by Eric SniderTHURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 05
Jason Aldean w/Jake Owen/Thomas Rhett If it wasn’t for that danged Blake Shelton … Jason Aldean as nominated for both Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year at the 2012 CMA Awards, but that no-hat-wearin’ slickie boy Shelton took both. Aldean, with more of a roughneck persona, incorporates plenty of rock, and even a bit of rap, into his sound, but his lyrics celebrate country livin’ to the core. The bill is deftly balanced out by the feathered-haired crossover act Jake Owen and fresh-faced Thomas Rhett, whose trucker hat is probably older than he is. (MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa)
Future Vintage“Electro Funk Nasty” is how this Bay area trio has branded its sound, to which my first reaction is: Not all that nasty. The trio — keyboardist Matt Giancola, bassist Trevor McDaniel and drummer D Roc — brings to mind Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters, if that ’70s ensemble had had all of today’s digital tools at their disposal. Future Vintage has a jam-band swerve and insistent groovesmanship that results in a sort of studious likeability. (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin)
The Wholetones/MRENC/Macrame Owls Rock the Park, a free concert series on the first Thursday of every month in downtown Tampa, brings The Wholetones up from Marco Island. The group has cobbled together an intriguing hybrid of roots-folk, bluegrass, Celtic and hard rock, with acoustic instrumentation that includes cello, banjo, guitar and harmonica. MRENC, Eric Collins, refuses to slot into a genre — it’s enough to leave an experienced music scribe searching for an apt description. Suffice to say it’s odd, compelling and original rock. Tampa’s Macrame Owls plays big-gesture indie rock that some time ago would probably have fallen under the emo umbrella. 6:30-9 p.m. (Curtis Hixon Park, Tampa)
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 06
Blue October The Austin-based alt-pop band’s seventh full-length, Sway, is a redemptive chronicle of leader Justin Furstenfeld’s recovery from substance abuse. It’s actually more about Furstenfeld’s new lease on hope and happiness than a blow-by-blow account of bottoming out and subsequent stint in rehab. The 13 intensely personal songs are still imbued with the kind of epic-meets-intimate resonance that has marked the group’s most fertile material, including medium-sized hits “Hate Me” and “Into the Ocean.” (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)
Grant Peeples & the Peeples Republic w/Sarah Mac CD Release Party“It’s hard to start a revolution when your face is six feet from your television…” That quote banners across the top of Grant Peeples’ website, so it’s safe to say he’s a singer/songwriter with a purpose. The Tallahassee native mixes sociopolitical messages with folksy humor, most with heavy doses of twang. Peeples and his ensemble will be supported by the Sarah Mac Band, led by the blue-eyed soul and blues belting of their frontwoman. (Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg)
Zulu Wave w/Early Forms/Hussy/Dooms de Pop/Hovering Humanoids Formed in Tampa Bay in 2011, Zulu Wave has made some pretty impressive career progress, having already performed at the CBGB Festival and CMJ Music Marathon in New York. The band builds its hypnotic sound around droning guitar shear. Early Forms favors shards of guitar as well, but with a more garage-y rambunctiousness and well-defined melodies. Dooms de Pop makes a trek north from Broward County, complementing the guitar-heavy alt-rock bill. Tampa’s Hovering Humanoids’ sound is taut and nervous, full of abrupt, jagged instrumental twists and turns. This should be a worthwhile night showcasing newer rock talent held in an out-of-the-way gallery/performance space (a little south of Fifth Avenue S. between 24th and 28th Streets. (The Venture Compound, St. Petersburg)
[page]SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 07
John Mayer w/Phillip Phillips Who’d have ever guessed that the callow youth who crooned the treacly “Your Body is a Wonderland” would turn out to be a highly valued electric guitarist (his induction of bluesman Albert King into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was remarkable) as well as a writer and singer of worthy pop/R&B. Yeah, Mayer’s been a little indiscreet regarding his relationships with women and there remains something patently superficial about him, but he deserves his due as a talented man. The opener Phillips won the 11th season of American Idol (last year) with a sound that owes no small debt to John Mayer. (MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa)
Rancid It’s so tempting to say that this band stinks, but that would just be cheap wordplay, wouldn’t it? Rancid, formed in 1991 in the fertile Berkeley, California scene was among the bands that helped usher punk rock into the American mainstream. But while Green Day, The Offspring and others jumped to major labels, Rancid stayed the indie course. Main men Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman have rounded the bend toward 50, but expect the quartet to still push out a mighty noise and make the courtyard throb with abandon. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)
