A wide-angle, fisheye-lens portrait photograph of DJs Blenda and Shafiq posing together in a dimly lit nightclub setting. On the left, Blenda is wearing a tiger-stripe patterned cap, a white t-shirt, and a gold chain, leaning with one arm resting on a stack of vinyl records next to a DJ turntable. They are holding up two fingers in a peace sign. On the right, Shafiq has a shaved head, a graying goatee, and is wearing a brightly patterned red, blue, and white dashiki-style shirt with their arms casually crossed. Blenda has their left arm wrapped around Shafiq's shoulder. Behind them is an exposed brick wall heavily covered in layered hip-hop concert flyers and red graffiti, illuminated by red LED string lights strung along the ceiling.
Blenda (L) and Shafiq who play New World Brewery in Tampa, Florida on Oct. 9, 2024. Credit: Dave Decker / Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

OGs of the Bay area DJ scene get one more headlining set at Crowbar before the famed Ybor City venue closes this summer. Fixtures at the since-shuttered Ol’ Dirty Sundays hip-hop party, DJs Shafiq and Blenda are back on the back patio for all-vinyl sets complete with breakdancers.

Tickets for Church Sessions with DJs Blenda and Shafiq at Crowbar in Ybor City on Sunday, May 17 are still available for $5.

Related location

Crowbar

Phone

Address

View Details

Pitch in to help make the Tampa Bay Journalism Project a success.

Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.

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

This article appears in May 14 – 20, 2026.

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...