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WHERE TAMPA COMES TO
Thank heavens
Photos by Dave Decker
Florida. If you don’t love it, why haven’t you left it? While the state of things is overwhelming and scary, there’s still a lot to rally around when it comes to home. Tales From a Blistering Paradise, the new album from Heaven’s Gate, is a reminder of that, and last Friday the Bayarea based metal supergroup featuring members of Horsewhip, Municipal Waste and Cannibal Corpse unleashed the record at Good Intentions in St. Petersburg. The gig—complete with a onenight-only “Sex On the Gandy Beach” cocktail featuring “goth” Malibu, peach, Orgeat almond syrup, Overproof pineapple spiced rum in a syringe, and a “bath salt” rim—saw opening sets from Gainesville’s Rubes and Melbourne thrash outfit Mass Panic, and a whole lot of homies, too. See all the photos via cltampa.com/slideshows.—Ray Roa
do this
Tampa Bay's best things to do from June 05-June 12
Make it reign
There aren’t many Tampeños who know more about Prince than Gabe Echazabal. Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s senior music correspondent frequently mentions The Purple One in his “Today In Rock History” column, and he’ll infuse all his love for the Minneapolis musical genius into a DJ set at this gig, which is one of four annual fundraisers for Tampa’s long-running Tempus Projects art nonprofit. Also on tap is karaoke, a supergroup of locals from the bands Zutes, Moonthing and Spoonmen who’ll cover songs by the late icon, and a photobooth run by CL senior photographer Dave Decker. Ruffled shirts are welcome as partygoers gather to support the 16-yearold Tempus Projects.
Prince Party: Saturday, June 7. 8 p.m.-11 p.m. $20 & up. Tempus Projects at Kress Collective, 1624 E 7th Ave. (second floor), Ybor City. tempus-projects.com—Ray Roa
You grow, girl
Lots of folks have celebrated birthdays in Largo Central Park’s three decades. Now, the park is having a family-friendly 30th birthday party of its own, complete with games, inflatables, live entertainment, food vendors and free cookies. Born in 1995 after more than a decade of planning, the 70-acre park is a gathering place for folks from nearly every walk of life, from LARPers to, old couples walking hand-in-hand, new families, joggers—and a whole heck of a lot of kids who flock to the sprawling playground.
Home to Largo Central Park Performing Arts Center, the park also transforms into an illuminated wonderland each winter and plays host to the Largo Central Railroad, a volunteer-operated, rideable model rail system that takes riders on a 15-minute, onemile trip through the park at least once a weekend.
Largo Central Park’s 30th Birthday Celebration: Sunday, June 8. 10 a.m.- 1 p.m. No cover. 101 E Bay Dr., Largo. largoevents.com—Selene San Felice
She’ll be seeing you
The late, great Billie Holiday was last in Tampa on the Chitlin Circuit at least 65 years ago. But this play takes audiences to a rundown South Philly bar in 1959, where Holiday (played by Desiree Montes) gives one of her final performances. This is Montes’ sixth time reprising the role, where she’ll do renditions of classics like “God Bless the Child” and “Strange Fruit” while telling Holiday’s true stories of a turbulent life shaped by fame, racism, addiction and resilience. Musical director William P. Coleman stars as Jimmy Powers. Audience members are seated at cabaret tables for two or four, which come with a bottle of wine or cava per pair.
“Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill”: Opens Thursday, June 5 at 8 p.m. Runs 8 p.m. Fridays; 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays; and 3 p.m. Sundays through June 29. $25-$45. Stageworks Theatre, 1120 E Kennedy Blvd., Tampa. stageworkstheatre.org—Selene San Felice
Juicy
Fresh Squeezed is without a doubt one of the best annual art shows in Tampa Bay. It wraps at St. Pete’s Morean Center later this month and one of its last artist talks of 2025 happens next Thursday with a pair of Florida artists living on almost opposite sides of the Sunshine State. From Tallahassee, Hannah Keats reinvents marine life as she abstractly brings coral forms out of the ocean and into the gallery. Another fabricator, West Palm Beach’s Ryan Toth, has multiple hypercolor vision of Florida on the Morean walls, but has also shipped over a 10foot alligator that towers over the center of the gallery. They team up for a virtual talk about process and more.
