THURSDAY, NOV. 16
JIMMY BUFFETT The personification of beach-bum-cliché banality released his, uh, let's just say 800th album, Take The Weather With You, last month. Tonight marks his first Bay area concert in a couple of years, and you know it's gonna be a party when you can't walk into any local tiki shack or theme-park gift shop without hearing a guy holding a Hawaiian shirt say, "I dunno — do you have anything, you know, louder?" (Ford Amphitheatre, Tampa)
KASABIAN/MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN English outfit Kasabian took the U.K. album chart by storm in '04 by roughing up the Madchester/Factory dance-rock sound with some Primal Scream-esque noisy electronica. The band's brand-new sophomore album (and U.S. coming-out) Empire furthers the mix of beats and swaggering Britpop. Men, Women & Children is the other stylized disco-rock combo that rose from the ashes of metalcore act Glassjaw — no, no, you're thinking of Head Automatica; this is the other one. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
DAVID BURGESS Guitar virtuoso Burgess traveled through Spain and South America, absorbing the elements of those lands' traditional/classical styles — and also taking instruction from the maestro himself, Andres Segovia. Tonight's program focuses on Brazilian sounds and techniques, including bossa novas and tangos from some of the country's great composers. (Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center, Tarpon Springs)
FRIDAY, NOV. 17
105.9 THE BUZZ BAND CAMP A lineup decked out with some of the bigger names in contemporary Clear Channeled rock radio, this outdoor show features Hoobastank, Shinedown and others, supported by '90s grunge benchwarmers like Candlebox. The show may not appeal to those of us who only flip on the radio for a dose of hilarious hard-right talk radio, but you can't argue with the value. Advance tickets for the seven bands on the bill are surprisingly reasonable to buy. (Charlotte County Fairgrounds, Port Charlotte) —Cooper Levey-Baker
RATDOG Singer/guitarist Bob Weir's primary post-Grateful Dead project makes another stop at Jannus Landing, a venue that's long been friendly with the Bay area's jam-hounds. You know what you're getting. (Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg)
TINSLEY ELLIS w/HAMILTON LOOMIS Veteran electric-blues guitarist Ellis has been garnering raves from genre fans (as well as comparisons to Stevie Ray Vaughan) since the early '80s. All the seminal British blues-rock he submerged himself in as a youngster serves him well, lending him a brasher, more rock-fan-friendly style than many in his field. Loomis is a six-stringer from Texas whose '94 debut, Hamilton, earned him a Grammy nom. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
THE LIVE LOVE TOUR FEAT. SUPERCHIC[K]/SANCTUS REAL/JOHN REUBEN/LAST TUESDAY It's a cavalcade of contemporary Christian artists. Superchic[k] hail from Chicago and ply an easily digestible, smooth-edged mix of everything from heavy modern rock to beat-driven club-soul — all of it sort of, you know, poppy. Toledo's Sanctus Real do a more emo-tinged sort of straight-up anthemic rock. John Reuben is an interesting indie-rap songmaker from Columbus, Ohio, and Pennsylvania's Last Tuesday punk it up. (Countryside Christian Center, Clearwater)
NAKATOMI PLAZA/HISTORY/PALANTINE I don't really have a Die Hard joke, so I'll just say that Nakatomi Plaza are from Brooklyn and play a cool, melodic and just the least bit proggy sort of post-punk. Also, Winter Park's History are noisy and taut and still remind me of Jawbox, which is fine. Also, Palantine rules. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
