Joanne Rivera Credit: Photo by Andrea Homans via andreahomans/Facebook
Regulars at the since-moved Ybor City location of nearly 30-year-old bar and music venue New World Brewery know how good it feels to see Joanne Rivera on the clock. The beloved bartender and friend is funny as hell, and one of the best pals someone can have.

While Rivera’s long since left for Colorado, her friends and New World family are coming together this weekend to help raise money for her fight with stage three ovarian cancer.

“She’s been experiencing a very rare neurological side effect to the cancer, which has induced intense non-stop vertigo and nausea,” Rivera’s nephew, Ferriss Thomsen, wrote in a GoFundMe hinting at the long road ahead.

This concert features a who’S who of the homegrown punk and rock scene plus psychedelic surf-rock outfit Moonthing raising more money for the cause.

Donations are encouraged during the Jojo fundraiser concert happening Sunday, March 23 at New World Brewery in Tampa.

Readers are invited to submit their own events to Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s things to do calendar.

Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.

Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | BlueSky

UPDATE 03/22/25 8:34 a.m. Ferriss Thomsen is Rivera’s nephew, not son.

This article appears in Mar 20-26, 2025.

Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief...