THURSDAY, APRIL 19
Night Beats w/The Florida Kilos/Wet Nurse Lee Blackwell calls the rainy streets of Seattle home, but his voice — an oft-warbled, ominous croon reminiscent of a Zeppelin-era Robert Plant — could have surfaced from the recesses of a dingy, mold-ridden basement in rural Tennessee. His band, Night Beats, plays an equally grimy brand of pysch-rock where jangly guitars sound like they’ve been drudged through dust, caked in spit, then washed in the rolling waves of Huntington Beach, Calif. “Dwayne’s Drone” from their latest self-titled LP is an especially hypnotic mishmash of glitched vocals and sprawling and swirling guitar textures, the sonic equivalent of chasing a double shot of cheap whiskey with ice cold Keystone Light; it might sting a bit on the way down, but leaves your face tingly, and makes everything look and feel really good. (New World Brewery, Ybor City) —Ray Roa
Wanee Festival 2012 The four-day Allman Brothers Band-headed music fest includes performances by the likes of Further, North Mississippi Allstars, and Hot Tuna Electric; check out Kevin Tighe’s interview with Hot Tuna’s Jorma Kaukonen at cltampa.com/music. (Spirit of Suwannee, Live Oak)—Leilani Polk
La Dispute w/Balance & Composure/All Get Out/Sainthood Reps/Makari La Dispute crafts an intense mix of post-hardcore, prog, hardcore punk, and screamo as carried by the volatile vocals of frontman Jordan Dreyer, his spoken-word passages spewed in sing-song rhymes, choking barks or wildly clamorous shrieks. (Orpheum, Ybor City)—LP
Brunt of It w/Chilled Monkey Brains/Nothing In The Dark A skanky, punkified bill of indie bands headed up by New England septet Brunt of It, their infectious sound marked by urgent blasts of brass, tight and rousing rhythms, and gruff lead vocals shrieking with support from spirited multi-voice backing shouts and rah-rah choruses. Also of note: Chilled Monkey Brains, from Tallahassee, which has a harder-edged horn-fused weirdo-prog appeal, and a fresh new EP, We’re All In This Together. (Transitions Art Gallery @ Skatepark of Tampa)—LP
FRIDAY, APRIL 20
Dick Dale & the Dick Dale Band w/Hodaddys/Amber Lynn & the Swingin’ Papas With a Stratocaster and biker-bandana in lieu of a scepter and crown, the King of the Surf Guitar returns to Tampa Bay! His most recognizable melody is “Misirlou,” one of his most requested songs since its 1962 debut, but blasted permanently into the pop-music lexicon by Tarantino’s use of it in Pulp Fiction in 1994, and again in 2005 when Black Eyed Peas heavily sampled it in their hit, “Pump It.” Not a man who rests on his hits, Dale continues to tour and provide energetic performances. Advice for this show? Go early and stay late… you just might catch Dale sound-checking before the show via remote-pack from outdoors, and if you’re lucky, he’ll perform some haunting acoustic songs as an encore. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg) —Justin Little
Ronny Elliott’s 65th Birthday Party He’s known for slinging sharp-witted anecdotes, writing well-crafted narratives, and delivering his musings in a crusty lower-register drawl against alt roots rock with plenty of Southern fried twang. Tampa Bay troubadour Ronny Elliott — who’s been active for the better part of four decades, but only started sowing his solo oats and building an international rep in 1995 — celebrates his legal retirement at this “No Gold Record, No Gold Watch” birthday party with his full band, The Nationals, and special guests Ramsay Midwood and Sandy Atkinson. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)—LP
Chicago Hitting town on what’s becoming an annual stop is seminal soft prog-jazz group Chicago, purveyors of horn-fused platinum-selling hits for more than four decades. Last year, Rhino released Chicago XXXIV: Live in ‘75, which was recorded during one of the band’s finest tours and features such old-school hits as “25 or 6 to 4” and “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)—LP
Jammin’ on the Green 420 Music Festival A huge three-day, two-night camping festival celebrating the unofficial holiday with lots of live music at a clothing-optional resort. Organizing and heading up the fest is hip-hop funkified-jam rock outfit Green Sunshine; a huge array of other like acts fill out the lineup and add blues, electronica, jazz, and reggae to the sounds of the weekend. An after-hours DJ set, a late-night acoustic campsite super jam, yoga workshop, and other activities round out the weekend diversions. Nudity is permitted, not required. (Riverboat Resort, Land o’ Lakes)—LP
