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THURSDAY, JULY 23
7:00
8:30 PM: LONGFORM IMPROV SHOWCASE See how it's done in this weekly show! Come for the Drop-In at 7:00, and stay for this show for free.
FRIDAY, JULY 24
7:00 PM: LIVE MUSIC! GUTWRENCH COLLECTIVE PRESENTS: A NIGHT OF HARDCORE
Join us for this stacked bill, featuring seven of Florida's best hardcore/metal bands!
SATURDAY, JULY 25
7:30 PM: TWO GALS
Join Jenna and Tayler for their reunion show - a night of improv, sketch, nostalgia, and yap.
9:30 PM: THE DARK SHOW
Top comedians bring you their most powerful dark material for truly a night to remember!
SUNDAY, JULY 26
3:00 PM: LIVE MUSIC! SOFTSPINE FEST 12 bands, one day, endless riffs and slams.
Thank you for the letters. Thank you for the comments. Thanks for calling out bots and trolls—and for holding us accountable when you think we fall short of what this publication can be. Creative Loafing Tampa Bay has enjoyed opening up the mailbag, and we want to keep the party going. Scan the QR code on this page to give us feedback, or just find us wherever the algorithm has trapped you and chime in there.—Ray Roa
‘It’s absolutely within reach’: Pete Buttigieg believes Florida Democrats can win in November (via Facebook)
With Vindmann as your candidate? Good luck, buddy.—Shawn Michael
The only thing blue in florida is the water in my toilet—Patrick Flugge
Creative Loafing Company Slogan -- If we don't like the news, then we make up our own! Maybe stick to selling ad space to bars and Foodie Joint of the Week ?—Michael Roger Shea
Photos: Tampa activists call for justice after ICE kills two people in a week (via Facebook)
Bot accounts made comments and laugh reacts within 30 seconds of this post being made. Tell me again how the machines aren’t learning how to make Americans feel like they’re fighting a losing battle….?—Shawn Michael
Tampa icon Wright’s Gourmet House will open new locations in Brandon, Wesley Chapel
Didn’t everybody get real mad when Michelle Obama did this?—Mike All
First a partnership with Palantir on surveillance of our medical data, now a partnership with an unqualified psychopath on nutrition. Doesn’t seem that TGH has citizen care and privacy as a priority anymore.—Rebecca Gast
Was literally just at tgh and they had an amazing menu with healthy options? Why did they need to partner with anything?—Tuesday Njcole
Tampa Bay’s first Cook Out officially opens today near USF (via Facebook)
There were four hundred and fifty two cars in line when I passed by last night on my way to burger vault. Lol—Bryan Stevens
We went and loved it. Grew up a little in NC Fayetteville area and I’ve missed it. Marquetta Howard
2028 cannot come soon enough to WC! It’s been years but I never had anything that wasn’t delicious there. Pasco needs more locally owned restaurants. I hoping the Gonzmart family would open something out here! Congratulations Wright's Gourmet House— Carrie Lewingewel
Tampa General Hospital signs onto RFK Jr.’s ‘Make Hospital Food Healthier’ pledge (via Facebook)
How about making healthier food more affordable to everyone? Maybe we could cut back on hospital visits.—Sharon Gross
Plenty of roadkill in Tampa for that effort. Ricardo Santos
They were very welcoming and kept cars/ people moving through there yesterday. Great crew!—Katie Vickery
Literally just left. First visit and we were pretty impressed. Will definitely return.—Danny Dalton
Problem is… it’s near usf… might as well be Cuba…. Newrandy Strebling
Florida has the world’s 14th largest economy, according to new analysis (via Facebook)
Does that include the bill for the portapotties at Alligator Alcatraz?—Mark McDaniels And last in education.—David Duff
Florida residents probably aren’t aware they have the ‘explosive’ diarrhea parasite, say officials
I’ll take your lettuce diarrhea and raise you a gas station sushi breakfast followed by a Taco Bell linner dunch. My stomach has armor forged of 40 years living in this fallout shelter of a state. I’ve seen a man eat the raw bloodline out of a freshly slaughtered pompano. I myself have eaten unrecognizable casseroles unintentionally garnished with cat hair made by well meaning ladies of the south. My butthole has been training for decades. It’s like exposure therapy for allergies, but with parasites and gator meat from a roadside vendor. It’s a game of survival of the least fit, and I’m winning.—Amanda Leigh Roberts on Facebook
OUTBOARD REPOWER
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• Se habla español
Loaded lecture
Photos by Dave Decker
History is supposed to be fun, and no one may understand that more than Manny Leto. In its third year, Drunk Tampa History once again sold-out at Shuffle where natives and newbies packed the bar and shuffleboard area for a kind-of-unhinged, and totally transparent look back at the city’s 139-year history. There was beer, bourbon, Jagermeister, and a knockout 90-minute talk framed around how the Hillsborough River runs through (poo?) Tampa’s story. Last Wednesday’s party also featured an homage to Tampa Tribune
columnist Daniel Ruth, special unplanned guest appearances from two of the smartest guys in the city (Tampa Bay History Center curator Rodney Kite-Powell and Ronald Weaver), a Tampa flag cake, raffle winners, silent auctions, and special presentations from Tampa artist Michelle Sawyer along with the city’s foremost Fortune Taylor historian Gloria Jean Royster.
Can we please do a halfway to Tampa’s birthday celebration this winter? See all the photos via cltampa.com/music.—Ray Roa
Tampa Bay's best things to do from July 23 - 29. See more on pp. 37-38 & 41
Hold my beer
There’s nothing much better than cold-air conditioning during the Florida summer, and this craft beer getdown is the perfect way to spend the offseason for Tampa Bay Lightning fans. Bolts Brew Fest returns this weekend for its ninth year inside the hockey rink now known as Benchmark International Arena. Per usual, Tampa Bay’s best craft brewers will take over the ice-level, surrounding concourse, and VIP areas to serve not just beer, but ciders, seltzers, spirits from local distilleries, canned cocktails, and N/A beverages, too. ThunderBug will also be there along with shotskis, locker room tours for VIP ticketholders, games, photos, the Oktoberfest Stein-holding competition, the Kombi keg vintage VW beer van, and more. Bolts Brew Fest: Saturday, July 25. 7 p.m. $40 & up. Benchmark International Arena, Tampa. boltsbrewfest.com —Ray Roa
I have a right to show my color, darling Camp is the new cool, as Sapphic Sun writer Evelyn Long declared in the queer newspaper’s June issue. And while the irreverent countercultural movement reached mainstream success with the likes of Chappell Roan and "RuPaul’s Drag Race," it’s also being coopted and diluted. “Trump supporters are commending one another for ‘serving cunt,’” Long writes. “How can we as queer people stay rooted in the expressions and sensibilities we’ve created, and how do we protect them from losing their power?” Movie buffs and drag performers helps answer that question with a campy history lesson from before the reign of John Waters or even “Paris is Burning.” Sun-Ray Cinema hosts the first “Q The Camp!” screening this week with emcees Coriander Spice, Evve Addams and Cinna Honey Bunny. They’ll watch the documentary, “The Queen,” which follows the 1967 Miss All-America Camp Beauty Pageant featuring a legendary monologue from Crystal LaBeija. “Please come, I’m in financial crisis,” begs Spice.
