✔️ = Critic's Pick
✔️ Listening Room Festival Showcase A weeklong celebration of the hyper-intimate concert experience kicked off on Wednesday, and this Friday showcase is an evening-time catch-all show where the Tampa Bay Listening Room Festival’s featured artists — including folk-singing Korean-American sisters Chasing Lovely — will take the big stage at the Palladium Theater. Harmony-driven folk-rock band The Novelists is on the bill along with fiddle master Luke Bulla, Canadian folk-pop group Big Little Lions, mando-wielding Americana and vocal-folk collective Escaping Pavement, and Alberta-based, award-winning troubadour John Wort Hannam. A full schedule and more info is available via listeningroomfestival.com. (Hough Hall at Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg) INFO
PHOTOS
Soundgarden begins march towards a new LP at Tampa’s Amalie Arena — 04.28.17
98 Rockfest w/Shinedown/Three Days Grace/Seether/Starset/Fozzy/10 Years/more The memory of last year’s 98 Rockfest headlined by Soundgarden still lingers (frontman Chris Cornell committed suicide less than three weeks after the band’s Tampa show), but the hard-rock station will try and make new ones on Saturday when it hosts another edition of its long-running Rockfest. Chris Jericho’s Fozzy project makes the bill alongside a familiar list of radio-rock favorites like Jacksonville boys done good Shinedown (“If You Only Knew”), Canadian quartet Three Days Grace (“I Hate Everything About You”), Seether (“Broken”) and more. (Amalie Arena, Tampa) INFO
Spyro Gyra Soul, Latin pop and world beat come together as iconic smooth-jazz group Spyro Gyra brings a four-decades-long career to downtown Clearwater’s Capitol Theatre (the group headlined an installment of Cleveland Street’s free concert series Blast Friday last January). Nine Grammy noms and more than 11 million records sold haven’t slowed the Buffalo-based unit down, either, so expect fan favorites like “Shaker Song,” “A Winter Tale” and “Catching the Sun,” to still pack a lot of funky punch. (Capitol Theatre, Clearwater) INFO
AJ Ghent w/Come Back Alice AJ Ghent is fresh off of the release of his latest album The Neo Blues Project, where the Ft. Pierce native reworks a Junior Kimbrough tune (“Do The Rump”) and then gives listeners his own special brand of fiery sacred steel-driven funk, blues, rock and soul all while channeling the sounds of his favorite influences and collaborators like Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson or even Zac Brown (who invited Ghent to play on 2013’s Grohl Sessions Vol. 1). (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa) INFO
Strange Fruit “The Reveal” w/Siobhan Monique: MoniQnation Siobhan Monique tops the bill in commemoration of the 79th anniversary of Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit." (Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum, St. Petersburg) INFO
BEER ISSUE 2018
Newbies — Zydeco Brew Werks
Zydeco Brew Werks Grand Opening w/Eddies New Orleans Jazz Band Locals will likely find themselves saying, "Laissez les bon temps rouler!" during the grand opening celebration for Zydeco Brew Werks. With doors scheduled to open at 11:30 a.m. Friday, the bash formally commemorates the debut of the Ybor City brewery — which soft-launched in March — with specialty tappings, Eddie's New Orleans Jazz Band and swag giveaways. —Meaghan Habuda (Zydeco Brew Werks, Ybor City) INFO
Gaul w/Weltesser/Pipe Dreamer You can’t actually spark up inside of Planet Retro, but your mind will get smoked when three of the Sunshine State’s heaviest bands take to the Fringe District record shop for this show, which is kind of like a pre-party for Record Store Day kicking off the next morning. (Planet Retro Records, St. Petersburg) INFO
The Rhapsody Suite: Best of Both Worlds Vol.2 w/Tom G/C-Rena/Dynasty/Trumaine Lamar/J Roc Jones/Mighty Jai/Fre$h P/Jinx/Ike Burner/Justin James/more On Thursday, Trumaine Lamar lent his voice to the two-year anniversary of another talent showcase (Art & Soul), and on Saturday he shows up on the bill for this, the third anniversary of another soul- and rhyme-centric showcase, The Rhapsody Suite. More than two dozen rappers, poets and singers are expected to hit the stage, including old-school Tampa club favorite Tom G and even CL intern Robb Ferdinand. (National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 599, Tampa) INFO
Goldlink Third time’s a charm, right? D’Anthony Carlos (aka Goldlink) has already canceled two Ybor City shows (the first due to Hurricane Irma, the second because of a family emergency), but all things look good for this show from the 2015 XXL Freshman Class member. His full-length debut album — At What Cost — and its golden hit single “Crew” still bump, and we’re expecting the the 24-year-old Washington D.C. rapper to put on one hell of a makeup show for faithful fans. Read Jenna Rances’ interview with Goldlink on cltampa.com/music before you get to the gig. (Orpheum, Ybor City) INFO
