It's not quite Friday yet, but the concert schedule has already picked up in earnest. Check out the live music highlights for this Thurs., Feb. 25, below.
Experience Hendrix Tour One of the most renown touring tributes makes its way back to Clearwater with a fresh lineup of artists paying their respects to Jimi Hendrix’s musical genius amid searing on-stage collaborations. Blues icon Buddy Guy marks his sixth tour serving as master of guitar-slinging ceremonies, joined by a cavalcade of other guitarists cycling on and off the stage throughout the night, including fellow groove pushers Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd (the latter an Experience Tour staple), metal shredder Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne), Eric Johnson, Keb’Mo’, Dweezil Zappa and Mato Nanji (Indigenous), as well as Jimi Hendrix Experience/Band of Gypsys bassist Billy Cox, drummer Chris Layton (Stevie Ray Vaughan), and vocalists Henri Brown and Noah Hunt (Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band). (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)
Benise: Strings of Passion Tour Strings of Passion: A 10-Year Mosaic is both a PBS special and double CD/DVD release that puts the fine Spanish guitar skills of Benise on full display while offering a retrospective of highlights from a career of re-interpreting rock songs with a blend of salsa, waltz, flamenco, tango, samba and other global flavors. Live, an international dance troupe adds a vibrant kinetic element to his performances. (Tampa Theatre, downtown Tampa)
Gilby Clarke Once upon a time, Gilby Clarke was a member of Guns n’ Roses, replacing Izzy Stradlin on rhythm guitar in 1991 and touring with the band through 1994. He also spent some time playing with Slash's Snakepit, Heart, Nancy Sinatra and MC5, among others, fronted his own group Rock Star Supernova (featuring musicians from Metallica and Mötley Crüe), and released seven solo LPs, too, though nothing new since 2007. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
Rivers Of Nihil with Dark Sermon, Black Fast Rivers of Nihil, the technical-progressive masterminds from Pennsylvania, arrive in town behind a summer-themed sophomore release, Monarchy, which manages to perfectly capture a sweltering desert summer in atmosphere. Rivers of Nihil bring such precision to their music, the group may as well be made up of robots – and they quite possibly could be, meaning the time has come for Tampa to meet their new robot overlords. (Crowbar, Ybor City)—Justin Croteau
Rosanne Cash with John Leventhal The eldest daughter of Johnny is a country-folk music songstress in her own right, with 10 No. 1 Country Hits and a solo repertoire spanning 13 albums. The most recent, 2014’s The River & the Thread, nabbed three Grammy wins – Best Americana Album, Best American Roots Song and Best American Roots Performance, the latter two for "A Feather's Not a Bird." (Capitol Theatre, Clearwater)
7 Below – A Tribute to Phish This New England quartet of diehard ‘heads pay tribute to one of the greatest rock bands of our time with a live experience that includes lights, jams, and setlists touching on all eras of Phish, from Junta through Fuego, along with trademark covers. 7 Below plays Dunedin Brewery both Thursday and Saturday, and you can expect a different setlist each night. (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin)
Bowie Do Another fine David Bowie tribute show, this one conceived by New World owner Dean Rosenberger and organized by Hector Mayoral of Acho Brother. Participants (Acho Brother plus J.T. Brown, Botomatics, American Song Box and Lucifer's Ybor Rats) perform three Bowie songs each (with no repeats) amid sets of original material; Mayoral’s band reprises the songs they originally learned for October’s Reel Deal film-and-music event — Portuguese re-imaginings of Bowie tunes by Seu Jorge from The Life Aquatic soundtrack. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
ALSO TONIGHT
The Dizzease W/Woolly Bushmen The Bends, St. Petersburg
The Australian Bee Gees Show Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg
The Screaming J’s Ale and the Witch, St. Petersburg