Q The Camp!: Wednesday, July 29. 7:30 p.m.-11:30 p.m. $15. Sun-Ray Cinema, Tampa. sunraycinema.com —Selene San Felice
Gonna spread the news
Readers will have the chance to hear directly from author Jake Lamar when he visits Tampa’s Black History Museum on Wednesday for a special book club discussion of his memoir, “Bourgeois Blues.” The Harvard alumnus and journalist’s award-winning 1991 book “explores race, class, social mobility and coming of age in the 1970s and 1980s,” per the event description. Black History Book Club: “Bourgeois Blues” by Jake Lamar—Wednesday, July 29. 5:30 p.m.-6:45 p.m. No cover (RSVP requested). Tampa’s Black History Museum, Tampa. tampabayhistorycenter.org—Liam Oliver
Not the planes
Pinellas County residents don’t have to wait for July 27 to start celebrating 727 Day. Restaurants, bars, shops and local attractions celebrate the 727 area code with over 100 exclusive deals over three days this week. Discounts on food and drinks, special pricing on tours, reduced museum admission, staycations, spa treatments and more are available through Visit St. Pete-Clearwater’s free mobile passport. At the Tampa Bay Rays’ Saturday game against the Cleveland Guardians, attendees can receive limited-edition 727 shirts designed by local artist Clancy Riehm. Shirts can be picked up at the lower level entering the stadium. Residents unable to attend the Rays game can still receive a shirt or a commemorative 727 art print by mail by checking into two or more participating locations using the mobile passport. And for early risers who want to get a start on the actual 727 Day, Kahwa Coffee locations throughout Pinellas County from 7:27 a.m. to 8:27 a.m. will reward locals with a free small drink of choice. 727 Day Celebrations: Saturday-Monday, July 25-27. visitstpeteclearwater.com—Leif Helland
The gang plays footie Tampa is getting a taste of English soccer this summer as Welsh Wrexham AFC and English Leeds United come to Raymond James Stadium for a preseason match. The Saturday game is part of TEG Sport’s 2026 USA Summer Tour bringing the champions and Premier League to American fans following the FIFA World Cup. Wrexham’s visit comes as the club continues its rise from a lower league team into one of soccer’s most talked-about organizations. Since being purchased by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny in 2021, the club has gained worldwide attention through the documentary series “Welcome to Wrexham.” Leeds United does not have the same worldwide fame but was recently promoted to the Premier League in 2025, putting the team in the top tier of English soccer. Wrexham AFC vs. Leeds United: Saturday, July 25. 7:30 p.m. $61 & up. Raymond James Stadium, Tampa. raymondjamesstadium.com—Liam Oliver
Sing
along to the age of paranoia
Jobsite Theater stages “American Idiot,” the musical, just in time for America’s 250th anniversary and the resurgence of Y2K fashion, a housing crisis and another war in the Middle East. The pop-punk musical, which premiered at the Straz Center yesterday and runs through August 9, explores the faults of post 9/11 America through a critical lens. Three friends, Johnny, Tunny and Will, navigate the struggles of hopelessness and existentialism as economic uncertainties, a new war and media conformity dilute the American dream. Jobsite actors will perform the entire 2004 title album, as well as “21 Guns,” “Know Your Enemy” and original scores. The musical debuted in 2010 with Green Day frontman Billy Joe Armstrong playing a lead role of drug dealer St. Jimmy. Tampa native Spencer Meyers fills that role for Jobsite. Other stars of the Tampa show include Matthew Morris as Tunny, Cody Farkas as Johnny and resident actor and stage manager for Jobsite, Jarryn McCann, playing Will. ‘American Idiot’ the musical: Select dates and times through Aug. 9. $50 & up. Straz Center for the Performing Arts- Jaeb Theater, Tampa. jobsitetheater.org —Leif Helland
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BEST WOMAN-OWNED BUSINESS / BEST PERSONAL TRAINER
BEST PERSONAL TRAINER / BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE
Tampa Municipal Election Election Day: March 2, 2027; Early voting days still to be determined. Registration deadline: Feb. 1, 2027. votehillsborough.gov
Three for the show
The 2027 race for Tampa City Council’s District 3 seat takes shape.
By Ray Roa and Leif Helland
Tampa voters will see a very familiar name on next year’s city council ballot. Early this month, Garrett Greco filed paperwork to be the next District 3 councilman. The 34-year-old joins Candice Cowen, who filed in May, and Quinton F. Robinson, who filed this month, in a race to fill a citywide seat being vacated by Tampa City Councilwoman Lynn Hurtak who is running for mayor.
Greco is a fifth-generation Tampeño (he uses the term “Tampanian”) and the grandson of former Tampa mayor Dick Greco who served nearly two terms from 1967-1973. Grandpa resigned to make more money with the Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation, but returned to serve a third and fourth term as mayor of Tampa from 1995-2003.
Garret’s dad, Dick “Dickie” Greco served as a Hillsborough County Circuit Judge, but resigned in 2001 to make more money in private practice—then returned to the bench in 2008. Dad resigned from the courts for good in 2017 and was a late entry in the race for mayor in 2019. He earned just under 9% of the vote in that race, failing to make the runoff eventually won by current mayor Jane Castor.
“I grew up watching people who believe serving your community was a great honor, not just a title,” he said in his announcement video. While he makes a living as a real estate broker and property investor focused on restoring and improving parcels, Garrett Greco is perhaps best known for hosting the Tampa Bay Developer Podcast, which launched in 2023 and has featured more than 100 guests including developers, transportation advocates, neighborhood leaders, historians, and more.
In his video, Greco—who served as a member of the City of Tampa’s Land Development Code Advisory Team and the City of Tampa’s Charter Review Commission—said that hearing from guests has shown him that how the city grows matters. In a press release, he said that “his campaign will focus on affordability, infrastructure, neighborhood preservation, small business support, and responsible growth.”
“The best public policy begins with listening,” the release added.
Greco isn’t the only District 3 candidate thinking about affordability. Cowen, a mother of four, says she understands firsthand the importance of safe neighborhoods, economic
opportunity, and strong community investment for future generations.
A press release from Cowen, a Jefferson High School graduate, says her campaign’s primary focus is on Tampa’s affordability challenges, transportation, infrastructure, supporting responsible economic development and ensuring residents have a stronger voice in local government.
Cowen serves as the President of the Terrace Park Neighborhood Association, which hosts cleanups for the residential area. Since 2023, Cowen has been working as a Community Development Specialist for the City of Tampa. She is also pursuing her Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration at the University of South Florida. She also serves on the City of Tampa Black History Committee, which is a non-profit that promotes Black history, Tampa’s cultural heritage and academic achievement.
“I believe Tampa’s best days are ahead of us if we are willing to invest in our neighborhoods and work together as a community,” Cowen said. “This campaign is about bringing people together to build a stronger future for every family in our city.”
Quinton F. Robinson previously ran for Tampa City Council’s District 7 seat in 2019.
He also filed to run in this year’s upcoming election for Hillsborough County Commission District 3 seat, but did not qualify for the race.
Since announcing her run last month, Cowen is off to a significant start. She leads in campaign donations, with $9,875 as of the last reporting period and has earned endorsements from State Rep. Michele Rayner, State Rep. Dianne Hart and Hillsborough County School Board Chair Karen Perez.Cowen works for the City of Tampa as a community development specialist and has a long track record of serving the Tampa Bay community.
Her platform focuses on affordable housing in the at-large Tampa district as the city faces a continuing growing population. Hillsborough County is estimated to increase by 397,000 new residents between 2025 and 2030, according to Plan Hillsborough.
“We need to grow responsibly, so that means providing housing opportunities while protecting neighborhood character, and investing in infrastructure, preserving environmental resources and just ensuring that Tampa can grow, live, work, and thrive all together,” Cowen said.
According to a report that tracks the Federal Poverty rate amongst households, ALICE, 44% of Hillsborough households live under the threshold to afford basic needs.
Before she asks for votes next year, Cowen points to an issue on the November ballot: Florida GOP-proposed Amendment 3, which would raise the homestead property tax exemption on non-school
districts to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028. When asked how she would make up the loss of tax revenue, Cowen told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, she’d lead council budget talks to “reallocate funds and acquire different funding.”
“I think that’s something that we definitely need to strategize through,” Cowen said. “I really do hope that we’re able to educate residents to understand the impacts of that [amendment]. I’m just trying to get everyone updated on what the impacts may look like, how that may impact their public safety, their public parks, and their access to different opportunities.”
Experts estimate that by 2027-2028, Hillsborough County will lose nearly $348 million in tax revenue and the entire state will lose nearly $5 billion in total homestead tax revenue, according to the Legislative Office of Economic and Demographic Research.
Cowen’s desire to run for public office stems from Tampa citizens supporting her in hard times. Before her daughter turned one, she was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer, Rhabdomyosarcoma. With the help of “spiritual and financial” support, her daughter went into remission, Cowen said..
“The community just supported us and surrounded us, and people volunteered,” Cowen said. “It was just an amazing time that just showed me what Tampa was truly about. It allowed me to focus on the healing of my daughter…and to this day she’s currently healed.”
THREE’S COMPANY: (L-R) Tampa City Council District 3 candidates Candice Cowen, Garrett Greco and Quinton F. Robinson.
