Daily Loaf

Late this afternoon, just hours before controversial reggae singer Buju Banton’s concert at the Cuban Club in Ybor City was to take place, an emergency meeting was held inside radio station WMNF.

Banton’s song “Boom Bye Bye” advocates gay-bashing and murder, and has led  to a letter-writing campaign by the LGBT group  Equality Florida to protest Banton’s shows in Jacksonville, Miami and in Ybor City.

WMNF has had a relationship with the Cuban Club for years, using the facility for their popular Heatwave concerts.  But after one board member reportedly questioned whether that relationship should continue because of the controversy over Banton, Station Manager Jim Bennett called a meeting at 4p.m. on Friday.

Representing the Cuban Club was La Gaceta editor and publisher Patrick Manteiga, who sits on the Executive Committee of the Foundation Board of the Cuban Club.

The Cuban Club booked the show earlier this week after the show was canceled at the Ritz Theatre and Jannus Landing.  During a discussion with Bennett, Equality Florida’s Brian Winfield and several staff and board members of WMNF, Manteiga said the promoter had come to the Cuban Club because the Ritz had not sold many tickets for the event.

But others say that the Ritz wanted nothing to do with the show.

Manteiga said in the last 24 hours, Cuban Club board members had received some hate e-mail for booking the show.  He said that no one with the Club had any clue about the controversy surrounding Banton.

“What we’ve done is ask this artist not to perform this song, we’ve increased the deposit, and if he performs this song, we’ll keep the deposit,” Manteiga said.  He also said that the promoter agreed to pay for three additional police officers to staff the event.

Brian Winfield of Equality Florida told CL that his group was not satisfied with the Cuban Club agreeing to let the show go on, saying they were literally giving him a platform to deliver his hateful message toward gays and lesbians.

Winfield said he was not there to dictate to WMNF what their policy should be toward Banton (WMNF Program Director Randy Wynne said the station has only played “Boom Bye Bye” one time, and has a policy of not airing it.  But he says that they do play other songs from his repertoire.  During the meeting, he said “the bulk of his material does not reflect his message.”)

“We’re asking  community members and leaders like WMNF to stand up and clearly stand against the murderous message that Buju Banton represents and incites violence against gay people,” Winfield said.

He said that his group had no intention of protesting in front of the Cuban Club for Friday night’s performance.

(Full disclosure.  This reporter was a staff member of WMNF for over 9 years, and still does volunteer work with the station).

Jamaican dancehall singer Buju Banton, whose notorious song “Boom Bye Bye” advocates gay-bashing and murder, was originally supposed to play The Ritz Ybor and Jannus Landing this weekend. Those gigs are no more — cancelled like so many of the gigs on Banton’s U.S. tour. But now we hear the show is back on — at the Cuban Club in Ybor on Oct. 30. Here’s the promoters’ defiant announcement:

This is the show Gay Activists have tried to shut down. Originally scheduled for The Ritz Ybor then forced to move to Jannus Landing – Now CONFIRMED for The Cuban Club – The Buju Banton Freedom Tour! is an event for All Peoples of All Colors and Choices to embrace the Music from Jamaica BACK now in Ybor City where it should never have been made to leave!

Equality Florida had been calling for a letter-writing campaign to protest Buju Banton shows in Jacksonville, Miami and St. Pete, receiving what the organization calls “an unprecedented flood of hate mail and threats” as a result. Now that the St. Pete gig has been moved back to Ybor, expect a call to action there as well. Read the rest of this entry »

Tes One (nee Leon Bedore) returns to Tampa for Repeat Offender, his first solo show in five years. The artist’s prints are familiar to local gallery-goers (and to CL readers — he did our Obama-inauguration cover in January), and his new collection contrasts “nature with technology, grime with grace.” The results are immediately striking and visually interesting, but require closer inspection to fully digest. More often than not, what’s underneath the surface is even more important than the clearly visible — like the snarling grizzly bear screenprinted over a sign advertising “space available.” Ironic, of course, because we’re cutting down the trees in the grizzly’s space to make our signs. Best of the Bay-winning DJ Mega and Nak 1 scratch at the opening reception. Sat., Oct. 3, 7-11 p.m.; on display through Nov. 30, Redletter1 Gallery, 1510 E. Eighth Ave., Ybor City, free, 813-241-2435, tesone.net. –Franki Weddington

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, when buxom lasses and dudes in lederhosen lift steins to praise the amber liquid that will sustain us through the cold, cold winter — Oktoberfest! But how will you be able to take advantage of the two simultaneous brew celebrations this weekend? No worries, you won’t have to.  Do you like the crisp and simple taste of American and international macro-brews, sampled in refined comfort while sharks and rays look on in jealous hunger? Head to the CL-sponsored Brews by the Bay: Oktoberfest 2009 at The Florida Aquarium. Along with the full repertoire of Anheuser-Busch, you’ll be able to sample beers from Magic Hat, Boddington’s, Stella Artois and many others, all while noshing food from restaurants like Datz Deli. Smoke, and more. If local craft brew floats your sudsy boat, then Dunedin Brewery’s ninth annual OktoBEERfest is more your cup of tea. Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to On the Radar, where we preview up-and-coming arts events to mark your calendar for. The busy bees at the Best of the Bay-winning [5]art Gallery live up to the title this weekend, and we enjoy the sweet reward of their work with two interesting interdisciplinary events.

On Friday, the gallery debuts cumbas:echeverry:torres, a collection of recent works from Tampa-based artists: paintings by Edgar Sanchez Cumbas (also a BOTB winner); new media and printmaking by UT professor of art Santiago Echeverry ; and drawings by Alex Torres. A one night-only exhibit at the opening reception also includes mini-masterpieces from 5by5 that you can own for just $20 a pop. These small works on paper let even those of us on a Ramen noodle budget take home original art by hometown heroes like Allen Hampton, Rebecca Skelton, April Childers and many more. Our other local artisans – of beer, that is – from Cigar City Brewing provide suds and hors d’oeuvres.  Up next: Sleep of Reason Cinema Series. Read the rest of this entry »