Tampa Calling

Most pop singers from the ’60s and ’70s who are fortunate enough to still be touring resort to what I call vocal cheats. That’s when they get to a point in an old hit that has a particularly high note they can’t hit — a note that especially resonates with the baby-boomer audience — so they either drop it an octave or turn it over to the background singers.

There’s nothing really shameful about these vocal cheats — it would be worse, for instance, if Daryl Hall tried to hit that big release note in “She’s Gone” and failed miserably. Or if Roger Daltrey attempted to render the big scream in “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and sounded like a frog.

I tell you all this because I saw Boz Scaggs last night at Ruth Eckerd Hall and he didn’t resort to any vocal cheats. He’s 65 years old. Very impressive. When, on “Lido Shuffle,” it came time for the “Lido, whoa, whoa” part, he was right on it — with the backup singers helping, yes, but not drowning him out and thus protecting him. Scaggs came up a little short or a little thin on some of the high notes, but he went for them all.

It wasn’t just the lack of vocal cheats that made Scaggs’ 75-minute set in front of a near-sold-out crowd a success. His voice still has that full, creamy texture of the old days, and his delivery and phrasing brimmed with nuance. (more photos below; all are by Tracy May)

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It’s a holiday weekend, which means one extra day of partying down and supporting the local music scene without fear of a hangover-filled workday to follow. Here’s a quick breakdown of your best live music bets. For a more comprehensive schedule of concerts, check out our Upcoming Events page.

Thursday, July 2
Mike Dunn & the Kings of New England (pictured at right)/Will Quinlan/King of Spain Winter Park singer/songwriter Mike Dunn makes music that evokes freedom and wind in your face. His grabby, anthemic tunes send out a whiff of Americana, but at core they are pure, pop-infused rock ’n’ roll. Dunn pulls from a list of 11 confederates to make up his backing band, the Kings of New England, on any given night. No word on how many will show up at New World for this gig, but the safe bet is it won’t be all 11. Atlanta’s Rick Brantley was formerly on the bill but has been replaced by local one-man experimental rocker, King of Spain (Matt Slate). And Quinlan, well, we all know Quinlan, the dour dean of Tampa Bay’s Americana scene. Thurs., July 2, 9 p.m., New World Brewery, Ybor City, $7. —ES

Michael McDonald + Boz Scaggs Two of the most popular vocalists of the 1970s join together in a co-bill at Ruth Eckerd. My strong preference is Scaggs, with his round, throaty soul croon. His Silk Degrees (’76) is an unmitigated classic. Lately, Scaggs’ has added standards from the American Songbook to his repertoire, so his show will be a compendium of material over several decades. (Concertgoer alert: He’s going on first; to read more about him, check out the CL feature here.) When McDonald joined the Doobie Brothers in 1975, they went from a guitar-oriented bar band (albeit a slick one) to a Grammy-winning pop outfit dominated by McDonald’s keyboards and syrupy voice. He had a solid solo career in the 1980s, despite the blemish known as “Yah Mo B There.” Thurs., July 02, 7:30 p.m., Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater, $62.50-$103. —Eric Snider

Friday, July 03
Starlight Mints/Evangelicals (pictured at left, photo by Sarah Cass) You might want to take a break from the Hot Dog show and stroll up the street for Starlight Mints, a band out of Norman, Okla. (home of Flaming Lips) that would make a proper co-bill with Sunbears!. The quartet of “pop mutants” brings plenty of whimsy and weirdness to their sound, but never strays from tried-and-true rock verities: hooks, tuneful vocals, muscular rhythms. The band is backboned by synthesizers, but adds playful twists — like the cartoon horns on “Zoomba” from their new album Change Remains. Evangelicals are also from Norman, and sound as if they might’ve been to a few barbecues at Coyne’s house. Fri., July 3, 9 p.m., New World Brewery, Ybor City, $8. —ES
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Boz Scaggs performs at Ruth Eckerd Hall Thurs., July 2

To casual music fans, Boz Scaggs is that smooth dude from the ’70s with those disco-ey hits “Lowdown” and “Lido Shuffle.” They might even know about his 1976 smash album Silk Degrees, which included those tunes as well as “Georgia,” “What Can I Say” and “Harbor Lights.”

Although Scaggs’ days as a major hitmaker ended in the early 1980s — in large part because he took a self-imposed hiatus for most of the decade — he has made estimable music in the 1990s and, especially, this decade. And he’s done so by turning to a familiar riff for recovering rock stars: singing old standards.

That news might cause eyes to roll — especially if you think Rod Stewart — but it would absolutely not apply in the case of Boz Scaggs. His But Beautiful (2003) and last year’s Speak Low are among the best examples of a veteran pop star delving into such old chestnuts as “What’s New?” “Sophisticated Lady,” “Easy Living,” “I’ll Remember April” and “Speak Low.”

He sings the material in a supple, torchy style, burrowing into the lyrics, caressing phrases with his round, throaty tenor. Scaggs has a natural knack for seducing you into these literate, urbane numbers culled from the legendary writers of the American Songbook. Read the rest of this entry »

Some recent additions to our Upcoming Events concert calendar; for the comprehensive list, click here.

Saturday, May 23 Lush Progress Video Release Party w/Butch Ryan Band/Glasgow (New World Brewery, Ybor City)

Tuesday, May 26 The Juan Maclean (pictured) / The Field (Crowbar, Ybor City)

Saturday, May 30 Joecephus & The George Jonestown Massacre (The Garage, St. Petersburg)

Tuesday, June 09 New York Dolls (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)

Wednesday, June 10 Mishka w/Zaki Ibrahim (Orpheum, Ybor City)

Thursday, June 11 Mewithoutyou w/The Dear Hunter (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)

Friday, June 12 Steely Dan Rent Party ‘09 Tour (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)

Saturday, June 13 Crossbreed (State Theatre, St. Petersburg) Read the rest of this entry »