Fresh Squeezed Artist Talk—Ryan Toth + Hannah Keats: Next Thursday, June 12. 6 p.m.-7 p.m. No cover. Virtual. moreanartscenter. org—Ray Roa
A gay ol’ time
The small seaside town still recovering from back-to-back hurricanes knows how to party. This Pride event raises funds for local nonprofits by tapping nearly 150 vendors and small businesses to turn two of the city’s main downtown thoroughfares into a giant festival complete with two mainstages and a marching band.
Gulfport Pride: Saturday, June 7. 10 a.m- 8 p.m. No cover. 3101 Beach Blvd. S, Gulfport. gulfportprideflorida.com—Ray Roa
Whisk takers
Tampa Bay Res taurant Week starts with a meeting with some of the area’s greatest culinary minds. Guests can mix and mingle with local top chefs while sampling signature small plates and drinks in this cocktail-style event by Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. A portion of proceeds go to Feeding Tampa Bay, a nonprofit that aims to end hunger across 10 counties through free grocery distribution, its free restaurant Trinity Cafe, disaster relief efforts and more. See the list of chefs and sampling details at meetthechefstampabay.com.
Meet the Chefs: Thursday, June 12. 6-10 p.m. $85&up. The Birchwood Hotel, 340 Beach Dr. NE, St. Pete. meetthechefstampabay.com
Selene San Felice
ALL THE CHEFS YOU’LL MEET AT MEET THE CHEFS
AARON COFFEY THE LIVING ROOM
PARRETT HEW PARLOR & CHOPHOUSE
CLAYTON
FELICIA LACALLE TEAK
TONY BRUNO THE BRINEHOUSE
TRACI BRYANT JACK PALLINO’S
CAMERON CAPRI QSOUTHERN BBQ
CHARLES BANDEL CAFE GALA AT THE DALI MUSEUM
DAVID REYES ST. PETE DISTILLERY
LEE AQUINO BIRCH & VINE
DEVIN LOWDER HIGHLAND HOUSE
JOHN LISTER AVA TAMPA
JOHNATHAN RODRIGUEZ FOMO CHEFS
JOEY DE LOS SANTOS
OCEAN HAI AT THE WYNDHAM CLEARWATER BEACH
Dashing through the snow
A new DASH app, and Tampa Homeland Security does ICE sting.
By Selene San Felice
Even Elon haters don’t mind hopping in a bright yellow Tesla for a cheap ride around downtown Tampa. And the Tampa Downtown Partnership promises its DASH program is about to be an even smoother ride.
The program, which relaunched in 2023, navigated to a new app on Tuesday. The service itself will remain the same ($2 to go anywhere around downtown in a shared ride).
An email to existing Dash users promises improved trip planning, account management and real-time update features mean a faster, more reliable experience, the partnership said in an update to customers.
To avoid interruption in service or get started, the DASH Tampa app is available for download on iOS and Android.
Pretty much like Uber and it’s shared ride pool program, all riders have to do is hail a car via an app. Unlike other rideshare services, DASH “ambassadors” are trained to be a concierge for both natives and newbs when it comes to making the most of their time in downtown Tampa.
DASH serves all seven downtown Tampa neighborhoods: Downtown Core, Channel District, Tampa Heights, Central Park, Water Street Tampa, Downtown River Arts, and West Riverfront.
A press release says, the partnership’s yellow Tesla Model Y SUVs have given more than 41,000 passengers, 30,000 rides, covering 88,500 miles in the program’s first year. Last year, DASH drivers also gave folks a lift when gas was hard to come by.
Tampa Homeland Security says its team led Tallahassee ICE raids where workers were bused away
Workers building an apartment complex near the Florida State University campus were detained last Thursday morning by agents from U.S. Homeland Security, U.S. Marshals Service, and Florida Highway Patrol.
After entering a construction site in Tallahassee, federal and state officials asked workers for identification and separated them into two categories, witnesses told the Phoenix. Some were free to go; others were handcuffed and led onto white buses with metal-covered windows to be transported away from the worksite, escorted by the Highway Patrol. Officials
on the scene declined to provide information about the operation.
Construction workers who’d been allowed to leave told the Phoenix that law enforcement officers had surrounded the site on West Gaines Street in FSU’s College Town before the raid began at about 9 a.m.
Agents surrounded dozens of workers in line for the bus.
An ICE public information officer in Tampa told the Phoenix Thursday afternoon: “U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigation served multiple search warrants as part of an ongoing investigation in the Tallahassee region.”
A social media post from Homeland Security Investigations called it a “targeted enforcement operation.”
Homeland Security Investigations Tampa posted on social media that it arrested “more than
100 illegal aliens (some of which were previously deported and others with criminal backgrounds).”
