ANTI-ANTIWARPT
Date: Fri., July 26, 2012
The Lowdown: An inevitable reaction to the original Antiwarpt’s rapid growth, the first-ever edition of this free fest — organized by Tampa Bay Hardcore — takes place the night before at Fubar (an actual Antiwarpt venue) and features local hardcore outfits not included in the next day’s bill.
Confirmed guests: Dead Cat Lounge, The Scurvy, Bleeding Money.
ANTIWARPT
Date: Sat., July 28, 2012
The Lowdown: The third installment of the massively successful alternative to Van’s Warped Tour takes over 10 downtown St. Pete venues with a solid roster of nearly 100 confirmed guests, mostly local and Florida-based talent augmented by choice national acts spanning a huge array of genres.
Confirmed guests: The Mountain Goats, Two Cow Garage, Adrian Younge, Have Gun Will Travel.
NERDAPALOOZA
Date: Fri.-Sun., Aug. 3-5, 2012
The Lowdown: Nerds need music, too. This three-day weekend fest embraces all sounds falling within the “nerd music” genre (nerdcore hip-hop, chip tunes, comedy music, video game remixes and the like) and culture. In its sixth year, Nerdapalooza invades The Social and Beacham Theatre in Orlando, with 75 percent of proceeds donated to the Orange County Public School System’s Fine Arts Program.
Confirmed guests: Sabelpulse, Koo Koo Kanga Roo, Math The Band, Metroid Metal, The NESkimos, The Protomen, Geekapella.
SUMMER JAM 8
Date: Sat., Sept. 1, 2012.
The Lowdown: This end-of-the-season multi-venue Ybor-centric festival curated by THX Management celebrates cooler temperatures and features some of the nation’s best breaking bands playing alongside local and regional talent that many music fans haven’t been exposed to yet. Less than a handful of repeat acts have performed in Summer Jam’s eight-year run, ensuring that festival-goers are exposed to new music and enjoy a fresh experience every time.
Confirmed guests: David Dondero, The Owsley Bros., The Appplebutter Express, Mouse Fire, Chasing Kings, Easter Island.
DELUNA FEST
Date: Fri.-Sun., Sept. 21-23, 2012
The Lowdown: Founded in 2010, DeLuna has become the Sunshine State’s extremely loud answer to Gulf Shores, Ala.’s immensely popular Hangout Fest. Set on the sugar white sands of Pensacola Beach, the festival has quickly made a name for itself by landing some of music’s biggest names (past guests have included The Shins, Stone Temple Pilots, Jane’s Addiction, Weezer and Cold War Kids) to play in one of the southeastern United States’ most beautiful settings.
Confirmed guests: Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Zac Brown Band, Florence and the Machine, Jimmy Cliff, Band of Horses, Diplo, DJ Jazzy Jeff, The Gaslight Anthem, Guided By Voices, Superchunk.
CLEARWATER JAZZ FESTIVAL
Date: Thu.-Sun. Oct. 18-21, 2012
The Lowdown: The big news for the 33rd annual Jazz Holiday is that it’ll cost a whopping $10 per day to get into Clearwater’s Coachman Park this time around (ages 12 and under still get in for free while reserved seating runs $30). While adding an admission price to what was once one of the country’s largest free jazz fests has caused a bit of controversy, organizers have done their best to make up for it by adding more eclectic offerings to the traditional top-notch lineup of jazz.
Confirmed guests: The Avett Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Esperanza Spalding Radio Music Society, Sister Sparrow and The Dirty Birds.
FEST 11
Date: Fri.-Sun., Oct. 26-28, 2012
The Lowdown: A world-famous punk rock festival based in Gainesville. Fest’s 11th edition is set to pack nearly every available venue in the city with a mixture of the genre’s most revered names playing alongside some of its brightest up-and-comers. The festival usually sells out well in advance for good reason — the weekend is pure insanity and filled with stale beer, sweaty (and usually shirtless) goons, and the best high-energy music that the world has to offer.
Confirmed guests: Lagwagon, Frank Turner, Anti-Flag, Braid, Andrew Jackson Jihad, Tim Barry, Grabass Charlestons, Lemuria, Red Fang, Valiant Thorr.
BEAR CREEK MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL
Date: Fri.-Sun., Nov. 9-11, 2012
The Lowdown: Held at Live Oak’s mystical Suwannee Music Park for three days (and chilly nights), the sixth annual Bear Creek weekend features some of the best and most beloved jam-leaning bands performing primarily in the funk, soul, jazz and electro aesthetics, with prog, folk, reggae and indie rock highlights. A special Thursday night pre-party kicks off the festivities.
Confirmed guests: Umphrey’s McGee, Bright Light Social Hour, Lotus, Daptone Super Soul Revue feat. Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Budos Band.
RIBFEST
Date: Fri.-Sat., Nov, 9-11, 2012
The Lowdown: Last year, St. Pete's Ribfest — a three-day celebration of BBQ and music that benefits a variety of local youth-oriented causes — built upon its classic rock foundation by booking Aussie alt-rock outfit Jet plus country superstars like Zac Brown Band and Big Kenny in the same weekend. Organizers look to be planning much of the same in 2012. Friday night features a one-two blues punch while the rest of the weekend boasts sets from country and classic rock heavyweights.
Confirmed guests: Johnny Lang, Buddy Guy, Montgomery Gentry, Heart.