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RESTAURANTS RECIPES DINING GUIDES
Oh, soy
Vegan restaurant owners still standing amid recent closures.
By Alisha Durosier
When vegan restaurant Good Intentions opened in 2022, Tampa Bay’s vegan and vegetarian dining scene looked very different.
“There were a lot of vegans here; There were a lot of vegan businesses,” Good Intentions co-owner Jenny Howe told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.
“And that trend kind of took a step back.”
In the mid-2010s, and continuing into the early 2020s, public interest in vegetarian and plant-based lifestyles grew exponentially—arguably sparked by an onslaught of documentaries and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, the cost of living has reached a record high and pushback from the Robert F. Kennedy Jr.- led Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement has fueled misinformation and negative associations with meatless diet staples like soy and seed oils.
“I think that we don’t have the backing of the government like the beef and dairy industry to lobby, to make influencers eat sticks of butter and a raw piece of meat and convince hundreds of thousands of people that this is the new diet,” Howe said Four years on, Good Intentions is entering its final days; it’s the latest in a wave of vegan and vegetarian restaurant closures across Tampa Bay, including longtime favorites Golden Dinosaurs, 3 Dot Dash and Black Raddish.
with AC, sharing a courtyard with Tombolo Books and Black Crow Coffee in downtown St. Pete.
For her, the aim for Nah Dogs’ storefront is to be comfortable and inclusive, an approachable option for those who may want to go vegan but don’t know where to start or worry about the isolation that the lifestyle may come with.
“I think you can’t do that without being a vegan place—like that is literally for everyone, everybody can eat there,” Howe said.
“The isolation part of it is certainly getting more prevalent around here as we lose more businesses. ”
Like most trends, Howe believes the meatless lifestyle will make a comeback, but says that current industry struggles are a glimpse of a larger problem.
“I can’t remember the last time that I heard people say, ‘Keep St. Pete local.’ That feels like it’s dying, not even just (for) vegan businesses,” she said.
DINING GUIDE
But the Tampa Bay vegan and vegetarian food scene is far from dead. For proof of life, we talked to a few owners of vegan eateries about where the industry is headed.
Nah Dogs
While closing Good Intentions, Howe is doubling down on her beloved vegan hots with a Nah Dogs brick-and-mortar opening this summer. Why?
“Everyone loves a hot dog.”
In response to a lack of late-night vegan options in St. Petersburg and at Tropicana Field stadium during Rays’ games, Howe and her husband, Jeff, opened the first Nah Dogs cart in 2019.
“We just wanted to be community-driven and offer vegan options,” Howe said. “And that felt like a very easy way for us to start both of those things.”
After working countless festivals and steamy outdoor gigs, Nah Dogs will finally have a home
to really showcase it’s not that complicated, it’s not that crazy, it is delicious, it is affordable, it’s convenient and we’re here for you.”
in a wide variety of specialty baked goods and savory breakfast and lunch items.
Vegan International
Nick Alami, owner of Vegan International Co. in Tampa, also sees plant-based restaurant closures as an indicator of a broader issue.
“People forget that this is not a vegan problem; this is a restaurant problem in general,” Alami told CL. “The vegan industry just happens to be highlighted because everyone just wants to poke fun and people are just waiting for another vegan restaurant to close.”
When Alami opened Vegan International Co. in 2018, he realized that he had to think outside the box and break some conventional rules of restauranteering to stay open.
Starting with the menu.
As its name implies, Vegan International Co. offers Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Caribbean, Trans-Asian and American classics with a vegan spin, pushing back against the trope that long menus equal bad food.
According to Alami, most of Vegan International’s customer base is not vegan or vegetarian, which is a market he loves to serve and where he sees some meatless restaurants go wrong.
“You have to create food that everyone can enjoy,” Alami said. “It’s not a science experiment. This is food…. You have the opportunity
Many of the cracks that Alami sees in the meatless restaurant industry—the options, the affordability—he tries to remedy in his business approach.
“Vegan franchises don’t work,” Alami said. “Streamlined concepts don’t work for veganism. Options do, big menus do… unique concepts do.”
Alami notes that politics will always impact the meatless food industry, but says trends like MAHA shouldn’t stop a successful vegan business.
He ultimately wants his food to speak for itself.
“I prefer to use food as my preferred form of activism,” he said. “We can preach no meat, no dairy till the end of days. Without providing the alternative, it’s moot.”
WeVegan Eats
Among WeVegan Eats most popular items are the Big Mac crunchwrap, Tampa Cuban, banana nut bread and ube, chocolate chunk, and red velvet-flavored specialty cookies.
“As long as you come in and you want to enjoy a good cup of coffee, a good sandwich, a good environment, a good conversation, this is your place. I’m not trying to change the world,” she said.
According to Carson, a majority of
“We can preach no meat, no dairy till the end of days. Without providing the alternative, it’s moot.”
WeVegan Eats’ clientele do not follow a plant-based lifestyle, an element that Carson says has made the cafe’s surrounding community more receptive to plantbased foods. And since she started selling plantbased cookies at markets five years ago, the cafe has only experienced growth.
WeVegan Eats owner Sandra Carson is proud to have celebrated the cafe’s fifth anniversary this summer.
“I’m still here right now,” Carson told Creative Loafing. “And I’m just continuing to keep my blinders on and keep going and keep pushing… making sure I’m providing something to our customers that I know that they want to have.”
To Carson, the cafe’s niche is maintaining affordable prices while replicating classic flavors
Part of the cafe’s traffic can be attributed to the matcha craze the food industry has seen in the past few years, which she thinks could also be an indicator that the pendulum is swinging back.
“Matcha is one of our best sellers,” Carson said. “That’s definitely one of the trends, I think, recently that has really affected us in a good way.”
For Carson, it’s important to emphasize that WeVegan Eats can make plant-based alternatives that taste identical to dairy and meat.
“That’s our thing,” she said. “We’re not just making salads.”
EAT MOR CHICK’N: WeVegan Eats’ Buffalo Chicken Pub Sub Burrito.
New heights
Jessie Wohlers’ Jug & Bottle builds upon a beloved legacy.
By Annalise Mabe
On a Sunday afternoon, Jug & Bottle owner Jessie Wohlers, a now familiar-to-me-face, pours a glass of a crisp sauv blanc and gets right into the topic of the shop’s 11th anniversary this weekend. She discusses where the shop—located at 6203 N. Florida Ave. in Seminole Heighs—has been, its legacy and how to protect, expand and move it forward.
She’s been in the neighborhood for a while, and took over the shop in February 2025. It’s no secret that the area is changing.
But far from that, Wohlers is steadily building on what’s been here, and taking the place to new heights. The little changes happen daily as Wohlers applies new paint to walls, rearranges, or gets a new fridge installed for all of the shop’s special bottles of bubbly.
INTERVIEW
Jug & Bottle
11th anniversary block party
Saturday, July 25. Noon-midnight, no cover. Jug & Bottle Dept., 6203 N Florida Ave., Tampa. jugandbottledept.com
Less than two miles away, Southern Brewing & Winery is closing after 18 years in business. Old Heights Bistro is moving to South Tampa, and there’s uncertainty about the future of the wildly-popular Angry Chair Brewing.
In fact, when Wohlers took over, and even to this day, folks sometimes still walk in and say, “Hey, I thought you closed?”
“We’re creating a space that allows Jug & Bottle to have a new relevance,” Wohlers told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “We’re bringing two legacy businesses into the future in a thoughtful way.”
The other business is Ichikoroshi, the new iteration of Ichicoro, the Heights’ beloved, Michelin-bibbed ramen spot that shut down all too quickly in 2023. It’s still run by much of the same good crew, and Wohlers, who came down from New York, was part of opening the original Ichicoro. Together, they continue to pave the way for unpretentious, gritty charm via Jug & Bottle c. 2026.
Wohlers talks about all of Tampa’s bright new things—and also, how the city doesn’t exactly want to be the next Miami.
“I see the trends in Tampa going a little bit more towards shiny views and Miami-esque vibes,” Wohlers notes. “But we want to keep classic cocktails accessible and exceptional. I don’t want you to have to be paying my rent for a cocktail.”
For now, those cocktails are wine and sakebased. In December Jug & Bottle will introduce spirits to round out its current offerings of beer, wine, and N/A drinks on tap (not to mention all the incredible bottles and cans to-go).
