The clouds should be clearing up well before tonight's acts take the stage for the free College Football Playoff concerts at downtown Tampa's Curtis Hixon Park, but there are also plenty of non-football related options for you tonight. Have a look and listen below…
AT&T Playoff Playlist Live w/Flo Rida/Cold War Kids/Rachel Platten The late addition of “Fight Song” singer Rachel Platten rounds out a Saturday lineup that lacked a pop angle, and she’ll warm the crowd up for Los Angeles indie-rock darlings Cold War Kids, who’ve managed to turn momentum from their impeccable 2006 album, Robbers & Cowards, into a full-fledged career that includes five LPs and appearances at festivals like Coachella and Bonnaroo. Carol City’s Flo Rida (“Low,” “My House”) adds some somewhat hometown flavor to the bill, and we’ve got our fingers crossed for at least a few bars from “Wild Ones,” the 37-year old rapper’s Grammy-nominated collaboration with Sia. Noon to 11 p.m. (Music starts at 6 p.m.) (Curtis Hixon Park, Tampa) INFO
FYA Fest w/Blistered/Trapped Under Ice/Strife/Merauder/Indecision/Criminal Instinct/Take Offense/King Nine/Gag/The Wrongside/Advent/Lifeless/more Between Saturday and Sunday, almost forty bands will take to the Orpheum in Ybor City for the fourth FYA Fest. The gathering of hardcore superfans looks nearly sold out (as of press time only single day passes were available) and a lot of that probably has to with Maryland outfit Trapped Under Ice who went on an extended hiatus after the 2013 edition of This Is Hardcore at Philadelphia’s Knitting Factory. Last year, frontman Justice Tripp revealed that the band had started writing songs again and would play “a few shows.” Their Saturday appearance is Trapped Under Ice’s return to Florida and comes alongside Brooklyn’s Indecision and southern California five-piece Strife. The weekend shows are sandwiched in between three pre and post shows that will happen at the Skatepark of Tampa. Bands start at 1 p.m. EST daily, and more information is available at facebook.com/fyafest. (Orpheum, Ybor City) INFO
The Toasters w/Station Cases/No Need Full disclosure: the Toasters will always hold a special place in my heart because their set at Pre-Fest in 2015 is where I saw my wife of almost a decade crowd surf — and stage dive — for the first time. The long running New York second wave ska heroes probably mean a lot to countless people, and you can bet that they’ll lean on a lean (but mean) nine-piece discography at this show where one of Tampa Bay’s most fun ska outfits (Station Cases) play support. (Crowbar, Ybor City) INFO
Emo Night Tampa: January Episode w/The Crate Bros. There’s no better way to start a new year than with a tear, or eight, in your eye. The Crate Bros. (Mes McDonald and Theo Severson) will provide the tunes at this monthly, but you’ll be responsible for finding friends to cry with. That should be easy though since Emo Night has become of the best attended DJ nights in the district. (First Chance Last Chance Bar, Ybor City) INFO
The Sh-Booms/The Jackettes/Sad Shibas Soul and funk and all the good young bands are once again making it rain beautiful noise in the Green Bench Brewing Co. courtyard. At this point, Orlando’s Sh-Booms might as well have a timeshare in Tampa Bay, and we’re excited to see how the garage-soul collective plays at this show since it comes just over a week after they opened for The Roots at the House of Blues just 92 miles away. (Green Bench Brewing, St. Petersburg) INFO
Florida Orchestra Masterworks: Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony Not to confuse you, but Camille Saint-Saëns’s 1886 Symphony No. 3 (or “Organ Symphony” as it has come to be known) isn’t a true symphony for organ since the instrument is only used in two of the composition's four movements. No matter though since most classical music fans agree that the piece was written at the French composer’s artistic peak. Fans laud the piece’s dramatic ending, and Michael Francis will lead The Florida Orchestra’s through the premiere performance at St. Pete’s Mahaffey Theater where they’ll also take on Sean Shepherd’s “Magiya,” Edouard Lalo’s “Symphonie Espagnole” and Claude Debussy’s “La Cathédrale Engloutie” (as orchestrated by Colin Matthews). Grammy winning violinist Augustin Hadelich (Best Classical Instrumental Solo in 2016 for his recording of Henri Dutilleux’s Violin Concerto, “L’Arbre Des Songes” with the Seattle Symphony) will join TFO for the performance, which happens again on Sunday at Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall. (Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg) INFO
Ronny Elliott (early set) and UNRB This Saturday afternoon lineup kind of epitomizes how eclectic the Ale & the Witch can be. At 4 p.m. EST, Ronny Elliott — a 69 year old, grumpy, harmless Tampa Bay songwriting legend (and host of WMNF’s Florida Folk show) — will do a set and then breakdown only to have long running St. Pete ska outfit UNRB play the later set at 7 p.m. EST. The weather has been perfect as of late and there aren’t very many good reasons not to get out and enjoy it at this beloved St. Pete beer stop. (The Ale & the Witch, St. Petersburg) INFO
First Saturday Jazz w/ KELP We probably won’t be seeing a bunch of live music happening at the Independent’s St. Pete location (remember what the neighbors did to The Amsterdam?), but the beer, wine and thought bar’s Seminole Heights location rolls on. This installment of their First Saturday Jazz series finds cellist Tom Kersey leading a trio through their brand of “avant garde and melodic jazz” that incorporates sax and guitar into cheeky, laid back tunes like “Octogenarian Law School,” “Realtor Safety Seminar” and “Masami Wasabi.” (Independent Bar and Cafe, Tampa) INFO
Streetcar Live Powered By GMF w/FayRoy This could get very interesting. Just 74 people can fit on one of Ybor City's historic Streetcars, and with all the folks in town for the College Football Playoff Championship, some out of towners are going to inadvertently experience some of the area's best homegrown bands. This edition finds surf rock joy brings FayRoy board ing streetcar no. 436 which leaves Centennial Park Station in Ybor City at 5 p.m. EST. (The Teco Streetcar Line System, Ybor City & Downtown Tampa) INFO
Arts Conservatory for Teens Presents: Downtown Funk w/Hannah Barrens/Gordon Bonnett/Alex Harris/Anthony Murphy/more Co-founded in 2009 by singer Alex Harris, the Arts Conservatory for Teens serves the Midtown neighborhood in St. Pete as it works at its mission to educate, empower and enrich the lives of the community’s youth in the hopes that they are prepared for high school graduation and college. On Saturday, over a dozen performance and visual artists (including ACT alumnus and students) will come together for a showcase where all the proceeds go back into the Conservatory. (Hideaway Café, St. Petersburg) INFO
ALSO PLAYING
Happy New Opera Year (Pinellas Park Performing Arts Center, Pinellas Park) INFO
Mallory Moyer & more (Broadway St., Dunedin) INFO
Ocean Stone (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin) INFO
Talk To Mark w/Ricky Wilcox & the Moonsnakes/Steve Connelly (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa) INFO
Dénudés w/In Oculus/T3ddy Ruxpin (The Bends, St. Petersburg) INFO
BFLradio:Live w/Danny Towers/Heavy J/Tre Southside/Myke Nation/Tim Apexx/Riplon/more (The Venture Compound, St. Petersburg) INFO
Channel Drive/Mollusk/Slick hOt/Isaac and the After Show (Brass Mug, Tampa) INFO
Polar Summer w/ A Brilliant Lie, Nevertel, Dreamhouse, Sahe (The Local 662, St. Petersburg) INFO
This article appears in Jan 5-12, 2017.