THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10
Carl Cox Well-regarded British techno-house music vet DJ Carl Cox has been producing hot dance singles and remixes since 1991. He's currently offering his 2011 full-length record, All Roads Lead to the Dancefloor. (The Kennedy, Tampa)
Architecture in Helsinki w/DOM/Lo-Fi Fink With 2005's playful pop gem, "Do the Whirlwind," Aussie ensemble Architecture in Helsinki was introduced to international audiences. Lanky frontman Cameron Bird sings in a breathy falsetto and higher register tenor with lead and back-up support from the girlish soprano of Kellie Sutherland, he on guitar, both on synthesizers and programming. Their sticky-quirky electro-pop has a New Wave-lite dance feel, and is marked by rubbery analog synth grooves and bouncy bumping beats. MomentBends is their fourth and latest hook-laden full-length. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
Awesome New Republic w/Le Blorr Rockin' rays-soaked electro-pop duo Awesome New Republic — John Hancock and Brian Robertson — have been at the forefront of Miami's budding indie scene for the last few years, proving that the M-I-A can produce more than dubstep DJs and Rick Ross mixtapes. On 2011's Stay Kids, ANR shows a skill for slow-building songs that start simple and ultimately explode into anthemic sunshine. (New World Brewery, Ybor City) —Christopher Spata
The Things They Carried An alt-metal/post-hardcore outfit from Long Island that mixes piercing and deep-throated shrieks with cleanly sung croons and wails against a backdrop of heavy shredding and bone-crushing drumming. The band also plays Market on 7th in Ybor City on Friday. (Fubar, St. Petersburg)
Austin Lucas/Glossary Twangy folk-punk rocker Austin Lucas is likely best known for his collaborations with Hot Water Music's Chuck Ragan. On his 2011 album, A New Home In The Old World, he traded in his stripped-down set-up for arrangements filled-out by organ, horns and electric guitar. Glossary crafts full-flavored heartland/roots rock marked by blues and Southern fried drive. The quintet's seventh and latest self-produced LP takes an optimistic turn and incorporates piano, pedal steel, and R&B Stax-style horns. Glossary not only co-headlines this tour with Lucas, but serves as his backing band. (Orpheum, Ybor City)
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11
George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic Clinton and Funkadelic invented the p-funk genre in the 1970s, before their music was repurposed by basically every successful hip hop producer of the '90s. The days of running around in nine-inch-tall boots are over for the 70-year-old Clinton, but we're talking about a chance to see a song called "Dr. Funkenstein" performed live." Best. Song. Name. Ever. (The Venue, Clearwater) —Christopher Spata
Ed Gerhard An acoustic country-folk-blues instrumental guitarist known for his finger-picking and virtuoso skills on 6-string, 12-string, and both "regular" slide and Hawaiian lap slide guitars. (Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg)
Ribfest 2011: John Fogerty w/Drake White (Friday); Styx w/Outlaws/Braxton Adamson Band/Connor & Christian (Saturday); Trace Adkins w/Jane Dear/Stealing Angels The annual event that benefits several community children's charities brings thousands to the downtown St. Pete waterfront for three days of ribs and rock n' roll. Friday's headliner is muddy Southern roots-blues rocker John Fogerty, the guitarist, songwriter and gruff drawling singer who started his career as leader of Creedence Clearwater Revival. His fame has ebbed and flowed, and he seems to enjoy a comeback every decade or so. Saturday night is headed up by soft prog-psyche rock heavyweights Styx, which performed two of their most beloved LPs, A Grand Illusion and Pieces of Eight, on their stop here last fall. Trace Adkins rounds it out on Sunday with his country brand of rock. (Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg)
A Cole Porter Celebration Paul Wilborn and Blue Roses stage a tribute to the late composer with a set that includes hits like "I've Got You Under My Skin" as well as songs select numbers originally written for theater ("It's DeLovely," "Anything Goes"), among other selections. On this night, Wilborn (on piano and vocals) is joined by guest singer Eugenie Bondurant and Frank Bowman on sax and clarinet. (American Stage, St. Petersburg)
Cliff Eberhardt The modern acoustic blues-soul folkie is a smoky-toned singer, songwriter and self-taught guitarist who's written songs for and collaborated with Richie Havens, most famously in a duet on Eberhardt's 1990 debut LP. (Craftsman House Gallery, St. Petersburg)
