Tampa Calling

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 »

One of my favorite rock bands of the last coupla years, these Georgia sons are playing a coupla one-off headlining gigs after a run of dates opening for the almighty Dinosaur Jr. (and a co-headlining European tour w/ A Place To Bury Strangers directly before that) … and we were lucky enough to land one!

I didn’t get to see Dead Confederate’s set in support of Manchester Orchestra in late ‘08 at Orpheum … but I do know they absolutely laid waste to a New World Brewery crowd the day after their Langerado set earlier last year.

The band’s sound: an intoxicating blend of alt-country, grunge, psych, etc; think My Morning Jacket meets Nirvana meets Pink Floyd. Sure, you’ll dig their authentically Southern (ie: slide geetars, trucker hats, unpretentious stage presence, etc.) vibe … but that’s probably not what you’ll focus on. Instead, you’ll just get lost in the ROCK.

Breaking news, Smilemaker’s poster (V.3!!!), MP3s AND more after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »

Lots of concerts to pick and choose from this February 20-22 weekend (for a complete list, click here), but if you haven’t already made concrete plans, why not show some support to the local and regional acts who always work extra hard for your lovin’? Here are highlights from the Florida band concert calendar:

Friday, Feb. 20 Grey Market w/Palantine/Spellbinder/Lush Progress/Magic Shoppe An appealing local bill headed up by drums-and-guitar duo GreyMarket, which produces driving alt-rock with dark waves of drama and electro flourishes. Palantine brings the crunch, Spellbinder the ’70s prog-metal vocals and riffs, Lush Progress the classy symphonics, and Magic Shoppe the psychedelic funk. State Theatre, St. Petersburg.

Friday, Feb. 20 Buffalo Strange, Ringside Cafe, St. Petersburg.

Friday, Feb. 20 Thomas Wynn & the Believers w/Have Gun Will Travel/The Takers/Lauris Vidal/Experimental Pilot Tampa Bay is more known for its Americana acts than Orlando is, but Thomas Wynn comes over from O-Town with a satchel full of rugged tunes and a penchant for Southern rock. The guy is good. He’s joined by a bevy of Bay area acts that will make for a strong bill. New World Brewery, Ybor City (write-up by Eric Snider).

Saturday, Feb. 21 Giddy-up, Helicopter! CD Release Party. Czar, Ybor City.

Saturday, Feb.  21 Rachel Goodrich w/The JeanMarie/The Wedding Party. Rachel Goodrich is a quirky South Florida indie-pop multi-instrumentalist/songwriter whose rich foxy voice is set against songs pondering halos and demons and stars and nighttime adventures and whatever other delightful topics tickle her fancy. New World Brewery, Tampa. (Goodrich pictured above; photo by Yvette Labov.)

Saturday, Feb. 21 The Sheaks w/Gino and the Goons/Steady State/The Fuzz. Flannagans Pub, St. Petersburg.

Saturday, Feb. 21 Lorna Bracewell. Grand Central Peddler’s Fair, Grand Central District, St. Petersburg

SMAsh Radio, your favorite local-music-Web-radio-show, turns 3 YEARS OLD! with Episode 29. Joran and Stephen talk about the scene, play some music and even take your phone calls! This month features tracks from Geri X, Roppongi’s Ace, Sons of Hippies, Palantine, Daylight District and Ryan Wendell Bauer. Stay Up, Tampa Bay!

Next month: Shunda K (Yo Majesty), Acho Brother, Will Quinlan and more.

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Play here.

Editor’s note: Pictures and text by Nicole Kibert.

Palantine’s Melee CD release party at New World Brewery in Ybor City on Sat., Oct. 18, proved a bit frightening (see haunting Halloween decorations).  Luckily, the evening did not turn into an actual melee, affray or fracas. Rather, it was a night filled with some of the best rock Tampa Bay has to offer.

The Gleaming Amoebas opened the show (sadly I missed their set – I heard they were good and really how could a band that mixes flamenco and indie rock not be?).

Next up, The Semis (Billy Summer, Matt Simmons, Don Butler and Cristian). The foursome delivered a high-energy set of rad hair metal and winningly dirty power pop!

As Palantine (live: Vinnie Cosentino, Brian Johnson and Jeff Fox) took the stage, people gathered around in expectation of a catchy, melodic-yet-guitar-heavy set.  As their MySpace suggests, the band is best enjoyed at full volume, and this act showed they were well worth the effort to make it out on a drizzling Saturday evening, even while the Tampa Bay Rays battled in the playoffs.

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