If you're here because of the puppy pic we put on social media, then you're in luck because Golden Retriever is actually an experimental music duo from Norway and their music (which you can sample for free — much like those baby spoons at ice cream places — below).
That show may or may not appeal to you, but there really is something for everyone tonight including free classical music at two St. Pete breweries (thanks Florida Orchestra!), a Prince tribute band with a resume worthy of his Purple-ness, free reggae in Dunedin and a country hunk in downtown St. Pete.
There's even a classic rock super bill happening at the Old Gary. Examine your choices below, and roll the dice. We promise you won't regret it.
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Golden Retriever w/Propan/Whitey Alabastard/Fail Noise is already an abrasive sub genre of experimental music for casual fans to wrap their heads around, but the curious and unafraid might have a chance at making the crossover when Golden Retriever drop into St. Pete’s most progressive venue. The duo — made up of guitarist Morten Minothi Kristiansen and Brage Tørmænen on Drums — arrive all the way from Norway where they release albums like Total Crack Attack. The effort is screeching guitar feedback and drums occupying the 17-minutes of side A and then 17 more minutes of ambient percussion, electronic tones and drone-ed out screams on side B. The Retrievers’s tour mates Propan go a little more subdued on their song “Champagne,” but use loopers to manipulate their vocals into eerie improvised meditations. (Venture Compound, St. Petersburg) INFO
Scholar’s Word w/White Abbot Dunedin Brewery is good for just about any type of music, but what visitors can really bank on at Florida’s oldest brewery is acts that will please the jam band crowd. Scholar’s Word are checking in from Jacksonville where they create their traditional, dub-leaning brand of reggae music which shines on songs like “Wanna Rise” and “How It Goes.” (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin) INFO
Purple Experience (feat. Matt “Dr.” Fink) You’ve got choices if there’s an itch to see this Prince tribute band (they’re playing at least three Bay area dates). We’re willing to bet that you won’t find a prettier venue to experience this purple-ness though. Bandleader Matt Fink’s operation is actually from Minnesota, and he was actually in The Revolution from 1978 to 1991. So yea, he played on the Purple Rain soundtrack and was even in the movie. What’s more is that Fink took home two Grammy awards for his work on that project. How you like that for a tribute band? (Tampa Theatre, Tampa) INFO
Heart w/Joan Jett /Cheap Trick In April, just after performing at the Strawberry Festival, Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen told Rolling Stone that he hadn’t unpacked since his band’s 1978 show at Budokan Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Apparently, he’s a really busy guy, but at least he gets to go on first on this tour with Joan Jett and Heart. Nancy and Ann Wilson are kicking around the U.S. in support of their sixteenth studio album, Beautifully Broken, and every act on this bill is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame which means that: (a) this won’t be a young crowd and (b) everyone who shows up is in for one hell of a classic rock showcase. (MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa) INFO
Chase Rice w/Ryan Hurd/Lacy Cavalier Ribfest fans will recognize Chase Rice from last year’s shindig where the 31-year-old country hunk (who just celebrated a birthday) was in the Sunday lineup along with Kip Moore and Michael Ray. Rice is kind of a country radio writing savant who co-wrote Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” and is riding high on the waves of a new single “Everybody We Know Does” that soundtracked the summers of big truck fans across the country. This booking is a breath of fresh air for country radio fans, too as it finds their scene taking a break from the Old Gary amphitheatre and much smaller Dallas Bull. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg) INFO
The Florida Orchestra On The Go This is day two of The Florida Orchestra’s four-day, fifteen free concert run which concludes with a full orchestra shebang at Tampa’s Water Works Park on September 24. Thursday’s concerts include the woodwind quintet doing an evening show at 3 Daughters Brewing while the gypsy violin and bass duo does their thing at Green Bench Brewing just one mile away. (3 Daughters Brewing & Green Bench Brewing Co., St. Petersburg) INFO
ALSO PLAYING
David Irwin Tribute Concert w/ St. Petersburg College Wind Ensemble (Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg) INFO
USF Faculty & Friends: Visiting Scholar Zhang Jingyi, Pipa (Barness Recital Hall at University of South Florida, Tampa) INFO
Nengo Flow (Whiskey North, Tampa) INFO
Hiram Hazley w/Le Jazz Trio (Ruby's Elixr, St. Petersburg) INFO
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This article appears in Sep 22-29, 2016.