The Tampa Bay concert calendar is always full of high-quality, locally based acts playing shows in their own neck of the woods. We've rounded up a few of the best ones below and listed even more at the bottom of the post.
THURSDAY, APRIL 4
Blake Daniels & Company w/The Impressionist Party of America This isn’t an album release show, but it’s definitely a chance for fans of homegrown rock and roll to follow up the promise of demos that landed Blake Daniels on a CL Music Issue list of 30 musicians to watch in 2019. The young songwriter’s debut album, Hell Trippin’ Into Heaven, is finally ready, and his band will be playing it in full at Paper Crane. We’re hoping that a new-ish tune — “Upper Class Girls,” with it ass-kicking harmonized guitar solos and Springsteen/Mellencamp vibes — is on the setlist for this Paper Crane show where Alex Luderman’s Tallahassee-based experimental folk and jazz project, The Impressionist Party of America, plays opener. (Paper Crane, St Petersburg)
FRIDAY, APRIL 5
Horsewhip w/Pohgoh/Thorn Pohgoh is back from a full east coast tour with seminal emo band Jawbreaker. Not since Gunburner or Ries Brothers (who opened for Goo Goo Dolls and Chicago, respectively) has a Tampa Bay band gone on a more impressive run of dates as a support act, and this is a chance to see the locals-done-good play support on a bill that sends another one of the Bay area’s best rock acts — hardcore band Horsewhip — on a spring tour of its own (Horsewhip will hit the midwest and east coast as part of its nine-day jaunt). Tampa freak-metal quartet Thorn gets things kicked off for this no-cover, 21 & up show at The Bends, and vegan culinarian Uncle Mince will be slinging meat-free treats outside. (The Bends, St. Petersburg)
Max Norton w/Will Quinlan It’s always good to see Tampa expat Max Norton in town, and the now Nashville-based drummer and songwriter (good for fans of Nick Drake, T. Rex, even Faulkner) brings his solo set to Shuffle, where a locally based master songsmith, Will Quinlan, will open the show. Free to attend and all ages. (Shuffle, Tampa)
SATURDAY, APRIL 6
Emo Night Tampa w/Planet Loser/Crate Brothers A few fun covers are probably in order when Tampa-based duo Planet Loser plays a live set as part of the DJ-centric, no-cover Emo Night Tampa party at The Bricks, and we can only imagine what songs longtime couple Amber Lewis (who comes from musical theater) and Ethan Murphy (a reformed hardcore kid) might tackle. Fans of Pity Sex and Wild Nothing can probably go ahead and get a Planet Loser tattoo, but the rest of you ought to check out the band’s self-titled debut LP of dream-pop, which is out now via Richmond-based 6131 Records (former home of Julien Baker and current stable for bands like New York experimental act Self Defense Family and Irish garage-pop quintet The Winter Passing). (The Bricks, Ybor City)
OTHER LOCAL BANDS PLAYING SHOWS
Thursday
April 4, Rock the Park Tampa w/Vetnough/Gloria West and The Gents/Mouth Council (MacDill Park on the Tampa Riverwalk, Tampa)
April 4, The Not Likelys w/Aloha Broha/The Damsels/TheCurse (Emerald Bar, St. Petersburg)
April 4, The Jackson Harpe Collective (Studio@620, St. Petersburg)
April 4, Titanium, Unknown Sanctuary, and Ben Rogers (3 Daughters Brewing, St. Petersburg)
April 4, Reverend D & George Pennington and Friends (The Ale & the Witch, St. Petersburg)
Friday
April 5, Abortion Twins w/Vomit Sawdust/Stop n Shop/Streetweave/comedy set by Matt Carte (American Legion Seminole Post 111, Tampa)
April 5, Whiskey Dregs (The Ale & the Witch, St. Petersburg)
April 5, Bryan James Band (Red Star Rock Bar, Tampa)
April 5, Jordan Esker (Nebraska Mini-Mart, Tampa)
April 5, Tropico BLVD (Cage Brewing, St. Petersburg)
April 5, Urban Gypsies of Florida and Greg Milo (The Village Courtyard, Gulfport)
April 5, Have Gun, Will Travel (Ka’Tiki, Treasure Island)
April 5, Gloria West & The Gents Quartet Feat. Anthony Castellano/James Suggs/Paul Gavin (Zydeco Brew Werks, Ybor City)
April 5, Infinite Third (Muddy Water Kava & Tea, St. Petersburg)
April 5, King of Denmark (Ella's Americana Folk Art Café, Tampa)
Saturday
April 6, TBFAD White Party w/Jim Morey Band (Cavu, Tampa)
April 6, Pretty Voices w/Little Sheba & The Shamans/The BellTowers (SubCentral at Iberian Rooster, St. Petersburg)
April 6, Viewers Like You w/Cain & the Fool Moons/Flight Panda (Cage Brewing, St. Petersburg)
April 6, Crackerbillys (Crooked Thumb Brewery, Safety Harbor)
April 6, Cameron Williams Trio (Sparkman Wharf, Tampa)
April 6, Garden Club (The Ale and The Witch, St. Petersburg)
April 6, Ed John (c. 1949 Florida Beer Garden, Tampa)
April 6, Dead Set Florida (Cage Brewing, St. Petersburg)
April 6, Serotonic (Independent Bar & Café Tampa)
April 6, The HeadTones w/Danfield/Tropico Blvd. (Ringside Café, St. Petersburg)
April 6, Dean Johanesen (4 p.m.) Garden Club (8 p.m.) (The Ale & the Witch, St. Petersburg)
April 6, Bawdy Boys (Red Star Rock Bar, Tampa)
April 6, The Woolly Bushmen /The Jackettes/Fever Beam (The Hub, Tampa)
Sunday
April 7, The Venus w/Have Spirit (Independent Bar and Café, Tampa)
April 7, Betty Fox Band (The Ale & the Witch, St. Petersburg)
April 7, Somatic (Mandarin Hide, St. Petersburg)
Tuesday
April 9, Christie Lenée (The Ale & the Witch, St. Petersburg)
Wednesday
April 10, David Morris (Latitudes, Apollo Beach)
April 10, DF Presents: Asylum w/Atrocitas/Funhater (The Bends, St. Petersburg)
April 10, Wayland w/Stonegrey (Ferg’s Sports Bar and Entertainment Complex, St. Petersburg)
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This article appears in Mar 28 – Apr 4, 2019.