THURSDAY, NOV. 23
SEAN LENNON The famous offspring's '98 psych-pop debut disc Into The Sun was acclaimed for its then-timely nods to the likes of Beck and Cibo Matto, but he's been out of the limelight since not long after. It wasn't until last month — eight years later — that Lennon issued a sophomore effort, the similar but comparatively downbeat Friendly Fire. (The Garage, St. Petersburg)
THANKSGIVING WEEKEND BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL Man, Brooksville's Sertoma Youth Ranch sure gets a lot of festival use when the weather starts to cool. This weekend's four-day to-do is decidedly more rootsy than jammy and features performers like Melvin Goins, Nothin' Fancy, Randy Waller, Pine Mountain Railroad and a host of others. Check out sertomayouthranch.com for the full lineup. (Sertoma Youth Ranch, Brooksville)
FRIDAY, NOV. 24
GODSMACK w/BREAKING BENJAMIN Massachusetts' Godsmack didn't just get their name from an Alice in Chains song; they also copped late AiC vocalist Layne Staley's jagged rumble and heavied up the group's ominous metallic chug while simultaneously boiling it down to its most rudimentary elements. The results sucked, but made Godsmack very, very famous and inspired a legion of equally plodding groovecore outfits. The group is currently touring in support of IV, which, '04's acoustic release notwithstanding, sounds just like every other Godsmack album. Breaking Benjamin are a group in the slightly more overtly catchy Trapt mode and have been scoring modern-rock radio airplay for the last couple of years. (USF Sun Dome, Tampa)
THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS/JUDY COLLINS With a look as clean-cut and white-bread as they come, Tom and Dick Smothers became unlikely candidates for political controversy, but they found it when their sly, satirical show The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour got axed by CBS because of a religion-baiting sketch in 1969. Since the brothers' run on TV, they've returned to touring as the comedy-folk act with which they got their start. Opener Judy Collins has been in the folk game since the early '60s, with detours onto Broadway every now and then. Today, she remains best known for her hit-making '67 cover of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now." (Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Sarasota) —Cooper Levey-Baker
CHRIS MCCARTY BAND/MATT MACKELCAN BAND Gainesville's Chris McCarty Band is a fairly frequent visitor to the Bay area. The group plays a well-crafted and comparatively ambitious take on strum-pop that isn't afraid to wander into other territories, and these guys have the chops and passion to pull it off. MacKelcan hails from a little closer — Winter Park — and does something a little more instantly familiar as post-Spin Doctors/Sister Hazel jam-pop. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
GENITORTURERS Gen, her cast of metal/darkwave musicians and their pierced and leathered BDSM crew have long been beloved both here in their hometown and abroad. The group's most recent releases have seen them moving away from metal and further into industrial turf. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
RICK DERRINGER You know "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" and about his past ties to Johnny and Edgar Winter, but did you know that a 17-year-old Rick Derringer was in The McCoys when they released the No. 1 hit "Hang on Sloopy" or that he produced most of Weird Al Yankovic's parody hits or that in 2002 he devolved into a smooth-jazz guitarist? This benefit show (for photographer/Bourbon Street friend Mark Cring) finds Derringer playing with local bluesmen Sean Chambers and Sarasota Slim, so the presumption is he'll be rockin' out. (Bourbon Street, New Port Richey) —Eric Snider
BRANDTSON/LOVEDRUG Brandtson have held onto their "next big breakthrough emo band" status for eight years now — an eternity in kid-fandom years. This year, they surprised longtime fans by leaving much of their guitar-dominated character behind for the much more electronic and adventurous Hello, Control. The stylish Lovedrug seem to be following an opposite trajectory — their new Everything Starts… EP has more straightforward, organic pop and New Wave than previous efforts. (Orpheum, Ybor City)