In fact, Wohlers is striving to recreate something a little more intimate.
“The idea is that I’m trying to build my living room from Brooklyn in 2003,” she said. “Like, it’s very casual. There is an intention behind it. We’re not a coffee shop. We’re not really anything… or just everything.” (Jug & Bottle did just get an espresso machine—stay tuned).
It’s pretty clear the neighborhood still feels at home. One guy shouts out from a group down the bar: “Hey Jessie! I’m going to have my birthday party here!” Not long after, another woman greets Jessie practically like family and asks for a glass of one of her N/A wines from behind the bar.
Wohlers is well on her way to making her vision reality, and the loyalty in Seminole Heights is part of the secret sauce.
The transition from founding ownership, she confirms, was not an overnight corporate takeover. It was a slow, deliberate grind to earn the neighborhood’s trust back after many assumed it had closed.
And so, a community block party is exactly what is planned to celebrate. On Saturday, attendees can expect an all day affair from noon-midnight featuring limited time brunch options from Ichikoroshi, daytime sake and wine tastings, and local coffee pop-ups showcasing Jug’s new espresso setup.
As the night barrels on, folks can expect collaborative guest-bartender cocktails (Madeline Longacre from Rooster & the Till, Missy from Velvet Gypsy, a drink from the team at Mandarin Heights, plus another created by Wohlers herself). There’s be simultaneous wine tastings and local art and community vendors plus Seminole Heights themed flash tattoos offered by Travis Knight, tarot card readings by Carmen Vass, and a custom Magic the Gathering dice artist—a nod to Jug’s Magic the Gathering events hosted every Monday at 4 p.m.
The party is a reflection of what the neighborhood asked for, and it’s all part of Wohlers’ plan.
“Slowly but surely should be how you go about business,” she said. “Because it forces you to listen to the community.”
“We want to keep classic cocktails accessible and exceptional.”
ROOM & BOARDS: Jessie Wohlers is styling Jug and Bottle after her living room from Brooklyn in 2003.
V interesting
Hyde
Park gets another Italian spot and more Tampa Bay food news.
By Selene San Felice
Hyde Park’s Rome Collective is getting another restaurant from a Michelin-starred chef.
Nashville-based Fast Fine Restaurant group announced it’s bringing V Modern Italian to the Tampa development in September.
The name uses the fifth Roman numeral, as Fast Fine co-founder Benjamin Calleja said in a statement, “V Modern Italian was created on the belief that exceptional dining should engage all five senses, creating moments that linger long after the last bite.”
Collaborating on the menu is Chef Stefano Ciotti, who’s maintained a Michelin star at his restaurant, Nostrano, in Italy for nearly a decade.
Special programming and grand opening celebrations will be announced in the coming months, per the press release.
Lumbre opens in Hyde Park
A new modern Spanish concept from the folks that brought you Michelin-starred Rocca, Michelin-recognized Bar Terroir and Michelin Bib Gourmand Streetlight Taco, opened last week in the North Hyde Park area.
OPENINGS & CLOSINGS
V Modern Italian’s menu selections, however, are more moderately priced than most Michelin-starred restaurants. Prices at its flagship Nashville spot include pasta for $17-$24, pizza for $18-$25 and entrées ranging from $27-$39.
Tampa’s menu hasn’t been released, but it will similarly feature antipasti, fresh-made pastas, signature entrées, along with a curated cocktail list and European wines.
Lumbre, the latest concept from local hospitality group Tastes Pretty Good, officially opened its doors on Wednesday, July 15.
Located in the Rome Collective development, at 220 N Rome Ave., the new Spanish restaurant will be led by Executive Chef and Co-Founder Nick Orr, who previously helmed the kitchen at Rocca.
“Nick Orr was my first hire and he’s been core to Rocca’s success ever since,” says Bryce Bonsack, Culinary Director at Tastes Pretty Good, in a statement. “He’s earned this opportunity through years of consistency, leadership, and craft. Lumbre is his moment to step forward and continue our
team’s work to shape Tampa’s reputation as one of Florida’s most compelling dining destinations.”
Lumbre’s menu is broken down into four sections: cheese and charcuterie, bocados, entrantes (starters), and platos principales (large format), and spans everything from “wood-fired grilling, traditional paella, tapas featuring seafood and imported cheeses & hams and a full bar with Spanish wines and cider, and a fresh sangria to start the meal,” says the press release.
Earlier this month, Tastes Pretty Good announced the coming of its next concept, Rippers, a new American-style restaurant moving into Clearwater’s historic Telephone Building on Cleveland Street.
Lumbre is open Sundays through Thursdays, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Fridays through Saturdays from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Reservations are currently available.—Colin Wolf
GulfPerk closes in Gulfport
On July 9, GulfPerk Coffee Bar owner Elliot Sutton announced the permanent closure of the beloved Gulfport café in a post on the shop’s social media pages.
“The plan was always to reopen GulfPerk. Unfortunately, that just isn’t how things turned out,” Sutton wrote. “I’m sad to say that GulfPerk, officially, will not be reopening.”
Nearly two years have passed since Hurricanes Helene and Milton swept through Tampa Bay. GulfPerk has remained closed since those storms, with Sutton holding onto hope that the shop might one day reopen.
Located at 3107 Beach Blvd. S. in Gulfport, the coffee shop suffered extensive interior and exterior damage during Hurricane Helene. Sutton declined to provide further details about the decision to close.
When GulfPerk first closed its doors in September 2024, Sutton described the shutdown as temporary. News of the permanent closure came as a surprise to many in the community, and the Instagram announcement drew more than 150 comments — mostly messages of sadness, understanding, and fond remembrance. The shop first opened in 2021.
“I had the privilege of watching life happen from behind the counter,” Sutton wrote. “I watched freshmen become graduates, couples become families, and friendships form between people whose paths first crossed at GulfPerk. More than anything, I’m grateful to have gotten to know so many of you over the years. Thank you for making GulfPerk what it was.”
Sutton told The Gabber Newspaper that he does not own the Beach Boulevard South building; the space was rented.
This story first appeared at The Gulfport Gabber, which is part of the Tampa Bay Journalism Project (TBJP), a nascent Creative Loafing Tampa Bay effort supported by grants and a coalition of donors who make specific contributions via the Alternative Newsweekly Foundation. If you are a non-paywalled Bay area publication interested in TBJP, please email rroa@ctampa.com. Help the Gabber keep publishing by making a donation. Abby Baker/Gulfport Gabber
V SOON: V Modern Italian opens in Hyde Park’s Rome Collective in September.
COURTESY OF
Refer Three Friends, Get Yours Free
Besides the events listed in our Do This section and in our Food and Music sections, there’s lots to do in town this week—including the new ‘Oh, Cuore Mia’ Ybor exhibit and a ‘Little Women’ screening and book talk. Have a look at what’s going down July 23-30 and beyond. All events are at community. cltampa.com unless noted otherwise. Head there for more and list your own.
