Concerts, Dec. 5-11
by Leilani Polk and Eric SniderTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 05
Rock the Park w/Easter Island/Displace/Droppin’ Pickup One of the benefits of occasionally helping out Ms. Polk on Music Week is the opportunity to randomly discover bands I would probably have never heard. Easter Island fits the bill. The Athens/Atlanta five-piece falls squarely and unapologetically into the realm of dream pop. The group’s pillowy wall of sound is made up of ringing guitars, spectral vocals and gauzy hooks that are a cut above. Remember, these RtP gigs run from 6:30 to 9 p.m., and are always free. (Curtis Hixon Park, Tampa) —Eric Snider
Pompeya Surprising that such warm grooving indie pop comes from Moscow, Russia’s cold climes. The four members of Pompeya (formed in 2007, currently backing their first U.S. release and second full-length overall, Tropical) take sonic cues from strutting ’70s disco and urgent yet buoyant New Wave, their songs full of cooing vocals, funky basslines, riffy guitars and synth lines that vary between sharp strains of melody or hazy atmospherics. For fans of Toro Y Moi. (The Hub, downtown Tampa)
Kill Devil Hill The term “supergroup” gets tossed around pretty casually these days — has for a long time, really — and it’s been used to describe Kill Devil Hill. The band includes Vinny Appice (formerly of Black Sabbath and Dio) and bassist Rex Brown (Pantera, Down). You decide whether that constitutes, um, super. To my ears, KDH’s sound bears a notable resemblance to Alice in Chains. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg) —ES
The Revivalists w/Jillette Johnson/G2P/Polar Summer The ever-evolving sound of New Orleans has continued to expand beyond the city’s Creole-based culture, incorporating influences from far and wide. The Revivalists are not so much a NOLA band as a rock seven-piece influenced by the place they call home. Lead singer David Shaw, for instance, moved to the Crescent City from Ohio in 2007. The ensemble — which includes pedal steel and two horns — mixes funk and jam into its rock firmament, and is said to throw a fun party, which might be the most New Orleans thing about ’em. The eclectic bill also includes contemplative, piano-centric singer/songwriter Jillette Johnson, who’s out of New York, and the Tampa funk-rock band G2P. (Local 662, St. Petersburg) —ES
Zoogma w/Ghost Owl Atlanta-based electro-jamming rock band Zoogma has a name that’s fun to say out loud (hold the “O” for an extra looong time) and an impressive grassroots fanbase nurtured through exhaustive touring. These fans donated more than 16k to help Zoogma record a second album (they have no label support), and this tour backs the end results, Anthems 4 Androids. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 06
Far Too Loud A special edition of #POUND Fridays featuring Brighton, England EDM music maker Far Too Loud (the pseudonym of Oli Cash), who wheels and deals bombastic, tension-and-release dancefloor jams with big funky basslines and whirring synths. (Amphitheatre, Ybor City)
Consider the Source NYC’s Consider the Source plays the kind of hyper-busy world fusion that can dazzle you as well as drive you batty — probably within the same set; or the same song, for that matter. The trio incorporates everything from prog-rock to funk to Middle Eastern sounds into its nervous mélange. (Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin) —ES
emma’s revolution Pat Humphries and Sandy O comprise Emma’s Revolution, an activist folk act that generously incorporates elements of satire and even a bit of faux Vaudeville. (Craftsman House Gallery, St. Petersburg) —ES
Alabama Shakes This Southern gritty soulful female-fronted rock band won a Grammy this year, and the show has been sold out for weeks. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)
Donny & Marie Christmas Hey, I got ya wholesome right he-uh. Donny, 55, and Marie, 54, Osmond — the brother/sister team from Ogden, Utah — have encountered some serious career ups and downs, but they’ve never strayed from the kind of fresh-faced entertainment that first made them teen stars in the ’70s. (Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa) —ES
Huey Lewis and The News For a band so synonymous with the ’80s, Huey Lewis and the News certainly didn’t fit any established mold. They were clean-cut and down-to-earth when flash and androgyny were the coins of the realm. They made straightforward, hooky rock not tethered to fashion. So a reasonable takeaway would be that songs like “Heart of Rock & Roll,”“Heart & Soul” and “I Want a New Drug” have a timeless, enduring quality. To which I would respond: Nope. Stuff sounds hopelessly dated. (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater) —ES
