June is the time of the year us Sunshine State residents are reminded that every day isn't a beach day here in Florida.
As is per usual for early summer, the first week of June has brought us the daily showers and storms we have come to expect.
This week's ominous forecast put a cloud over an exciting event going down on Central Avenue in downtown St. Pete.
In its first year at Jannus Live, New Belgium BRewing returned to the Bay Area with their Tour de Fat party. Tour de Fat is an annual tour, now in it's 18th year. The circus-inspired event is a philanthropic, self-described "beer, music and bike' festival that is holding over 30 events across the country in 2017, with different acts performing along the way. Each stop is dedicated to raising money for local causes, making the Tour de Fat not only an appealing entertainment option, but a wholesome way to give back to your community while having fun.
Attendees that showed up early (many of which still donning gear from this past weekend's Purple Hatter's Ball) were treated to comedy routines, New Belgium's Fat Tire beer, and clowns performing juggling routines. The light-hearted, circus enthused entertainment served as a jovial warm up to the live music portion of the show.
Enter Corey Harper, who was the selected entertainment on this stop of the Tour de Fat.
The Missouri-born, Oregon-raised, LA-based singer-songwriter had his work cut out for him from the get go.
Threats of continued showers from earlier on in the day more than likely scared off potential attendees, which led to an underwhelming crowd for the 22-year-old. This did little however to thwart his performance, as he treated the sparse crowd to songs off his On the Run EP as well as covers like "These Days" and "I'm On Fire", songs from Nico and Springsteen, respectively.
Corey Harper fits in perfectly in an era where many alternative acts have opted for YouTube over the fabled "starting a band in the garage." After his videos online began going viral, Justin Bieber chose him to open the west coast dates on his Purpose World Tour. While fans of the Beebs might draw a different crowd than Harper's soft-spoken, guitar-heavy EP would normally inspire, the 2016 tour undoubtedly brought him to a far bigger audience.
Ten feet away, which is how close almost everyone in attendance was, the comparisons to John Mayer are not lost on you. While a younger, blonder version, Harper's style on guitar and vocals have an uncanny resemblance to the Room for Squares/Heavier Things-era of Mayer's music. Harper's crisp voice and at times eruptive lead guitar make for an interesting blend of the Americana, pop and blues, genres that Mayer dominated in the 2000's early aughts. As he progresses away from the acoustic sound and more towards pop/soul blend, Harper's music seems ready for a bigger audience. The large audience aspect, however, just didn't play out at Jannus on Tuesday night.
Still, Harper seemed unfazed by the small crowd, instead treating fans to an intimate show. He played mostly behind an acoustic guitar, while his band handled the atmospheric guitar ballads where Harper's vocal raced up every octave the arrangement did. It was an impressive performance by the young star and a nice warm up before he heads to Manchester, Tennessee this weekend to perform at this year's Bonnaroo Music Festival.
Hopefully the young Harper returns to our Bay area with his california sun so we can greet him with a bigger, warmer (and surely sunnier) reception.
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This article appears in Jun 1-8, 2017.