THE PIXIES W/THE THRILLS If you care at all, you're probably so sick of hearing about this show that you're half-tempted to boycott out of sheer spite. But you won't, and you know it, so let's run it down one more time. College-rock innovators The Pixies have become so canonized since their mid-'90s breakup that some people believe Jesus Himself ordered the group to invent alternative music. He didn't, of course, but they made some damn fine music, and provided the quiet verse/loud chorus template that countless groups have since ridden to riches. Yes, hype is cheap, but The Pixies deserve their status as icons, and you need to be there. As a value-added bonus, you also get excellent Irish pop outfit The Thrills, whose new album Let's Bottle Bohemia will almost surely grace a plethora of Top Ten lists come New Year's. (Oct. 8, USF Sun Dome, Tampa)
LES DUDEK Journeyman Floridian guitarist and songwriter Dudek spent the '70s helping out some of the biggest names of the era, including Steve Miller, The Allman Brothers and Boz Skaggs. Since then, he's enjoyed a successful solo career as has lent his talents to music by Cher, Stevie Nicks and others. For some reason, I got faxed his stage-requirements rider, and you'll be happy to know that Les only plays tube amplifiers, and demands that only Straw, No Color Pink, Light Amber and Light Orange color-gels be used for the front-of-stage lighting. (Oct. 8, Bourbon Street, New Port Richey)
SWING TIME'S FOURTH ANNIVERSARY FEAT. PEPPER & FINE THYME The Bay area dance-fest show-throwers at Swing Time have been at it for four years now. That doesn't seem like a lot, but in dog years, the co-op is already old enough to know that Jane's Addiction used to be good. Seven-piece veteran swing-circuit outfit Pepper & Fine Thyme provides the dance floor-filling tunes; it's no coincidence that the group played the first-ever Swing Time event. (Oct. 8, Centro Asturiano, Ybor City)
CAVANI STRING QUARTET This 20-year-old ensemble works diligently to bring the works of contemporary composers to a wider audience, and has won the prestigious Naumburg Chamber Music Award. Mahaffey Theater has partnered with the Palladium in an effort to dangle this particular morsel of culture in front of your slack, oily faces. Eat up, Gomer. (Oct. 8, Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg)
PETER MAYER Mayer hails from Minnesota, and has been touring and releasing records independently since 1995. He's moved more than 40,000 units on the strength of his performances, word-of-mouth and the platitudes of better-known singer-songwriters. Mayer's won numerous prestigious folk awards, and avoids the usual lovelorn lyrical fare in favor of topics like nature and science. (Oct. 8, Octagon Arts Center, Clearwater)
THE AHN TRIO Three insanely talented Korean sisters adapt classical styles from all over the world to a contemporary format (violin, cello and piano). The group made its debut on Korean TV back in '79, and has since been schooled at Julliard, shown up on the cover of Time, and appeared live with Bryan Adams during MTV's 1997 season of Unplugged. (Oct. 9, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Tampa)
THE O.C. SUPERTONES/SUPERCHIC(K)/THIS DAY ON You have The Refuge to thank (again) for this eclectic, posi-minded indie show. The O.C. Supertones are one of the best ska-punk acts still plying their trade; they've got tight, gutsy, infectious tunes, and impeccable harmonies to boot. Too-eclectic modern rock/pop-punk/nu-metal/electronica outfit Superchic(k), on the other hand, careens from style to style, trying to find a hit — it's sad, really. They can go from sounding like Jewel tussling with Blink-182 to sounding like Linkin Park covering Sugar Ray, but all they really sound like is an unfocused sales pitch for an energetic and edgy, yet rewarding, lifestyle. (Oct. 10, 688 Skatepark, Clearwater)
COLD JOON/IRRITABLE TRIBE OF POETS JOINT CD RELEASE PARTY Two of the Bay area's most singular, culturally minded combos are throwing a jammy-jam to celebrate a new CD apiece. Cold Joon's putting out its funky, danceable, world-rhythm-driven Time to Go (which we reviewed last issue), and Irritable Tribe of Poets is touting Kahlo, a series of poet/spoken-word artist Rhonda J. Nelson's pieces on the subject of the Mexican artist after whom the album is named, "set to a wide variety of musical genres." (Oct. 10, Viva La Frida Cafe y Galeria, Tampa)
JAZZ MANDOLIN PROJECT Preservation Hall Jazz Band alumnus Jamie Masefield has kept his wildly eclectic, primarily improvisational JMP rolling across the country off and on since '93. In that time, he's made fans of everyone from jazz snobs to jam-heads. No, my little Phishies, drummer Jon Fishman won't be making the current jaunt with the outfit — according to the JMP website, Masefield's compadres this time out are trumpet and keyboard player Michael Mavridoglou, percussionist Mark Guiliana, and upright bassist Scott Ritchie. (Oct. 10, Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg)
DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE W/TRAVIS MORRISON In just an eyeblink, eloquent Pacific Northwest indie-popsters Death Cab went from being the band that young hipster girl invoked to beat you in a round of "Have You Heard?" to being the band that even Peter Gallagher fans have heard of. It's enough to make those who always consider themselves among their favorite group's inner circle of "real" fans nauseous; fortunately, nearly everything Death Cab has ever done, including their latest, Transatlanticism, is sweet Pepto Bismol for the ears. Who is Travis Morrison, you ask? Why, he's the former leader of former band The Dismemberment Plan, a loved and lamented maverick indie outfit that called it quits a few years back. These days, he's the guy responsible for a solo album called Travistan; said album's fractured vibe and almost complete lack of general goodness seems well-nigh inexplicable, given the quality of his past associations. I don't agree with Pitchfork often, but I gotta go with 'em on this one: Travistan is indescribably disappointing. (Oct. 11, Masquerade, Ybor City)
JOE SATRIANI Since sideswiping the consciousness of the music audience at large in the late '80s with "Satch Boogie," former cult shred-god and guitar instructor to the stars Satriani has consistently found novel ways of drawing a crowd. Now, in the wake of the successful series of G3 tours (during which he hit the road with two other guitarists, one of whom was usually Steve Vai), he's fronting a power-trio format on this promotional jaunt for his latest album, Is There Love in Space? (Oct. 11, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)
KEVIN DANZIG & MAGDA HILLER The beloved, critically acclaimed and multiple award-winning folk/singer-songwriter duo returns to the Skipperdome, under the auspices of tireless roots/folk/Americana promoter TAFEE. (Oct. 12, Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
CAKE W/NORTHERN STATE I don't know how they did it, but Cake have built an impressive career out of spacing a handful of what might've been one-hit-wonder singles over a decade. Everyone from blind-drunk frat doofs to Ween fans climb on the bar when "Going the Distance," "Never There" or "Short Skirt, Long Jacket" comes on. It's crazy, and more power to 'em. All-girl hip-hop act Northern State has taken a similarly dangerous career path; they easily could've gotten themselves written off as a novelty, but their new album, All City, reportedly showcases a maturity (as well as vocal talents) lots of folks didn't think the group was capable of achieving. (Oct. 12, Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg)
BRAZIL/EMERY/FROM FIRST TO LAST/DOWN TO EARTH And finally, we reach this week's all-ages State show packed with young bands doing alternately new/exciting and nu/cookie-cutter things with this year's punk styles. The big deal here seems to be Fearless Records upstarts Brazil, who have been seriously and favorably called "punk meets Rush," leading me to believe there's probably a heavy Coheed & Cambria vibe going on. (Oct. 12, State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
All entries by Scott Harrell.
This article appears in Oct 6-12, 2004.