Tampa Calling

Some shots from last night’s Green Day show at the forum. More will be featured in a follow-up review of the show that will be posted sometime tomorrow. Stay tuned.

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Metal Monday came early this week with Sunday evening’s show at Czar’s Imperial Palace featuring Torche, House of Lightning and Averkiou. Death Metal, one of Tampa’s more unqiue claims to fame, has influenced a plethora of subgenres including the hardcore scene I grew up in. It was awesome to see how many old school hardcore kids made it out on a Sunday night along with a whole new group of metal afficiandos.

Torche

Hailing from Miami, Torche has a rabid fan base hooked on their unique sound – part thrash with a twist of melodic hardcore, and dare I say a bit of twang, all against a solid metal foundation. Decibel Magazine called Torche’s music a “whole new beast built from the DNA up.” Ever since Torche’s Meanderthal (Hydrahead Records) took the No. 1 spot on Decibel’s 2008 Top 40 Extreme Albums list, the band’s fan base has rapidly expanded. Thankfully, their intensity remains intact. (MORE PICS AFTER THE JUMP) Read the rest of this entry »

Check out my shots from the Maxwell show at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater this past Thursday, July 30. Apparently the neo-soul singer is bashful; the handful of photographers were granted access to shoot the first three songs, but only from the very back of the auditorium.

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A series of shots from the Wednesday, July 22 show featuring Reel Big Fish, the English Beat and The Supervillains at The Ritz Theater in Ybor City.

Reel Big Fish

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Pedals on our Pirate Ships finally sailed into Tampa on July 21! Which explains how I found myself out late on a Tuesday work night at Transitions Art Gallery to see Pedals on our Pirate Ships (Richmond), The Wild (Atlanta) and Regular Size People Fight (Tampa).

Pedals on our Pirate Ships

My friend Jeff made me some mix CDs last winter and the song that immediately caught my attention was “Peter Pan Syndrome,” with its chorus “Will you be my Wendy? Will you be my Tinkerbell? / Don’t be silly you can be my Tiger Lily still” and lines like “We don’t have goals but we have lots of fun” and “but secretly we all miss our mothers, we seek security in the arms of lovers.” When I couldn’t get the song out of my head, I looked up the band with a peculiar name, Pedals on our Pirate Ships, listened to the rest of the songs posted on their Myspace page, and was hooked.

Hailing from Richmond, VA, these folk punk rockers play extremely fun and catchy tunes with just a tinge of introspection. In “Reinventing Bryan Adams” Matt belts out “Why do they call it goodbye, doesn’t feel so good to me, why don’t we call a spade a spade, say what we really mean… look me in the eye and say loving you is fucking killing me” At the show, a small but enthusiastic crowd sang along at the top of their lungs to the crowd favorites, including “Peter Pan Syndrome” and “Night of the Living Wage.” Read the rest of this entry »

WMNF’s 4th Annual Americana Fest at Skipper’s Smokehouse went off without a hitch this past Saturday, July 11, a hand clappin’, boot stompin’ good time that showcased the vast array of talent in Florida’s Americana scene.

Have Gun, Will Travel

Originally masterminded by Ted Lukas, Americana Fest is all grown up. This year featured ten outstanding Florida Americana bands: Ted Lukas & the Misled, Will Quinlan & the Diviners, Have Gun, Will Travel, Thomas Wynn & the Believers, Nervous Turkey, Black Finger, Roppongi’s Ace, Mike Dunn & the Kings of New England, Matt Butcher and The Nine Volts plus a national headliner: Blue Mountain. Read the rest of this entry »

In three short years, the Reax/ThxMgmt Hot Dog Show has established itself as a must-attend event of the summer, providing a great opportunity to see a diverse group of bands, catch up with old friends, make some new ones, and of course, witness a hot dog-eating contest. This year, the Hot Dog Show took place on Friday, July 3, at Crowbar. I arrived just in time to see the first female victory in the hot dog eating contest (sorry – I didn’t catch her name!), which was followed by an animated performance by Bealsville/Plant City-based Shunda K of Yo Majesty! Bringing the evening to a dance party conclusion was Sunbears! (Jacksonville).

