This Friday proves to be a big ol' doozie of live music. Everything you probably want to know about most is broken down below...
Rev. Horton Heat with New Cathedral Of all the -billy bands that have come surfing, swinging, boogieing and wheeling out of the 20th century rock scene, Jim "Reverend Horton" Heath is among the most venerable, talented and downright fun, his lazily drawling, lightly husky croon gliding through tunes like “It’s Martini Time” or howling in rowdy bursts ala “Psychobilly Freakout.” To date, Heat (who plays electric, baritone and acoustic guitars) has released 11 albums, the most recent this year’s REV. He and his band – upright bass thumper Jimbo Wallace and drummer Scott Churilla – roll through town in support. (Orpheum, Ybor City)
The Dig with GreyMarket, Sun Signs The opening cut off The Dig’s You & I EP, “Cold Afternoon,” is shoegaze-y alt rock with an ethereal sighing falsetto sailing over shimmering synthesizers, groove-vibing basslines and a steady measured backbeat, while closer “So Alone” turns up the psychedelia and glimmering sonics, the higher piping vocals joined by slightly lower, breezy n’ sweet intones (co-songwriters Emile Mosseri and David Baldwin trade off on lead duties and harmonize most pleasantly). Serene without being dull, rich with melody, and overall, sublimely lovely stuff. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
Celtic Thunder PBS special regulars Celtic Thunder do the whole Irish music production thing ala Riverdance, minus the choreography and with a greater focus on its members’ six-part pitch-perfect vocal harmonies and the richly-designed set pieces at their backs. This run of dates finds a new member in the ranks, Julliard-trained Irish-American baritone Emmett O’Hanlon, and the sets replaced by a full symphony orchestra to accompany the vocalists in ensemble and solo performances of seasonal fare off latest album Holiday Symphony along with signature Celtic Thunder favorites like “Ireland’s Call” and “Cal/Local Hero.” (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)
An Evening with James Taylor The warm, golden-voiced singer-songwriter behind such comforting folk classics like “You’ve Got a Friend,” “Carolina in My Mind” and “Fire and Rain” has won five Grammys over his more than four-decade career. His 10-piece band includes three backing vocalists along with much-called-upon session and live players who frequently support Taylor, among them, drummer Steve Gadd (Chic Corea, Paul Simon, Eric Clapton) and legendary Blues Brothers’ musician “Blue” Lou Marini (sax, flute, pennywhistle). Past dates on this tour have stretched well beyond two hours (with a short intermission), and are peppered with Taylor’s stories, anecdotes and memories about the creation of and the inspiration behind some of his best-known songs. (Amalie Arena, Tampa)
Ribfest For the past 26 years, Ribfest has raised money for local children’s charities while staging a live music throwdown and serving up some of the finest ribs this side of the Mississippi. For the 2014 edition, 13 barbecue joints are represented and several noteworthy national acts headline. Daughtry brings emotive pop-melodic rock to Ribfest on Friday, while Saturday sees a double shot of classic rock jams – Starship featuring Mickey Thomas followed by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Sunday’s festivities close with a twang-riding performance by Thomas Rhett, whose 2013 debut peaked at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums Charts. Check out the full schedule of performers and get ticket information at ribfest.org. (Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg)
Huun Huur Tu wtih WAHH! WMNF gets behind some rather intriguing world music shows. The next one to receive the station’s warm welcome hails from a Russian Federation republic positioned right on the Mongolian border and influenced by its culture. Huun-Huur-Tu features four throat singers who produce some truly unreal tones using the resonant cavities of their mouths, vocal cords, larynxes and pharynxes; they juggle up to three pitches at once, sing both the main note (drone) and overtones that sound like a whistle, bird call or vibrating growl, and they pair these vocalizations with native instrumentation, including a khomus (Tuvan jaw harp) and doshpuluur (long-necked Tuvan lute), though they’ve been experimenting with electronics and incorporating guitar into their indigenous Tuvan folk tunes. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)< Caked Up with Five Knives Las Vegas DJ/producer duo Caked Up – Oscar Wylde and Vegas Banger – mix bass-banging hip hop beats and pop music savvy with all manner of samples, vocal splices and out-there synth-sonics that whirr, drip, patter, blip, spring and skip. Five Knives is a full four-piece band with industrial edge, heavier fuzzed-out synthesizers and snotty-sneering, sometimes pitch-shifted vocals of frontwoman Anna Worstell pushing lines like, “I know what them boys want, they just want to taste my sugar.” (Amphitheatre, Ybor City)
Halestorm The latest group pimped out by 98ROCK is Halestorm, a female-fronted Pennsylvania-bred outfit that won a Grammy in 2013 for heavy-grinding and seething track “Love Bites (So Do I),” (Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance). Singer Lizzy Hale formed Halestorm with her brother/drummer Arejay Hale at the ripe age of 13 (he was 10) and they’ve played together upwards of 15 years. (Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg)
Hyperbolic Chamber Music 2: 21+ Venture Compound’s boundary-pushing chamber music series continues with a second presentation officially hosted by USF’s student-run New Music Consortium, which strives to produce concerts of new contemporary music and has assembled a rather intriguing program for 21+. Mark Applebaum, Joey Bordeau, Joshua Clausen, Derek Holden, John Nichols III, Rene Orth and Jerod Sommerfeldt stage ensemble and solo performances of pieces composed in the 21st Century for acoustic, electronic, and electroacoustic mediums. A preconcert lecture by NMC kicks off at 7:30 p.m. (The Venture Compound, St. Petersburg)
The Groves with RedFeather, Ella Jet After 18 months of inactivity, dark-washed, Southern-fried roots rock outfit The Groves return from hiatus to throwdown a raucous set of tunes with support from crunchy howling mountain-hewn folk rockers RedFeather and bright-eyed acoustic folk-blues songstress Ella Jet. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
DMX Gruff-voiced verse-barking DMX enjoyed his come up in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s with club-banging anthems like “Party Up (Up In Here)” (Ya’ll gon’ make me act a fool, up in here, up in here…”), “Ruff Ryders Anthem” and “What’s My Name?” His last release, 2012’s Undisputed, but he’s apparently working on a 10 th LP as produced by Swizz Beatz and Dame Grease, and delivered a track about keepin’ it real, “Don't Call Me” featuring Rakim, last fall. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)
Click HERE to check out more events for today and the next week.