ELECTRIC DAISY CARNIVAL ORLANDO
Date: Fri.-Sat., Nov. 9-10, 2012 (rumored)
The Lowdown: Even with Insomniac Events CEO Pasquale Rotella facing up to 13 years of imprisonment on charges of bribery, embezzlement, conspiracy and conflicts of interest, it’s still important to consider whether or not the nation’s largest electronic-music festival will repeat the magic it pulled off in Orlando last year when the biggest names of the genre took over Tinker Field for two epic fall days. Insomniac insists that Rotella’s legal trouble will not “impact any of its festivals,” but Florida EDM fans are going to have to hold their breath on this one.
Past guests: Skrillex, Porter Robinson, Diplo, Afrojack, Downlink.
AURA MUSIC FESTIVAL
Date: Fri.-Sun., March 8-10, 2013
The Lowdown: In its fourth year, Aura Music & Arts Festival returns to St. Cloud to showcase a range of regional bands touring in the underground jam community and live-electronic scene. Festivalgoers enjoy a gamut of genres including but not limited to deep house, jam-tronica, rock, funk, jazz, and roots reggae.
Past guests: Cope, The Malah, The Heavy Pets, Brothers Past, Sounduo.
GASPARILLA MUSIC FESTIVAL
Date: Sat., March 9, 2013.
The Lowdown: For the inaugural Gasparilla Music Festival, Mother Nature blessed Tampa with hands-down perfect weather. Local folks responded by flocking to Curtis Hixon Park in downtown Tampa for the first of what was hopefully going to be many GMFs to come. Attendance didn’t reach the 10K capacity of the park, but a healthy 6,200 showed to enjoy live music with the Hillsborough River and minarets at UT glistening in the background. It was an extremely heartwarming sight. Expect an even better lineup rife with top local talent and a diverse mix of national headliners, and hope for equally great weather for the 2013 installment.
Past guests: Lee Fields & The Expressions, Ra Ra Riot, Deer Tick, Distinguished Men Of Brass, Have Gun Will Travel.
ULTRA MUSIC FESTIVAL AT THE WINTER MUSIC CONFERENCE
Date: Fri.-Sun., March 22-24, 2013
The Lowdown: WMC’s week-long electronic dance music conference draws DJs, A&R reps, producers, promoters, and media from around the world to Miami Beach to address and advance the state of modern EDM. Night parties are held all throughout WMC, but the real climax is Ultra Music Festival. Organizers have been known to announce dates way early (the 2013 edition was confirmed before the 2012 edition had even ended), and things are no different for the 15th anniversary of the nation’s second largest electronic music festival. Expect literally all of EDM’s biggest names to take to the stages at Miami’s Bayfront Park, where nearly 200K beatheads converge over the course of three, sweaty, sultry days and pack the city’s clubs for even wilder after parties.
Past guests: M83, David Guetta, Tiësto, New Order, SBTRKT, Flying Lotus.
TAMPA BAY BLUES FESTIVAL
Date: Fri.-Sat. April 12-14, 2013
The Lowdown: Benefiting the Pinellas Association for Retarded Children, Tampa Bay Blues Festival takes over Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg and celebrates its 18th annual showcase of the best and brightest American blues in 2013. Recently added to the festivities: late-night after-shows at the Palladium Theater.
Past guests: Charles Bradley, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Jerry Lee Lewis, Delbert McClinton, Jimmie Vaughn, Los Lobos.
WANEE MUSIC FESTIVAL
Date: Thu.-Sat., April 18-20, 2013
The Lowdown: Here’s a spoiler: The Allman Brothers Band has played almost every edition of Wanee (they skipped out on the festivities due to Gregg’s health issues in 2008), and while organizers have yet to announce the lineup for the eighth installment of the fest, expect the spirit of jam bands and mostly groove-centric acts to dominate the schedule once again. The setting is the always impressive Spirit Of Suwanee Music Park.
Past guests: Gov’t Mule, Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi, Robert Plant & The Band of Joy, Stephen Marley, Widespread Panic, The Black Keys, The Wailers, The Funky Meters, JJ Grey and Mofro, Robert Randolph.
WMNF TROPICAL HEATWAVE
Date: Sat., May 11, 2013 (tentative)
The Lowdown: This long-running, Ybor-based music festival curated and put on by community radio station WMNF 88.5 FM is truly an annual rite of spring for Tampa Bay and looks to continue its long-standing tradition of presenting the most eclectic lineup this side of I-75. The 2012 roster featured over 60 bands on 13 stages and found the festival testing out new venues like The Bricks and Centennial Park.
Past guests: Cracker, Spiller, Carolina Chocolate Drops, All Get Out, Peelander-Z.
TOTAL BUMMER FESTIVAL
Date: Various dates around Florida
The Lowdown: Founded by JT Bringarder as a reaction to the “corporate douchery” of other festivals, Total Bummer hosted its first two events in Gainesville and Tallahassee before most recently presenting “Total Bummer 3D” across various venues in Orlando. The fest’s focus is less on brands or hype and more on community and ethics. Next year’s festivities still don’t have a date or location but the Orlando edition featured bands like A.T.T.I.C., Roadkill Ghost Choir and Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, plus about 90 more acts that played over four days.
More past guests: Wet Nurse, Millionyoung, Yip Yip, Hundred Waters, Grant, Yung Life.
This article appears in Jul 26 – Aug 1, 2012.