Great Deceivers w/Living Arches Great Deceivers are an Orlando outfit that craft appealing, mildly off-kilter songs with lazy guitar melodies, roiling or swaying rhythms, discordant instrumental breakdowns, and lovely vocal harmonies that are sometimes blue and despondent, other times shimmering with hope. All of it adds up to a pretty interesting mix of psyche-shoegaze and experimental pop. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
Rockstar Energy Drink UPROAR Festival w/Avenged Sevenfold/Three Days Grace/Sevendust/Seether/Bullet For My Valentine/Escape The Fate/Black Tide/Art Of Dying/Hell Or Highwater Yet another multi-band rock tour, this one the second annual day-long two-stage Rockstar Energy Drink-sponsored UPROAR Festival. Avenged Sevenfold are the headliners of the 2011 edition. According to writer/photographer Jeff O'Kelley, the heavy metal foursome "offered what, in my opinion, was the best performance of the day" at the 2010 event, and throughout their hour-long set, "A7X never stopped long enough to take a breath, accompanied by a continuous pyrotechnic show that must have raised the amphitheatre temperature a few degrees." Like acts fill out the rest of the bill. (1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre, Tampa)
Rick Springfield w/Starship feat. Mickey Thomas Aussie singer-songwriter Rick Springfield delivers AC power pop, and is best known for '80 hits like "Jessie's Girl" and "I've Done Everything For You." The band that was Jefferson Airplane in the '60s, Jefferson Starship in the '70s and Starship in the '80s has broken off into two branches. Starship featuring Mickey Thomas — the vocalist who replaced Marty Balin in '79 — was formed in '92 after original member Paul Kantner claimed Jefferson Starship as his own in '91. (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)
Burning Tree Tour Kick-Off Party w/Trial By Stone/Resinated/Trigger City Trio St. Pete's Burning Tree released their Oppressive Heat EP earlier this year and earned a three-star review from former CL Contributor Amber McDonald, who was impressed by the band's mature lyrical skills. "Too many reggae rock groups fall back onto the easy (and hackneyed) subjects of chicks and drinking, but the Bay Area band seems to have a natural knack for crafting songs that reflect on the issues of everyday people with style and heart while not coming off as pretentious." This show kicks off a three-week, 14-date national tour in support of their recording. (Local 662, St. Petersburg)
SUN 04
Half Way to St. Paddy's Day Festival w/Paper Tongues/Rude Squad/Shu Tang/Not Tonight Josephine/The Josh Magwood Band/Renegade Strand/many more The second annual downtown St. Pete fest hosted by Durty Nelly's features a diverse array of more than 20 local artists and bands, is celebrated at nearly a dozen area bars, and is headlined by a fast-rising national act, rap rock/alt-metal septet Paper Planes. (Multiple venues, downtown St. Petersburg)
Periphery w/The Human Abstract/Textures/The Contortionist/Big Red Robot/Sidereal Pulse/Slay The Serpent Ominous progressive metal quintet Periphery, from Maryland, builds complex time signatures marked by dual shredding guitars, heavy bass grooves and machine-gun drumming, with competing guttural roar-clean wailing vocals laid overtop. The band released their self-titled LP last year and a follow-up EP, The Icarus Live, in April. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
Nekromantix w/The Brains/The Cadillac Bombers This August saw the release of Nekromatix's eighth album of fast-and-heavy monster-and-horror-themed psychobilly, What Happens In Hell, Stays In Hell (Hellcat Records). Among the 13-song suite are such hilariously self-explanatory numbers as "Bats in My Pants," "SleepWalker with a Gun" and "I Kissed a Ghoul." (Local 662, St. Petersburg)
Neon-Xtreme Tampa: The World's Largest Glowstick Party An event that boasts 50,000 glow sticks and 50 DJ's (Sandman, Noodles, Barry Carew, Grimey, Shady, Chris Craze, Domi, Kutmaster, Prophet and more) as well as live performances by up-and-coming Tampa-by-way-of-Memphis hip-hop artist Layne Harper (who signed to Def Jam earlier this year), and "swag pop/hip hop/R&B" singer-songwriter Gabriel Harmon, among others. Free admission before 11 p.m. (The Ritz Ybor, Ybor City)
Cadillac Bombers The Hub throws a free "Rockabilly Labor Day Hoedown" as delivered by old timey rockabilly, Western swing and jump blues quartet Cadillac Bombers, from Tarpon Springs, fronted by throaty retro-pretty vocalist Kalamity Kat. (The Hub, downtown Tampa)
MON 05
Rock Allegiance Tour: Buckcherry and Papa Roach w/Puddle of Mudd/P.O.D./Red/Crossfade/Drive A The month-long "Rock Allegiance Tour" is a package deal — a so-called "celebration" of U.S.-brewed mainstream rock co-headlined by two hard-edged California rock outfits: Buckcherry and Papa Roach. (Stadium Green Iguana-Hawaiian Village, Tampa)
WED 07
Return of the Chicken Chasers The hilariously irreverent St. Pete-based ensemble led by singer and concertina player Meyer "Little Squeeze" Baron returns after a summer off to treat locals to a few sets worth of their vibrant and original mix of swing and Klezmer (self-styled "schving"), which also incorporates elements of late night blues, vintage rock, and Latin and gypsy jazz. (Ringside Café, St. Petersburg)