Acoustic Flow 

Remember your boring high school English teacher, Ms. Hippobottom? Remember how she crammed your head with the formulas for villanelles, sestinas, and ghazals and forever ruined poetry for you? Time to get caught up to the present tense, because verse isn't all Shakespearean sonnets and beatniks in berets; there's also a little thing called spoken word, which bridges the old traditions with the now-ness of hip-hop. And you can find it right here in Miami.

Every Friday at 9 p.m., Acoustic Flow — an open-mike night sponsored by B Side Entertainment — goes down at the Literary Café and makes Ms. Hippobottom's lectures a distant memory. Expect hostess Ingrid B to work the crowd in between the usual singers and poets showing off their chops; but this Friday, the special guest will be legendary singer/songwriter/producer Gordon Chambers. Chambers and his Grammy-winning voice will soothe your forsaken soul with melodies so smooth you'll say, "I can't believe it's not butter." Tickets cost $10. — By Joe Lapin

Website: http://onthebside.com

Price: $10