✔️ Surfer Blood w/The Plastic Pinks/Glove/Blonde Tongues It’s hard not to think of Surfer Blood without imagining late guitarist Thomas Fekete onstage and joyfully playing licks from the West Palm Beach band’s debut LP Astro Coast or its follow-up (2013’s Pythons). “When I met Thomas, he was the one who really pushed me to expand my horizons and to go places outside of Florida,” Surfer Blood co-founder and frontman John Paul Pitts recently told the Broward-Palm Beach New Times when asked about Fekete, who died at the age of 27in May 2016. “I got to see that guy in his best, at his happiest.” Pitts — flanked now by guitarist Mike McCleary (guitar/backing vocals), bassist Lindsey Mills and Tyler Schwarz on drums — arrives in Ybor City in support of the band’s first album without Fekete (last year’s Snowdonia), which is surprisingly sunny considering all of the grief Pitts & Co. went through in the time leading up to the album’s creation. Tampa’s own Blonde Tongues — supporting its own new album, Anxiety Dream — opens the show with Iggy Pop-approved Miami Burger Records alums The Plastic Pinks (Plastic Pinks dropped off the bill after CL went to print — Glove. will play instead). (Crowbar, Ybor City) INFO
✔️ The Fixx The beach is closed — at least for anyone without a ticket. Pioneering London new wave group The Fixx is playing its landmark 1983 album, Reach The Beach, in full, and the sold-out crowd will relish the way familiar hits like “One Thing Leads To Another,” “Saved By Zero” and “The Sign Of Fire” have aged in the more than three decades since the record’s release. “So, here we are heading back to the beach that brought us to this brave new world way back when. I wonder how many grains of sand have turned into pearls of wisdom since then,” singer Cy Curnin said about the tour that finds the very same lineup that originally toured behind the release coming back together. “We’re excited to find out.” (Capitol Theatre, Clearwater) INFO
✔️ Summer of Soul w/Latimore Soul singer, keyboardist and Blues Hall of Famer Latimore doesn’t really play hometown gigs, but the Riverview resident and living legend is making an exception for this, the highlight of the Palladium’s Summer of Soul concert series. You might have heard his 1974 No. 1 hit “Let’s Straighten It Out” on the radio when you were a kid, but a new generation of fans heard another one of Latimore’s signature songs (“Move and Groove Together”) on an episode of Netflix’s Orange Is The New Black. See if you can spot John Capouya in the crowd, and then ask the Tampa author about his book Florida Soul, in which he masterfully tells the stories of Sunshine State soul singers like Latimore and others. (Side Door Cabaret at Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg) INFO
ON THE RECORD
Tampa author John Capouya draws a musical road map with his book Florida Soul
Summer Jazz Series w/La Lucha/Whitney James If you can’t swing the cover at the Palladium’s soul show, then know that there’s a free-to-attend jazz gig happening a short walk away at The Ale & The Witch. La Lucha — a Bay area outfit readying the release of its own new album — leads the charge, and in-demand vocalist Whitney James will man the microphone. (The Ale & The Witch, St. Petersburg) INFO
Replay Guitar 2-Year Anniversary Sale It’s technically not live music, but you’ve got to give it up for Replay, an independent retailer that has been giving real (and wannabe) South Tampa six-string shredders a high-quality place to bust out a few licks and find a new favorite axe to grind on. Door prizes are on deck, and expect the diehards to line up early since everything in-store is at least 10 percent off, with some stuff discounted up to 60 percent. (Replay Guitar Exchange, Tampa) INFO
