All entries by Scott Harrell unless otherwise noted.
HATEBREED W/THE ABSENCE/HATE ETERNAL/ SILENCE AFTER TRAGEDY This last-minute addition to State Theatre's weekly lineup is headlined by Hatebreed, one of the most visible metalcore bands at the forefront of the current heavy-music resurgence. Which means buy your tickets in advance, kids. Local extreme-metal act The Absence flat-out rules; in the wake of a cancelled Deicide gig, this is their first high-profile hometown show since hitting the road with Underoath for a few days. Two more worthy Bay area acts, Hate Eternal and the buzzy Silence After Tragedy, provide support. (Oct. 28, State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
DAMAGEPLAN/SHADOWS FALL/THE HAUNTED Pantera co-founders/brothers Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul are up to their old groovecore tricks with the eerily familiar-sounding Damageplan, and are co-headlining this tour with heavily hyped northeastern metal outfit Shadows Fall. In case you needed any more evidence that the brutal stuff is back with a vengeance, Shadows Fall's new album, the vaguely Ride the Lightning-esque The War Within, debuted at No. 20 on Billboard's album chart the week it was released. (Oct. 28, Masquerade, Ybor City)
DONNA WISSINGER & CHRISTINE MORI Acclaimed flautist Wissinger has played stages of such stature as Carnegie Hall and Russia's Glinka Capella; she also won Artists International's Distinguished Artist Award in '86 and '88. Pianist Mori is a Julliard graduate and veteran of both The Florida Orchestra and Sarasota's West Coast Symphony. Tonight, they'll make beautiful chamber music together. (Oct. 28, Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center, Tarpon Springs)
WYNONNA Poor gal has to hear all this shit in the tabloids about her weight. Who gives a damn. Wynonna can flat-out sing. Nominally a country artist, she's got one of the most soulful voices in the genre. (Oct. 28, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Sarasota) —ERIC SNIDER
TAKING BACK SUNDAY/FALL OUT BOY/MATCHBOOK ROMANCE/THE VARSITY By combining the energetic, ear-friendly post-pop-punk of The Get Up Kids with Thursday's dual-vocalist format and front-and-center angst, Taking Back Sunday facilitated the biggest mainstreamo breakthrough since Dashboard Confessional. Their sound is appropriately earnest and edgy, but comes off as hopelessly unoriginal as that of the 1,243,724 other bands providing similar variations on the same theme. The more straightforward outfit Fall Out Boy's about 15 minutes behind Taking Back Sunday's 15 minutes — they recently signed to major label Island Records. Matchbook Romance and The Varsity are a couple of melodic nu-punk bands still paying their dues on the bottom end of more high-profile all-ages tours. (Oct. 29, Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg)
FOUR STAR RIOT CD RELEASE PARTY After quite a substantial semi-hiatus, stylish Pinellas pop-rock machine Four Star Riot is back with a new disc, Tonight and Tomorrow. Also on the bill are even more stylish Pinellas power-pop lookers R50, and long-running Bay area modern-rock act 10 Second Drop. (Oct. 29, Gasoline Alley, Clearwater)
25TH ANNUAL FREAKER'S BALL W/BILL "THE SAUCE BOSS" WHARTON/REV. BILLY C. WIRTZ Skipper's keeps alive its Halloween tradition, crossing the quarter-century mark. Wharton, as anyone whose ever read the Music Menu knows, plays witty blues/boogie/Southern roots-rock while cooking up a pot of gumbo on stage. At the end of the show, the audience is welcome to dig in (Bill boasts, "over 100,000 served"). This value-added item is said to prevent walkouts. Wirtz is an irreverent blues-boogie act who's been more or less ubiquitous in Tampa Bay for a decade. The Freaker's Ball also features a lot of extracurricular revelry, and culminates in a costume contest. (Oct. 29, Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa) —ES
SCIENCE NON FICTION/SPONTANEOUS HABIT/ TRAFFICKED AMBITION/BC/JOHNNY UTAH/ SOLOMAN/BREAKDOWN/DJ TOURETTES/DJ BLENDA/V.O.I.D. The talented freepoets.com collective presents an evening of under-the-radar hip-hop grooves. Just about everything I've heard from the various artists associated with 'em is nothing short of excellent (particularly Science Non Fiction), so rest assured all indie rap fans will find something new to love. (Oct. 29, Masquerade, Ybor City)
AGAINST ME!/BLOOD BROTHERS/TRUE NORTH Populist, political Gainesville twang-punk Clash 'n' Bragg acolytes Against Me! are awesome, but you already know that. Blood Brothers are a cathartic yet intensely frightening noise-core outfit from the Pacific Northwest. Their major-label debut, last year's Burn Piano Island, Burn, arrived amid a bevy of hype, but the new Crimes goes one better by winnowing their expansive torture down to actual song-size. (Oct. 29, State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
MAGNA-FI W/MY ENEMY/5 STORY/KLIK Magna-fi did the mainstage thing for the entirety of this year's OzzFest; don't know how their streamlined, melodic post-grunge sound fared amid all that heavier shit, but they sound like they'd be more at home smack in the middle of modern-rock radio rotation. (Oct. 29, Boomerz Boiler Room, Seminole)
