\\
✔️ = Critic's Pick
✔️ Weltesser w/Toke./Beerwolf Promoters are calling this one a “a face melting, beer chugging, whiskey drinking rager.” Bike parking (that’s motorcycles, you hippie) is also available, and the rock will be provided via a St. Petersburg doom and sludge-metal trio that is making a few waves on the international heavy-music scene. A lot of the attention has to do with a new album, Crestfallen, on which Weltesser worships Sabbath without trying to reinvent the sound Tony Iommi & Co. created so many years ago. Throw in Weltesser’s firm grasp on hardcore, its ability to change tempos gracefully, and what you have is one of the most balanced hard-rock records of the year. Tampa’s own Beerwolf (playing in support of its own brand new album, Planetfall) fills out the bill along with understandably stoned North Carolina rockers Toke. (Crowbar, Ybor City) INFO
✔️ Santana Santana’s Woodstock set is a high point of the early days of the modern rock and roll movement, and we’re pretty lucky that the 70-year-old guitarist, activist and spiritual thought leader has outlived so many of the acts that made Woodstock so special. Santana has been working on an album of new music with Rick Rubin, and he says that Africa Speaks, The World Listens is rife with African rhythms and meant to “heal a twisted, crooked, collective mentality.” Read our Q&A with the living legend here and get ready to be lifted when the Transmogrify tour blows into Jeff Vinik-ville. (Amalie Arena, Tampa) INFO
✔️ L.A. Witch w/Soapbox Soliloquy/Deadborns L.A. Witch’s last stop at The Bends was good enough to earn a Best of the Bay award, and we’re guessing all of the psychedelic garage rock has only been elevated since the September release of the trio’s woozy, reverb-laden album of pop-noir. L.A. Witch has earned slots opening for the likes of The Kills and Coathangers, but it’ll be supported by a pair of loved locals at this show. (The Bends, St. Petersburg) INFO
✔️ BrewHouse Sessions w/Bangarang/Chew/Lundy/El Coyote Hidden Springs’ fledgling concert series continues to spread its wings (and reaches out of state) for this fourth installment, when Best of the Bay-winning Tampa rock and hip-hop outfit Bangarang will use its popularity to bring attention to Chew, which arrives from Atlanta in support of a trippy, 2016 EP of heady rock and roll that’s not afraid to eat that second tab of acid before taking to the synthesizer to unleash all sorts of technicolored, mind-melting noise. Tampa rapper Justin Lundy opens the show along with St. Pete rock band El Coyote. (Hidden Springs Ale Works, Tampa) INFO
READ MORE
Here’s why Tampa Bay post-hardcore quintet LIMBS signed to Equal Vision Records
✔️ LIMBS w/Fero Lux In September, Albany-based Equal Vision Records announced that it signed Tampa hardcore outfit LIMBS to a deal. That’s big news for the band, which joins a roster that currently includes Saves The Day, Say Anything, A Lot Like Birds, Eisley and more. “We’d spoken to multiple labels over the past few years and Equal Vision was the first out of all of them that really just seemed to get us,” frontman Chris Costanza told CL in an email. Here’s to hoping that the rest of the world gets a chance to hear where LIMBS is coming from as its journey unfolds. (Transitions Art Gallery, Tampa) INFO
✔️ The Pink Stones w/Blacksmith/Drowning Lessons A pair of Georgia bands — The Pink Stones from Athens and Atlanta’s Drowning Lessons — bring two different sounds to Seminole Heights’ local record store for a night of emo anchored by local favorites Blacksmith (the Stones lean towards quiet, while Drowning Lessons lets it rip sorta like if Promise Ring met Tim Kinsella and Cap’n Jazz in a rock tumbler). Not a free show, buttholes, so bring $5 to help put gas in the travelling bands’ tanks. (Microgroove, Tampa) INFO
READ MORE
On the record: Tampa author John Capouya draws a musical road map with his book Florida Soul
