THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27
So Whatcha Want? Beastie Boys Tribute Party Adam Yauch may be gone but his legacy as MCA lives on through the music of the Beastie Boys. Cles One DJs Balance, Jaybee, EAST, Jay Marley and Teck1 pay homage to MCA and the Beasties with a tribute night of B-Boy cuts and classic hip-hop jams. (Martini Republic, downtown Tampa)
Arboles Libres w/Bellows/FayRoy Columbia native musician Juan "Nacho" Londono fronts Miami-based three-piece Arboles Libres, his bilingual (Spanish and English) lyrics delivered with raw power against riff-raging, solo-screaming or effects-laden guitars carried on the beat of marching and pounding drums. Debut full-length Father dropped in July; the album's experimental folk and twangy soulful rock ’n’ roll has been described by Londono as a balance of "melody and mayhem." (The Hub, downtown Tampa)
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28
Anchor Atlantic Farewell Show w/Mighty Mongo/(the) Umbrella Cult St. Pete-based indie outfit Anchor Atlantic is calling it quits for the time being, but throwing one last show before they go. Anchor Atlantic's genre-spanning self-titled EP varies from the ska boppin', retro-flavored pop shuffle of "Leggo Your Ego" to the more straight-ahead pop rock drive of "Autumn" and funky jazz grooving sway of "Downward Spiral." The rich soaring vocals and sexy saxophone squalls of Anchor Atlantic frontwoman Mikayla Winner climb over layered instrumentals and support harmonies by keyboardist/bassist Luke Albright and guitarist Colin Hughes, with David “Jerome” Hart holding down the steady backbeat. Warm-up sets provided by alt punk-ska outfit Mighty Mongo and psychedelic garage-pop purveyors (the) Umbrella Cult. Proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the Sandy Hook School Support Fund. (Local 662, St. Petersburg)
SOJA w/Roots Underground Soldiers of Jah Army (SOJA) revive roots reggae in a pleasant, positive-vibing dready-dudes-from-Virginia kind of way, and issued their fourth full-length, Strength to Survive, on ATO Records this January. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)
Blast Friday w/Molly Hatchet Cleveland Street District's last free concert and street festival of 2012 brings Southern metal and hard rock purveyors Molly Hatchet (“Flirtin’ with Disaster”) to the stage directly in front of the Capitol Theatre. (Cleveland Street, downtown Clearwater)
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29
Geri X w/New Cathedral/Paint The Town Red It's a ménage à trois of high quality local tuneage at New World — sharp-edged alt roots and folk-rock songstress Geri X, pretty melodic driving rock foursome New Cathedral, and Paint the Town Red, the acoustic guitar-driven indie pop project of sweet-toned singer-songwriter Justin Vilardi. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
Donna the Buffalo The Herd unites to luxuriate in a three-night Saturday-Sunday-Monday stand of Donna the Buffalo performances at the Skipperdome, the quintet's jammy, crunchy, grooving mix of folk, country rock, Zydeco, reggae and bluegrass culminating with a NYE she-bang on Monday night. The Believers kick off the shows on Saturday and Monday, while Hindu Cowboys open things up on Sunday. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
Retro Red Square Recall Party w/Death Starsky This pre-NYE extravaganza marks the 10-year anniversary of Retro Red Square Recall, a sink-or-swim dance party piloted by DJs Rig and Noi. Tampa electro-experimental hip hop duo Death Starsky hits the stage at midnight, and an all-red balloon-and-cash drop follows their performance. (The cash will be green.) Red threads encouraged. (Czar, Ybor City)
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 30
Jim Morey Band Fuel up on some Kansas City-style barbecue brisket and sip a Bloody Ella (garnished with a hickory-smoked rib) while enjoying the New Orleans-soaked jazz rock grooves of Jim Morey Band, with singer/trumpeter Morey joined by his bandmates from Lounge Cat — upright bass maestra Anne Van Atta, drumkit genius Billy Carrr and guitar ace Eddie Rosicky. (Ella’s Americana Folk Art Café, Tampa)
