For some time now, Shephard's has been the go-to spot for parties and night life on Clearwater's south beach.
From its original build to its current design — which now features multiple outdoor bars, a spacious pool and high-end outdoor stage setup — Shephard's has always been a venue for both tourists and locals to come experience Clearwater's take on south Florida nightlife.
Over the past few years, promoters have amped up the experience, booking big names to come party down on the beach side of the Clearwater Pass. While past acts have been more hip-hop based —Vanilla Ice, Flo Rida, and Nelly have all played there— the booking at Shephard's has changed to meet the demands of Tampa Bay's rapidly expanding electronic music scene. This means bringing in big name DJs from all over the country to host their summer concert series, which has been branded Shephard's Beach House Sundays. This shift is most noticeable at their outdoor Tiki stage, which has been transformed from a bare stage housed under a roof to a DJ booth covered in LED screens on both the front and back.
While we missed Mija's set last week (don't worry, we got pictures here,) we did make it down to the beach this Sunday for a fun night of electronic music, headlined by Miami-born Borgeous.
By the time we arrived for his set at 8 p.m., Shephard's pool deck was already packed. Borgeous opened the set with some of his more popular material, including songs like the the 2013 hit "Tsunami,", to the delight of the hyped, bikini-clad crowd.
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As it became darker out, Shephard's upgrade in production became increasingly apparent. Lasers shot erratically over the sweaty, excited crowd who were simultaneously being doused in champagne by assistants and Borgeous himself. Staff also threw dozens of light up, Styrofoam wands into the crowd, adding to the neon strobe affect buzzing from the stage.
Borgeous finished out his set with progressive house remixes of pop/hip-hop hits from artists like Fall Out Boy, Blink-182, and Kendrick Lamar, which several times spawned flash chorus moments from the crowd. He was followed up by budding trap prospect Crankdat who surprised CL with his ecstatic stage presence and electrifying show. Definitely an artist-on-the-rise to check out.
Sunday night was proof that Shephard's can not only host a great party, but they are pretty kick-ass at putting on a show. This was the first of Shephard's Beach House Sundays we plan on attending this summer, and we already can't wait to go back.
Check back with us next week after EDX headlines next weekend's Beach House Sunday, or better yet, head down there yourself.
This article appears in Jun 8-15, 2017.