Heatwave Preview: stage by stage (with video)

WMNF Tropical Heatwave, Saturday, May 16, 5 p.m. $30 adv./$30 door.

Cuban Club Bandshell on the Patio

This is the hallowed stage where so much Heatwave history has been made — including the mammoth Sun Ra orchestra's landmark set in the late '80s. I think of singer/songwriter Chuck Prophet (10:05), a WMNF and Heatwave (this is his fourth appearance) favorite, as making avant-roots music — he injects agreeable amounts of weirdness and wry humor into his grabby tunes.

Also rootsy, but more poppy, is Boston-based Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles (video below) (6:35). Her best stuff reminds me of Joan Jett with the slightest touch of twang. And if her photos are any indication, she's easy on the eyes. Bluesman Michael Burks (8:10) hails from Little Rock and brings plenty of muscle and a wild hair. The bandshell is bookended by a couple of reggae/ska/Caribbean-style acts from Tampa Bay: Johukames Posse (5:10) and Magadog (11:55), which reconstituted not all that long ago and has greeted with open arms by the locals.  —Eric Snider

This article appears in May 6-12, 2009.

Eric Snider is the dean of Bay area music critics. He started in the early 1980s as one of the founding members of Music magazine, a free bi-monthly. He was the pop music critic for the then-St. Petersburg...