Hank & Cupcakes w/Kaliegh Baker Edgy, high-octane Brooklyn-by-way-of-Tel Aviv electro-rock duo Hank and Cupcakes — cute and wildly snide singer/drummer/party starter Cupcakes with cool bass wielding husband Hank — hit town for another round of pop-bombastic, glam-sweaty good times. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
Tinariwen w/Sophie Hunger That's soldier, not soulja. Several members of the band Tinariwen (Tin-AR-uh-wen) took up arms as part of the rebel uprisings of the Tuareg, a long-oppressed, largely nomadic people in Africa's Saharan region. The Malian ensemble gained an international following in the early 2000s, and has expanded its touring sphere. Tinariwen is now on a U.S. headlining trek of small venues behind the release of the estimable Tassilli recorded in a tent in southern Algeria, released domestically on Anti-/Epitaph. Tinariwen's music evokes rural American blues, with droning bass, tangled guitars, hand percussion and trance-like melodies fraught with pain, pride, protest and stubborn resolve. Tinariwen's show is an important event, the sort of musicultural moment that rarely comes to Tampa Bay. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg) —Eric Snider
Korn w/Datsik/Dope/D.O.D. Korn, the ball-busting post-hardcore outfit led by Jonathan Davis, is on the road promoting their impending 10th LP, The Path of Totality (due out Dec. 6) and are not only riding the dubstep wagon but are the perpetrators of new sub-genre, "dub metal." Awful first single "Get Up!" was produced by Skrillex. (Stadium Green Iguana, Tampa)
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12
Obituary w/Generichrist/Sledgegrinder/Forged With Blood Among the bands that helped Tampa earn its distinction as death metal capital of the U.S. is genre pioneers Obituary; it's a hometown show, so be prepared for a wild and sweaty night of heavy. (Brass Mug, Tampa)
David Olney w/Sergio Webb/Rebekah PulleyElder troubadour Olney has a resonant drawl, and is known for breaking some ground in the roots-Americana scene with a few dozen albums that started coming in 1981. Sergio Webb is a rising folk/psychobilly artist who plays guitar, banjo and ukulele, and he collabed with Olney in "Wait Here For the Cops," imitating a police siren with his guitar. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
Taylor Swift w/Needtobreathe The reigning princess of country pop returns to the Forum, marking her first stop since the release of her 2010 third album, Speak Now, and the venue's first concert since its $30 million facelift. (St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa)
Rock School Blowout Beginning at 1 p.m., dozens of the Patel Conservatory's Rock School students take part in a musical showcase. Eleven of the groups are made up of teens and youths as young as 8, while the last group is entirely adults; all were auditioned, sorted into bands, and taught by instructors Lee Ahlin and Paul Stoddart. (Riverwalk at the Straz Center, Tampa)
South Shore Music Festival The second annual kid-friendly fest encompasses pop rock (10th Concession), country (recent Great American Country Star winners One Night Rodeo), country rock (Alex Hayes), Southern rock and R&B (Diablo Canyon) and even metal-fused hard rock as delivered by a group of underagers (Hovermode). Visit southshoremusicfestival.com for more info. (Showmen's Club, Riverview)
Monster Energy Outbreak Tour: Of Mice & Men w/iwrestledabearonce/I See Stars/many more Headlining the 2011 "Monster Energy Outbreak Tour" is aggressive California metalcore/post-hardcore quintet Of Mice & Men, which is fronted by original Attack!Attack! vocalist Austin Carlile, and is currently celebrating the release of their Billboard-charting sophomore LP, The Flood. (Orpheum, Ybor City)
Ryan Montbleau Band w/Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds Montbleau — a singer, songwriter and guitarist who plays a mix of blues, folk, funk and roots music — released a 2011 double live LP, Live at Life, that was recorded at a Life is good store in his Boston hometown. He's not only talented but philanthropic; a portion of the proceeds from sales of every copy go to the Life is good Playmakers, who provide training, resources, and support to adult caretakers of children facing life-threatening challenges. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
Bradstock Charity Show feat. Sunshine & Bullets/Sins Against/Escape Tonight/Stria/From This Fire A big bill of local alt rock bands get together to help local resident Brad Stroud, who has a rare disorder caused by an over-active immune system that kills red blood cells and can lead to kidney failure. His friend and From This Fire musician Drew Bell organized this charity concert because, "I love loud, heavy guitars and music, and it seemed the only way I knew how to contribute." All proceeds from tickets sales go to the Stroud family's ongoing medical costs. (Local 662, St. Petersburg)
