THURSDAY, JULY 10
WMNF JAZZ SERIES: BILLY NORRIS Once a precocious young guitarist, the maturing bassist, currently attending the Manhattan School of Music in New York on a full ride, returns home to play a WMNF show. Morris will be joined by venerable local guitarist LaRue Nickelson, saxophonist Alex LoRe and drummer Michael W. Davis. (WMNF Broadcast Studios, Tampa) —Eric Snider
HELL WITHIN w/FOREVER TERROR/ST. VALENTINE'S MASSACRE/WARFIELD/RMISERY Boston quintet Hell Within reps New England's metalcore scene with a healthy dose of Adderall riffs and Cookie Monster vocals courtesy of lead growler JJ Long. Serious metalheads may recall that the band recorded two albums in the late-1990s as Twytch. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
FRIDAY, JULY 11
VANS WARPED TOUR: AGAINST ME!/ANGELS AND AIRWAVES/RELIENT K/THE ACADEMY IS …/GYM CLASS HEROES/KATY PERRY/WE THE KINGS (MANY MORE) More than 50 bands are playing this year's edition of the Vans Warped Tour. There are exactly four I'm truly jazzed about seeing. First and foremost, there's Gaineville's Against Me!, the band featured on this week's cover. The punks streamlined their sound a bit (thanks, in no small part, to super-producer Butch Vig, of Nevermind fame) for their 2007 major label debut, New Wave, resulting in the band's first bona fide hit single, "Thrash Unreal." For the music feature (p. 38), I talked to Against Me! frontman Tom Gabel about the wild women who inspired "Thrash Unreal," his memories of attending concerts at Jannus Landing as a kid and his first Tampa Bay gig, which was at the old Refuge in St. Pete. What other bands will I be checking out Friday? Indie hip-hop outfit Gym Class Heroes ("Clothes Off"); snarky sexpot Katy Perry ("I Kissed a Girl," the hipster-hating "Ur So Gay,"); and Bradenton pop-punks We The Kings ("Check Yes Juliet"), who I interviewed at Jannus last October, shortly after the quartet inked a deal with S-Curve Records (Fountains of Wayne, Joss Stone). For a complete list of the bands, go to creativeloafing.com/music. (Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg)
2 LIVE CREW Smut peddlers or free-speech champions? You decide. By the way, "Me So Horny" hit the airwaves and MTV in 1989. Damn, I feel old. (Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg)
MONEYSHOT w/SKIN DEEP/THE DOOD/HER REVENGE Moneyshot, the St. Pete quartet with the we-watch-too-much-porn moniker, rocks out with their cocks out like it's 1988. For real. Straight hair-metal, dude. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
THE CHRIS MCCARTY BAND w/MIGGS Gator country favorite returns to Skipperdome with another coed-friendly offering of jammy strum-pop. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
SATURDAY, JULY 12
THE BLACK ANGELS w/THE WARLOCKS/THE BEAUVILLES Aestheticized brings two neo-psychedelic rock bands to Crowbar this Saturday night and both are worthy of notice. The Black Angels (named for a Velvet Underground song) are a relatively new (2004-born) six-piece from Austin; The Warlocks are an older but lesser-known seven-strong group from L.A. Both produce their own dark, hypnotic, wall-of-sound brand of music. The Black Angels are heavier, their sound marked by fuzzed-out guitar riffs and spooky droning vocals, while The Warlocks have a more languid approach, with breathy vocals set against slow-building, spaced-out jams. An interesting side note: Warlocks frontman Bobby Hecksher is a Tampa native and attributes his interest in rock music to the innumerable hours he spent in the studios of his grandfather's Bay area radio station. (Crowbar, Tampa). —Leilani Polk
DAISY FROM VH-1'S ROCK OF LOVE 2 w/POISON'D/HIGHWAY TO HELL/RED, WHITE AND CRUE Some bimbo named Daisy from the reality show starring that bubble-brained himbo Bret Michaels receives top billing at this show featuring a trio of tribute bands including Poison'd. Good gawd, I feel dirty advancing this gig. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
HALCYON w/SOME DANCING SKELETON Halcyon, Tampa Bay's very own version of the Indigo Girls (a comment I make with utmost respect), is joined by the country noir-ish Some Dancing Skeleton, aka Marlee Flanagan. In addition to being a gifted singer/songwriter, she's a 22-year-old hottie, which means she should have no problem winning over the Halcyon diehards. Just saying. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
SUNDAY, JULY 13
DANNY ROBERTS BENEFIT: JOHNNY G. LYON BAND w/DAMON FOWLER/TAKE FIVE/CHARLIE SOUZA/TAKE FIVE Former Tom Petty bandmate Danny Roberts, who played in Mudcrutch from 1972-74, was in a bad car wreck recently and, like a lot of musicians, doesn't have health insurance. Local blues guitar hero Johnny G. Lyon has stepped up to the plate to raise funds for his friend. Fellow local blues guitar great Damon Fowler and others are also donating their services. Incidentally, Tom Petty has off Sunday and Monday; then plays Sunrise on Tuesday and Tampa on Wednesday. So, you know, there's a chance. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
WEDNESDAY, JULY 16
BROOKE WAGGONER w/PAPER ROUTE Indie-pop piano chick Brooke Waggoner adroitly pairs sophisticated yet catchy melodies with confessional lyrics that never fall into the icky category. She recently told NPR her songs tell of "a lone 22-year-old girl, sagas of daily life [and] bits of poetry … all melded with honest proclamations and confessions." (Orpheum, Ybor City)
RED w/PROVIDENCE A generic Christian hard-rock band from Nashville, Red delivers over-the-top bellowing about God-knows-what, brain-dead guitar riffs and gooey orchestral swells. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
This article appears in Jul 9-15, 2008.