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“There’s so much joy in what we do up here…” Craig Finn of The Hold Steady exclaimed to fans near the end of their set at The Ritz on July 2, 2009, “…we are all the Hold Steady!“

The joy rang loud and proud throughout their set. Fans of The Hold Steady don’t just come and watch the band — they participate and follow along with the band antics.

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A rainy evening in Tampa couldn’t put out the metal fire at the Brass Mug on Wednesday, July 1. I caught the last two bands of the evening, Seventh Rule Records labelmates Light Yourself on Fire (Tampa) and Wetnurse (NYC).

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A band of Florida traveling bards and minstrels aka the Citrus Circuit Tour made a stop at New World Brewery on Saturday, featuring Lake Worth’s Truckstop Coffee, Daytona’s Lauris Vidal, Gainesville’s The Takers and Bradento-based Have Gun, Will Travel.

Have Gun, Will Travel

With three new songs and a Tom Petty cover, Have Gun, Will Travel (HGWT) continues to innovate at each show. Accordingly, HGWT’s set had New World Brewery dancing up a storm and singing their hearts out to old favorites like “When We Were Kings” and “Blessing and a Curse” (affectionately know by fans as “Bop Ba Da” after the chorus that stays in your head all the way home). Read the rest of this entry »

A delightful and talented band of troubadours, Cory Branan, Jon Snodgrass (of Drag the River/Armchair Martian) and Joey Cape (of Lagwagon), stopped in at New World Brewery on a balmy Thursday evening last June 25. The concept behind this tour was to get these three alt-country musicians together on a stage and see what happens in a casual format, kinda like the Revival Tour.

Jon Snodgrass and Cory Branan (pictured above) kicked off the festivities by alternating songs and occasionally performing duets – check out “Born Apart.” The audience enthusiastically joined in on their performance, singing along to their favorite tunes like Sondgrass’ “Song for Gibson” and Branan’s “Prettiest Waitress In Memphis.” (MORE PICS AFTER THE JUMP.) Read the rest of this entry »

Frodus Conglomerate International (1993-1999) resurrected on June 18, 2009 at Redlight Redlight, Orlando, FL, continuing what has been an outstanding ’90s hardcore reunion year (most recently the unbroken/split lip reunion at burning fight). Supporting the resurrection was Tampa’s Guiltmaker and Orlando’s Hurrah.

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Pontiak galloped into New World Brewery this past Thursday, June 11, the exceptional headliner of History’s last show in Tampa supported by King of Spain and Glasgow. Another splendid Thx Mgmt show – thanks Joe.

Pontiak

To get the downlow on Pontiak, check out Eric Snider’s interview with the brothers who make up this band. Live, Pontiak delivers a constantly evolving performance, its members switching instruments (who doesn’t love the impact of double drum sets?) and keeping even the most jaded scenester interested. These mistral brothers are a talented family garnering positive media attention from sources as diverse as Pitchfork and Wired. Read the rest of this entry »

Thx Mgmt brought an all-star Florida rock n’ roll show to New World Brewery last Friday, June 5, featuring Tampa darlings The Beauvilles, Orlando-based Thomas Wynn & The Believers and Jacksonville’s Shawn Fisher & The Jukebox Gypsies. The master plan was a mini-weekend tour with stops at each of the bands’ hometowns while rotating the headliner spot and introducing the out-of-town bands to new audiences. A grand idea!

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Ed Lowery and friends (which includes the Tampa Two Stroke Scooter Club) threw a benefit concert in support of Mike Formato, a friend injured in a serious scooter accident, at New World Brewery this past Saturday May 30. It was a eclectic evening of music featuring sets by Magadog, Light Yourself on Fire and The Boozers.

Magadog

Magadog is the band that introduced me to ska at the tender age of 16, opening up a parallel universe to the SXE/hardcore scene. When I moved to DC for college, I was surprised to find that the hardcore and ska scenes didn’t interact in any purposeful way like they do here in Tampa. When Magadog broke up, it was very sad … my friends and I had so much fun through the years with them at shows with Checkered Cabs, Skavoovie and The Epitones, The Toasters, The Pietasters and many others. When Magadog reformed in 2007, we were psyched to have them back and so far, we haven’t been disappointed! With one new record out, Sunrise…, and another on the way, Ybor City, Magadog is firmly back in the skank of things. Saturday evening’s performance had the crowd skanking the night away… who doesn’t love a little skaerobics? Read the rest of this entry »

City of Ships sailed into Ybor City last Friday, May 29, and headlined a New Granada Show at New World Brewery with Tampa favorites Guiltmaker and Gainesville-based Liquid Limbs.

