[image-1]Canadian punk-informed Celtic rock quintet Enter the Haggis stops in town a few times a year, and is currently pimping its seventh and latest studio effort, Gutter Anthems. The album combines easy-on-the-ear acoustic balladry with heavy riffin’ rock ‘n’ roll marked by warped-out fiddle-playing. Highland bagpipes and Deger pipes are scattered throughout and are found even in rousing drinking numbers featuring such memorable lyrics as “With a smile on my face and a bottle in my hand, you’ll find me in the gutter in the morning.” The Beauvilles provide support. Fri., May 8, 8 p.m., Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa, $12 in advance/$15 DOS. —LP
Drummer/percussionist Jon Priest returns to town for the weekend and performs a Ghetto Love Sugar Reunion Show at this one-night show featuring three bands he helped shape over the course of his many years living and playing in Tampa — the experimental quartet Ghetto Love Sugar, the funk-jazz foursome Infinite Groove Orchestra, and reggae masters Rocksteady@8. Priest is also due to perform with Middle Rhythm Session to kick things off. For more, click here to read CL's feature on Priest. Fri., May 8, 9 p.m., Yeoman's Road Pub, Tampa, $7. —LP
A more than solid four-pack of local acts rock the courtyard at New World this Friday.[image-2] Hankshaw is among the most commercially viable pop-rock bands that call Tampa Bay home. Eminently hooky, with tender tenor vocals. Zillionaire falls into a generally similar realm, although with a sound that’s a bit more languid. Also on the bill is King of Spain and Rec Center. Fri., May 9, 9 p.m., New World Brewery, Ybor City, $7. —ES
Saturday, May 09
Tampa singer/songwriter Dan Kincaid (pictured) celebrates his long-realized album The Walk Within, a polished piece of pop-rock, with a CD Release Party at Yeoman's. Kincaid keeps good company; one of his collaborators on the project was pan-stylistic drummer Jon Priest, who’s in town for a Ghetto Love Sugar reunion gig. (See above.) There’s every reason to expect Priest to be on hand for this gig. Sat., May 9, 9 p.m., Yeoman's Road Pub, Tampa, $5. —ES
Originally created by a group of Tampa musicians who’d met via DeadNetCentral — a message board community on the Grateful Dead’s official website — the DeadNet Jam brings together a bill of well-read Dead bands for an evening of Grateful appreciation. The several-hour show is headlined by Uncle John's Band, with sit-ins by pianist Michael Sokolowski (SOKO, Tim Reynolds, Steve Kimock), guitarist Jon Ezrine (Soft Monkey), bassist Bradley “BT” Rhea and guitarist Kirk “Sawtooth” Gregory (The Ultrasonic Project). Sat., May 9, 5 p.m., Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa, $10. —LP
[image-3]You’ve probably heard his voice on Aqua Teen Hunger Force or laughed at his writing in Space Ghost: Coast to Coast without even knowing it. As a musician, MC Chris (pictured) is like an underground, funnier version of Eminem — white boy comedy hip-hop, helium-high vocals, club-friendly beats. But his lyrical absurdity is more the steamy brown tongue-in-cheek style of Ween. From “Pizza Butt:" "Some say Polo stole it from China/ Some say your stomach ate your vagina/ Is it delivery? No, it’s DiGiornno/ Let’s microwave it and put in a porno.” Sat., May 9, 7 p.m., Orpheum, St. Petersburg, $10. —LP
I spent much of my teen years listening to heavy music that spoke to me of injustice and hypocrisy and society’s ills, and fed into my angst-ridden feelings of powerlessness as a non-adult. I wanted to rage and I wanted to curse and I wanted to do whatever the fuck I wanted, and Nine Inch Nails made me think it was possible with albums like Pretty Hate Machine and The Downward Spiral, which gave me much appreciation for Trent Reznor’s provocative poetry, his use of “fuck,” and his qualms-free blasphemy. I haven’t been as tuned into NIN’s current catalog – I dropped off when I got happy – but the band’s latest, The Slip, and its subsequent “Lights in the Sky” tour was apparently so good that Reznor decided to break up the band while they were still ahead. This is NIN’s farewell tour. Jane's Addiction is a whole ‘nother beast. The Perry Farrell-headed on-again-off-again alt rock band with world flavor made it biggest from 1988 to 1991 with two solid albums, Nothing’s Shocking, and Ritual de lo Habitual. Then they broke up, got back together, broke up again, and then reunited again for this tour, through rumors are already flying about trouble in paradise. We may see another Jane’s break-up before this tour is through. Sat., May 9, 7 p.m., Ford Amphitheatre, Tampa, $18.75-$93. —LP
What if James Taylor skewed his pop-folk a tad more country? You’d have an artist akin to [image-4]Petersburg) —ES
If Ryan Massaro, a 1995 graduate of Cherry Hill High School East in southern New Jersey, changed his name to Amos Lee in pursuit of some sort of cred, I’m going to submit that he, um, erred. Blue Note released the singer/songwriter’s debut album in ’05, apparently in hopes of spawning another Norah Jones-type crossover success. Didn’t quite work out that way, of course, but Lee’s forged on with a steady career. His old-timey, faux-jazz tune “Sweet Pea” will likely be familiar to you; it’s on a commercial or something and features the line “You’re the only reason I keep on coming home.” The opener is fellow Philadelphian Mutlu, an acoustic soul artist who’s been championed by Daryl Hall. The show is held in the new downtown Clearwater venue run by Ruth Eckerd Hall. Sat., May 9, 8 p.m., Capitol Theater, Clearwater, $31 and $46. —ES
The locally-based blog, Something Planet, celebrates its first anniversary with an eclectic bill that touches on powerful, emotive alt rock (Geri X), horn-infused funk (Rise of Saturn, made up of members of Weaksauce and Soulfound, among others), and dub reggae (Badda Skat). Sat., May 9, 7 p.m., Gasoline Alley, Largo, $6 21 and up/$9 under 21. —LP