MONDAY, DECEMBER 31
The New Year's Eve Party w/Natural Child/Beach Day/Jensen Serf Company/Florida Night Heat/The Stone Eagles/Red Rockits When it rains, it pours, and NYE 2012 sees a virtual cornucopia of musical events to whet pretty much any live music appetite. Brokenmold Entertainment throws an indie rock shindiggy and covers various bases of that particular sonic spectrum. Headlining the festivities is Natural Child, a crunchy, fuzzy and generally disorderly stoner-blues-garage rock trio from Nashville co-fronted by guitarist Seth Murray and bassist Wes Traylor, who wail and harmonize on dual Jagger-esque lead vocals with solid rhythmic back-up by Turbo Fruits former Zack Martin. Natural Child issued two LPs in 2012 full of made-for-partying scorchers and sleezy creeping odes, For Love of the Game and Hard in Heaven. Also on the bill: Hollywood, Fla. retrofied garage-surf pop darlings Beach Day, signed to Kanine Records earlier this year; loose and grimy garage-punk outfit Jensen Serf Company; grinding electro-funkadelic Enrico Morricone-inspired prog three-piece Florida Night Heat; the Billy Summer-led power pop and skuzzy glam rock-kissed garage outfit, Stone Eagles; and explosive blues-folk rockers Red Rockits. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
Less Than Jake w/Lionize/Protagonist/Victims of Circumstance This year, Gainesville's Less Than Jake celebrated 20 years of delivering brassy upbeat ska-punk tunes to audiences around the world. Fat Wreck Chords commemorated the occasion with a comp album of sorts that combines two previously limited EPs, Greetings from Less Than Jake (2011) and Seasons Greetings from Less Than Jake (2012), along with two new tracks recorded during the same sessions. The fivesome hit town on their current tour just in time for a NYE showing. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
Swingin' the New Year! w/Swingin' the New Year Orchestra Slip into your vintage best for a grand old soiree of jazzy jiving entertainment presented amid the refined (underused) confines of St. Pete’s Coliseum. The all-star 20-piece Swingin’ the New Year Orchestra builds the lush sonic backdrop with vocals by locals Lorri Hafer, Emily Gail, and Ron Pond. Swing lessons from 8 to 9 p.m., dancing and merriment from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., and various other divertissements leading into the countdown and balloon drop at midnight. More info at tampabayswing.com. (Coliseum, St. Petersburg)
New Year's Eve Concert w/Cope/Bobby Lee Rodgers Trio/Rob Irie For those seeking an evening full of saturated lights and danceable improvisations delving into rock, jazz, Americana, blues, funk, reggae and electro-psychedelic sonicspheres, the Local 662 welcomes Tampa jam stalwarts Cope and searing Southeast axeman Bobby Lee Rodgers; acoustic guitar-wielding singer-songwriter Rob Irie kicks things off. (Local 662, St. Petersburg)
New Year's Eve Bustin' Out Silent Disco With this late night shindiggy, organizers promise to keep the party rolling until 3 a.m., sound ordinance be damned! Red Bull party-rocking DJs Rincon, M-Squared, KU and StoneRokk get the bodies moving until the ball drops, at which point the party splits in two. Stonerokk spins in the Crystal Head Lounge for those seeking the usual, while courtyard revelers are treated to a different sort of after-midnight treat — a silent disco. Each person is assigned a pair of state-of-the-art headphones that feature two channels for switching between dueling DJs, with appreciation for the jamz liked best expressed via super vigorous dance movements and plenty of fist pumping. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)
