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✔️= Critic's Pick
✔️ Post Animal w/Illiterate Light/Charles Irwin In August 2017, Ybor-based podcast Cigar City Radio invited CL to sit and chat with Chicago’s Post Animal about myriad topics, including the best Windy City eats and unsung Tampa legend Pete Toledo. What we didn’t talk about was the band’s impending signing to revered Chicago label Polyvinyl Records (these kids, they’re good with secrets these days). It’s been a whirlwind year for the neo-psych-rock sextet, and on Saturday the boys — bassist Dalton Allison, drummer Wesley Toledo and four guitarists: Matt Williams, Jake Hirshland, Javi Reyes and Joe Keery — slide back into the historic district for a set in support of Post Animal’s self-produced debut LP, When I Think Of You In A Castle, where the group revives ghosts from the ‘60s and ‘70s in creating one of this year’s most endearing, and hard-rocking, records. Toledo (a family member who bailed Post Animal out when its van broke down on the way to Tampa last year) might be at the show, but don’t expect to see Keery since he’s probably busy with TV anyway (the actor joined the cast of Stranger Things after Post Animal was formed). Illiterate Light — a Virginia-based guitar-and-drum duo made up of Jeff Gorman and Jake Cochran — opens the show in support of its debut EP, Sweet Beast, which is due next month. This is also the first chance for non-DIY-scene-watchers to experience Tampa’s very own Charles Irwin, which could be next year’s best local band. (Crowbar, Ybor City) INFO
Holiday Toy Drive w/The Heavy Pets/Row Jomah One of at least two concert/toy drives happening in the Bay area on Saturday, this one is heady thanks to jam-rock favorite The Heavy Pets. Shows at this Pinellas live-music mainstay are always free to attend, and we don’t ever really get sick of watching Joe Roma lead his band (Row Jomah) through a show, either. (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin) INFO
Suncoast Blues Society Holiday Party w/Nick Schnebelen Band/Andy T Band/Alabama Mike/Anson Funderburgh Three out-of-town blues bands — Kansas City, Missouri’s Nick Schnebelen Band, Nashville’s Andy T Band and Albama Mike (a Chicago-styles blues singer from The Heart of Dixie) — come together to help a Bay area protector of the genre (Suncoast Blues Society) celebrate the holidays. Society members get discounted admission, and we’re thinking a membership might be a good gift idea for the blues lover in your life. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa) INFO
Playback Showcase w/Dave Ellefson/5 Star Hooker/Fatal Malady/Mutilated Grist/Psykotribe/Warlab/Aegea/Quasi Mojo/more This is the party to go along with Replay Guitar Exchange’s epic guitar clinic (read more on p. 8), and it finds David Ellefson debuting a new project called David Ellefson Basstory, which is basically a storytellers' show where the Megadeth co-founder combines solo bass performance with anecdotes about the ups and downs of his life in rock and roll. (Brass Mug, Tampa) INFO
✔️ Rock and Roll Holiday Spectacular w/Car Bomb Driver/Pretty Voices/Baby Teeth St. Petersburg power-pop trio Baby Teeth is made up of Gigi La Roux, Zsa Zsa St. Maire and Bunny Von Doren, who all have faces we recognize but names we can’t quite recall ever hearing. The band dropped a quick-hit, catchy five-song EP at the end of August, and we’ve been listening to the innocent stories about love (“Timothy”), boredom (“Late At Night”) and band practice (“On Three”) pretty much nonstop. The group opens this punk-rock holiday show headlined by scene staples Car Bomb Driver and Pretty Voices. (Fubar, St. Petersburg) INFO
