THURSDAY, sept. 07
HUNGRY LUCY/NEVERPROJECT/SET FOR DELETION Café Tsunami is an eccentric, vaguely Gothic sushi joint on the outskirts of Pinellas Park that, when the sun goes down, plays hosts to all manner of darkly hued music, from local DJs to regular Old Wave Nights to touring national industrial/electro acts. Tonight's lineup is of the latter variety, and features excellent, shadowy Cincinnati trip-hop act Hungry Lucy, Lakeland retro-Goth/industrial unit Neverproject, and much more hard-edged St. Pete concern Set for Deletion. Café Tsunami is located at 6725 49th St. N. (Café Tsunami, Pinellas Park)
THE MUSIC OF YOUR LIFE QUINTET Singer Lori Hafer's credits include stints with Glenn Miller and Les Brown's Band of Renown, so the educated guess here is that this will be a nostalgia-steeped evening of swing-based jazz. She'll be joined by her pianist/husband Mike and bassist/son Paul, as well as tenor saxophonist Rich Hall and drummer Lyle Warner. (Palladium, St. Petersburg) —Eric Snider
FRIDAY, SEPT. 08
CHRIS BROWN/NE-YO/LIL' WAYNE/DEM FRANCHIZE BOYZ/JUELZ SANTANA TThe shed shakes to a buttload of disparate urban sounds. Noted pop/R&B producer Scott Storch helped make singer Chris Brown a star at the tender age of 16 with the hit single "Run It!" Other biggies like Jermaine Dupri and Dre & Vidal came on board to help helm Brown's eponymous full-length debut, which dropped last fall. Ne-Yo wrote for other artists before the single "So Sick" broke him as a vocalist this year. Lil' Wayne earned his grill as a member of New Orleans' Cash Money crew; Atlanta act Dem Franchize Boyz is a leader in Southern hip-hop's "snap" subgenre; and MC (and former member of Cam'ron's Diplomats) Juelz Santana scored a Top 10 album with last year's What The Game's Been Missing! (Ford Amphitheater, Tampa)
MOONSHINE STILL/REBECCA JEAN SMITH/THE FREED Rising Southeastern jam band Moonshine Still recently lost drummer/founding member Will Robinson, but continues to soldier on — to raves by such in-touch outlets as Jambase.com — with a new skinsman. Expect soulful vocals, fluid guitar work and the usual grooves 'n' stretch-outs. Atlanta's Rebecca Jean Smith fronts a band that fuses elements of pop, jam and singer-songwriter fare. Tonight's show also features a reunion set by The Freed, the jam act named after local promoter/tireless music supporter Ted Freed, who recently announced that he's won his battle with lymphoma. Hell yeah. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
MIDNIGHT RAMBLERS Another SwingTime event rolls around. This one features the Midnight Ramblers, a jump-blues/swing act that rose from the ashes of the beloved Rocket 88; that band was known far and wide for its exceptionally energetic and entertaining performances, and we're betting the Ramblers remain determined to live up to that legacy. (Gulfport Casino, Gulfport)
JOSH MARTINEZ/SCIENCE-NON-FICTION/DUSHAN KATANIC Canada doesn't exactly get the hip-hop love reserved for the South Bronx or Compton (or even Muncie for that matter). Josh Martinez might be changing things in our frigid Northern neighbor with the label he founded there (Camobear Records) and his incessant touring, both solo and with a pair of bands, The Chicharones and The Pissed Off Wild. If you've never heard a shout-out to Vancouver, get ready. Supporting Martinez are a long-time-coming Science-Non-Fiction reunion and local MC Dushan Katanic. (The Tavern on Main, Sarasota) —Cooper Levey-Baker
SATURDAY, SEPT. 09
COVENANT/SEABOUND/IMPERATIVE REACTION Swedish electronic band Covenant has been making some pretty cool mash-ups of ambient, industrial and synth-pop since the mid-'90s. Along for the ride with the group on this, its American tour supporting the recently released Skyshaper, are similarly inclined German duo Seabound and cult-beloved Los Angeles electro-industrial outfit Imperative Reaction. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
