✔️ = Critic's Pick
✔️ Indigo Girls w/Txlips Atlanta punk-rock group Txlips just released a new EP, Queens of the New Age, at a hometown show at Azijo Gallery, but Thursday finds the queens on tour supporting a pair of groundbreaking matriarchs — Amy Ray and Emily Saliers — as part of the dates on Indigo Girls’ spring tour (Becky Warren and Lucy Wainwright are two of the tour’s other noteworthy openers). It’ll be interesting to see the looks on the faces of fans coming for the folk-rock, but we’re willing to bet that Txlips (which has rocked stages at the rowdy Afropunk festival) will win a lot of new fans at this St. Pete show. (Hough Hall at Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg) INFO
Vanilla Ice w/Salt-N-Pepa/Tone Loc/Drifters/Platters and Cornell Gunter’s Coasters/The Lettermen Thursday will be a long day of music at the Strawberry Festival. Legacy lineups from The Lettermen, Drifters and Cornell Gunter’s Coasters play the first two concerts, but expect to see an increase of ’90s fashion in Plant City starting at 7:30 p.m. when a nostalgic mini-festival takes over the bandshell. We’re willing to bet that your cassette player doesn’t work anymore, but that won’t make tunes from Vanilla Ice, Salt-N-Pepa and Tone Loc make you dance any less hard. Additional details and tickets are available via flstrawberryfestival.com. (Florida Strawberry Festival, Plant City) INFO
✔️ Selwyn Birchwood Don’t be afraid if you’re walking around Safety Harbor on Thursday and hear a gravel-throated moan coming from SHAMc. It’s just homegrown, super-smiley blues sensation Selwyn Birchwood working through one of the plentiful local gigs he graciously puts on for hometown fans who should be proud of the accolades the Alligator Records signee has garnered in such a short career. Birchwood is still touring behind last year’s Pick Your Poison album, but Friday is his birthday, so buy him a beer after this set at one of Tampa Bay’s most charming venues. (Safety Harbor Art & Music Center, Safety Harbor) INFO
✔️ Robin Trower w/Damon Fowler Riff rock probably didn’t need Robin Trower, but it definitely wouldn’t be the same without contributions from the Procol Harum guitarist, who colored his band’s blues, R&B and soul sound with subtle hints of classical and baroque influence. This show with the 72-year-old rock icon has long been sold out. That might leave procrastinating fans a whiter shade of pale, but maybe someone with an extra ticket will show a little bit of sympathy. (Capitol Theatre, Clearwater) SOLD OUT
Coast Modern A new cover of MGMT’s “Electric Feel” has ignited Coast Modern’s return to the blogosphere. We’re surprised that the buzz around the Los Angeles band’s self-titled 2017 debut didn’t keep the hype going into the New Year. “Guru” and “Dive” are bona fide indie-pop bangers that lure listeners to the album, where other songs like the stripped-back album closer “Frost” show off a songwriting sensibility which suggests that we’ll be hearing from the duo for years to come. (Crowbar, Ybor City) INFO
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ALSO PLAYING
Backyard Hootenanny w/Oak Hay (Tampa Bay Brewing Company Westchase, Tampa) INFO
Gutter Demons (Fubar, St. Petersburg) INFO
The Inaugural Riot Girls Tour w/The Coven/Red Calling/All Hail The Queen/Mr. Bella (Brass Mug, Tampa) INFO
Patel Conservatory presents St. Andrew’s Music Concert (St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Tampa) INFO
"Living Room Live" Open Mic (Hideaway Café, St. Petersburg) INFO
Control This (Ringside Cafe, St. Petersburg) INFO
Somatic (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin) INFO
Sessions: A Night of Classical Spanish Guitar, Beer and Cider w/Hector Mayoral (c.1949 Florida Beer Garden, Tampa) INFO
Shoeless Soul (SubCentral at Iberian Rooster, St. Petersburg) INFO
This article appears in Mar 8-15, 2018.
