Oliver Tree, who plays the Rise Up concert series at the St. Petersburg Pier in St. Petersburg, Florida on Dec. 3, 2023 Credit: Photo via Atlantic Records

St. Petersburg’s ongoing Rise Up concert series rolls on this weekend with a pair of shows from up-and-comers in the pop game.

It seems like only yesterday when San Francisco-born pop singer-songwriter Ari Staprans Leff was opening for Ed Sheeran and Snow Patrol at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium, only slightly turning heads with his set closer—and main hit single—“I Like Me Better.” Five years later, the 29-year-old just better known as Lauv recorded a song for Pixar’s “Elemental.” Next year he plays Lollapalooza India alongside Sting and Halsey, but not before his first headlining gig in Tampa Bay happening on Friday, Dec. 1.

Oliver Tree continues the Rise Up party on Saturday. The amount of instrumentation from Tree on his latest album Alone In A Crowd is pretty unreal. The 30-year-old (who I promise you is not Edna Mode in disguise) plays bass and synths on just about every track, and though he mostly left percussion to Chicago-based DJ Whethan, Tree made listeners feel like they were about to indulge in something slow and sentimental for a moment, just before shifting into something you would hear on the main stage at 97X Next Big Thing, or in some cases, at the club on a Friday night.

Tickets to see Lauv (Friday, Dec. 1) and Oliver Tree (Saturday, Dec. 2) play St. Petersburg’s Rise Up concert series start at $35.