✔️ = Critic's Pick
✔️ John Mark McMillan w/Ascend the Hill It’s great to see North Carolina songwriter John Mark McMillan in our area, and while we’re not going to talk about this drive to Wesley Chapel, we are pretty excited about the band opening for the sorta-Jesus-y folk singer. Tampa indie-rock outfit Ascend the Hill enjoyed a healthy (sometimes Jesus-y) following at the turn of the decade and released three albums under the umbrella of the Come&Live imprint. The fan support was enough to even send the band around the world on a tour. A hiatus started in 2014, but frontman Joel Davis has been openly sharing his shifting ideas on faith in the last few months, and the band has announced that it is writing a new record. This is the last of four Florida dates Ascend the Hill spent with McMillan. (Center for the Arts, Wesley Chapel) INFO
YOU'RE NOT ALONE
Andrew W.K. is the first-ever American Association of Suicidology Person of The Year
✔️ Andrew W.K. w/Samurai Shotgun/Intoxicated Andrew W.K. owns the distinction of being rock and roll’s most-posi party starter, but the 38-year-old songwriter will have another accolade in his bag of happiness when he brings a new tour and album to Ybor City. In February, the American Association of Suicidology (AAS) named Andrew W.K. its inaugural Person of the Year. “The inaugural Person of the Year Award will be presented to Andrew W.K. due to his consistent and powerful use of positivity to improve the lives of those who hear his music,“ wrote Julie Cerel, PhD and president of AAS. ”Andrew’s message resonates with the field of suicide prevention in that he encourages people to use their capabilities to create a life worth living.” A few weeks later, his new album (You’re Not Alone) saw release, and he’s got a full band to help preach the posi-gospel at this one. Not a bad spring at all, sir. (Orpheum, Ybor City) INFO
✔️ Kaleo w/Bleachers Last summer an unforeseen medical diagnosis forced Kaleo to cancel its free Jannus Live show, and while you’ll have to pay to see the Icelandic rock band this time, the price of admission is going to go a long way. Joining Kaleo at Busch Gardens’ Food & Wine Festival is Bleachers, whose frontman Jack Antonoff is responsible for some of the biggest pop songs of the last decade (the 34-year-old worked on records by Lorde, Taylor Swift, Sia, Fifth Harmony and P!nk). You’ll pay a little extra if you want to get up close VIP-style, but the concert is included in a regular day pass to the amusement park. (Busch Gardens Food & Wine Festival, Tampa) INFO
✔️ The Royal Guardsmen 50th Anniversary Celebration w/Ronny Elliott “Snoopy Vs. the Red Baron” was one of the best-selling songs of the ‘60s, and while The Royal Guardsmen’s fame was centered around the story of Peanuts cartoon character Snoopy and his fantasy about aerial dogfighting with German World War I flying ace Baron Von Richthofen, the popularity did allow the Ocala, Florida outfit to get out of its hometown and work with legendary producers like Phil Gernhard. This 50th anniversary show for the Guardsmen is also another launch event for a book exploring the life of the enigmatic Gernhard, but we’re just going to enjoy a set of living, breathing, pre-Tom Petty Florida music history. (Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg) INFO
✔️ Glove w/Computer Date/AC and the Del-co’s Remember that thing about getting home safely after a tour (read our Infinite Third blurb under the Saturday shows)? Well, that’s happening to another Bay area band, Glove, which is back from a trek that found the band crisscrossing the U.S. This show finds secretive Orlando act Borzoi sneaking into Mermaid Tavern along with AC and the Del-co’s (featuring members of Bay area rock and roll band Johnny Mile & the Kilometers). No cover, and it’ll likely be the last chance to see Glove before the band opens for Coathangers in June. (Mermaid Tavern, Tampa) INFO
Kristopher James w/Ray Gurka Local singer-songwriter Kristopher James brings his poetic and soulful tunes out to the Independent Bar in Tampa. Always perfecting his craft and always hustling, James has been busy working new material, with an approach that is earnest and clear. Tampa multi-instrumentalist Ray Gurka also takes the stage with his brand of homegrown originals and covers that dip between rock, blues, jazz, pop and folk. Two of the area’s great singer-songwriters at a venue made for listening and sipping. (Independent Bar and Cafe, Tampa) INFO —Arielle Stevenson
Betty Fox Band Springtime and the Betty Fox Band culminate in the courtyard at The Ale & The Witch. Fox’s vocals are notoriously powerful, and her band is notoriously groovy as hell. Sure, they’re local. And yes, they play around town quite a bit. But Fox and her brood seem to tap into something else musically when under the stars in St. Pete. (The Ale & the Witch, St. Petersburg) INFO —AS
MANY MEDINAS AGO
Photos: DJ Rich Medina returns to Ol' Dirty Sundays at Crowbar — 03.19.17
✔️ Ol’ Dirty Sundays w/Rich Medina Pioneering hip-hop DJ Rich Medina is notorious for moving between rap, house, soul, breaks, funk, afrobeats and dance seamlessly. Not only is he one of the best DJs in the country, but he boasts a degree from Cornell. Medina even did a stint as a semi-professional basketball player. He’s spun for Mos Def (who appeared on the Ol’ Dirty Sundays stage in 2011) and also collaborated with Q-Tip — basically, he’s the coolest motherfucking DJ spinning in Ybor this weekend. (Crowbar, Ybor City) INFO —AS
ALSO PLAYING
Reggae Madness (State Theatre, St. Petersburg) INFO
Codey Bearden band (3 Daughters Brewing, St. Petersburg) INFO
Terrapin (Mermaid Tavern, Tampa) INFO
Bedroom Noise 2 w/Period Bomb/Cabo Boing/Dylan Houser/Vallam/Whitey Alabastard (In-Between House House, Tampa) INFO
Subterranean Sundays w/DJ Cub/DJ Cat Mat (Hampton Station, Tampa) CANCELLED
Florida Orchestra Pops Series: Celebrate Broadway (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater) INFO
UT Glee Club Spring Concert (Sykes Chapel and Center for Faith and Values at University of Tampa, Tampa) INFO
Passerine (Ella's Americana Folk Art Café, Tampa) INFO
Grand Lotus w/The Forum/The Dog Apollo/Stranger Than Fiction (The Blue Note, Tampa) INFO
The Lucid Furs w/Cruel Curses/Viewers Like You (Fubar, St. Petersburg) INFO
Ulcer w/Mutilation Ritual/The Omega Strain (Brass Mug, Tampa) INFO
Tampa Bay Symphony (David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa) INFO
Soul Circus Cowboys (Gators Café & Saloon, Treasure Island) INFO
Radio Crime w/Jaded (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa) INFO
Lost Kings (Shephard’s Beach Resort, Clearwater Beach) INFO
Harmonic Beach Gathering (North Skyway Beach, St. Petersburg) INFO
Shoeless Soul (Crooked Thumb Brewery, Safety Harbor) INFO