VINCE WELNICK W/GENT TREADLY/UNCLE JOHN'S BAND The Grateful Dead keyboardist and his jammy touring friends return to the Skipperdome. Tampa's favorite cover band/tribute band/Thursday-night Skipper's fixture provides incredibly apt support. Mommy, that smoke smells funny, like burning candy. (Oct. 30, Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
MINISTRY W/MY LIFE WITH THE THRILL KILL KULT It's official: Al Jourgensen can only make decent records when there's a shitload of political tension flying every which way. The new, Paul Cook-less Ministry disc, Houses of the Mole, is easily the collective's best effort since '92's classic Psalm 69. With regard to the formerly provocative Thrill Kill Kult, it's safe to say they've never made an entirely listenable album, and never will. There is the occasional good groove or nostalgia-inducing lewd turn of phrase, however. (Oct. 30, Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg)
PINBACK/LAKE TROUT/ASPECTS OF PHYSICS While California's Pinback have garnered a reputation as the hippest post-rock outfit that doesn't reside in Chicago, even a cursory listen reveals the band is more interested in melodies and songs than arty meandering. The latest Pinback CD, Summer in Abbadon, is an excellent collection of precise yet textured gems. Baltimore's Lake Trout make an eclectic but still recognizable indie-rock noise, and Aspects of Physics boast an electronic, postmodern sound and aesthetic that make Radiohead seem like Lynyrd Skynyrd in comparison. (Oct. 30, State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
BARRY MANILOW No one is more overdue for some ironic hipster-scene love. No one. (Oct. 30, St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa)
DEVIL'S NIGHT LITE A Devil's night without the fires, destruction and mayhem. Nice. This acoustic showcases feature top locals: Anna O, sexy and talented as ever, is embarking on an informal farewell tour around Tampa Bay. The singer/songwriter, with a knack for penning tunes that probe the soul and the human spirit, is moving to Austin in the not-too-distant future, but not before playing a few dates in these parts. Jeremy Gloff is an earnest, extremely prolific pop songwriter. Mark McManus writes melancholy tunes, many of which have a Tampa theme. Mugabe Tenn is the frontman for the local roots/reggae/beat band Tribal Style. And Nessie … Nessie is none other than our own music critic Scott Harrell; prejudiced though I am, Ness is a damn fine unplugged act, which he's been doing more of lately because, well, the dude is not in a band. The Les Paul is getting dusty. (Oct. 30, Fortunato's After Dark, St. Petersburg) —ES
LADY SAW W/KIPRICH Former Shabba Ranks, Beenie Man, and Shaggy collaborator Lady Saw earned her title as The First Lady of Dancehall by nurturing a talent and outspoken, sexy image that gave the genre's kings a run for their money. Veteran reggae chartmaker Kiprich shares the bill. (Oct. 30, Club 112, Tampa)
RALPH STANLEY AND THE CLINCH MOUNTAIN BOYS Call him the godfather of mountain music. At 77, Ralph Stanley embodies the notion of "living legend," but also continues an extremely active career. Just two years ago, he won the Grammy for Best Country Male Vocalist. Early in his career, Stanley skewed more toward straight bluegrass (he and his brother Carter were the core of the Stanley Brothers). After Carter's death, Ralph moved more toward an older, sadder mountain style. Some great musicians have come through the ranks of his band: Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, Larry Sparks and Charlie Sizemore. We'll end this blurb with a pointed quote from T-Bone Burnett, producer of O Brother, Where Art Thou?, on which Stanley played a prominent musical role: T-Bone said, simply: "Ralph Stanley is one of the most important country musicians in the world today." This is a WMNF show; for info call, 813-238-8001. (Oct. 30, Plant City High School 1914 Community Center, Plant City) —ES
HALLOWEEN CHAMBER-MUSIC SPECTACULAR Singular Tampa kids' educational institution The Independent Day School hosts an afternoon program of chamber music, performed by members of various Florida orchestral organizations. The concert is open to the public for a finski, and kicks off at 3 p.m. The IDC-CC's theater training center is located at 12015 Orange Grove Drive in Tampa; for more information, call 813-961-3087. (Oct. 31, Independent Day School — Corbett Campus, Tampa)
PRE-ELECTION DAY PUNK SHOW Look, we know you're fucking sick of hearing it, but four punk acts are staging this night-before gig as a last minute reminder to make your voice heard on the second. Oh, and they all hate the shit out of Bush. Gainesville's No More joins Bay area acts The Hero Dies, Stranded and So Far No Good. (Nov. 1, Orpheum, Ybor City)
TASTEMAKERS/THE TIM VERSION/DEALY PLAZA/ NEW BRUISES USF radio station WBUL-1620 AM and Tampahiphop.com present a novel concept in eclectic underground shows — instead of DJs playing between the bands, the bands will play between featured sets by DJs/beatmakers Colonic and Deacon. This collision of hip-hop and punk culture looks like it might make for an excellent evening of music. The Tim Version, Dealy Plaza and New Bruises (a new outfit featuring dudes formerly of Mid-Carson July and The Holy Mountain) provide counterpoint. Highly recommended. (Nov. 3, New World Brewery, Ybor City)
This article appears in Oct 27 – Nov 1, 2004.
