DJ Blenda Credit: Photo by Ysanne Taylor c/o Gasparilla Music Festival

When you talk about totems of the Tampa music scene, you have to mention Michael Mendolusky, aka DJ Blenda, who co-founded the Gwan Massive collective and possesses one of the deepest musical minds in the Bay area, especially when it comes to reggae and dub.

For this birthday show, he’s joined by Tribal Style—a band for which Blenda has played the congas and percussion—the Gwans themselves, Tampa beat gawd Slopfunkdust and more.

There’s no cover to for DJ Blenda’s 50th birthday concert happening at New World Brewery in Tampa on Saturday, Feb. 18.

This article appears in Feb 9-15, 2023.

Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief...