Concerts, Aug. 22-28
by Leilani PolkFRIDAY, AUGUST 23
Backstreet Boys w/Jesse McCartney/DJ Pauly D Amid the profusion of all-male vocal pop groups that came spewing forth from the 1990s, Orlando-bred Backstreet Boys rose as superstars with a string of R&B-fused Top 10 charters that began with “Quit Playing Games (With My Heart),” and enough MTV saturation to sustain them through the more recent leaner chart years. This date falls during BB’s 20th anniversary tour backing a brand new eighth LP, In a World Like This, and first with all five original members — Brian Littrel, A. J. McLean, Howie Dorough and Nick Carter now re-joined by Kevin Richardson — since 2005’s Never Gone. Actor/singer-songwriter/boy-band refugee Jesse McCartney warms up the stage with his original solo fare, and Jersey Shore’s DJ Pauly D kicks off the party with a club-banging set of spins. (MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheater, Tampa)
Nervous Turkey w/Florida Night Heat Two staple favorites of the local music scene unite under one Friday night New World billing. Nervous Turkey serves up the usual — greasy-fried harmonica-shredded organ-fueled funky punk blues as bellowed and barked by crusty tatted frontman Ernie Locke — while Florida Night Heat takes a more calculated approach, introducing pounding guitar-layered post rock and Morricone-flavored psychedelia that builds to faster-paced instrumental assaults with funktronic appeal. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
Steve Arvey: From Mississippi to Chicago Bradenton’s esteemed axe-slinging bluesman and cigar box guitar extraordinaire, Steve Arvey, is joined by his band (guitarist Josh Nelms, bassist Otis T. Sugarbear, drummers Aaron Fowler and Steve Camilleri, and harmonica player Tony Smith) for a program that takes a musical journey through the history of blues, from its Delta and pre-war Chicago origins through the R&B and soul-saturated sounds of 1960s and ’70s-era Windy City. (Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg)
SupaSkunk The regularly scheduled Friday evening live music throwdown at Ella’s features the funkified New Oreleans-vibing jazz of SupaSkunk, led by sax master Jeremy Powell and rounded out by double bass ace Jon Shea (his bandmate in Infinite Groove Orchestra) and beat-tastic drummer/percussionist Matt Salvador (Brand New Opiates). Special guest sit-ins TBA. (Ella’s Americana Folk Art Café, Tampa)
Adventure Club Christian Srigley and Leighton James bring EDM direct from Montreal as Adventure Club, their own electronic stewage made up of dramatic house music build-ups and whirring swirling sonic washes that segue into fuzzed-out dubstep breakdowns and vomiting wompadelics, sometimes featuring vocal splices or samples that range from Icona Pop’s “Girlfriend” to dialogue from The Boondock Saints as with their tribute to the film, “Spiritus Sancti.” (Amphitheatre, Ybor City)
Musicology w/Queenofex/Native Wellz/PaperBoy/SuCoo/F Minor/ Mighty Jai/many more Royal Xtreme and Tek-nique Entertainment host this party billed as a night of music, live art, spoken word, break-dance and spirituality. Among the musical performers are soulful North Carolina native and current Tampa-based hip-hop artist Queenofex, whose smart poetry and tuneful yet assertive vocals are backed by vintage groove-saturated production; and soulful St. Pete rapper/producer/DJ Mighty Jai, who seems to draw from a comparable vinyl archive but cuts and splices his sonic backdrop so it better fits his own deliberate cadence and conscious narratives. (Market on 7th, Ybor City)
Chick Corea and Béla Fleck A make-up date for March’s postponed concert featuring two music icons who won a Latin Grammy for their 2007 collaborative album, The Enchantment. Together, they’ll perform a program of piano and banjo duets that include selections from their respective repertoires, cuts off The Enchantment, and a mix of jazz, bluegrass, rock, flamenco, pop and gospel standards. (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)
Local Flavor Fest 2: Stick Martin Show/Shoeless Soul/Orange Hour/Dropin Pickup An eclectic four-pack of local music that touches on cheeky hip hop-fused acoustic rock (Stick Martin), reggae-and-soul imbued jam rock (Shoeless Soul), heavy blues-and-grunge-tinged alt-rock (Orange Hour) and fiddle-fused roots rock with tribal percussive appeal (Dropin Pickup). (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)
SATURDAY, AUGUST 24
Chico Mann w/Saskatchewan Chico Mann is the nom de plume of Marcos Garcia, a New York-New Jersey native songwriter versed on keys and guitar whose sound draws on elements of ’70s Afrobeat, ’80s freestyle R&B and boogie, Afro-Cubano music and modern electro pop. The result is electric indie dance rock that gets a boost of zippy Casio synthesizers and bouncing basslines in tracks like “Same Old Clown” with vocalist Kendra Morris, or a layer of urgent percussive drive, waka-waka guitar riffs, weirdo keywork and Spanish lyrics ala “El Paragua.” This tour supports 2013 album Magical Thinking, released in April via Soundway Records. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
Domino Effect A jammy rock outfit from Savannah, Ga., that injects their sound with bursts of reggae, funk, roots, dance music and psychedelia, all displayed on 2012 debut full-length, Music For My Soul. (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin)
The Meditations Reggae music elder statesmen Ansel Cridland, Danny Clarke and Winston Watson, collectively known as The Meditations, are a vocal harmony trio from Jamaica formed in late 1974, currently based in the U.S. and dishing out uplifting Rasta-minded roots reggae. Their hazy resume spans three decades of respected artists, from their back-up work on three Bob Marley tracks (“Blackman Redemption,”“Rastaman Live Up” and “Punky Reggae Party”) and studio work for the likes of Gregory Isaacs and Jimmy Cliff, to more recent appearances on Easy Star All Star’s Dub Side of the Moon and Radiodread; their original repertoire includes hit single “Woman is Like a Shadow.” In a live setting, the men are backed by a four-piece instrumental ensemble. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)
[page]Lushbudget/Paint The Town Red/The Best Day Ever/Sun Signs Four diverse local bands, one stage in St. Pete shared for the night. Lushbudget is fronted by St. Pete-by-way-of-Philly singer-songwriter Jason Trunzo, their sound dwelling in alternative realms of folk and country rock. Paint the Town Red delivers easy-on-the-ears acoustic guitar-driven pop rock; well-coiffed The Best Day Ever presents conceptual, melodramatic indie alt-pop; and Sun Signs rounds it out with their creeping alt-psych-experimental indie rock vibe. (Local 662, St. Petersburg)
Betty Fox Band w/Kid Royal Fox hits the Skipperdome Stage for her usual night of bluesy, funky rocking and soulful powerhouse vibrato-strewn howls as backed by her three-piece band — guitarist Matt Walker, bass player Benjamin Sudano and drummer Sam Farmer. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
Mickey Avalon A scrappy tatted graffiti artist and nasty spitting Cali rapper with a punk-rock credo, dirty mouth (“Filthy on the mic like Lenny Bruce used to be” he claims in “Dipped in Vaseline”) and song topics that cover women, his manhood and his experiences using it — whether during his deep past selling it as prostitute or more current mode of giving it out just for fun — and the variety of recreationals he’s consumed in his lifetime. (Orpheum, Ybor City)
Hippiefest w/Ten Years After/Edgar Winter/Canned Heat/Rick Derringer/Pat Travers The next edition of this touring nostalgia fest has a hard blues rock edge. Among the highlights are UK-bred Ten Years After (“I’d Love to Change the World”), originally formed by late axe-slinger Alvin Lee, and currently made up of originals Leo Lyons, Chick Churchill and Ric Lee with newer guitarist Joe Gooch; and the mellow boogie and Southern rock-leaning Canned Heat, which enjoyed a rise in the late 1960s after giving memorable performances at Woodstock and Monterrey Pop, and charting a few sunny grooving singles —“On the Road Again” and “Going Up the Country.” (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)
SUNDAY, AUGUST 25