MAC FOUNDATION BENEFIT No, not the hip, expensive makeup company's AIDS-relief project; this is for Music, Art & Culture, a homegrown concern aimed at raising money for arts programs for area kids. Right on. There'll be plenty of door prizes and raffles, as well as food and visual-arts goodness. Aural-arts goodness comes courtesy of local alt-country demigods The Diviners, the marvelously named Poetry N' Lotion ("It's like a jazzy bluegrass, metal and '80s cover band all wrapped up into a burrito as big as your head"), and DJ Blenda. (Covivant Gallery, Tampa)
SATURDAY, NOV. 18
BLOOD BROTHERS/…AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD/BROTHERS AND SISTERS/CELEBRATION Seattle's Blood Brothers are noisy and post-hardcore and helped make white belts hip a few years back, but don't judge them too harshly; their new album Young Machetes is worth it. Austin art-rock visionaries Trail of Dead seem to have left the more jagged elements of their ambitious sound; we'll know for sure when their fifth album, So Divided, drops on Nov. 14, but frontman Conrad Keely has reportedly been playing violin with his fellow Austinites in the rootsy Brothers and Sisters. Heavily hyped, darkly danceable, Birthday Party-indebted trio Celebration (whose singer Katrina Ford has appeared on TV on the Radio's albums) rounds out an intriguing, eclectic bill of innovators. (Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg)
NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALL-STARS w/SPENCER DICKINSON The Dickinson brothers — guitarist Luther and drummer Cody — came out of the fertile blues country just south of Memphis with an electrified, take-no-prisoners approach to the region's countrified style. Luther, in particular, is an animal on guitar. Over a few albums, NMAS have gotten more song-oriented and sophisticated, not always to the band's benefit. Live, though, they smoke. This show comes with a special bonus: Spencer Dickinson is a collaboration between New York punk-blues icon Jon Spencer and the Dickinson brothers. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg) —Eric Snider
EARL GREYHOUND/LIFE OF PI Come celebrate the grand opening of Ybor City's newest original- and local-music-friendly venue, Crowbar. (Check out the story on Crowbar on page XX.) In town for the big night are the guy and girl who, together, make up awesome, overpowering garage-R&B earthquake Earl Greyhound — check out the tunes on myspace.com/earlgreyhound; they're unstoppable. Local support comes courtesy of literate and always-great Tampa fuzz-pop unit Life of Pi. Represent. Crowbar is located at 1812 17th St. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
Monday, NOV. 20
THE PINK FLOYD EXPERIENCE Uh-oh: "Experience." You know what that means. It means that while "Pink Floyd" is in the title, this show has nothing to do with the wildly overrated '70s dinosaur-art-rock act. Nope. It's a tribute show, which is all right, I guess, but what's it doing at the Van Wezel? The Weez may not get the best of the best from the rock world anyway, but who's going to plunk down the $29-$35 these tickets are going for? (Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Sarasota) —CLB
TUESDAY, NOV. 21
DEFTONES w/DEADSY You really wanted to see Deftones when they came through with the Family Values Tour a little while back. But you only wanted to see Deftones, so you hemmed and hawed and finally bet your fandom on the possibility that they'd be back through, headlining a smaller venue before too long. Congratulations! The makers of Saturday Night Wrist, in the Bay area's best midsized live-music venue! Sure, you might have to endure some of L.A. Goth cartoon Deadsy's tepid Bowie-as-a-Borg shtick, but that's what the Tamiami is for. Personally, I can't wait. (Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg)
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 22
