Photos of Perception, Noan Partly and Katara Trio playing downtown Tampa’s socially-distant Rock the Park

It’s 2021, but coronavirus is still very much a thing—but so is the need for live music. After moving to virtual sessions last spring, Rock The Park Tampa—downtown’s 10-year-old free concert series—returned to Curtis Hixon Park in real life to stage socially-distant shows featuring designated pods where music lovers can experience some of  the Tampa Bay region’s best new artists while being separated into pods to keep concertgoers as safe possible. On Thursday, Tampa rapper Perception was joined by Lakeland songwriter Noan Partly and newly-formed jazz ensemble Katara Trio under the awning at the Tampa Museum of Art. —Ray Roa