In the grand scheme of life, there are probably things that are more important than the most important college football game of the season. So, on a day when a group of Tampa activists were arrested for defying an ordinance preventing them from feeding the homeless, thousands gathered just down the street a downtown Tampa’s Curtis Hixon Park to be entertained for a bit as a part of the AT&T Playoff Playlist Live free concert series.
(Click here to see photos from an invite only ESPN party at the Kress building in downtown Tampa)
TONIGHT IN LIVE MUSIC: USHER PLAYS A FREE SHOW IN TAMPA
And who better to distract crowds from the Floridian chill “In The Ayer” than Flo Rida himself? The hard working Carol City rapper is a Sunshine State product, and his set literally played like a string of radio hits. “Wild Ones,” “Right Round,” and “Good Feeling” were just the tip of the iceberg, and the 37 year old hulk of a man worked hard to make sure everyone all bundled up got some attention. Wearing red sequined high tops, Flo rode on top of a security guard’s shoulders as he waded through VIP before climbing on top of barriers and high fiving the general admission crowd. The bulk of Mr. Rida’s stuff is fairly innocuous (although some of the onstage, meant in jest, womanizing during “Low” was questionable), and the audience ate it up.
They loved Rachel Platten — a strong singer (“Fight Song”) and sometimes foul-mouthed, but totally fun performer who was hell bent on putting on a good show despite being more than a little cold. Some local fans did complain about an inattentive crowd more into partying than listening to the evening’s opener, Cold War Kids who also mentioned the chilly weather.
“We're west coast people,” frontman Nathan Willet said at one point. “This is cold weather for us."
The Southern California indie outfit played a muscular set of sharp rock, and touched all sides of their decade old discography with Willett switching between guitar and piano effortlessly. The Kids were a draw for many Bay area music fans, who haven’t had a chance to see them since a headlining set at the now defunct Big Guava festival in 2015, and many left after their set was over. Was there more partying than listening going on in the crowd during Cold War Kids’ set? It’s not impossible, but these College Football Playoff shows are not necessarily a chance for Tampa Bay to show how attentive we are to visiting artists. It’s probably better to do that at a theater or intimate club show. Concerts for the College Football Championship (especially with schools like Alabama and Clemson facing off) probably shouldn’t even be compared to normal festival or outdoor concert sets.
These shows are an opportunity to show off our city (it was beautiful despite the chill) and showcase how our municipal government can work with organizers to pull off a world-class event. The City of Tampa did that on Saturday, and while some deeper issues were coming to a boil just a few blocks away, the city did their job on at Curtis Hixon. No one was hurt, and everyone left smiling (and shivering) on their way home.
This article appears in Jan 5-12, 2017.