THURSDAY, JULY 12
Ultimate Band Series Semi-Finals The Ritz Ybor kicks off its third annual Ultimate Band Series competition, which awards one local band with a fatty $5k-valued prize package that includes the chance to open for a nationally touring act stopping at the Ybor venue over the next year, studio recording time, and paid gigs at three upcoming Bay area events. Winners from each of the three semi-final rounds are determined by audience applause and a panel of judges that includes CL's own marketing guru, Joran Oppelt, and Jesse Kage from The Kage Kult Show on 98Rock. Five bands face-off in this first round of semi-finals with a "Red Hot Chili Pepper" theme: Sunshine & Bullets, Fight Another Day, The Northwest, Rising Down, and Red Calling. (The Ritz Ybor, Ybor City) —Leilani Polk
Antiwarpt Movie Night: Black Dynamite To hype up the appearance of Adrian Younge at Antiwarpt III on July 28, Brokenmold presents a free screening of the 2009 film that the San Francisco-based musician edited and scored with his sophisticated fusion of psychedelic soul and dramatic funkadelia. Black Dynamite is a 1970s-style blaxploitation action spoof that follows ex-CIA agent and general badass mutha Black Dynamite as he cleans up the streets and gets vengeance for his only brother's death, all to the beat of his own theme music. The Crate Brothers spin jams before and after the presentation. (The Roosevelt 2.0, Ybor City)—LP
FRIDAY, JULY 13
Bard & Mustache w/Diealps!/We're Not Dead New Jersey native cellist Gregory Bortnichak (Sparta Philharmonic, Circa Survive) and Sarasota singer/guitarist Erin Murphy (The Equines) are the creative minds behind Bard & Mustache, a recording project they formed early last year and made permanent after some touring, an EP release and Bortnichak's move to the Sunshine State. Murphy's vocals are the rich and resonant centerpiece of the duo's experimental folk-jazz, lyrics offering sweetly poetic musings or understated yet vivid metaphor. (From "Velvet": "We were dressed like summer camp, swimming in the oil paint / and the leaves were dripping pigment onto the river lying underneath.") Two Tampa bands support: Diealps! does waltzing, finely-textured indie pop with multi-voice harmonies while We're Not Dead serves bouncy synth pop marked by heavy distorted guitars. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)—LP
Aych's Monster Ball The Bay area's own prolific, high-quality emcee (and multi-Best of the Bay award winner) issues his second recording in 2012 (the first was January's To Kill a King). Monster is unveiled at his Monsters' Ball CD release party aptly falling on Friday the 13th. Among the guest performers are TK Phresh, Koi, the Head Nokka Family, and Annex; showtime at 11 p.m. (Crowbar, Ybor City)—LP
Kaskade A house-rooted EDM DJ/producer who draws healthily on progressive, deep and electro influences and dabbles in dubstep, Kaskade (Chicago native Ryan Raddon) has gotten big ups from the likes of Fuse and Rolling Stone for his much-talked-about Coachella performance, which went up against Radiohead and still managed to draw a fatty crowd. He also unveiled a new stage set-up at the California fest, and he’s taken it on the road for this tour supporting 2011's Fire & Ice, his seventh and latest LP. Expect lots of LED screens flashing vibrant kaleidoscopic visuals and an all-purpose dance party atmosphere. (Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall, Tampa)—LP
Cope w/Big Something Cope holds down the title of the Tampa Bay area's most reliably solid jam rock band with a compelling balance of roots, funk, blues, electro-psychedelia, and reggae that's marked by strong guitar melodies and easy-going bass grooves of the brothers Stadelman (Dennis and Kenny), appealing multi-voice harmonies as led by Dennis, layered keyboards and sax embellishments by Juan "Juanjamon" Montero, and a robust back-beat held down by drummer Dave Gerulat. See, Cope's well-crafted sophomore LP, was self-released last year. On this night, they're joined by N.C.-based sax-fused electro-groove rock sextet, Big Something. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)—LP
