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Etta James possesses one of the most soulful voices on this planet and she seems to just get better with time. Roll With Me Henry was her first smash, with Johnny Otis, in the early 1950s when she was just a saucy teen.
Since then, James (born Jamesetta Hawkins in 1938) has seen several lifetimes of personal tragedy, including drug addiction and torrid love affairs, but has remained a remarkable singer.
Her R&B hits reflect her tempestuous life: Good Rockin' Daddy, the tearjerker All I Could Do Was Cry, the violin-drenched At Last, Trust In Me and the gospel house-shaker Something's Got A Hold On Me.
Let's not forget the signature Tell Mama, which so inspired - with reverence, oh, with reverence - a white girl from Port Arthur, Texas, named Janis Joplin, that she had to give it a try herself.
James, fittingly, was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001. The live shows, by all reports, find Miss James still very, very, naughty.
Etta James performs with the Subdudes 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Mahaffey Theater, 400 First St. S, St. Petersburg. $39.50-$60. (727) 892-5767.
- GINA VIVINETTO, Times pop music critic
Next Big Thing has big names
The Next Big Thing concert, sponsored by 97X-FM in Clearwater's lovely Coachman Park, features a who's who of all the crazy bands the kids are screaming for nowadays.
Who's on the bill? Dashboard Confessional, the Boca Raton emo-pop outfit fronted by hunky punk Chris Carrabba, that sensitive, tattooed troubadour who makes young fans' hearts go pitter-pat. A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar, Dashboard's latest, is two discs more of earnest and emotional tunes that the Carrabba cult eats up.
AFI, fronted by creepy Davey Havok, who wears more black mascara and hair dye than Priscilla Presley did before she married Elvis in the 1960s, plays the gothy punk. Critics pretty much loved this year's Sing the Sorrow.
Hoobastank makes kids go cuckoo for the band's catchy pop-punk. Same goes for Fuel, the Ataris, Less Than Jake, Something Corporate - pretty much everyone on the bill.
The Next Big Thing kicks off at 10 a.m. Sunday in Coachman Park, downtown Clearwater. $25. (813) 287-8844 or (727) 898-2100.
- GINA VIVINETTO, Times pop music critic