✔️=Critic's Pick
✔️ Japanese Breakfast Michelle Zauner’s monster 2018 (and seemingly unending tour supporting Soft Sounds from Another Planet) rolls on into the new year. The Philadelphia songwriter and frontwoman of Japanese Breakfast was just in Ybor City for a sold-out April set at Crowbar, and she moves her indie-rock band into a bigger room (Orpheum, just two blocks away) for this headlining set that’s all happening while Zauner, 29, works on the score for a video game and writes a book inspired by her heartbreaking August 2018 New Yorker essay, “Crying in H Mart.” (Orpheum, Ybor City) INFO
✔️ Ted Leo w/Blacksmith/Empire Cinema Gainesville’s activist-minded Changeville is sending a few of its headliners this way (Japanese Breakfast, who is at Orpheum on Saturday, also played the music and arts festival; Big Freedia plays Ybor on Sunday). This show finds wicked smart Indiana songwriter Ted Leo headlining Crowbar in support of a 2017 solo album, The Hanged Man. Leo, 48, could pull from pretty much any of his many bands (the Pharmacists, Hell No, Puzzlehead and more) in creating the setlist, but maybe the the sound guy will also play episodes of Leo’s brand-new podcast The Art of Process, which he hosts alongside his bandmate from The Both, Aimee Mann in between sets from local openers Blacksmith and Empire Cinema. (Crowbar, Ybor City) INFO
✔️ Nervous Girls EP Release w/Pissghost/Bangzz/Spork Hunger is an excellent debut EP, and it perfectly encompasses what makes The Nervous Girls such a special new band in the Tampa Bay scene. Like-minded punk trio Piss Ghost, North Carolina two-piece Bangzz, and Tampa indie stalwarts Spork open the February 9 gig at The Bends. As with all shows at The Bends, it’s a free event, which is not to say that it would not be an event worth checking out if there was a cover; in fact, with no cover there’s no excuse to miss out. Read our review, and listen to selections from Hunger, here. (The Bends, St. Petersburg) INFO —Eliot Mayo
Gloria West Album Release Jazz for the masses. That's part of the mission for Bay area singer Gloria West, whose tunes swing and flirt with the blues, too. A deluxe edition of the group's 2017 album, Dem Keys, is out, and West will celebrate it at this speakeasy-style show. (Hideaway Café, St. Petersburg) INFO
✔️ The War and Treaty w/Ella Jet The War and Treaty have been no strangers to the Bay area, but this visit from husband and wife Michael and Tanya Trotter finds the Michigan powerhouse arriving in Tampa Bay with more notoriety than ever. The band’s debut full-length, Healing Tide, landed on several 2018 best of lists (American Songwriter, The Boston Globe and Rolling Stone have all sung the effort’s praises), which is just fine with us since the pair makes some of the most important, gut-checking Americana and roots music out. (The Safety Harbor Art and Music Center, The Safety Harbor) INFO
✔️ Seal w/Florida Orchestra Last year saw Sting join the Florida Orchestra for a gala concert that raised $1.5 million for the organization, and on Saturday, the orchestra will be joined another Grammy-winner, Seal. The show is set to glide through an evening of American standards and soulful music from Seal’s hit albums, plus his early singles including “Crazy” and the chart-topping “Kiss From a Rose,” which earned Seal multiple Grammys and global esteem. (Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg) INFO
Uka-Palooza w/James Hill Sure, the Florida State Fair has rainbow grilled cheese sandos this year, but we’re excited for the SPAM cook-off and general shenanigans that are all set to go down at the hands of the Tampa Bay Ukulele Society, which is staging its free-to-fairgoers Uka-Palooza on Saturday. Expect uke beginner’s workshops, bands, a uke petting zoo, jam session and a performance from world-renowned uke-meister James Hill (who is also teaching a separate ticketed workshop earlier in the day). (Florida State Fairgrounds, Tampa) INFO
Recycled Tunes Instrument Drive w/HoneyWhat Watching kids receive the gift of a musical instrument is emotionally overwhelming. On Saturday, Gasparilla Music Festival’s philanthropic arm will once again collect gently used instruments in exchange for a free, two-day GA ticket to the fest, which the Avett Brothers and Gary Clark Jr. are headlining. There’ll be curbside drop-off on the west side of Sparkman Wharf, but you could be lured out of your car by the live music happening on the lawn from 2-4 p.m. The instrument-ticket trade is a hell of a deal, and you can’t put a dollar value on what it feels like to change a life with music. Danielle Mohr-fronted pop-rock band HoneyWhat shows the kids what it looks and sounds like to finally get to the stage. (Sparkman Wharf, Tampa) INFO
✔️ This Is Love (The Reunion) w/DJ Santana/DJ Haf There’s a certain generation of Bay area club rats whose lives were soundtracked by producers like DJ Santana. If the thought of long-defunct Grand Central record shop Painted Puppy makes you sick with nostalgia, then you’ll want to be at Hyde Park Café when old-school breakbeats get pushed through the PA for this set that throws it back to Santana’s This Is Love days. (Hyde Park Café, Tampa) INFO
Visit cltampa.com/music every day to get daily concert roundups plus all the latest concert announcements and local music. Follow us on Twitter (@cl_music) and subscribe to the newsletter, too.