SATURDAY, NOV. 25
THE HUSH SOUND/MURDER BY DEATH/THIS PROVIDENCE/THIS IS ME SMILING This indie bill is topped by a couple of unique and worthwhile acts. Chicago's The Hush Sound has an ambitious, compelling, multisinger sound that comes off like a cross between Joe Jackson and Cursive — good stuff, totally original. And you might know fellow Midwesterners Murder by Death from their recent appearance with Lucero at Orpheum; they do an excellent roots/cabaret/Southern Gothic sort of thing with punk energy to spare. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
DONOVAN Because he hit the scene slinging an acoustic guitar in the mid '60s, Donovan was instantly labeled "England's answer to Bob Dylan." His music didn't bear that out, though. Donovan, a Scotsman, had a fondness for trippy lyrics and whimsical melodies, as heard in his mega-hits "Sunshine Superman," "Mellow Yellow," "Hurdy Gurdy Man" and "Atlantis." (Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Tampa) —ES
Sunday, Nov. 26
UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF GIANTS/AS TALL AS LIONS/BROTHER MAN DUDE Well-dressed up-and-coming Cali retro/danceable indie-pop Under the Influence of Giants leads a bill of emerging contemporaries around the East Coast. UtIoG has a lot more disco in the mix than most of its ilk, while Long Island's As Tall As Lions waxes meditative and ambient, and British foursome Brother Man Dude plies straight-up electro-assisted pop-rock. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
HEROINE FOR THE HOMELESS The ladies of local rock outfit Heroine took it upon themselves to set up this eminently worthy benefit, during which they'll collect blankets and canned food for the Bay area's homeless, as well as funds for Metropolitan Ministries of Tampa. Kickoff time? 2 p.m. Lineup? Jukebox Graduate; Field Marshall Joey; Geri X; Hangtown; The Short Answer; Giddy Up, Helicopter!; Lush Progress; The Rancid Polecats; The Vodkanauts; Rebekah Pulley & The Reluctant Prophets; Heroine; Awake Awake; Will Quinlan and Hey There, Battleship! Highly recommended. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
TOM PALEY Singer-songwriter Paley played with Woody Guthrie before cofounding The New Lost City Ramblers in the '50s. The Ramblers are widely considered to be the group that kick-started the now-legendary NYC folk revival of the late '50s/early '60s. (Unitarian Universalist Church of Tampa, Tampa)
Monday, NOV. 27
ARMY OF ANYONE Filter mainman Richard Patrick is joined by former Stone Temple Pilots principals Dean and Robert DeLeo in this sort of erstwhile-alt-heroes supergroup. Their material leans slightly more toward STP than Filter — big, warm, dated guitar-based anthems. Fans of the '90s musical climate that spawned these guys, and of Audioslave, should be pretty satisfied. (Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg)
USF MONDAY NIGHT JAZZ SERIES w/VINCENT DiMARTINO The trumpeter has performed with an array of jazz greats: Lionel Hampton, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Brubeck and others. He'll mix it up with USF Jazz Ensemble 1. (Fine Arts Hall @ USF, Tampa) —ES
RON FETNER A guest of the Sarasota Folk Club, Fetner is packing his low-key singer-songwriter fare for his trip down from Virginia. No surprise there: The Berklee grad's been taking the folk thing around the country for well on 30 years now. (Sarasota Sailing Squadron, Sarasota) —CLB
Tuesday, NOV. 28
JOE LYNN TURNER If you've ever left the car stereo set on a classic-rock station while cruising cross-country, then you've heard the voice of Turner, who sang for both Rainbow and '90s-era Deep Purple. Turner's also fronted guitar-shred deity Yngwie Malmsteen's band for a while and has released material as a solo artist and with fellow classic-rock journeyman Glenn Hughes. (Largo Cultural Center, Largo)
