THURSDAY, JUNE 5
CATHERINE w/DESTROY THE RUNNER/MEMPHIS MAY FIRE/HOPE DIES LAST/THE MESSENGER A quintet from Sacramento, Calif., Catherine offers solid but rote screamo that's as predictable as the garbled, teen-angst howls are annoying. (Orpheum, Ybor City)
FRIDAY, JUNE 6
WE SHOT THE MOON w/EVERYBODY ELSE/WAVE SON WAVES San Diego's We Shot the Moon offers piano pop with an emo bent. It's agreeable but not exactly spectacular. L.A. trio Everybody Else's swaggering rock 'n' roll incorporates power-pop hooks, New Wave bounce and a dash of alt quirkiness — nothing new, but it's catchy and executed with aplomb. Judging by the Everybody Else's MySpace site, attendees might also find the threesome perform a few numbers "unplugged." (Orpheum, Ybor City)
DIVE BAR STALKERS w/SARGE AND THE AEROMEN Custom-made for a booze-fueled night at the Skipperdome, local ensemble Diver Bar Stalkers mash Southern rock with psychobilly, delivering boisterous ditties with titles like "Rock the House," "Ready for Another Round" and "Seven Nights to Rock." (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
BISCUIT MILLER AND THE MIX A veteran player with Chicago's Lonnie Brooks and Anthony Gomes, bass man Miller helms his own soulful blues stew and a Mix known for its high-energy performances. (Ace's Lounge, Bradenton) —Amanda Schurr
SATURDAY, JUNE 7
HOMEMADE: A SYMPOSIUM ON THE ART AND CULTURE OF MAKING MUSIC PRESENTED BY THE ARTISTS AND WRITERS GROUP, BAAMO AND HILLSBOROUGH COMMUNITY COLLEGE-YBOR CITY CAMPUS This free, all-day event should be mandatory for local musicians of every stripe. Tampa Bay luminaries such as Ronny Elliott, Tampa Theatre organist Rosa Rio and Rockapella's Scott Leonard will be leading workshops ranging from "The American Songbook" to "Videoing Live Performance." (I'll be participating in "Media Panel: Getting the Word Out.") Musicians and fans alike are invited to stop by New World Brewery from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Tre Amici at the Bunker from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. to catch performances by Ronny Elliott, Next Exit, Maggie Council, Bunko Squad, Denise Moore, Jules Dobrowolski and Handshake Squad. (The showcases are also free). For a complete schedule and my interview with organizer David Audet, go to p. 41. (Hillsborough Community College, Performing Arts Building, Ybor City)
VIA AUDIO w/JUKEBOX THE GHOST This indie-pop quartet from NYC/Boston strikes a winning, delicate balance between harmony-rich pop confection and blissed-out trippiness. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
SUNCOAST BLUES SOCIETY 11th ANNIVERSARY SHOW: DARRELL NULISCH w/CHARLIE MORRIS BAND As much a soul man as a blues man, Dallas native Darrell Nulisch's churchy, grits-fed vocals recall the power pipes of the great Solomon Burke. Nulisch also excels on harmonica. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
BOGUS POMP The once dark and ravaged Masquerade has been revamped and spiffed up and has re-acquired its original name, the Ritz Theater. The venue — which is not open as a full-time nightclub — has been hosting events for a few weeks, but this is its first proper concert: Bogus Pomp is the routinely astonishing ensemble that plays the heady and difficult repertory of the late Frank Zappa. Bogus Pomp doesn't gig a lot, so each time it plays it turns into an event. (Ritz Theater, Ybor City) —Eric Snider
10th ANNIVERSARY BLOWOUT: ZEBRA w/NATION/JULLIET/JETEYE/ARKAYDIA/BAD SARA New Orleans has given the world more great music than perhaps any city on the planet — but not much hard rock. Zebra relocated from the Crescent City to Long Island, N.Y., several years before inking a deal with Atlantic, which released the band's self-titled debut album in '83. Dismissed by critics as Zeppelin-lite, the LP featured the hits "Tell Me What You Want" and "Who's Behind the Door," both of which were mostly acoustic numbers that sounded like songs smartly left off Zep III. Only Zebra's first album cracked the Top 40, but the band has remained active since 1975. (Bourbon St. Nightclub, New Port Richey)
VAMPIRE WEEKEND w/HARLEM SHAKES They lived up to the hype. The fresh-faced preppies out of Columbia University with a predilection for African sounds saw the bubbly pop of their self-titled debut CD reach No. 17 on the Billboard album chart. This is a makeup date for a previously scheduled show that was canceled when the band landed a spot on Saturday Night Live. It's been moved to a bigger venue, and as of this writing (May 29), tickets were still available. (Club Firestone, Orlando) —ES