ALSO PLAYING
Tim Cain & Boys Entrance (Hooch and Hive, Tampa) INFO
10 Minutes From Here w/Stranger Love/The Paperback Whale (The Blue Note, Tampa) INFO
The Royal Ball with Carrollwood Jukebox (Carrollwood Cultural Center, Tampa) INFO
Ugly Couple w/Sagan James/Bill Cate (Green Light Bar, St. Petersburg) INFO
Sunset Saturdays w/Moksi (The Ritz, Ybor City) INFO
Jenu Six & The Old Souls (Crooked Thumb Brewery, Safety Harbor) INFO
Jay Day: A Tribute To J Dilla w/DJ Cub/Mega Supremo (Hampton Station, Tampa) INFO
Cayamo Pre-Party w/Will Kimbrough/Phil Madeira/Red Dirt Boys/The Hummingbirds (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa) INFO
Love 'n Dixie (Palm Harbor Library, Palm Harbor) INFO
John Kelly and Friends (The Ale & the Witch, St. Petersburg) INFO
Deb Ruby (St. Pete ArtWorks, St. Petersburg) INFO
Shevonne & the Force (Ford Plaza at Amalie Arena, Tampa) INFO
Excelsis Tenebrae: Eternity Denied Tour w/Amenorrhea/More (Brass Mug, Tampa) INFO
Acme Jazz Garage (Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library, Tampa) INFO
Dead Set Florida (Cage Brewing, St. Petersburg) INFO
The Magpie Salute (Capitol Theatre, Clearwater) INFO
Full Color Art Show w/Mouth Council/Me vs. Everyone/Dave Decker/Spux Xtra/Mia Bury/Community Couch (Lucky You Tattoo, St. Petersburg) INFO—
Below is a list of clubs and restaurants that either regularly book both original music acts as well as tribute and cover bands or feature a concert calendar stocked with higher-quality residents. Follow the links to see more.
Residencies
c. 1949 Florida Beer Garden 6905 N Orleans Ave., Tampa
Hideaway Café 1756 Central Ave., St. Petersburg
Jazz House Supper Club 9331 East Adamo Dr., Tampa
The Landing at Jannus 200 First Ave N., St. Petersburg
The Living Room 487 Main St., Dunedin
The Mandarin Hide 231 Central Ave., St. Petersburg
Ringside Café 16 2nd St N., St. Petersburg
Ruby's Elixir 15 3rd St. N., St. Petersburg
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino 5223 Orient Rd, Tampa
Tampa Armature Works 1910 N Ola Ave., Tampa
The Vinoy Renaissance 501 5th Ave NE, St. Petersburg
Tribute/Cover/Open Mics
3 Daughters Brewing 222 22nd St., St. Petersburg
Barefoot Billy's Friendly Tavern 3120 W. Gandy Blvd, Tampa
Buckets Grill & Tap 4535 Gunn Hwy., Tampa
Captain Jack’s On The Water 21 Oscar Hill Rd., Tarpon Springs
Caddy's On The Beach 9000 W Gulf Blvd, Treasure Island
Café Hey 1540 N Franklin St., Tampa
Gator's 12754 Kingfish Dr., Treasure Island
Green Iguana 4029 S. Westshore Blvd., Tampa
Ferg's Live 490 Channelside Dr., Tampa
JD's Restaurant & Lounge 125 Gulf Blvd., Indian Rocks Beach
Hula Bay Club 5210 W Tyson Ave., Tampa
O'Briens Irish Pub Multiple Locations, Tampa
Rick's On The River 2305 N Willow Ave., Tampa
Smokin' 19 3080-3090 34th St N., St. Petersburg
Two Buks 1915 N. Hercules Ave., Clearwater
Yeoman Cask & Lion (two locations: 202 N. Morgan St., Tampa; 200 1st Ave. S., St. Petersburg)
