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Seriously. No kidding. We need a writer. Several readers responded favorably to the ‘Writer Wanted’ classified which led off last issue’s column; the problem is, they thought we were kidding. We’re not. Focus Magazine is currently seeking a new Localized byline – various incidents and myriad circumstances have slowly yet inexorably led our publisher to the conclusion that Ravis Harnell is neither responsible nor emotionally stable enough to continue reporting on events which concern actual persons, with actual feelings, who reside within driving distance of his home and the Focus office/beach house. Not least among these factors are A) the substantial loss of advertising revenue attributed to Harnell’s use of expletive language and/or “jokes” regarding various advertisers; and B) the recent, alarming rise in the number of local artists regularly responding to Localized columns with complaints, dissatisfaction, and threats. The writer’s usual retort that such parties are “insecure little Napoleons without a sense of humor” notwithstanding, obviously the time has come for a change. This magazine depends on advertisers for its existence, and on local artists for its material and audience. Without you, we’re nothing. Job Requirements: a working knowledge of the Tampa Bay area original music scene; some familiarity with area clubs, promoters, and media outlets; basic word-processing skills; a consistently viable e-mail address; serviceable grammatical and compositional skills; reliable transportation; a commitment to approximately 15 hours per two-week printing cycle. Please do not respond to the e-mail address at the end of this column, but rather to the publisher directly at thestate@gate.net .
Happy New Year, folks. Spend just a minute taking it in, won’t you? A clean slate. A fresh start. An immaculate vista, the new horizon unsullied by sorry turns of event, impulsive, irredeemable acts, that horrible shit you said when you were hammered. Revel in the clarity that comes as you once again pass Go and collect two hundred dollars. Three weeks hence, you may well be mired in the day-to-day bog of just one more stupid week of the same old mind-numbing month in yet another pointless year, but right now, as you stand, poised and scanning an open future like a blank canvas begging for the color of your life, it all seems possible. Your band couldn’t possibly suck…
Just as Focus goes to print, a last-minute change has been announced regarding the upcoming January 20 Meat Puppets show at The State. Tour support will be provided by Damnations TX, instead of Unified Theory, of whom no one knows anything at all, except that some of the guys from Blind Melon are involved. And, really, does that help much?
A new coffeehouse/art and music performance space/hangout has opened in Saint Pete. Enchanted Brews is located at 6538 30th Avenue North. The flyer says “a place of cultural diversity, we welcome all cultures and genres”, so don’t be timid about asking your buddy the Slayer fan to bring his friend the Congo pygmy cannibal (that’s a Congo pygmy who is a cannibal, not a Congo cannibal who eats pygmies, or a cannibal that eats Congo pygmies) the next time you crave a little Bolivian blend. Enchanted Brews is open on Saturday and Sunday from one p.m. until whenever…
Has everyone seen the commercials Fox 13 is running? The ones gently reminding us to treat our incoming Super Bowl visitors, and their fat, fat wallets, with the utmost kindness and courtesy? Ahh, nothing says ‘civic pride’ quite like advocating sycophancy on network television, does it? Look, everybody knows that most of Florida depends on tourist income. Everybody also knows that the people who can afford tickets and travel expenses for The Big Game are probably going to spend their next vacation in Costa Rica or Cabo San Lucas, whether the waitress at Bern’s offers up a little post-dessert coitus or not. When I’m in Orlando, I see plenty of Disney commercials, but I don’t see a damn snippet of employee training video wedged in between segments of The Drew Carey Show…
Here’s the latest list of upcoming aestheticized shows, brought to you as usual by Jack & Co. Why do we always list ‘em here, and not every other club show? I could spew off something about how different and cutting-edge these gigs are, or mention the fact that Jack tries his ass off – he doesn’t own a club, he doesn’t just make a few calls to line up the week, and he’s dedicated to bringing a different flavor of indie music to those fans who want to hear it. But, the truth is, it’s the beard. I think about it all the time. I don’t know why.
Orpheum
Monday January 22
The Convocation of, Chris Coady, support TBA
Friday January 26
Isotope 217, Chicago Underground Duo, support TBA
Thursday February 1
Q and Not U, The Mercury Program, Versailles
Thursday February 8
Rainer Maria, The Lapse, New Roman Times
New World Brewery
January 21, February 4 & ...