Moreland & Arbuckle The outfit led by axeman Aaron Moreland (who wields a four-string cigar box guitar in addition to the standard model) and vocalist/harpist Dustin Arbuckle channel the visceral spirit of early Delta blues in their raw, garage-soulful roots rock, and have brought on newbie recruit Kendall Newby to hold down the beats. (The Ale & the Witch, St. Petersburg)
Richard Marx The 20-year musician and writer of pained balladry like "Hold On to the Nights" and "Right Here Waiting" returns for another acoustic run. (Capitol Theatre, Clearwater)
Peter Murphy w/She Wants Revenge The one-time frontman of the Bauhaus and so-called "Godfather of Goth" is known for his sonorous baritone and his part in advancing the Dark Wave post-punk movement. Warming up the stage is She Wants Revenge, a gothic rock band from LA that just released their third album, ValleyHeart. (The Ritz, Ybor City)
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13
Help Hope Live w/Johnny G. Lyon Band/Tommy Gunn/Joseph "Z" A rock concert held to raise funds for the nonprofit NTAF's Southeast Kidney Transplant Fund and its efforts to help patients with out-of-pocket (not insured) costs related to transplantation and catastrophic injury. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14
Agnostic Front/The Mongoloids/Naysayer/Dead Cat Lounge The 10th and latest LP from NYC hardcore punk/crossover thrash icons Agnostic Front has a local appeal — 2011's My Life My Way was laid down right here at Mana Recording Studio in St. Petersburg. Expect new tracks that re-affirm the Roger Miret-led band's dedication to their hardcore craft along with all the classics ("Victim In Pain," "Toxic Shock" and the like). (Orpheum, Ybor City)
Josh Ritter Indie artist Josh Ritter has a sweetly entrancing delivery and a poetic narrative style set against folk rock richly textured with strings, piano, accordion, horns, and lap steel and baritone guitars. Paste Magazine named him among the 100 greatest living songwriters, and his "Girl in the War" was the most-played song of the year on WMNF a few years back. (Jaeb Theater at Straz Center for the Peforming Arts, Tampa)
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 15
London Souls w/November Foxtrot Whiskey/Red Rockits An unsigned band that has the rare distinction of recording their 2011 debut at Abbey Road Studios. NYC trio London Souls seems blessed by the classic rock gods and have a sound to match; all three players — guitarist Tash Neal, bassist Kiyoshi Matsuyama and drummer Chris St. Hilaire — trade off on lead and back-up vocals, their sound drawing on late '60s and early '70s Brit invasion influences, and fusing elements of heavy metal, hard blues, groove and funk-fused psychedelia and rootsy folk. I've seen them a few times now, and their live show is definitely worth checking out. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16
Island Nite Deluxe: Pato Banton & The Now Generation w/Impulse Nothing brightens up a hump day more or lifts the spirits as high as a reggae show by Pato Banton, who toasts and sings with an ear-to-ear grin, and usually invites his most strident fans onto the stage to join along with him. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
Sondre Lerche w/Peter Wolf Crier A Norwegian native who's lived in Brooklyn for the past six years, Sondre Lerche has dipped his musical toes into a range of genres, from swinging jazz to well-arranged pop music. This year's eponymous sixth album finds Lerche returning to his melodic pop hooks ala Two Way Monologue, and trying out a more spontaneous style of recording. Indie soul trio Peter Wolf Crier opens the show and backs up Lerche for portions of his own solo set. Click here to read the story. (Capitol Theatre, Clearwater)
Alesana w/A Skylit Drive/Sleeping with Sirens/Attila/Memphis May Fire North Carolina post-hardcore quintet Alesana is on the road in support of their first release since signing to Epitaph, A Place Where The Sun Is Silent — a concept album based on the literary themes of Dante's Inferno. Don't worry, it doesn't feel like English homework. Rather than get mired in scholarly theatrics, the band continues to put out a creative mix of heavy and light, combining super-melodic vocals, guttural screams, proggy guitars and piano ballads into a ride of soaring, catchy rock. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg) —Christopher Spata
CLICK HERE to see a complete rundown of shows taking place this week and in the coming weeks.
This article appears in Nov 10-16, 2011.