✔️ = Critic's Pick
✔️ DVSN Being inked to Toronto record label OVO Sound has its perks, and while being under the umbrella of Warner Bros. probably gives artists a little more financial freedom to record albums, being in the company of artists like Drake, Partynextdoor, Roy Woods and Majid Jordan is the real benefit. DVSN — a Canadian R&B duo made up of Daniel Daley and Nineteen85 (pronounce it “division”) — has taken full advantage without having to always be in the spotlight, and on Thursday brings its late 2017 album, Morning After, to Ybor for a show that’ll be pretty close to sold out by the time the boys’ bus rolls into town. (Orpheum, Ybor City) INFO
INTERVIEW
Before Ybor show, Declan McKenna talks new album, footy, and more
✔️ Declan McKenna w/Chappell Roan He’s set to play Coachella in April (on the same day as Beyoncé, we might add), and while Declan McKenna will be one of the youngest acts in the desert for that festival, the 19-year-old, hard-buzzing Brit will be the center of attention at this Crowbar gig where he’ll play a lot of his 2017 major-label debut (What Do You Think About The Car?) while also working in some covers (fingers crossed for ABBA) as well as cuts from Car’s forthcoming follow-up, which he hopes to put the finishing touches on sometime this year. Chappell Roan — a young singer from Willard, Missouri — opens the all-ages show. (Crowbar, Ybor City) INFO
HASH BROWN STRUGGLE
Declan McKenna wants to know where the good vegan food is
Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal Master Class Ron Thal spent almost a decade as one of two lead guitarists for Guns N’ Roses and even appeared on the band’s 2008 album Chinese Democracy. The 48-year-old with a nickname inspired by a bacterial infection will be in South Tampa on Friday for a free guitar clinic where he’ll give fans and players tips on techniques and industry insider information. VIP upgrades get you a signed photo, preferred seating and a meet and greet. Just wash your foot afterwards, we guess. (Replay Guitar Exchange, Tampa) INFO
Ying Yang Twins Ying Yang Twins aren’t going to win any literature awards any time soon, but the Atlanta hip-hop duo is definitely going to have The Ritz popping until it percolates with this show that officially gets the venue’s new Wavy Thursdays party off the ground. You don’t have to know what “jegga jegga jegga” means to shake it like a salt shaker, and you won’t have to spend a bunch of money to get into the concert either. (The Ritz, Ybor City) INFO
SIBLING SONGS
Tampa’s Brother Cephus has a unique and ever-evolving creative process
✔️ UV-TV w/Brother Cephus/Jensen Serf Company Tingy Thick, a B Boys side project, had to cancel its appearance at this show, but that’s alright since St. Pete garage-rock duo Jensen Serf Company will fill in. Tampa’s Brother Cephus represents for Hillsborough, and the real catch is a set from Gainesville jangle-rock group UV-TV, which arrives to support Go Away — a 2017 cassette packed with six minutes of fast, messy, feedback-drenched and catchy rock and roll — as well its own March 2017 full-length, Glass. Need a more mainstream seal-of-approval? In 2017, The New York Times included UV-TV on its list of the 25 Women Making the Best Rock Music, adding that the band “makes taut and nervy songs with just a bit of jangle, topped by Rose Vastola’s sturdy and sweet voice.” (The Bends, St. Petersburg) INFO
Jake Shimabukuro w/Nolan Verner/Dave Preston It’s time for Jake Shimabukuro’s annual trip to the Bay area, and the 41-year-old composer’s method of plucking and strumming his way around a ukulele is still as spellbinding as it was when we used to be able to see him play the hyper-intimate confines of Skipper’s Smokehouse in Tampa. (Capitol Theatre, Clearwater) INFO
ALSO PLAYING
When Particles Collide w/The Nervous Girls (Fubar, St. Petersburg) INFO
"Living Room Live" Open Mic w/Rebekah Pulley (Hideaway Café, St. Petersburg) INFO
The Mersey Beatles: Four Lads from the Liverpool (Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg) INFO
Nicholas Roberts w/Leon Majcen/Taylor Raynor/Olivia Romano (Body Electric Yoga Company, St. Petersburg) INFO
ABBA Mania (Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg) INFO
New Christy Minstrels (Carrollwood Cultural Center, Tampa) SOLD OUT
Alex Lopez (Ka`Tiki, Treasure Island) INFO
February 8-9, Changeville 2018 w/Benjamin Booker/Princess Nokia/Cracker/Dirty Dozen Brass Band/War On Women/Professor Toon/The Savants of Soul/Flipturn/Pearl & the Oysters/Retrolux/Guts/Wester Joseph's Stereo Vudu/Wax Wings/In Bed By Ten/Aqua Nova/Hugo Sanches/Marley the Messenger & DJ Robzilla/Sooza/Mike Llerna & the Nerve/Maman Chaud/Vowls/Passerby INFO
This article appears in Feb 8-15, 2018.
