It's Sun., May 29, and if the holiday is treating you right, you likely have tomorrow off. Go out and get down. Here's some music happening tonight.
Ol’ Dirty Sundays 5-Year Anniversary Party with Prince Paul & more What better way to celebrate five impressive years of firing up and setting off locals with hip hop and groove-oriented dance joints than by bringing an esteemed hip hop talent to serve as master of ceremonies: Grammy-winning DJ/producer and hip-hop skit inventor Prince Paul, who you known from his work with Stetsasonic, De La Soul, Gravediggaz and Handsome Boy Modeling School; he also produced Chris Rock’s three Grammy-winning comedy albums, among numerous others. Brooklyn-spawned Dee Jay A.Vee is also scheduled to hit the decks, as are DJs Deacon, Mega, Fader, Qeys, Blenda, LeSage and Casper, while area emcees Jinx and Mike Mass lay down some rhymes in the midst of it all. ODS is always free but the anniversary lineup means it’ll be packed to capacity, so you better get there early (doors at 5 p.m.), or face getting shut out. (Crowbar, Ybor City) –Leilani Polk
Rise Up Sunday Sessions The second new concert series spurred by the popularity of the large-scale Reggae Rise Up Festival and co-presented by its production company is held the last Sunday of the month through September at the home to all things reggae rock, Jannus Live. The kick-off is headlined by Savannah, Ga.-based quartet Passafire, with support from St. Pete natives Resinated, Miami’s Jahfe, and Side Real from Jacksonville. More info at reggaeriseup.com. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg) –LP
American Head Charge with Motograter American Head Charge hails from Minneapolis and draws on heavy and industrial metal aesthetics with big crunchy guitar riffs and a mix of fast-thrashing tempos and more calculated pacing, with frontman Cameron Heacock delivering ominous low-toned vocals that have a brassy-nasal quality and frequently rise to blood-curdling shrieks and roars. (Orpheum, Ybor City) –LP
Naked Naps with Big Brother, Snacking As Naked Naps, warbler/guitarist Catie Yerkes and drummer Chris Grubbs craft idiosyncratic lo-fi emo-punk with math-y time signatures and wryly forlorn lyrical persuasions. Every song title on the North Carolina duo’s 2016 sophomore album The Middle name-checks someone (our favorite: “Terry Gilliam Day Dream”), though the content of each is only loosely related, if at all. (The Bends, St. Petersburg) –LP
Guardians of Easycore 2016 What if metal was just a bit more happy? Like, if there was a collective decision to ignore the crushing nihilism of existence and embrace colors instead of black? Welcome to easycore, friend. Swedish easycore heroes Abandoned By Bears headline this heavy mellow tour with D.C.-area outfit For The Win, which combines massively energetic hooks with breakneck breakdowns. Settle Your Scores’ gang-style choruses and obsession with thundering power chords is evocative of the genre while Up From Here dials it back down a bit with saccharine vocals and gorgeous melodies peppered with just enough snarl. Also performing on this night: Infinity on High, Pushover, Airport and Novels. (Local 662, St. Petersburg) –Brian Roesler
20th Annual Scratch My Back Benefit A two-decades-old charity show that benefits Friends of Hillsborough County Animal Services; this year’s edition features sets by Ruben Ray and the Undercover Band, The Lint Rollers, Johnny G Lyon Band and Quivering Rhythm Hounds with Damon Fowler. The music starts at 2 p.m.; admission is a suggested $10 donation. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa) –LP
Ghost Drag Records Memorial Day Weekend Bash It’s a holiday weekend, you have tomorrow off, why pony up a fiver and get your dance n’ craft brew drank on at The Amsterdam with Los Bronson, an instrumental quartet from Puerto Rico that plies surf rock with funkier-than-usual bass grooves joining the reverbed electric guitars and wave-riding rhythms. Miami’s SOXX brings a dark and brooding blend of noise and post-punk to the evening’s sounds, while Luxury Mane and Johnny Mile & the Kilometers round out the bill with locally-brewed psych n’ garage fuzz. (The Amsterdam, St. Petersburg) –LP
Sunset Music Festival with Jack Ü, The Chainsmokers, Sam Feldt, Party Favor The last big music fest in Tampa Bay before the muggy summer weather hits in earnest is now in its fifth year of bringing high caliber EDM talent along with hard-buzzing and emerging genre stars to town for a weekend of unz n’ dance. The main event happens in the north lot of RayJay Stadium. After Saturday’s lineup featuring big room and electro house music makers (Dutch producer Hardwell and Swedish duo Galantis), Sunday sees highlights in trap-slapped house DJs The Chainsmokers, who warm the crowd before EDM super duo Jack Ü (comprised of veritable genre stars Skrillex and Diplo) rage the day to a close. Two venues worth of official after-parties are held in Ybor afterwards. (Raymond James Stadium, Tampa) –LP
ALSO TONIGHT
The Screaming J’s (Ale and the Witch, St. Petersburg)
A Night of Heavy Distortion w/The Prosecution/Smokestack Lightning/Channel Drive/Five Alarm Fire (Brass Mug, Tampa)
Sunset Music Festival After Parties, Night 2 (The Ritz Ybor, The Cuban Club, Ybor City)
This article appears in May 26 – Jun 2, 2016.
