April 7-9, Tampa Bay Bluesfest w/Buddy Guy/Tab Benoit/Dawn Tyler Wilson/Kenny Wayne Shepherd/ Coco Montoya/Ana Popovic/more Three days of the blues in St. Pete’s waterwide Vinoy Park. You’ll have to skip at of work early on Friday if you wanna get everything in, and we’ve got an extended look ready for you here. (Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg) INFO
Afroman The weed-loving rapper brings his biggest hit (“Because I Got High”) and affinity Colt 45s to Ybor City. The 42 year old comes with a little baggage (his sometimes misogynistic lyrics, the fact that punched a stage-rushing fan in Mississippi in 2015) and an underrated musicality, too. CL contributor Michael Fritz unpacked all of that with Afroman in a recent interview that you can read here. (Cuban Club, Ybor City) INFO
Bunch w/The Jackettes/Pajamas You’ve got two chances to see Bunch in the Bay area this weekend (they also play Rock the Park on April 6), and you’d be hard pressed to find reasons not to get a double dose of the Alabama slacker rock quartet led by former El Cantador frontman Heath Greenwood who took his old band’s penchant for experimental folk and married it to his new bandmates’ tendencies to go on with a sweet brand of blue wave alternative rock that adds another page to the genre’s long and storied history. The Jackettes — led by silky-voiced, charismatic frontman Jackson Davis — open with a little pop-soul, and Shane Schuch once again brings his livetronic hyphy-pop project Pajamas to kick things off proper. Did we mention that the show is free, too? (The Bends, St. Petersburg) INFO
Antifest Pre-Show w/Big Ed/Divorce Ring/Dendera Bloodbath/Flusnoix/Nyx/more This weekend, something like 40 noise and experimental acts from as far as Illinois are travelling to Lakeland for Central FL Antifest II, and St. Pete’s noise community is coming together to make sure the drive is worth it. Over a dozen bands will play a free show (complete with free earplugs!) at Cage Brewing. Highlights include North Carolina’s Big Ed, Alabama’s Balcony View and Kelby Clark’s industrial music project, Divorce Ring. (Cage Brewing, St. Petersburg) INFO
Mike Posner w/Adam Friedman/Madnap For once, we’re not writing about the beautiful pipes at UT’s Sykes Chapel. Downtown Tampa’s uni on the river gets a little ink thanks to their Party in the Park lineup that will be headlined by singer-songwriter Mike Poster (“I Took A Pill In Ibiza”). Posner’s tourmate, rising songwriter Adam Friedman, opens the show along with Tampa producer (and UT student) Madnap (who we profiled this week). The park features almost seven acres of green space, but this show is limited to UT students, faculty and staff. Each student is allowed to have one guest, however, and since enrollment is at about 8,000 students there’s a good chance you could make a friend and get in. (Plant Park at University of Tampa, Tampa) INFO
Bullstock w/Echosmith/Bishop Briggs/Bad Suns/the Griswolds/Miroux/BabyBlu So this one almost didn’t make the paper. USF week organizers waited until a week before their annual concert to announce a lineup, but fans of alternative rock radio will be happy to see family band Echosmith headlining a bill that includes “River” singer Bishop Briggs, Australian rockers the Griswolds and Los Angeles quartet Bad Suns. Two locals — St. Pete dance pop group Miroux and Tampa’s BabyBlu — open the show that’s free to students and located at the Sun Dome parking lot meaning pretty much anyone with ears and eyes can probably get in on the action. (Sun Dome parking lot at University of South Florida, Tampa) INFO
Kristin Chenoweth It’s really happening! Last month, singer Kristin Chenoweth rescheduled this Ruth Eckerd Hall show, but she’s finally back, and you can bet that Chenoweth, perhaps best known to many Americans as Glinda in Wicked, will make it up to Bay area fans in a big way. Head here to read A&E editor Cathy Salustri’s 15 minutes chat with Chenoweth where they chummed it up about everything from her Ross-and-Rachel style romance with Aaron Sorkin to her puppy. (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater) INFO
Classical/Jazz
Piano Concert Series Extravaganza Presents Two Pianos Eight Hands w/Eunmi Ko/Rebecca Penneys/Omri Shimron/Benjamin Warsaw (St. Petersburg College Gibbs Campus, St. Petersburg) INFO
Harry Allen and Grant Stewart w/Nate Najar Trio (Side Door at Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg) INFO
DJ/Tribute/Comedy/Choral
Jukebox Friday Night w/The Impacs/Vic Waters (Gulfport Casino, Gulfport) INFO
Bianca Del Rio (David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa) INFO
Friday Concerts in the Park w/Bully for You (Water Works Park, Tampa) INFO
The Bawdy Boys (Boulevard Burgers & Tap House, St. Pete Beach) INFO
Folk/Singer-songwriter
Catie Curtis (Craftsman House Gallery, St. Petersburg) INFO
Katie Grace Hollow w/Shae Krispinsky/Ryan Daniel Tharin (Microgroove, Tampa) INFO
Phil Keaggy (Grace Family Church, Lutz) INFO
Pop/Rock/Country
All Day Tuck w/Donna Lu (3 Daughters Brewing, St. Petersburg) INFO
Hank and Cupcakes w/Greymarket/Reality Asylum (Orpheum, Ybor City) INFO
Drake White and the Big Fire (Dallas Bull, Tampa) INFO
Leisure Chief w/Tribal Style (Crowbar, Ybor City) INFO
10 Minutes From Here w/Broken Things/Alien Tape Recorder (The Local 662, St. Petersburg) INFO
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (Polk Theatre, Lakeland) INFO
Ska Spring Fling w/The Victims/The New Rulers/Control This!/Pressure Dem/Help Police (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa) INFO
Little Sheba And The Shamans w/Sara Rose/Kodachrome (New World Brewery, Ybor City) INFO
Blues/Jam/World
Doug Deming (Hideaway Café, St. Petersburg) INFO
Dennis Gruenling band & Albert Cummings Band (The Ale & the Witch, St. Petersburg) INFO
Electric Piquete (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin) INFO
The Wailers (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg) INFO
EDM/Hip-Hop
Subtronics (The Ritz, Ybor City) INFO
Chanel West Coast (The Station, Tampa) INFO
Get It Together First Friday w/Jinx/[beatsnchill] (Illsol, Tampa) INFO
