THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21
Dark Star Orchestra Recently joined by Phil Lesh at a show in San Francisco, beloved Grateful Dead tribute act Dark Star Orchestra returns to enchant both old Deadheads and those fans who may never have gotten to see the band perform. Dark Star reconstructs historic setlists from the Dead’s extensive live catalog of more than 3,000 shows, song for song — though not necessarily note for note — and change their equipment, stage layout and band lineup depending on the era they’re repping. The musicians perform a different setlist each night, revealing the date and location of the original setlist at each show’s end. (Ferguson Hall at Straz Center for Performing Arts, Tampa)
St. Pete Jazz Festival: O Som Do Jazz Night three of the fest is a Side Door Series presentation by Brazilian pop, bossa nova and samba-jazz ensemble O Som Do Jazz. Their music is marked by the rich resonant Portuguese croons of vocalist Andrea Moraes Manson bolstered by the tight and slinky instrumentals of the band — trombone player and husband David Manson, upright bassist Alejandro Arenas, sax player and flutist Austin Vickrey, drummer Mark Feinman, and pianist David Cubillos. (Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg)
Hard Rock Rising A global Battle of the Bands competition that takes place at 95 Hard Rocks around the world. Locally, the nine bands (out of 123) that earned the most votes online moves on to these Thursday night qualifying rounds. Three perform each night — Feb. 21 and 28, and March 7 — and one claims victory at each battle’s end. Then, these three bands compete against each other in the finale on March 14, with one ultimate winner advancing to the regional battles. Full disclosure: I will be one of the judges at this thing, along with a few folks from 97X. Come out and see us. More importantly, come out and support the bands. (Hard Rock Café, Tampa)
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22
Blues at the Crossroads II: Muddy and The Wolf JJ Grey dropped off this guitar-seared harmonica-blown homage to two fathers of modern Chicago blues — Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. But the lineup remains strong with Atlanta-based axeman Tinsley Ellis assuming six-string duty in his absence. He joins vet Mississippi harp slinger and fellow Alligator Records artist, James Cotton, along with blues rock mainstays The Fabulous Thunderbirds featuring Kim Wilson and guitarists Jody Williams and Bob Margolin. (Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg)
Zac Brown Band After the 55th annual Grammys, Southern fried country-folk rocker Zac Brown Band now boasts three gold trophies (2012’s Uncaged nabbed the Best Country Album award), and its burly bearded namesake can claim in all honesty that he’s played with Elton John and Mavis Staples. The seven-piece — which also encompasses a percussionist, fiddler and multi-instrumentalist who juggles organ, pedal steel, mandolin and guitar — hit the thankfully re-named amphitheatre to play for fans who loved them pre-Grammys. If the nine No. 1 singles on the Billboard Country charts are any indication, the place will be packed. (Live Nation Amphitheatre, Tampa)
Ponderosa w/Sons of Hippies While Ponderosa’s Pool Party didn’t quite make my Best of 2012 list, it sure came close. The album captured me after about five listens with its compelling mix of roots rock, hazy dream pop and melodic, soulful alt-folk music, evocative of acts like My Morning Jacket, Fleet Foxes and Grizzly Bear in both the instrumentals and vocal harmonies. The sophomore effort from the Atlanta five-piece is apparently a sonic departure from their more Southern-leaning debut, so I’m curious to see how it all translates in a live setting. Sons of Hippies, the Sarasota electro alt-rock outfit recently signed to Cleopatra Records, warms up the stage. (Local 662, St. Petersburg)
Blast Friday w/Dave Mason Last October, Dave Mason took the opening spot in a double-billed show with Joe Cocker at Ruth Eckerd. His lucidly tame set of acoustic numbers worked like a time machine as he strummed through a handful of songs culled from both Traffic’s and Mason’s own solo discography with an accompanying guitarist. “World in Changes” and “Only You Know and I Know” off his 1970 debut sounded worn and distant in the best way possible, and his set was capped off by a hauntingly simple cover of Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower.” Mason proved he has no problem carrying his own, or replicating past gusto 40 years down the line, and his performance at Blast Friday’s free street festival is sure to be no different. (Cleveland Street, downtown Clearwater) —Andrew Silverstein
Blair Crimmins & The Hookers w/Poetry N’ Lotion/Dean Johanesen “State Hotel,” the new single from Berklee College of Music-trained Atlanta-based musician Blair Crimmons, is a dark bouncy-rambling ditty that finds its narrator checking into prison amid a colorful New Orleans-imbued blend of gypsy, swing, ragtime and Dixieland jazz. Boozy brass — exotic clarinets, plunge-muted trumpets, blaring trombones — fly loose and free to jumping double bass-bodied rhythms, and the soul-scraping husky vocals of Crimmons soar over top as he skips between piano, banjo, guitar, ukulele and occasionally accordion with a certain vaudevillian flair. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