EDDIE KIRKLAND The Suncoast Blues Society Jook Joint Series continues. This month's installment showcases 78-year-old living legend Eddie Kirkland. The Jamaican-born Kirkland was raised in Alabama and Detroit; he was a sideman and session player for both John Lee Hooker and Otis Redding before being signed to Stax/Volt in the early '60s, and has recorded and toured off and on ever since. He also lived for a spell in and around the Bay area, maybe still does. (Dave's Aqua Lounge, St. Petersburg)
ROCKAIDS 7 For seven years, concerned activists and committed musicians have put on this annual fundraising shindig inside Jannus Landing's hallowed hollowed-out city block. This year's lineup consists of The John Allison Band, female-fronted hard-rock unit Chumley's Toy, pop-rock act Lives Page, northern Pinellas pop-punk favorite Suburban Tragedy, and always-entertaining ska-rock spectacle RudeSquad. In addition to the music, there will also be on-site HIV testing, voter registration sign-up and myriad raffles/giveaways. The whole to-do kicks off at 6:30 p.m., and 10 bucks grants you access, with proceeds going to the AIDS Service Association of Pinellas' For AIDS Care Today, which helps employed local HIV-positive individuals pay for their medical care. (Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg)
RIVER CITY HIGH This rollicking, rock-reverent Richmond, Va. quartet seemed poised on the edge of stardom back when the whole emo thing really started to heat up around the turn of the millennium. I don't know if they were too rock for the emo kids or too punk for the rock mainstream, but they just weren't pigeonholed easily enough — which is weird, because what they are, really, is just a kick-ass rock 'n' roll band. The band continues to satisfy its rabidly loyal fanbase, however, and plays two Bay area shows this weekend. Tonight's gig is at Ybor's New World Brewery with Nessie (DISCLOSURE: I play in Nessie), enigmatic Pensacola outfit Deadly Fists of Kung Fu, and super-loud, super-rad St. Pete juggernaut The Weapons of Ass Destruction; there's also an all-ages matinee tomorrow afternoon at Palm Harbor's D-Pad gaming room. (New World Brewery, Ybor City/The D-Pad, Palm Harbor)
MEGA SMEGMA RETURNS If you went to more than, say, five or six local shows in Tampa during the first half of the '90s, then chances are you saw Mega Smegma, the filthily funny metal act that used humor, questionable humor, definite non-humor and copious volume to make audiences laugh, retch, or laugh until they retched. The band returns to the stage at its old haunt, Brass Mug, tonight, for the first time in, shit, I don't know, let's just say 10 years (even if it's probably not quite true — it's probably closer to seven), joined by veteran guitar-driven locals Rancid Polecats, Flat Stanley, and Waterdigger. (Brass Mug, Tampa)
JOHN McCUTCHEON Performing at yet another benefit for Sarasota's WSLR, McCutcheon grew up in Wisconsin and has amassed countless folk music credits. His music derives from the great political folk tradition, but he might just be too earnest. His songs are impeccably polished, his sentiments no less so. And while his humor bone hasn't entirely been removed — particularly evident in his homage to Dick Cheney's way with an expletive — McCutcheon is more in line with pop cheeseball James Taylor than with rich and surreal backwoods folk. (Flanzer Jewish Community Center, Sarasota) —CLB
BOGUS POMP What was it that Michael Corleone said in Godfather, Part III? "Just when I thought I was out — they pull me back in!" I wonder if Jerry Outlaw, guitarist/leader for the Zappa tribute band Bogus Pomp ever feels that way? BP has broken up a few times, for a variety of reasons, usually at Outlaw's behest, but always ends up jumping back in the game for a one-off gig or just one more Zappaween or some opportunity that's just too cool to pass up. That can't be easy: The band plays its chosen Zappa material with such love and precision that it won't just run on autopilot. Of course, I'm glad Bogus Pomp keeps getting pulled back in. So are a lot of other folks. (Skipper's Smokehouse) —ES
