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✔️= Critic's Pick
✔️ Luxury Mane w/Hi-Beam/The Graveyard Groupies There’s a great article on satirical punk-rock website The Hard Times, which details the activity of a “Band Excited to Embark on Tour Consisting of Two Shows in One City Three Weeks Apart.” Somehow, it isn’t based on the touring habits of Luxury Mane. The rock and roll outfit led by one of the Bay area’s brightest songwriters, Billy Summer, is not to be taken lightly — especially after its late-calendar release of a new album, Domestic Bliss, which it supported at a Friday-night show in St. Petersburg. This Saturday-night gig finds it joined by Hi-Beam, one of 2018’s best new local acts, and St. Pete garage-rockers The Graveyard Groupies. (The Hub Bar, Tampa) INFO
✔️Roser Closer w/Sonic Graffiti/FayRoy/Johnny Mile and the Kilometers/Soapbox Soliloquy Houses have always felt temporal in the context of their roles in a local music scene, but very few have meant as much as Roser Park's rock and roll house. For what feels like years, the has played home to musicians and incubator to sounds that've shaped so much of St. Petersburg's (and by default, Tampa Bay's) rock sound. Now the Roser residence is bidding its last musician tenants goodbye, but not before one last show with four of the area's best young bands. No assholes or violence allowed, and you could find this place if you ask around. (House show, St. Petersburg)
Terrapin w/Thee Collapse/OJTT/Philip Good Nick Capone’s Terrapin project gigs a lot in the Bay area, but this show at The Blue Note finds him headlining after Thee Collapse — a new project from Red Light Café regular Yanni Acropolis — makes its live debut. (The Blue Note, Tampa) INFO
Boston Marriage w/Palomino Blond/Gutless/Snacking/Laundromat After playing Bay area concerts in May and September, indie-rock band Boston Marriage (ironically from Orlando) returns to DIY spot Lucky You Tattoo for a third time in 2018 with some great company in tow. Snacking — supporting one of CL’s favorite local punk releases of the year, Not Here — makes an appearance, but so does dreamy Gainesville emo four-piece Gutless, new Lakeland scuzz-pop band Laundromat and Miami fuzz-grunge quartet Palomino Blond. This is an all-ages show, but it will cost you $8 to get in. (Lucky You Tattoo, St. Petersburg) INFO
Benny Benassi The Ritz quite often books EDM acts whose names are foreign to most casual dance music observers. Not so with 51-year-old Benny Benassi, who has risen out of Italy to become something of a household name in the electro and house community. Benassi recently teamed up with New York dance-pop duo Sofi Tukker to enlist Italian duos Havoc & Lawn and MazZz & Constantin, alongside British DJ Kryder for a rework of a summer anthem, “Everybody Needs A Kiss,” which should play just fine at what’s essentially an early New Year’s Eve party. (The Ritz, Ybor City) INFO
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✔️ Luca Bacchetti w/Robert Owens OK, stay with us here. Fingers Inc. alum Robert Owens is in town for an early set of Chicago house music outside the walls of Ichicoro Ane at Station House. Owens’ set is supposed to wrap at 11 p.m., and that’s when a rising Italian techno and house DJ and producer, Luca Bacchetti, will kick off a separate basement after-party as part of Ane’s L8 Night Flights series. The concerts each require their own separate tickets, and we’ve bundled links below. (Ichicoro Ane at Station House, St. Petersburg) BACHETTI / OWENS
Mosquito Teeth w/Car Bomb Driver/DEA & Saint/Pig Pen/Mickey Spixx Mosquito Teeth has probably played Fubar more than any other punk or hardcore band in Tampa Bay, so it’s fitting that it’ll get to play the soon-to-be-shuttered venue twice during its final weekend in business. More of the Bay area’s most energetic live acts (including DEA & Saint, whose T R A P D O O M is one of CL’s favorite local releases of the year) open the show. (Fubar, St. Petersburg) INFO
✔️ Gerry Williams Band The Tampa Bay Lightning are finally back in town after a long trip to Canada, and the Great White North followed the team south for this Saturday matchup against the Montreal Canadiens. There’ll be Southern flavor on hand, however, thanks to Orlando master of jazz, soul and funk, Gerry Williams, who’ll bring a band to rock a free concert on the Thunder Alley plaza outside of Amalie. Free to attend, but parking is a nightmare thanks to Water Street and Sparkman Wharf, so consider the free trolley, biking or a stroll down the Tampa Riverwalk. (Thunder Alley at Amalie Arena, Tampa) INFO
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ALSO PLAYING
*See a list of venues hosting residencies and tribute or cover bands at the bottom of this post.
Retro Red Square Recall w/DJ Rig/DJ Noi (Orpheum, Ybor City) INFO
DJ Paradise w/DJ Maus (SubCentral at Iberian Rooster, St. Petersburg) INFO
Black Honkeys (Buckets Grill & Tap) INFO
GypsyElise and the Royal Blues (Saturday Morning Market, St. Petersburg) INFO
Jumpin Jack Grass (Crooked Thumb Brewery, Safety Harbor) INFO
Petty Hearts w/St. Pete Sons (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg) INFO
Stephanie K w/La Lucha (Firehouse Cultural Center, Ruskin) INFO
Edith Piaf (Brass Mug, Tampa) INFO
Cowford Town Band w/Trail Diver (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin) INFO
Psychedelic Saturday w/Blackbird Morning (Hideaway Café, St. Petersburg) INFO
Damon Fowler Group w/Bird Tribe (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa) 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 the 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 Café 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
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)
There’s more to the Tampa Bay concert calendar, and we’ve got it waiting for you on local.cltampa.com. Visit cltampa.com/music every day to get daily concert roundups plus all the latest concert announcements and local music. Follow us on Twitter (@cl_music) and subscribe to the newsletter, too.
This article appears in Dec 27, 2018 – Jan 3, 2019.