ARTS
36th Annual ADA Celebration Friday, July 24. 7 p.m. No cover. Rehearsal Hall at Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa Graphic Worlds: Anime & Comic Book Exhibition (Opening weekend festival) Friday-Sunday, July 24-26. 10 a.m. No cover for costumed guests; $5 for everyone else. Imagine Museum, St. Petersburg Studio55: Ceramics Saturdays through Aug. 15. 10 a.m. $60 & up. Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa
Christmas In July Party Saturday, July 25. 7 p.m. No cover. Joy Bar at Liquor Depot Armenia, Tampa. liquordepottampa.com
FMoPA’s 25th Anniversary Celebration Saturday, July 25. 10 a.m. No cover. Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Ybor City Ceramics Continued Study Select Sundays through Aug. 23. 10 a.m. $45. Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa Psychic Sundays with Bianca Sundays. 11 a.m. $35 for reading; no cover for entry. SpookEasy Lounge, Ybor City. spookeasylounge.com
The Butterfly Project Sunday, July 26. 2 p.m. $8. Menorah Life, St. Petersburg School Of Rock Clearwater (Grand opening) Sunday, July 26. 1 p.m. No cover. 1530 McMullen Booth Rd, Clearwater
Soirée: The Art of David Kafer Sunday, July 26. 2 p.m. No cover. Bayboro Brewing, St. Petersburg Auditions for the Gay Men’s Chorus of Tampa Bay Monday, July 27. 7 p.m. No cover. Metropolitan Community Church of Tampa, Seminole Heights
The Friendly City Foundation Art Club Wednesday, July 29. 6 p.m. No cover. Oscura, Bradenton
Graphic Worlds: Exploring Comic and Anime Art (Opening reception) Saturday, July 25. 5 p.m. No cover for costumed guests; $10 for everyone else. Imagine Museum, St. Petersburg Oddities Bingo Wednesday, July 29. 7 p.m. $35.06. Orpheum, Tampa Instant Noodles (Community open jam) Every last Wednesday of the month. 7 p.m. No cover. Suite E Studios, St. Petersburg. Oh, Cuore Mia Through Sept. 17. No cover. Tempus Projects, Ybor City
Jun Kaneko: Silence Before Sound Through Aug. 23. $5 & up. Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa
Dalí In America Daily through Sunday, Oct. 18. 10 a.m. $32 & up. Dali Museum, St. Petersburg
BOOKISH
Book Club with Steamy Lit Sunday, July 26. 4 p.m. No cover. DI Coffee Bar, Tampa (David Islands)
Catch the Devil: Pamela Colloff Monday, July 27. 7 p.m. $37 & up. Coastal Creative, St. Petersburg
Elise Kova and Roxanne Wilder Monday, July 27. 6:30 p.m. No cover with RSVP. Oxford Exchange, Tampa
COMEDY
Dirty John’s Dirty Disco ThursdaySaturdays. 8 p.m. The Studio@620, St. Petersburg
Jo Koy Thursday, July 23. 8 p.m. $170.85 & up. Hard Rock Event Center at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tampa
Mark Normand Thursday-Saturday, July
23-25. 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Thursday; 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Friday; 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday. SOLD OUT. Side Splitters, Tampa
Jake Iannarino Thursday-Saturday, July
23-25. 7:30 p.m. Thursday; 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. $22.50. Snappers, Palm Harbor
Dick Ruse Every fourth Friday. 7:30 p.m.
$11. Beech Kombucha, St. Petersburg Comedy Night Fridays. 8 p.m. $19.10. R2 Pub, New Port Richey
Dirty Late Night Comedy Fridays. 10 p.m.
$13.45 & up. Gimmick Comedy Club, Ybor City
Friday Comedy Open Mic Fridays. 8 p.m.
$6.57 & up. Gimmick Comedy Club, Ybor
City
Leslie Norris Friday-Saturday, July 24-25.
8 p.m. Friday; 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday.
$20. Coconuts, St. Pete Beach
Ryan Davis Multiple times Friday-Saturday, July 24-25. $32. Funny Bone Comedy Club, Tampa
Adam Ray Sunday, July 26. 8 p.m. $76.32 & up. Hard Rock Event Center at Seminole
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tampa
New Material Night Wednesdays through Oct. 28. 8 p.m. $8. Gimmick Comedy Club, Ybor City
FILM&TV
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky
Bobby Friday, July 24. Multiple times. $5.35. Gigglewaters, Safety Harbor
Ciro’s Pop-up Tuesday, July 28. 5 p.m. No cover. Jekyll, Hyde Park Made in Market: Pasta Making Class Tuesday, July 28. 6 p.m. $65. Market at Edition, Tampa. editionhotels.com
Omakase Dinner Tuesday, July 28. 5:30 p.m. $150. Ro, Hyde Park
Friends of Flor Fina with Barrie Haus Thursday, July 30. 7 p.m. $88.02. Hotel Haya, Ybor City
LEARN
Cafe con Tampa Fridays, 8 a.m. No cover. The Portico, Tampa
Cigar City: Bringing Industry to Tampa Thursdays through Dec. 31. 2 p.m. $18.95. Tampa Bay History Center, Tampa. tampabayhistorycenter.org
Friends & Neighbors: A Meetup To Make Friends and Build Community Every fourth Thursday. 6 p.m. No cover. Deviant Libation, Tampa. deviantlibation.com
The Art of the Dragon (Stained glass workshop) Friday, July 24. 2 p.m. $45. Imagine Museum, St. Petersburg Faux Calligraphy Saturday, July 25. 10 a.m. $75. Paper Seahorse, Tampa Dino Quest Saturdays and Sundays through Aug. 9. 10 a.m. $11. DK Farms & Gardens, Largo. dkfarmsandgardens.com Pikachu Stained Glass Worksho p Sunday, July 26. 12 p.m. $45. Imagine Museum, St. Petersburg Art & Nature Sunset Tour with the MFA & Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center Every last Sunday through Sept. 27. 3:30 p.m. $45. Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg. mfastpete.org
Creatives Support Group Every other Monday. 7 p.m. No cover. Suite E Studios, St. Petersburg. @suite.e.stpete on Facebook. Literacy Conversation Class Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9 a.m. Saturdays at 10 a.m. No cover. Palm Harbor Library, Palm Harbor. palmharborlibrary.org
MARKETS
Mythic Manga Market Friday, July 24. 5 p.m. No cover for costumed guests; $5 for everyone else. Imagine Museum, St. Petersburg Dunedin Friday & Saturday Markets Fridays & Saturdays. 9 a.m. No cover. Pioneer Park, Dunedin
Alley Cat Market For Cat Lovers Saturday, July 25. 10 a.m. No cover. Robert W. Willaford Railroad Museum, Plant City. Back to School Blast Saturday, July 25. 10 a.m. No cover. The Shops at Wiregrass, Wesley Chapel
Clay Yard Sale Event Saturday, July 25. 11 a.m. No cover. Morean Arts Center for Clay, St. Petersburg
continued on page 38
Out and about: Events happening in Tampa Bay (cont'd)
THEATER
St. Pete Street Market Every fourth Saturday. 12 p.m. No cover. Pinellas Ale Works Brewery, St. Petersburg Curated by 24C Market Saturday, July 25. 10 a.m. No cover. Mama’s Soul Food, Brandon Dirt Mall Vintage Market Saturday, July 25. 7 p.m. No cover. The Florida Room, New Port Richey
Tampa Christmas in July Market Saturday-Sunday, July 25-26. 10 a.m. $5.50; $5 with cash. Entertainment Hall at Florida State Fairgrounds, Tampa Back to School Bash Sunday, July 26. 10 a.m. No cover. YMCA New Tampa, Tampa Sunday Social: Market & Mimosas Sundays through Aug. 23. 10 a.m. No cover. The West End Market, Dunedin. thewestendmkt.com
Tampa Local Market Every fourth Sunday through Nov. 22. 12 p.m. No cover. Yuengling Draft Haus & Kitchen, Tampa
PRIDE
Queeraoke Saturday, July 25. 9 p.m. $5 & up suggested donation. La Sétima Club, Ybor City. naarpr.org
Pura Latina Noche Sunday, July 26. 7 p.m. No cover. The Ball at Cocktail, St. Petersburg
SPORTS
Cleveland Guardians vs. Tampa Bay
Rays Multiple times Friday-Sunday, July 24-26. $10 & up. Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg
Tampa Tarpons vs Lakeland Flying Tigers Multiple times Tuesday-Sunday, July 28-Aug. 2. $2.25 & up. Steinbrenner Field, Tampa
Texas Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Rays Multiple times Tuesday-Thursday, July 28-30. $10 & up. Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg
Seussical, Jr. Multiple times ThursdaySunday, July 23-26. $36. Teco Theater at Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa Disney’s Descendants: The Musical Friday-Saturday, July 24-25. 7:30 p.m. & 3:30 p.m. $25.50. Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Jr. Multiple times Friday-Saturday, July 24-25. $8 & up. Central Park Performing Arts Center, Largo
Let’s Murder Marsha Multiple times FridaySunday, July 24-26. $18; $15 for matinee. Kings Point Veterans Theater, Sun City Center. Ava Rice & The Eighth Sin Multiple times Fridays and weekends between July 24 & Aug. 2. $35. Italian Club of Tampa, Ybor City. breakroomtampa.com
New Tampa Players: Annie Select times and dates from Friday, July 24 through Sunday, Aug. 2. $22 & up. New Tampa Performing Arts Center, Tampa Broadway Miscast - The Sequel Select times Friday-Saturday through July 25. $25. Carrollwood Players Theatre, Tampa Ken Ludwig’s Dear Jack, Dear Louise Select times Thursday-Sunday through July 26. $18 & up. Shimberg Playhouse at Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa Schoolhouse Rock Live! Select times and dates through Sunday, July 26. $35; $30 for members. Carrollwood Cultural Center, Tampa
Love...or Best Offer Multiple times and dates Friday-Sunday, through July 26. $20. Tarpon Springs Cultural Center, Tarpon Springs
Peter and the Starcatcher Thursday, July 30. 6:30 p.m. No cover. Carrollwood Cultural Center, Tampa
Peter Pan Jr. Thursday, July 30. 5:30 p.m. No cover. Carrollwood Cultural Center, Tampa
Interested in advertising around this listing? Contact jhoward@cltampa.com and acarbone@cltampa.com for details.