Jars of Clay w/The Last Bison With one platinum hit that crossed over from Christian radio into the Billboard mainstream, the baptismally urgent “Flood,” Jars of Clay has managed to stay on the minds of the regular music listening public while maintaining a foothold with the more spiritually-inclined sects. The Nashville-based quartet’s AC pop-roots rock is still driven by vigorous acoustic guitar strums and the wailing calls of frontman Dan Haseltine, but these days, their songwriting has a milder message of worship nestled amid lyrics exploring everyday real life issues. The stirring title track off 11th full-length Inland (out this Tues., Aug. 27) was inspired by the Odyssey; Haseltine told Rolling Stone it was about “walking toward mystery and not being afraid to take risks” ala Odysseus’ inland trek after a lifetime spent at sea. Warm up from indie folk septet The Last Bison, the wild lead hollers and ragged intones of frontman Benjamin Hardesty backed by the higher-timbered harmonies of siblings Annah and Andrew, and instrumentals filled out with lush string arrangements (guitar, banjo, mandolin, cello, violin), twinkling bells and big percussive rhythms, and strains of reed organ and melodica. The result has both a swamp-country and dusty mountain appeal that reflects their deep Southern Virginia roots. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
Tribal Seeds w/Josh Heinrichs/Sheffield Crew Jannus seems to be the unofficial headquarters for reggae-based music and this latest all-ages Gulfster.com lineup is headlined by Cali-bred roots reggae-vibing sextet, Tribal Seeds, which play this one-off date in the midst of an amphitheater tour warming up for Slightly Stoopid and Atmosphere. Also on the bill: singer-songwriter Josh Heinrichs (formerly of Jah Roots), who runs his own reggae music label, Ganja Records, and just released a new EP, High on Love; and Naples dancehall-tasty foursome, Sheffield Crew. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)
Fort Lonesome A new traditional bluegrass quintet made up of musicians from other well-known Central Florida grassy-sounding outfits (Hwy 41 South, Beaumont Family Band, Swinging Bridge, Tomorrow’s News). (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
MONDAY, AUGUST 26
Quincy Mumford & the Reason Why He might’ve only celebrated his 21st birthday this year, but New Jersey-based singer-songwriter Quincy Mumford is already five albums deep into his musical career. The latest, fourth full-length Its Only Change, was recorded in Nashville with Ken Coomer (Wilco, Uncle Tupelo) and employs a breezy free-for-all style of indie rock with a 1970’s Jeff Beckian-groove that’s brightened up with funk, soul, R&B, jazz, reggae and hip-hop flavors, and Mumford’s warm and husky vocals sliding over top. (Local 662, St. Petersburg)
Seven Kingdoms w/Maverick Hunter/Burning Fair Verona/Look Right Penny/Wirethrone Florida’s own female-fronted purveyors of power metal, Seven Kingdoms, are currently celebrating the release of their third full-length and second overall from Nightmare Records, last year’s The Fire Is Mine. (Orpheum, Ybor City)
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28
Bruno Mars w/Fitz & the Tantrums Attempting a revival of Michael Jackson’s posi-vibing R&B-influenced pop music one sticky upbeat track at a time, Bruno Mars — the Atlantic recording artist otherwise known as Peter Gene Hernandez — hits town on his “Moonshine Jungle World Tour” backing his sophomore latest, Unorthodox Jukebox. Though Bruno Mars has grown into his charm, part of the album’s appeal is the production team behind it, which includes names like Mark Ronson (for MJ/Police-reminiscent No. 1 hit, “Locked out of Heaven”) and Diplo, among others. Newly signed Elektra artist Fitz & The Tantrums warm up the stage with their vintage Motown-imbued soul rock. (Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa)
Toni Braxton Her smooth lower register intones crooning loving tenderness or despondent heartbreak have calmed and consoled R&B listeners for more than two decades, her music crossing over to the Billboard Hot 100 with Top 10 hits like “Another Sad Love Song,”“Breathe Again,”“You’re Makin’ Me High,”“Un-Break My Heart” and “He Wasn’t Man Enough.” More recently, Grammy-winning songstress Toni Braxton and her talented family have been dabbling in reality TV; Braxton Family Values (featuring Toni, younger sisters Traci, Towanda, Trina and Tamar, and domineering mom Evelyn) premiered on WE TV in 2011 and was renewed for a third season this March. (Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg)
Rescuer/Permanent Make Up/Ex-Breathers/Repo Man A hump day DIY bill at Mojo featuring heavy crushing hardcore ragers Ex-Breather, droning post-punk pushers Permanent Make-Up, howling cheeky pop-punk makers Repo Man, and melodic hardcore destroyers Rescuer. Presented by Insight Collective. (Mojo Books & Music, Tampa)
CLICK HERE to see a complete rundown of shows taking place this week and in the coming weeks.