THURSDAY, MARCH 14
Hard Rock Rising Finale A Hard Rock battle of the bands competition that takes place at 95 locations around the world. Tampa’s edition closes on this night as the three groups who claimed victory in the qualifying rounds (Scilter, Malaya and Alma Vertical) face-off in a live finale to see which one will rep the Tampa Bay area in the global online competition. Online voting whittles it down to the top 25 bands, and a panel of celeb judges and industry types pick the top three from these. The grand prize winner earns a fatty prize package that includes $10k in gear and opportunities to play London Calling (roundtrip airfare included), participate in a world concert tour, and record an album with Hard Rock Records. (Hard Rock Café, Tampa)
Masta Killa w/Lyricks/Infinite Skillz/Prince Golden/Barabbas The Wu Tang Clan’s mostly-in-the-background mystery-vibing member, multi-faceted lyricist and monotone-voiced emcee Masta Killa, returned late last year after an extended solo hiatus with Selling My Soul, bringing on guests like Kurupt for fat raspberry-bass thumping single “Cali Sun,” and getting nostalgic for the old days while paying homage to artists he loves, like in Tupac-inspired “Wise Words” and the bumpin’ “Dirty Soul,” which finds Masta cataloging his favorite soul artists, then breaking into Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “Hippa to the Hoppa” complete with sample backing from his late bandmate. Support on his current tour from Virginia-based Korean-American rapper/producer Lyricks, with stage warm-ups by locally-based rhyme-slayers Infinite Skillz, Prince Golden (Samurai Shotgun) and Barabbas. (Fubar, St. Petersburg)
The Greatest Show on Surf w/Sawyer Brown Band/many others Treasure Island Beach plays host to a free four-day event that brings carnival rides, midway games, food and craft vendors, and daily live music showcases to its sandy shores. The tunes begin at 5 p.m. on Thursday and Friday (headlined by the Black Honkeys and Greg Billings Band, respectively), and kick off at noon on both Saturday and Sunday. A special Saturday night extravaganza is headed up by Florida-grown country music group Sawyer Brown, which has seven No. 1 singles to their credit. A fireworks display follows the performance. (Treasure Island Beach)
FRIDAY, MARCH 15
Applebutter Express w/Between Bluffs Enjoy an evening of sunny-rustic roots music when two local groups unite for a Skipperdome bill. Between Bluffs compels with an upbeat synthesis of jazz, folk pop and newgrass music, setting a varying mix of mandolin, upright bass, banjo and acoustic guitars against galloping drums. Applebutter Express delivers funky Americana fueled by ukulele, fiddle and bass, and marked by the two-part masculine-femme vocal harmonies of front-couple Kyle and Shannon Biss. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
Bang Tango w/Melrose/WD-HAN/The Best Day Ever/The Hanging Chads There’s a chance you know Bang Tango’s sole MTV-aired single, glam metal ode “Someone Like You,” though more recent numbers like “Suck It Up” deliver a harder-edged AC/DC-flavored sound, the crunchy riffs roiling under the high-screeching tone of frontman Joe Leste. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
Queensrÿche Who owns the rights to the ‘Queensrÿche’ handle after a bitter parting of ways and subsequent legal feud between longtime lead singer Geoff Tate and his former bandmates? According to the Washington state superior court, both parties are allowed free use of the name until the November 2013 hearing that officially settles the matter. Which means that right now, there are two active versions of the “Silent Lucidity” prog-metal outfit — one fronted by Tate, the other featuring Todd La Torre (formerly of Crimson Glory) on lead vocals. This is the non-Tate version. (The Ritz Ybor, Ybor City)
Canadian Brass A virtuosic display of brass-kicking talent by a Canadian quintet that encompasses tuba player Chuck Daellenbach, also its ostensible leader, along with Eric Reed on French horn, trumpeters Christopher Coletti and Brandon Ridenour, and freshest member Achilles Liarmakopoulos (trombone). Their repertoire encompasses more than 200 arrangements, including works by Renaissance and Baroque masters, marches, jazz, Broadway and beyond. (Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg)