(Left) Yvette Mayorga (American, b. 1991), Rhinestone Vaquero After Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun 2025, textile, rhinestones, buttons, belt buckle, gold flakes, silver flakes, glitter, and acrylic piping on canvas, 72 x 60 inches, Image courtesy of the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery. (Middle) Élisabeth Vigée-LeBrun (French, 1755-1842), Julie as Flora, Roman Goddess of Flowers 1799, Oil on canvas, 50.9 x 38.5 inches (Right) Yvette Mayorga (American, b. 1991), Self Portrait of the Artist After Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun 2025, textile, collage, stickers, gold flakes, silver flakes, pen, lace, buttons, acrylic nails, nail charms and acrylic piping on canvas, 72 x 60 inches, Image courtesy of the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery.
By Ray Roa
THU 23
C Daniel Caesar w/Faye Webster Last year, R&B darling Daniel Caesar bared his most tender moments on his fourth studio album— arguably his most vulnerable and introspective record to date. The Son of Spergy Tour supports an album of the same name where the “Get You” singer paid homage to his father, to whom the nickname “Spergy” belongs. “I have a lot of respect for my dad, and I hold him in high regard. The album is about me realizing that I am exactly like him,” Caesar said. To complete the Gen Z fantasy, Caesar tapped indie artist Faye Webster as his supporting act. 7:30 p.m. $88.25 & up. Benchmark International Arena, Tampa—Alisha Durosier
FRI 24
C Florist w/Razor and the Boogiemen/ Marigold/Veneficus It has begun. Crowbar, Ybor City’s go-to rock club for the last 20 years, closes next Friday, and Florist kicks the final week off in loud fashion. “All gas and no brakes,” Mike Amador, drummer for the homegrown hard-rock band, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay about the show, promising a dance party along with big riff stoney-bologna songs. The band’s 2025 EP, Adrift , will also be available on vinyl for the first time. Doom and sludgerock outfit Marigold is on the bill along with batshit-crazy doom-blues trio Razor and the Boogiemen. 7 p.m. $12.49. Crowbar, Ybor City
Hibiscus w/Starlette (release show)/Area of Refuge/Aliqua Life is weird, and Hibiscus wants to soundtrack it. Songs from the Tampa band are a throwback to late-’90s and earlyaughts radio rock (“Comfortable”), and a new EP (Weird Daze ) mixes in shimmery indie-rock (“Beach Cam”) and almost dubby surf-rock (“Take Me Down Tonight”) for good measure. Another Tampa rock outfit, Starlette, celebrates a new release at this no-cover gig. 8 p.m. No cover. The Bends, St. Petersburg
C Permanent Makeup (album release) w/Ironing/Dagger Over the last five years, Permanent Makeup has played many of the songs from its new album in the live setting, but they finally come together in one place on Gormless . Self-released on frontman Chris Nadeau’s No Clear Records (with a cassette coming from Ft. Myers’ XTRO Records imprint), the 11 tracks find the trio— which includes featuring James Bess on the bass and mixing board, plus Susan Dickson on drums and album art—climbing back to the top of the heap when it comes to Florida punk bands unafraid to blow the lid off a room with unorthodox, often looped, rhythm and arrangements. It’s also the band’s first recording made with aluminum-neck guitar and
bass. “That honed our string sounds exactly where we want them to be. More bite and more sustain simultaneously, pretty fun,” Nadeau told CL. 8 p.m. $5 & up. The Nest at St. Pete Brewing Company, St. Petersburg
SAT 25
C Deadborns w/The Jackettes/Boygirl Girlboy Deadborns is going on a long weekender Florida tour, and the band’s hometown gets two chances to check in. One is a taped performance and the other happens at the Lighthouse DIY space (you’ll need to ask a punk, aka DM someone, for addresses on both). The rollicking psychedelic-soul trio—featuring drummer Lindsay Martin alongside rock scene staples Jasmine Deja and Drew Giordano. A 2025 LP, Dream Dogs , is a dreamy collection of rock and roll that sounds like it was born in a southern California garage before it packed up its vintage amps and traveled to Nashville ahead of signing to Jack White’s Third Man Records. 6 p.m. $10. The Lighthouse, St. Petersburg
C One Last Hootenanny: Have Gun, Will Travel w/The Lauris Vidal Second Line/ Harber Wynn/Will Quinlan and the Bastard Souls/Urbane Cowboys/The Tattered Saints/Christina Wagner & Friends/Andy & the Argonauts There’ve been a handful of worthy “Last Waltz” recreations and tributes in the Bay area over the years, and the musicians who played a part in them will be together onstage at Crowbar one last time. Every slice of the scene is getting its final licks in at the famed venue closing this week, and this hootenanny is basically an all-star gathering of Florida’s Americana heavy-hitters. 4 p.m. $22.85. Crowbar, Ybor City
MON 27
C ‘Jellyfish Season’ soundtrack release w/Chance Reynolds & Friends Floridamade feature-length film “Jellyfish Season” started production a year ago and hopes for a wide release this fall after it makes rounds in the festival circuit. Shot entirely on Kodak 16mm film, the movie directed by Dylan Melcher and written by Matthew Walker follows a trio of friends who go on a beach vacation. The getaway quickly becomes a series of weird, cosmic occurrences that force the boys to confront the realities of their own lives. The film was also scored by Chance Reynolds, the drumming, singing, impossible-to-look-away-from, frontman of the eccentric jazz band Chaunces. Melcher told CL that after cutting the film, he added scratch jazz tracks, then handed the work over to Reynolds who teamed up with Eric Zabala (vibraphone and piano), Alex Malkovich (saxophone and guitar), and Cooper Madden (bass) for the final product. Melcher pressed 200 of the pink vinyl, which comes with red splatter as an homage to a comedic scene in the film. The release show
THU JULY 23–THU JULY 30
will feature a DJ spinning the record, previews of the film with commentary from the cast, and close with Reynolds leading a set of live music. 7 p.m. $12.49. Crowbar, Ybor City
TUE 28
The Black Keys w/Eddie 9V The Black Keys had to postpone concerts in the Midwest last week due to Canadian wildfires. That kind of smoke won’t be an issue in Clearwater. The band built around guitarist-singer Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney is touring in support of a new album, Peaches , a collection of covers that finds the band back in form but still underwhelming critics who treat their copy of Thickfreakness like some kind of hipster badge of honor. 7 p.m. $61.50 & up.
The BayCare Sound, Clearwater
C Surfer Blood w/Brother Cephus/ Meatwound Surfer Blood’s slacker beachrock soundtracked the come up for an entire generation of music fans, and many of them grew up in venues like Crowbar, too. As the famed room approaches its final show next Friday, the West Palm Beach outfit headlines one hell of a rock bill. Brother Cephus—led by actual brothers Gabe and Seth Davis—makes a rare appearance in support of Oughtchanneling indie-rock that is some of the best the Bay area has ever produced. The show starts off heavy, too, thanks to Meatwound a Tampa hardcore staple that sounds “like Killing Joke fed through a meat grinder,” according to Decibel. 7 p.m. $28.03 & up. Crowbar, Ybor City
WED 29
C Com Truise w/Kaelin Ellis Tom Cruise was cringey this weekend during his cameo at the FIFA World Cup Final.
