Jam scene favorite Spafford returns to Tampa for intimate Crowbar concert

In true jam-band form, Arizona’s own Spafford—which plays Crowbar in Ybor City on Thursday, Nov. 17—twists its setlists up every night.

Along with selections from its five-album discography, the band also sprinkles in covers from Men At Work, Alan Parsons, or whoever the hell it so pleases to salute in a specific moment. Spafford also just surprise-released a new eight-track album, Simple Mysteries, full of bluesy guitar and organ riffs, and Brian Moss’ unaltered, crisp vocals.

Guavatron opens the Spafford’s first Tampa Bay gig since a January 2020 stop at the since-shuttered Ybor City Orpheum, which the band actually memorialized in a recent live release.

This article appears in Nov 3-9, 2022.