All slots are tentative; make sure you check the schedule when you get to the show.
All venues are located in Ybor City in the vicinity of The Cuban Club, 2010 N. Avenida Republica de Cuba.
EL PASAJE PLAZA 6:25 – ERIC STECKEL BAND The Tampa Bay area, and Florida in general, has long had a weakness for prepubescent blues guitar phenoms. Most of them have turned out pretty well, especially a tow-headed kid named Derek Trucks, who is now a member of the Allman Brothers Band and a fixture on the jam band circuit with his own group. Which brings us to Steckel, the latest of the batch. He started showing up on stages at age 9. At 14, his reputation is growing. -Eric Snider
7:45 – RECKLESS KELLY This rollicking Austin-based country-rock combo has long been a favorite with local roots fans. Expect a polished balance of the smooth and the gritty, and maybe some crowd-pleasing surprise covers in the set.
9:20 – MOFRO Funky Jacksonville swamp-jam act Mofro is a frequent visitor to Skipper's Smokehouse, where its soulful, eclectic sound is always welcome.
10:55 – BRAVE COMBO In the '70s, a rock-oriented ensemble had to have been intrinsically courageous to build a sound around polka beats. Brave Combo started out by taking songs like "People are Strange" and "16 Tons" and giving them the polka/salsa/world-dance treatment. Somehow it's worked. The group, a bona fide WMNF fave, brings a heap o' fun to barrooms and festival stages around the world. Novelty? Perhaps, but one that's lasted a quarter century. -ES
12:30 – NEW MONSOON A seven-piece jam band from San Francisco. The press release touts the inclusion of all sorts of improv and World Beat sounds, but what we heard on the radio came across as catchy, fairly generic hippie-rock with some tabla and melodic guitar licks cribbed from old Santana records.
CUBAN CLUB BANDSHELL 6:00 – THE BEAT CIRCUS They've got the goods to deliver a breakout set people will be talking about long after Saturday. This Northeastern collective infuses classic sounds and structures from old cabaret, circus and Eastern European ethnic styles with a contemporary perspective that wouldn't be out of place at the BONK festival. It's killer. Check out the Music Feature for more.
7:25 – LORRAINE KLAASEN South African singer, choreographer and musicologist Klaasen incorporates many styles from all over her native continent in her own passionate, energetic delivery. You will dance.
8:55 – LAURA LOVE BAND Riding a seemingly unlikely blend of inner city funk, world-folk and Celtic, Love has built a durable reputation as an engaging live performer. She, too, is held in high regard by WMNF's concert bookers. -ES
10:40 – ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO An Austin stalwart, Escovedo is one of the most soulful, genre-defying artists on the roots scene. With a tuneful but wounded voice, he specializes in nakedly emotional ballads that combine rock, country, blues, Tex-Mex and more. But he can also rock out; one of his '90s bands, Buick MacKane, was all about turning guitars up to 11 and blasting away. Escovedo, the co-founder of Rank and File in the late '70s, will perform with a backing band that includes violin, cello, guitar, bass, drums and keyboards. -ES
12:20 – HERITAGE O.P. The collective delivers the healing power of drums in a format that includes sounds from Africa, South America and the Caribbean. O.P. stands for "organic percussion." Consider this the Heatwave's drum-circle segment. -ES
CUBAN CLUB CANTINA 6:10 – FOUR STAR RIOT Pinellas pop-rock with personality and hook. The band's new disc, Tonight and Tomorrow, is one of the most cohesive, fully realized and infectious collections of power-pop to emerge from the local original-rock scene in quite some time.
7:20 – JAKE BRENNAN & THE CONFIDENCE MEN After bailing out of the hardcore scene as a member of Cast Iron Hike, Jake Brennan arrived in Boston with a penchant for Springsteen, Petty and Costello, but with just enough punk left to give his music a youthful ruggedness as well as a roots sensibility. He may have the most star potential on the bill; a few years down the road you might be saying, "Remember when we saw him at Heatwave?" -ES
8:45 – TH' LEGENDARY SHACK SHAKERS It's like the most fervent of tent revivals, only with whiskey, white-knuckle blues and some seriously crazy-ass harp playing instead of scripture and speaking in tongues. Roots-punk to die for; don't miss 'em.