Return of Free BBQ ($3 cover, free food/parking, good music of all sorts)
1.21 - DJ Nigel & Allisonica
2.4 - DJ RattleSnakePants (aka S.Kalem) & Margaret Murray
Tuesday January 23
King Django, Heavy Step
Saturday February 3
The Hertzsprung Gap (ex-members of Sweep The Leg Johnny & Punjab)
Spacious International
Saturday February 10
XBXRX (rockin’ new band from AL | on 5RC, the new Kill Rock Stars subsidiary)
Support TBA
Many, many people have been subtly prodding us to include the fact that St. Pete’s excellent Catfight will be at Orpheum on Tuesday, January 16, so there you have it. It’s an especially attractive installment of their weekly Raunch N’ Roll night, which never fails to be something you might want to do on Tuesday that won’t inspire the urge to poke out your eyes with your cocktail straw after about twenty minutes. As opposed to, say, The Turtle Club, or whatever…
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Tampa will host a January 21 concert with Tina Bergmann and Brian Thomas. Bergmann is a virtuoso on the hammered dulcimer, Thomas the double bass; the duo incorporate everything from American and Latin roots music to European classical influences into their performances. No, there will not be vintage tube-amp tone. The show begins at five p.m., but an “acoustic circle jam” hosted by Carl Wade commences at three. The UU Dome is located at 11400 Morris Bridge Road in Tampa; tickets are ten bones. For more information, call 813.625.2600, but please, do not embarrass yourself by ringing ‘em up to confirm whether or not this is “a God thing”, okay?
Eclectic roots/blues/folk guitarist Peter Keane comes to Skipper’s Smokehouse on Tuesday, January 23. Keane has been lauded by many a folk superstar (sometimes words look funny next to one another, don’t they?), and appears on several albums by Bill Morrissey, including the Grammy-nominated Songs of Mississippi John Hurt, which he also co-arranged. His latest solo work, Another Kind of Blue, was a really big hit with people who dig that sort of thing. Tickets for the show are six bucks; be there by eight…
Northern Pinellas Les Paul juggernaut Sage are currently working on a new disc at Orlando’s RMP Studios; local knob-twiddler Mark George is at the helm. The now-quartet has been working it quite a bit over in Disney City. Their recent Sapphire Supper Club gig was attended by Jimmy’s Chicken Shack, who were once almost famous, and Sage will be bringing newly-buzzed O-Town rock outfit Dynaride with ‘em to Gasoline Alley for a Groundhog Day show on February 2. The band that should be everybody’s favorite new local energetic, muscular pop-rock entity, Sour, will also play…
Speaking of Gasoline Alley, they are now rocking a weeknight Karaoke gig, hosted by Patti K. I’ve got nothing at all against GA, and Patti’s a sweetheart, but if the mental image of an Alley crowd queuing up to croon ‘Never Let You Go (Angel Eyes)’ or ‘Rooster’ doesn’t fill you with either gleefully malicious anticipation or deep, aching dread, you should probably consider settling into a papa-san chair somewhere with a nice, big Clorox n’ Drano cocktail…
Upcoming WMNF Events. Because not every acronym with a ‘W’ in it connotes big men, small pants, and homoerotic violence.
January 14 – Eddie ‘The Chief’ Clearwater; Skipper’s Smokehouse
January 18 – The Waco Brothers, Sally Timms; Skipper’s Smokehouse
January 30 – Dave Douglas; Club More
February 10 – Michio Kaku (speaking engagement); The Falk Theater, University of Tampa
February 23 – Fred Eaglesmith and The Flying Squirrels, Marie Burns; Skipper’s Smokehouse
And please remember that on February 24, fund-raising dinners will be held throughout the Bay area as part of the station’s ‘Dining On Air’ campaign to raise cash for a new building; contact the station for more information…
Pop mavens Barely Pink continue their assault on our live venues this month. They’ll be at New World Brewery on January 20 (with Miami’s Derek Cintron), Yeoman’s Road on Davis Island on January 26 (with Unrequited Loves frontman Mike O’Neill), and Dunedin’s The Pharm on January 27 (with Universal Baby). Pick one, or better yet, Collect Them All…
New Port Richey’s Boulevard Lounge will host a matinee show this Saturday, January 13; Lickety Split, Trippingerries and Burden Fly will provide tuneage. Things kick off at two p.m., and it’s a measly four bucks for all ages under 21…
Lots of doins a-transpirin’ over at Brandon’s Polysound Studios. Closure’s been tracking, as well as MP207, hip-hop act K.P. Klick, contemporary Christian artist Josh Hailey, and R&B duo Hematite. The Damon Fowler Group recently mastered the live tape of their New Year’s Eve Sarasota concert, a tag-team effort involving Audiolab’s Greg Marchak and Mister Polysound, Wes Price. Congratulations to Skyline, the band that won studio time so graciously raffled off by Polysound at December’s Rock For Research shindig – they’ll be working on a full-length disc come February. Tracks from various alumni are always available for your perusal at www.polysound.com …