The electro producer with a spooneristic moniker should be much, much smoother. In the run up to the venue’s finale with Talib Kweli, Brokenmold Entertainment booked a longtime favorite to help send Crowbar off properly. Com Truise, aka Seth Haley, is a pioneer of the synthwave revival, deploying retro drum sounds and lush texture on songs that should’ve existed to soundtrack ‘80s films. A student of the drum and bass/hip-hop house party scene, the now Orlando-based composer makes a drive across I-4, with livetronic party starter Kaelin Ellis who just created an original anthem for the Swiss National Team that may or may not have propelled the side to the World Cup quarterfinal this summer. 7 p.m. $28.03 & up. Crowbar, Ybor City
THU 30
C Leon Majcen w/Kristopher James/ Adam Randall & The Band As far as capacity goes, Crowbar is one of many small indie venues across the U.S. where homegrown acts can cut their teeth as openers and headliners on local bills—and then pack the room on sold-out national tours. Leon Majcen (say it, “might-zin”) is the perfect example of that arc. After finding his sound as he emerged from St. Pete College, the Czech-born songwriter is now a rising star of country music, with glowing write ups in Rolling Stone and slots opening for the likes of Kip Moore, Paul Cauthen and Margo Price. Living on the road, the 27-year-old has spend the last three years checking things off his bucket list, like headlining Denver’s scenic Old Saloon. This is Tampa’s last chance to head to Crowbar and leave saying they saw an artist back when. 7 p.m. $28.03. Crowbar, Ybor City
C CL Recommends
Florist
A Thundercat album has many personalities, and the Los Angeles-based jazz bassist brings perhaps his poppiest one to date to a new tour this fall. Hitting the road in support of Distracted, released last April, the Brainfeeder-founder born Stephen Lee Bruner kicks off a fall tour in Miami in October. Four Florida stops are planned, including one at Jannus Live in St. Petersburg.
The 15-track outing was produced by ninetime Grammy-winner Greg Kurstin, who’s collaborated with a host of pop’s mostrevered names from Adele to Beyoncé, Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar. The album includes a slew of special guests from Tame Impala (which just made its Tampa debut last week), to A$sap Rocky, and The Lemon Twigs. Bruner, a two-time Grammy-winner himself, will be in good company for the St. Pete show thanks to a set from producer, DJ, and tastemaker Kitty Ca$h.
It’s been five years since Thundercat’s last album, and just as many since he’s been in the Tampa Bay area. Tickets to see the band play Jannus Live in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, Oct. 7 are still available and start at $58.06. See Josh Bradley’s weekly rundown of new concerts coming to Tampa Bay below.—Ray Roa
Rujen w/Domino Pink/Movie Props Saturday, Aug. 1. 8 p.m.
$19.10. Bayboro Brewing, St. Petersburg
Zack Fox Saturday, Sept. 5. 10 p.m. $42.06 & up. The Ritz, Ybor City
The Two Lips Wednesday, Sept. 16. 7 p.m. $25.98. New World Music Hall, Tampa
Johnny Based w/Kwasi Kao Sunday, Sept. 27. 7 p.m. $24.04. New World Music Hall, Tampa
Silent Theory w/Discrepancies/Sick Century Monday, Oct. 12. 7 p.m. $28.69. Orpheum, Tampa
Thrown w/Norma Jean/Half me/ Boltcutt er Wednesday, Oct. 14. 6 p.m. $41.70 The Orpheum, Tampa
Combichrist w/Ludovico Technique/ Dead Animal Assembly Plant Friday, Oct. 16. 7 p.m. $35.06. Orpheum, Tampa
Cardinal Bloom Sunday, Oct. 18. 6:30 p.m. $23. New World Music Hall, Tampa
Wyatt Flores/Marclo (opening for Teddy Swims) Sunday, Oct. 25. 7 p.m. $75 & up. Benchmark International Arena, Tampa
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram Thursday, Nov. 5. 7 p.m. $37.25 & up. The Ritz, Ybor City
Pure Prairie League Sunday, Dec. 6. 6 p.m. $45 & up. Bilheimer Capitol Theatre, Clearwater
Lily Rose Friday, Dec. 11. 7 p.m. $32.48. Jannus Live, St. Petersburg
Flamingosis Friday, Dec. 11. 8 p.m. $28.69. Orpheum, Tampa
Wax & DJ Hoppa w/Joey Harkum Sunday, Dec. 13. 7 p.m. $34.91 & up. Zodiac Live, Ybor City
Ida w/Pohgoh Tuesday, Jan. 26. 7 p.m. Sold Out. Microgroove, Tampa
Don Omar Wednesday, Mar. 10. 8 p.m. $86.75 & up. Benchmark Internation Arena, Tampa
7/23: HIGHWAY 41 BAND (PARTY DECK) FERG'S TRIVIA (INSIDE)
7/24: RAYS VS. GUARDIANS (WATCH PARTY) CROWNZ BAND (PARTY DECK) COMEDY NIGHT (UPPER DECK)
7/25: RAYS VS. GUARDIANS (WATCH PARTY) SWIPE RIGHT BAND (PARTY DECK) COMEDY NIGHT (UPPER DECK)
7/26: RAYS VS. GUARDIANS (WATCH PARTY) SECOND RODEO BAND (PARTY DECK) PILATES (FERG'S PAVILION - 10AM)
7/27: (727) DAY! FERG'S TRIVIA
7/28: RAYS VS. RANGERS (WATCH PARTY) LOVE ISLAND (WATCH PARTY) THROWBACK TUESDAYS
Cat rules
By Dan Savage
I’ve been with my girlfriend for ten years. We moved in with each other three years ago. It’s not working for me. I love my girlfriend. She’s one of the kindest people I have ever met, slow to anger, and always listens first. We never fight, and I don’t want to break up with her. I just want our relationship to look a little different. Three years ago, she suffered a health scare while we were on vacation. We have not gotten a good diagnosis, so she is doing her best to mitigate her symptoms. Since the scare, she has lost confidence in driving and leaving the house. This has left me doing most of the errands, as even going to the grocery store is daunting for her. Her symptoms—dizziness, lethargy, fear of fainting—coupled with her strict cat rules make it difficult to go anywhere. Cat rules: the cat can’t be left alone for longer than six hours. This makes it hard to even go on a day trip. I can easily find cat care if we could go somewhere for a weekend, but she says not being in her bed triggers all her symptoms and it ruins her for her following work week. When we first met, she was very spontaneous—this was before the cat—and we used to go on long day trips, bar hop, eat whatever. But since her medical issues started, that has all gone away. We no longer go on day trips, we can’t do anything spontaneously, and all of my favorite foods are out because they trigger her symptoms. At home, I can’t come to bed later than her or get up before her because it ruins her sleep and having her sleep disturbed can trigger her symptoms for days.
I am not a serious person when I don’t have to be. I get excited and hyper throughout the day. This part of my personality is important to me since my father constantly yelled at me to not be excited because it made me look gay. So, I spent my childhood suppressing feelings of joy. Now it’s my girlfriend telling me to “tone it down” because she can’t handle my “energy.” I go for days now without speaking unless spoken to. On top of everything else, our sex life has taken a serious nosedive. We used to have sex three times a week at least. Now I’m lucky if I get it once a month and it’s strictly missionary, as all other positions trigger her symptoms.
We are poly. When we moved in together three years ago, I decided to stop dating other women for a while so I could focus on learning to live together, but after her health scare I could no longer date because I always have to be home for her. My issue here is I don’t want to live with her anymore. I want us to go back to where she had her own place and life, and I had my own place and life. I’m ready to start dating other people again. I want more autonomy. I want to be spontaneous and drive to the coast for a night, I want to wake up early and bake (baking is my hobby and starting early helps with the proofing time needed), I want to stay up late and watch moviesshe can’t stomach. I’m also ready to start dating again.
Meeting someone and bringing them home isn’t an option, and I can’t afford a hotel if the other person happens to be in the same situation.
Asking to move out seems daunting because I know she will take it hard and hurting her is the last thing I want to do.—Am I Being Selfish?
I was willing to give your girlfriend the benefit of the doubt—I was willing to accept that she suffers from some mysterious medical condition that makes travel, errands, hikes, staggered bedtimes, your favorite foods, your favorite movies, sex in anything other than the missionary position, your hobbies, your feelings, your personality, etc., etc., etc., impossible and intolerable—and then you mentioned “cat rules.”
