UPDATED: 02/26/20 3:56 p.m.
In 2020, Gasparilla Music Festival’s headliners include Brandi Carlile, De la Soul and Portugal. The Man, but there’ve always been less obvious things which make GMF great. They’re always worth reminding you about, too, so here are six things you definitely shouldn’t miss.
The food In past years, GMF’s Calle Cocina has been a legit showcase of Tampa Bay’s best local kitchens, and 2019 was no different. Big Ray’s Fish Camp, Nebraska Mini-Mart, Cafe Hey, Ella’s Americana Folk Art Cafe were some of our favorites—and while 2020’s lineup wasn’t ready at press time, we’ve got no doubt that it’ll have us opening our wallets over and again all weekend.
Side stages and ambient entertainment GMF’s small stages—notably Tibbett’s Corner and the Kiley Amphitheater—have been host to some of the best local sets in festival history (Glove, Brother Cephus, Johnny Mile & the Kilometers to name a few). The music starts and ends around the schedule at Kiley’s main stage, so you’ll have some schedule conflicts, but you can’t lose at either of them. And even if you do leave, the GMF program includes handfuls of acts providing ambient entertainment throughout the grounds. There are even rumors of an indoor, Americana/bluegrass stage, but we’ll have to wait and see about that.
The Tony Tyler Trance Last year, GMF paid homage to the history of the long-demolished Curtis Hixon Hall with a set where Uncle Johns Band recreated a Dick’s Picks album recorded there. In 2020, Come Back Alice’s Tony Tyler plays historian by recreating music from Derek & The Dominos. The set matters because the Dominos’ December 1, 1970 set at Curtis Hixon Hall was just one of two times when Duane Allman appeared with the band.
Gasparilla Music Festival
w/Brandi Carlile/Portugal. The Man/De la Soul/Rival Sons/St. Lucia/Curtis Harding/The Word/Anderson East/Sales/Marco Benevento/The Nude Party/more
Sat.-Sun. March 7-8. $40 & up.
Curtis Hixon Park and Kiley Garden, Downtown Tampa.
gasparillamusic.com
The blurred band on the poster There’s one holdout left on the festival poster. We know who it is, but we’re not allowed to tell as of press time, but if you love boot-stomping Americana, then you’re gonna hope you already have a ticket.
Hip-hop GMF didn’t embrace a hip-hop headliner until The Roots hit the Curtis Hixon main stage in 2018. The fest, however, has long supported the genre. Oddisee played an energetic set in Kiley last year, and the amphitheatre stage has been home to sets by locals like Queen of Ex, Jinx, Sam E Hues, Mike Mass and Gat$. On March 7, the stage hosts one of the area’s best producers, Jordan Patrick, who’ll tap a new collective—The Midas Touch featuring Hues, Gat$ and Betty Dawl—to help him showcase his production. Patrick Hughes, who's collaborated with Patrick longer than any of the Midas Touch collective members, will also appear in the set. With Fre$h P bringing his insane set to the amphitheatre earlier on Saturday, GMF’s big hip-hop hug rolls on.
The Nude Party and after-parties North Carolina rock and roll collective The Nude Party is getting flown out to Tampa for a one-off at GMF. That’s a first for the band, and longtime festival-goers unfamiliar with the dive bar heroes won’t forget the first time seeing them perform. What’s even cooler is that the Party boys have plans to DJ an after-party at The Bricks on Saturday where GMF alums (Glove, FayRoy) and a 2020 artist (Charles Irwin) play full band sets. Throw that in with the Sunday after-party at Crowbar with De La Soul’s DJ Maseo (plus the unofficial after-parties at The Hub), and you’ve got one hell of a hangover to work off come Monday.
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This article appears in Feb 20-27, 2020.