THURSDAY, MAY 5
KREATOR w/VADER Germany's Kreator was one of the bigger second-tier acts of the late-'80s thrash-metal heyday. Though they never attained the status of a Megadeth or Anthrax, the band's mix of technical prowess and brutality made it perhaps the most popular European act of the period. And one of the most enduring; the group never faded into oblivion, and has released albums fairly consistently ever since, the latest being this year's Enemy of God. Vader is a Polish death metal outfit with an extremely loyal cult following. Expect a few more openers to be added to this bill as well, but these two alone are well worth the price of admission. (Masquerade, Ybor City)
SLIGHTLY STOOPID/FISHBONE Slightly Stoopid are the nice guys of the often brah'ed-out surf/reggae/punk scene mainstreamed by Sublime. The sound is much more catchy than that of many of their peers, and their shows seem to be a little less heavily populated by those guys in wifebeaters who smoke a shitload of dope and manage to still want to fight. The single "This Joint" achieved most-requested status on influential L.A. station KROQ a little while back, and after playing this years New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the group will spend a couple of weeks opening for Dave Matthews and subsequently become huge. I don't need to tell you about the legendary funk-ska-metal freakout that is Fishbone, except to say that they're still as good live as you remember. Highly recommended. (Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg)
GRUPO RAICES Dude, don't get your Cinco de Mayo on at Tia's Tex Mex; that's just the lamest. Head out to downtown St. Pete and get your Cinco de Mayo on for real, with a great, sexy Latin band, a fine lookin' crowd full of potential dance partners, and copious amounts of Patron. (The Lobby, St. Petersburg)
THE MORNING AFTER CD RELEASE PARTY If awards were given out to the hardest working bands in show business, The Morning After would have a mantle full of trophies by now. Faces for Radio is their new release, and for kids anxiously awaiting the next Dashboard Confessional (or for that matter, Limp Bizkit) CDs, this'll tide you over for a while. Joining TMA for this all-ages show is Exit Plan, Dolt, Ripa Joda, New Crash Position and Stuk. (Club Heat, Bradenton)
-Mark Sanders
FRIDAY, MAY 6
THE BLACK KEYS w/THE HENTCHMEN/THE LEGENDARY J.C.'S Last years' Black Keys album, Rubber Factory, was my co-favorite of '04. It's a bruising blend of blues, R&B and rock delivered with serious whomp by just two dudes – singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney – in their mid 20s form Akron, Ohio. If raw, garage-y blues-rock sounds enticing to you, I cannot recommend this show enough. Check out more on the Black Keys in the lead music feature on page 55. The legendary J.C.'s have carved out a niche in the Southeast as a wild-eyed soul revue, horns and all. The Hentchmen are a stompin', Michigan-based garage-rock band.
-Eric Snider
KENNY CHESNEY w/GRETCHEN WILSON/UNCLE KRACKER You know the line between country and pop has become irrevocably blurred when Uncle Freakin' Kracker is opening for two of contemporary C&W's biggest crossover successes. Last year, Gretchen Wilson's "Redneck Woman" became the first tune by a female artist to top the Billboard country charts in more than two years, and her debut album had the biggest first week for a new artist in the genre, ever; it's almost enough to forget she's associated with Big & Rich. I'm not a big fan of Kenny Chesney's easy, pat country-pop, but he jumped onstage as a special guest at a Tim McGraw show I attended several years back, and the guy's got the stage-presence goods. (St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa)
THE EXIES w/THE MORNING AFTER/DOLT The Exies became known to fans of FM radio rock a couple years ago with their album Inertia and its hit single, "My Goddess." They maintain a healthy fanbase, if their bill-sharing with Alter Bridge, Breaking Benjamin and Papa Roach at the Ford Ampitheatre last week was any indication. Compared to that, this is an intimate show, one that features local boys The Morning After and Fort Myers rock gods Dolt. (Rockerfellas, Bradenton)
-MS
MENEGUAR/GOSPEL/SHED FOR YOU I'm checking out the wonderfully named I Was Born at Night disc from Meneguar just this minute, and it does a pretty good job of balancing emphatic, discordant emo with a raw lo-fi indie-rock aesthetic. Brooklyn's Gospel is a bit heavier, and provides a nice transition between Tarpon Springs' cathartic Shed for You and the less brutal headliner. (Skatepark of Tampa, Tampa)
DONNA THE BUFFALO w/JAZZ MANDOLIN PROJECT The Bay area's favorite eclectic underground roots-jam touring act wages a two-night stand at what's probably the best place in town to see this or any other type of music. Donna the Buffalo's got what seems like a standing invitation to ring in the New Year for WMNF, but why wait? Plus, you've got the instrumental virtuosity and organic feel of the lauded Jazz Mandolin Project as a bonus, both tonight and tomorrow. (Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg)
SATURDAY, MAY 7