BENEFIT FOR MOLLY GOODALL Goodall, mom of Have Gun Will Travel's Matt and Danny Burke, was brutally attacked a few months back. Along with the Americana sounds of HGWT, alt-metal sextet The D.O.O.D., rockers Four Gone, 30 Feet Of Rope, Dismantle Me and others donate their time to raise funds for Goodall's medical bills. (Rasher Tierney's, Bradenton) —AS
WARFIELD w/338/EX ANIMIS MORTUUM/LANGDON ALGER/ODIUM INC. Hardcore thrashers converge upon the local VFW "tank" post to melt faces off. (VFW Post #3233, Sarasota) —AS
GIBFEST 2008 Sarasota music staples turn out to help the family of guitarist Scott Gibson, who died last month at 41. The lineup includes Elysian Sex Drive, psychobilly boys The Downshifters, trip-hoppers Spontaneous Habit, Liquid Crunchtower, and songstresses Twinkle and Tanya Radtke, most of whom played with Gibson during his 20-plus years as a local fixture. (P-Man's Classic Cycle Paint, Bradenton) —AS
SUNDAY, JUNE 8
COLOUR REVOLT w/HISTORY/MOUSE FIRE It's been a while since Fat Possum was the hippest indie label in the South, releasing vibrant discs by overlooked blues greats like R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough, soul hero Solomon Burke and cutting-edge blues duo the Black Keys. Unfortunately, recent years have found Fat Possum issuing discs by acts like Colour Revolt, a young band from Mississippi trying to bring an indie sensibility to Delta blues à la the Black Keys — but with far less success. (Orpheum, Ybor City)
STEVIE NICKS The former witchy frontgal of Fleetwood Mac keeps on keepin' on. She played the same venue last year and drew a modest-sized crowd of zealots. (Ford Amphitheatre) —ES
ABBA — THE MUSIC If the real Swedish pop titans ever do an arena reunion tour, I might have to check it out, just to hear 'em do "Dancing Queen," one of my favorite pop songs. But a tribute show? Not feelin' it. (Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg)
THE DUHKS w/CHERRY WEASEL Like Nickel Creek, The Duhks are a fresh-faced band doing a fine job of making mountain music an acceptable means of escape for the college set (and beyond). (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
MONDAY, JUNE 9
ERIC HUTCHINSON w/MARIE DIGBY/JUSTIN NOZUKA Imagine John Mayer minus the guitar heroics, and you pretty much have Eric Hutchinson, which I don't mean as a dig. Hutchinson has a warm voice and pens highly likeable, organic pop songs with more than a dollop of soul. Digby is the YouTube creature who inspired mad responses when I ran a blog posted titled: "Marie Digby: talent or gimmick?" See, she blew up online thanks to videos that showed her singing heavily produced pop hits such as Rihanna's "Umbrella" while accompanying herself on acoustic guitar. For more on Digby, see the May 15 entry on TampaCalling.com. (Orpheum, Ybor City)
TUESDAY, JUNE 10
LADYTRON w/DATAROCK Ladytron is a Liverpool four-piece that produces industrialized electro-rock with hints of New Wave-style pop. The group is led by Helen Marnie and Mira Aroyo, vocalists with starkly contrasting styles: Marnie's tone is soft and sweet, while Aroyo's is guttural. Aroyo, a native of Bulgaria, is also known for sometimes singing in her native tongue. The band's stage show combines live instrumentation with electronics that are produced on antique synths and vintage analog equipment. Ladytron is currently touring in support of its fourth album, Velocifero, released in May. Labelmates Datarock, a kitschy electro-pop duo from Norway, open the show. (Czar, Ybor City). —Leilani Polk
AMERICAN ME w/STRAY FROM THE PATH Headliner American Me, of Oregon, serves up generic hardcore: speed, volume and manly barked vocals that most listeners will dismiss as lunatic noise. Great for moshing, lifting weights and, well, that's about it. (Orpheum, Ybor City)
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11
MATT COSTA w/DELTA SPIRIT Singer/songwriter/guitarist/keyboardist Matt Costa offers rainy-day ruminations for the adult alternative set. The melodies are pleasant and the lyrics never get too cheesy, but Costa's precious delivery just doesn't grab me. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
This article appears in Jun 4-10, 2008.