✔️=Critic's Pick

✔️ El Ten Eleven w/Joan Of Arc/Good Fuck Chicago producer Jenny Polus (FKA Spa Moans, now performing under the Jenny Pulse moniker) has teamed up with one of the Windy City’s weirdest musicians (Tim Kinsella) for a project called Good Fuck. The lyrics from the duo’s new music is a literary mash-up of themes and ideas from 12 books (think everything from Don Quixote to The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry), and the sound is exactly what you’d expect from one of Chicago’s most interesting beatmakers (Pulse) and the guy who co-founded two of indie-rock’s most seminal, albeit odd, bands (Joan of Arc, Cap’n Jazz). The group will play some Joan of Arc material as part of this set opening for Los Angeles post-rock duo El Ten Eleven. (Crowbar, Ybor City) INFO

Hot Tuna Still hanging on to that tattered Jefferson Airplane T-shirt? Yeah? Then we’ll see you in downtown Clearwater for this Hot Tuna show where earplugs won’t be required since the boys — Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady — will be playing acoustic. Read CL’s interview with Casady via cltampa.com/music. (Capitol Theatre, Clearwater) INFO

The Henleys EP Release w/Whale Feral/Stephanie D’Angelo/Kira Jaye A young Bay area-based blues quartet celebrates the release of its new EP and Tampa songwriters Kira Jaye and Stephanie D’Angelo open an early show where Gainesville jam-rock outfit Whale Feral closes out with a set that’ll have you home before the 11 o’clock news. (The Blue Note, Tampa) INFO

Blast Friday w/Fastball/The Black Honkeys It’s OK to admit that your glove compartment was home to a backup copy of Fastball’s platinum 1998 album All the Pain Money Can Buy, and no one is going to judge you for heading out to the poppin’ Cleveland Street district of downtown Clearwater (Hot Tuna is already playing inside of Capitol Theatre) for this free concert from the Grammy-nominated rock band. VIP tickets get you super close and come with two free beers, too. (Cleveland Street District, Clearwater) INFO

✔️ Watoto Children’s Choir At its best, music is supposed to lift you up. This free concert from vulnerable children that found a new home and fresh hope at Uganda’s Watoto Church is the epitome of that idea. Watch some of the kids support a new album, We Will Go On, which tells the story of abandoned African children and vulnerable women, at this early (7 p.m.) show. (Salvation Army, St. Petersburg) INFO

Gladys Knight Gladys Knight spent last weekend on defense after committing to sing the national anthem in Atlanta before the New England Patriots take on the Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl. Don’t ask your Tom Brady-loving uncle about it, but do know that the 74-year-old’s decision to lend her legendary voice to the NFL is disheartening to folks who think that the league has been repeatedly and unapologetically dismissive of black issues. I mean, there’s still a chance that she’ll take a knee after the last note, right? (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater) INFO

✔️ Manic Focus w/Artifakts It’s been about a year since Chicago producer John McCarten (AKA Manic Focus) wrapped Ybor City in an EDM pashmina on New Year’s Eve, so it’s great to see the livetronic wonder bringing his 2019 tour back to the very same room he sold out to ring in 2018. It’s nice not just because of the support act (Wisconsin-based electro and hip-hop beat maker Artifakts), but because McCarten has been so open about the depression and anxiety that sometimes haunts him in the studio and onstage. Expect fans to swaddle McCarten (and each other) in posi-vibes at this one. (Orpheum, Ybor City) INFO

Catatonic Scripts w/Jensen Serf Company/Scam Likely Here’s a lowdown and dingy local rock show where the cover ($3) might actually be less expensive than the cheap beer you’re going to order the second you walk into the door. Things start late (10 p.m.), and one of CL’s favorite, long-running garage rock bands, Jensen Serf Company, plays in the middle of the bill. (Emerald Bar, St. Petersburg) INFO

✔️ Mouth Council w/DEA & SAINT/QueenofEx/Alec Burnright Last Friday, Green Bench welcomed a visually stimulating showcase that massaged concertgoers’ earholes with the sounds of sexy indie-rock exports from Miami (shoutout Haute Tension, Jaialai). This week the brewery reps for its hometown by welcoming genre-bending, hip-hop leaning duo DEA & Saint for a bill that also includes one of the Bay area’s most fiery emcees (QueenofEx), another bright local rapper (Alec Burnright) and the experimental meanderings of Billy Mays III’s communal, vocal-looping project Mouth Council. This show is free to attend. (Green Bench Brewing Co., St. Petersburg) INFO

✔️ Glove w/Crystallized/Channel 83 If you’re a live music-loving out-of-towner holed up in a St. Petersburg Airbnb for the weekend, then you’re in luck on Friday. This show finds two of our city’s most interesting bands (new wave-ish rock quartet Glove and Dennis Martinelli’s experimental postpunk band Crystallized) opening for a visiting Orlando synth-punk outfit Channel 83, and it’s just across the street from another free gig (Green Bench’s hip-hop showcase detailed above) and a few blocks from an inexpensive ($3) and divey garage rock show happening at Emerald Bar. (The Bends, St. Petersburg) INFO

