A quick breakdown of this holiday weekends most worthy concerts. For a more comprehensive schedule, check out our Upcoming Events page.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18
/The Tenant/The Tape Delay Cincinnati indie trio Slow Claw doses their alt rock with dulcet-toned melodies and unexpectedly complex arrangements, proggy in an appealing and accessible sort of way. Slow Claw is currently celebrating the release of their debut album, Grandfather Clocks, which they recorded over 10 days in Charleston, S.C. The Tape Delay is Tampas own post rock outfit, their drawn-out instrumentals ranging from ambient wanderings to heavy layers of driving sound, two guitars responsible for the musics range of textures, from distorted riffage to screaming wails to warped or bent or twisted notes and lots of finely-placed reverb. And the new Orlando rock quartet led by Brad Register of the now-defunct Summerbirds in the Cellar, The Tenant, has its local debut at this show. 8 p.m., New World Brewery, Ybor City, $7.
Sara Haze [pictured] w/Mark & James/Friends of Giants/Nick Shanahan Theres a lovely husky quality to the vocals of flaxen-haired pop songstress Sara Haze, who plays piano and fronts a five-piece band that features a violinist and a drummer-percussionist who bring atmospheric vibes to Hazes breezy uplifting songwriting. Haze self-released her debut, Ladder, in 2008 and is currently touring in support of its eight-track follow-up, Lovely EP; download it via iTunes and get three bonus tracks, too. 9 p.m., Orpheum, Ybor City, $10.
Dive Bar Stalkers Local psychobilly outfit that brings the smokin good times with its brand of twangy rocking n rolling big coarse vocals, springy rhythms, fiery slide guitar and raucous riffing, and the sort of straightforward lyricism thats both fun and funny. 8 p.m., Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa, $10.
Rock Solid Pressure Industry Showcase 2009 This rock/metal showcase spotlights a few dozen up-and-coming (unsigned) bands as recognized by J-Rock and Patty the Radio Girl from the nationally syndicated FM radio show, Rock Solid Pressure. Said bands are exposed to labels and all-manner of industry professionals during the two-day event. Friday night is the open-to-the-public pre-party schmooze fest for VIP guests and industry insiders, with a bill of nine bands (Hammerslug, Hell Within and Variance, among others) providing the live music soundtrack. The all-day main event showcase is held on Saturday. The first half features mainstream, indie, modern, post-hardcore, and punk acts and the second half is devoted to all forms of new metal; local faves on the bill include Falling Awake, Dirty Black Halo, Not Tonight Josephine and Zombie Dragstrip Hookers. One of these bands could get signed; go out and root for them so you can say you saw em before they hit it big. 1 p.m.-late, State Theatre, St. Petersburg, $15.
[pictured] w/Julliet/Thrown Alive Is it better to be known as the tired hard rock band that put out Once Bitten, Twice Shy, or as the tired hard rock band that reunited and played the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong pyrotechnics? LAs longtime hard rock band Great White suffers from both unfortunate stigmas and while The Station nightclub fire wasnt really the band members' fault their manager and the nightclub owners took the rap its impossible not to think about Great White without connecting them to the disaster. Theyve soldiered on, however, raising money for the survivors and victims of the fire for a few years before breaking up and reuniting again, releasing their 11th studio album, Rising, this past April. Of the band's original lineup, only vocalist Jack Russell and lead guitarist Mark Kendall remain. 9 p.m., Bourbon Street, New Port Richey, $18 in advance/$25 dos.
Truckstop Coffee w/Gentlemen Please/Old North East/Solia Tera Floridas own Truckstop Coffee hails from Lake Worth, and produces twangy, garage-bred Southern-fried roots rock with a slow blues appeal and gritty-raw vocals. The four-piece is celebrating the release of their second full-length, For Dear Life, which is offered on a pay-what-you-choose platform via their website. Never heard of Gentlemen Please before this writing, but their low-fi experimental pop is rather intriguing. Id assume that Old North East named themselves after the St. Pete neighborhood where theyre based; the music is buoyant, acoustic-driven, and charming. And Lakelands Solia Tera makes experi-pop with driving rhythms and precious percussive textures like glock and bells. 9 p.m., New World Brewery, Ybor City, $6.
Joe Buck w/Redliners/Blind Buddy Moody CL blog contributor and Ninebullets.net editor/owner Autopsy IV wrote a review of the last Joe Buck show and his vivid description Joe, hunched over a guitar, red uplight casting eerie shadows, his hyperactive left leg smashing out a back-beat on an old bass drum while he recited lyrics of murder and Satan through gritted teeth is the best way to illustrate what you can expect from the mowhawked hellbilly punk rocker, who was once the guitarist of the Th Legenday Shack Shakers and has performed in various projects headed up by Hank Williams III. Currently, Buck is a one-man band. 9:30 p.m., Emerald Bar, St. Petersburg, $7.
idea of the music that New Age duo Deva Premal & Miten generate meditative, atmospheric soundscapes, the soft waves of sonics marked by Hindu mantras and chants, sitar and flute. The German duo have been living and playing together since 1991, have put out a series of acclaimed CDs along the way, both individually and as a duo, and are currently touring in support of a new live CD/DVD release, In Concert, which features selections from their performances with Nepalese Bansuri maestro Manose. 7:30 p.m., Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg, $36-$72.
Damon Fowler Group. 8 p.m., Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg, $12.
Midnight Bowlers League 10th Anniversary Show w/Sarge and the Aeromen/Big Jef Special/The Cadillac Bombers Traditional rockabilly foursome Midnight Bowlers League celebrates 10 years of playing old school rock n roll with a bill of other roots-minded musicians the fun and lively countrified garagebilly trio Sarge and the Aeromen, Orlando alt country foursome Big Jef Special, and the Cadillac Bombers, which infuse their rockabilly sound with a bit of swing and the sultry twanging vocals of Kalamity Kat. 8:30 p.m., Market On 7th, Ybor City, $7.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20
Irritable Tribe of Poets w/Ronny Elliot The Tribe is a loose collective of local spoken word artists who convene every once in a while to lay their range of improvisation-oriented wordage and verbiage against free form jazz, rock, funk and world music by the Tribes instrumental ensemble: Jim Beckwith on percussion and vocals, Bob Brown on keys, Ray (Rayzilla) Villadonga on bass and guitar, and Rick Olsen doing multi-instrument duty. For this edition, the poet roster includes Melissa Fair, Bradley Morewood, Rhonda J. Nelson and Tampas Poet Laureate, James Tokley. The evening kicks off with a set of original songs by Beckwith, Elliott, Pulley and Villadonga. 5 p.m., Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa, $10.
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