Peelander-Z w/One-Eyed Doll/Lemon Law/The Shinobi MC Four Japanese musicians take on color-themed comic-book personae and deliver brash tunes in coordinating costumes as NYC-based act Peelander-Z. Their punkified sound takes a New Wave-synth pop turn on their just-released record, Space Vacation, which even includes a cover of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” Live shows involve plenty of outrageous antics and audience participation (human bowling, limbo dance, karaoke and the like). (Orpheum, Ybor City)—LP
Candlebox The post-grunge alt rock outfit from Seattle that made their multi-platinum bread in the early ’90s with hits like “You” and “Far Behind” returns with their first new album in four years, Love Stories & Other Musings. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)—LP
SATURDAY, APRIL 21
Erase the Hate Festival w/Brandi Carlile/Miggs An organization promoting appreciation for diversity and cultural sensitivity, Erase the Hate Tampa Bay, stages a free, day-long family- and pet-friendly festival. Headlining the music part of the fest is alt country and folk songstress Brandi Carlile, who’s gearing up to release her fourth studio LP, Bear Creek (out June 5 via Columbia). Produced by three-time Grammy winner Trina Shoemaker, the record is an instrumentally lush and overall satisfying addition to her repertoire. In her honeyed, lightly husky drawl (which Paste Magazine called “the best indie voice in music today”), Carlile reflects with poetic poignancy on everything from ringing bells and raising hell, to keeping your heart young, to the lost loves you never forget. (Curtis Hixon Park, downtown Tampa)—LP
Rammstein Picture yourself as a pre-muscles Linda Hamilton, circa 1984, your bad perm flying wildly as you squeal through the streets in a mad car chase away from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s double barrel shotguns and relentless blank-faced ferocity. Now, think about the soundtrack for a minute — you’re hearing Rammstein, right? I am. The band’s mix of heavy industrial rock and German dance metal is urgent and dark enough to fit into any action sequence from an ’80s-era sci-fi flick, but the original Terminator is ideal. The Berlin-based six-piece brings their epic production to town on their current international tour supporting their first-ever retrospective, 2011’s Made In Germany 1995-2011. (Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa)—LP
Red Elvises w/Hot Rod Hornets From the moment they appeared on the screen in the 1998 indie-film, Six-String Samurai, rockabilly and surf fans worldwide wanted to hear more from The Red Elvises (aka Igor & the Red Elvises), a band of Russians dedicated to playing American-inspired traditional rock n’ roll. Singing in both English and Russian, the Elvises have ambitiously released 11 studio albums since 1996, including classics like Surfing in Siberia and Rokenrol. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa) —JL
Blackbird Blackbird w/Florida Night Heat/XXYYXX The indietronic pop collages of Blackbird Blackbird (the pseudonym used by San Franscisco artist Mikey Maramag) are crafted with a mix of organic and electronic instrumentation, the dreamy snatches of pretty indecipherable vocals set against glowing and shimmering waves of textured synth-sonics that are spliced with blips, glitches, twinkles, music box samples and other embellishments. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)—LP
Between Bluffs CD Release Party A quartet from Dunedin that produces instrumentally lush roots pop, some of it with a darker-tinged gypsy-folk appeal as in “Faults to Fruits” (the title track off Between Bluffs’ newly-pressed sophomore LP), other songs leaning to more a newgrassy feel, like “Fire Away (Salt Creek).” (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin)—LP
SUNDAY, APRIL 22
WQYK Fun 'N Sun Country Concert w/Ronnie Dunn/Chris Cagle/The Farm/JT Hodges/many more Clearwater's annual 10-day Fun n’ Sun festival always includes some sort of country music entertainment. Heading up this year’s bill is Ronnie Dunn, currently practicing a career away from Brooks & Dunn with an eponymous solo debut that jetted to the top of the Billboard country charts last year. (Coachman Park, Clearwater)—LP
The Pretty Reckless w/Parlor Mob Platinum-haired, sultry-voiced siren Taylor Momsen fronts dramatic alt rock outfit The Pretty Reckless, which signed to Interscope in 2009 and has since released one full-length (Light Me Up in 2010) and a few EPs (Hit Me Like a Man dropped earlier this month). You might know 18-year-old Momsen from her stint as Jenny Humphrey in the CW series Gossip Girl, or from one of her various other TV and film roles; she quit acting completely in 2011 to focus on music. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)—LP
