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✔️= Critic's Pick
✔️ Marc Broussard w/Kristopher James It’s been 15 solid years since Marc Broussard spent his fall opening for Maroon 5 on a club tour that hit Orlando’s House of Blues. The 36-year-old purveyor of New Orleans-made “Bayou Soul”may not be playing (or even opening) at arenas the way Maroon 5 is, but he’s garnered a loyal following attracted to his authentic and painfully raw songwriting, which was recently captured in a video for “Memory of You” from his latest album Easy to Love. “The location we filmed at is located in St. Martinville, Louisiana — about a 30-minute drive from my home in Carencro, and in the heart of Cajun country,” Broussard recently told Parade when asked about the clip. “The song is about love so powerful that you couldn’t let go if you tried.” It’s been a while since we’ve seen St. Petersburg songwriter Kristopher James in a proper theater, so it’ll be nice to see him open this show, too. (Capitol Theatre, Clearwater) INFO
✔️ Live Music w/Will Quinlan/Shawn Kyle There was probably a time when ego and inter-scene squabbling might’ve prevented Shawn Kyle and Will Quinlan from sharing a stage, but we’re all older and much wiser these days. Good thing is that the already good songs got better, too. Just listen to anything Quinlan is making with two of his bands — Vesper Bell and Holy Slow Train — or sit and be blown by Kyle’s “Columbia Blues ,” which recently came to the songwriter like a lightning bolt after years and years of drinking in bars with Quinlan and another Bay area songwriting legend, Ronny Elliott. Free and low-key, this is one of the better singer-songwriter shows happening in Tampa Bay on Friday night. (Independent Bar, St.Petersburg) INFO
✔️ Rocks the Cure w/Better Than Ezra/The Outpatients Rock and roll may not be the direct cure for pediatric cancer, but this benefit concert featuring late-’90s New Orleans alt-rock act Better Than Ezra wants to put a dent in the disease. Rocks the Cure believes that music therapy can help patients reduce some of the symptoms associated with cancer treatments, including pain, anxiety, mood disturbance and depression. Anything that helps kids cope with the difficulties of hospitalization sounds good to us. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg) INFO
We Are the Union w/Skatune Network/Wolf-Face/Station Cases There’ve been a lot of ska shows at Lucky You as of late, and this is another one featuring a Michigan-based ska-punk band (We Are The Union) joining Bay area bands that play everything from skacore (Station Cases) and straight-ahead punk (Wolf-Face) to sad ukulele jams (Community Couch). Show is all-ages and early, but not free to attend. (Lucky You Tattoo, St. Petersburg) INFO
Raw Tuneage w/Changer/Jeff Brawer/Shae Krispinsky A new-ish St. Petersburg venue continues its weekly habit of asking songwriters from Bay area punk bands to strip the music back for acoustic sets that are much quieter than what they play at smokier, boozier dives and rock clubs. All ages and free to attend. (Green Light Bar, St. Petersburg) INFO
Firstworld w/Temple V/Lastnight With the closure of Fubar on the horizon, St. Petersburg is left with fewer and fewer, not-exactly-underground venues (read: not a house show) that’ll play incubator for local acts and host to traveling outfits. Paper Crane is one such place, and on Friday it welcomes Miami chillwave act Firstworld to headline a show in support of a 2018 EP, Im Right Here. Ben and Mir Holley’s St. Petersburg-based Lastnight project opens the show, which starts relatively early (8 p.m. doors) and costs $10 to attend. (Paper Crane, St. Petersburg) INFO
ALSO PLAYING
Rock/Pop
The Stone Cold Shindig w/The Stone Cobras/Laser Mouth/The Prople/The Surfin’ Dead (Fubar, St. Petersburg) INFO
RSP Industry Showcase Pre-Party 2018 (Brass Mug, Tampa) INFO
Ajeva w/The Fritz (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa) INFO
Terrapin/Toasty Rye/Samstorm (Emerald Bar, St. Petersburg) INFO
Taverns w/Casedilla/Sick Hot/Heff (The Blue Note, Tampa) INFO
Spazmatics (Ringside Café, St. Petersburg) INFO
HoneyWhat (Crooked Thumb Brewery, Safety Harbor) INFO
Four Star Riot (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin) INFO
DJs
Obscura Undead w/DJ Azy/Jeff Black/DJ Maus (Hooch and Hive, Tampa) INFO
Taking Back Fridays w/DJ Heathen (Orbit 19, Holiday) INFO
The Return of Soul Night w/BC/Handsome Greg (The Bends, St. Petersburg) INFO
EDM
#Pound Fridays w/Bandlez/Codd Dubz (The Ritz, Ybor City) INFO
Chris Craze/Santana/Truk (Pegasus Night Club, Tampa) INFO
Folk/Singer-songwriter/Americana
The Woodwork (Ella's Americana Folk Art Café, Tampa) INFO
Ben Prestage (The Ale & the Witch, St. Petersburg) INFO
Undine (c.1949 Florida Beer Garden, Tampa) INFO
Swearingen & Kelli (Hideaway Café, St. Petersburg) INFO
Country
The Drunk Uncles (Ruby’s Elixir, St. Petersburg) INFO
Jazz
Jazz Phools (Zydeco Brew Werks, Ybor City) INFO
Holiday
Tomáseen Foley’s A Celtic Christmas (Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center, Tarpon Springs) INFO
Classical/Chorale
UT Symphony Orchestra (Falk Theatre at University of Tampa, Tampa) INFO
Blues
Selwyn Birchwood (Safety Harbor Art & Music Center, Safety Harbor) INFO
Tribute/Cover
One Eyed Jack (Smokin’ 19, St. Petersburg) INFO
Myster Mayham (Two Buks, Clearwater) INFO
Papa Cherry (Buckets Grill & Tap, Tampa) INFO
Restless Heart (Central Park Performing Arts Center, Largo) INFO
This article appears in Nov 29 – Dec 6, 2018.