Poetry ‘n’ Lotion Listening to Tampa instrumental collective Poetry ‘n’ Lotion noodle around for an afternoon is always a good idea, and that notion is made even better since you can also eat noodles (Chicken roulade with fettuccine!) while taking it all in at this Seminole Heights eatery. (Ella’s Americana Folk Art Café, Tampa) INFO
✔️ Scholar’s Symposium: Aisha Durham “Home with Hip Hop Feminism: Performances in Communication and Culture” is a cultural, intellectual and political project that looks to extend the artistic, analytical and advocacy-oriented work of girls and women of color from the “post” generations. Its author Aisha Durham — a cultural studies and feminist media studies professor at USF — heads to another campus as she mines memory in recalling her southern roots to narrate her hip-hop becoming. Durham’s performance-informed autoethnography and embodied cultural criticism demonstrates “how critically-engaged, community-centered and culturally relevant research can serve as a catalyst for new areas of inquiry and social movements.” Get learned at this open-to-the-public music talk. (Vaughn Center at University of Tampa, Tampa) INFO
NEW SONG
First look into Symphonic Distribution's new, 4,000-square-foot downtown Tampa headquarters (PHOTOS)
✔️ Symphonic Grand Opening w/Mike Mass/Fr33dback/J.T. Brown Symphonic Distribution’s reach is global, but the Bay area music company has decided to park its HQ in downtown Tampa. Doors are open to the public for an afternoon grand opening where you can rub elbows with local musicians and Symphonic staff while taking in a multi-genre menu of live music from Tampa emcee Mike Mass, soundsmsith Fr33dback and singer-songwriter J.T. Brown. Check out a story on the new Symphonic digs here. (Symphonic Distribution, Tampa) INFO
String Time Social Tampa Bay misses the Pickford Sundries, but Tug Winthrop (dobro player for the inactive Bay area bluegrass band) has tapped fiddler Molly Getson and guitarist Chad Spikes for a new project — String Time Social — which has a collection of tunes that’ll go over well under the oak canopy draped over Crooked Thumb Brewery. Free show as always. (Crooked Thumb Brewery, Safety Harbor) INFO
Florida Orchestra Presents Verdi’s Requiem Sorry, conspiracy theorists — many Jews did, in fact, resist the Nazis during the Holocaust. This weekend, the Florida Orchestra is joining the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay for the first joint performances of Verdi's Requiem in 10 years. Also known as the "Defiant Requiem" during the Holocaust in the Theresienstadt (Terezín) Concentration Camp, a pre-show talk and the concerts at Straz Center (Fri.), Mahaffey Theater (Sat.) and Ruth Eckerd Hall (Sun.) will play artful, powerful tribute to that resistance. More info is available via floridaorchestra.org. (Morsani Hall at David A. Straz Center For Performing Arts, Tampa) INFO
ALSO PLAYING
Hip-Hop
More Lit w/Flow Sisters/Regina Riddim/Kid Loki/Theo Lane/Kenosobi/Hagan Lee/more (Pegasus Lounge, Tampa) INFO
Rock
4:20 Tour KickOff Party: Catatonic Scripts w/The Dags/McFeely Speedy Delivery (Emerald Bar, St. Petersburg) INFO
Modest Mouse w/Mass Gothic (Hard Rock Live, Orlando) SOLD OUT
Deceased w/Ulcer/GraveRot (Brass Mug, Tampa) INFO
Sweetwater Fest (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg) INFO
Singer-songwriter
Stick Martin & the Lower Middle Class (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin) INFO
Matt Bellina (c. 1949 Florida Beer Garden, Tampa) INFO
Christopher Cross (Capitol Theatre, Clearwater) CANCELLED
Tribute/Cover
Bridges Eagles Tribute (Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center, Tarpon Springs) SOLD OUT
Beachwolf (Cage Brewing, St. Petersburg) INFO
One Night of Queen (Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg) INFO
Uncle John’s Band (Ka'Tiki, Treasure Island) INFO
Panic Fire (Ferg’s Live, Tampa) INFO
ABBA the Concert (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater) INFO
The Horny Toads (3 Daughters Brewing, St. Petersburg) INFO
Blind Sighted (Two Buks, Clearwater) INFO
Lorelei On the Rocks (Ruby’s Elixir, St. Petersburg) INFO
Josephine’s Machine (Smokin’ 19, St. Petersburg) INFO
World
Acho Brother (Independent Bar, St.Petersburg) INFO
Juanes w/Mon Laferte (Amway Center, Orlando) INFO
Blues
Friday Concerts in the Park: Jimmy Griswold Band (Water Works Park, Tampa) INFO
Liz Pennock & Dr. Blues (Pesky Pelican, St. Petersburg) INFO
DJ
DJ Three (SubCentral at Iberian Rooster, St. Petersburg) INFO
Cosmic Funk On Vinyl w/Mike Bison (Mermaid Tavern, Tampa) INFO
DJ Atom Rich (Orbit 19 Lounge, Holiday) INFO
Soul on Franklin w/DJ Blenda (Hall on Franklin, Tampa) INFO
EDM
Yellow Claw (The Ritz, Ybor City) INFO
SUM R&R 4.20 w/Zen Selekta/Lucy/GoldenEra/more (Crowbar, Ybor City) INFO
Country
Casey Donahew (Dallas Bull, Tampa) INFO
Jazz
April 20-21, Jim Burge Jazz Festival (Carrollwood Cultural Center, Tampa) INFO
Chorale/Classic
Suncoast Singers of Florida Spring Concert (Park Place Wesleyan Church, Pinellas Park) INFO
Funk
In Business (The Ale & the Witch, St. Petersburg) INFO
Road trip
Shows I Go To 5-year anniversary party w/Evan Taylor Jones/Gary Lazer Eyes/Universal Funk Orchestra/Mountain Holler/FoxForce005/more (Blackstar, Orlando) INFO