Pontiak w/Early Forms/Permanent Makeup The three Carney brothers vanned their way out of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia with lo-fi, sludgy psychedelia favoring relentless guitar drones, slow tempos and elliptical songcraft. It all adds up to Pontiak’s impressive originality. Early Forms’ post-Sonic Youth sound and Permanent Makeup’s sinewy noise-rock provide a fitting complement. My guess is you’ll want to bring earplugs and quality bud. (New World Brewery, Ybor City) —ES [page]
Waiting For The Man: WMNF Tribute To Lou Reed Forty days. That’s how long it will have taken WMNF to stage a Lou Reed tribute show since his death. I prefer to think of it more as reverential homage than timely exploitation. The lineup features the requisite variety found in the station’s long series of tribute shows: Sons of Hippies’ garage-y psychedelia, Sarah Mac Band’s post-folk, Ronny Elliot’s crusty Americana and more. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa) —ES
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 07
97X Next Big Thing w/30 Seconds to Mars/A Day to Remember/Stone Temple Pilots with the dude from Linkin Park/Jimmy Eat World/Dirty Heads/Manchester Orchestra/Pepper/Sleepwave/more Jared Leto is generating Oscar buzz for his role as a transsexual drug addict dying of AIDS in Dallas Buyers Club… Wait, this is a music column. Jared Leto is the frontman for the mainstream rock band 30 Seconds to Mars, which is headlining this 13th annual radio-sponsored show. As per usual, the marathon concert presents an array of bands from the modern-rock spectrum. It’s more than tricky to find an act that lives up to the festival’s name. You might hear something new-ish and potentially big-ish on the secondary stage. If I were to head over, I’d pencil in sets by Jimmy Eat World and Manchester Orchestra. (Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg) —ES
Charlie Daniels Angelus Country Concert w/Charlie Daniels Band/Embry Brothers Band/Sweetwater Rain/Confederate Railroad Seventy-seven year old fiddler, guitarist, singer and redneck Charlie Daniels continues to put his name and talents toward supporting The Angelus, a home for the severely handicapped in Hudson. Three veteran country-rock acts join the fun and the cause. Two nights earlier, an event called “Charliepalooza” at the Seminole Hard Rock (which also benefits Angelus), will feature a blackjack tournament and jam session, with Daniels participating. (Dallas Bull, Tampa) —ES
The Wholetones w/The Howlin’ Brothers Marco Island’s The Wholetones stir together neo-bluegrass with Celtic-influenced folk and a smidge of heavy rock. The Howlin’ Brothers — a guitar/banjo/upright bass trio — bring their brand of soulful yee-haw all the way from Nashville. (Ale and the Witch, St. Petersburg) —ES
Danny Brown You have to give it to Danny Brown — the dude is one of a kind. Wild hair, wild eyes, loud and outrageous fashion sense, nasally old school rap mode, overall style and approach to lyrical matters planted firmly within the alt hip-hop realms. He’s not referring to the dance move nor tobacco in “Dip” off third full-length Old, but some pure eye-crossing molly (“I’m grinding on your bitch while I’m grinding on my teeth”), and in “Grown Up,” he waxes on his youth while also appreciating his adult life; the latter won an MTV Woodie Award for Best Video. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
Jobsite Rocks! w/Poetry n’ Lotion/Scott Harrell All the usual suspects are accounted for at Jobsite Theater’s 10th annual end of the year party-slash-fundraiser — Poetry n’ Lotion, getting down to dirty brass tacks fusion with their usual nonchalant finesse and Kenny Pullin-led tomfoolery, and Scott Harrell, who’s rolling solo this year and will more than likely be howling wounded odes and spirited barn-burners over acoustic guitar maneuvers. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
Guardian Alien w/Pan/Zulu Wave/Red Room Cinema The 37-minute piece that constitutes Guardian Angel’s See the World Given to a One Love Entity— the Queens, N.Y. trio’s first album for Thrill Jockey — is essentially a throbbing drone of caterwauling guitar, frenetic drumming and flighty vocals. The music is hypnotic in a mystical/psychedelic way, and my guess is that close, patient listens reveal some intriguing dynamics. Not my thing, but I can see the value. Pan, an instrumental quintet out of South Carolina, works the spunkier side of post-rock, with uplifting melodies and lushly layered guitar/violin textures. The effect is altogether beguiling. Two rising Bay area bands, Zulu Wave and Red Room Cinema, round out an enticing quadruple bill. (Crowbar, Ybor City) —ES
