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A fever pitch

Tropical Heatwave's six Ybor City stages provide music lovers a chance to see their favorite bands while checking out other acts.

By MARTY CLEAR
Published May 12, 2005

Brave Combo, the Grammy-winning Texas band that blends polka, klezmer, merengue and other ethnic dance forms with garage-band rock, would love to play in Tampa more often.

The problem, one band member explains, is geography. It's a long drive to the Tampa Bay area from just about anywhere else in the country.

"We really like playing in Florida," singer-accordionist Carl Finch said. "Tallahassee's okay and Tampa's great. We love Tampa. But it's a much longer state than people think it is. It's even hard for us to get down there for Tropical Heatwave."

The annual "All You Can Eat Music" event staged by community radio station WMNF-FM 88.5 is so tantalizing in part because it draws Brave Combo and other bands with fervent local followings to this corner of the country.

Since Heatwave offers dozens of quirky and exciting acts, bands that make the trek to Tampa don't just play to their own fans. They'll reach the throngs of music lovers who may be there mostly to see their favorites, but also poke around the various Heatwave venues looking for new musical adventures.

This year's Tropical Heatwave, scheduled for Saturday on a cluster of stages in Ybor City, brings together 32 acts. Some, like Brave Combo, Laura Love and Alejandro Escovedo, are longtime Heatwave favorites. Others are newish acts, such as LA punk torch singer Devil Doll, who have become popular with WMNF listeners but have never appeared in concert locally. And there's a smattering of great local bands (including the Diviners, the Vodkanauts and the Urbane Cowboys) who usually play for only a couple of hundred people at a time in local clubs.

Organizers say the 24th annual Heatwave promises to be a few notches above the norm.

Besides the strong lineup, "We've added New World Brewery and the Orpheum as venues, so people who haven't been here in a couple of years will find that Heatwave's been expanded," said WMNF program director Randy Wynne. "And we'll have a street fair on Ninth Avenue."

Vendors will be out on the avenue instead of in the music venues this year, Wynne said. That will free up more space for dancing in front of the six stages (New World, the Orpheum, El Pasaje Plaze and three stages at the Cuban Club), and will provide an additional point of focus for audiences.

But it's the music that matters, and Wynne said this year's lineup should be one of the best in a long time. Escovedo's genre-defying performance should be especially memorable. In past years, Escovedo has appeared at Heatwave backed by a rock band and chamber ensemble. This year, it'll be a combination of the two.

Heatwave "is always good, but sometimes it's special," Wynne said. "This one's special."

WMNF's Tropical Heatwave, the Tampa Bay area's biggest annual dance party, kicks off at 6 p.m. Saturday and runs until the wee hours Sunday. Thirty-two bands representing almost every style of contemporary music you can name (plus a few that you probably can't) are scheduled to take to six Ybor City stages. Here's the rundown of performances, with the usual caveat that schedules are subject to change.

2010 Avenida Republica de Cuba (14th Street)

6:30 P.M.: Big Night Out (Latin, Caribbean, funk and Motown)

8 P.M.: Dikki Du and the Zydeco Crew (hard-driving zydeco)

9:50 P.M.: Soul Sauce (swinging blues for dancers)

11:25 P.M.: Edi Okri and the Afro-Centrix (Afropop-reggae)

6 P.M.: Beat Circus (circus jazz avant garde)

7:25 P.M.: Lorraine Klaasen and the Soweto Groove (South African township jive and soukous)

8:55 P.M.: Laura Love Band (Afro-Celtic funk)

10:40 P.M.: Alejandro Escovedo (transcendent rock)

12:20 A.M.: Heritage O.P. (African diaspora percussion)

6:10 P.M.: Four Star Riot (punk pop)

7:20 P.M.: Jake Brennan and the Confidence Men (barroom rock)

8:45 P.M.: Legendary Shack Shakers (crazed blues and rockabilly)

10:10 P.M.: The Hacienda Brothers (Southwestern country soul)

11:35 P.M.: Devil Doll (rockabilly, Latin, lounge, burlesque)

12:55 A.M.: Voodoo Organist (spooky, swampy demonic blues)

13th Street and Ninth Avenue

6:25 P.M.: Eric Steckel Band (blues)

7:45 P.M.: Reckless Kelly (roots rock)

9:20 P.M.: Mofro (bluesy, funky, front porch jams)

10:55 P.M.: Brave Combo (polka-eclectic)

12:25 A.M.: New Monsoon (soulful, groove-centric, improvisation)

1902 Avenida Republica de Cuba

6:30 P.M.: Addek and Speak (progressive hip-hop)

7 P.M.: The Diviners (earthy-hued thrash)

8:20 P.M.: The Biscuit Burners (young North Carolina bluegrass)

9:40 P.M.: The Kissers (Celtic rock)

11 P.M.: Fall on Purpose (ska, jazz, punk and more)

12:15 A.M.: The Vodkanauts (surf classic, lounge and originals)

1313 E Eighth Ave.

6:30 P.M.: Hindu Cowboys (folk, string band and roots)

7:35 P.M.: Urbane Cowboys (loud alt-country)

8:40 P.M.: Sawgrass Flats (rockin' newgrass blues)

9:45 P.M.: Beauvilles (modern rock revivalism)

10:50 P.M.: Empty Spaces (high-energy modern rock)

11:55 P.M.: Life of Pi (Weezer-esque rock)

Tropical Heatwave starts at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Cuban Club, El Pasaje Plaza, the Orpheum and New World Brewery in Ybor City. Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the door. (813) 238-8001 or wmnf.org.

[Last modified May 11, 2005, 09:32:06]