✔️ John Capouya Florida Soul book launch w/Little Jake and The Soul Searchers Tampa native Little Jake Mitchell (who played the Apollo and toured with James Brown, Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke in his heyday) brings his contributions to the Sunshine State’s soul-music menu to the Palladium, where another Bay area local, University of Tampa Professor John Capouya, celebrates the release of his new book Florida Soul with friends, fans and family. Read more about the book on here. (Palladium, St. Petersburg) INFO
Matisyahu w/Common Kings/Orphan Matisyahu’s transformation from a woke Hasidic Jewish reggae-rapper to an equally woke, non-Hasidic, still-Jewish reggae-rapper has been fun to watch, and it’s nice that the 38-year-old emcee is bringing guitarist Taumata Grey’s rising reggae-pop outfit Common Kings to open this show. Both artists have new albums to pimp, so expect a lot of fresh riddims at this one. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg) INFO
Dan Bern People pay attention when your name gets tossed around with the likes John Prine, Phil Ochs, Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan. That’s the plight Dan Bern has been living with ever since a ‘97 self-titled debut introduced him to folk fans, but the 52-year-old songwriter has fared well (and written what feels like 1,000 songs) while keeping his sense of humor intact over the course of a 20-year career that has seen the Iowa boy release 13 full-lengths (plus a handful of EPs and live albums) along the way. (Hideaway Cafe in St. Petersburg) INFO
The Florida Orchestra presents Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture It’s been a crispy 135 years since Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture made its proper debut, and our current political situation kind of makes for an interesting exploration of what is essentially a Russian victory song that Tchaikovsky was commissioned to piece together in commemoration of the Russians’ defeat of Napoleon. All the Russia-related hullabaloo in Washington D.C. is pretty good entertainment, but you’d do good to tune out the talking heads and hear this drama unfold instead. Tampa gets the first stab at this one, and repeat performances happen in St. Pete and Clearwater over the next two days. Visit floridaorchestra.org for more info. (David A. Straz Center for Performing Arts, Tampa) INFO
ALSO PLAYING
Singer-songwriter
Acoustic Fridays with Tyler Costanzo! (c. 1949 Florida Beer Garden, Tampa) INFO
Casey James (The Attic at Rock Brothers Brewing, Ybor City) INFO
Rock
Gardy-Loo! (Brass Mug, Tampa) INFO
Country
Cody Johnson w/Jacob Bryant (Dallas Bull, Tampa) INFO
Blues
Alex Zayas Band (Ruby’s Elixir, St. Petersburg) INFO
Freakers Ball 38 w/T-Bone Hamilton (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa) INFO
Michael Francis McCarthy Duo (Ella's Folk Art Café, Tampa) INFO
EDM/Dance
Stay Wonky tours; Bassment Takeover w/Monxx (Pegasus Lounge, Tampa) INFO
San Holo w/Just A Gent/Droeloe (The Ritz, Ybor City) INFO
Analogue Featuring: Chang & Undle Tone (Fubar, St. Petersburg) INFO
Folk/Americana
The Prestage Brothers (The Ale & the Witch, St. Petersburg) INFO
Cover/Tribute
October 27, One More Time: A Daft Punk Tribute (Orpheum, Ybor City) CANCELLED
Hip-hop
Twiztid w/Blaze Ya Dead Homie (State Theatre, St. Petersburg) INFO
Jazz
Concerts in the Park w/Gloria West and the Gents (Horan Park, St. Pete Beach) INFO
DJ
The Addams Family Halloween Ball w/DJ Nemesis/DJ Maus (SubCentral at Iberian Rooster, St. Petersburg) INFO
Nightlife Halloween Party w/DJ Ku/Big Willie (Jackson's, Tampa) INFO
Flashback Friday Halloween Prom Night to the Living Dead w/DJ Fresh Step/DJ Wonderbread (Independent Bar, St.Petersburg) INFO
Soul/R&B
The Rhapsody Suite: Mars vs Venus vol.2 (Mojito, Tampa) INFO
Joshua Cruz and the Experience (Shephard’s Beach Resort, Clearwater Beach) INFO
This article appears in Oct 26 – Nov 2, 2017.