La Lucha w/Jun Bustamante The Bay area trio La Lucha (The Fight) — pianist John O’Leary, bassist Alejandro Arenas and drummer Mark Feinman — come from divergent backgrounds in U.S., Colombia and Mexico. They are unified in their embrace of acoustic Latin jazz and play it with alacrity and expertise. The bill also includes folk-jazz chanteuse Jun Bustamante. The 175-seat Side Door is the ideal venue. (Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg)
Hip Hop Palooza w/Mike Mass/Bluu Zone/Jinx/Samurai Shotgun/Bangarang/many more You’ll get a massive headful of hometown beats and rhymes at this marathon in Ybor City. Styles range from the languid, backpackish flow of Tampa-by-way-of-the-Bronx rapper/producer Mike Mass, to the 10-strong Bluuzone’s hard street vibe, to Samurai Shotgun’s arty blend of rap and indie rock. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
Robin Zander Band w/SJ The lead singer of Cheap Trick brings his own band to St. Pete’s living-room-style venue, with its pristine sound system. Zander’s side unit includes drummer Steve Luongo, guitarist Mark Hitt and bassist Larry Hobbs. I’ve heard the quartet plays a wide range of tunes, including a lot of covers, Beatles and British Invasion stuff included. The gig, opened by SJ, is slated to start at 6 p.m. (Hideaway Café& Recording Studio, St. Petersburg)
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 08
Gumbo Boogie Nearly two decades ago, some fellas in Bradenton formed a band dedicated to bayou music and beyond. The group has earned, and maintained, its status as one of the Bay Area’s premier roots party bands. This gig is billed as a Zydeco Dance Party, but GB doesn’t restrict itself to that springy, accordion-driven style from southwest Louisiana. Blues, R&B, swamp-rock and country all factor into the equation. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10
Diana Ross When the pop world co-opted the term “diva” from opera, they hung it first on Diana Ross. The singer, once a staple of the Motown stable (with The Supremes and solo) has come to represent divadom in all of its connotations. Diana has never been known for her humility, fan-friendliness or backstage bonhomie, but at this point, does it matter? I found some footage of her performing in South America this year, and I was impressed. The big hair, the flowing gowns, that’s all part of the shtick. But, at 69, she still sings with a kind of effortless elan. (Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg)
Benefit concert for Rick “Dusty” Durst w/The Danks/Loco Siempre featuring Ronny Elliott, Harry Hayward & David Lane/Lyle Russell Dusty Durst was a pioneer of ad-free radio, having worked early on at WUSF (and on air at its groundbreaking free-form rock program The Underground Railroad) and co-drafting the first charter for WMNF. He left Tampa Bay for St. Louis in the late ’80s and enjoyed a distinguished career in radio and concert production. Last year, he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease and is now in therapy at USF. A group of his musician friends have joined forces for a benefit concert. The, um, veteran lineup is mostly acoustic and rootsy and will be aided by special guests in what organizers call an “All-Star ’60s/’70s-style jam session.” (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
Pepper w/Greives/RDGLDGRN A packed and sweaty Pepper show at Jannus is an annual rite in Tampa Bay. The Cali band (with roots in Hawaii) is near the top of the reggae-rock heap, with an ear for hooks and penchant for shows that deliver a bounty of good, goofy fun. Pepper has joined the major label ranks, having recently released their self-titled full-length on Island. Northern Virginia’s RDGLDGRN is not named an unwieldy acronym, but stands for “Red Gold Green.” The wild card here is Grieves, a purveyor of white-boy hip-hop that’s way more smooth than snotty. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)
Engelbert Humperdinck When, at the behest of his manager, Arnold George Dorsey took the stage name Englebert Humperdinck (after a 19th Century German opera composer), one could certainly have viewed as counterintuitive, if not downright idiotic. It didn’t work out that way. Hump was one of the top pop crooners of the ’60s and ’70s, best known for his major hits “Release Me” (’67) and “After the Lovin’” (’76). At 77 years, he’s still working the performing arts center circuit. (Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg)
Joe Satriani There will always be a contingent of shred-heads that keep guys like Satriani in gigs and sponsorships. He's an instrumentalist of considerable technique and a certain crowd-pleasing dynamism with a trademark wailing tone that raises the neck hairs of some folks and leaves others (such as myself) flat. (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)