This week's Spring Arts 2015 Preview looks at all the most noteworthy art exhibits, theater productions, festivals and concerts happening this January through May. We've put together all the music-related happenings for your live music planning convenience below. For the complete arts calendar, click here.
JANUARY-FEBRUARY
Galactic with Monophonics The New Orleans funk-jazz institution held down by the tight drumming prowess of Stanton Moore returns with San Francisco psych-soul up-and-comers Monophonics providing more than capable warm-up. January 31, State Theatre, St. Petersburg.
Merchandise/Parquet Courts/Soda After a three-month tour that took them overseas and back supporting 4AD debut, After the End, Tampa’s own hometown non-heroes Merchandise hit the road again, bringing their art rock/New Wave shoegaze to a surprising (unconventional) venue as joined by hard-buzzing indie garage rockers Parquet Courts and Gainesville psych-thrashers Soda. January 31, American Legion Hall, Tampa.
Whigfest 2015 with J.J. Grey & Mofro, Polyenso and many more Attic Records’ third annual President’s Day weekend-fueled music fest (one of the first in 2015 and actually falling on Valentine’s Day) spreads 25 mostly Florida-spawned acts over four stages located in and around Jannus Live (at Ringside Café, Mandarin Hide and MacDintons); Jacksonville’s funky, swampy Southern rock and soul purveyors JJ Grey & Mofro headline. February 14, downtown St. Petersburg.
Amanda Palmer & Neil Gaiman Piano-banging songstress and provocative former frontwoman of Dresden Dolls Palmer and author/graphic novelist Gaiman are married in real life and known for their creative collaborations. The twosome brings their 'Heartbreak Hotel' production to town just in time for a special Valentine's Day "one-night stand" of music and stories showcasing the most heartbreaking work they've ever made. February 14, Tampa Theatre, Tampa.
Justin Townes Earle Steve Earle’s prodigal singing, songwriting son signed to Vagrant last year after a long stint with Bloodshot and issued two heart-sore country/folk rock recordings back-to-back – Single Mothers in September, Absent Fathers in January. He hits town for the first time in four years supporting both. February 16, Crowbar, Ybor City.
MARCH
Loretta Lynn Everyone’s favorite coal miner’s daughter graces Plant City during the Florida Strawberry Festival. The trailblazer was one of the first female artists to talk openly about birth control and female empowerment. Expect to hear great stories from her six-decade career. March 6, Florida Strawberry Festival Grounds, Plant City.
Aesop Rock The eminent alt hip hop artist, rapper and producer from San Francisco has issued two albums since his stop at State in 2012; a surprising collab with Kimya Dawson as The Uncluded, Hokey Fright, and Bestiary, another Hail Mary Mallon record with DJ Big Whiz and Rob Sonic. Sonic joins him on this date. March 7, State Theatre, St. Petersburg.
Gasparilla Music Festival Washington-brewed Isaac Brock-led indie rock heavyweights Modest Mouse were recently revealed as Saturday night headliners for the fourth annual GMF, a date that falls just after the release of their latest studio album, Strangers to Ourselves (out March 3 via Epic Records), and marks their first recording of original material since 2007's We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. Other national highlights that join high-quality local and regional talent at the two-day fest include New Orleans psych rock/soul/electro rockers Mutemath, theatric and bombastic gypsy-punk rockers Gogol Bordello, charmingly spirited indie pop duo Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Daptone Records-repped brass-blasted Afro-funk nine-piece The Budos Band, and New Jersey's grungy punk-heartland faves The Gaslight Anthem. March 7-8, Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park and Kiley Garden, Tampa.
Hundred Waters Cooing ethereal vocals slink, soar or stutter in multi-tracked layers of prettiness over the dreamy, down-tempo indietronic art pop of Gainseville-bred femme-led Hundred Waters, which brings returns to St. Pete to headline after an impressive opening slot for Interpol in November. March 11, State Theatre, St. Petersburg.