City of Ships

Currently hailing from Richmond, Va., City of Ships produces a unique brand of heavy yet clever post-hardcore rock. Live, the band delivers a mega sound that is LOUD … the last time my ears felt like this (i.e., as if they were bleeding) was after a Deadguy/108 show in the mid-’90s. With long hair, and some strategic fan placement, the headbanging was ON. But to call City of Ships a headbanging rock band means you are missing the point. Their music is complex and incorporates a variety of musical influences all rolled up in a unique package. They are one of the few bands that you love listening to both on disc and live. City of Ships has a new record due out on July 21, 2009, Look What God Did To Us (Translation Loss Records), and they are touring extensively this summer across the US and Europe. In the meantime, check out their myspace page for teaser songs. Read the rest of this entry »

WMNF’s 2009 Tropical Heatwave managed to be a scorcher in spite of torrential downpours. The best thing about Heatwave is the ability to see a wide variety of genres in one evening in close proximity. I managed to catch 10 bands this year on 5 stages: The Beauvilles, David Dondero, James Intveld, Johnny Cakes & The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypso, Kinobe & Soul Beat Africa, Magadog, Modern Skirts, Will Quinlan & The Diviners, Roppongi’s Ace and Thomas Wynn & The Believers.

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Last night, Photographer Phil and I played Heatwave Hopscotch, skipping from stage to stage, pausing longer at some than at others though never staying long enough to get comfortable in any one place, and having a grand old time all along the way.

We cruised into Heatwave around 9 p.m., missing the monsoon and arriving just in time to catch a snatch of blues guitarist Michael Burks at the Bandshell before we landed in the Cantina for Kinobe and Soul Beat Africa. (Kinobe pictured, photo by Phil Bardi.)

We were in our spot two seconds and one sip into our drinks before we were befriended by a pair of jolly 40ish Bradenton gals (I nicknamed them Angel and Curly), who immediately pushed a few Ace’s Lounge cards on us, then admitted to being friends with the owner. Angel went on to extol all Ace’s virtues (she called it the “Skipper’s Smokehouse of Bradenton”) and about the hotel conveniently located right across the street, the Jimmy Buffett-themed Parrot Inn. You could virtually make a night of it – see a show at the famed Ace’s, stumble over to the Parrot and get a room, hit Bradenton Beach the next day if your head’s still attached. (Angel admitted she’d already booked a room for Red Elvises in October.) Then she and Phil started chatting about photography and her husband’s new hobby of taking pics of the sky through his mega-high tech telescope, and how Saturn was so clear right now that you could see its moons. When Phil ducked away to take pics, Angel latched onto me, and told me about how excited she was to see some world music, the greatness of what we were seeing while we were seeing it, the lady who scooted into the huge spot in front of us and whether she was a temporary or permanent stopper. I ran into Van, spotted a dude who was a deadringer for Donald Sutherland, enjoyed a few songs worth of the warm and buoyant Ugandan music, then snagged Phil and dragged him to the Ballroom. (Many more pics and tidbits after the jump.) Read the rest of this entry »

Thx Mgmt hosted yet another fine show this past Wednesday, May 6 — Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit with Red Cortez at Crowbar.

One thing is certain: Americana fans are a committed group. From the moment the music started, the outside patio emptied, people practically sprinting inside. The audience actually watched Red Cortez, unusual for a relatively unknown opening act. As soon as Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit started setting up, people rushed the stage so they could be assured a spot up front. Read the rest of this entry »

Nostalgia is a powerful emotion that drives you to do things like spend hours looking up people you haven’t spoken to for 20 years on Facebook, or periodically dust off your yearbook to page through notations ranging from sentimental to inane. For those of us growing up in the hardcore straightedge music scene, nostalgia makes us do things like fly to Chicago for an Unbroken reunion.