Those arrested are from Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Colombia, and Honduras and other countries, the agency said.
Calls to the U.S. attorney and U.S. district court yielded no warrant information. The Leon County Sheriff’s office did not return a call asking whether the detainees were delivered to their detention facility.
Bystanders protesting the raid told agents they should be ashamed of themselves, criticized them for wearing masks, and told them they are all descendants of immigrants.
Standing with them were workers’ family members, trying to communicate with their loved one who had been detained, asking where they were being transported to.
A man who identified himself as the manager of the construction site told the Phoenix “there’s no information” about the raid.
Layne Griffith, 22, is a graduate student at FSU who just finished her master’s degree in oceanography. She was packing to leave her apartment in College Town at around 9 a.m. to travel home to Pinellas County when she
became aware of a large presence of people in the area.
“So, the state trooper was kind of doing a perimeter check around the apartment buildings itself and I was curious to know what was going on, and I started to notice more of a police presence — people in camo outfits and people in masks and state troopers. I didn’t know what departments they were working for, I couldn’t tell from my apartment,” she said.
“But I started to see dozens of people at that point in handcuffs getting walked to the opposite side of the construction site and I saw them all lined up behind the prison bus and I stood out there for a while and there were more people showing up and being detained.”
Griffith said she saw law enforcement officers from a variety of agencies: the U.S. Marshals Service; the FBI; and “lots of state troopers.”—Jay Waagmeester & Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.
IT WAS ALL YELLOW: DASH ‘ambassadors’ are trained to be a concierge for both natives and newbs.
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Snap back
In St. Pete, SNAP recipients explain fears surrounding Trump tax bill’s cuts to food assistance.
By Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix
Here are some of the consequences that will follow if Congress cuts a key federal nutrition program, as proposed in the U.S. House’s version of Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”
“I won’t be able to get healthy foods like I am right now, as I have health issues,” said Peggy Shannon, 70, who lives in a senior rental apartment complex, whose only other income comes from her monthly Social Security check.
Whether Florida’s Republican-led Legislature would be willing to fill that gap is questionable, and Castor isn’t optimistic.
“Part of the proposal is to say that, ‘Well, we’re not really cutting everyone, we’re just asking states to provide more money,’” she said.
“We know here in the state of Florida we have an unfortunate track record that often comes when the feds say we’re backing off,” she added.
LOCAL NEWS
“The SNAP program helps provide all of that for me,” said Shannon, who described becoming “very depressed” upon learning of the potential cuts to the program, which still must go through the U.S. Senate before becoming law.
“Receiving SNAP benefits does help, especially if you’re trying to get your education or if you’re income is not where it needs to be,” said Jennifer Nicholson, a partially disabled single mother of four who is allowed to work a certain number of hours per month.
“Kids eat, especially with the summer months coming. They’re going to be home and they’re going to eat more and more. So cutting SNAP at this time would be very hard for some people,” she added.
SNAP means Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, cuts to which could cause nearly 3 million Floridians to lose access to federal food assistance, Tampa Bay area Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor and social service advocates warned during a press conference featuring the two women in St. Petersburg last Tuesday. The program provides low-income people and families with financial assistance to pay for groceries. It’s funded through a combination of federal and state resources. The federal government now pays 100% of SNAP benefits, while the states and the feds share the administrative costs.
Included in the major tax bill advocated for by the Trump administration, and passed last week in the U.S. House, is a mandate that states pay between 5% and 25% of monthly SNAP benefit costs based on each state’s payment error rates (which reflect the amount of underpayments and overpayments.)
Florida’s error rate in 2023 was 12.6%, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That puts the state on the hook for 25% of the costs, or $1.6 billion in 2028 alone, if the bill were to take effect, according to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP).
And all states would also have to increase their portion of administrative costs from 50% to 75%.
“Part of the responsibility here in the state of Florida, a state without an income tax, and one where we don’t want an income tax, means that you have to be good stewards of the tax dollars that are there, and right now I would question if they are fundamental good stewards of our tax money as they send more money off to private, for-profit charters,” she said.
More than 59% of SNAP participants in Florida are in families with children, and more than 41% are in families with older adult or disabled members, according to the CBPP.
Citing U.S. Department of Agriculture data, the Florida Policy Institute estimates that 99,000 veterans in Florida participate in the SNAP program. FPI bills itself as an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing state policies and budgets that improve the economic mobility and quality of life for all Floridians.
