They're back (sorta)
It's been 15 years since the last album of original GN'R material hit the street and nearly 20 since Appetite for Destruction made mainstream rock 'n' roll dangerous again for a little while. Industry insiders say we're only months away from Chinese Democracy. The band features some high-profile names (Nine Inch Nails' Robin Finck, The Replacements' Tommy Stinson, Primus' Brain); and most of the recent shows have gone off as planned, to as many positive reviews as negative. Middling openers — nu-metal holdover Papa Roach and former Skid Row singer/current pop-TV personality Sebastian Bach — aside, this evening might not disappoint diehard fans, nostalgia-devourers and those whose curiosity is beginning to outweigh their dismissal of the group as little more than a Guns N' Roses cover band. But make no mistake: There's no going back, and this is not the act that made mainstream rock 'n' roll dangerous again for a little while.
Guns N' Roses w/Papa Roach/Sebastian Bach, 7:30 p.m. Wed., Oct. 25, St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, $76.75/$49.75/$39.75. —Scott Harrell
Music With A Mission
Afro-folk/rock pioneer Thomas Mapfumo has been writing and performing since the '60s, though it wasn't until the early '70s that his fascination turned from English and American pop music back to the sounds of his native Africa. Since then, he's been both a musical pioneer celebrated for his blending of traditional folk styles and instrumentation (especially the mbira, or thumb-piano) with Western pop sounds and band formats, and an inspirational/controversial voice for human rights in his homeland. (He and his family were forced to flee Africa for their lives and have lived in the U.S., basically in exile, since 2000; in '05, it became too dangerous for him to even return for covert gigs.) Tonight, Mapfumo and his combo Blacks Unlimited return to the Skipperdome to help raise some money for the war-torn African region of Darfur. All proceeds from tonight's show and raffles will go to the Save Darfur Coalition, a nonprofit alliance.
Thomas Mapfumo & Blacks Unlimited, 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22, Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa; $15 adv./$20 d.o.s. —SH
Get Jazzed
USF jazz professor Chuck Owen's 10-year labor of love, the Jazz Surge big band, gets back in gear for two performances. Both dates will feature guest artists who bring a distinctive flavor to the proceedings. Walt Weiskopf plays saxophone for Steely Dan, so appropriately enough he'll be highlighted in the Surge's version of a Steely Dan suite of tunes. Accordionist Gary Versace will provide the crucial accordion in another suite showcasing the music of tango master Astor Piazolla. As you can see, Owen and company don't come to feed the crowd facile swing pabulum. This will be challenging, but eminently listenable, stuff, augmented by a few of Owen's own tunes.
Chuck Owen & the Jazz Surge, 2:45-4 p.m. Sun., Oct. 22, Clearwater Jazz Holiday, Coachman Park, Clearwater, free; 7:30 p.m., Mon., Oct. 23, Center for the Arts at Wesley Chapel. $20 general admission. —ES
