ISLAND HOLIDAY PARTY Now that Thanksgiving's gone, it's time for the holiday good-cause fundraisers to begin in earnest. And thank God, because I know we're all tired as hell of attending all those stupid bad-cause fundraisers. Tonight's soiree is the first of what will surely be a series of get-togethers benefiting Toys for Tots. Entertainment comes courtesy of reggae group The Sunsetters. (Dec. 2, Cafe DuFrain, Harbor Island)
A PETER WHITE CHRISTMAS British smooth-jazz guitarist White hits town with a set full of reworked holiday classics — and trumpeter Rick Braun and sax player Mindi Abair, among others. (Dec. 2, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)
JAKE ARMERDING Though he was raised in Massachusetts, Jake Armerding caught the bluegrass bug from his father, who played mandolin in early "newgrass" act Northern Lights. Jake joined the band at age 13, and has since gone on to become an accomplished multi-instrumentalist and solo touring and recording artist. (Dec. 3, Octagon Arts Center, Clearwater)
VOODOO GLOW SKULLS W/BIG D & THE KIDS TABLE/GO BETTY GO/THE F-UPS Bilingual California ska-punk act Voodoo Glow Skulls went right on plying its comparatively hard-edged style as the third wave phenomenon rose, peaked and died. With all things skanking and porkpie apparently on their way back, VGS's commitment is looking pretty damn prescient. Boston's Big D & The Kids Table have likewise been working their way through the trend-slump; the band's been around for almost a decade, working a very energetic sound that has attracted a loyal underground following. Their latest disc, How it Goes, dropped just last month. (Dec. 3, Masquerade, Ybor City)
MICHAEL ROSS QUARTET CD RELEASE PARTY Uninterested in the sort of hotel lounge/background-sound vibe so many pedestrian fans automatically associate with contemporary jazz (and so many players are willing to reinforce in return for a steady gig), celebrated local ensemble the Michael Ross Quartet has forged its own inimitable, acoustic instrument-driven sound. Tonight they'll herald the release of their third release, Year of the Dog. The Springs Theatre is located at 8029 N. Nebraska Ave. in Sulfur Springs. (Dec. 3, Springs Theatre, Tampa)
CARLTON BURGESS Burgess is an acclaimed, Grammy-nominated gospel singer who maintains a contemporary ministry. Here, he'll perform and host an evening of music, comedy (Christian comedian LaSalle) and mime (Mime in Motion's Minister Rodney Norton) aimed at raising funds for the Reaching Higher Radio Program, a local concern dedicated to nurturing gospel on the airwaves. The Isaac Center is located at 610 N. Tampa St.; for more information, call 813-988-0777. (Dec. 4, The Isaac Center, Tampa)
RIDDLIN' KIDS/THE MATCHES/SIGNAL 76/FAREWELL VERONA/INCOMING TIDE/THE IN-CROWD Riddlin' Kids are from Austin, and they like to make a big deal of it. They play some loud, bratty pop-punk in the vein of The Ataris or Blink-182, though they deserve some credit for covering REM on their latest album, Hurry Up and Wait. Look for them to be on TRL any day now. The Matches, coming straight outta Oakland, serve up some slightly more original fare; their latest album, E. Vohn Dahl Killed the Locals, sounds more like fellow Bay act Operation Ivy than the current crop of Manic Panic-loving hipsters. The local bands on this lineup (Farewell Verona, et al) play at this venue every week or so, so they need no introduction. (Dec. 4, Rockerfellas, Bradenton) —Mark Sanders
JOSEPH SCHWARTZ Since performing in his first piano recital at the age of, no shit, 6, Schwartz has studied with a bevy of modern-day classical masters (some during his scholarship days at Julliard), won the prestigious Walter H. Naumburg competition, and played on almost every continent on the face of the planet. Expect an eclectic, discipline-spanning collection of pieces highlighting Schwartz's amazing balance of technique and personal touch. (Dec. 4, Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center, Tarpon Springs)
TOYS FOR TOTS BENEFIT Another Toys for Tots shindig, just in case you simply cannot reconcile reggae music with the season. Please note that Java Junction has taken over the Clearwater location which once housed the marvelous and badly missed Club More (R.I.P.), at 705 Franklin St. Local pop/rock acts The Human Condition, Bad With Names and Natural Blend donate their time and talents. (Dec. 4, Java Junction, Clearwater)
SUNCOAST BLUES SOCIETY CHRISTMAS PARTY The SBS celebrates non-denominationally, and isn't it weird how the blues can make you feel so damn good sometimes? Globally recognized songstress/former erotic performer/women's-empowerment icon Candye Kane makes another Skipperdome appearance, with support courtesy of The Patty Sanphy Group. (Dec. 4, Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
