THURSDAY, JULY 12
Ultimate Band Series Semi-Finals The Ritz Ybor kicks off its third annual Ultimate Band Series competition, which awards one local band with a fatty $5k-valued prize package that includes the chance to open for a nationally touring act stopping at the Ybor venue over the next year, studio recording time, and paid gigs at three upcoming Bay area events. Winners from each of the three semi-final rounds are determined by audience applause and a panel of judges that includes CL's own marketing guru, Joran Oppelt, and Jesse Kage from The Kage Kult Show on 98Rock. Five bands face-off in this first round of semi-finals with a "Red Hot Chili Pepper" theme: Sunshine & Bullets, Fight Another Day, The Northwest, Rising Down, and Red Calling. (The Ritz Ybor, Ybor City) —Leilani Polk

Antiwarpt Movie Night: Black Dynamite To hype up the appearance of Adrian Younge at Antiwarpt III on July 28, Brokenmold presents a free screening of the 2009 film that the San Francisco-based musician edited and scored with his sophisticated fusion of psychedelic soul and dramatic funkadelia. Black Dynamite is a 1970s-style blaxploitation action spoof that follows ex-CIA agent and general badass mutha Black Dynamite as he cleans up the streets and gets vengeance for his only brother's death, all to the beat of his own theme music. The Crate Brothers spin jams before and after the presentation. (The Roosevelt 2.0, Ybor City)—LP

FRIDAY, JULY 13
Bard & Mustache w/Diealps!/We're Not Dead New Jersey native cellist Gregory Bortnichak (Sparta Philharmonic, Circa Survive) and Sarasota singer/guitarist Erin Murphy (The Equines) are the creative minds behind Bard & Mustache, a recording project they formed early last year and made permanent after some touring, an EP release and Bortnichak's move to the Sunshine State. Murphy's vocals are the rich and resonant centerpiece of the duo's experimental folk-jazz, lyrics offering sweetly poetic musings or understated yet vivid metaphor. (From "Velvet": "We were dressed like summer camp, swimming in the oil paint / and the leaves were dripping pigment onto the river lying underneath.") Two Tampa bands support: Diealps! does waltzing, finely-textured indie pop with multi-voice harmonies while We're Not Dead serves bouncy synth pop marked by heavy distorted guitars. (New World Brewery, Ybor City)—LP

Aych's Monster Ball The Bay area's own prolific, high-quality emcee (and multi-Best of the Bay award winner) issues his second recording in 2012 (the first was January's To Kill a King). Monster is unveiled at his Monsters' Ball CD release party aptly falling on Friday the 13th. Among the guest performers are TK Phresh, Koi, the Head Nokka Family, and Annex; showtime at 11 p.m. (Crowbar, Ybor City)—LP

Kaskade A house-rooted EDM DJ/producer who draws healthily on progressive, deep and electro influences and dabbles in dubstep, Kaskade (Chicago native Ryan Raddon) has gotten big ups from the likes of Fuse and Rolling Stone for his much-talked-about Coachella performance, which went up against Radiohead and still managed to draw a fatty crowd. He also unveiled a new stage set-up at the California fest, and he’s taken it on the road for this tour supporting 2011's Fire & Ice, his seventh and latest LP. Expect lots of LED screens flashing vibrant kaleidoscopic visuals and an all-purpose dance party atmosphere. (Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall, Tampa)—LP

Cope w/Big Something Cope holds down the title of the Tampa Bay area's most reliably solid jam rock band with a compelling balance of roots, funk, blues, electro-psychedelia, and reggae that's marked by strong guitar melodies and easy-going bass grooves of the brothers Stadelman (Dennis and Kenny), appealing multi-voice harmonies as led by Dennis, layered keyboards and sax embellishments by Juan "Juanjamon" Montero, and a robust back-beat held down by drummer Dave Gerulat. See, Cope's well-crafted sophomore LP, was self-released last year. On this night, they're joined by N.C.-based sax-fused electro-groove rock sextet, Big Something. (Skipper's Smokehouse, Tampa)—LP

Michale Graves If the name rings a bell but you're not sure where it's tolling from, then you might've been a Misfits fan in the late 1990s, since that's when Michale Graves sang lead for the band, up until late 2000. He's worked on various projects amid doing the solo acoustic punk thing and providing vocals on the road with Marky Ramone's band, Blitzkrieg; this tour hypes a forthcoming solo electric (full band) album, War of Information. (State Theatre, St. Petersburg)—LP

Gulfster Presents: Offshore Riot w/Sidereal/Paint The Town Red After a nearly two-year hiatus, Tampa Bay's reggae rock outfit with buoyant melodic grooving tendencies, Offshore Riot, makes their triumphant return and will debut some new material along with dusting off all the old favorites. (Local 662, St. Petersburg)—LP

Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival: Slipknot / Slayer / Motörhead / Anthrax / The Devil Wears Prada / As I Lay Dying / AskingAlexandria / Whitechapel A diverse array of howls, roars, bellows, shrieks and wails fill the Gary Amphitheatre when the fifth annual edition of the traveling Mayhem metal fest hits Tampa on its 26-date run. Headlining are four genre heavyweights: Slipknot, the Midwest's alt-nu metal eight-piece that adds rapping to their chaotic aggression, each member clad in his own freaky-unique mask and uniform; rapid fire thrash-blasting foursome Slayer, of the wildly dueling guitar solos and brutally booming double bass drums; crusty eardrum-shattering British heavy metal trio Motörhead, which has issued 21 albums in their nearly four-decade career; and NYC speed and thrash innovators Anthrax, with "classic era" vocalist Joey Belladonna returning to the fold a few years back in time to record a 10th album, 2011's Worship Music, for Anthrax's 30th anniversary. Four strong metal-rooted acts spawned from the '00s round out the two-stage fest; music kicks off at 1:30 p.m. (1-800-Ask-Gary-Amphitheatre, Tampa)—LP