FRI 12
✔CL Brad Paisley w/ Tyler Farr/Maddie & Tae
Those with a natural, un-vetted aversion to “mainstream country“ have plenty of reasons to be leary of Brad Paisley. “Without A Fight,” his new duet with Demi Lovato is a complete layup, made cheesily whole by half-baked lyrics and lazy arrangements. Buried underneath that ten gallon hat, however, is a brain that telegraphs ridiculous guitar licks to the 43-year-old’s fingers and onto the fretboard of his Telecaster. Paisley is the kind of country star that likes to spend his time on stage ripping through several 12-bar solos instead of punching holes in 12-ounce cans, and his genre is better for it. Need proof? Turn on “Cluster Puck” from his 2008 mostly instrumental full-length, Play, where he goes berserk alongside Vince Gill and Albert Lee. Watchf Paisley picking his way through “Nervous Breakdown” from his 1999 LP Who Needs Pictures. You’re welcome, and see you at the show. (MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa)
✔CL Hollis Brown w/ Great Peacock Get to the Skipperdome early to catch a set from Nashville’s Great Peacock who sling harmony-driven, red, white & blue country rock & roll that’s meant to be enjoyed while sipping on Miller High Life as you contemplate proposing to the love of your life. Driving the bus at this show, Queens, New York outfit Hollis Brown will close out the night with their own style of Americana that could have easily been born out of storage unit practice sessions for a garage-rock band. (Skipper’s Smokehouse)
✔CL Ray LaMontagne My Morning Jacket fans who adore the band’s instrumental passages and big Southern-psych rock as much as Jim James’ froggy vocals should kick themselves in the ears if they skipped on on grabbing tickets to this one. Ray LaMontagne ditched his soft-ish rock ways and enlisted Mr. James, who’s been a pal for the better part of a decade, to produce his new album, Ouroboros. Yim took it a step further by letting LaMontagne borrow most of MMJ (read: everyone except Jim James) for a tour where they’ll back him for shows which promise to showcase a more muscular and guitar-slinging side of the Grammy-winning, “Trouble” and “You Are The Best Thing” singing songwriter. Expect to be bathed in the splendor of sprawling psychedelia and skin-crawling sonic textures when the group takes the stage for a special extended set. (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)
✔CL Look Mexico w/ Panther Camp/Alexander & the Grapes For nearly a decade now, Look Mexico have been exporting Talla-nasty math rock riffs, smart songwriting, and even wittier song titles (every one of their cuts is named with a Vin Diesel quote) from our state’s capitol to the post-punk loving masses of the Tampa Bay area. Now, over ten years since the release of their So Byzantine EP, frontman Matt Agrella & co. are rejoined by original Mexibro drummer Josh Mikel as the boys celebrate the release of their third full-length, Uniola, which reflects on the grown-up life of a generation that raised themselves on a diet of American Football, Jets to Brazil, and everything emo in between. Look Mexico’s penchant for stitching yearning slide guitar into expansive, lush, and crunchy indie rock has not tapered off (thanks to longtime guitarist Ryan Slate) and this is a chance to see one of Florida’s most enduring bands continue what we hope is a lifelong search for meaning in music. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
✔CL Panamory w/ Killmama/DEA & Saint/Jackrabbit/Mouth Council Lauren Lance’s new electro-pop experiment Panamory is joined by a CL favorite (Billy Mays III-led collective Mouth Council, who we profiled in our recent music issue) and hip hop/hardcore/soul fusionists DEA & Saint for a night of performances from some of St. Petersburg’s most prolific creators all within the walls of a Central Avenue dive that has more good craft beer selections than you would imagine. (Fubar, St. Petersburg)
✔CL LTJ Bukem w/ Random Movement/Thee Joker/Footsouljahs/Kay-S/more This venue on the southern end of downtown Tampa in between the Channel district and Ybor City seems to be reactivating after a short lull in the action, and they’re rebooting in a big way with this event headlined by a true drum & bass patriarch, LTJ Bukem, who played a pivotal role in the genre’s ascension from the basements of U.K. towards the mainstream where D&B now influences nearly every strain of modern EDM. Bukem and his Good Looking/Looking Good label family were the dance music heads who married Detroit techno and Windy City house sounds into something new, allowing the ones who came after them to develop those discoveries into even more genre-expanding soundscapes. Nowadays, producers are rarely devoted to crafting the whole of their sonic legacy (sometimes it is more fun to just get fucked up in a field and fist pump?), but Bukem remains true to his roots. (District 3, Tampa)
