✔️ Punk Rock Christmas Vacation w/Wolf-Face/Teen Agers/Debt Neglector/Everymen The hair in your eggnog isn’t from one of the snowbirds that have infiltrated our fair city. No, it probably floated in there after Michael J. Wolf — leader of lupine punk-rockers Wolf-Face — came fluttering in with a trio of stellar bands from around the state in tow. It’s all in celebration of Wolf-Face’s Punk Rock Christmas Vacation show, where Orlando-originating pop-punk quartet Teen Agers will play in support of its 2016 EP, Keystones, which was produced by The Menzingers’ Tom May. What’s even better is that Debt Neglector — another band from the City Beautiful — is also scheduled to scream about the end of the American dream detailed on its album Atomicland. “It’s a story of growing up to find that the idealized version of the world we were raised on doesn’t exist,” frontman Alex Goldfarb told New Noise Magazine, “and coming to the realization that we’re pretty much all fucked.” Now that’s what we call the holiday spirit. (Fubar, St. Petersburg) INFO
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Tampa composer Sean Hamilton breaks down his new release, LOCI in advance of a tour — listen
✔️ Lucas Brode w/Infinite Third/Sean Hamilton The holidays and Christmas aren’t for everyone, so Hudson Valley composer Lucas Brode wants you to come to the basement for a good fingering. Brode — a composer who melds together the worlds of jazz, experimental rock and African rhythm — is a skillful guitarist, and he’ll be in the Iberian Rooster underbelly hand-tapping and looping his way through a set after Tampa percussionist Sean Hamilton and St. Pete soundsmith Billy Mays III open the show. (SubCentral at Iberian Rooster, St. Petersburg) INFO
✔️ AJR Here’s some good news for AJR fans who don’t want to drive to Hangout Festival to see the New York indie-pop trio share a bill with Kendrick Lamar, Odesza, SZA and Foster the People (all playing the Alabama beach party on Sunday, May 20). Bay area alternative-rock station 97X is throwing a free holiday show at Jannus, where part of the beer monies raised will go towards Metropolitan Ministries. The catch is that this is a 21 & up show that you’ll still need a ticket for. See a list of ticket drops and more details on the concert via 97xonline.com. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg) INFO
✔️ Electric Kif Believe it or not, passports are not required to enjoy a set from Magic City instrumental outfit Electric Kif. Sure, keyboard player Jason Matthews hails from Philly, and drummer Armando Lopez calls Miami home, but the rest of the guys are from other corners of the globe (bassist Rodrigo Zambrano from Mexico and guitarist Eric Escanes from France). The boys’ sound — captured gracefully on a 2017 LP, Heist — is a nod to that international influence, and it’s pretty cool that Bay area concertgoers can catch the mish-mash of Radiohead, Jeff Beck and Herbie Hancock at this no-cover brewery gig. (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin) INFO
DJ Fresh Step w/DJ Wonderbread You know you’re getting old when the early aughts of the decade get revived for “Flashback Friday” DJ nights. That’s exactly what’s happening here when a genre-agnostic selection of tunes will remind us of a time when layered polos and tank tops, highlighted hair and embroidered boho maxi skirts were all the rage. Themed outfits are encouraged, but we’re not sure if we fit into bedazzled Ed Hardy shirts we brought discounted at Ross nearly 20 years ago. (Independent Bar, St.Petersburg) INFO
Row Jomah The Row Jomah boys are riding high off of last week’s toy drive show where fans dumped loads of unwrapped gifts to benefit the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office’s Christmas Sharing Program, so expect the funk and pop outfit to be in good spirits for yet another free Friday-night show at Seminole Heights’ funkiest little restaurant. (Ella’s Americana Folk Art Cafe, Tampa) INFO