TRAVIS MORRISON/BATTLES/BEAUTY PILL/THE SAME I've seen former Dismemberment Plan frontman Travis Morrison twice since the release of his confusing, disappointing solo debut Travistan, and I still can't figure out exactly what's going on there. However, if you like your entertainment quirky, unrestrained and deceptively guileless, you'll probably dig it. Battles is a fairly new experimental post-rock group featuring former and current members of prog darlings Don Caballero and Tomahawk; they've been dropping disconcerting EPs like lepers drop fingers, and producing some killer, eerily biomechanical music along the way. Structurally unstable Dischord Records act Beauty Pill careens from extremely interesting to really, really bad along the course of their latest, The Unsustainable Lifestyle, and for some reason, I'm currently digging the shit out of local act The Same's noisy, volatile, badly sung and quasi-danceable new Tic-Tac-Toe. (Dec. 4, Orpheum, Ybor City)
JOURNEY All I want for Christmas is Steve Perry back in the fold, but it doesn't look like it's gonna happen. (Dec. 5, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)
JIMMY JAM VI Another annual Skipperdome tradition. Bring a toy for donation to the University Area Community Civic Association's own charitable Christmas party/giveaway for the kids, and revel to the spectrum-spanning (but mostly rootsy, jammy and surfy) sounds of The Vodkanauts, Freight Train Annie, Ronny Elliott and Belkis. (Dec. 5, Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
THE FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS We can argue about this if you want, but as far as I'm concerned, The Fab T-Birds just aren't The Fab T-Birds without immaculately tasty player Jimmie Vaughan, and he hasn't been around since '89. You'll get the hits (the T-Birds have some marvelous tunes), and you'll get Kim Wilson's perfectly gruff vocals and great harmonica, but it's like going to a great Mexican restaurant, and ordering up an entree that looks awesome, then looking around to discover they're all out of hot sauce. (Dec. 5, Headliners, Tampa)
BARRINGTON LEVY First that cool little room behind Jannus Landing was The Tamiami. Then, it was Goldstar. After that, it was the Green Room at Jannus Landing. Now it's The Tamiami again, albeit "at Jannus Landing." Confused? Don't worry about it, just think of it as the place where Barrington Levy's playing tonight. Reggae superstar Levy helped define the dancehall scene in the early '80s, and had enough talent to remain one of its leaders through the genre's many mini-trends and makeovers for more than a decade. (Dec. 5, The Tamiami at Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg)
97X PRESENTS THE NEXT BIG THING 4 Look, I'm admittedly not a fan of many of the post-Get Up Kids bands currently owning modern-rock radio and bringing emo to those folks who never knew it's been a wildly thriving underground phenomenon for about a decade now. (Check my review of the latest Used full-length in this issue.) And even you've got to admit that British Deftones-Lite act Lostprophets sucks. But this show is unarguably a coup for the Bay's most fringe-friendly modern-rock station. In terms of hot bands, it's an unbelievable lineup. Its overwhelming success is pretty much a foregone conclusion, and hopefully that will show the guys in the big offices that 97X can survive, and even flourish, by delving deeper and working to break even more truly new, exciting and edgy sounds. Also, props for booking a still-struggling, relatively unknown act (in the U.S., at least) like Britain's The Music, and for putting a great local band like Crooked Edge (see this week's Music feature) in front of a huge crowd that will love them. The lineup: Sum 41; The Used; Story of the Year; Taking Back Sunday; Lostprophets; My Chemical Romance; Lit; Skindred; Coheed & Cambria; The Music; Crooked Edge. Get there early, kids. (Dec. 5, Coachman Park, Clearwater)
98ROCK NUTCRACKER BALL Korn's greatest-hits-and-covers package moshed its way into the upper reaches of the Billboard charts upon its recent release, proving that the kings of nu-metal aren't on their way out just yet. And quality-wise, Sevendust and Chevelle are both among the handful of better bands working in hard music these days. All in all, this is a much better package than one might expect from a station that can't seem to decide whether it wants to dig in four years behind the leading edge of rock music, or 25. A surprisingly forward-looking addition comes in the form of openers Instruction, a group which features guitarist Tom Capone from posthardcore gods Quicksand along with former members of Quicksand acolytes Errortype: 11. (Dec. 7, Ford Amphitheatre, Tampa)
THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS While later generations taking only a cursory glance might dismiss The Smothers Brothers' musical comedy as a tame, cheesy and dated example of the culture in which it thrived, the truth is that Tom and Dick were pretty fucking punk rock. Their provocative, irreverent attitude and witty jabs at mainstream American culture earned them a devoted counterculture following, the ire of an overwhelmingly conservative nation, and pink slips from various television broadcasters. Great folk musicians and songwriters, too. (Dec. 8, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)
This article appears in Dec 1-7, 2004.