VNV NATION w/IMPERATIVE REACTION/SOMAN Veteran ambient/electro/industrial project VNV Nation came along at the height of America's musical industrial revolution, and has stayed relevant by cultivating an underground following that includes fans of everything from techno to Goth; the group is one of its genre's most frequent visitors to Tampa. This time around, VNV Nation is supported by more synth-pop-influenced Imperative Reaction and German production team/harsh-techno purveyor Soman. (Masquerade, Ybor City)
KELLY CLARKSON w/GRAHAM COLTON BAND Singer Clarkson seems to have shaken off the stigma of being an American Idol winner, and re-emerged with an anthemic pop-rock sound. What she can't avoid, however, is the cloying tang of pre-packaged product – some teens and moms might find "the new Kelly" edgy, but it's still the same old formulaic, mediocre target-marketed stuff. The earthy, catchy Graham Colton Band fares a bit better, but also comes off as too safe despite the occasionally snotty vocals; the group has supported Maroon 5 and John Mayer, and sounds perfect for the job. (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)
HERITAGE O.P. This world-beat collective blends the music of Africa, South America and the Caribbean with dance to deliver a lively evening that will be very conducive to shakin' that thang. The O.P. stands for "organic percussion"; hence the ensemble uses mostly traditional instruments. The nine-year group characterizes its music as "a healing force of the world." (Octagon Arts Center, Clearwater)
-ES
KYLESA w/THE HOLY MOUNTAIN/BAD EATING HABITS Kylesa hails from Savannah, Ga. and plies a dark, dirty, ominous brand of metal that sounds a bit like a more gnarly take on Jucifer, and a lot like this old, obscure female-fronted thrash outfit called Fear of God. The band's To Walk a Middle Course is pretty good stuff. Every crusty Tampa kid loves the frenetic Holy Mountain, and apparently, new Brandon outfit Bad Eating Habits has it in 'em to inspire some crazy pit action. (Skatepark of Tampa, Tampa)
SUNDAY, MAY 8
THE DIRTBOMBS w/THE UNREQUITED LOVES/THE DEAD POPES/SLAPDOWN! WOMEN'S WRESTLING Detroit's semi-legendary garage punks The Dirtbombs finally take a trip down America's wang. Read the music feature on page 58, and be there. Two drummers, two basses and one Mick Collins equal filthy, catchy, overdriven fun. And as if that – and fuzzed-out locals The Unrequited Loves and The Dead Popes – weren't enough, you also get, perplexingly, some girl-on-girl action courtesy of bizarro women's wrestling organization Slapdown! (Exclamation point theirs, not mine.) (Orpheum, Ybor City)
MONDAY, MAY 9
SARAH MCLACHLAN w/THE PERISHERS The Lilith Fair founder, first-generation Adult Alternative superstar and formerly ubiquitous soulful dream-pop singer-songwriter returned to your ears in 2003 with the tepidly received Afterglow, and chased it last year with an in-concert release, but it looks as though her days of radio saturation may be behind her. Still, this is the Grammy nominee's first American tour in years, and we're willing to bet she'll be in fine emotive and atmospheric form. The Perishers hail from Sweden; Jane magazine paid them the backhanded compliment of calling them "cute" and "Radiohead without the edge," and they made inroads to the American consciousness last fall via an aural presence on TV shows The OC and One Tree Hill. (St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa)
TUESDAY, MAY 10
MICHAEL TOLCHER Catchy roots-rocker Tolcher is a touring machine. He's already visited the Bay area a couple of times in support of his 2004 album I Am, and the roadwork seems to be paying off in the form of an ever-growing word-of-mouth buzz and accolades from guys a little higher up the jam-pop food chain. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
GOVE SCRIVENOR w/NOELLE PRICE Scrivenor is one of those rare roots guys whose singing and playing abilities are equally superb. He's also reportedly a hell of an entertaining live act, delivering blues-based singer-songwriter fare with deft picking and an easy, engaging connection to the audience. Singer-songwriter Price hails from California, and puts a lot of personal eccentricity into her acoustic folk-rock. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
WEDNESDAY, MAY 11
SKINDRED Quickly rising Welsh metal act Skindred gets a lot of ink for throwing dub and reggae influences into a nu-metal-ish sound that's not really all that different from the scads of bands that rose and fell over the past three years of heavy modern rock. Sure, there are some interesting accents to the tuneage, but more than anything else, it's familiar hard groove-ness with a small, novel new angle. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
THROUGH THE EYES OF THE DEAD/IMPERIAL/SILENCE AFTER TRAGEDY/THIS WILL BE REMEMBERED/HELL WITHIN Clearwater's 688 Skatepark is fast becoming the place to see young up-and-coming screamo bands. Tonight's bill is heavy on those acts that infuse their hardcore with a heavy dose of death-metal influence. Through the Eyes of the Dead hail from South Carolina, and one of their tunes cops a sample from Tombstone, so you know they're hip, and Orlando's Imperial boasts some cool classic-metal guitar mayhem. Also on the bill is New Port Richey's own Silence After Tragedy, an act that has hit the road hard and is quickly making a name for itself in the screamo scene. The group's new EP 1,042 Ways Not to Play Fair features raw production and some of the creepiest throat-shredding vocals not originating in Scandinavia. (688 Skatepark, Clearwater)
This article appears in May 4-10, 2005.