The Unbroken reunion was the main event of the Burning Fight music fest held in Chicago at The Metro, May 2-3, featuring 22 hardcore bands as well as a pre-show at the Subterranean on May 1. Burning Fight was first conceived as a celebration of the publishing of Brian Peterson’s new book, Burning Fight: The Nineties Hardcore Revolution in Ethics, Politics, Spirit, and Sound. Norm Arenas had a similar concept when he published his own book, Anti-Matter Anthology, and hosted two Snapcase reunion shows in New York (also featuring 108, Triple Threat and Supertouch). A testament to how hardcore/straightedge scenes work, both shows were benefits: the Anti-Matter shows raised funds for Cal Robbins, the sick son of rock artist J. Robbins, while the Burning Fight shows benefited Rock for Reading and PAWS Chicago. Read the rest of this entry »

Saturday found a distilled presence at New World Brewery!

Whiskey & Co. headlined a fine evening of Americana along with Will Quinlan & The Diviners and Matt Butcher this past Saturday, April 25. The show was hosted by Thx Mgmt. (More pics and info about the show after the jump.) Read the rest of this entry »

Dead Confederate headlined an eclectic evening of psychedelic, experimental electronica, soul and straight up rock this past Friday, April 24, at Crowbar in Ybor City with support by The Future on Films in Space, The Beauvilles and Palantine.

Dead Confederate, which hails from Athens, Ga., is hard to describe … their stage set-up suggests metal while their stage presence more like grunge, but the music itself is decidedly clever. The Onion suggests that Dead Confederate is forging a new genre of music … check them out and decide for yourself! Read the rest of this entry »

Austin-by-way-of-Orlando’s New Roman Times were on their best game this past Saturday, April 18, at New World Brewery as they celebrated the release of their full-length, On The Sleeve, on New Granada Records. Frequently compared with indie greats like The Pixies, Versus and Sonic Youth, NRT successfully fuses quality songwriting with dance-worthy guitar-driven rock ‘n’ roll.

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I admit it that I start too many blogs lamenting about why it is that there are no shows (that I want to see, at least) for days/week/months and then there are several competing shows the same night …

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It’s not every day we’re lucky enough to see a veritable folk legend at New World Brewery — especially not one with a career as illustrious as Country Hall of Famer Charlie Louvin. On Friday, Mr. Louvin and his band graced New World Brewery with a special performance. At 82, Mr. Louvin tours regularly, releases new records and continues to inspire a new generation of musicians. He effortlessly connects with an all-ages audience by weaving stories and running commentary in between songs in a manner that most musicians can’t even dream of pulling off. Most of us can only dream of being this cool at any point in our lives — let alone at 82.

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Where to begin? Last Thursday seems like so long ago, the start of a very long weekend of incredible music. With the Harvest Of Hope festival bringing bands by the boatload to Florida, many of them played shows throughout the state before and after the weekend. I (with my girlfriend and a few other friends) went to four shows in six days across the state. I did my best to document all of this with pictures and video; and even managed to score a short video interview with Bryce Dessner of The National. Read the rest of this entry »

Lucero played a long, raucous set Friday night at New World Brewery, plowing steadfastly through their extensive catalog while managing to thoroughly engage a sold-out audience. Lucero’s regular band members are Roy Berry (drums), Ben Nichols (vocals/guitar), John C. Stubblefield (bass) and Brian Venable (guitar). On this tour, they are joined by Todd Beene (pedal steel) and Rick Steff (keyboard/accordion).

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About 50 folks came out to New World Brewery Thursday night to see Parlor Mob, B.L.O.R.R., Gasoline Heart and The Sheaks.

New Jersey based Parlor Mob play what best can be described as a mashup of Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin and Bon Jovi, without a hint of irony. They converted a few local skeptics with an absolutely frenetic live show. One attendee said, “I never listen to this kind of music, but these guys put on an amazing show.”

Speaking of frenetic live shows, Jacksonville’s B.L.O.R.R. (Bastard Love Child Of Rock ‘n Roll) managed to work a dozen young fans into a torn shirt, dancing tornado of hormones with their synth-driven set. Fearless Tampa Calling contributor Aly Carr managed to take a picture with their pants-less drummer.

More pictures below the jump. Some NSFW.

