THURSDAY, JULY 19
MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK Minnesota power poppers Motion City Soundtrack return to St. Pete to play quirky, catchy material like "Let's Get Fucked Up and Die" (the song's not as morbid as the title suggests) as well as material from their new Epitaph album Even if it Kills Me, due out Sept. 18. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
NATTY MOSS BOND This popular scenester and gifted singer leads one of the most fun, female-centric open-mic nights in town, with popular local performers like Rebekah Pulley often stopping in to show support. (Dave's Aqua Lounge, St. Petersburg)
SAFETY w/RADIO RESET/THE UPSIDERS/THE FLAMING TSUNAMIS Upstart Tampa record label Copacetic has taken over Crowbar this weekend, starting tonight with a loud rock bash featuring one of its acts, Safety, a hardcore punk trio packing a taut sound full of piss and vinegar — and just a hint of pop polish. Fellow Bay area band Radio Reset brings the alternative rock sound with touches of emo and New Wave. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
DESTROYER DESTROYER w/ARCHITECT Get yer ya yas out, grindcore fans, with Destroyer, Destroyer, a band from Oklahoma City that's dead serious about annihilating every eardrum in attendance. (Orpheum, Ybor City)
FRIDAY, JULY 20
RICHARD BUCKNER w/SIX PARTS SEVEN/ZILLIONAIRE/HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL A venerable member of the contemporary folk/alt-country scene, Richard Buckner's a whiskey-voiced singer with a sharp eye for poetic detail who alternates between introspective confession and rich narratives. In his songs, women shed "Tequila tears" under the "sleepy sun," and angry husbands argue with their downtrodden wives. Supporting Buckner is Ohio's Six Parts Seven, an instrumental shoegaze ensemble buoyed by organic instrumentation such as lap steel and trumpet. Bradenton's Have Gun, Will Travel is quickly establishing itself as the best alt-country outfit in the area and the most talented new band to emerge on the scene in recent years. Melodic Tampa indie band Zillionaire rounds out the bill (not, as incorrectly reported in a previous version of this column, the Rhode Island band of the same name). (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
PICKFORD SUNDRIES w/BLIND BUDDY MOODY/TOBY BONAR Brett Steele has spent the past couple of decades managing brother Kevin's bands Roxx Gang and Mojo Gurus, both of which landed national record deals. In recent months, Steele Management has turned its smart touch to booking local shows by a variety of artists including this commendable "Night of Blues & Bluegrass" featuring Tampa jamgrassers The Pickford Sundries with support from Toby Bonar, one of the Bay area's finest finger-style pickers and country blues vocalists. Blind Buddy Moody is an old-timer that the Steele brothers discovered working the flea-market circuit. Talk about magnetic: Moody sits up there with his acoustic guitar and harmonica and blows the crowd away with searing covers of country classics by the likes of Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams. Not convinced? Go to MySpace.com/blindbuddymoody, and listen to his performance of "T for Texas," cut recently at Ringside Café when he opened for the Gurus. (Dave's Aqua Lounge, St. Petersburg)
T-PAIN w/SEAN KINGSTON Tallahassee rapper/computer-enhanced crooner T-Pain first hit big in '05 when he was smitten by a certain exotic dancer ("I'm N Luv Wit a Stripper") and returned to the top of the charts again this year by delivering the timeless albeit grammatically challenged come-on "Can I Buy You a Drank." I saw T-Pain perform a few months back in Clearwater at Wild Splash, and I'm fairly certain he lip-synced the singing parts. I know, I know, big surprise. (Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg)
SEVEN MARY THREE Alternative-somethings Seven Mary Three — the name's apparently ripped from an episode of ChiPS, though they say it's also "biblical" — will be very loud at the State Theatre. Between hard-rocking songs that sound slightly less overblown than Creed, diehard fans will sit through acoustic clichés that, um, emote ... something. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg) —Ted Scheinman
SIXX YEAR BENDER/CODE ZERO/SUNSET LILY The Friday night lineup at Rasher Tierney's in Bradenton is a tidy blast of pure punk. All three bands offer variations on the fast 'n' loud theme. The headliner, Sixx Year Bender, offers a faithful SoCal rendering, with smartass ruminations on drinking, getting drunk and drinking some mo'. Both Code Zero and Sunset Lily plow similar earth, albeit maybe with a touch more thematic reach. (Rasher Tierney's, Bradenton) —Cooper Levey-Baker
LUSH PROGRESS w/KELP/ERIC COLVILLE The second installment of the three-day Copacetic showcase at Crowbar features Tampa's Lush Progress, one of the more dynamic alt-rock bands in town, with keyboardist/cellist Tom Kersey adding textures that nicely complement the sensitive croon of lead vocalist Drew Cutler. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
DAMON FOWLER w/NERVOUS TURKEY Tampa's finest lap-steel/Dobro/Strat player, Damon Fowler and his power trio are a guaranteed crowd-pleaser at the Skipperdome. Opener Nervous Turkey should go over nicely, too, thanks to the Howlin'-Wolf-channeling of frontman Ernie Locke. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)