SAT 13
✔CL The Hummingbirds w/ JT Brown The Hummingbirds’ SG Wood has a wrist that is on the mend, and while it’s hard to play the geetar with a cast on your arm, the Birds’ “Broken Wing” tour is making the most of the situation. This show at downtown St. Pete watering hole The Ale & the Witch is a good excuse to throw back a few pints while watching Wood and songwriting partner Rachel Lynn work through their very special brand of Detroit-born Americana. (The Ale & the Witch, St. Petersburg)
✔CL Alice Cooper Theatrical heavy metal. When Alice Cooper first started shocking the world with his stage show, concert goers weren’t exactly ready to see the violence they were used to in horror movies come to life on stage. Now, over 40-years after adopting his infamous persona, the guy born Vincent Furnier, is still doing his thing. He’s adopted some milder attitudes over the years and was recently quoted saying rock stars should stay out of politics. “Why do people think rock stars know more than they do?,” Cooper, 68, asked on Spotify’s In Residence series. “If anything, we’re dumber.” It’s an interesting argument considering the current state of presidential politics, but rest assured that Cooper will leave all that baggage at home for this stop on the “Spend the Night with Alice Cooper” tour. And no, it isn’t a sleep over you idiot. (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)
✔CL Trapfone w/ Mike Mass/TheyHateChange/Fr33dback/Wally Clark Nearly every musician on the sounds part of this “Tampa Day” mixed-media art show has already played burgeoning Ybor City production studio/creative space Lot 1901 at some point in time. This will be the first time Trapfone’s avant-hip hop, Mike Mass’ essentially unrivaled lyricism and Wally Clark’s production prowess all come together at 1901 E. 2nd Avenue, however, and the addition of Matt Resinger’s Fr33dback project (where the producer brings in a truckload of vintage synths, sequencers, and even a theremin) make it no-brainer. (Lot 1901, Ybor City)
✔CL JT Brown w/ Forrest Detwiler/Bangarang The local brewery crazy has arrived in South Tampa and on Saturday 81 Bay Brewing (think “8-1-Thray”) is tapping former Groves frontman Justin Brown to help celebrate. Brown has been slowly rolling out material from a forthcoming LP, and if his latest single (“Kool Aid Lips,” released five months ago with the help of director Dylan Melcher and videographer Jordan Hicks) is any indication, then hope for more advanced peeks of Brown’s assertive, quiet and mysterious brand of Southern gentleman songwriting. (81 Bay Brewing Company, Tampa)
SUN 14
Slightly Stoopid w/ SOJA/Fortunate Youth Reggae rock party in the park y’all. At this point, the tank-top wearing, Bob Marley-loving generation has captured the attention of the masses, which is probably why shows like this have the ability to bypass normally suitable clubs and outdoor venues like State Theatre and Jannus Live in lieu of green spaces like Vinoy Park. San Diego, California’s Slightly Stoopid have even caught the attention of the Bob Weir, who joined the band for a recent cover of the Grateful Dead classic “Franklin’s Tower,” so at least walk by the park to see if you feel like joining the festivities. (Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg)
DJ Tchami w/ DJ Thomas Jack So far, so good at Beach Bar’s new foray into live music on the Courtney Campbell. New owners have been much better at keeping the neighbors happy than the old Hogan’s Beach crew was and their summer EDM series rolls on with this appearance from Parisian producer Tchami and tropical house maestro of chill DJ Thomas Jack. (Beach Bar, Tampa)
✔CL People’s Temple Project w/ Sleeper Wave/Big Brother/Bad Human With the evaporation of DIY performance space Transitions Art Gallery already done and finished, the bands who utilized the now defunct venue have already pulled up their boots and started playing elsewhere. Those places aren’t always obvious for music fans who don’t know a punk, but places like Mojo Books in the USF area offer an easy place for local supporters to get behind the effort of folks like Tim Anderson (whose band Big Brother is on this bill) who help out of towners, in this case it’s New York & Massachusetts scramz get ups People’s Temple Project and Sleeper Wave, actually get shows this deep into the state of Florida. They’ll pass the hat for gas at this one, and don’t be afraid to be generous since the Sunshine State’s stretch of I-75 is the longest interstate in any state east of the Missippi River. (Mojo Books & Records, Tampa)
This article appears in Aug 4-11, 2016.