It's shaping up to be a fine weekend in live music and it all starts on this Fri., April 29. Check out the breakdown of what's happening tonight below, then peep the concerts coming up this weekend.
Tokyo Police Club with From Indian Lakes I get all these ‘club’ bands mixed up; Two Door Cinema Club, Bombay Bicycle Club, Teenage Fanclub, Gem Club, et. al. Canadian alt rock quartet Tokyo Police Club formed in 2005 amid the wave of post-punk revivalists that followed the Strokes. The band’s new Melon Collie and the Infinite Radness (Part 1) EP still maintains those punchy rhythms and jangly guitars, but leans heavier on indie pop persuasions via hooky lead vocals, exuberant multi-voice choruses, warm keyboard melodies and fizzy synthesized embellishments. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg) –Leilani Polk
Denzel Curry with Allan Kingdom, SDotBraddy After releasing the appetite-whetting double EP 32 Zel/Planet Shrooms last summer, natty-dreaded Miami native rapper Denzel Curry has delivered a year’s full-length project, Imperial, which includes the previously released collab with Rick Ross, "Knotty Head," and a guest spot by Joey Bada$$ in “Zenith.” A recent Washington Post feature called Imperial “one of the most breathtaking rap albums released this year” and said that at his most thrilling, 21-year-old Curry “sounds like a futurist shouting down the end of the world.” His lyrical matter combines intellectual idealism with cynical outsider observations colored by his experiences growing up in a violent ‘hood, and he spits over appropriately doom-vibing, tripped-out production qualities. (Local 662, St. Petersburg)–LP
98 Rockfest with Disturbed, Shinedown, Chevelle, Ghost, Sick Puppies, Pop Evil + more Tampa Bay’s commercial rock radio station always brings big mainstream bands to town for its annual single-day arena-sized festival. This year is no different. The lineup is led by recently re-banded and revitalized heavy metal/post-hardcore group Disturbed; their 2015 post-reunion LP Immortalized marked their fifth consecutive No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200. Also of note on this night: ever-popular hard rock pushers Shinedown; creepy, haunting, satirically blasphemous metal makers, Ghost; and a few up-and-comers like Red Sun Rising, a melodic rock group with anthemic stadium-ready song structures, and gothic, melancholic Hollywood-spawned Stitched Up Heart. (Amalie Arena, downtown Tampa) –Justin Croteau
Alabama Shakes with Dylan Leblanc The hard-buzzing Friday night show that spurred Tropical Heatwave’s move from the Cuban Club (despite being held the night before WMNF’s fest) has already sold out as of this writing. And it’s no wonder; the Southern-stoked soul n’ blues rock outfit fueled by the robust belts and expressive croons of lead singer/guitarist Brittany Howard has been on the rise ever since unleashing their fine 2012 debut and last year’s sophomore follow-up Sound & Color proved Alabama Shakes’ staying power, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and earning four Grammy wins. (Cuban Club, Ybor City)–LP
HIM//HER Launch with Laghima, Renee is a Zombie, Bubble Boys, DJ Hollow Life The Zombies & Lizards Artist Collective have completed the next issue of him//her, a fresh art and music ‘zine aimed at giving creative types “a place to speak and share what issues matter to them, art, explore self-expression/creativity, as well as honor our roots.” This launch party features four of the ‘zine’s music contributors – experimental/tribal looping dance music maker Laghima, weirdo punk-kicking duo Bubble Boys (both from Orlando), sinister synth-driven Gainesville-brewed Time, and Clearwater’s dark chip noise/hip hop DJ Hollow Life. Get a hot-off-the-presses copy of him//her at the launch, or peep it online at zombiesandlizards.com/zine. (The Venture Compound, St. Petersburg)
Trace Bundy “The Acoustic Ninja” Trace Bundy has been nicknamed thus for his virtuosic fingerstyle guitar capabilities; the instrumentalist is known for his inventive use of harmonics, loops and multiple capos, plays with both hands on the fretboard, and delivers intricate arpeggio-filled arrangements that fully demonstrate his impressive legato and finger-tapping skills. (Hideaway Cafe & Recording Studio, St. Petersburg)
Sultans of String Toronto’s worldly string-flinging folk-roots group draws on Celtic, gypsy jazz, flamenco, Arabic and Cuban influences in their breezy warm instrumentals, though last year’s Subcontinental Drift added South Asian ragas to the reels and rumbas by way of guest sitar master Anwar Khurshid. (Largo Cultural Center, Largo)
ALSO TONIGHT
Friday Night Rock w/Mr. Bella/The Funeral Daizies/Boney Fiend/Pig Pen (Orpheum, Ybor City)
The Ultimate Joe Cocker & Santana Experience: Mad Dogs and Sacred Fire (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
Celtic Woman (Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg)
Gat & Cris Album Release Party w/Mike Mass/Florida Night Heat/Ari Chi/Vern Sr./B. Popes (Crowbar, Ybor City)
COMING UP THIS WEEKEND
DAWNS EP Release Party w/Notions/Idle Spirit Sat., April 30, Cage Brewing, St. Petersburg
35th Annual Tropical Heatwave w/Ra Ra Riot/Bright Light Social Hour/Chuck Prophet and Mission Express /many more Sat., April 30, Various Venues, Ybor City
Steel Panther Sat., April 30, Jannus Live, St. Petersburg
Sunscreen Day of Music w/Ajeva/Twisty Chris & The Puddin’ Packs/Russell Fama & The Lost Planets/Botomatics/Paint The Town Red/Hannah Daly/Ken Apperson Sat., April 30, Station House Restaurant, St. Petersburg
Boston: 40th Anniversary Tour Sat., April 30, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater
Halfway to Halloween 2016 w/[De]Absolve/Funeral for a Clown/Screaming at the Silence/Psykotribe/The Cunningham Wake Sat., April 30, Local 662, St. Petersburg
BARS w/Mike Mass/Queen Of Ex/Betty Dawl/Ameen Spade/Mari Sat., April 30, The Bends, St. Petersburg
Fat Jim Morrison/John Nowicki Sat., April 30, Mermaid Tavern, Tampa
Rich Whiteley Band w/Helena Kletch & Meg Shannon Sat., April 30, Ale and the Witch, St. Petersburg
Miles Davis' 90th birthday Celebration Concert w/The James Suggs Quintet Sun., May 1, HCC-Ybor Mainstage Theater, Ybor City
Chris Isaak Sun., May 1, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater
Pierce Pettis Sun., May 1, Hideaway Cafe & Recording Studio, St. Petersburg
