Sizzling hot sounds

By GINA VIVINETTO, Times Pop Music Critic

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 26, 2000

This weekend is hot, hot, hot for Tampa Bay area musicians, with benefits, tributes and a long-lost act returning home. The time is right to check out fine local acts.

WELCOME HOME: Give a hearty "welcome back" to local-boys-made-good Home, the alt-rock Tampa quartet that moved to the Big Apple four years ago with much success.

Hot on the heels of XIV, the band's new release, and a brief European tour, Home, which got its start in Tampa in 1992, returns to the old digs to play 9 p.m. Friday at the Orpheum, 1902 Republica de Cuba Avenue (14th Avenue), Ybor City.

The show also features Tampa bands the Dumbwaiters, the Boats and Spacious International.

XIV, produced by alternative rock luminaries Michael Ivins of the Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev's Dave Fridmann, is trademark Home: sprawling, dramatic compositions, wonky percussion, the eloquent bass of Brad Truax, off-kilter keyboards and vocals courtesy of Eric Morrison, and the urgency of singer/guitarist Andrew Deutsch.

These guys don't know the meaning of 4/4 time signatures or the ol' verse-chorus-verse. Though the band can slam out catchy, quirky pop without breaking a sweat, Home opts for ambitious opuses that get under the skin, make you tense, then leave you exhausted by their intensity. Tickets are $5. Call (813) 248-9500.

SWOLLEN ON U2 TRIBUTE: A shout-out to yet another Tampa Bay area band that made good: Swollen has been invited to contribute its version of U2's Mysterious Ways to an upcoming Adrenaline Records two-disc tribute to the band. Swollen will also have an original, Cherry Blue, on the compilation. The band was recording this week.

MEMORIAL DAY INCIDENT: Join local bands Spiller, Futureman, Closure, Tomorrow, Nutrajet, the Spills, Flat Stanley and Joe Popp for the annual Memorial Day Incident at 8 p.m. Sunday at the State Theater, 687 Central Avenue, St. Petersburg.

The show, organized by Spiller's Martin Rice, is a benefit to gather non-perishable food items for the St. Vincent De Paul food bank in St. Pete. It's also a chance to check out eight of the area's best music makers. (Mr. Popp says this is yet another of his final performances; Popp is moving to New York to join the rest of the 1990s Tampa Bay music scene. Do they all live there?)

Rice, who began the Incident in 1995, said he is interested in combining local music with charity.

"The people were going to come, so why not do something constructive?" Rice says. "The food drive was an obvious choice. Anyone can bring in something from their cupboards."

Admission is $6 without a food donation or five bucks with a can of something to eat. Call (727) 895 3045.

MORE BENEFITS: Drivin 'n' Cryin' front man Kevn Kinney headlines a benefit for the Suncoast Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphatic Society on Saturday at Club More, 703 Franklin St., Clearwater. Local singer/songwriters Dave Hardin and the Nailbiters' Mike O' Neill -- who have both nabbed Best Singer/Songwriter awards from Weekly Planet -- will also play. Admission is $10. Doors open at 8 p.m. The show starts at 9:30 p.m. Call (727) 466-6673.

Touring talent

In case you're interested in the pop music world outside of our own area, several exciting national acts are coming to town.

DELBERT McCLINTON AT JANNUS: Texas blues guy Delbert McClinton brings his gritty voice and dazzling harmonica to Jannus Landing in St. Petersburg tonight, with openers Backtrack Blues Band. McClinton's countrified blues call to mind Jerry Lee Lewis and Jimmy Reed, the guy who inspired McClinton, 57, to give that ol' harmonica a go. The show starts at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Call (727) 896-1244.

NIELDS AT SKIPPERS: The Nields, from Massachusetts, perform their hooky folk pop at 8 p.m. Saturday at Skipper's Smokehouse, 910 Skipper Road, Tampa. The band has its roots in 1960s-style acoustic-tinged pop with an emphasis on smart song craft and the gorgeous vocal one-two punch of sisters Katrina and Nerissa Nields. Openers the Kennedys are a hubby-wife duo that recreate the fab jingle jangle sound of the Byrds and the Beatles. Tickets are $13 advance, $16 at the door. Call (813) 977-6474.

STARFEST 2000: Star 95.7 hosts StaRFEST 2000 featuring pop big names Collective Soul, Tonic, GAs Giants, Dido, Guster and newcomer Leona Ness on Sunday in Vinoy Park in downtown St. Petersburg. Gates open at noon. Tickets are $9.57 (get it?) through Ticketmaster or http://www.star957.com. At the gate it will cost $16.

CASE AT COLISEUM: R&B singer Case performs at the First Annual African American Prom, which kicks off at 9 p.m. Saturday at the Coliseum, 535 Fourth Ave. N, St. Petersburg. Though his baggy pants and baseball cap make Case look like a rapper from da hood, his style is more Marvin Gaye than MC Whoever. Twentysomething Case's smooth love-fest crooning calls to mind Luther Vandross, Al Green, all those old school soul singers. Tickets for the event are $35, available through Ticketmaster, through the box office or charge by phone (727) 898-2100, or (813) 287-8844. The Coliseum box office number is (727) 892-5202.

TEAM POP TRIVIA: The winner of last week's trivia contest was Michael Ross of Pinellas Park. Ross knew that Pete Townshend of the Who bopped yippie Abbie Hoffman on the head with his guitar at Woodstock when Hoffman jumped onstage to talk counter-culture politics, interrupting the Who's set.

A big "Right on, brother!" to Ross, who won a Times T-shirt, and to the many Team Pop members who played last week, especially the Popster from Tampa who sent in a Xeroxed copy of his 30-year-old Woodstock journal detailing the Townshend-Hoffman exchange.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: Want a Times T-shirt? Who doesn't? To enter your name in the random drawing for the hottest all-cotton T of the summer, tell me who wrote Fortunate Son, the tune with which the all-chick punk rock trio Sleater-Kinney (see Audio Files, Page 18W) is perking up ears. Hint -- as if you need it -- the songwriter's birthday is Sunday.

Fax entries to Team Pop Trivia, (727) 892-2327, send e-mail to gina@sptimes.com or send your entry in an envelope as our ancestors used to Team Pop Trivia, c/o Weekend, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33713. All mailed entries must be postmarked by Saturday (the day after we ask the question). Faxes and e-mail can arrive as late as Monday morning. Please include your full name and phone number.