A big bombastic selection of live music to choose from this Sat., May 23, and there's virtually something for everyone. Take a look below.97X Backyard BBQ with AWOLNATION, Panic! At The Disco, Robert DeLong, In the Valley Below, Night Riots, Vinyl Theater, Denim Blue, Save The Radio Every Memorial Day weekend, 97X listeners are served scrumptious barbecue and treated to a Saturday-long concert event featuring performances by acts you hear regularly on the alt rock station. Several just performed at Big Guava – electro-industrial grinders AWOLNATION, brooding New Wave-vibing Night Riots, and favorite West Coast EDM singer-soundmaker Robert DeLong – while dramatic symphonic synth-pop rockers Panic! At the Disco bring a little novelty to the lineup and In the Valley Below delivers a dose of poignant folk pop melodies. If you missed any of the free ticket drops leading up to Backyard BBQ, admission is $20. (Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg)
MoonGoddess Entertainment 5-Year Anniversary with Greenhouse Lounge, Galbraith Group, K Slat Julia Stewart, the feminine presence behind MoonGoddess Entertainment, has been bringing heady sounds to Tampa Bay for the past five years now, and celebrates her promo company’s endurance with a night of music as led by Greenhouse Lounge, an jamtronic instrumental trio from Jacksonville with a pulsing and grooving sound built on guitar and bass – which vary from wailing solos and driving lowend rumble to synthesized texturing and fatty effected groove-hawking – laptop programming, and urgent pulsing rhythms. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
Post-Rays Concert Series: The Jacksons Following the Rays’ late afternoon game against the Oakland Athetics, ticketholders are invited to stick around to celebrate the launch of the post-game concert series with The Jacksons. The remaining Jackson 5 members – Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon – land at the Trop on their 50th anniversary tour with a hits parade setlist touching on “I Want You Back,”“Who’s Loving You,”“ABC,”“I’ll Be There,”“Dancing Machine” and many others. While none can hit those youthfully high notes, all are showbiz professionals and put decades of experience into soulful, energetic performances replete with retro dance routines. (Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg)
Sunset Music Festival with Tiësto, Skrillex, Oliver Heldens, Cedric Gervais, TJR, Duke Dumont, Tchami, Destructo, Astrix, Andrew Rayel & many more Three of the biggest names in mainstream electronic music – progressive house DJ/producer Tiësto, dubstep ground breaker Skrillex on Saturday, and trance heavyweight Armin van Buuren on Sunday – land in Tampa Bay for the third annual SMF, which has extended its EDM offerings to two days and three stages. Further details at smftampa.com. (Raymond James Stadium, Tampa)
Love and Light 20 Year Reunion with Hybrid, Jackal & Hyde, Brad Smith, Rob-E, Burufunk, D-Xtreme & many more While it’s not the official Sunset Music Festival after party, you’ll no doubt find scores of dance-happy post-SMF revelers dropping by to get down at this “Return to Parthenon” party, dedicated to the dear departed local nightclub that hosted so many raves back in the day and featuring sets by several DJs you used to hear there – including Crescent Records talent and Florida EDM force, Brad Smith, who has a special throwback set planned for the evening – and others like UK progressive breaks and big beat pushing Hybrid, and Hallucination-repped hardcore beat-busting duo Jackal and Hyde. (District 3, downtown Tampa)
The Flying Balalaika Brothers With songs like “Time to Drink Some Vodka,”“Opa Cupa” and “Girl from Ukraine,” and a caterwauling gypsy-folk sound powered by accordion and multiple balalaikas (those oversized triangular stringed instruments native to Russia), The Flying Balaika Brothers wear their Eurasian musical heritage on their sleeves. RIYL: Gogol Bordello, Red Elvises. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
Burgatory Fest 2015 + PBR Burger Bash Click HERE for more information (Local 662, Fubar, St. Petersburg)
Tampa Bay Margarita Festival with Smash Mouth Smash Mouth and tequila might seem like an odd pairing, although listening to the former might make you want to drink the latter – at least if you spent any time listening to late 1990s radio, when the pop-friendly vaguely surf-vintage AC rock band reached its pinnacle and songs like “All Star” and “Can't Get Enough Of You Baby” saturated the airwaves. Still, if you dig margaritas and don’t hate Smash Mouth, you might as well be drinking in the sun at TB Margarita Festival. Bottoms up. (Curtis Hixon Park, Tampa)
ALSO TONIGHT
Mercy McCoy Hideaway Café& Recording Studio, St. Petersburg
Halfway to Halloween Party w/Worlds Divide/The Dood/From Darkness Arise/Grasping at the Shadow/Silent Treatment Brass Mug, Tampa
Jasmine Deja's 21st Birthday Bash w/Gun Hoes/Veiny Hands/Pleasures The Bends, St. Petersburg
Black Coast Royals w/Oxford Nolan Green Bench Brewing, St. Petersburg
Between Bluffs w/John Kelly Band Ale and the Witch, St. Petersburg
John Nowicki Fodder and Shine, Tampa
Scholar's Word Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin
Destroy with Lazers Party feat. Nerd Rage, Big Makk, Laser Assassins, Monk & more The Ritz Ybor, Ybor City
The Ybor City Takeover w/Adaliah/Traitors/RivalFL/Aera Cura/Within us/The Iliad/Aware-Awake/Untomoria orpheum, Ybor City