Royal rockers
There will always be an audience for swaggering rock 'n' roll, the kind that celebrates sex, laments love lost and allows ya to tap your foot to a greasy groove. That's why the Rolling Stones can still fill stadiums and neo-classic rockers like Kings of Leon are always a welcome addition to the music scene. Consisting of the three, Pentecostal-raised Followill brothers and a first cousin, the quartet formed in Nashville in 2000, releasing their major label debut album Youth and Young Manhood on RCA three years later. The disc failed to produce a hit single but achieved critical acclaim, with the band's live shows also earning strong reviews. Kings of Leon's '05 sophomore album, Aha Shake Heartbreak, proved even more consistent, with the band sticking to its Southern rock roots à la the Drive-By Truckers. The Kings' latest album, Because of the Times, which came out in April, has an ambient, distorted bent to it but still rocks, just in a more My Morning Jacket fashion. Opener Black Rebel Motorcycle Club should have no problem priming the crowd with loud rockers like "Berlin," a standout from their latest album, Baby 81.
Kings of Leon w/Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Sat., Nov. 3, 8 p.m., Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg, $29.50/$33 day of show —Wade Tatangelo
One more last damn show
Wild 98.7 has been throwing its annual Last Damn Show bash since '99, bringing to town hip-hop and R&B heavyweights such as Eminem, Destiny's Child and Kanye West over the years. This edition's headliners are New Orleans hardcore rapper Lil' Wayne, hip-hop veteran/perennial ladies man LL Cool J and Swizz Beats, the superproducer whose solo career took off in full this year with his album One Man Band Man and the hit single "Money in the Bank," a catchy ditty about having the cash to help a sister out, but not the heart. Hitmakers Fabolous ("Make Me Better"), Plies ("Shawty"), and Three 6 Mafia ("Hard Out There for a Pimp") are also scheduled to appear.
Last Damn Show Nine w/Lil' Wayne/LL Cool J/Swizz Beats/Fabolous/Plies/Three 6 Mafia/2 Pistols/Cassidy/Hurricane Chris/The Dream, Fri., Nov. 2, 6 p.m., Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, $20-$45. —WT
Kind of blue
Rarely does a song hit me so hard that I have to pull off the road upon hearing it. But that's what happened to me about five or six years ago. Driving down Busch Boulevard on my way home from class at USF, I tuned my car stereo to WMNF, and a man with a warm, passionate voice delivered one of the most poignant breakup ballads I had ever heard. Turned out the song was "Killing the Blues," from singer/songwriter Chris Smither's masterful 1993 album Happier Blue, a disc that mixes smart folk and blues originals like the title track with innovative covers such as Smither's reworking of John Hiatt's "Memphis in the Meantime" and Little Feat's "Rock 'n' Roll Doctor." Smither's latest album, 2006's Leave the Light On, is another quality batch of originals, including the hilarious "Origin of Species," as well as a sublime reading of "Visions of Johanna," which ranks right up there with the finest Bob Dylan covers of recent memory.
Chris Smither, Sat., Nov. 3, 8 p.m., Friday Morning Musicale, Tampa, $20. —WT
This article appears in Oct 31 – Nov 6, 2007.