Brent T. Williams

Experimental tuba: Two words you don't see side-by-side very often.

The big bulky brass instrument conjures up images of lockstep marching bands, or smoky New Orleans jazz joints, but never anything remotely new or avant-garde.

Set all you preconceived notions about the tuba aside, and get ready for Boca Raton born and bred musician Bill Muter to blow your mind with the beast of brass. Seriously, Muter emits sounds out of the tuba that are simply perplexing. Bending, molding, and shifting the notes of the lowest pitched brass and producing head-scratching noises that resemble guitar strums, keyboard bleeps, didgeridoo fizzes, and more.

He also tips and taps on the oversized horn at the same time, recreating the pitter-patter of drums. The real showstopper is when Mutter starts beatboxing out of the thing, a little boom boom biff hip-hop throwback emitted out a symphonic instrument leaves the crowd like putty in Muter's hands.

See also:
- A Practical Approach: At Only 27, Bill Muter Writes the Book on Playing the Tuba

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Liz Tracy

Continued from Part 1:
"Young Nudists at Sunsport Gardens Naturist Resort Reveal More Than Bare Asses"

A 29-year old ginger with a low ponytail, Chris, came in from Washington State, where he and his wife help organize Vita Nuda, another naturist organization. Annette, as it turns out, is a 21-year old student from Westin who grew up getting naked with the family. She was at this Spring Bash with her brother and twin sister, their seventh bash. "It's not a big deal in our family," she said matter-of-factly, "I'd say we're very liberal... I guess." And we all laughed.

Chris clarified that whole point in coming here isn't about getting undressed in front of people, but rather it allows you to do the things you can't do at home naked, "It's not so much about being in public, it's about being able to do other things." They can play volleyball (again...), swim, and watch a band. We then discussed the uselessness of bathing suits.

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Liz Tracy

The drive out to Sunsport Gardens, a family naturist resort near Wellington, was an exercise in endurance. Finally off the Turnpike, one thunderstorm later, and somewhere near the Everglades, I passed a sign for a gun show, drove by a Starbucks and Jamba Juice. You know, swamp necessities. Not long after what seemed to be the last Publix on the Earth, I made a right turn onto a well-kept dirt road that led to the place where naked people play.

Loxahatchee Groves is, surprisingly, quite lovely. Where you'd think trailer parks squatted on gnarled plots of land, there are mostly plant nurseries and ranch-style homes with groomed but voluptuous greenery. The area is also about a million miles away from wherever it is that you live. After what felt like three hours, but was realistically two miles, I reached their gate, monitored by surveillance cameras. Behind it, I was the weirdo in a bathing suit with hangups trying to score a conversation with younger nudists here for the annual Florida Young Naturists' Spring Bash.

See also
- Young Nudists at Sunsport Gardens Naturist Resort Talk About Intimacy, Hairy Pits, and Freedom (NSFW)

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Were they after the perfect café con leche?

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Mumford & Sons are like the most popular group on the planet. It doesn't matter if you've never heard any of their songs, all the rest of your family has, and they're all jazzed up about 'em.

These four Brits have announced their Gentlemen of the Road stopover shows, which includes a two day fest in Saint Augustine, Florida. Apparently, the series includes a variety of different artists in different combinations performing with the band, which has "curated" the lineups. These take place in Simcoe, Ontario, Troy, Ohio, and Guthrie, Oklahoma, which the band says, via press release, are "towns not normally frequented by touring bands in buses or splitter vans." The idea is to stimulate community and local business and stuff.



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Music vet and New Times scribe Lee Zimmerman offers his insights, opinions, and observations about the local scene. This week: Reconnecting with history in Bethel, New York.

In the trajectory of time, the only thing that's certain is the past. As we all know, the present is subject to sudden change, while the future has yet to unfold. And yet, the past sometimes seems redundant. So much so that it often replays itself in the folds of history, often to the surprise of those subject to its repeat performance.

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Erik Hess

Whether it be spoiling a film to a friend ("Bruce Willis was a ghost the whole time! Oh, you didn't see..."), bringing a fussy baby to any public place ever, or using the term "bro" or "dude" as punctuation at the end of your sentences, all of these actions deserve the response of three words: You're an asshole.

We could quote Dennis Leary and list off the many a-hole actions people make in life, but instead of quoting that asshole, we're making a list of our own. At our recent visit to Lollapalooza, it became clear what it means to suck at a show. Though we had a wonderful time, there were certainly a few people out to ruin our fun. Here, we document the five grandest annoying gestures we spotted this past weekend in Chicago. These activities make you a total jerk, and not just at Lolla, but at all festivals. Try to avoid them at all costs.

Side note: Calling people assholes makes you an asshole. We get that.

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When experiencing something as phenomenal and unusual as Todd Rundgren's Musical Revival Camp, you learn a few things.  More »

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