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Best Music Venue Where You'll Never Have to Worry About Seeing Someone Sieg Heil: Born Free Pub & Grill

There was a loud shift in Tampa’s rock venue scene in February 2022, when Born Free started working with local promoters to book shows. Last month, the Sulphur Springs biker bar surpassed 100 shows, featuring more than 500 bands including national and local acts like supergroup Heaven's Gate whose members hail from outfits like Iron Reagan, Municipal Waste, Cannibal Corpse, Warthog, Reversal of Man and Horsewhip. It’s not uncommon to see an insane pit open up, but what you won’t see is someone throwing up a Sieg Heil (insane that we have to point that out, but some venues are looking the other way and hosting bands that embrace white supremacist ideas). Owner Afzaal Deen told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that his spot is an all inclusive welcoming environment focused on counter-culture. “We vigorously support the LGBTQ+ community and all minorities,” Deen—who was at the 1998 Tompkins Square Park riot in New York City when police beat protesters demonstrating against gentrification and income inequality—added. “However, we oppose oppression and we draw the line at hate speech and behaviors that condone oppression.” I don’t know what the crowd at Born Free would do if some Nazi-sympathizer pulled a chud move. Luckily, Deen’s built a culture where we probably won’t have to find out. @bornfreepubandgrill on Instagram

Music

Best Band: Crossfire Creek Band

Winner: Crossfire Creek Band
Finalists: MiniM, The Shakes Society

Best Bedrock Sentinel For Counterculture In A Changing Downtown: Cafe Hey

This fall, Cafe Hey celebrates 16 years in downtown Tampa, and while the spot on the corner of Franklin and E Kay Streets has changed in subtle ways over the years, the neighborhood just south of it is nearly unrecognizable. What’s remained, however, is Cafe Hey’s commitment to being an unshakable sentinel for underground culture in Tampa. Without fanfare, and on any given night, the space with mutual aid flyers in the windows stows away the chairs and tables and transforms itself into a home for open mics, comedy and concerts by bands and artists just getting off the ground or experimenting with new sounds. cafehey.com

Best Bluegrass Band: Applebutter Express

Winner: Applebutter Express
Finalists: Boxcar Hollow, The Wandering Hours

Best Cigar Box: Johnny Champagne

There are less than a handful of tracks that clock in near three-minutes long, and some of the thoughts are as short as 49-seconds, but it’s hard not to keep coming back to the beat tape and experiment Johnny Champagne released in July. There’s a steamy, almost humid quality to Tha Cigar Box‘s production featuring samples sourced from across the African Diaspora (including one Tagalog-language intro on the super-funky, all-too-short “Whut's Hattnin Waltz”). Champagne, who teaches at St. Pete’s Arts Conservatory for Teens, regularly collaborates with up-and-comers in the local scene (and is credited on tracks with Tampa-rapper-gone-gobal Doechii) and is part of the new generation of Bay area creatives that hopefully takes the reins. thejohnnychampagne.com