Gasparilla Music Festival 2023 lineup: Run the Jewels, Joe Russo's Almost Dead coming to Tampa in April

With 30 days until gates open, Tampa's Gasparilla Music Festival (GMF) has announced that a giant of the modern rap game will headline the 2023 edition of its party.

Run The Jewels, the duo featuring Killer Mike and El-P, leads GMF's initial lineup announcement made public this morning. While a daily lineup has yet to be announced, Run the Jewels, which just announced a 10th anniversary tour, and will presumably headline night one of GMF on Saturday, April 29 in downtown Tampa.

Newport Jazz Festival headliner Joe Russo's Almost Dead—which features members of Furthur and Ween—is also on the lineup and will likely headline GMF's offering on day two, Sunday, April 30.

Tickets for Gasparilla Music Festival 2023 happening Saturday-Sunday, April 29-30 in downtown Tampa are available right now and start at $50 for single-day GA.

Canadian electro-funk party starter Chromeo, Colorado rock band Big Head Todd & the Monsters, Los Angeles indie-rock darling Local Natives, rising L.A. pop outfit Cannons, and folk duo Rising Appalachia are also part of the lineup announced today. Florida favorite and GMF alum Flipturn, which has sold-out multiple tours since playing the festival in 2019, leads the charge for Florida artists playing the festival alongside Maitland Americana-pop band The 502s plus homegrown Tampa talent like songwriter-singer Shelby Sol, rapper Pusha Preme, pop songwriter Summer Hoop, rock band Shevonne & the Force, blues virtuoso George Pennington and more (see the full lineup at the bottom of this post.

GMF lineup staple Mt. Zion Gospel Choir is also in the mix, but it's been a year of change for the grassroots festival which launched in 2012. GMF didn't announce dates a 2023 festival until March 9, after fans worried that conditions at one of its venues, Kiley Garden, would force the festival to take a break this year.
What's more is that GMF's longtime talent buyer, program director, and co-founder Phil Benito is no longer booking bands for the nonprofit festival which advocates for local music education and places refurbished instruments into the hands of local school kids.

For 10 years, Tampa native Benito, together with his band of volunteers running backstage hospitality,  was a hallmark of GMF's behind the scenes success, having booked bands like Deer Tick, Ra Ra Riot and Lee Fields for the inaugural year, then bringing in big acts before they broke, including Margo Price, Phoebe Bridgers, Hiss Golden Messenger, Jason Isbell and so many more.

Both GMF and Benito would not get into the details of his departure.

"GMF has been some of the best years of my life and I've met some incredible people and made amazing friends/memories. It means a lot to me and I hope we're able to find a way to work together again in the near future," Benito told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.

GMF's Executive Director, David Cox, also a co-founder of the festival, told CL that 2023 is certainly a transitional year for the festival as it adapts to Tampa's growing downtown and the absence of Benito.

“Phil has been such an integral part of GMF and the Tampa music scene, he will be sorely missed this year but we’re happy for him in his decision to pursue a great opportunity and we’re looking forward to Phil remaining part of the GMF family for years to come,” said Cox, told CL, adding that the festival is still doing its programming in-house.

He said that Julia Stewart, founder of Tampa promotions company MoonGoddess Entertainment, is on as in in-house talent buyer and that GMF has started working with talent buyer Vaughn Carrick the owner of LiveNite Events and Reggae Rise Up as a talent buyer. "Our festivals have always been back to back weekends so there has always been a lot of mutual respect as independent music festivals," Cox added.

Stewart and Carrick are also presumably already working on GMF's 2024 lineup, set to happen Friday-Sunday, Feb. 18 at Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park.

“We’re looking forward to celebrating one last year in Curtis Hixon with a sensational lineup. We’re very excited to establish our new home at Julian B Lane Park in 2024 where we can grow for years to come and remain an integral part of the downtown landscape," Cox said.

Gasparilla Music Festival 2023 initial lineup

• The 502s
• Big Head Todd & the Monsters
• Chromeo
• Cope
• Earthtonez
• Flipturn
• George Pennington & the Odyssey
• Joe Russo's Almost Dead
• Local Natives
• Minim
• Mt. Zion Gospel Choir
• Pusha Preme
• Rising Appalachia
• Run the Jewels
• Shelby Sol
• Shevonne & the Force
• Summer Hoop
• Tampa Metro Youth Orchestra
• Whale Feral