SUNDAY, SEPT. 10
THE McCORMICK DUO The USF Resident Artist Series kicks off with percussionist Robert McCormick and flutist Kim McCormick in a program that will include a world premiere by USF faculty composer Paul Reller and other works by David Heuser, Gui Sook Lee and Niels Rosing-Schow. The hunch is that this performance will skew toward the avant-garde. (Music Recital Hall FAH 101, USF Tampa campus) —ES
GOOD DAY SUNSHINE BENEFIT 3 Those who knew and loved the late artist Regina Brady, or just love homegrown art — hers and others' — come together for the third year in a row to celebrate her life and raise a little money for a fitting memorial. This year's lineup includes the aforementioned, newly reunited Mega Smegma, along with folk-punk crazyman Crash Mitchell and his quartet, Celt-folk combo Juniper Trio, world-groove machine Tribal Style, The EOC, John Hancock and Karen Zack. This is an early show, kicking off at 5 p.m. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
FRIENDS WITH A BENEFIT When Tampa Bay native Michael Colleli fell into a coma as a result of liver failure while working as an actor in New York, several of his friends conceived this show on the fly as a way to raise money to bring Michael home to his family. Tragically, Colleli died a few days later, but the show will go on, as a memorial and benefit for the American Liver Foundation. In addition to performances by Geri X, Bob Anthony, James McFarland, Experimental Pilot, Rebekah Pulley & The Reluctant Prophets, Car Bomb Driver and Nessie (DISCLOSURE, AGAIN: I'm in Nessie), DJ Cornelius will spin the old-school Channel Zero-style tunes. There will also be tons of goods and services raffled off in the name of putting more money in the till. This is another early gig — it starts at 3 p.m. (The Garage, St. Petersburg)
BAY AREA SAXOPHONE QUARTET Did you know there's a Carrollwood Cultural Center? Well, there is, and it plays home to the arts series fittingly known as the Carrollwood Cultural Center Concert Cycle, of which this particular event is part. The Bay Area Saxophone Quartet covers a range of patron-friendly styles, from classical to ragtime to contemporary standards. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE: Live Muzak not enough for ya? There's also an interesting exhibit of original works, courtesy of the Martha DeMauro Gallery, by a plethora of Latin artists. The CCC is located at 13345 Casey Road. (Carrollwood Cultural Center Annex, Tampa)
TUESDAY, SEPT. 12
HASTE THE DAY/SCARY KIDS SCARING KIDS/AUGUST BURNS RED/INHALE EXHALE Haven't Haste The Day and Scary Kids Scaring Kids been through town, like, three times in the last eight months? In any case, the former records generic metalcore for the noted Christian heavy-punk label Solid State Records, while the latter mixes Goth fashion and synthesizers into emo for no good reason at all. Pennsylvania spaz-death-core unit August Burns Red and upcoming Ohio screamo combo Inhale Exhale (also both on Solid State) round out a bill that showcases a lot of what's wrong with the kids' music these days. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 13
UNDER/KRISIUN/DECAPITATED/CATTLE DECAPITATION/ABYSMAL DAWN Death to false metal! Six Feet Under, the death metal act originally formed by Cannibal Corpse vocalist Chris Barnes as a side project in the mid-'90s, just keeps on shambling along in its quest for blood and brains, much to the delight of the extreme-metal underground. This is the group's triumphant post-Sounds of the Underground Tour headlining spin around the States, and it's bringing an impressive slate of the genre's usual suspects in tow; most notable is the presence of Brazil's Krisiun, a group whose 15-year run has been consistently lauded.(State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
This article appears in Sep 6-12, 2006.