AEROSMITH/MOTLEY CRUE/LENNON The guys that were once the single greatest danger to young, impressionable American ears went away, cleaned up, and then got famous by hiring aging song doctors and making their singer's daughter look slutty in their videos. If we could just get them to go away again, and come back all fucked up, maybe we'd get another "Back in the Saddle" out of 'em. As for the Crüe, look, I loved 'em back in the day, and yes, it's all about Nikki Sixx, but they're starting to remind me of KISS, only without the fake "final tour" proclamation that at least inspires the fake hope that this time might actually be the last. Plus, Vince was a douche the last time he was in town. (Ford Amphitheatre, Tampa)
L.A. GUNS/BULLETBOYS Having seen Tracii Guns play the hits already this year, it's tough to say whether or not seeing the rest of the guys play 'em again is absolutely essential. Hey, why not? They put out some good shit back in their prime. (The Garage, St. Petersburg)
BODOG MUSIC BATTLE OF THE BANDS ROUND 2 Oh, another battle of the bands. Whee. Eleven Bay area rock, metal and hardcore bands compete for a slot in next month's citywide semifinals, where they'll compete for a slot in the national finals, where they'll compete for — I don't know, what, a record deal with Bodog Music or a support slot on somebody's tour or a bunch of gear or something. The contendahs: A Nova Prospect; Biogenic; Devamachine; DreamSTATEheroic; Home Before Dark; Lush Progress; Myndkill; Providence; South McCall; The Waking Life and Weszt. Best of luck, dudes. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
NOVEMBER
23 Ziggy Marley/Skye Jannus Landing
24 Godsmack w/Breaking Benjamin USF Sun Dome
24 Genitorturers State Theatre
24 Brandtson/Lovedrug Orpheum
24 Rick Derringer Bourbon Street
24-26 Significant Fest Feat. Down By Law 688 Skatepark
25 The Hush Sound/Murder by Death/This Providence/This Is Me Smiling State Theatre
25 Donovan Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center
25 Jon Oliva's Pain w/FirstBorn/Moneyshot Bourbon Street
26 Tom Paley Unitarian Universalist Church of Tampa
27 Army of Anyone Jannus Landing
28 Joe Lynn Turner Largo Cultural Center
28 The Accident Experiment Bourbon Street
29 The Dan Band w/Byron Thames & The Flames Jannus Landing
29 The Ska Brawl Tour Feat. The Toasters/The Pietasters/Supervillains State Theatre
30 GWAR/The Red Chord/Municipal Waste Jannus Landing
30 The Hold Steady w/Nessie Orpheum
30 Lady Sovereign/Young Love State Theatre
DECEMBER
1 Papa Grows Funk w/Lost Bayou Ramblers Skipper's Smokehouse
1 Papa Roach/(hed)p.e./Bullets & Octane Jannus Landing
2 The Bobby Rush Show w/Walter Smith Group Skipper's Smokehouse
2 Los Lobos Jannus Landing
2 Alan Jackson/Little Big Town/The Wreckers Ford Amphitheatre
3 Powerman 5000 State Theatre
7 Johnny Winter State Theatre
7 Bellydance Superstars Jannus Landing
8 Oteil & The Peacemakers Skipper's Smokehouse
8 Circle Jerks w/Lower Class Brats State Theatre
9 The Bouncing Souls/Street Dogs/Whole Wheat Bread/World Inferno Friendship Society State Theatre
9 Sue Foley/Nora Jean Bruso/Sandy Atkinson & The Mo Deans Skipper's Smokehouse
12 Sepultura/Sworn Enemy/Suicide Silence/Diecast State Theatre
13 Lucero State Theatre
13 Ghost to Falco/Lush Progress Transitions Art Gallery @ Skatepark of Tampa
14 Tony Bennett Ruth Eckerd Hall
14 The Preservation Hall Jazz Band Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center
14 Through The Eyes of the Dead/From A Second Story Window/The Acacia Strain/If Hope Dies State Theatre
15 Coolio/Digital Underground/Young MC Jannus Landing
15 Kidgusto/DRM/Mr. Marley New World Brewery
15 Melissa Ferrick Skipper's Smokehouse
16 Red Elvises/Jimbo Mathus & Knockdown South Skipper's Smokehouse
16 Centro-Matic w/The Sugar Oaks/Modern Skirts New World Brewery
16 Maylene & The Sons of Disaster/Inhale Exhale/Twelve Gauge Valentine State Theatre
17 BT w/Thomas Dolby State Theatre
28 Susan Tedeschi & Derek Trucks Tampa Theatre
29 The Fixx State Theatre
31 Donna The Buffalo Coliseum
31 Southern Culture on the Skids Skipper's Smokehouse
This article appears in Nov 15-21, 2006.