THURSDAY, AUGUST 23
Fang Island w/Adebisi Shank Opening with a neoclassical piano fugue and paralleling pedal-warped Brian Eno-esque guitar harmonies, "Kindergarten" kicks off Fang Island's 2012 sophomore effort (Major) and first on indie label Sargent House with the mantra, "All I know / I learned in / kindergarten." The trio makes plenty of whimsical statements and delivers an eclectic album imbued with glowing cheer and effervescent spirit, from the summery emo-pop of hooky guitar riffing "Sisterly," to the rollicking and rolling hoedown-meets-prog metal instrumentals of "Dooney Rock." Another three-piece, Irish experimental rockers Adebisi Shank, warms up the show. (Local 662, St. Petersburg)
Madison Turner w/Waxed Curbs/ The Long Johns/ Ink and Sweat/The Mud Flappers Musician Maddie Turner — of now-defunct local band Paranoia Dance Party! — stages her first live show as a solo artist. She'll be slinging guitar and singing as backed by a full band. "We're playing my old solo stuff (folky, punky, ska) and a few covers," Turner wrote in a recent email. Gainesville's Waxed Curbs bring surfing ska to the bill, The Long Johns deliver a more clear-cut ska sound, Ink and Sweat offer up punchy punk pop, and The Mud Flappers sprinkle in some gypsy folk flavor. (Transitions Art Gallery @ Skatepark of Tampa)
The Pass w/Spies on Bikes/Personal Boy The Pass hails from Louisville, Ky., and builds 1980s-imbued beat-pumping dance pop with retro keyboard sonics, zippy fizzing basslines and the emotive vocal stylings of guitarist Kyle Peters. The band adds saturated lights and fog machine haze to their live performances. Also on the bill: Spies on Bikes, the sample and found sound-strewn electro-experimental music project of Nathan Cochran; and Jacksonville's computer-blippin' pop outfit Personal Boy, formed earlier this year by musicians Drew Bond and Tom Essex, with Lindsey Tuller lending her vocals to their mixes. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
KRAKENFEST 12 w/King Conquer/Bermuda/Adaliah/The Last Ten Seconds of Life/In Dying Arms/Dark Sermon/many more The "Devastation on the Nation Tour" crashes disharmoniously into town for the 12th annual edition of Krakenfest, with Naples hardcore death metal fivesome King Conquer heading up the crushing festivities as warmed up by a huge lineup of acts ranging the heavy music spectrum. (Orpheum, Ybor City)
Hopsin w/Dizzy Wright/SwizZz/Jarren Benton/DJ Hoppa Known for sporting white contacts ("my white eyes are for making people look stupid when they judge my book by its cover" he once Tweeted), YouTube rap sensation Hopsin kicked off his viral career with 2010 video "Sag My Pants" (currently at 15.2 million views). The song is an introduction of sorts in which Hopsin reveals both his clever intellect ("I'm just an idiotic, ironic, explainsymbolic, Illuminati product / That's gonna be killed if I talk about it [shhh]") and his dark style of bravado; he disses hip hop artists Drake and Lil Wayne for not being hard enough, Soulja Boy for just plain sucking ("Soulja Boy you got a corny flow / So you can suck my fucking dick through a glory hole"), and calls out Eazy-E's wife Tomica Wright for signing him to the late rapper's Ruthless label, then setting him aside. Hopsin is on tour hyping his "game changer" third album, Knock Madness, due out this September. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
FRIDAY, AUGUST 24
Escape Tonight CD Release Party w/Lions After Dark/Yesterday's Tragedy/Lights Out Lemmings/Civil Action/C.R.O.W. On their debut full-length, Far From Home (Super Sidekick Records), Escape Tonight thrusts and grinds through 10 punk-fused alt rock tracks marked by thick riffing power chords and the brawny howls of frontman/guitarist Russell Fama. The band has experienced some personnel changes since laying down tape with producer Joe Quinde (behind Jay Z's platinum-selling Grammy-winning third LP, Hard Knock Life - Volume 2) at Old Town Recording Studios in North Carolina. Original member "Voodoo" Rick Herbert is still pounding bass, but drumming duties are currently filled by Chris Denny and lead guitarist Pete Tremblay was brought into the fold to add supplemental harmonies and layers to the mix. Escape Tonight is joined by a handful of other like acts at this Friday's CD release party. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
Rays Summer Concert Series: O.A.R. With the RNC beginning on Monday, this weekend's baseball fans will likely be joined by protesters, delegates, and various other out-of-towners, a far cry from the college-age crowd O.A.R. (Of A Revolution) is used to entertaining. But the 16-year-old Maryland alt rock band with ska and pop tendencies is definitely an appropriate act to follow a Rays-Athletics game that finds both teams vying for the wild card spot in the playoffs, delivering uplifting vibes if the Rays lose and providing a suitably festive atmosphere if they win. (Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg) —Miles Parks
St. Pete Beat Surf, Sun and Sake Party w/Girls on the Beach/Archaic Interest/Jensen Serf Co. For this Sake Bomb shindig, three sunshiney surf bands and St. Pete Beat faves take the standing room stage: Orlando’s all-male Girls on the Beach have a coarse garage feel; Archaic Interest offers up a loose and rambling watery-warped pop appeal; and Jensen Serf Co.'s skuzzy lo-fi vintage rock sounds twice as old as the fresh young upstarts who play it. (Sake Bomb, St. Petersburg)
