A breakdown of live music taking place this Tue., April 21…
The Robert Cray Band with Shemekia Copeland Two blues circuit regulars hit Clearwater for a Tuesday night throwdown. Cray came up in the mid-1980s and amid all manner of bragging rights he’s acquired over the years, he holds the early-career honor of playing with Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Etta James all at once as a member of Chuck Berry’s backing band in 1987 concert doc Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock ‘N’ Roll. Cray also had a few Top 10 U.S. Rock hits, the most well-known “Smoking Gun” in ’86; his most recent LP, In My Soul, peaked at No. 1 on the Blues Charts. Opener Shemekia Copeland has a booming gospel-soulful vocal that soars over electric blues and R&B grooves. (Capitol Theatre, Clearwater)
Alanis Morissette I played the hell out of 1995’s Jagged Little Pill. I was only 15 when it dropped and Alanis Morissette’s breakout third album spoke to my growing feminine self-righteousness. Since its hit single “You Oughta Know” launched the Canadian pop-rock songstress to international fame, she’s recorded five more LPs worth of material — the last was 2012’s Havoc and Bright Lights — not to mention taking on the odd film role, like playing god in Dogma. (Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg)
Paramore with Copeland Celebrating the wild success of its fourth and latest self-titled LP, Paramore has launched “Writing the Future” — a final hurrah for Paramore (the album.) “We’re not calling it a tour,” frontwoman Hayley Williams has said, preferring the term “little events.” I guess when you’ve gone platinum in multiple countries for multiple albums, selling out a venue like Ruth Eckerd can be considered a “little event.” Paramore bridges that disconnect with fans via an intimate concert atmosphere and have enlisted the help of Copeland. The Lakeland heroes recently released Ixora after a six-year hiatus and are the only act tagging along on the definitely-not-a-tour tour. (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater) –Adam Hardy
In Flames with All That Remains, Periphery Swedish death metal outfit In Flames went through several lineup shifts to get to its current crushing membership, and is currently on the road behind 11th studio LP, Siren Charms, which hasn’t earned the best reviews but did peak at No. 1 on the Billboard Hard Rock charts when it dropped last summer. (The Ritz Ybor, Ybor City)
This article appears in Apr 23-29, 2015.