Michale Graves If the name rings a bell but you're not sure where it's tolling from, then you might've been a Misfits fan in the late 1990s, since that's when Michale Graves sang lead for the band, up until late 2000. He's worked on various projects amid doing the solo acoustic punk thing and providing vocals on the road with Marky Ramone's band, Blitzkrieg; this tour hypes a forthcoming solo electric (full band) album, War of Information. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)—LP
Gulfster Presents: Offshore Riot w/Sidereal/Paint The Town Red After a nearly two-year hiatus, Tampa Bay's reggae rock outfit with buoyant melodic grooving tendencies, Offshore Riot, makes their triumphant return and will debut some new material along with dusting off all the old favorites. (Local 662, St. Petersburg)—LP
Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival: Slipknot / Slayer / Motörhead / Anthrax / The Devil Wears Prada / As I Lay Dying / AskingAlexandria / Whitechapel A diverse array of howls, roars, bellows, shrieks and wails fill the Gary Amphitheatre when the fifth annual edition of the traveling Mayhem metal fest hits Tampa on its 26-date run. Headlining are four genre heavyweights: Slipknot, the Midwest's alt-nu metal eight-piece that adds rapping to their chaotic aggression, each member clad in his own freaky-unique mask and uniform; rapid fire thrash-blasting foursome Slayer, of the wildly dueling guitar solos and brutally booming double bass drums; crusty eardrum-shattering British heavy metal trio Motörhead, which has issued 21 albums in their nearly four-decade career; and NYC speed and thrash innovators Anthrax, with "classic era" vocalist Joey Belladonna returning to the fold a few years back in time to record a 10th album, 2011's Worship Music, for Anthrax's 30th anniversary. Four strong metal-rooted acts spawned from the '00s round out the two-stage fest; music kicks off at 1:30 p.m. (1-800-Ask-Gary-Amphitheatre, Tampa)—LP
Bob on Blonde w/Genghis Flan/Electrigeez Bob on Blonde, from Orlando, is an alt rock two-piece with a vaguely ‘90s sonic vibe that blends distorted guitars and acoustic strumming, tuneful vocals with a tendency to drone, and muscular drumming. The self-styled Floridana of Genghis Flan draws on alt country, acoustic pop and blues rock influences. And Electrigeez is the new rock project featuring Rodney Smith (Signals from Satellites, Y Los Dos Pistoles) on drums, David Kibby (The Whales, Brahm Bones) on guitar and Owen Meats (Short Circuit Studios) on bass. (Stoney's, Tampa)—LP
SATURDAY, JULY 14
Ryann's Goodbye & Art Show w/Sleepy Vikings/Sleepy Eye Giant/Spies on Bikes The Bay area loses another bright young talent this fall when Ryann Slauson — drummer of Sleepy Vikings, frontwoman of noise-core outfit Loins, and visual artist whose playful sense of humor seeps into her work — heads to White Plans, N.Y. in August to attend fine arts grad school at SUNY Purchase, ending her time here indefinitely. Although it's not her final show with alt roots/shoegaze rock outfit Sleepy Vikings (they still have Antiwarpt on the horizon), this is Slauson's official send-off; one part exhibition and sale of drawings, multi-media and sculpture pieces by Slauson to drum up funds for her move, and one part local indie rock show. Two other hand-picked bands (Sleepy Eye Giant from Charleston, S.C. and Tampa's Spies on Bikes) fill out the bill and Sleepy Vikings — which continues on without her and is ISO a new drummer — hawks some new exclusive merch that includes 50 limited edition cassette tape copies of four new recordings, like their cover of Danzig's "Mother." (New World Brewery, Ybor City) —LP
Dunedin Brewery's 16th Anniversary Party w/Cypress/Fusik/El Groundscoro The Brewery celebrates 16 years of continued existence with some very special craft beer selections and a few newly-released flavors, including its own much-anticipated 16th Anniversary Bohemian Pilsner. Live funkified jams and grooves provided by three South Florida bands: Cypress, Fusik and El Groundscoro (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin)—LP
