You can listen to a very special playlist of Tortoise jams at the bottom of this post.
Tortoise w/Tara Jane O'Neil You can’t nudge this Tortoise into a corner as far as genre goes. Sure, the collective of Chicagoans play instrumental music, but they seemed to have touched every corner of musical sound over the course of their almost 30 year career. They’re on the road again thanks to a brand new album The Catastrophist, where they flip David Essex’s “Rock On” around and over its head while also adding another collection of new originals to the catalog. Diehard fans know the origins of this LP (a commission from the City of Chicago to compose a suite of music that gave a nod to the Windy City’s jazz community), but Tampa Bay fans new and old will be standing shoulder to shoulder watching it come alive at this one. Songwriter Tara Jane O'Neil joins Tortoise on this show, and maybe she’ll join the band if they perform Catastrophist highlight “Yonder Blue” (which features Yo La Tengo’s Georgia Hubley on the recorded version). (Crowbar, Ybor City) INFO
Katatonia w/Caspian/Uncured There are metal purists who scoff at anything that isn’t Norwegian and mathematic, but Katatonia should be able to bridge the divide. The two decades running Swedish doom metal outfit are in town supporting their 10th studio LP (The Fall of Hearts, released last year via Peaceville), which finds a new drummer and lead guitarist (Daniel Moilanen, Roger Öjersson) moving the Swedes towards a new sound that still respects the black metal roots they established when Katatonia began their journey with 2003’s Viva Emptiness. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg) INFO
Bach Birthday Bash Man, Johann Sebastian Bach would’ve been 332 this year, but a shitty eye operation ended his life 1750 (too bad he didn’t have the Congressman Pete Sessions’ World’s Greatest Healthcare Plan). The American Guild of Organists will celebrate the late Baroque composer at this one, and donations are encouraged at the door (no genuflect required). (Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Tampa) INFO
ALSO PLAYING
Lil’ Ed and the Blues Imperials (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa) INFO
LILITH (The Ale and the Witch, St. Petersburg) INFO
Song Circle (Nature's Food Patch, Clearwater) INFO
This article appears in Mar 16-23, 2017.