tour, a career-changing globe trot that began in 2023, when it broke Ticketmaster and rendered Roget’s Thesaurus inadequate. (The Atlantic magazine’s review of opening night settled on “unbelievable.”) If you have seen this tour in person, you know: It is impossible to overstate Taylor Swift’s connection to her fans and her ability — with her songs, her stagecraft and her sincerity — to reach deep inside them to find feelings and emotions that are rarely touched. It’s a remarkable thing to witness. The three Hard Rock Stadium shows, long ago sold out, are among her final U.S. dates before the curtain comes down for good on The Eras Tour with nine performances in Canada.
Justin Timberlake
Nov. 8, Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise. Tickets start at $64+ at SeatGeek.com.
One of the most dynamic entertainers of his era, Justin Timberlake comes to South Florida on his first tour in five years in support of his 2024 album “Everything I Thought It Was.” While he has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons, after pleading not guilty to a misdemeanor DWI charge near the Hamptons in June, the tour itself has been a hit with critics. The term “song-and-dance man” may feel a little musty, but Timberlake combines those skills with matinee-idol looks and aw-shucks comedic charm in a way that few male performers can muster these days. If you happen to be sitting in the upper reaches of the arena, be prepared to see J.T. performing at eye-level as he cruises over the audience on a floating stage.
Dwight Yoakam with The Mavericks
Nov. 15, Pompano Beach Amphitheater. Tickets start at $59.50+ at PompanoBeachArts.org.
There is an incandescent joy that radiates from bandleader Raul Malo. He is no doubt reveling in this unlikely chapter in the long-running story of The Mavericks, who have spent 2024 playing around the country to houses packed by a new generation of fans eager to hear music from “Moon & Stars,” a collection of rootsy, Latin-tinged Americana that arrived this year to universal acclaim. There is also the fact that Malo, a cofounder of the band in Miami 35 years ago, has never sounded better, his voice burnished with a warm and supple glow. Which means that no one is having a better time onstage these days than Malo and The Mavericks, who will join actor and Grammy-winning country troubadour Dwight Yoakam for a night that will be unmatched for pure honky-tonk fun.
Billy Joel
Nov. 23, Jan. 17, Hard Rock Live, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood. Tickets start at $505+ at MyHRL.com.
If you were compiling a list of singer-songwriters whose appeal to South Florida fans of a certain vintage is such that they are willing to break more than one bank for tickets, Billy Joel has always been just behind the late, great Jimmy Buffett. So here we are. The 75-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer continues to be a dynamic live performer, whether he is charming the audience at a sold-out Madison Square Garden (where he just completed his 10-year, 150-concert residency) or on tour with Stevie Nicks. His hit-packed setlist is the soundtrack of multiple generations, from ballads such as “Piano Man,” “She’s Got a Way About Her” and “Just the Way You Are” to upbeat sing-alongs including “Only the Good Die Young,” “We Didn’t Start the Fire” and “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant.”
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