As lacking in live music options as Friday was, this Sat., Dec. 12 proves jam-packed with a diversity of concert options. Breakdown below.Rising Appalachia Multi-instrumentalist sisters Leah Song and Chloe Smith craft worldly soulful folk music with jazzy undertones as co-leaders of Rising Appalachia. Their sweetly harmonizing and sensually crooning vocals wax on social and environmental topics with occasional spoken wordplay and exotic chanting, their sounds weaved together on a mix of strings (banjo, fiddle, guitar) and percussion (kalimbas, baliphone, beatbox, congas, djembe, tablas, spoons and washboard) as joined by world percs player Biko Casini and given lowend flesh by David Brown on stand-up bass and baritone guitar. The quartet is currently on tour behind fresh full-length Wider Circles. (Safety Harbor Art and Music Center, Safety Harbor)
The Black Dahlia Murder with Goatwhore, Iron Reagan, Entheos, Artificial Brain Heavy music ‘zine AngryMetalGuy.com called Abysmal– the 2015 seventh LP from melodic death metal mainstays The Black Dalia Murder –“the perfect antithesis to a pretentious scene glutting itself on 80 minute records that can’t get out of their own way; it’s tough, fast, refined, and slick.” Also of note on this bill: Goatwhore, the extreme metal outfit from New Orleans fueled by the deep gut-wrenching roars of frontman/guitarist Sammy Duet. (Orpheum, Ybor City)
Basement Sessions A curated evening of visual artworks paired with poetry and live hip hop, soul, turntablism and experimentation. This edition features performances by QueenofEx Carter, Danny Pynes, Alma Contra, Jon Ditty, WE SPOKE, Rogerthomas, Wally Clark and DJ Qeys. Find out more about the Basement Sessions and the new mixed-used space where it will be HERE. (MFArts, Ybor City)
Ummet Ozcan A Dutch-Turkish EDM DJ, producer and sound designer behind softsynth and soundbank technology who calls on a mix of progressive, big room and electro house sounds. (Amphitheatre, Ybor City)
Kamelot with Dragonforce Churning out a big, theatric blend of power and symphonic metal from Tampa Bay since ’91 as led by guitarist/arranger Thomas Youngblood comes Kamelot, returning to their hometown behind 11th studio album Haven. British sextet DragonForce juggles between power and speed in their own metallic sounds, and has six albums to their credit; the last was 2014’s Maximum Overload. (The Ritz Ybor, Ybor City)
Kung Fu with Holey Miss Moley New York Tri-State area jammy funky fusion band Kung Fu pairs riffy and fret-worked guitar that amps up to heavy distorted levels with tightly danceable rhythms, heavy keyboard and bass grooves, and the brassy wailing solos of tenor sax. Definitely a band that brings the party vibe on a Saturday night, especially paired with the Bay area’s own soul and funk-pumping ensemble, Holey Miss Moley. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
Loudon Wainwright III If you ever watched M*A*S*H*, you might remember his three-episode arc as Captain Calvin Spalding, the "singing surgeon." Warm drawling humorist folkie Loudon Wainwright III has since flexed his acting chops in various other spots over the years amid a prolific recording career spanning a few dozen albums, including a Grammy winner in his 2009 tribute to singer and banjo player Charlie Poole, High Wide & Handsome, and latest 2014 release Haven’t Got the Blues (Yet). The latter ranges in wryness from antagonistic holiday-themed odes (“I'll Be Killing You This Christmas”) to downright comical observations about owning a dog in the city (“Man and Dog”) sung in tuneful multi-voice harmonies. (Murray Studio Theatre, Clearwater)
Tampa Bay Rocks the Cure with Sister Hazel, The Outpatients A concert in support of the Pediatric Cancer Foundation as headlined by Gainesville’s AC alternative and Southern-country rockers Sister Hazel and featuring Tampa-brewed ‘90s-hued Outpatients. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)
WMNF Presents: Frank Sinatra Centennial The latest tribute show from ‘MNF finds the station marking the (would have been) 100th birthday of Ol’ Blue Eyes, an icon of pop standards whose career spanned six decades and so much material (hits and beyond) that the setlist overlap for this bill likely didn’t pose a problem for the dozen bands ranging greatly in style that perform interpretations of Frank Sinatra fare, from songbook-trained traditionalists Paul Wilborn and the Blue Roses to post-punk disco glam rockers Funny Bunny, and among the songs that’ll make appearances –“All or Nothing at All,”“Fly Me to the Moon,”“Love and Marriage” and “The Lady Is a Tramp.” Also performing: Alex/Bella, Ronny Elliott, Rosewood Creek, Savants of Soul, Scott Elliott, Shoeless Soul, Soul Purpose, Talk to Mark, The Sara Rose Band and Vodkanauts. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
ALSO TONIGHT
Break This Curse/Camrose/Blacklight Band/Disheveled/The Knowing Within Brass Mug, Tampa
Jackyl State Theatre, St. Petersburg
Sun Signs Album Release Show New World Brewery, Ybor City
Roy Schneider & Kim Mayfield w/Lipbone Redding Hideaway Café& Recording Studio, St. Petersburg
Dirty Bourbon River Show w/Stringfellow Ale and the Witch, St. Petersburg
The Malah w/Four Star Riot Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin