A Boca History Museum cocktail party toasts the ’70s, the Delray Beach Historical Society is ready to “Rumble,” and an absurdist play explores racism and classism. Plus, the Rolling Loud festival, Larry Carlton and more in your week ahead.
WEDNESDAY

What: Summer Sips & Sounds
Where: Schmidt Boca Raton History Museum, 71 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton
When: 6 p.m.
Cost: $30 for Historical Society members, $40 for nonmembers
Contact: 561/395-6766, bocahistory.org
The next Festival of the Arts Boca isn’t until March, but the esteemed cultural fest is lending its imprimatur to this collaborative concert at the Schmidt History Museum. The second “Summer Sips & Sounds” this season, the performance will highlight songs from the 1970s from pop artists Carole King, Elton John, the Carpenters and others, whose music sound-tracked an era of monumental growth for the city of Boca Raton, from the advancements at IBM to Arvida’s housing developments to the founding of the Historical Society. The evening begins with a cocktail reception at 6 p.m., with the concert commencing at 6:45 p.m. The Festival of the Arts’ own Joanna Marie Kaye will sing alongside keyboardist/vocalist Rick Krive and saxophonist Scot Klarman.
FRIDAY
What: Opening day of “Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song”
Where: Living Room Theaters at FAU, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton
When: Show times pending
Cost: $7-$10.50
Contact: 561/549-2600, fau.livingroomtheaters.com
It’s a cold comfort and a bitter irony that only after Leonard Cohen’s death, in 2016, did his most iconic song, “Hallelujah,” finally entered the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. These days, “Hallelujah” somehow feels like an atheist’s devotional, a fundamentalist’s paean, and a standard that’s been with us forever—and yet it’s really a contemporary song about sex. Cohen labored over the track for years, reportedly writing as many of 180 draft verses, and yet when he finally delivered the composition, on 1984’s Various Positions album, his record label rejected it. It would take decades of covers by other artists, from John Cale to Jeff Buckley to its usage on “Shrek,” to finally canonize “Hallelujah.” This documentary explores all of this and more, highlighting Cohen’s struggle to realize the song and its verdant afterlife.
What: Screening of “Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World”
Where: Delray Beach Historical Society, 3 N.E. First St., Delray Beach
When: 8 p.m.
Cost: $10, free for Historical Society members
Contact: 561/274-9578, delraybeachhistory.org
This summer, the Delray Beach Historical Society is hosting a monthly, outdoor series of rock docs, beginning with a largely unseen film about a largely unacknowledged reality: the influence of Native Americans on U.S. and European music. Borrowing its title from a foundational guitar instrumental by Native American musician Link Wray, “Rumble” follows this influence across multiple genres and eras, celebrating indigenous American talents through stories and anecdotes from the musicians they inspired. The movie’s expert talking heads range from Martin Scorsese to Tony Bennett to Iggy Pop to Taj Mahal. Doors open at 7 p.m., and attendees are encouraged to bring their own picnic dinners.

What: Opening night of “Black Sheep”
Where: Main Street Playhouse, 6812 Main St., Miami Lakes
When: 8 p.m.
Cost: $30 general admission, $25 students and seniors
Contact: mainstreetplayers.com
Carl, the title character in this dark comedy by Lee Blessing, is a “black sheep” in more ways than one: He is the Black son of an interracial marriage, newly released from a 10-year prison sentence after his unintentional killing of his white half-brother. He has returned to the WASPy home of his uncle Nelson, and Nelson’s wife Serene, who plan to adopt Carl. In a play that would become the first in a loose trilogy about race in America, Blessing borrows from the absurdist playbook of writers like Beckett, Durang and Ionesco to capture the country’s racial and classist fissures. “Black Sheep” enjoyed its world premiere in 2002 right here in South Florida, at the late, great Florida Stage. It returns in this production from Miami Lakes’ Main Street Players, its themes no less relevant some 20 years later. “Black Sheep” runs through Aug. 14.
FRIDAY TO SUNDAY
What: Rolling Loud Festival
Where: Hard Rock Stadium, 347 Don Shula Drive, Miami Gardens
When: 4 p.m.
Cost: $329-$1,299
Contact: rollingloud.com
Returning to its original stomping grounds at Hard Rock Stadium, the country’s preeminent rap and hip-hop festival boasts a lineup featuring three of the genre’s heaviest hitters on the top line—Ye (fka Kanye West) Future and Kendrick Lamar—and is bolstered by a plethora of other notable names underneath, from 2 Chainz to Gucci Mane to Pompano Beach’s own Kodak Black. The 2022 iteration of this nearly decade-old festival is sure to satisfy the rabid fans lucky enough to snag tickets. Slightly unhinged but never boring, this year’s event is sure to feature a number of surprise appearances from further titans of rap culture and will continue to set the social-media-friendly standard for hypebeasts from South Florida and around the world.
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
What: Larry Carlton
Where: Funky Biscuit, 303 S.E. Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton
When: 6 and 9 p.m.
Cost: $60-$80
Contact: 561/395-2929, funkybiscuit.com
Guitar giant Larry Carlton has spent 60 years operating in the boundless nexuses of jazz, rock and soul. His collaborators include a who’s who of popular music in the 1970s and 1980s, from Joni Mitchell and Michael Jackson to Dolly Parton and the Fifth Dimension. He contributed to the epic solo on Steely Dan’s “Kid Charlemagne,” and played on the iconic theme to “Hill Street Blues.” In this unique two-night residency at the intimate Funky Biscuit, Carlton will perform two entirely separate shows: At 6 p.m. Saturday and 9 p.m. Sunday, he’ll perform the greatest hits of Steely Dan; at 9 p.m. Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday, he’ll focus on hits from his jazz fusion group the Crusaders.
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