Satellite High w/DC9V/Indigenous Ways Satellite High (real Jay Friedman) is a cheeky San Francisco alt hip-hop artist with sample-strewn, synth heady production values. He’s tried out all sorts of sonic experiments — a five-song recording built around a notebook of teenaged rhymes his wife found on the sidewalk (Trap Keep); a paternal-inspired Dad-Rock EP (from “Cool Dad”: “Cruisin’ in an empty car, noddin’ his head and saying ‘fuck yeah’ to NPR/Cool Dad write a parenting blog, black iPod filled with Girl Talk when he go for a jog”); Sing Along With Satellite High, a “covers” album that takes well-known songs (“We Will Rock You,” “Dinner Bell,” “We Care A lot”), feeds them through the Satellite High brain filter, and shits them out all twisted and hilarious. As he describes it: “You know those YouTube videos people always send you where some corny dude with an acoustic guitar plays a cover of a rap song but makes it into some ‘passionate’ college-guy anthem? This is the exact opposite of that.’” (The Venture Compound, St. Petersburg)
Chroma + Arpetrio w/Legacy A double-bill of jams and grooves by Jacksonville’s Chroma, bringing Southern soulful, blues-fried psych rock into the mix, and Arpetrio, from Tennessee, which melds dance vibes — electronic, trip hop, DnB, and lounge sonicscapes — as built by three musicians using a mix of organic instrumentation (guitars, keys, drums) and technotronics (midis, Ableton software, synths). (Crowbar, Ybor City)
SATURDAY, MARCH 16
Bad Religion w/Polar Bear Club This year, seminal SoCal sociopunk/melodic hardcore purveyors Bad Religion presented their brick solid, true-to-form 18th studio album, True North, which earned high marks in CL and has generated a rather exciting buzz surrounding their current tour. Opening the show is upstate New York punk/hardcore five-piece Polar Bear Club. For more on Polar Bear Club, check out Scott Harrell’s interview with lead singer Jimmy Stadt online or in this week’s print editon of CL. (The Ritz Ybor, Ybor City)
Kenny Chesney w/Eric Church/Eli Young Band/Kacey Musgraves It always seems like it’s the country music artists who feel most comfortable filling the 65,857-seat RayJay Stadium. The latest mega tour to crash into town is led by twangy cowboy-hat wearing Kenny Chesney, among the most popular touring country acts around right now and responsible for 22 Billboard Country chart-topping hits, the most recent “Come Over” off 2012 full-length Welcome to the Fishbowl. No doubt Chesney’s brand new single “Pirate Flag” from forthcoming album Life on a Rock will earn plenty of cheers at the Buccaneers’ home stadium — and perhaps a few cannonball blasts, too. (Raymond James Stadium, Tampa)
The Vodkanauts Expect dive bar dancing, swinging, twisting and jiving when The Vodkanauts bring their intoxicating power lounge and surf rock sounds to downtown St. Pete. (Emerald Bar, St. Petersburg)
Rock the Crit w/Have Gun Will Travel/Tribal Style A criterium is a bike race on a short course — in this case a single kilometer — that has riders circling multiple times at upward of 35 miles per hour. More than 500 cyclists take part in both professional and amateur races at Tampa’s fifth annual Cigar City Criterium & Street Festival. Locals are invited to come out and be spectators, enjoy street vending, an interactive sports and wellness expo, and sets of rockin’ Americana and roots reggae jams by Have Gun, Will Travel and Tribal Style. (Curtis Hixon Park, Tampa)
Andrea Beaton Kick your heels up on St. Patrick Day’s weekend with Cape Breton, Nova Scotia fiddler extraordinaire Andrea Beaton, born of a long line of musicians (including fiddling dad and granddad, Kinnon and Donald), and wielding her bow with tight precision and a fine sense of timing. While her repertoire includes plenty of traditional Celtic fare, she also writes entirely original material — Celtic-informed marches, reels, jigs and other upbeat heel-kicking music — as evidenced in 2012 full-length Little Black Book. (Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg)
