Hey look, it's the end of the week — you made it. Hell, yeah. here's a breakdown of what's happening in concerts on this Fri., July 29, plus a peek at the weekend ahead…
The Helmsmen with UNRB, Sketchie It’s another lineup of Florida talent – St. Pete’s own electric uke-wailing four-brass-blasting ska-fusion ensemble UNRB; Sarasota-brewed reggae-funked ska and punk rockers Sketchie; and The Helmsmen, which craft a unique blend of ’90s-tinged indie rock and sax-blown island music that has a sunshine breezy vibe. The Jupiter quintet just released a new record, Midterm, and ride through town on their “Summer Camp Tour” in support. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)–Leilani Polk
WMNF presents Heatwave Favorites: Trae Pierce and the T-Stone Band, Vanessa Collier, The War and Treaty Of all the acts that played Tropical Heatwave earlier this year, WMNF brought back three that got feet moving and listeners buzzing. Florida native bass-banging talk box-slinging Pierce and his band synthesize funk, soul, rock and even some hip hop, diffusing it to captive audiences in sets touching on original material and some fine covers; their Heatwave set included Prince’s “Purple Rain” and “Killing in the Name of” by Rage Against the Machine. CL contributor Andy Warrener raved about sax-playing blues-soul songstress Vanessa Collier in his Heatwave review, remarking “Collier proved just as raw, gritty and accessible as she is talented and alluring.” Another Maryland-area native, The War and Treaty, is wife and hubbie Tanya and Michael Trotter, Jr., who belt over brawny grooving Americana with gospel overtones. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)–LP
The Fall of Troy with '68, Illustrations The Fall of Troy is so damn meticulous in their compositions and technical skills, it almost sounds as if robots have taken over playing their instruments. It's impressive, albeit sometimes soulless, extreme math rock meets post-hardcore with alternating clean/junkyard dog barking vocals. I mean that in the nicest way possible – we all complain but still blow-out our pipes singing along. Jacksonville's premiere punkers ’68 generate a near-horrific amount of noise for just two people, taking inspiration from noise rock and jazz with attention to all those groovy little details. Texas proves that metal and punk can co-exist with Illustrations, ambassadors for at-times absurdly heavy and bleak soundscapes. (Orpheum, Ybor City) –Brian Roesler
Promethean Horde, Nocturnus AD I know, I just got done praising Texas and their scene, but Tampa will always remain the heartland of American metal. The sort of metal with album covers that look like trashy fantasy novels and the kind of lyrics that would make serial killers blush. Promethean Horde separates from most of these tropes with mostly intelligible lyrics and anguished vocals to match, straddling a blend of black metal's atmospheric guitars with death metal’s adoration for blast beats and cymbal annunciations. This shit gets stuck in your head. There you are at work, and people think you're summoning a demon because you're screaming about oblivion's sweet embrace. Nocturnus AD, another metal son of Tampa, changes their sound up by adding in keys to augment their deeply technical sound. (Brass Mug, Tampa) –BR
Up the Ante Summer Concert Series with The Jackettes, Low Season, Timothy Eerie, Broom Closet Three Bay area bands – warm grooving keys-driven rockers The Jackettes (a Tampa band featured in the 2016 Music Issue), all grrl punk-garage trio Broom Closet and punk rock-kicking Low Season – are joined by Orlando’s trippy pop maker Timothy Eerie for the latest Up the Ante concert showcase; admission is $5. (Fubar, St. Petersburg)–LP
Funny Bunny If you haven’t caught groove-hawking post-disco/No Wave pop/psych-punk trio Funny Bunny yet, do as Kim Stein-Lepley and Co. urge: “Moooooove a little!’’ Just do it. Admission is free and you can grub it up, too. I suggest Rasta-Far-Fries and a Pauly Chop. Mmm, mmm good. (Ella’s Americana Folk Art Café, Tampa)–LP
Cookie Monsta Replace the ‘er’ with an ‘a,’ and the googley eyed Sesame Street character with the ravenous cookie appetite is suddenly an insta-EDM nom de plume, that of Tony Cook, a UK-native producer who smears clubs with brash, nasty dubstep. His ResidentAdvisor.net bio reads, “face-slapping snares, ground shaking bass and eye gougingly dirty synths … his sound resembles that of a demonic bass-saw that easily lacerates the ear drums of all it encounters.” (The Ritz Ybor, Ybor City)–LP
ALSO TONIGHT
Wild Root (Ale and the Witch, St. Petersburg)
Final Friday w/FayRoy/Luxury Mane/Mouth Council (The Loft, St. Petersburg)
NoNeed w/The Reality (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin)
Chasing Jonah w/Kerry Courtney/Ella Jet (Hideaway Café & Recording Studio, St. Petersburg)
Pure Led Zeppelin Experience w/Backtrack Blues Band (Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg)
COMING UP THIS WEEKEND
Big Shoals w/Will Quinlan & The Holy Slow Train/The Rosewoods Sat., July 30, New World Brewery, Ybor City
Emo Night Brooklyn In Tampa Sat., July 30, Orpheum, Ybor City
BBQ Mark Sultan Sat., July 30, Fubar, St. Petersburg
Cece Teneal: Aretha, Portrait of a Queen Sat., July 30, Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg
Halcyon Sat., July 30, (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa
Betty Fox Band Sat., July 30, Ale and the Witch, St. Petersburg
The Simian Theory Benefit For Bozarth Sat., July 30, Hideaway Café & Recording Studio, St. Petersburg
The Southern Belles Sat., July 30, Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin
Elephante Sat., July 30, The Ritz Ybor, Ybor City
Joshua Cruz: Black Is Classier Experience w/Ari Chi/David Camden/Shevonne/Almost Poets Sat., July 30, Local 662, St. Petersburg
Tunnel Vision Sat., July 30, Beach Bar, Tampa
Troy Youngblood & the Soulfish w/U.S. Sat., July 30, The Hub, downtown Tampa
Post-Rays Concert Series: Hunter Hayes Sat., July 30, Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg
Pitbull w/Prince Royce/Farruko Sat., July 30, Amalie Arena, Tampa
Curren$y Sun., July 31, Orpheum, Ybor City
Jason Guy Smiley/Chris Fox/Tourist Season Sun., July 31, New World Brewery, Ybor City
DieDra The Alabama Blues Queen and The Ruff Pro Band Sun., July 31, Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa
Ol’ Dirty Sundays w/DJ Mega Sun., July 31, Crowbar, Ybor City
The Expendables Sun., July 31, Jannus Live, St. Petersburg
Dynohunter w/Bells & Robes Sun., July 31, Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin
Sunset Bridge Sun., July 31, Ella’s Americana Folk Art Café, Tampa
WasteLand Hip Hop Show w/Heavy J/Travis Parker/Mason Monroe/Doechii/Ocin/Kembe Scropz/YZM/Cloudmaster Price/Macibision Mc Kenna Sun., July 31, The Venture Compound, St. Petersburg
This article appears in Jul 28 – Aug 4, 2016.