The following is a quick breakdown of the weekend’s most worthy concerts (i.e., those ones you need to know about in order to get on with your live music life) from Friday through Sunday. For a more comprehensive schedule of this weekend’s offerings and a listing of shows taking place over the next several months around the Bay area, check out our Upcoming Concerts page.
FRIDAY, JUNE 11
Sugar Hill Gang [pictured right] / Shannon For its second installment of Old Skool concerts, Jannus Live welcomes Sugarhill Gang (purveyors of 1979’s “Rapper’s Delight,” one of the most famous jams in all of hip hop), and Shannon, the singer best known for her 1983 freestyle mega-hit (and for some of us, a skating rink anthem), “Let the Music Play.” 8 p.m., Jannus Live, St. Petersburg, $15.
The Supervillains w/Tribal Style/Unmotivated A night of island-tasty grooves headlines by Orlando's Supervillains, who purvey a fun and upbeat brand of ska punk. Tampa's own Tribal Style brings toots, dub, ska, funk and an overall spirited vibe. 8 p.m., Crowbar, Ybor City, $10.
Brooks & Dunn w/Jason Aldean Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn are the most successful duo in country music history. They charted 50 singles on the Billboard country charts, including 26 No. 1 hits — line-dancing favorite “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” and a cover of B.W. Stevenson’s ballad, “My Maria” among them — and eight of their 10 studio albums were certified multi-platinum. Brooks & Dunn have announced they are parting ways to stretch their respective solo legs, and stop in Tampa as part of their “Last Rodeo” farewell tour. 7:30 p.m., Ford Amphitheatre, Tampa, $29.25-$69.25.
[photo by Nicole Kibert] w/Auto?Automatic??/Easybreezy Richmond, Va.’s City of Ships fuses the deliberate and drawn out moments of post-rock with the heavy intensity of post-hardcore, and is celebrating the release of their debut full-length, 2009’s Look What God Did to Us. Tampa’s own groove-tasty post-rock trio Auto?Automatic?? and lo-fi rock threesome Easybreezy provide support. 9 p.m., New World Brewery, Ybor City, $7.
Buffalo Strange w/Christie Leneé Project Longtime Bay area jam rock outfit Buffalo Strange mixes elements of psyche rock, jazz, funk, folk, reggae and world beat into their heady sound, and add covers by artists ranging from Jack Johnson to the Grateful Dead for fun. Former local singer-songwriter and mistress of guitar Christie Leneé opens the show with her current Philly-based rock band. 8 p.m., Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa, $10.
Surfer Blood w/The Pains of Being Pure at Heart Florida’s own Surfer Blood emerged ferociously from the woodwork last year and got a “Best New Music” nod from Pitchfork.com for their debut LP, Astro Coast. With a lively mix of warm guitar fuzz, Pet Sounds-style reverb, and lead singer J.P Pitts’ pragmatic teen angst (“Why is everything a chore / I’m too young to be defeated”), Astro Coast could easily serve as the staple soundtrack to a kegged-out beach party. And the entire album was recorded in their UF dorm room during their freshman year of college. Barely breaking your 20s and already enjoying the seeds of success? Not bad, Surfer Blood. Not bad at all. 7 p.m. doors, Club at Firestone, Orlando, $15. —Andrew Silverstein
This article appears in Jun 10-16, 2010.