With images pulled from pop culture of both today and yesterday, Size Matters took over Nova 535 on Friday night. The Vitale Brothers were the stars of the show, with a supporting cast of artists who brought their insight and character to the exhibit. A complete list of artists, plus photos of artwork and partygoers after the break:
Channelside put on a great photo show on July 4th, though it was surprisingly short. The whole thing, from first blast to grand finale probably only went on for 20 minutes. I remember the previous shows I’ve seen in Detroit and New Orleans going on for at least 30-40 minutes. That said, I got a few decent shots.
More pictures after the jump: Read the rest of this entry »
I had low expectations for Stump’s Supper Club and Howl at the Moon at Channelside. I thought about all the half-hearted piano-based lounge acts that I saw in Vegas and New Orleans, and I wasn’t exactly excited to go. After wrestling with the idea, I decided to give it a try and I’m glad I did.
I went on Thursday night, met up with the piano men and got a front row seat while I was waiting for them to start. The place was pretty dead at 10 p.m., but people began trickling in as the set started. It’s important to note that this isn’t your granddad’s piano bar. The songs they play are all pop hits from the last 40 years, and they draw on the crowd for suggestions. Read the rest of this entry »
Last night, Dereck and I went to the St. Petersburg Tweetup, held at Savannah’s Cafe (1113 Central Ave, St Petersburg, FL 33705-1650, (727) 388-4371). This was a much different crowd and vibe than any Tweetup I’d been too before. The crowd was more mature, more segmented and a bit frazzled. That said, I did shake a lot of hands and meet a lot of interesting folks involved in social media.
I also managed to get a few pictures in the packed upstairs meeting room. Here they are:
Last night, Dereck and I attended the SuperNova Sunday event at NOVA 535 (535 Dr. M. L. King Jr Street N, Saint Petersburg, FL 33701, (727) 821-6682). I’ve been spending a lot of time at NOVA lately, and when I heard they were putting on a weekly party that was part Gong Show and part social gathering, I decided it was time to go do a photo shoot.
Today, I attended the “April Powerslide Rallycross” races at East Bay Racetrack (6311 Burts Rd
Tampa, FL 33619), one of my favorite places to kick some dirt around.
This race, one that’s held every few months, is an open call to anyone to bring most any kind of car they want out on the track. The track is a series of curved in and out of cones and barrel, set up for skill instead of speed. Helmets are required, but former training or experience isn’t. There were many people at the event today who has never driven rallycross, autocross or any other format of competitive driving.
More shots below the jump:
On Saturday, several teams of dragonboats took to Garrison Channel, a thin strip of water separating Harbour Island from the St. Pete Times Forum and the rest of Channelside. Racing in small groups of five teams, the races ran continually throughout the morning. The 6th Annual Tampa Dragonboat Race brought corporate teams and dragonboat enthusiasts alike.
Keep reading for photos of all the action. Read the rest of this entry »
Bat Boy The Musical is a great show, and the current Carrollwood Players production does it justice. Read on for my review and more photos of the show. Read the rest of this entry »
On Wednesday I attended an exclusive photo preview of the new IKEA Tampa at 22nd & Adamo. I’m really impressed with this store, and its grand opening May 6 is likely to be a big event.
A few things about this IKEA make it different from many other retails, including other IKEA stores. First, this is the biggest IKEA in Florida. The walking tour, which lasted almost three hours, didn’t even cover the guts of the store. We literally danced from section to section and I ended up doing a lot of “walk and snap” photography, just trying to get it all in. Read the rest of this entry »
Tek-nique Entertainment continues to put on great shows throughout Tampa Bay, the latest being the State of the Art 2.0 show at the Roosevelt in Ybor City last Saturday. (Read about Project 3.0, the renovation team behind the Roosevelt, in Creative Loafing’s Green 100 list.) Local artists including Christine A. Galas and J.E. Feightner were featured, in media ranging from digital to living art to works on canvas.
Outside, an artist created a spray-paint mural of a robot monster “Meka” for the passing crowd.
Inside, vistors were greeted first with “Slaves of the 21st Century,” a series of tableaux that seemed to be a critique of lives devoted to excess and external fulfillment.
“Beat Cancer with a Paddle,” held last Saturday on the Hillsborough River’s Seddon Channel, was the first event of its kind in Tampa, drawing hundreds of kayak and paddlecraft enthusiasts to the river to raise money for cancer research. The weather was absolutely perfect. At 8 a.m., it was a warm 77 degrees and the open sky made for a beautiful view of the river.
Riverfront Park played host to the event, bringing out paddlers of all skill levels. Two runs were made, the first a 5-mile race from Riverfront Park to Marjorie Park and back. The second, a 2-mile family-friendly paddle from Riverfront to the convention center, brought even more paddlers looking to beat cancer with a paddle. All proceeds from sponsors and donations went to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.