10:10 – HACIENDA BROTHERS Veterans Chris Gaffney and Dave Gonzalez are the two principal Hacienda Brothers, a band that's been called the most buzzed roots act of the new millennium. The group's self-titled debut was produced by the legendary Dan Penn, who has dubbed the music "Western soul." The Hacienda Brothers deftly blend honky tonk, horn-driven R&B, Tex-Mex and other styles, all with a distinct Southwestern feel. The main attraction, besides strong, heartfelt songs, is Gaffney's craggy, lived-in voice. -ES
11:35 – DEVIL DOLL Half lounge diva and half rockabilly pinup vixen, Devil Doll delivers a sexy, slinky, dangerous, foul-mouthed set. Imagine Supersuckers fans imagining Patsy Cline reincarnated and stalking the burlesque stage at a tattoo convention after downing a fifth of rye. Now add some sleazy samba, and you're there.
12:55 – THE VOODOO ORGANIST One-man-band Scott Wexton creates an eerie swamp-gas rockabilly/lounge/grade-Z horror-flick vibe via organ, theremin and the miracle of recording technology.
CUBAN CLUB BALLROOM 6:30 – BIG NIGHT OUT Hailing from Florida, the seven-piece brings a modern-day soul revue, incorporating R&B, Latin, Caribbean, funk and Motown. -ES
8:00 – DIKKI DU & THE ZYDECO CREW Dikki Du is actually Troy Carrier, son of Roy and younger brother of Chubby; a knack for mastering and then pushing the boundaries of Zydeco definitely runs in the family.
9:50 – SOUL SAUCE Swingin', dance-inducing R&B from another of the many Florida acts on the bill. -ES
11:25 – EDI OKRI & THE AFRO-CENTRIX West Africa's Edi Okri earned a reputation as an extroverted performer at a very young age; he's since moved from dance into socially conscious, envelope-pushing music that brings hip-hop and reggae to traditional African roots.
ORPHEUM 6:30 – ADDEK & SPEAX These two Tampa-based independent hip-hop artists deliver some of the most provocative, politically aware and revolutionary lyrics in the region's vital underground rap scene.
7:00 – THE DIVINERS Veteran local singer-songwriter Will Quinlan's newest band is less punky and Celtic than his dear, departed Pagan Saints. The Diviners specialize in immaculately constructed alt-country that's alternately celebratory and mournful.
8:20 – THE BISCUIT BURNERS They hail from the neo-hippie Ground Zero of Asheville, N.C., and cover all of the Appalachian roots/country/bluegrass bases.
9:40 – THE KISSERS Six-year-old Midwestern combo The Kissers is heir apparent to the Celt-rock throne; it's not punk, but the solidly-built, heavily Irish-accented pop-rock tunes are often executed with that same manic energy.
11:00 – FALL ON PURPOSE This unpredictable St. Pete outfit skips and stumbles through hip-hop, reggae, punk and ska like a kid with ADD perusing his favorite indie record store. Technique often takes a back seat to fun and onstage improvisation.
12:15 – THE VODKANAUTS Speaking of hip and lounge-y – and I think we were, a while back – the Bay's own Vodkanauts also know how to do it right, only without the tattoos and with a healthy dose of surf/tiki kitsch.
NEW WORLD BREWERY 6:30 – HINDU COWBOYS This young Orlando roots-country act draws from the old school, cherry-picking the best of folk, Western swing and seminal C&W balladry.
7:35 – URBANE COWBOYS You know them and you love them, especially that song about somebody hitting somebody else with a bottle of tequila. Tampa's catchiest alt-country act is always a rowdy, crowd-pleasing good time.
8:40 – SAWGRASS FLATS They get into the newgrass without forgetting the bluegrass.
9:45 – THE BEAUVILLES A hard-working Hillsborough rock act that augments its catchy straightforward riffage with jazzy syncopations, acoustic bass and an unabashed sexiness.
10:50 – THE EMPTY SPACES This relatively new Bay area act works an angle influenced by the still-hip dance-punk trend that filled the underground to overflowing last year, but adds a certain challenging harshness to the mix.
11:55 – LIFE OF PI Clever power-pop that's engaging and anthemic, but also nicely noisy and idiosyncratic. Big dynamics, interesting lyrics, irresistible harmonies, constant comparisons to a certain cult-iconic pre-emo band whose name begins with "W." Good stuff.
Entries by Scott Harrell unless otherwise indicated.
This article appears in May 12-18, 2005.