St. Pete Jazz Festival: Paul Krueger Quartet For Friday night’s edition of the fest, SPC welcomes L.A. pianist/composer Paul Kreuger and Denver trumpeter John Lake for a program of their respective original arrangements; accompaniment by much called-upon Bay area rhythm section, drummer Ian Goodman and bassist Alejandro Arenas. (SPC Music Center, St. Petersburg)
Consider the Source This technically-precise instrumental three-piece from New York draws heavily on prog, math and psych rock influences, but gives their sound an exotic experimental twist of sci-fi effects and Middle Eastern sonic swirls. Gabriel Marin is the star on fretless double-neck guitar, his precise shreds, texturizing and riffs finely linked with the slap-percussive, grooving or chord-wielding charges of bassist John Ferrara, while drummer/percussionist Jeff Mann delivers dense pulses and polyrhythmic support. (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin)
Church Whip Fresh off their controversially-titled “Raping the East Coast” tour, d-beat dissonant, raw and noisy hardcore punk outfit Church Whip (which features Merchandise members Carson Cox and David Vassalotti) returns to their hometown to play a free show of material off new LP, Psychedelic Nightmare. (Mojo Books & Music, Tampa)
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23
St. Pete Jazz Festival: Marty Morell Group The EMIT-and-SPC-presented fest concludes with a concert by Marty Morell Group, a six-piece led by drummer, percussionist, vibraphonist, producer and one-time Bill Evans sideman Morell, and featuring lead croons by jazz vocalist Michiko Ohta. (SPC Music Center, St. Petersburg)
Cope w/Mama’s Love A night of rock, roots, grooves and feel-good breezy improvisations from Bay area jam rock staples Cope as joined by heavier two-guitar fivesome, Mama’s Love, from Athens, Ga. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
Daughtry/3 Doors Down Daughtry is the Southern rocking group led by American Idol-spawned namesake Chris Daughtry. 3 Doors Down is the mainstream alt-rock group that rose to fame with super catchy 2000 single “Kryptonite” and a multi-platinum debut album. Both bring grungy tendencies to this co-headlining tour. (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)
An Acoustic Evening with Matisyahu He’s experienced a shift in his artistic, personal and spiritual life over the past few years — leaving his Hasidic reggae-rapper proclivities behind in favor of more singing, poignant introspection, and uplifting messages. “Today, today, live like you wanna/Let yesterday burn and throw it in a fire, in a fire, in a fire” Matisyahu counsels in “Live Like a Warrior,” his vocal timbre surprisingly sweet and velvety as he likely speaks from experience, island-flavored phrasing intact but the melodies less broken up by the rhyme-slinging of his past. (Tampa Theatre, Tampa)
Pink It Up 4!: Ska Bands & Fans Against Breast Cancer w/Johnny Cakes And The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypso/The Long Johns/General Tso’s Fury/Victims Of Circumstance/UNRB The fourth annual charity event to honor those touched or lost to breast cancer features sets by five solid Bay area acts that range the skank-o-sphere, from high brass sass to punk rock power. Jeremy Gloff serves as host, artists Wade Slater and Pedro Jermaine display works, and all proceeds go to Morton Plant Mease Foundation: Mammography Voucher Program (MVP) and Cancer Patient Support Services (CaPSS). (Market on 7th, Ybor City)
Paleface A barking, howling, deep-toned and raw-voiced indie folk troubadour who makes no apologies for his straight-talking manner and delivers lines like “I’m like a rock, will you roll me?” and “I spent a little too much time on the dark side — I gotta come into the light.” Paleface currently tours with drummer/co-singer Mo Samalot, who adds able-bodied beat-keeping and feminine appeal to his songs with her charming candied lead vocals and cooing backing harmonies; electric guitarist Soren Mattson, who brings another layer of melody and riffage to their live sound. Paleface has performed on three albums by The Avett Brothers, inspired artists ranging from Beck to Kimya Dawson, and is a rousing showman we’re lucky to see play for free. (Ale and the Witch, St. Petersburg)
Peter Mulvey w/Ralston Bowles/Dean Johanesen Wisconsin folkie Peter Mulvey brings his warm baritone to town supporting 2012 release The Good Stuff, a collection of covers by Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen and Willie Nelson, among others, that are lightly saturated in jazz, blues and groove sonic hues. (Hideaway Café & Recording Studio, St. Petersburg)
That 1 Guy w/Wolff Yeah, it’s That 1 Guy — you know, the one-man experimental band who plays all those handmade instruments? The main one (aka ‘The Magic Pipe’) is shaped like a harp and made out of steel pipes, joints, and bass strings? He makes weird sounds via a combination of string-flinging, bending, plucking and banging? The sound is funk-jazz-gypsy rock something-or-other with lots of pipe percussiveness? Still not ringing a bell? Well, maybe it’s time you saw his freak show. There’s also a ‘Magic Boot’ (a cowboy boot wired and fed through the Magic Pipe’s audio lines) and ‘Magic Saw’ (apparently makes a sound like a theremin). YouTube it. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
Permanent Makeup CD Release/Early Forms CD Release/Chris Stales/mrenc A rather eclectic bill of indie rock commanded by the garage-punk explosions of Tampa-St. Pete trio Permanent Makeup, which pound and shout through a release party for New Granada Records debut, The Void … It Creeps. Early Forms also celebrates the release of their first full-length, Better Broken Homes; the local super-group is composed of members of Palantine, Feral Babies and Gentlemen Please. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
