THURSDAY, MARCH 7
Leaders of the Next School: Vinny Virgo/Road To The Riches/Rahim Samad A special showcase featuring on-the-rise indie hip-hop talent from the Tampa Bay area. Vinny Virgo (formerly of The White Kids) has a clever sense of humor and songs reflecting on topics ranging from being weird to getting high and elevating his consciousness. Recent single “New World Order” samples vocals and clap-tracks off Tokyo Police Club’s “Citizens of Tomorrow,” with Vinny delivering lines like “Chemtrails ‘bout to kill a nigga’s stem cells/but when it’s all said and done, I hope it ends well” over a chopped, twisted, warped and skewed sonic stew. Road to the Riches (R.T.T.R.) is a hip-hop trio made up of well-balanced strong-flowing emcees Mike Mass, Miss Bronx, and Atwaters. The past few years has found each working the solo angle, but they’ve recently re-convened in their R.T.T.R. lineup and even cut a bumpin’ comeback track, “The Anthem.” Finally, Tampa-by-way-of-NYC rapper Rahim Samad lays down his lower-toned rhythmic verses over old school production. (Martini Republic, Tampa)
Fred Hersch Trio For its latest intimate Side Door concert, Palladium presents Grammy-nominated jazz pianist Fred Hersch, who’s been leading his well-regarded trio with bassist John Hébert and drummer Eric McPherson since 2010. Their latest release is a 2-CD set, Alive at the Vanguard, which won the 2012 Grand Prix du Disque (France’s premier award for musical recordings), and earned a spot on year-end Best of Jazz lists by Slate and Downbeat magazines. (Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg)
Hard Rock Rising This global Battle of the Bands competition is held at 95 Hard Rocks around the world. Locally, this is the last of three Thursday night qualifying rounds. Alma Vertical, Hope Darling and The Best Day Ever perform, with the winner moving on to the March 14 finale to play against the other two qualifying round winners, Malaya and Scilter. The ultimate victor advances to rep our city in the regional battle. (Hard Rock Café, Tampa)
Rock the Park w/Cope/The Rukus/Touch the Sky The March edition of Rock the Park features a wide-ranging bill of sounds: the melody-rich, roots-and-groove soaked rock ’n’ roll of Cope, which performs their last show with long-time drummer Dave Gerulat; the rhyme-slinging hip-hop jams of The Rukus, featuring Gwan Massive Collective members KeithElite, Rude and DJ Blenda; and funk-hop rockers/vintage R&B revivalists Touch the Sky, another Gwan-associated band, this one fronted by velvety-voiced howler and keys mistress, Monica Delgado. (Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, Tampa)
Trapt w/Sugar Phix/Kheiron A heavy grinding alt-metal/post-grungy foursome that hit the charts in 2002 with platinum-selling single “Headstrong” and earned a couple of Billboard Music Awards for it, too. This tour finds Trapt backing 2013 fifth LP, Reborn. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
FRIDAY, MARCH 8
Swamp Sista LaLa w/Beth McKee Band/Betty Fox/Audrey Auld/Passerine/Sara Rose Band A celebration of Southern women and culture appropriately held on International Women’s Day. Swamp Sista LaLa is headed up by Beth McKee, a keys-and-accordion-playing artist with velvety strong vocals who has laid down roots in several Southern locales — most recently Florida — and reveals these varied influences in her easy-riding blend of blues, Cajun pop, NOLA-soaked R&B, and rock ’n’ roll. Tampa native Betty Fox howls soulfully or croons seductively over spirited or slinky funk-blues instrumentals, while Tasmanian native artist Audrey Auld reps Australia’s Deep South with her country-folk repertoire, though she officially re-located to the States in the ’00s and currently calls Nashville home. Sarasota Americana quintet Passerine sets feminine multi-voice harmonies over textured instrumentals built on acoustic guitars, dobro, upright bass and violin. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
André Rieu Internationally renowned maestro and Stradivarius-wielding violin superstar André Rieu brings his 60-piece Johann Strauss Orchestra to town as part of his exhaustive tour behind 2011’s And The Waltz Goes On. In addition to his trademark waltzes, Rieu’s concert programs include spirituals (“Amazing Grace”), musicals (“Send In The Clowns”), pop and folk songs (“What A Wonderful World”), and marches. (Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa)
Beach Day/Jensen Serf Company/Archaic Interest A triple serving of Florida-bred surf-garage sounds as headed up by Beach Day, a ’60s girl group-inspired salt-and-sand-stained pop trio led by the sugar-coated coos of frontwoman Kimmy Drake (a dead-ringer for New Girl’s Hannah Simone) and backing harmonies of bassist Natalie Smallish, with beat-keeping duty by sole male member, Skylar Black. Beach Day has issued a few 7” albums since signing to reputable indie label Kanine Records last year. (Local 662, St. Petersburg)
Evergreen Terrace w/Decisions/Hoist The Colours/Stealing Spines/Hollow Fox/City Of Seba/He, the Creator Jacksonville-bred Evergreen Terrance headlines this special multi-act hardcore bill presented by Introduce Yourself Zine and Tampa Bay Hard Core (T.B.H.C.). The propulsive, breakdown raging metalcore/melodic hardcore quintet has promised to perform 2007 breakthrough album Wolfbiker (featuring “Chaney Can’t Quite Riff Like Helmet’s Page Hamilton”) in its entirety, along with other select tunes from the ET catalog. (Brass Mug, Tampa)
