rummer Shawn Watkins of the band Big Sad performing live; a wide-angle shot showing him behind a drum kit with a black bandana, mid-swing with drumsticks in a rehearsal or venue space. — Big Sad plays Microgroove in Tampa, Florida on Sept. 21, 2024. Credit: Rachel Framingheddu / Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

Big Sad’s “Black Umbrellas” is one of the best protest songs to come out of the Bay area. On it, frontman Dave Decker (in full disclosure, also Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s senior photojournalist) sings about Portland protests and “Feds flanked to the right like it’s World War 3.”

The punk band opens this bill at Tampa’s American Legion Seminole Post 111 where it joins crust-punk outfit Headless State, post-hardcore quartet Last Bias, and The Outbreed to raise money for Americans For Immigrant Justice, a Miami-based nonprofit that provides “direct representation, impact litigation, advocacy and outreach” for some of the country’s most vulnerable people.

There’s a $10 suggested donation at the Americans For Immigrant Justice benefit happening at American Legion Seminole Post 111 in Tampa on Saturday, Feb. 21.

Pitch in to help make the Tampa Bay Journalism Project a success.

This article appears in Feb. 19 – 25, 2026.