This Land is Your Land: Woody Guthrie's 100th Birthday Celebration w/Al Torchia and the Tattered Saints/Dirty Spoons and Trash Revue/Blue Cypress/Ted Lukas/Will Quinlan and the Diviners/The Joel Tangelo Band/Rayzilla/Funky Seeds/Steve Arvey/Crabgrass Cowboys/Reina Collins/The Florida Mountain Boys/Rebekah Pulley and the Reluctant Prophets/many more Anybody living in America has heard at least the first verse of a Woody Guthrie tune and anyone with a learned ear in folk knows the influence Guthrie had on the genre. In celebration of a man who wrote hundreds of songs, including "This Land is Your Land" (which is actually political criticism), WMNF stages one of its customary tribute shows marking his 100th birthday and the legacy he left for modern folk, country, and Americana artists. Sadly, Guthrie won’t be making an appearance (he died in 1967), but more than 20 local bands honor his memory with performances of select numbers from his extensive repertoire. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa) —Miles Parks
Trevor Hall w/Anuhea/Justin Young Boho chic singer-songwriter Trevor Hall has a husky, lower register timbre with a faint island-flecked intonation belying his Hilton Head, S.C. upbringing. He delivers lyrics like "I was hiding in the lime tree, it took a while for you to find me" and "We put the stars to shame / What can I say? / The earth it turns but we never fade away" against breezy acoustic guitar-driven pop rock layered with shades of reggae, folk and blue-eyed soul. This current run of dates support his fifth full-length, 2011's Everything Everytime Everywhere. (Crowbar, Ybor City)—LP
Victims of Circumstance w/Johnny Cakes & the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypso/Resinated/Lemon Law Before Clearwater’s Victims of Circumstance kicks off the next round of European touring in support of their third studio album, Akupuncture (Financial Records), the forceful horn-fused punk-ska five-piece plays this send-off show with several solid-quality like acts joining in on the fun. (Local 662, St. Petersburg)—LP
Hot Tuna Acoustic The legendary band was spawned from Jefferson Airplane by guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and bassist Jack Casady, who've built up a blues-folk rock catalog that spans more than four decades, and encompasses 2011's Steady as She Goes, the first new Hot Tuna studio album since 1990. Live, the duo delivers wry quips and witty banter that rolls along as easily as their instrumentals and makes for high entertainment. To read Kevin Tighe's Q&A with Kaukonen, click here. (Ferguson Hall at Straz Center for Performing Arts, Tampa) —LP
Zanesville w/Pretty Voices/Popular Mechanics Three Tampa Bay rock bands fill out this bill at Collage: Pretty Voices, a four-piece that churns out jangly garage with late '70s NYC power-pop appeal; raucous punkabilly trio Zanesville; and Popular Mechanics, a new rock outfit featuring former Pretty Voices guitarist Dan Rasp. (Collage Ybor, Ybor City)—LP
SUNDAY, JULY 15
Beres Hammond w/9Tomorrows Romantic lovers rock reggae balladeer Beres Hammond serenades with softly stroking, husky soulful vocals carried on a swaying backbeat that picks up a livelier tempo when he delves into the sounds of dancehall, roots reggae, hip-hop, and modern R&B. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)—LP
Pinkerton Thugs Established in the mid-1990s as a shit-kicking punk rock four-piece with radical ideas and a vigorous style of delivery, Maine’s Pinkerton Thugs dissolved in 2000, re-assembled in 2008, and were signed to Jailhouse Records (The Spears, Pink Lincolns) in 2011. This year finds the band re-releasing all their older albums and recording a new one in the fall following this U.S. summer tour. (The Hub, downtown Tampa)—LP
