THURSDAY, MAY 15
The Toadies20th Anniversary Tour w/BattleMe/Supersuckers Few bands take me back to my youth quite so keenly as the Toadies. Their platinum-selling post-grunge debut came out when I was a sophomore in high school, the new kid who knew all of three people and was pretty fucking pissed that I’d been uprooted. Rubberneck spoke to this angst, from the heavy propulsive grind and chugging guitar distortion of set openers “Mexican Hairless” and “Mister Love” to the deliberate sinister seduction of “Possum Kingdom” and the urgent war cry of “I Come From the Water,” the wildly expressive howl of vocalist Vaden Todd Lewis like fuel to my righteous teenage fire. Toadies celebrate the 20th anniversary of Rubberneck with a re-release and tour, which finds the foursome performing the album from start to finish, and with solid warm-up support from BattleMe and Supersuckers. (The Ritz Ybor, Ybor City)
Matt Butcher & The Schoolyard Band w/Will Quinlan & The Holy Slow Train/Lauren Galant We haven’t seen Matt Butcher around these parts in far too long. The sweet-voiced Nashville-by-way-of-Orlando roots-folk singer-songwriter has been keeping busy since his move nearly three years ago, forming The Schoolyard Band with drummer/vocalist Pete Pulkrabek and bassist/vocalist Cullen Tierney, and recording a new full-length album, The Kids Are Gone; funds raised in a recent Kickstarter campaign (more than $4,500) will be used to pay for album artwork and vinyl pressings. Butcher is expected to play select cuts off The Kids Are Gone on his current Southern tour. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
Nile w/Ulcer/Prophecy Z14/From The Embrace/Kadaver Dolls Nuclear Blast Records-repped Nile brings fast and technical fretwork to their death-metal sound, the dropped-A tunings on guitar and bass ripping and shredding through dark, dramatic stretches of heaviness, and the ferocious lead vocals of Dallas Toler-Wade dipping so low, you can almost hear the bile curdling in his gut. (Orpheum, Ybor City)
Ana Popovic Nashville-by-way-of-Serbia axe-slinger Ana Popvic hits Clearwater with her soulfully sweet vocals and searing, funky-grooving blues rock, in support of her sixth and latest album, 2013’s Can You Stand the Heat. (Capitol Theatre, Clearwater)
Gladys Knight The R&B-pop singer only had one No. 1 charter as a solo artist — 1985’s Grammy-winning “That’s What Friends Are For” with Dionne Warwick, Elton John and Stevie Wonder — but her tenure as the frontwoman of Gladys Knight & the Pips (est. 1953) bore enough fruit to carry her through to the present, most notably in “Midnight Train to Georgia” and “Heard It Through the Grapevine,” the latter released prior to the Marvin Gaye’s version and charting high in its own right. (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)
FRIDAY, MAY 16
Radiolucent w/The Owsley Brothers Dave Lowery-approved Radiolucent hails from Athens, Ga., their hard-hitting rays-lit rock n’ blues drive dusted in down-home Southern grit and marked by the howling gospel-soulful vocals of frontman Michael Mann. Support on this date comes from scuzzy garage-blues act The Owsley Brothers, formerly the solo project of multi-instrumentalist J.E. Reynolds, currently a foursome that does not, contrary to the name, include any related members. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
The Aquabats w/Koo Koo Kangaroo With goofy superhero personas (as piloted by The MC Bat Commander) and costumes to match (lots of spandex, skull caps, domino masks, Chaplin-style painted-on mustaches), the pseudo-crime-fighting outfit otherwise known as Aquabats delivers punk-kicking alt rock shaded in elements of ska and New Wave. While it might seem schticky — and it is — these dudes know how to have a grand ol’ time and more importantly, are pretty good at spreading the merriment around. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
