Mike Doughty w/Wheatus Is it weird that Wheatus is opening this show? Not really when you dig back a bit and find a video of the 46 year old Soul Coughing founder joining the power-pop one hit wonders (who just played downtown Tampa in December) for a rendition of “Teenage Dirtbag” during a 2015 joint tour. Doughty, for his part, comes supporting a brand new solo album, The Heart Watches While the Brain Burns (released in October). It’s Doughty’s first batch of output after a move from New York to Tennessee, but it still wears a lot of the wordiness from Doughty’s 16 year old solo discography. He’s apparently got a big band touring with him on this run, so it’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out on New World’s tiny, super-intimate patio. (New World Brewery, Ybor City) INFO
Gareth Emery w/Christian Alexander/Nate Verde The EDM culture can kind of get lost in the sauce when it comes to general music listings, and while these very pages have lamented the untz-untz-untz producers pump out to their faithful followers, we can definitely applaud Gareth Emery (and Zedd) who called out managers that asked their DJs to tweet about Carrie Fisher just hours after her death. “Depressingly, many DJs managers are texting them right now to say ‘Do a tweet about Princess Leia's death. Loads of retweets up for grabs,” the 36 year old Brit wrote on Twitter. “It's honestly so fucking depressing and crass man. Like, how about they make some better music and gain their followers that way.” Ybor City gets a chance to hear Emery’s own output on Saturday when he comes in support of his latest album, 100 Reasons to Live (released last year via Armada Music). (The Ritz, Ybor City) INFO
Vodkanauts w/The Johnny Zoom Hi-Fi Show It’s the beginning of the end for Vodkanauts keyboardist Ryan Arsenault, who is moving to Germany in March. To celebrate, the lounge heroes are playing something of a local farewell tour that kicks off at Hideaway Café on Saturday. Don’t worry if you can’t make this one, but don’t miss the band before Arsenault’s last shows on March 4 at Skipper’s Smokehouse and the Southern Ground Saloon (Hideaway Cafe, St. Petersburg) INFO
¡Mayday! Miami scene lurkers might remember ¡Mayday!’s 2003 hit “Quiksand,” but most hip hop heads remember them from when rap weirdo (we mean it in the best way) Tech N9ne put the group on his Welcome to Strangeland LP in 2011 before signing them to his Strange Music label shortly thereafter. Band leaders Bernz and Wrekonize keep things as unique as Mr. N9ne does, and they’ll put it on full display at this show for the Cuban Club, which has become more active on the concert front as of late. (Cuban Club, Ybor City) INFO
The Powder Room w/Jensen Serf Co./Mushmind Kids, ask your cool, music-loving aunt, and she’ll tell you that Athens, Georgia rocks. The Powder Room as exhibit A on Saturday when they come to the bends in support of their new LP, Lucky (released in October 2016). Made up of rock vets Gene Woolfolk, Bubba McDonald and Patrick Ferguson, he 11 track effort is all kinds of swirling feedback, shouted vocals and panic-inducing basslines. Two Bay area bands with a similar sonic bend — Jensen Serf Company and Mushmind — rightfully open this free show. (The Bends, St. Petersburg) INFO
Pink Martini Thomas Lauderdale and China Forbes lead a big band though bold, beautiful arrangements like their classy slacker anthem “Sympathique”which is a good representation of the globally-informed, made in the U.S.A. brand of orchestral pop. The band’s latest, iJe dis oui! Released last year, tasks eight languages (Farsi, French, Arabic and English, to name a few) in helping the Pink Martini pull off their happiest album in a long time. (Ferguson Hall at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa) INFO
Psycho Realms Marathon Benefit Show w/Burning Fair Verona/Alpha Decay/Together In Exile/Abortion Twins/JPP If you’ve been sleepless and listening to the radio before the workweek starts, then you might be familiar with WMNF 88.5 FM’s late night Psycho Realms program where Elder Sign, Unkempt Andy, Luscious Lady Lisa and more bring you songs that hold nothing back when it comes to assaulting your ear holes with brutal industrial, punk and metal. This concert featuring a handful of heavy music makes is an effort to boost the program’s fundraising haul so that they don’t get booted off the air when program changes at the non-profit, community-funded radio station roll back around. (Brass Mug, Tampa) INFO
The Florida Orchestra Masterworks: Brahms, Mozart & Mendelssohn The orchestra’s principal guest conductor Stuart Malina takes the wheel and principal oboe John Upton steps into the soloist spotlight at this show here they’ll work through Mozart’s Oboe Concerto, Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, Brahms’ Variations on a Theme (Joseph Haydn) and Franz Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz No. 1. Unlike most weekends, this show won’t happen in Tampa, but it does make a stop at Clearwater’s Ruth Eckerd Hall the night after this St. Petersburg performance. (Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg) INFO
ALSO PLAYING
Johnny Damon Foundation Charity Concert w/Daniel B. Marshall (The Attic at Rock Brothers Brewing, Ybor City) INFO
Mothership w/Coda Cutlass (Crowbar, Ybor City) INFO
DJ Shafiq (The Hyde Out, Tampa) INFO
The RXN (Iberian Rooster, St. Petersburg) INFO
The Elements w/Hagan Lee/Raybudsky/Jafarlee/Jamez Anthony/C-Rena/Laz/Fre$h P/Juiccy Luccy (Fubar, St. Petersburg) INFO
Jeff Lorber (Central Park Performing Arts Center, Largo) INFO
Nonpoint (State Theatre, St. Petersburg) INFO
USF Faculty & Guest Artist Recital: Korean Women's Voices (USF Concert Hall at University of South Florida, Tampa) INFO
Big D & the Dirty Deal (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin) INFO
Gypsy Star's CD Release Party (Colorama Music, Hudson) INFO
This article appears in Jan 19-26, 2017.