Scream It Like you Mean It Tour w/The Acacia Strain/Oceano/The Chariot/In Fear and Faith/For All Those Sleeping/Volumes/Hands Like Houses The fourth edition of the "Scream It Like you Mean It Tour" brings a new batch of shrieking core-something groups to town on its tri-secting U.S. tour. Among the highlights on the St. Pete stop are New England quartet The Acacia Strain, which signed to Rise Records in April and are expected to issue a new album later this year featuring their signature mix of noise, deathcore and alt/doom metal; Chicago's extreme death metal and hardcore purveyors Oceano; and mathcore/metalcore/hardcore punk blasters The Chariot, from Atlanta. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)—LP
Soul Circus Cowboys Drawling singer-songwriter Billy McKnight recently collaborated on some new material with Nashville-based musician/producer Henry Paul (a Tampa native who played with The Outlaws and Blackhawk). He put together Soul Circus Cowboys (lead guitarist Johnny Chromatic, bassist Jason Gaines, and drummer Jason Alfano) to help flesh out the Southern-driving country rock and lay it down in the studio. First single to debut is the sadly uplifting "Lay It Down." (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)—LP
Chris Thomas King A New Orleans bluesman with dirty south hip hop flavor and some noteworthy acting credits to his name, three-time Grammy-winner Chris Thomas King (who you might remember from the 2000 film O Brother Where Art Thou or HBO's current post-Katrina drama series, Treme) hits the Side Door stage with his trio for an intimate nightclub-style presentation backing his first double album, the 2011 Nashville-influenced Antebellum Postcards, which mixes new material with updates of antique blues and folk songs like "Wayfaring Stranger" and "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow." (Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg)—LP
TUESDAY, JULY 17
Barenaked Ladies w/Blues Traveler/Cracker/Big Head Todd & the Monsters Four mainstream AC alt rock bands hit town as part of the "Last Summer on Earth Tour" as headlined by The Barenaked Ladies. The Canadian biggies have churned out their fair share of pop-catchy hit singles over a more than two-decade career ("One Week," "Pinch Me," "Brian Wilson," "If I Had $1,000,000") and last year, dropped All In Good Time, their 11th studio album and first as a four-piece (Ed Robertson assumed all vocal duties after Steven Page left the band in 2009 to explore his solo options). On an interesting side note, BNL is currently working on an original score for Animal House: The Musical, that's based on the popular 1978 John Landis comedy. Harp-slinging brassy-singing John Popper leads Blues Traveler, a New Jersey quintet that earned a Grammy for their 1994 breakthrough hit, "Run-Around," and currently backs their 10th full-length, 2012's Suzie Cracks the Whip. Also on the Earth Tour: Colorado's twangy bluesy Big Head Todd & The Monsters, their own latest release, Big Head Blues Club – 100 Years of Robert Johnson, a stirring tribute of classic Johnson tunes as re-imagined by the band and a guest list of blues luminaries like B.B. King and the late Hubert Sumlin; and alt country vets Cracker, founded in 1991 by Camper Van Beethoven's singer-songwriter David Lowery and guitarist Johnny Hickman. (1-800-Ask-Gary-Amphitheatre, Tampa)—LP
WEDNESDAY, JULY 18
Dave Matthews Band Some might take a look at this listing and groan, "Another Dave Matthews Band show?" While it's true that Matthews has been a frequent visitor to the bay area, having played here every year from 2004 to 2010, this mid-summer show promises freshness as two years have passed since their last stop in Tampa, and the band is gearing up for a September release of their eighth and latest studio album, Away From the World. Also on the bill is an warm up act that will likely appeal to the slightly older sect, Tower of Power. The R&B band with the legendary horn section has been performing funky jams for more than four decades, and brings a legacy to this show that DMB is still working to achieve. (1-800-Ask-Gary-Amphitheatre, Tampa) —Miles Parks
CLICK HERE to see a complete rundown of shows taking place this week and in the coming weeks.
This article appears in Jul 12-18, 2012.