The Winery Dogs A “supergroup” with a lightly progressive hard-rock sound showcased on a new self-titled debut, The Winery Dogs are smoky-voiced singer-guitarist Richie Kotzen (Poison, Mr. Big), Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, and bassist Billy Sheehan (Stevie Vai, Mr. Big, David Lee Roth); pre-show party with Four Star Riot from 5:30 to 7:15 p.m. (Largo Cultural Center, Largo)
SATURDAY, MAY 17
Red Elvises The renowned Russian surf-rockabilly band brings the party back to the Skipperdome for a night of worldly carousing. Lead dude Igor Yuzov (vocals, accordion, guitar) has reunited with Red Elvises founding bandmate Oleg Bernov, who plays a big red balalaika bass (a triangular stringed instrument from Russia), and they are joined by Sarah Johnson (tenor sax, keys, flute), Dregas Smith (keys, vocals) and drummer Garrett Morris. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
97X Backyard BBQ w/Bastille/The 1975/Sleeper Agent/Kongos/The Orwells/Wild Cub/Bad Suns/Skaters/Sir Sly Seems like 97X’s ‘You Control the Music’ format has finally paid off via the quality of music that’s been popping up more often on the station’s playlist and remaining for longer stretches in favor of all the shite. The latest installment of Backyard BBQ is proof positive, with the pre-summer blowout headlined by London’s dramatic, expansive synth-pop-rock outfit Bastille, which has a few hits on the air right now (“Optimistic,”“Bad Blood”). Other noteworthies on this date include Kongos, the band behind that swaggering accordion-fueled track that seems to be playing everywhere, “Come With Me Now”; Wild Cub, Nashville-based purveyors of the sunny catchy percussive-lush “Thunder Clatter”; and punk-garage revival act The Orwells (“Who Needs You”). (Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg)
The Dags Farewell Show The Bay area loses another quality group in The Dags, an alt rock/garage-blues trio setting off for greener musical pastures in Los Angeles. But first, they stage a final (free) show at The Hub joined by several TBA guest musicians and with warm-up support from Selectric. “If there was ever a time for you to come wish us well or tell us to eat shit, now would be it.”—The Dags. (The Hug, Tampa)
Fiesta Maxima Local Latin radio station 92.5 Maxima stages its third annual throwdown, which is headed up by multi-platinum Puerto Rico-bred reggaeton recording artist Don Omar, whose Meet the Orphans 2: The New Generation earned him a Best Urban Music Album award win at the 2012 Latin Grammys. Also on the bill: Prince Royce, a Bronx-based Latin pop/R&B star whose three full-lengths have all peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Latin Albums charts, including 2013 latest Soy el Mismo. (USF Sun Dome, Tampa)
Lady Antebellum w/Billy Currington/Joe Nichols The amphitheater’s country-music season kicks off this Saturday with genre giants Lady Antebellum, led by the triple twang attack of Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood. Also coming up this summer at the amp: Zac Brown Band (a two-night stand), Tim McGraw and Brad Paisley. (MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheater, Tampa)
Odesza w/Kodak To Graph/Spies On Bikes On their last stop through town, Odesza warmed the stage for Michael Menert. This go-around, the production duo (Harrison Mills and Clayton Knight, aka Catacombkid and BeachesBeaches) take top billing. I’ve likened Odesza’s sound to Sweet Valley with Bonobo-quality ambiance, mainly due to the twosome’s hip-hop-rooted production style; dreamy atmospheric stretches broken up by faster groove-vibing interludes, layered in thick fuzzy pulses of bass, carried on big thumping beats, and embedded with instrumental and vocal samples that are chopped, spliced, skewed and then dropped into Odesza’s glitchy late-night sonicscape. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
Jensen Serf Company w/Bodegas/The Gun Hoes/Early Forms A mixed Florida bill starring St. Petersburg’s favored purveyors of grungy, reverb-laced surf and garage, Jensen Serf Company. Gainesville-based Bodegas (formerly known as Holy Ghosts) deliver doo-wop beach-hop in their spooky lo-fi odes, while The Gun Hoes, from Miami, set dissonant, warped-watery guitar lines on punchy bumpin’ beats. Tampa quartet Early Forms — which issued a new Carnivore EP in November — builds their own echoing salt-splashed sound with dual guitar melodies and whirring synthesizers. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)
