It’s a harsh reality to face, but even when you’re on your way to the top, it’s hard to convince peers and casual followers to check out your side projects and alternate passions. How many “Stranger Things” fans knew that Finn Wolfhard once fronted indie-rock quartet Calpurnia, or that Gaten Matarazzo portrayed Gavroche in “Les Miserables” on Broadway for a time?

Then you look into less mainstream figures with a cult following. You know, people like Wilbur Soot.

The 27-year-old Lovejoy frontman started as a YouTuber who heavily indulged in playing Minecraft. He put Lovejoy together in 2021, and did a debut U.S. tour—which skipped over Florida—earlier this year. But naturally, 97X—Tampa Bay’s largest alternative rock radio station—booked the boys to play a slot at its 22nd annual Next Big Thing, and surprisingly, on a bill that also included The Black Keys, Lovejoy’s presence was the talk of the entire day.

Compared to years past, this year’s installment of the alt-rock festival was set to look far different. After years of being a multi-day affair out at the ol’ Gary and occasionally St. Pete’s Vinoy Park , the festival returned to its roots by going back to a one-day event, landing at Clearwater’s Coachman Park (more specifically, its brand-new concert venue, The Sound) for the first time since the mid-aughts, where NBT debuted in 2001 with Jimmy Eat World, Alien Ant Farm, and Disturbed on the lineup.

And, those interviews conducted by radio personality Sam Nirenberg mid-set? You could see them happening in real-time on the rooftop of the stage-right VIP section.

Like in 2021, former SickHot member Summer Hoop kicked things off with her songs about selling your soul, and people you don’t necessarily wish death on, but also wish you could banish from Earth. And local indie-alt outfit Rohna—which won an annual Battle of the Bands at Tampa’s Hard Rock Cafe to determine who gets the opening slot—got a contagiously energetic pit to crouch down, just to jump up again on set closer “Rosewater.”

Dallas-based alternative trio Little Image hit the stage with a series of piercing howls from frontman Jackson Simmons to accompany “Ego,” which also opened the band’s latest album Self Titled. On “Lungs Burn,” Simmons’ guitar—connected to one hell of a pedal rig—went out, leading the track to be restarted about 20 seconds later. And on “Out Of My Mind,” drummer Troy Bruner reached out into the pit and played a few drumheads being held up by fans, while Simmons accompanied his drum solo behind the main kit onstage.

After NBT repeat offender MisterWives got through an uplifting, hour-long set (which opened with an onstage proposal), filled with lyrics of self-love and a keyboardist rocking a kilt, fans could see Wilbur Soot and company heading over from where the tour buses were parked backstage, and went crazy before any introductions could be made.

While MisterWives was onstage doing a final soundcheck before its set, Lovejoy took a few minutes to be interviewed by Radio Sam, and moments later, fans emptied a pretty good chunk of the bandshell, just to get an obstructed view of Soot hanging out on the balcony, waving to fans as if he were the King of England.

Once Lovejoy’s set finally rolled around at 5:15 p.m., the screams were so piercing that I thought we’d be unable to hear most of its set. Soot, wielding a white Fender Telecaster led the band into “Call Me What You Like.”

“This just in, Clearwater: I am a fucking dumbass,” Soot wailed, lamenting the paranoia that will linger for the rest of his life. But paranoia wasn’t a word in Soot’s vocabulary in terms of his experiences in Florida. He would compliment the glowing styrofoam “tubes” in the crowd, our warm-but-bearable December climate—compared to England’s weather conditions—and the mostly friendly interactions he has had with people while in town.

“I was in a Publix yesterday,” he recalled. Soot was in the process of retrieving a sugar cookie, when the bakery employee behind the counter flat-out told him that his British accent was weird.

“I was just like ‘sorry!’” he giggled. He’d lightly punch himself in the face during “Concrete,” keyboardist Alan Osmundson would switch to trumpet on a handful of tracks (“Sex Sells”), and “Portrait of a Blank Slate” made a smooth segue into set closer “The Fall.”

Once the loudest set of the festival came to a close, the seven-piece Bleachers—fronted by Taylor Swift collaborator Jack Antonoff—brought a completely new, less radio-friendly, Jersey sound onstage. On “I Wanna Get Better” (which has a sound that easily explains Bruce Springsteen’s friendship with the guy), Antonoff ripped out a guitar section while simultaneously swinging his axe around without the strap on, and on “How Dare You Want More,” he’d dream up a guitar section, just to have saxophonist Evan Smith repeat what he just played.

On “Rollercoaster,” Antonoff decided to open up the pit to showgoers on the lawn and in farther away sections, encouraging them to get on each other’s shoulders. “Let’s make this shit look like a fucking festival,” he demanded. And “Stop Making This Hurt,” which ended Bleachers’ set, ended with a literal fadeout between Smith and second saxophonist Zem Adu.

The Black Keys—which packed out Tampa’s MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre in 2022—felt like a bit of an odd choice to close for such energetic acts, but the chemistry between Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney’s still goes strong. The not-really-stripped-down setlist still consisted of a handful of blues standards, as well as selections from pretty much every one of the boys’ releases, held together by Auerbach’s many obscure and oddly shaped guitars.

An in-depth podcast about guitars, hosted by Auerbach. There’s a side project to indulge in.
Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.