Hideaway Four-Year Anniversary Party w/Ronnie Elliott/Gale Trippsmith/Pete Merrigan/Woody/many more Through ups, downs and a period that almost found Hideaway Café shutting down its stage in favor of focusing more fully on the recording studio, the local listening room has managed to come out on top, and continues presenting intimate live performances to the music-loving public. This four-year anniversary party features some local scene vets along with a few fresher faces, begins at 3 p.m., and lasts well into the night. (Hideaway Café & Recording Studio, St. Petersburg)
Country Mice/Funny Bunny/Yogurt Smoothness The tinny sweet-drawling lead vocals of Jason Reuger deliver lonely lines like “Sun is rising but there ain’t gonna be no one” (“Morning Son”) over easy chugging roots Americana melodies, or wails snotty sneering statements like “I can’t carry these tears away, you don’t know what you’ve done” over crunchy Southern-soaked psych-blues rock drive. Country Mice is currently backing their 2012 sophomore LP, Hour of the Wolf, which was produced by Doug Boehm (Dr. Dog, Guided By Voices). (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
Buffalo Strange w/Displace The local worldbeat jam-rock staple led by singer-songwriter Rob Irie (guitar, bass, flute, harmonica, percs) returns to the Skipperdome for a night of positive vibes as joined by special guest Baye Kouyate, a Malian griot (bard, poet, storyteller and praise singer) with joyful talking-drum chops. Displace warms up the stage with a mix of jazz, prog-funk, disco, and “mystic cerebralism.” (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
SUNDAY, MARCH 17
The Moody Blues Last year marked the 45th anniversary of The Moody Blues’ seminal conceptual LP, 1967’s Days of Future Passed (“Nights in White Satin”). The soft psych-prog rockers with symphonic leanings finally bring “The Voyage Continues” tour to St. Pete; long-time members, bassist/singer John Lodge, guitarist/singer Justin Hayward and beats-keeper Graeme Edge are joined by a quartet of support players. (Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg)
World of Drum & Bass w/LTJ BUKEM/DJ SS/The Prototypes/Subzero/Blokhead/Cabbie/many more Get down and dirty with your drum ’n’ bass love when this traveling celebration boasting two rooms and 100,000 watts worth of bass hits Club Underground. Decks vet and DnB pioneer LTJ Bukem heads up the sub-bass grooves and freaky fast-hitting breakbeats with his Detroit techno-and-’70s-jazz fused odysseys. Fellow Londoner DJ SS has a hip hop background that comes into play in his potent mixes while UK duo The Prototypes delivers on the bass drop drama. (Club Underground, Tampa)
Afroman Though he earned radio play, street cred, and a Grammy nom for 2000 single “Because I Got High,” hip-hop artist Afroman is still working the underground angle and has been self-releasing material regularly via his website since 2004; last year’s funk-grooving Marijuana Music revisited his love of greenage in 17 tracks ranging from shopping odes (“When I Cop a Dime,” “Looking for that Good,” “Buy Me Some Dank”) to private parties (“Smokers Only”). (Local 662, St. Petersburg)
Spiritual Rez As they gear up to release a fourth full-length album, Apocalypse Now, Boston-based septet Spiritual Rez hits the road again and rolls through town with their brassy, funky reggae rock and dance-inducing groovadelic jams. (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin)
The Veldt w/The Vera Violets/Dylar Twin brothers Daniel (vocals, guitar) and Danny (guitar) Chavis (I’m confused by the similarities, too) originally put together The Veldt in the early 1990s, issued several recordings that encompassed 1994 shoegaze art-rock/darkwave cult classic Afrodisiac and earned them opening slots for The Pixies, Fishbone and various other alternative bands, then dissolved the group, moved to NYC, and started performing as Apollo Heights. This is a Veldt date, which finds the brothers reuniting with drummer Marvin Levi and bassist Dave Burris. Exciting support comes from rarely-seen but plenty active psych-haze trio The Vera Violets, and Dylar, the new pop project from singer-songwriter Philip Pietri. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
