It's a fatty-stacked night of concerts on this Thurs., May 12. Take a look at the breakdown of highlights below.
Trampled By Turtles with The Devil Makes Three Midwestern quartet Trampled by Turtles plies bluegrass that is vintage-hued as viewed through a modern lens – like what you might hear scoring Great Stagecoach Robbery if the ‘40s-era western were re-imagined by 21st century Hollywood: spacious, string-fueled and built for a prairie ramble with melodies driven by picked and plucked banjo and mandolin, mournfully bowed fiddle, and tuneful five-part vocal harmonies that bolster the sweetly enchanting lead of guitarist/harmonica blower Dave Simonett. Also of ntoe: The Devil Makes Three, a Vermont three-piece doling out folk-Americana that’s has a boisterous, bouncing, mildly sinister gypsy-jazz/ragtime/folk-blues appeal. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg) –Leilani Polk
Hed PE with The Defiant, Cypher Machine, Almondy Brown One of my dear friends is an old school (first three albums) Hed PE fan. When I grumbled over having to write about this show headlined by the rapcore act – which has been plying their trademark brand of punk-gangasta fusion out of Southern Cali since 1994 – he spit a few verses at me: “Come into your house, make love to your spouse / Fuck her in the mouth, then I'm out / what?” His impromptu shout-out to “Crazy Legs” (which riffs on Biggie Smalls’ “Hypnotize”) did little to dissuade my apathetic-bordering-on-disgusted opinion, though it’s pretty much irrelevant in light of Hed PE’s relentlessly loyal fanbase. After myriad lineup changes, frontman Jared Paulo Sergio “Jared” Gomes is now the sole original. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg) –LP
Tony Tyler Band with Porcupine Come Back Alice co-leader Tony Tyler has been working on some solo material, and he debuts it and his new band (which includes guitarist Jacob Cox, keysman Mark Mayea, bassist Taylor Gilchrist, drummer Brad Elliot, percussionist Jimmy Jams, and on vocals, Courtney Calo and Alexa and Bella Toro) on this night. St. Pete jam vet Rev. Funky D supports with his own Porcupine project. (Ringside Café, Tampa) –LP
Songwriter Showcase: Max Norton and Shawn Kyle Locally-spawned musician Max Norton (Benjamin Booker’s drummer and a rather fine songsmith in his own right) first previewed material off his forthcoming solo debut in December (“Hold Me Up” is a warm n’ dusty fiddle-fused folk ode with sweetly hushed vocals and rambling rhythms). He returned to play Tropical Heatwave late last month, and is making the rounds a final time over the next few days before returning to his current Nashville homebase. This date finds him joined by another nomadic Bay area troubadour, Shawn Kyle (frontman of AMFMS, producer of Have Gun, Will Travel and J.T. Brown among others) for an intimate evening of song-sharing. Admission is free; showtime is early (7-9:30 p.m.). (Independent Bar & Café, Tampa) –LP
Ben Katzman's DeGreaser + Colleen Green Hailing from New England, Ben Katzman's Degreaser has a fuzzy, hyper lo-fi garage aesthetic driven by some slick technical guitar work and empowered by hilariously irrelevant lyrics that crawled straight out of a forgotten high school notebook from Dee Dee Ramone. This is the sort of act that begs you to come clad in a jean or leather jacket. Or just go full Canadian tuxedo. Your choice if you want to be in the cool kids club. (Hint: Go for the tuxedo.) Colleen Green's enchantingly sleepy and defiantly anti-pop style is equal parts lounge grunge and referential ‘90s love letter. There's a power hidden behind both her vocals and instrumentation that borderlines dangerously close to a beautiful wall of noise. Definitely complimentary in scope and sound to the Degreaser. (The Bends, St. Petersburg) –Brian Roesler