THE ACCIDENT EXPERIMENT The only people familiar with San Diego hard-rock outfit The Accident Experiment are P.O.D. fans — it's former P.O.D. guitarist Marcos Curiel's new band — and in a perfect world, it would stay that way. Hell, if your tastes are so blunted that you think P.O.D. is good, you'll probably find this exercise in watered-down Deftones-isms transcendent. (Bourbon Street, New Port Richey)
Wednesday, NOV. 29
THE DAN BAND I'm sorry, but their profanity-laden cover of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" in Old School is never going to stop being funny. Yep, these are THOSE guys, the ones who mock-seriously butcher the chick-sung hits of the '70s, '80s and '90s with surgical precision and consistent hilarity. All we can say is, quit being such a fucking snob ("God, they're, like, so two years ago!") and prepare to party like a lunkhead. ((Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg)
THE SKA BRAWL TOUR How many times can we say the same glowing things about 20-plus-year-old NYC ska institution The Toasters? They practically kicked the door open for ska-punk and are still going strong; they're currently working on One More Bullet, their, what, 17th album? You either get it or you don't. The less-venerable-but-still-pretty-damn-venerable Pietasters and Supervillains round out this traveling circus of upbeat syncopation. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
GEORGE FULLER III CD RELEASE PARTY Tampa singer-songwriter Fuller celebrates the release of his eponymous debut disc. The full-length has a pretty cool vibe that rides the line between classic James Taylor/Harry Chapin-style old-school folk-pop and more countrified/alt-countrified fare, and Fuller's got an original, evocative voice. This is an early gig, kicking off at 6 p.m. (Newk's, Tampa)
November
30 GWAR/The Red Chord/Municipal Waste Jannus Landing
30 The Hold Steady w The Big Sleep/Nessie Orpheum
30 Lady Sovereign/Young Love State Theatre
December
1 Papa Grows Funk w/Lost Bayou Ramblers Skipper's Smokehouse
1 Papa Roach/(hed)p.e./Stalling December Jannus Landing
2 The Bobby Rush Show w/Walter Smith Group Skipper's Smokehouse
2 Los Lobos Jannus Landing
2 The Audition/Madina Lake/Leroy Driver Orpheum
2 Alan Jackson/Little Big Town/The Wreckers Ford Amphitheatre
3 Powerman 5000 State Theatre
3 97X Presents The Next Big Thing Feat. My Chemical Romance/Taking Back Sunday/30 Seconds to Mars/Angels & Airwaves/Three Days Grace/Blue October/More Ford Amphitheatre
3 Paul Cebar & The Milwaukeeans Skipper's Smokehouse
4 Dat Politics/Kevin Bechdom/Yip Yip/The Crate Brothers Crowbar
4 Olivia Newton-John Ruth Eckerd Hall
6 Dropping Daylight/Monty Are I/The Summer/Permanent Me Orpheum
7 Johnny Winter State Theatre
7 Corey Crowder/Jake Smith Orpheum
7 Bellydance Superstars Jannus Landing
8 Oteil & The Peacemakers Skipper's Smokehouse
8 Circle Jerks w/Lower Class Brats State Theatre
9 The Bouncing Souls/Street Dogs/Whole Wheat Bread/World Inferno Friendship Society State Theatre
9 Planes Mistaken for Stars/The North Atlantic/The Holy Mountain/Mouse Fire Crowbar
9 Sue Foley/Nora Jean Bruso/Sandy Atkinson & The Mo Deans Skipper's Smokehouse
12 Sepultura/Sworn Enemy/Suicide Silence/Diecast State Theatre
13 Lucero/Maritime/Drag The River State Theatre
13 Ghost to Falco/The Seahorse Orchestra/Lush Progress/King of Spain Transitions Art Gallery @ Skatepark of Tampa
14 Tony Bennett Ruth Eckerd Hall
14 The Preservation Hall Jazz Band Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center
14 Through The Eyes of the Dead/From A Second Story Window/The Acacia Strain/If Hope Dies State Theatre
15 Coolio/Digital Underground/Young MC Jannus Landing
15 Kidgusto/DRM/Mr. Marley New World Brewery
15 Melissa Ferrick Skipper's Smokehouse
16 Red Elvises/Jimbo Mathus & Knockdown South Skipper's Smokehouse
16 Centro-Matic w/The Sugar Oaks/Modern Skirts New World Brewery
16 Maylene & The Sons of Disaster/Inhale Exhale/Twelve Gauge Valentine State Theatre
16 & 17 Michael W. Smith Ruth Eckerd Hall
17 BT w/Thomas Dolby State Theatre
This article appears in Nov 22-28, 2006.