Here are more photos I took of the event. Read the rest of this entry »
When it comes to art, the raw appeal of street-influenced work appeals most to me. Infused with music and the first-hand knowledge of life in urban areas, art like the Irregular Artbeat Show (Skatepark of Tampa, 4215 Each Columbus Drive, Tampa FL 33605, 813-621-6793) mixes and remixes mediums.
Hundreds of hungry people converged on the Taste of New Tampa festival on Sunday, a collection of local restaurants and other businesses coming together to share their love of New Tampa. In the three hours I was there, I hand-to-mouthed it to every exhibit, catering to my obesity and fulfilling every whim of my inner fat kid. For $15, you really do get the gamut of cuisine, and most of it was well worth it. Read the rest of this entry »
I was recently contacted by Underground Xpress, a local Tampa underground video program that covers local music, local bands and other local talents. The creative epicenter and host, Lady Grace, agreed to an interview about Underground Xpress.
How and when did UX start?
I took up videography in July of 2008 and wanted to start an internet video podcast as a learning project. Music immediately came to mind as the main concept because I have spent the majority of my life supporting the local music scene. I wanted to stick with something that I love but I also didn’t want to limit the focus to just music. The words Underground Xpress came to mind because I knew that I would want to cover more than just music and support all sorts of underground arts.
Now I had the idea, the name and I knew how to do the video podcast. Now all I needed to know was whether or not I could pull the whole together. Host it, film it, edit it and so on, when I was really only just learning everything for the first time. So…I got a video camera and a friend and I went to a concert that night to film it and interview the band. I guess we needed to see what we were made of. That night we interviewed and videotaped our first band. and as they say…. The rest is history. Now UX is on public access and the internet and it is becoming the newest source for Underground artists to be supported and promoted locally and nationally on the world wide web.
What inspired you to start Underground Xpress? Read the rest of this entry »
I could probably sum up my entire day at the AirFest air show at Mac Dill Air Force Base in just three words: “America, Fuck Yeah.” Never have I seen such blatant nationalism, mixing the chauvinistic strut and machismo of the modern military industrial complex with the power and beautiful of well engineered aircraft both of current militia and of days gone past.
More picture below the jump: Read the rest of this entry »
When Creative Loafing puts on a party, it puts on a party! The HoneyPot (1507 E. 7th Avenue in Ybor City, Tampa, Florida) was the host for the fourth annual “Sensory Overload” party, a mix of live music, djs, circuit bending, models, artwork and booze. While not what I expected, it was an excellent collection of elements.
I love a good microbrew, and the last decade has brought hundreds of exceptional contenders to the table. A lot of these operations are just a couple of guys in a basement experimenting with new flavors. Some of them are future Sam Adams, preparing to take a place amongst the big boys both in distribution and recognition.
Cigar City Brewing Company is the brainchild of Joey Redner, with Wayne Wambles as head brewer. After a year-long wait, they’re finally open for business. Cigar City put together a dozen new tastes for their launch party, held on Saturday at the Oldsmar Tap House (300 State St. E. #107, Oldsmar, FL 34677), drawing a crowd that packed the place with beer lovers of every form.
Many pics after the break:
As a fat kid, I have a certain spidey-sense about delicious food, particularly when several streets are blocked off in the celebration of it. You don’t get much more delicious than Italian cuisine, and when I heard about the Ybor City Festa Italiana I knew I had a carbo-date with destiny.
We arrived around noon and the streets were packed. I actually made a very wise move in parking 8 blocks away from the nearest gate, both to save on parking (only $4!) and because the walk both there and back was necessary. If I hadn’t walked, I would have carbed myself right into a food coma before making it home.
We had the option to buy tickets in packs of 25 or 55. I opted for the 55 tickets for $25, as I knew from the smell in the air that I would kick myself if I didn’t indulge in every possible fat-kid fantasy here. The crowd was an insurmountable force at times, often forming little channels of traffic between people standing around eating and talking. Read the rest of this entry »
There are as many types of tattoo enthusiasts as there are tattoo designs, and that is evident at the 10th Annual Tampa Bay Tattoofest. Held this weekend at the Double Tree Hotel, (4500 West Cypress Street, Tampa, Florida 33607, 941-356-9499) this event brings tattoo artists, vendors, clients and celebrities together to celebrate body art of all forms.
You’ll see the primitives, complete with tribalistic stretched ears and implants. You’ll see fully sleeved men and women showing skin and sharing experiences. You’ll see first timers meeting a famous tattoo artist to get their first bit of ink from the most skilled in the craft. This tattoo festival brings together people of every walk of life in the name of body modification and the pain we all share for that art.
More info and many more photos after the break:
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