✔️ = Critic's Pick
Laura Benanti The Tony-winning actor debuted on Broadway as Maria in The Sound of Music, and has since stormed Broadway and television thanks to roles in shows like Nashville, Nurse Jackie and Supergirl. (Ferguson Hall at David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa) INFO
✔️ DieAlps! w/The Young Step/Blacksmith Oh damn. We’re warning you now, but “Baby You Know” — the opening track from The Young Step’s late 2016 album El Clásico — is two minutes of inescapably catchy, fuzzed-out blues-rock that is just radio-rawky enough to lure your uncle Tad into coming to this record shop gig, which is front-to-back solid thanks to Tampa indie-rock darlings DieAlps! and emo homies Blacksmith. We don’t know if The Young Step is bringing the porn-horn from “Nature Man” down from St. Augustine, but it’s gonna get sweaty inside of Microgroove if it does. No parking in the Cappy’s Pizza lot, and bring your own beverages plus $5 for the touring band, OK? (Microgroove, Tampa) INFO
OUR CITY
DieAlps!'s full-length debut is an indie-rock record Tampa can be proud of
Paul Jacobs He’s the chair of Juilliard’s organ department, and 40-year-old Paul Jacobs claims to be the only organist to ever win a Grammy award. We can’t find any evidence to the contrary (althought many organists have been nominated), and it’ll be pretty cool to watch the critically acclaimed performer (“dazzling,” “living virtuoso” and “obliterating” are some of the words The New York Times, Washington Post and New Yorker have tossed around) do his thing on the Sykes Chapel’s BOTB-winning pipes. (Sykes Chapel at the University of Tampa, Tampa) INFO
Antsy McClain If you like a little Tex-Mex, waltz-time, cowboy jazz and balladry with your twang, then Antsy McClain just might be your man. The Nashville country crooner is way outside of the mainstream, but his show — a succotash of the showmanship and life experiences he’s accumulated while moving in and out of different trailer parks all while admiring Jim Croce, James Taylor and AC/DC — is appropriate for anyone who needs a little flavor in their live-music life. (Hideaway Café, St. Petersburg) INFO
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ALSO PLAYING
Classical/Chorale
The Florida Orchestra Presents The Music of Star Trek & Star Wars (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater) INFO
American Rhapsody: The Gershwin Songbook (Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg) INFO
American Jewish Voices w/The Bay Area Cantorial Association (Congregation Beth Am, Tampa) INFO
Matinee Opera Players Mario Larenti 97th Birthday (Pinellas Park Performing Arts Center, Pinellas Park) INFO
Walt Matzke’s Four Pianos: A Tour de Force on Four Grand Pianos (Hough Hall at Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg) INFO
Music: The Original Social Media (Centuro Austriano, Ybor City) INFO
Blues
Betty Fox Band (The Ale & the Witch, St. Petersburg) INFO
Rock
Preacher Stone (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa) INFO
Riverbend Reunion (3 Daughters Brewing, St. Petersburg) INFO
Balkun Brothers (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin) INFO
Mod Son (Crowbar, Ybor City) INFO
Indie/Alt Night w/Youth Antics/Coastals (Crowbar, Ybor City) INFO
Tribute/Cover
Marilyn & Dean (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater) INFO
Country
Elizabeth Cook w/Darrin Bradbury (The Attic at Rock Brothers Brewing, Ybor City) INFO
Tiki
Stolen Idols (Ella's Americana Folk Art Café, Tampa) INFO
Americana
Gypsy Wind (Independent Bar and Cafe, Tampa) INFO
DJ
Ol' Dirty Sundays "Ladies Night" w/ Michelle Pesce (Crowbar, Ybor City) INFO
[BEATSNCHILL] w/OP Supa/Trevlon/Doechi/Jasmine Paints/Raul the Fool (The Bricks, Ybor City) INFO
Singer-Songwriter
Ethan Parker (Safety Harbor Art & Music Center, Safety Harbor) INFO
This article appears in Feb 8-15, 2018.