Public Don’t let the extremely un-Google-able band name fool you, because Public’s sound — a funky take on pop-rock tied up neatly with a bow on the Cincinnati band’s new 16-minute Sweet Lemonade EP — is pretty damn accessible, and delivered with an energy which suggests that the trio is willing to jump through hoops to make you take notice. (The Attic at Rock Brothers Brewing, Ybor City) INFO
Christmas at Crowbar w/Rosedale/Grand Lotus/Oxmoore It feels like Crowbar hasn’t seen a set from indie-pop outfit Grand Lotus since it played support on a release show for fellow Tampanians Glass House Point, so it’ll be nice to catch back up with the band of high-school classmates on Saturday. Radio fans may recognize the quartet from its May set at 97X’s Backyard BBQ, but everyone else can take a spin with the Tidal Wave EP (or watch the video for new single “Australia”) to get acquainted. (Crowbar, Ybor City) INFO
✔️ Deviant w/Public Acid/Plastiol/Metamorphisis One of Tampa’s newer punk acts (Metamorphosis) fills in the opening slot on a bill before St. Pete’s Plastiol gets the crowd bumping into each other just in time for Greensboro, North Carolina outfit Public Acid. Richmond, Virginia queercore trio Deviant rounds things out at this second-to-last show on the traveling bands’ short swing through the Sunshine State and Georgia. (Lucky You Tattoo, St. Petersburg) INFO
Holey Miss Moley and Friends Funkmas w/Justino & The Difference/Future Vintage/Jon Ditty Holey Miss Moley is making habit of playing holiday and tribute shows, so it’s no surprise that the funk collective is going to put a little stank on Santa Claus for this Saturday-night holiday gig. Extra credit for anyone who pulls double duty since the venue is giving discounts to anyone who pops in wearing the wristband from a show happening at the Blueberry Patch just five miles away. Future Vintage amplifies the funky vibes while guitarist Justino Walker and rapper Jon Ditty will each ride solo to round things out. (Ringside Cafe, St. Petersburg) INFO
The Bailo Treatment w/D3V/winta/Pixelsaur/Heist Brooklyn-born, Queens-repping trap DJ and producer Gennaro Bailo says that he’s auditioned for shows like American Idol, The Voice and X Factor, but Spotify spins say that he’s found his calling as a peddler of EDM that’ll please fans of Borgore, Knife Party, DJ Snake and Adventure Club. Just search for his remix of Calvin Harris’ “How Deep Is Your Love” to get a preview, and then queue up on this venue’s social media page to have a shot at free admission for what is one of The Ritz’s more popular nights. (The Ritz, Ybor City) INFO
EXTRA CHAMBERS
Next Gen Riot Grrrls: Jim Chambers Music Box prepares young musicians for the stage
Jim Chambers Music Box Presents Sick Hot w/Heroes For Hire/Favorite Habit/The Raine The energy and passion Jim Chambers brings to his music school (the Music Box in Carrollwood) is a present in itself, so the instructional institution’s best bands are going to take over Skipper’s for a holiday show where they can show off everything they’ve learned. I don’t really know many schoolteachers that would bring a band like Atlanta garage-rock trio The Coathangers (its newest album is called Nosebleed Weekend for Chirst’s sake) as a guest to speak to the kiddos, but Chambers did it with gusto — and a message about the dedication it takes make it as a band in this day and age is exactly what those children needed to hear anyway. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa) INFO
ALSO PLAYING
Navin Ave. w/Swamp Rats/Buck/Jimmy Round The Corner (The Hub Bar, Tampa) INFO
Nikki Talley Band (The Ale & the Witch, St. Petersburg) INFO
Danfield (Hideaway Café, St. Petersburg) INFO
Ordeal Band (Buckets Tavern & Tap, Tampa) INFO
Alias Julius (c.1949 Florida Beer Garden, Tampa) INFO
Connor Zwetsch (Council Oak Lounge at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tampa) INFO
The Florida Orchestra: Handel's Messiah (Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg) INFO
Holiday Party w/Russ Bower's Isn't Dead Yet (Blueberry Patch, Gulfport) INFO
Christmas Benefit Concert and Dinner w/Scuteri and Spencer Duo/Charlie Morris/Jct. 27/Ukulele Band/Sea Shanties/Circadian Rhythm Band/Tom Scudiero/Jun Bustamante/Xmas with Darjuxena (Sacred Lands, St. Petersburg) INFO
