Cruelty is whittling a fall concert calendar down to the best dozen or so concerts happening in the area, so we’ve decided to lump the absolute best shows across all price points, tastes and formats into a few different categories so that you can circle them and start saving a little money (or time off) to be there. Here are the big names, important up-and-comers, festivals and just plain cool shows headed your way over the next 20 weeks or so.
FESTIVALS
In its second year and set for mid-November in downtown St. Pete, Et Cultura is without a doubt the most intriguing musical festival happening in the area this fall (read more about it here), but there are other tried-and-true favorites having a nice go, too. Whether it’s the ever-expanding, BBQ-loving Tampa Pig Jig (which welcomes its biggest headliner yet — Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats) taking over downtown Tampa’s Curtis Hixon Park on October 28, or the time-tested Clearwater Jazz Holiday (which invites Kenny Loggins with Michael McDonald, The Avett Brothers and more to Coachman Park in October), there’s no shortage of big, multi-stage (and mostly multi-day) festivals to get lost in. And if you want to just get loose with the punks then there’s always the Big Pre-Fest in Little Ybor (set for the last week in October), where literally dozens of the most established and up-and-coming names in punk converge on Cigar City.
NEW KIDS
And while we’re on the topic of up-and-coming, so many of music’s most important newbies have made room for Tampa Bay on their itineraries. Maybe it’s heavy-hitter Kendrick Lamar (playing Amalie Arena on September 1) or intriguing, oft-controversial newcomers like Rich Chigga and Lil’ Peep (both playing Orpheum on October 24 and November 4, respectively), but hip-hop fans have a lot to be excited about. If alt-country and Americana are more your speed, then shows from Oklahoma’s patron saint of red, white and blue rock and roll (John Moreland, playing Straz Center on September 12), country’s great bearded hope (Chris Stapleton, playing the old Gary amphitheatre on November 10) and Ohio honky-tonk and classic-country rising star Lydia Loveless (Ringside Café, September 14) should be must-dos. Pop and world music fans can fawn over Bleachers (playing Jannus Live on September 16), reggae’s best new artist Chronixx (at Orpheum on September 21) and “Despacito” singer Luis Fonsi (Ruth Eckerd Hall on September 20). Those looking for the hottest of the best new acts, however can try begging for a ticket to see R&B’s most exciting new voice, SZA (whose October 8 show in Ybor City sold out in less than 10 minutes).
BIG'UNS
When it comes to humongous names, there probably isn’t one bigger than Sting, who’ll be joining the Florida Orchestra for a sure-to-sell-out December 9 show at Mahaffey Theater in St. Pete. Tampa, however, has St. Pete on lock when it comes to big concert opulence. Nearly every gigantic show of note happens in Hillsborough County thanks to the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre (hosting Green Day on September 5 and Jack Johnson on October 4) or Amalie Arena, whose impressive run of fall shows includes Mumford and Sons (September 20), Bruno Mars (October 19), Lady Gaga (December 1) and Katy Perry (December 15). USF Sundome — which is now being booked by Jeff Vinik-owned Tampa Bay Entertainment Properties — gets in on the area rock, too with a September 22 show from still-hot Candian indie-rock collective Arcade Fire. Still, for longtime participators in Tampa Bay’s music scene, there is no date more important — or bittersweet — than September 23, when one of the area’s most important and long-running venues, New World Brewery, bows out of its 22-year-old Ybor City location with one last blowout featuring more than a dozen of the best local acts from past and present.
OLD ONES
Nostalgia is turned up to 10 in the fall whether you love New York hip-hop (Nas plays Jannus Live on September 21, Brooklyn duo Smif-n-Wessun headlines a rager at Crowbar on September 24) or pop (Hanson at Jannus on September 19; TLC, Mark McGrath, Coolio and All-4-One at Al Lang Stadium on September 10). Classic rock and folk fans have it really good, though, thanks to a run of shows at Clearwater’s Capitol Theatre (Steve Earle on September 8, Art Garfunkel on January 12 & 13) and Ruth Eckerd Hall (Yes on October 11, Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie on November 9 and John Prine on December 16). Oh, if you remember Ben Folds, then make sure to be at the Straz Center when he plays an all-request-by-paper-airplane set on November 11.
BOOKS, RADIO AND MOVIES IN REAL LIFE
There are even concerts for those who love books and the silver screen thanks to the Florida Orchestra’s four performances of the score for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (September 29-October 1 at Straz Center), a La La Land concert (The Mahaffey Theatre, November 12) and The Florida Bjorkestra’s tribute to Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Buffyfest, happening September 23 at the Palladium Theater). Public radio pervs can even stroke their Prairie Home Companion boners when host Chris Thile (who is also an accomplished mandolin player and member in the Punch Brothers and Nickel Creek) plays the Straz Center on October 11.
This article appears in Aug 17-24, 2017.