New Year's Eve with The Bright Light Social Hour w/Le Blorr Like a proud mom, I’ve watched Austin foursome The Bright Light Social Hour grow progressively tighter, more confident and comfortable in their sexy rising rockstar skins since their debut at New World only a few years ago as talented young musicians still green to the road. They managed to soldier through the mild awkwardness of a light crowd (15 or so people) with a solid set of Southern fried rock, soul, electro-psychedelia, and dirty funky blues off their surprisingly strong self-released self-titled Kickstarter-funded first album. I was intrigued enough write a feature-length story heralding their return only a few months later, and that became a sweaty, jam-packed Hub rager. The buzz started in earnest and Bright Light's wildly devoted local fanbase swelled after another crammed Hub show and unforgettable performances at Antiwarpt and two consecutive Tropical Heatwaves. Tampa has become Bright Light's official home-away-from-home, so it makes sense they'd stage a New Year's Eve gig here. Explosive ass-shakin' indie rock two-piece Le Blorr, from Florida's West Coast, kicks off the festivities. (The Ritz Ybor, Ybor City)
NYE Party at The Amphitheatre w/Gabriel & Dresden Building waves of bright-hued melodies into whirling eddies of progressive trance-dance odysseys, and remixing artists ranging from Britney Spears to Annie Lennox to The Killers is San Francisco DJ/producer duo Josh Gabriel and Dave Dresden, aka Gabriel & Dresden, on-again, off-again Billboard dance charters who parted ways for three years and re-convened in 2011 full steam ahead. They take top billing for Amphitheatre's NYE bash, with special guest DJs Doco and Suzy Solar warming up the floor. (Amphitheatre, Ybor City)
NYE w/Have Gun, Will Travel and Nervous Turkey Grimy funk and blues rock outfit Nervous Turkey was supposed to perform at Guavaween, but dropped from the lineup unexpectedly when frontman Ernie Locke had to have emergency pacemaker surgery. He's recovered, ready and rearin' to go, and New Year's Eve on his Ella's home turf (which Locke co-owns with partner Melissa Deming) seems like the perfect place to ring-lead a rare reunion performance, his gritty howling vocals, wailing harp and raging guitar work solidly rounded out by drummer Aaron Fowler and keysman Mark Cunningham. Have Gun, Will Travel heads up the festivities and reel in the New Year with their stomp and kick-banging brand of roots, folk rock and Americana. The $35 ticket includes an all-you-can-eat buffet and a champagne toast at midnight. (Ella's Americana Folk Art Café, Tampa)
Flip Flop New Years w/Daniel B. Marshall Band Tampa native country pop rocker Daniel B. Marshall waxes poetic on his home state in the title track of his new 2012 Sunshine EP, produced in Nashville by renowned multi-instrumentalist Danny Rader (Keith Urban, Jason Aldean) and featuring back-up by some of that city's fine players. He'll likely deliver cuts off Sunshine along with other originals and select festive covers during his free concert on the beach at Postcard Inn's NYE party. Bonfire included; beach ball drop at midnight. For room packages and more info, visit postcardinn.com. (Postcard Inn on the Beach, St. Pete Beach)
Boogie Wonder Band A Montreal 10-piece that's been busting out the brassy funk-a-licious grooves and disco-strutting jams since forming in 1996. But the '70s-vibing Boogie Wonder Band is by far best known for entertaining with full-throttle high-octane live shows, each member donning eye-popping Las Vegas-inspired costumes and flashy personas, like bass-slinging Boogie Cindy, who has a rainbow array of wigs and knee boots of all models, from shaggy fur to gogo leather, and frontman vocalist Isaac "Jam" Washington, his own wardrobe a mix of Prince, Elvis and James Brown — expertly tailored capes, bold colors and prints mixed with all-black and all-white ensembles, cowboywear studded with sequins, fringe, and gems … The sparkling promenade of cover-mashed disco hits should make for a high-jivin’ New Year's Eve celebration. (The Club at Treasure Island, Treasure Island)
CLICK HERE to read about more NYE events taking place around the Tampa Bay area. CLICK HERE to see a complete rundown of shows taking place this week and in the coming weeks.
This article appears in Dec 27, 2012 – Jan 2, 2013.