Furious Funk Presents The Wormhole w/DJ Three/Denney/OMNOM The 5th Ave. N./Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street exit of St. Petersburg’s Interstate 375 is starting to become the perfect place to throw an all-night party. Hallucienda Records’ DJ Three headlines at Nova 353 on Saturday, and the after-party (featuring a separate cover, which you have to buy at the Nova party) is happening just a few blocks away at the Movement Sanctuary. Normies: resist the urge to buy that wandering raver a coffee on Sunday morning — they’ve been at it since 10 p.m. (Nova 535 and The Movement Sanctuary, St. Petersburg) INFO
Worldwide Play Music on Your Porch Day w/Ken Jensen Yes, there’s a day for everything, and August 26 is no exception. This one’s pretty cool, however, as Worldwide Play Music on Your Porch Day finds ceramic artist Ken Jensen playing his handmade ceramic instruments. Musicians are invited to stop by the Craftsman House porch to join him. Plug in or play acoustic. Music lovers, stop by for a listen. Free to attend. (Craftsman House, St. Petersburg) INFO
✔️ Clothes To Kids Benefit Show w/Losing Vision/Engraved/Bridge Burner/Violated Right/Direct Action/Sometimes Sentinel/Mindfield/Control System/Lowered A.D. Stage dive, mosh, headbang, punch your friends, push pit, sing along and watch a band play its first show ever when nine hardcore-leaning acts come together for a late-starting show (the gig begins at 8:30 since the venue was double-booked) where organizers are collecting new and gently used clothes to donate to underprivileged kids who can’t afford threads to wear this school year. Highlights on the bill include and handful of Tampa bands as well as Miami metalcore act Violated Right and Orlando’s Engraved, which are both supporting new releases. (Transitions Art Gallery at Skatepark of Tampa, Tampa) INFO
Forerunner Fest III w/Nomvdic/Noose/Gucci Flute/Katabasis/Murkov/Death Requisite/Delineate/Grieve/more Tampa-based progressive death metal quartet Nomvdic plays its 2017 LP, Horror, in full as part of this 16-band bill that finds Deland outfit Gucci Flute reuniting, Sarasota symphonic death metal band Death Requisite playing its final show and SoFla deathcore quartet Murkov making its live debut. The cover $10 includes a Forerunner Recording Compilation download. (The Noise Box, Tampa) INFO
ALSO PLAYING
Tribute/Cover
Carrollwood Jukebox (Carrollwood Cultural Center, Tampa) INFO
Rock the Yacht w/Phase 5 Band (Yacht Starship, Tampa) INFO
The Souliz (Buckets Grill & Tap, Tampa) INFO
The Paul Anthony Band (Caddy’s On The Beach, Sunset Beach) INFO
Grateful Dead Night w/Dead Set Florida (Cage Brewing, St. Petersburg) INFO
Grumpy (Two Buks, Clearwater) INFO
Smokin Boston Tribute (Central Park Performing Arts Center, Largo) INFO
Rock
Boys Entrance (Emerald Bar, St. Petersburg) INFO
The Bloody Jug Band (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin) INFO
Diabolic (Brass Mug, Tampa) INFO
Vomit Sawdust w/Pig Pen/Fall On Purpose/Kill Screen (Fubar, St. Petersburg) INFO
Honey What w/Ella Jet and Future Soul (SubCentral at Iberian Rooster, St. Petersburg) INFO
Somatic (Ka’Tiki, Treasure Island) INFO
Blues
Come Back Alice w/Trae Pierce and the T-Stones (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa) INFO
Blues, Brews and Barbecue w/Fil Pate (c. 1949 Florida Beer Garden, Tampa) INFO
Doug Deming & the Jewel Tones (Ruby’s Elixir, St. Petersburg) INFO
Singer-songwriter
Taylor Reed w/Kristopher James (Hideaway Café, St. Petersburg) INFO
Cristi Massey (The Pesky Pelican Brew Pub, St. Petersburg) INFO
EDM
Trippy Squad (Hooch and Hive, Tampa) INFO
DJ
The S.E.T. (First Chance Last Chance, Ybor City) INFO
So What’cha Want? w/DJ Fader (Orbit 19, Holiday) INFO
80s Night w/VJ Hural Knight (Crooked Thumb Brewery, Safety Harbor) INFO
Reggae
Dubbest w/Freecoasters (Ringside Cafe, St. Petersburg) INFO
Hip-hop
USFP Live! w/Asher Roth/Kyle Curtis (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg) INFO
R&B
Er B & Bee (The Blue Note, Tampa) INFO
This article appears in Aug 23-30, 2018.
