Central Avenue, Downtown St. Pete
Granted, Ybor´s still got some good rooms — Orpheum and the homey New World Brewery host most intimate touring-act bills, along with regular local showcases. There´s also the jam-friendly Gaspar´s Grotto and, at the time of this writing, dance club Carnival shifts its focus to live music on Friday nights. Odds are somebody will always be trying to make a go of homebrewed tunes somewhere in the Bay area´s most infamous party district, and kudos go out to all such intrepid souls, past, present and future. But when it comes to the highest concentration of local-music havens, the most favorable ratio of original lineups to cover bands and club DJs, and the most palpable sense of community among musicians, Central takes it. From Jannus Landing around the corner on Second Street W. to the State Theatre on the 600 block of Central, there are no fewer than seven spaces — Jannus, Mastry´s, Fortunado´s, The Rare Olive, The Emerald Bar, Uptown Bar, and the State — where locals play; a couple feature original acts exclusively, and you´ll find Pinellas bandmembers, DJs, artists and scenesters patronizing all of them on any given weekend. Plus, there´s a slew of great hipster retail, including Stevie B´s Total Guitar, Daddy Kool Records, Star Booty, and Tattoo Emporium. What more could you ask for? Caffeine, say ye? Well, to top it all off, the Globe Coffee Lounge is just one block over on First Avenue N. They´re open late, and sometimes host shows, too.
This article appears in Sep 22-28, 2004.