Muse Despite the fact that Muse’s anthemic alt rock has earned platinum-sized success all over the world, U.S. audiences didn’t really catch on until after the Twilight film franchise forced it into our ears. Not that you should judge the British three-piece by that fluff-fest — the musicians are ass-kicking, barn-burning rockers, and even if they tend to get a tad dramatic in their seething intensity, it works within their propulsive marching aesthetic. The traveling stage show in support of 2012 sixth studio album The 2nd Law features such extravagant sights and effects as an enormous pyramid of LED screens that gradually descend and “consume” the band during the show, raining balloons and confetti, and plenty of lights, fog and lasers. (Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa)
The Queers/Teenage Bottlerocket/Masked Intruder Old hand fun-loving punk-pop rockers The Queers (est. 1982) unite with comparative upstarts Teenage Bottlerock, the latter backing 2012’s Freak Out!, their second LP on Fat Wreck Chords and fifth overall. (The Local 662, St. Petersburg)
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24
Colin Lake New Orleans-by-way-of-Portland singer, songwriter, and slide guitar talent Colin Lake has a warm booming vocal that sails over a blend of soul, blues, rock and folk-roots music marked by his piercing axe solos. His last record, The Ones I Love, was issued in 2011. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25
Every Time I Die w/The Acacia Strain/Hundredth/Vanna/No Bragging Rights “I WANT TO BE DEAD WITH MY FRIENDS!/I WANT TO BE DEAD WITH MY FRIENDS!/WIDE-EYED, BRILLIANT, DYNAMIC REST, I WANT TO BE DEAD WITH MY FRIENDS!,” Keith Buckley vigorously shrieks in the opening track off Every Time I Die’s sixth full-length, Ex Lives. I suggest adorning your manliest mustache and hard-soled dancing shoes, as the New York outfit’s epic, technically intricate hardcore breakdowns and Southern metal tirades will immediately open up the pit at their Tampa date. The video for the aforementioned “Underwater Bimbos from Outer Space” showcases destruction, warfare, and the mentally ill, the perfect imagery to compliment Every Time I Die’s signature sound — a chaotic yet beautifully organized series of gritty screams layered over dueling, rhythmically complex guitars and heavy pounding drums. Joining ETID on tour is the Acacia Strain, a hardcore-influenced metal band from Chicopee, Mass. Lead vocalist Vincent Bennett’s throaty screams don’t break for choruses, and every song features an apocalyptical climax. This lineup will bring mayhem and metal sure to tear the walls down. (Orpheum, Ybor City) —Shannon Kelly
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26
Blueprint An indie rapper from Ohio who brings slow-drawling storytelling chops and hip-hop production experience to his outside-of-box style. Blueprint is repped by Rhymesayers Entertainment (Aesop Rock, Atmosphere), and has collaborated with RJD2 (as one-half of Soul Position) and Illogic (as part of Greenhouse Effect). He followed-up his 2011 acclaimed LP Adventures in Counter-Culture with last year’s Deleted Scenes, a collection of cuts from the Adventures sessions. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
The Betty Fox Band Soul, blues and R&B four-piece Betty Fox Band presides for this edition of American Stage’s “After Hours” concert series, which is co-presented by Ale and the Witch. (American Stage, St. Petersburg)
Gibson Brothers w/Trinity River Bluegrass It’s another Tuesday night bluegrass show at the Skipperdome, and headlining the dusty-stomping festivities are the Gibson Brothers, who earned ‘Entertainer of the Year’ award honors. Banjo-and-acoustic guitar-playing brothers, Eric and Leigh, are backed by musicians Mike Barber (acoustic bass), Clayton Campbell (fiddle) and Joe Walsh (mandolin). (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27
Pink w/The Hives No one has exposed the good, bad and ugly sides of love quite so well as Alecia Moore, the commanding songstress currently known as Pink. And in light of the romantic rollercoaster she’s been ridden over the past four years — separating from longtime flame Carey Hart and writing a record about it, then going through the courting process all over again and having a kid with her (sort of) ex amid their reconciliation — who knows better all the multi-faceted turns love can take? Pink continued the trend of angst-ridden pop in her sixth studio album, 2012’s The Truth About Love, and brings her high-flying acrobatics to Tampa in support. Here’s hoping she tries to “Get the Party Started” with a few of her pre-baby, old-school hits. Swedish garage rockers/post-punk revivalists The Hives open the show. (Tampa Bay Times, Tampa) —Kelsey Sunderland
Bad Rabbits w/Air Dubai Dishing out a self-coined style of “post-R&B,” Bad Rabbits hail from Boston and marry the sounds of late ’80s/early ’90s swingbeat with modern-minded soul pop grooves. “We Can Roll,” the opening track off the fivesome’s forthcoming American Love LP, finds the powerful high-reaching howls of singer Dua Boakye wheeling over heavy guitars riffs, fuzz-zippy bass and layers of retrofied keyboards. (Local 662, St. Petersburg)
CLICK HERE to see a complete rundown of shows taking place this week and in the coming weeks.