✔️ Winter Wonder Ride w/Z-Trip/C+C Music Factory feat. Freedom Williams/Tone LocDowntown Tampa’s Winter Wonder Ride completely owns its identity as a Q4, old-school hip-hop charity event (past headliners have included Big Boi, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Salt-N-Pepa, amongst others). For their latest trick, organizers are reaching for deep hip-hop heads by tapping mash-up OG Z-Trip to take the stage after sets by Freedom Williams and C+C Music Factory plus still-“Funky Cold Medina,” Tone Loc. A Santa’s workshop cosplay and 4:30 p.m. mass bike ride precede the party, and the entire thing should be over before 11 p.m. (Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, Tampa) INFO
Pineapple RnR w/Clang!/Piss Ghost Clang! is home safe after a fall tour and will be joined by St. Petersburg punk trio Piss Ghost all so Pineapple RnR — a tropical-flavored, dance-ready rock and roll five-piece from St. Louis — can feel even more welcome within the already cozy confines of Ybor City coffee shop The Bunker. The free and all-ages shows comes with a suggested $5 donation so that the touring outfit can put gas in the tank. (The Bunker, Ybor City) INFO
Punk Rock Holiday Flea Market Flea markets can be punk, right? This organized by Planet Retro Records is, and fans of all things fringe can expect to see everything from music gear, clothing, vintage toys, collectibles, retro crap, comics, zines, pins, accessories, art and everything in between. The family-friendly event will also feature live music and adult drinks, too (Planet Retro Records, St. Petersburg) INFO
✔️ Hotel Life w/Kevin K/New Brutarians Night two of a mini-residency from the appropriately named Hotel Life, a new rock and roll band that finds Luxury Mane principal Billy Summer supporting his dear friend Capt. Joe Harley. A new album, All That Glitters, is a late entry into the race for best local album of 2018, and you can hear more via cltampa.com/music. This show is also the opening of “Seasons Grievings,” an art show featuring new works by Jillian Lasita and Tyler Houston. (Emerald Bar, St. Petersburg) INFO
ALSO PLAYING
Singer-songwriter
Hector Mayoral (c.1949 Florida Beer Garden, Tampa) INFO
Pistol Hill (Ka`Tiki, Treasure Island) INFO
Live & Local w/Danielle Mohr (Jaeb Courtyard at David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa) INFO
Gale Trippsmith (Hideaway Café, St. Petersburg) INFO
Tribute/Cover
Dead Set Florida (Cage Brewing, St. Petersburg) INFO
Tommy Roxx (Smokin’ 19, St. Petersburg) INFO
Beachwolf w/No Filter (3 Daughters Brewing, St. Petersburg) INFO
Strut (Buckets Tavern & Tap, Tampa) INFO
Jim Morrison’s 75th Birthday Tribute w/George Pennington Band (The Ale & the Witch, Saint Petersburg) INFO
Handsome Devil (Two Buks, Clearwater) INFO
Classical/Chorale
The Florida Orchestra: Mozart & Sibelius (Hough Hall at Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg) INFO
Blues/Funk
Rev. Barry & The Funk (Ringside Café, St. Petersburg) INFO
Rock/Pop
The Devil Wears Prada w/Fit For A King/’68 (Orpheum, Ybor City) INFO
Kansas (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater) INFO
Toys For Tots Benefit Show w/Control System/Drug Animal/Glazed/Head High/No Convictions/Shurwood/Swill/Violated Right (Transitions Art Gallery at Skatepark of Tampa, Tampa) INFO
Whiskey in the Woods w/Kyle Cook (NJoy Spirits, Weeki Wachee) INFO
Danny Mood Band (The Blue Note, Tampa) INFO
The Living Street w/Danny and Alex (Shinebox at Jim Chambers Music Box, Tampa) INFO
Neptune Lounge 22nd Anniversary (Neptune Lounge, Tarpon Springs) INFO
DJ
Courtyard Sessions w/DJ Shafiq (First Chance Last Chance Bar, Ybor City) INFO
Americana
Box Car Hollow (Ruby’s Elixir, St. Petersburg) INFO
Crackerbillys (Crooked Thumb Brewery, Safety Harbor) INFO
EDM
Party Favor (The Ritz, Ybor City) INFO
DJ Rivithead 120 Minutes Revisited (Pegasus Night Club, Tampa) INFO
Jazz
Manhattan Transfer w/Herb Alpert/Lani Hall (Capitol Theatre, Clearwater) INFO
Misc.
Jeremy Gloff Moments Of Euphoria documentary encore viewing (Britton 8 Movie Theater, Tampa) INFO
Chris Sgmatto’s music students showcase (The Ale & the Witch, St. Petersburg) INFO
This article appears in Dec 6-13, 2018.