Photos: New World Brewery ends 22-year Ybor City run with an epic, rain-soaked Tampa music family reunion

Mother Nature got her licks in on Saturday as hundreds of Tampa Bay concert goers showed up to pay their respects to New World Brewery. The nearly 23-year-old icon of a music venue ended an impressive run in Ybor City with a concert featuring close to two dozen of most revered names in Tampa Bay music history, and for a moment the sky opened up a standard end of shower that didn't seem to stop anyone from showing up at all.

Whether it was Billy Summer (The Semis, Luxury Mane) teaming up with Geri X, Shawn Kyle (The Beauvilles) and The Florida Kilos' Pryscila Miller to form a new group (Lost Weekend Riviera Club), bands from the past rejoining with old members (Zillionaire, Poetry 'N' Lotion, Auto! Automatic!!) or new acts reminding us that the music will be excellent as life goes on (Career completely blowing the doors off before Meatwound set off a bomb in the old building), the show was a two-stage, full-on, rain-soaked celebration of all that was ever right with 1313 E. 8th Avenue.

And it was also a chance to pretty much literally see everyone you ever had a beer with at New World in the same place at the same time (apologies to the hundreds who waited outside hoping to get in).

The New World train heads to Skagway Avenue in Sulphur Springs after this, and while we await for the days when we can finally take a six-mile drive from the old New World to the new one, we can rest easy knowing that there was a righteous set of funeral tunes that emanated from the building for eight hours as it took its final breath.

Have a look at some photos from the blowout below, and get links to cltampa.com/music coverage of this final year at New World Brewery here.