Need a good laugh to get you through the holidays? Aries Spears, the versatile performer and impersonator of celebs like Kanye West and Shaquille O'Neal, is probably best known as a former cast member of Mad TV and has appeared all over TV and in a bevy of blockbuster flicks. Dec. 17-19. $16, $18. Tampa Improv, 1600 E. Eighth Ave., Centro Ybor, Ybor City. 813-864-4000. improvtampa.com.
In the early ’90s, a horde of college-age kids packed Blue Chair Records, Stone Lounge and various local holes in the wall to see, hear, thrash and dogpile to the mighty quartet Scrog. The Tampa band described as three-parts Melvins and two-parts Joy Division drew an intensely loyal fan base, forging friendships that live on today. Its following included denizens of other heavy bands such as Assück and Reversal of Man.
This article appears in Dec 16-22, 2010.