Backing up: a decade is a long-ass time. We age, our abilities change, and things we loved doing when we were 32 or 42 may not be enjoyable or even possible for us when we’re 42 or 52. It goes without saying that a loving and loyal partner doesn’t abandon us after we’ve developed a chronic medical condition. But love and loyalty are two-way streets, AIBS, and it also needs to be said—your girlfriend in particular needs to hear it—that a loving and loyal partner with a chronic medical condition wouldn’t ask their loving and loyal partner to give up everything else they love. Your girlfriend should be encouraging you to go on hikes and day trips without her, AIBS, and working with you on simple fixes that would allow you to enjoy your hobbies without triggering her symptoms. (For example, if you had a daybed in your living room, AIBS, you could crash there on those nights you wanted to stay up late and watch your movies or get up early and bake your cakes.)
wait until another unit opens up in the building before moving out. Being in the same building would make it easy to share meals and spend evenings together, AIBS, and you could drop some scones off on mornings when you wake and bake. Moving out was your idea, AIBS, which means this is permission, not advice. But I would advise you not to ask your girlfriend for her permission to move out—it’s permission you won’t get from her—but to instead inform her that you’ve already made the decision to move out. Your girlfriend is likely to be upset when you tell her—she’ll undoubtedly take it hard—but ask yourself what’s worse: addressing her hurt feelings and offering what reassurances you can or having to obey cat rules (and only speaking when spoken to!) for the next thirty or forty years..
Additionally, NEEDS, breaking that long sexless streak of yours—even if you only want to pay for it once—will have the added benefit of making you feel less desperate and anxious. As desperation and anxiety are feelings people intuitively pick up on and neither are qualities anyone wants in a partner, feeling a little less of both could help you attract the attentions of a guy who wants to fuck you for free.
SAVAGE LOVE
I’m a 37-year-old gay man, a bottom, living in Eastern Virginia. I used to be morbidly obese. But I’ve lost almost 200 pounds in the past fifteen years. I’ve only been with a man once during this time— and it was exactly fifteen years ago, when I was at my absolute heaviest. Since then, I’ve struggled to find men to hook up with, even (especially) within the gay bear community. I’m either too small for chasers or I’m too big (both weight-wise and height-wise) for everybody else. I don’t meet the local preferences for Muscle Bears or Twinks. I’m also sometimes mistaken for being FTM, especially by guys who are DL or closeted. I’ve tried all of the apps and the bars. And I’ve even traveled to major cities with no luck. I realize my weight has something to do with it, and I am working out and dieting. But my looks are average. It’s reached a point where the lack of intimacy has me struggling mentally even with the aid of a therapist and antidepressants. How can I break this streak? Not Enjoying Endless Dry Spell
I’m almost 50-years-old, many years into a happy monogamous marriage. Having grown up having the shit scared out of me about sexually transmitted infections, I recently said to my spouse that we should probably get HPV vaccines and maybe think about PrEP and having doxy on hand. She asked why we’d bother—because we’re monogamous—and while I agree that we aren’t going to have sex with other people, science has produced almost literal miracles in the last couple of decades. Why shouldn’t we avail ourselves of them, even if it’s just in case? She didn’t buy it. I admit that all this MAGA vax insanity has maybe negatively polarized me INTO vaccines more than I used to be, but it still seems like a no-brainer to me. What say you, Dan?—Vaccines Are Xtraordinary
To be perfectly frank, AIBS, the cat rules make me doubt everything that has come out of my girlfriend’s mouth over the last three years. Now, maybe she had a fainting spell—perhaps her initial health crisis was real—but pulling these “cat rules” out of her ass on top of everything else has me thinking your girlfriend is either completely nuts (charitable read) or she’s controlling and borderline abusive (uncharitable read). But instead of controlling you with anger and playing on your fear, your girlfriend is controlling you with her fragility and playing on your sympathies.
To be franker still, AIBS, I think you should break up with your girlfriend. If you don’t wanna do that—if you can’t bring yourself to do that (so loving, so loyal)—you should definitely get a place of your own. A place where you’re free to be your excitable old self, a place where you can stay up late and get up early, and a place where “cat rules” don’t apply because there is no fucking cat. If you two live in an apartment, you could
Hire someone. If you can manage to find a sex worker you like and you can afford to see him semi-regularly, NEEDS, not only will you break your sexless streak, but you’ll also demonstrate to yourself that you can establish a rapport (sexual and emotional) with another human being. My friends who’ve done sex work often wind up playing the role of dating/life/sex coach in the lives of their regular clients. So, a semi-regular session with a patient sex worker who’s willing to talk—not just fuck—could help set you up for future sexual and romantic success. And a good way to demonstrate to a sex worker that you see him as a person and want to connect on more than just a physical level, NEEDS, is by offering to take him to dinner during your first booking—no sex, just dinner, but still a paid date. You would be paying for both his time and his meal, NEEDS, but his willingness to accept a dinner invitation would be a sign that he sees you as a person and how he behaves during dinner would give you some sense of his character.
PrEP is a medical miracle. When taken correctly, PrEP offers complete protection from HIV infection for people at risk of HIV infection. You are not one of those people. Doxy-PEP is another medical miracle. When taken within 24 hours of high-risk sex, doxy lowers a person’s chances of contracting one of the big three bacterial STIs (chlamydia, syphilis, gonorrhea). If you’re a happily monogamous heterosexual man pushing 50, you don’t need a bottle of doxy on your nightstand any more than you need PrEP in your bloodstream. The HPV vaccine is also a medical miracle—one that has already prevented countless cases of cervical cancer in women and will save millions of lives—but it’s most beneficial before someone becomes sexually active, and it is not generally recommended to men in their fifties in monogamous marriages. (Both boys and girls should get the HPV vaccine in early adolescence.)
There have been tremendous advances in cancer treatments in the last twenty years, VAX, but you aren’t going in for a recreational round of chemo to celebrate. So, along with your wife, I’m not buying your bullshit. Seems like that “just in case” is doing a lot of heavy lifting. That phrase—that compound subordinating conjunction—makes it sound like you’re planning to take loads or you already have. If that’s the case, VAX, then you should definitely get on PrEP, stock up on doxy, and start using condoms with the wife. But to convince your wife that you need to take these meds, you’re going to need to level with your wife—and yourself— about the real reason why.
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ACROSS
1 Ratings period when TV increases its sleaze quotient
7 To a greater degree
Walk out, officially
Accords, e.g.
Halls for brawls 19 Misrepresentational art?
20 Flew in 22 “Let’s have it!” 23 Boca ___, Fla. 24 Going on 2 a.m. 25 Home o’ Roma? 27 Decreases de creases
28 Baseball’s Gil
Japanese theater
Certain acid salt
Traveled across a Tesla coil 36 Paderewski’s first name
38 The Day of the Locust author
39 Weather org.
42 Frequent Billy Wilder co-writer, ___ Diamond
43 Labor ___ delusion 44 “Aha!” 46 Foot-stomping music
49 Sans sense 51 Mugger
53 Metal of freedom?
54 Shot putter?
55 Goosebumps creator R.L.
56 She once called Han Solo “laserbrain”
Clinkers
Be subjective when one should be objective
With great concentration
Advice to a shrinking violet
Cleans a sheet
Barbarous type
Toupee
Things done, in Latin
Words to live by
The Thing did it before it escaped (1951)
“Are you seeing ___?”
Visual aid props
Na Na or la-la opener
Ring magazine topic
Make mad
Like most movies on network TV
Does road work
Compass pt.
World War I siren
Turgenev’s birthplace
Cover with fresh paper, as shelves 10 Name from China’s past
Lact something?
Behan
Mary’s picture, for one
They can be long and gross
Region of NW
Sound that makes our dogs bark
Israel’s chief port
Certain exams
A little after 1400 hours, to a civilian
Bow out, in a way
___ in the dark 36 Made at Cuzco, for example 37 Alfalfa portrayer in Our Gang comedies 39 Western swing band of the 1970s 40 Rob and Laura’s neighbor 41 Resembling a phonograph needle
43 Dark, as streets
44 Hill dwellers near ancient Rome
45 Turn the ___
47 Swedish actress who married Sammy Davis Jr.
48 Where Ennis is 50 Julie Walters’s Oscar-nominated role
52 With a little crying
57 Like most Martin Scorsese movies
Enriqué’s emphatic assent
Lahr and Parks 62 Beach bird or Irish river 64 Sad,
