Nothing lasts forever, but Tampa Bay has had what feels like a serious drought of festivals this year. Yes, we had another rainy Gasparilla Music Festival and another beast of a Pig Jig, but this year’s Clearwater Jazz Holiday was axed due to Hurricane Milton, Innings Festival has gone back to its original home of Arizona, and I’m not gonna pretend that Florida Strawberry Festival had any blistering names last spring. Oh, and Willie Nelson’s touring Outlaw Music Festival? Snubbed us entirely. Again.
While we’re holding onto the hope that next hurricane season won’t deprive us of another jazzy October weekend in Coachman Park, 97X Next Big Thing has remained a constant in Tampa Bay, jumping around from St. Pete’s Vinoy Park, the ol’ Gary amphitheater in Tampa, and now, in its 24th year, back at Coachman, where its first festival took place in 2001.
As per usual, a local band that won the annual Hard Rock Rising Battle of the Bands opened things up, and this year, it was fairly new rock quartet Persephone’s Choice. The girls frenetically celebrated bassist Mac Bassham’s birthday and encouraged fans to cry during their performance of “Waterfall” before partying down for the rest of the day. Just to keep the emotions equally stable.
Saturday’s first national act was singer-songwriter Jonah Kagen and his 12-string acoustic guitar, who compared this opening slot to the one he had at Austin City Limits earlier this year when Reneé Rapp fans dashed inside first thing in the day, making him think that he had such an enthusiastic fan base on site. And before “Save My Soul,” he made a point to admonish those who were ironically (we hope) cheering on his jab relating to Floridians being drunk-drivers in broad daylight. “Don’t cheer for that! Shame!,” Kagen yelled.
TikTok star Gigi Perez’ set was the talk of the afternoon, partially due to so many fans having seen her open Coldplay’s 2022 gig at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium. Along with JayJay Drums banging the cans, Perez and her relaxed, lo-fi vibes kept a guitar rack on her left and switched out from an acoustic to a Telecaster, to a Stratocaster, and back to an acoustic throughout her brief set.
While kicking traditional Americana and folk-rock up about 10 notches, Nashville’s Judah and the Lion was equipped with full-time banjoists and mandolinists, all the while teaching fans some catchy hooks to make up for some lost time between this year and its last NBT appearance in 2019. And while some couldn’t tell if set closer “Sports” is an example of a football hater being held at gunpoint by a music-hating sports guy, the band made sure to shift attention away from digging too deep into song meanings near the end of its set. Frontman Judah Akers reminisced about how close he and the band has become to 97X, and in light of recent events happening in host Sam Nirenberg’s life (a.k.a. the indistinguishable voice of 97X), including facing some effects from last fall’s hurricane double-feature, Akers announced that some profits made from the band’s merchandise sales would be given to her, in an effort to fully get her back on her feet.
Sloan Struble and his alt-indie project Dayglow played a short-but-sweet set, plugging its major label debut album. And while nostalgia usually plays a role in who 97X selects for a headliner, the memories of the All-American Rejects’ presence in countless alt-rock kids’ teen years (and Tyson Ritter’s infectious, sometimes obnoxiously hilarious onstage antics) gave that factor a little extra kick when the band dedicated “Dirty Little Secret” to the Church of Scientology a few blocks away. Not to mention the fact that Ritter would poke fun at people bundled up (some even nestled under blankets) while only wearing a black tank top himself.
“You look like you’re in Times Square waiting for the fucking ball to drop,” he joked. “I will say that people look very comfortable tonight.”
But really, it was Something Corporate’s slot—this year’s penultimate set—that really put fans in the crowd and behind the scenes into a frenzy. Arguably Andrew McMahon’s best-known project appeared at the second-ever installment of Next Big Thing in 2002, and since then, McMahon and his many bands have become a mainstay at these shows. Saturday was the last date on the semi-newly-reunited band’s schedule, and McMahon even admitted onstage that it’s gonna be awhile before we get to see him front Something Corporate again.
And honestly, the entire repertoire treated it like so.
McMahon invited fans to “get weird” during “She Paints Me Blue,” headed into the crowd a few times, and even dedicated the emotional “Hurricane”—albeit cautiously—to his Floridian fans that have been through so much. “If you wanna call it ‘Fuck Hurricanes,’ that’s alright too,” he declared, after wondering if his dedication was in bad taste.
To close out what just might be the last Something Corporate gig some see in their lifetimes, McMahon forgot how to play the opening to “Leaving Through The Window,” which required a refresher from keyboardist Zac Clark, and all nine minutes of “Konstantine” started with just McMahon and his wooden grand piano. And once he was through, he hopped up on his instrument, and leapt down (a move he made throughout the set, minus the jump) in sync with the last note played.