Elvis Costello In addition to leading that new Bob Dylan lyrical project with Jim James and Marcus Mumford (The New Basement Tapes), consummate British alt rock singer-songwriter Elvis Costello is getting down with his badass solo self on a North American "DETOUR" and bringing his relevant-through-the-eras mix of power-pop, post-punk, New Wave and roots-folk rock to Clearwater for a show that will most assuredly sell out. Even more exciting, four of his 13 U.S. tour dates are in Florida, so relentlessly loyal diehards can enjoy multiple performances – and the ones fans who miss out getting tickets here can try their hand at Jacksonville, Orlando, or Ft. Lauderdale. March 16, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater.
APRIL
Swans Michael Gira re-assembled his experimental rock outfit in 2010 and has issued a few full-lengths since. Both earned spots on Pitchfork’s “Top 100 Albums of the Decade So Far 2010-2014,” including across-the-board critically-acclaimed 13th and latest Swans LP, To Be Kind. April 1, State Theatre, St. Petersburg.
Tune-Yards An impressive range of high-quality talent has hit Tampa Bay in the past few years, but we’re still skipped in favor of Orlando far too often. The latest act to prompt an O-town road trip is Tune-Yards, the project of New England-bred songstress Merrill Garbus, who, with help from fellow collaborator Nate Brenner, fuses worldbeat, experimental pop, R&B and some freaky folk-tronica into a looped, skewed, multi-tracked brew of ukuleles, percussion, synths, bass grooves and idiosyncratic vocals. Garbus, Brenner and a triage of players/vocalists are currently backing third album Nikki Nack, a Best of 2014 favorite. April 3, Beacham Theatre, Orlando.
The Baseball Project The super-sideman/indie-superhero sluggerfest boasts Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows), Steve Wynn (The Dream Syndicate), drummer Linda Pitmon (ZuZu’s Petals) and R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and Mike Mills. April 4, Crowbar, Ybor City.
The Who Hard to believe The Who has been trucking for five decades. “The Who Hits 50!” marks the supposed end of the road for the hard rock behemoths, at least as far as active touring goes. (Frontman Roger Daltry has referred to the tour as the band's "long goodbye.") The 20-date U.S. spring run kicks off in Tampa, and finds Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend and the rest of the players currently backing them delivering a program of well-worn favorites and select deep cuts, including "Love, Reign O'er Me," "Baba O'Riley," "Sparks," "See Me, Feel Me" and "I Can See For Miles.” Warm-up from Joan Jett & The Blackhearts. April 15, Amalie Arena, Tampa.
MAY
WMNF Tropical Heatwave Of course there's a Tropical Heatwave this year, and of course it's going to be a cavalcade of eclectic sounds from Americana and world beat to rock, folk and more. Tampa Bay's beloved community radio station is going for another two-nighter this year, including performances by Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Landreth Brothers, crowd-pleaser March Fourth Marching Band, locals UNRB and Luxury Mane, and many more TBA. Early bird tix go on sale this Sun., Jan. 25. May 1-2, Cuban Club and various Ybor City venues.
Neutral Milk Hotel Among the beloved indie rock acts spawned by the Elephant 6 collective in the early ‘90s, Neutral Milk Hotel is arguably the most well-regarded and influential. The Jeff Magnum-led outfit cemented their status as indie rock darlings forevermore with 1998 breakthrough LP, In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, disbanding the following year and causing a rather excited uproar in 2013 when Magnum announced that he and the original Aeroplane lineup (Scott Spillane, Julian Koster, and Jeremy Barnes) would be hitting the road on their “last tour for the foreseeable future.” This’ll be the first time that many fans have seen Neutral Milk Hotel live, and might be the last time they get a chance to. May 4, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater.
Big Guava Music Festival The biggest crowd-drawing headliner at the inaugural Big Guava was Outkast. For the second annual edition, organizers have downsized the fest from three days to two, brings in another few newly active favorites to lead the fray – post-punk revivalists The Strokes and alt rock luminaries Pixies – and keeps the filler low and relevant buzzed-about talent high with acts ranging from NYC art rockers TV on the Radio to indie hip hop supergroup Run the Jewels to vet roots/alt country singer-songwriter Ryan Adams. May 8-9, MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa.