Come celebrate eight years of flailing bodies, grievous injury, loud, sweaty punk rock and drinking beer out in the parking lot with The Skatepark of Tampa on January 20. Loud, sweaty punk rock will be provided by The Tim Version, The Unholy Alliance, M.A.Y. (featuring some guys from the late, great Clairmel), and two other yet-to-be-selected voluminous purveyors. Buy Brian a cold one in exchange for more information…
Former Mr Bella drummer Cory Warren has taken over drum duties for Next Season, replacing Thor Parker. Which means, after numerous and sundry substitutions, that NS is made up of Warren, vocalist Bill Demarest, guitarists Danny Delpurgatorio and Rob Foster, and bassist Dan Byers. This final-until-further-notice lineup will appear at Skatepark of Tampa this Saturday, January 13, as part of a show that will most likely feature a bunch of other like-minded bands as well. Next Season’s website is currently undergoing massive renovation (must have something to do with the constant member changes), but feel free to peruse the progress at www.nextseasonalliance.com …
Hangtown has added a new member – Dave Korman, soul of the all-too-recently defunct Leonard Croon Band. The band’s second full-length CD will be released January 30 on the Black Dog Records imprint (Blue Mountain, Marah). Check out the new lineup at The Pharm on January 13, or at New World Brewery on January 19 with superpopgroup Five Man Trio…
“Emit series is proud to again present for your listening pleasure, Amy Denio in two shows. Amy Denio is an internationally recognized composer and multi-instrumentalist based in Seattle. She has received commissions to compose for Italian National Radio, for the Berkeley Symphony, and for internationally recognized dance companies, and has won awards for her film sound tracks.” Well, shit, I’m sold. She’ll be at Budious Maximus on January 12, and at Gulf Coast Art Museum on January 13…
Chrome Yellow are nearly finished with their debut disc, God help us. Producer Surely T is currently “remixing a couple of their songs as Techno funk dance versions, and the results have everybody excited”. Both 98Rock and Star 95.7 have gotten behind what’s next, and international licensing of their product is eminent.
It looks like the next recorded effort by The Chase Theory is going to come out under the wing of New York indie imprint OneDaySaviour. At the risk of employing a little hyperbole, they are the best band that has ever existed, ever. Also, they’ll be at Port Charlotte’s Area 51 on January 12, before dropping in at their hometown Monterey Deli on January 27. Go see them before they become The Band That Vagrant Records Forgot, get bigger than Buddha, and begin to sell their merch at outrageous Aerosmith-esque prices…
The Bushhounds have found a new drummer in Rob Lee, who, as far as we know, never played in any of the, er, venerable southern rock bands they’ve opened for. They scored yet another sweet, sweet gig opening for Cheap Trick at Bud Bowl 2001, a free soiree to be held in Ybor City on January 20 for free. Then they’re off to support Molly Hatchet and Bad Company in South Carolina. You do know that Don Henley is offering some executive producer-type help on their next CD, don’t you?
Sarasota chunk-and-melody trio E3 are staging the release party for their latest batch of recorded tracks this Saturday, January 13, at The Monterey Deli. Nine2Life and Sesso will also bring the rock…
Singe is currently breaking in new vocalist Dustin Crouch and turntablist Mitch Merideth (better get yourself a cool new DJ moniker, Mitch. Seriously, real names never cut it when you’re the guy that makes those noises). Give ‘em a month or two…
Coffeestain.com has hooked up with Port Charlotte venue Area 51 to give original bands another cool weekend venue - every Friday night at Area 51 will be Coffestain Night, and they’ve already booked some non-dance-or-cover-intensive shows, just to show that they’re on the level.
January 12 - The Chase Theory, Slick Riddle, Harvest
January 19 - Ultimatum Unknown, more TBA
January 26 - Lo, Mind Machine, Null and Void
February 2 - Drop, E3, Jesus Gun
February 16 - Left Hand Black, Suspended Animation
Email the kids at Coffeestain.com and plead your case if you’d like to get on a bill.
Ask, ponder, fret. Nah.
Ravis’ Top Ten New Year’s Resolutions
Never again use the word “rawk” – Stef and Eric can have it
Do everything possible to heighten sexual tension between The Intern and The Tech
Spearhead drive to get pi key on every keyboard in the world, just in case
Make Josh Sullivan the next Gary Trudeau
Get girlfriend’s mother to say “fellatio”
Get Tony and Dave to kiss
Turn new school punk kids on to the majesty of April Wine
Offend Chrissy and/or Moe, just once
Make millions marketing Dave’s likeness and the catchphrase “Gotta keep movin”
Rekindle love affair with an old flame known as prescription drug dependency
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