Tampa Bay’s got some essential music venues to get Bay area’s newest music fans acquaint themselves with rooms of every size, and here are 14 summertimes concerts to help even further familiarize yourself with our vibrant scene.

Orquesta Infinidad Blues or a Grateful Dead tribute is usually the way to first experience Skipper’s, but a Cuban-led, Tampa-based Latin band is a very, very close second. Saturday, July 22, 8 p.m. $10-$15. Skipper’s Smokehouse, 910 Skipper Rd., Tampa. skipperssmokehouse.com

Jackson Browne Ruth Eckerd Hall is 40 years old and still one of the best sounding rooms in Tampa Bay. Browne, the boomer icon with a golden voice, will undoubtedly showcase why top-tier songwriters want to meet fans there almost every time they stop in town. Wednesday, Aug. 2. 7:30 p.m. $53.25 & up. Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen Booth Rd., Clearwater

Grrrl’s Night Tampa: Operation Acoustic Kitty w/Spoiled Rat/Peace Cult/Hovercar Tampa’s best new bands get their start at house shows and DIY venues, but they also book mini-ragers at essential rock clubs like Crowbar where this collection of punk and rock bands will camp out for a night. Friday, Aug. 4. 6 p.m. $12. Crowbar, 1812 N 17th St., Ybor City

Al Downing Birthday Celebration Tampa Bay’s jazz scene is seriously active, with players tackling everything from the next-gen sounds of la Domi and JD Beck or Thundercat, to more traditional work by classic jazz icons like Art Blakey, Django Reinhardt and Duke Ellington. This gig features disciples of the latter school celebrating the life and legacy of Al Downing, a legendary local jazz teacher, musician and mentor who also served St. Pete as the city’s first Black Commissioner of the Housing Authority and member of the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra. Sunday, Aug. 6. 2 p.m. $10 & up, no cover for children 12 and under. Hough Hall at Palladium Theater, 253 5th Ave N, St. Petersburg

Beyoncé Stadium spectacles are essential for any wide-reaching concert scene, and Beyoncé’s world tour is a chance to hear one of the best pop-club music records ever, Renaissance, in person, while getting mega sweaty alongside 60,000 others in the Beyhive. Wednesday, Aug. 16. 7 p.m. $50 & up. Raymond James Stadium, 4201 N Dale Mabry Hwy., Tampa

Mac Miller Tribute: Beauxmonk w/SydLive/Vern Senior/more Tampa Bay’s hip-hop scene stays busy, and there’s never a shortage of opportunities to see a rap show built around original music, but this one gets you into the hybrid indoor-outdoor space at Hooch and Hive where emcees and songwriters will pay tribute to one of the most beloved rappers of the last decade. Thursday, Sept. 7, 8 p.m. $14. Hooch and Hive, 1001 W Cass St., Tampa

Igorrr w/Melt-Banana/Otto Schirach At two separate Ybor City addresses, Orpheum cemented itself as a boozy, essential Tampa Bay live music venue. One band that frequented both spots was Japanese punk outfit Melt-Banana. The act’s manic stage legendary is legendary, and it’ll be good to once again see the noise-rock favorite on an Orpheum stage that’s now living in North Tampa. Friday, Sept. 15. 7 p.m. $22. Orpheum, 14802 N Nebraska Ave., Tampa

SZA There aren’t very many better feelings than singing along to your favorite songs with 16,000 of your closest friends. R&B queen SZA—who once played the relatively tiny Orpheum—will lead the choir for this tour in support of S.O.S., 2022’s late-in-the-calendar sleeper album of the year that spent eight weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Friday, Sept. 22. 8 p.m. $233 & up (resale only). Amalie Arena, 401 Channelside Dr.,Tampa

Wu-Tang Clan w/Nas/De La Soul The Hard Rock stays flexing on Tampa Bay’s music scene, and booking three giants of hip-hop for a friggin’ pool party is a great example of how the deep pockets and unique performance spaces at casino grounds make it a serious player in the local scene. Sunday, Sept. 24. 11 a.m. $130. Hard Rock Event Center Pool at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, 5223 Orient Rd. Tampa

Ringo Starr and his all-Starr Band Ringo is a friend of Ruth Eckerd Hall where he normally plays private benefit gigs, but the public is invited to this one where outdoor venue The Sound gets to revel in Starr’s solo work and the music of the Fab 4. This iteration of the All-Starr Band—the 15th since 1989—features Toto’s Steve Lukather, Men At Work’s Colin Hay, Average White Band’s Hamish Stuart, and Woodstock keyboard whiz Edgar Winter, as well as a little help from saxophonist Warren Ham, and drummer Gregg Bissonette. Tuesday, Sept. 26. 7 p.m. $39 & up. The Sound, 255 Drew St, Clearwater

TV Girl One should definitely experience a Friday or Saturday EDM show at The Ritz, but the room (which was called The Masquerade from 1992-2006) is also a fantastic large indoor venue. Epitomizing the journey bands take in their progression, indie-pop band TV Girl is one of those outfits that cut its teeth at the since-relocated 100-ish capacity New World Brewery, and then the 298-cap Crowbar before making it to this Ybor City stage that’s hosted the likes of Snail Mail, Tyler Childers and Dashboard Confessional in recent years. If there was ever an argument to preserve Ybor venues of all sizes, this TV Girl show is it. Tuesday, Sept. 26. 8 p.m. Sold out. The Ritz, Ybor City

TV Girl and Tampa’s Sam E Hues brought the party girls and boys to Crowbar in Ybor City

WMNF 44th Birthday: The Iguanas If you’re new to the Bay area and haven’t turned your radio dial to 88.5-FM WMNF Tampa, then get a preset going, and then meet the people behind the revered community radio station at this concert featuring classic Louisiana roots-rock band The Iguanas playing inside this beautifully restored venue (FKA State Theatre) Friday, Sept. 29, 8 p.m. $30-$40

Death Grips Red Hot Chili Peppers once played Jannus, dicks in socks and everything. Experimental hardcore/hip-hop outfit Death Grip will probably keep it in the pants, but the energy will be along the same lines. Jannus can be just people packed in and chilling some nights, but this show is a chance to see it in its full, chaotic glory. Saturday, Sept. 30. 8 p.m. Sold out. Jannus Live, 200 1st Ave N. St. Petersburg

Eric Church w/Whiskey Myers If you’ve never seen 19,000 cowboy boots in the air, then catch Church for one of his trademark, more-than-three-hour-long, sets of country that flirts with outlaw tradition without swimming too far out of the mainstream. Saturday, Sept. 30. 7:30 p.m. $72 & up. Midflorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa

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