MONDAY, MARCH 18
Leonard Cohen The classy, impeccably dressed Canadian troubadour with the deeply poetic and witty lyrical style, and strong, slightly gravelly baritone issued his first collection of fresh material in eight years last January. According to the album’s official press release, Old Ideas is intended to “poetically address some of the most profound quandaries of human existence — the relationship to a transcendent being, love, sexuality, loss and death.” This date will most likely sell-out, as did Cohen’s 2009 stop at the same venue. (Carol Morsani Hall at Straz Center for Performing Arts, Tampa)
TUESDAY, MARCH 19
Jake Shimabukuro No one has piloted the ukulele into new boundaries of sound, dexterity and showmanship quite as well as Jake Shimabukuro, a Hawaiian instrumentalist and virtuoso of nylon four-string melodies who’s adept in rock, jazz, flamenco, funk and classical formats, and often draws on multiple aesthetics at once in his compositions. Last year’s Grand Ukulele (produced by the great Alan Parsons) is a mix of solo uke tunes, uke-led band numbers, and arrangements with backing by a 29-piece orchestra. Originals are mixed with Shimabukuro’s trademark re-imaginings of “Over the Rainbow” and Adele’s “Rolling In the Deep,” among others. Live performances also include covers, like truly stunning readings of The Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and Queen’s epic “Bohemian Rhapsody.” (Check out his performance of the latter on YouTube; the video has more than 1 million views.) Get your tickets to his Cap date soon; he sold out the acoustically superb theater on his 2011 stop and will likely do it this time around, too. (Capitol Theatre, Clearwater)
The Craic Show w/Celticopia/Jim Hancock “Craic” is a Gaelic word that loosely translates to “fun.” The four-member group that uses the name are Renaissance Faire favorites who don Irish-style period wear and play traditional bagpipes and drums (read: old-looking) amid high-energy theatrics. This post-St. Paddy’s Day bill also features Celticopia, led by Empty Hats guitarist/singer Gary Mazzu and fiddler/singer Vicki Scuteri, who serve up lively sets of pub songs, fiddle tunes and Celtic music. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
Adrenaline Mob w/Nothing More Drummer Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater, Avenged Sevenfold), vocalist Russell Allen (Symphony X), bassist John Moyer (Disturbed) and guitar shredder Mike Orlando (Sonic Stomp) are the musicians who make up heavy metal and hard rock supergroup Adrenaline Mob. The foursome’s current tour kicked off on March 12, the same date as the release of new eight-track EP Covertá, featuring their own stomp-and-grind versions of favorite songs by Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Heart and others. (Orpheum, Ybor City)
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20
Chelsea Grin/Attila w/Betraying The Martyrs/Within The Ruins/Buried In Verona Leading the pack of heavy-raging bands on “The Sick Tour 2” are two Artery Recordings/Razor & Tie-repped acts: Salt Lake City’s deathcore sextet Chelsea Grin backing a 2012 EP, Evolve, their first recording with Born of Osiris-former Jason Richardson on lead guitar, and Attila, death/rap/metalcore makers from Atlanta. Other labelmates support. (Orpheum, Ybor City)
The Ghost Inside w/Rotting Out/Stray From The Path/Stick To Your Guns Epitaph Records signed The Ghost Inside last January, and the crushing metalcore quintet issued their first album with the label and third overall, Get What You Give, later that year. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
CLICK HERE to see a complete rundown of shows taking place this week and in the coming weeks.
This article appears in Mar 14-20, 2013.