Miggs The emotive Tampa-spawned pop-rock band with lightly rootsy flavor is led by namesake singer, songwriter and guitarist Don Miggs, whose last release, 2012’s 15th and Hope, was recorded with 15-time Grammy winning producer Phil Ramone (Billy Joel, Paul McCartney); his band includes bassist Michael Lombardo, drummer Walker Adams and guitarist John Luzzi. (Jaeb Theater at Straz Center for Perfomring Arts, Tampa)
Wolf Gang The debut from London’s Wolf Gang, 2011’s Suego Faults, marries soaring synth pop with urgent guitar-sliced alt rock, songs like “Dance with the Devil” dripped in keyboard melodies and building to big symphonic climaxes. Their brand-bew Black River EP finds Wolf Gang with one less band member — singer-songwriter Max McElligott now leads a quartet — and repped by a new label, Cherrytree. (Local 662, St. Petersburg)
SUNDAY, MAY 18
Ingrid Michaelson w/Sugar + The Hi-Lows/Storyman Ingrid Michaelson is the preferred voice of TV melodramas; 15 of her songs appeared on Grey’s Anatomy, and she’s also been tapped for One Tree Hill, Brothers and Sisters, Parenthood and Pretty Little Liars, among others. Her songbird croon is bright and pretty, soaring over piano and ukulele-driven indie pop and spanning six full-lengths; the most recent, Lights Out, dropped last month. Warm-up on the album’s support tour by-way-of Sugar + The High-Lows, a band with heart-squeezing throwback pop appeal and boy-girl vocal harmonies courtesy of singer-songwriters Trent Dabbs and Amy Stroup. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)
TUESDAY, MAY 20
Instruments of Change: In the Round Concert w/Melodime & more Six acts take part in this concert to benefit two nonprofits: locally-based Instruments of Change, which provides disadvantaged children with musical instrument donations, instruction and performance opportunities, and DC’s Now I Play Along Too, a nonprofit with the same aim and the partner charity of this night’s Virginia-spawned pop-rock headliner, Melodime. Performances are delivered acoustically, “in the round” style, with musicians sharing the inspiration behind each original song, ala VH1 Storytellers. Also performing on this night: pop/soul artist Steve Everett, American Idol alumni Shannon Magrane, Justin Vilardi of Paint the Town Red, contemporary Christian artist Julianna Zobrist, and Nashville-by-way-of-Valrico bluegrass trio The Walker Brothers. (Hideaway Café& Recording Studio, St. Petersburg)
The Pangaea Project No.51: Argiflex w/RoboBOREALIS/Wolf Pussy/Whitey Alabastard/Teach Me Equals A night of intriguing boundary pushing as brought to you by the Pangaea Project. Leading the festivities is Argiflex, the performance moniker of Mississippi’s Curtis Lehr, a self-styled ‘live PA’ who uses knob-turning electronics to get to his breaks-carried acid-washed sound. (The Venture Compound, St. Petersburg)
Styx / Foreigner w/Dan Felder Nothing like a little nostalgia to warm up your Tuesday night. This somewhat prog-ish classic-rock rewind features co-headlining sets by Styx (“Babe,”“Come Sail Away,”“Lady,”“Too Much Time on My Hands,”“Mr. Roboto”) and Foreigner (“Feels Like the First Time,”“Cold as Ice,”“Hot Blooded,”“Double Vision,”“Urgent,”“Juke Box Hero,”“I Want to Know What Love Is,” etc.). Bet you didn’t know you knew so many songs from their combined catalogs. (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)
WEDNESDAY, MAY 21
Kid Ink With second studio album My Own Lane reaching No. 1 on the Rap Albums charts and the crossover success of hit single “Show Me” featuring Chris Brown (which samples 1993’s “Show Me Love”), Kid Ink is on his way to becoming a big name in the pop-savvy hip-hop realms. This tour supporting My Own Lane features support from King Los and Bizzy Crook. (The Ritz Ybor, Ybor City)
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