Whitney James She fell in love with Sarah Vaughan’s voice at age 13, and this love of jazz helped to form her sculpted sound. Whitney James’ precise phrasing and buttery tone allow her to do the classics justice while offering a creative spin on familiar melodies. Her appreciation for complex harmonies and picturesque lyrics is evident on her 2010 debut, The Nature of Love, a favorite of Tampa Bay stations WUSF and WMNF. Her background in musical theater and opera makes for a well-rounded musician and performer, earning her an appearance on the nationally broadcast Piano Jazz Rising Star with host Jon Weber. (HCC Mainstage Theater, Ybor City) —Rebecca Forman
MONDAY, APRIL 23
Melvins w/Unsane Let’s get one thing straight. Without The Melvins’ direct influence, Nirvana would’ve sounded like the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, and the world would be a very different place today. People will be discussing their vast catalog and genre-bending brand of rock and metal long after we’re all dead. The San Francisco-by-way-of-Aberdeen, Wa.-based sludge-rockers are currently touring with heavy-as-shit New York band Unsane, and if you don’t hit their Orlando show, you’re a straight up fool. (The Social, Orlando) —Joran Oppelt
TUESDAY, APRIL 24
Steel Pulse w/SOJA Two politically inclined roots reggae groups from different eras and very different backgrounds unite for some dates on their current respective tours. Steel Pulse has been serving fresh helpings of Rasta righteousness direct from England since the mid-1970s. SOJA (Soldiers of Jah Army) joined the game in the late-’90s from their DC-area base. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)—LP
Elvis Costello & The Imposters Elvis Costello is a singer-songwriter with a distinctive brassy timbre who’s known for wearing multiple hats, both literally and figuratively. He’s issued more than 30 studio albums spanning the genre spectrum, from New Wave punk to New Orleans R&B to a modernized slant on old-timey Americana, and he’s collaborated with a range of artists — Allen Toussaint, Burt Bacharach, Bill Frisell, Paul McCartney, Lucinda Williams and Brian Eno among them. For his current “Spinning Songbook Tour,” the artist has created an interactive fan-centric method to determine which songs he and The Imposters play at each show, with select fans invited onto the stage to spin “The Wheel” and setlists determined by 40 banners that include hits, rarities, and a few surprises. Costello’s scheduled stop here last fall was postponed due to a family emergency; this is the make-up date. (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)—LP
The Maine w/Lydia/The Arkells Arizona indie rock band The Maine is touring in support of their third and latest LP, Pioneer. Also on the bill are Canadian rockers Arkells, which took home the 2012 Juno Award for Group of the Year at the gala in March; and fellow Arizonian outfit Lydia, made up of singer-guitarist Leighton Antelman and drummer Craig Taylor, who returned from a year-long hiatus to issue their fourth album, Paint It Golden, last year.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25
BBQ Wednesday Acoustic Series: Franz Nicolay We were treated to Franz Nicolay's vaudevillian punk tendencies when he dropped into town last year to promote his Luck & Courage LP. Though the multi-instrumentalist troubadour with the memorable mustache is generally known for his accordion-wielding finesse — which he showed off most notably with indie rock act The Hold Steady — he also sings, plays keys, banjo and guitar, and tap dances when the mood strikes. See him for FREE as part of New World’s weekly BBQ Acoustic series. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)—LP
Tim Barry Tim Barry sings folk songs with punk attitude, and he should as the former front man of the Virginia-based punk band Avail. After 10-plus years of DIY-style touring with Avail, Barry certainly has the grit and experience to back up his newfound career as an Americana troubadour. With four full-length solo releases since 2005, his lyrics come from the gut and his delivery is inspirational. Whether or not Barry is backed by a band or performs alone on stage with nothing but a mic and an acoustic guitar, you can count on the house being packed by a captivated audience that sings every word right along with him. (Local 662, St. Petersburg) —JL
CLICK HERE to see a complete rundown of shows taking place this week and in the coming weeks.
This article appears in Apr 19-25, 2012.