It's a giant night of live music on this Sat., May 16. Take a look at all you could enjoy below...
Ciara The cooing single-name star and so-called “Princess of Crunk&B” has ascended the Billboard charts with a dancefloor-bumpin’ sound and a fine stable of guests and producers that likely helped spur such movement; first single and No. 1 charter, “Goodies” (produced by Lil Jon), “1,2 Step” (featuring Missy Elliott), “Love Sex Magic” (Justin Timberlake) and “Body Party” (which finds producers Mike Will Made It, P-Nasty and Future sampling "My Boo" by Ghost Town DJs). This date, a potential sell-out, falls a few weeks after the release of her sixth studio LP, Jackie. (The Ritz Ybor, Ybor City)
Air Supply Russell Hitchcock and Graham Russell have been co-writing soft rock ballads as Air Supply for 40 years – “All Out of Love,” “Even the Nights Are Better” and one of my own personal favorite schmaltzy odes, “Making Love Out of Nothing At All,” among others. (Capitol Theatre, Clearwater)
Tampa Bay Mosh Team Presents: Sykosis with Psykotribe, Hate Tank, Singod Earning 15k likes on Facebook says something if you’re not repped by a label that pays for those sort of things. Enter Sykosis, a hardcore act from Ashtabula County, Ohio. “Ashtabula” kinda sounds like it should be the birthplace of Beelzebub, a stroke of good luck for a band that exorcises its demons onstage, experimenting with extreme and groove metal sounds and in a live setting, adding an extra dose of shock treatment. (Brass Mug, St. Petersburg)
Harvey Milk Festival with Yip Deceiver, Bright Light Bright Light, Meteoreyes The annual Sarasota fest that celebrates emerging artists, LGBTQ equality and the first openly gay political candidate to be elected to public office always has an intriguing musical lineup and the 2015 edition is no exception, headed up by grooving synth pop outfit Yip Deceiver (which features former of Montreal multi-instrumental monsters Davey Pierce and Nicolas Dobbratz) and Bright Light Bright Light, the pseudonym of Welsh-bred, London-based disco-vibing dance pop song maker Rod Thomas. (Selby Five Points Park, Sarasota)
John Fogerty: 1969 Few years in music compare to those of 1969, which saw seminal albums come out by Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Neil Young, The Velvet Underground, The Who, and scores of others I don’t have the space to list. That year, Creedence Clearwater Revival released three LPs worth of swampy blues and rolling rock odes: Bayou Country (“Born on the Bayou,” “Proud Mary”), Green River (“Green River,” “Bad Moon Rising”) and Willy and the Poor Boys (“Down on the Corner,” “Fortunate Son,” “Midnight Special”). The band’s distinctive gruff-voiced howler and primary songwriter, John Fogerty, hits town on a tour that culls healthily from all of them, though Fogerty will also include select cuts from throughout his career both with and without CCR. (MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa)
Kevin So with Buck Reid Kevin So is an unexpected talent out of Nashville – Chinese-American, with a rather silky soulful vocal quality and a sound that varies from country twangy to swing-flavored jazzy to singer-songwriter folky, all of it warm, mellow and easy-on-the-ears. This date celebrates the release of fresh LP Countryside. He’s joined by pedal steel great Buck Reid, who’s been playing his mournful sliding melodies in Lyle Lovett’s big band for a few decades. (Craftsmen House Gallery, St. Petersburg)
The Welzeins with Sonic Graffiti, Pilgrimage With songs like “Running on E, Jogging on Shrooms,” “Fang Tango,” and “Zhark Attack,” The Welzeins from Orlando assail with fuzzed-out grungy, none-too-serious garage rock that’s lightly coated in fast n’ salty surf haze. Tampa’s own wildly strident blues-riffing and funky punk rocking trio, Sonic Grafitti, also perform, along with Lakeland-based Pilgrimage, which rounds out the night’s sounds with an intriguing blend of post-rock ambiance, math-y technicality and post-hardcore crush marked by passionately wrung out and flung out vocals. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
The Cheaters It’s a Tampa pop-rock super group featuring members of Halcyon (Stephanie Callahan on vocals, harmonica and guitar), Someday Souvenir (Tonya Floyd on keys, Chrissy DeRado on lead guitar and Stephanie Wood on rhythm), along with multi-band drummer Sandi Grecco. Together, they put their own unique spin on songs by Pink, Rihanna, Katy Perry, One Republic, Paramore, Lorde and various others. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
Strung Out with Red City Radio, La Armada SoCal-spawned Fat Wreck Chords favorites Strung Out earned their street cred marrying crusty skate punk with elements of melodic hardcore and shreddy heavy metal that has been refined over more than 25 years and eight albums – the latest, Transmission.Alpha.Delta, dropped in March – into a more tightly coiled and meditated but no less aggressive sound. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
Rock For Sofia Benefit Concert Four local alt rock bands – Trust For Liars, Redlight Stare, Malaya and The Harvest – have donated their time and talents to this all ages charity show of to help defray the medical expenses Sofia Anderson, a two-year-old battling stage three neuroblastoma and undergoing treatment at All Children’s Hospital. Find out more about her story at sofiastrongmovie.com. (Local 662, St. Petersburg)
The Larry Mitchell Band We seem to have a lot of sidemen, session players and behind-the-scenes talents hitting town with their solo projects tonight. Larry Mitchell has laid down licks for Tracy Chapman and Billy Squier, among others, and earned a Grammy for his production work on Johnny Whitehorse’s Totemic Flute Chants. He hits hard funk, blues and rock notes as joined by Berklee-trained rhythm section of Austin Solomon (bass) and Russ Garner (drums). (Ale and the Witch, St. Petersburg)
ALSO TONIGHT
The Tampa Battle of The Bands Finals Orpheum, Ybor City
Moon Flag w/Sugarbear Fubar, St. Petersburg
JP Soars & the Red Hots Green Bench Brewing Company, St. Petersburg
Rodney Carrington Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater
Ed Woltil & the Loaded Question w/Passerine Hideaway Café & Recording Studio, St. Petersburg
Christopher Dean Band Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin
Bruce Baker Band The Blue Parrot, St. Pete Beach
Bobby Lee Rodgers and Fil Pate 3 Daughters Brewing, St. Petersburg
Serious Soul: Pete Bones w/Mathew Scot/Brian Busto Hyde Park Cafe, Tampa
Punk Rock Prom Night w/Boney Fiend/DJ Kalani Emerald Bar, St. Petersburg
Wet Nurse w/Jensen Serf Co. The Bends, St. Petersburg
An Evening with Poetry 'n Lotion w/John Nowicki The Hub, downtown Tampa