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On Monday, which was one of coldest nights of the year in Tampa, Los Campesinos! and Titus Andronicus shared the stage at The Orpheum in Ybor and warmed the crowd with blisteringly hot tunes. Its rare for Tampa to get a chance to see two young bands in the early stages of their careers on the same bill. Read the rest of this entry »

With temperatures in the 30’s, a steady stream filed into Ybor’s New World Brewery for the release of Tampa-based alternative-country band Roppongis Ace’s first CD, Into the Night.

The album was recorded this December at Steve Connonely’s Zen studios while Drummer Max Norton and Singer/Guitarist Alex Spoto were on break from college. Spoto says the title simply stemmed from what their recording experience included. “Not much sleep and we went into the night,” he said.

And last night’s performance had the crowd there into the night as well. Many of them have watched the band grow since they were in high school, playing small shows around town.

They were joined by Max’s older brother Jessie on bass and harmonica.

It would seem a salty blues man in his sixties has crawled into Spoto’s vocal chords and made a happy home there. Spoto wrote all the songs on the album, but noted how vital collaboration from the Norton Bros. was to making the sound a complete package.

A new addition to the band was Rebekah Pulley’s bassist, Rob Pastore holding down the steel pedal.

Right off the bat, Roppongi’s Ace had the crowd pumped, but when the speakers filled with a ‘thickfreakness‘ dense version of  ”So it goes”, it seemed that even the most modest of attendees took to stompin‘ without a moments thought. That included Norton and Spoto’s family, who can only beam with pride at the turnout and support for the young band’s talent. More below the jump: Read the rest of this entry »

The Cigar City Tattoo Convention took over Ybor City’s Cuban Club this past weekend and brought much more than tattoos, including some special musical guests. Friday night’s lineup included Drag The River, Joey Cape, Whiskey & Co, Tim Version and Nessie. Murphy’s Law meant there was also a great show at New World Brewery featuring Life of Pi, Military Junior and Blast and The Detergents. I bounced back and forth between the venues and captured some fun moments. Links to complete photo sets are at the bottom of the post.

Nessie at The Cuban Club

Nessie is Joey Neill (bass/vocals), Joe Going (drums) & Scott Harrell (vocals/guitar)

Tim Version at The Cuban Club

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Though a naturally occurring gas, radon in the building world can be a big problem.  Luckily in the music world, recurrent Radon means rejoicing.  Radon version 1.0 was a stalwart of the Florida scene in the ’90s.  Since reforming they have put out a new album on No Idea Records and have been out playing shows in support. Sadly, this was my first time catching them since the reformation. On Saturday, December 27, Transitions Art Gallery was packed to welcome Radon back to Tampa and enjoy the opening acts. Alas, I only managed to catch Lemuria briefly before Radon took the stage.

Lemuria

Lemuria might just be my new favorite band of the minute. Hailing from Buffalo, NY, the trio creates an irresistible indie pop akin to [insert references to '90s indie bands here] but with their own unique twist.  In summary, Lemuria is just plain fun.

Lemuria = Sheena Ozzella – Guitar / Vocals, Alexander Kerns – Drums / Vocals & Jason Draper – Bass

Clapping along to Lemuria

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Have Gun, Will Travel performing at New World Brewery Sat., Dec. 27.

After the Radon show , I skedaddled over to New World Brewery just in time to catch Have Gun, Will Travel in another fine Thx Mgmt-hosted bill. HGWT is consistently one of my favorite live acts because they continue to innovate each time I see them with fresh improvisations on their material and inevitably a new song or two. Read the rest of this entry »

In Commonwealth countries, the day after Christmas is known as Boxing Day or St. Stephen’s Day, when everyone commonly gathered together and celebrated in various ways. (When I lived in Dublin, Ireland, I got to see Mummers perform on the post-holiday holiday.)  Sadly, in Tampa, we don’t have Mummers but thanks to THX MGMT, we were treated to a great night of local music featuring Geri X, Rec Center, Sons of Hippies, and The Actomatics. Read the rest of this entry »

Hankshaw & Friends

The annual New Granada Christmas Show at New World Brewery featuring King of Spain, Davey von Bohlen, Hankshaw and Jarvik 7 was a splendid night of reunions with a grand soundtrack.  The show has a reputation for unique elements (including in past years the reunions of Scrog, Pohgoh and appearances by elusive bands like The Blackwoods Orchestra) and it’s a place to meet up with friends from near and far.

King of Spain… Read the rest of this entry »