Heinous w/Röntgen/SPIT/Funeral Solution A couple of Bay area acts (noise and shit-pop duo Funeral Solution plus powerviolence trio SPIT) have been tasked with loosening up the earwax of the hard-rock fans at Seminole Heights’ American Legion who’ll be there to welcome a pair of skull-crushing bands (mangel-punk quintet Röntgen and goregrind outfit Heinous) who have made it here all the way from Arizona. Bring earplugs for yourself and $5 bucks to help our Copper State pals put gas in the tank. (American Legion: Seminole Post 111, Tampa) INFO

Jariah Higgins /Dru Cutler/Caitlin Mahoney Bay area promoter and siger-songwriter Kate Reuter gets a new songwriters series off of the ground with this one featuring Tampa expat Dru Cutler. (Hideaway Café, St. Petersburg) INFO

ALSO PLAYING
*See a list of venues hosting residencies and tribute or cover bands at the bottom of this post.

Rock

Beartoe (Nebraska Mini-Mart, Tampa) INFO

Meltdown Cadillac (Neptune Lounge, Tarpon Springs) INFO

The Black Honkeys (Ringside Café, St. Petersburg) INFO

End of the Year (of the dog) Getdown w/Trenchfoot Shindig (Cage Brewing, St. Petersburg) INFO

Whale Feral (The Blue Note, Tampa) INFO

Blues/Funk

Ike Stubblefield & Friends (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin) INFO

Tropico Blvd (The Ale & the Witch, St. Petersburg) INFO

Classical/Chorale

January 25-26, USF McCormick Marimba Festival: Solo Showcase (School of Music Concert Hall at University of South Florida, Tampa) INFO

Tribute

The Florida Orchestra: Music of Tom Petty (Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg) INFO

Buddy, Roy & Fats (2 shows) (Central Park Performing Arts Center, Largo) INFO

Zydeco

Chubby Carrier w/Cadillac Cowboys (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa) INFO

Singer-songwriter

Paleface (Ella's Americana Folk Art Café, Tampa) INFO

Seth Glier (Craftsman House, St. Petersburg) INFO

Chris Poe (c. 1949 Florida Beer Garden, Tampa) INFO

Fourth Friday w/Eden Shireen (Tampa Riverwalk at David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa) INFO

DJ/EDM

Joyce Muniz (Vienna) (SubCentral at Iberian Rooster, St. Petersburg) INFO

Steve Aoki (The Ritz, Ybor City) SOLD OUT

Taking Back Fridays w/DJ Heathen (Orbit 19 Lounge, Holiday) INFO

Night w/DJ Fresh Step/DJ Meow Mix (Independent Bar, St.Petersburg) INFO

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Below is a list of clubs and restaurants that either regularly book both original music acts as well as tribute and cover bands or feature a concert calendar stocked with higher-quality residents. Follow the links to see more.

Residencies

c. 1949 Florida Beer Garden 6905 N Orleans Ave., Tampa
Hideaway Café 1756 Central Ave., St. Petersburg
Jazz House Supper Club 9331 East Adamo Dr., Tampa
The Landing at Jannus 200 First Ave N., St. Petersburg
The Living Room 487 Main St., Dunedin
The Mandarin Hide 231 Central Ave., St. Petersburg
Ringside Café 16 2nd St N., St. Petersburg
Ruby's Elixir 15 3rd St. N., St. Petersburg
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino 5223 Orient Rd, Tampa
Tampa Armature Works 1910 N Ola Ave., Tampa
The Vinoy Renaissance 501 5th Ave NE, St. Petersburg

Tribute/Cover/Open Mics

3 Daughters Brewing 222 22nd St., St. Petersburg
Barefoot Billy's Friendly Tavern 3120 W. Gandy Blvd, Tampa
Buckets Grill & Tap 4535 Gunn Hwy., Tampa
Captain Jack’s On The Water 21 Oscar Hill Rd., Tarpon Springs
Caddy's On The Beach 9000 W Gulf Blvd, Treasure Island
Café Hey 1540 N Franklin St., Tampa
Gator's 12754 Kingfish Dr., Treasure Island
Green Iguana 4029 S. Westshore Blvd., Tampa
Ferg's Live 490 Channelside Dr., Tampa
JD's Restaurant & Lounge 125 Gulf Blvd., Indian Rocks Beach
Hula Bay Club 5210 W Tyson Ave., Tampa
O'Briens Irish Pub Multiple Locations, Tampa
Rick's On The River 2305 N Willow Ave., Tampa
Smokin' 19 3080-3090 34th St N., St. Petersburg
Two Buks 1915 N. Hercules Ave., Clearwater
Yeoman Cask & Lion (two locations: 202 N. Morgan St., Tampa; 200 1st Ave. S., St. Petersburg)