THURSDAY, DEC. 21
DECK THE HALL WITH DIVAS The Delicious Divas — a "larger-than-life women's song and dance ensemble" made up of local ladies — get their inner Bette Midler on for your holiday-themed entertainment. Expect more comedy than staid musical performance from this troupe. (Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center, Tarpon Springs)
NOUS RAPPORT/SIGNAL 1 The boys of Signal 1 have recently inked a deal with the ever-changing 301 club Khrome to host a regular Thursday alt-rock night, playing every week themselves and inviting friendly bands to the stage as well. This week, up-and-comers on the hard rock scene Nous Rapport are teaming up with the Sig. Aside from its weekly jazz nights, Khrome hasn't had much happening live music-wise in quite awhile. Lord knows Sarasota could use the boost this night may provide. (Khrome, Sarasota) —Cooper Levey-Baker
FAKE PROBLEMS/LOOK MEXICO Naples' Fake Problems ply a cool, loose sound that splits the difference between classic slacker indie-rock and more heartfelt singer-songwriter-influenced fare. Not bad. Frequent FP showmates Look Mexico hail from Tallahassee, have a graphic on their MySpace page that takes fucking forever to load and do a moodier, more ornate and poppy sort of thing. (Transitions Art Gallery @ Skatepark of Tampa, Tampa)
FRIDAY, Dec. 22
MOLLY HATCHET I'm a little too young to know much more about Molly Hatchet than that they helped define the Florida Southern rock sound and did that tune "Flirtin' with Disaster." But the Internet is full of strange and wonderful information; for instance, I just found out the band is named after a possibly apocryphal prostitute who was supposed to have decapitated her clients. Now I like them even more. (Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg)
HOLIDAY JAZZ w/FRED JOHNSON In the '80s and early '90s, singer Fred Johnson was a fixture on a Bay area scene that actually supported a handful of select jazz clubs (B.B. Joe's anyone?) He curtailed his gigging quite some time ago, so that makes his appearances on local stages all the more special. Johnson's approach to jazz singing is to judiciously bend and elongate notes, but largely stay true to the melodies. He also joins instrumental soloists with vocalese improvisations. Johnson will perform holiday favorites in an intimate cabaret setting in the Murray Studio Theater. (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater) —Eric Snider
THE SILENT TREATMENT/FAREWELL VERONA/THE CHASE THEORY Well-known Bradenton rock figurehead Ben Bakker has been in a bit of a transition period lately, with the demise of the long-running band he was in — Rumors of War — and a transfer from booking shows at Rockerfellas to the lesser-known B-town venue Rasher Tierney's. This week at Tierney's, he's put together a reunion of no-frills Manatee County alt-rock band The Silent Treatment. Let's hope Bakker's new gig gives the local rock economy a boost. (Rasher Tierney's, Bradenton) —CLB
GREYMARKET CD RELEASE PARTY GreyMarket is a killer local alt-rock duo that combines the innovative influence of bands like Radiohead and Muse with a rawer, more traditional rock attack; they never succumb to those groups' occasional bleak austerity, pretense or overwrought bombast. Plus, GreyMarket's rhythms sometimes remind me a little of The Police's Stewart Copeland, and that's never a bad thing. Tonight, they celebrate the release of their new disc Dauntless. (Orpheum, Ybor City)
THE BASIQS CD RELEASE PARTY Also welcoming a new aural offspring into the world is envelope-pushing Tampa hip-hop/nu-soul unit The Basiqs. And their celebration for Your Life Is Calling is gonna be a doozy, with art displays, spoken word and a wildly eclectic slate of music that also includes The Beauvilles and Summerbirds in the Cellar as well as guest DJs spinning all manner of styles. This ain't your standard local show. (Czar, Ybor City)
SATURDAY, Dec. 23
DC NORTH/RIGHT SPLIT CD RELEASE PARTY Jeez, the local bands are starting to think like the major labels, unleashing all their new stuff on the music-buying public just in time for holiday gift-giving. Yup, it's yet another CD release party, this one a joint effort featuring both bouncy, hooky Tampa pop-punk combo DC North (New EP: Paper Street) and somewhat proggy New Port Richey hard-rock band Right Split (New CD: Neighborhood). Sunday Liquor rounds out a fairly varied, guitar-driven bill. (Bourbon Street, New Port Richey)
LUCKY STAR CHRISTMAS PARTY Lucky Star is a salon and kitschy-little-stuff shop run by four ladies who have long been ardent supporters of the St. Pete band/nightlife/art scene. So why is its Christmas party being listed in Music Week? Just because they cut some musicians' hair and snuck other musicians beers? Well, technically that would be enough for me, BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE: Former Tampa Bay DJ and current Miami resident Skidmark will be making a rare local appearance to provide the tuneage for this shindig. Steve's Tavern is located at 833 Central Ave. in downtown St. Pete. (Steve's Tavern, St. Petersburg)
NEW GRANADA PRESENTS THE ANNUAL CHRISTMAS SHOW In some other cities, the cool local bands always want to play on New Year's Eve, but the Bay area has never really been down with that — we prefer to do our hard holiday partying on Thanksgiving and particularly Christmas, as evidenced by the wealth of quality local shows listed on these two pages. Tampa indie label New Granada has been doing a Christmas Night soiree at New World for a while now, and it's gotten so popular that if you don't get there early, you might not get in at all. This year's entertainment comes courtesy of marvelous, original punk-based-but-not-really-punk acts The Sophomore Effort, Guiltmaker and Pseudo Heroes. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
Tuesday, Dec. 26
CRASH MITCHELL XXXMAS PARTY IX See, what did I tell ya? Yet another local holiday-season tradition. Rollicking roots-punk veteran Crash Mitchell and his trusty Quartet will be joined by drummer-free Tampa roots/rockabilly/insurgent-folk trio Sunset Bridge. This gig starts promptly at 8 p.m. so that those of you who want to make the Boxing Day Rebellion in Mike O'Neill's honor at New World can do both. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
Wednesday, Dec. 27
THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER w/JOHN PIZZARELLI A post-Christmas night of slick jazz, this double bill unites two acts best known for nostalgia-filled updates of past jazz sounds for fans weaned on contemporary pop. While the Transfer's been giving jazz the trad-pop treatment since the late '60s, guitarist and vocalist Pizzarelli has been refining his silky treatments of swing tunes for just over two decades. (Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Sarasota) —CLB
This article appears in Dec 20-26, 2006.