Bradenton Blues Festival Head south for some deep-down-in-the-soul goodness to warm your belly for the holiday season. Among the performers: right-as-rain singer guitarist Johnny Rawls, saxophonist Eddie Shaw and the Wolfgang; Trampled Under Foot, an up-and-coming sibling act led by Danielle, Kris and Nick Schnebelen; and powerhouse vocalist Shemekiah Copeland. The Saturday fest also features food, drink, art and a variety of vendors, all overlooking Manatee River. Visit bradentonbluesfestival.org for details. (Riverwalk, Bradenton) —Julie Garisto
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 08
Megadeth w/Fear Factory/Nonpoint I wonder if Dave Mustaine wishes he’d behaved just well enough to remain in Metallica, who fired the allegedly drunk and disorderly guitarist/songwriter in 1983 after a tenure of less than two years. I wonder because his subsequent band, Megadeth, pales by comparison. Mustaine’s worst decision was to assume vocal duties; his pinched talk-sing, built almost entirely on “attitude,” wears quickly thin. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg) —ES
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The Devil Wears Prada w/The Ghost Inside/Volumes/Texas In July TDWP, a Christian metalcore band hailing from Dayton, Ohio, pairs guttural death vocals by Mike Hranica with the more melodic singing (and occasionally shrieking) of Jeremy DePoyster, ladled over a corrosive rip-and-pound. With three other bands of a similar ilk, the show promises a proper bludgeoning. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg) —ES
MONDAY, DECEMBER 09
Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas In my role as guest columnist, I’m officially dubbing this show the Sleeper of the Week. Sexy, brassy Jessica Hernandez, a Detroit native, is the kind of woman you beg repeatedly for a date, then when she lets you down easy, you still hang around hoping for a glance your way, and maybe a smile. Backed by a sharp quintet of dudes (including a trombonist), Hernandez slinks around the stage, belting out the band’s heady mix of dark-hued soul and timeless rock ’n’ roll, peppered with elements of everything from ska to cabaret. Youtube it. (Local 662, St. Petersburg) —ES
Lyle Lovett Back in the late 1980s, country radio started to loosen the reins a bit and let Lyle Lovett in. He certainly didn’t fit anyone’s notion of a country star, with his craggy face, crooked smile and eraser-head hair. Neither did the native Houstonian conform to musical convention. His style borrowed heavily from acoustic folk, jazz, Western swing and more. Lovett’s career has proven remarkably durable. His most recent album, last year’s Release Me, reached No. 9 on the country chart. Lovett leavens his songs and his stage manner with wry humor. And lest anyone forget: Dude landed Julia Roberts! The two were married for a couple of years in the ’90s. (Tampa Theatre, Tampa) —ES
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11
Melanie Martinez The pixie-ish singer/guitarist was a contestant on The Voice last year. Levine coached her; Aguilera dissed her and even — gasp! — spoke to the waif condescendingly. Martinez puts out a cutie-pie stage vibe and imbues her breathy voice with a dose of slur. (Orpheum, Ybor City) —ES
The Thermals w/Beach Day/Florida Night Heat If you’re like me and have a soft spot for power trios, then The Thermals might be among your favorites. The pogo-inducing, fist-pumpin’ pop-punk band from “pre-Portlandia Portland” formed in 2002, and are backing their sixth LP and debut for Saddle Creek. John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth) produced the visceral return-to-form Desperate Ground, and critics have praised the album as their best since The Body, The Blood, The Machine. In a recent phone interview with CL, Thermals frontman Hutch Harris said he pulled out the four-track to add some organic distortion, which lends beautifully to the about-to-lay-waste tension of his delivery. The album has recurrent themes of violence, influenced by our war-ridden times, and the last two Thermals-directed videos feature grisly action —“Born to Kill” in an interrogation room and “The Sunset” in a boxing ring with fro-licious bassist Kathy Foster and two-time boxing world champion Molly McConnell. Full Thermals Q&A at cltampa.com/music. (Crowbar, Tampa) —JG