U.S. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson praised the restrictions on SNAP after the proposal passed his committee earlier this month. A spokesperson for Thompson told Newsweek that SNAP spends more than $13 billion per year in erroneous payments.
Deficits forecast
In addition, Florida economists project budget deficits starting as early as the summer of 2026 — another potential obstacle for the Legislature to get involved in increasing its share to SNAP.
Among the new requirements in the bill are expanding work requirements for “ablebodied adults without dependents” to people up to age 64, from the existing gap of 59. Also, administrative requirements would increase, including more stringent identity and income documentation.
“What we know about SNAP in particular is that most people are working. Or they’re on a pathway…”
“What we know about SNAP in particular is that most people are working. Or they’re on a pathway, as you heard from [the people who spoke today] to get there,” said Castor.
The Tampa Bay area representative labels the legislation “the billionaire giveaway bill.” She says it increases bureaucratic hoops that will make it more difficult for people to collect benefits, adding that because individuals have busy lives they might miss one of those reporting periods.
“Which would mean that they would lose their food assistance, and that’s what Republicans in Congress are banking on, because the independent Congressional Budget Office [CBO] did an analysis … that says that all those bureaucratic barriers do nothing to reform the system, they simply work to kick people off, and that’s where they achieve savings to give the billionaire tax breaks,” she said.
Budget impasse
The Florida Legislature, which is in the midst of budget impasse, fueled by disagreement over the amount of tax relief to pass and how much money the state should spend, has not discussed what the loss of SNAP funding would mean to the state.
Florida Republican members of Congress are hailing the passage of the bill, noting other provisions of the measure.
“No tax on tips; No tax on overtime; Permanently Secures the Border; Largest Deficit Reduction in 30 years; Ends Taxpayer-Funded Healthcare for illegals,” U.S. Rep. and gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds noted in a social media message last week.
“Huge win! The House just passed the Big Beautiful Bill — lower taxes and bigger paychecks,” South Florida U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar said in a video posted on X. “Your wallet just got a raise!”
Florida U.S. Sen. Rick Scott is reported to be concerned about the fiscal implications of the Trump tax bill, which economists have said could raise the federal deficit by at least $3 trillion.
“I want to get a deal done; I support the president’s agenda. I support the border, I support the military, I support extending the Trump tax cuts — but we have to live in reality. But we got to live in reality here: We got a fiscal crisis,” Scott said, according to The Hill.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.
YELLOW ALERT: Cutting SNAP just before summer would hit some families extremely hard.
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$8 Hand-Cra ed Cocktails
Chains you love
Foxtail coming to Largo, and more local openings.
By Marleigh Brown
One of Florida’s largest coffee shop chains is adding a sixth Tampa Bay area location sometime next year. Foxtail Coffee Co.’s new location is in Largo at 4th Street SW and West Bay Drive, near Ulmer Park, according to St. Pete Rising.
With nearly 90 locations in Florida, Foxtail’s sixth local location joins Bay area shops in St. Petersburg, Riverview, Clearwater and Carrollwood.
Foxtail offers pastries, baked goods, and coffees including the springtime “Golden Hour Latte” which blends Foxtail-roasted espresso with coconut, turmeric, and a touch of celery bitters.
The shop—which was founded in 2016—is marked by a rustic, homey, aesthetic for customers, except for Orlando’s Packing District location with picturesque flare orange neon lights and sleek modern decor.
This location will also feature casual dining, like some of the other locations.
What makes Foxtail Coffee Co’s Largo location special, according to SPR, is that it features a second story for dining and an open rooftop bar.
Foxtail is also expanding in Gainesville, Jacksonville Beach and Grandville, Michigan.
Gulfport’s new Vietnamese restaurant is taking over the Golden Dinosaurs location
Gulfport’s favorite vegan deli is gone, but a new concept is ready with more plant-based fare.
V-Roll Vietnamese Rolls & Bowls will open in July and includes options that are gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan along with menu items for omnivores.
Owner Stephanie Nghiem (pronounced Nim) welcomes the neighborhood to build-yourown bowl, spring rolls, steamed bao buns or bánh mì—a Vietnamese baguette sandwich.
From there, customers select a base: vermicelli rice noodles, jasmine rice or mixed greens, followed by one of six proteins—simmered
shrimp, chicken, lemongrass beef, pork or five-spice tofu.
Nghiem—who told The Gabber that she previously did detective work—is reigniting her passion for cooking at 2930 Beach Blvd. S, with menu highlights include starters like crispy egg rolls, fresh shrimp rolls or indulgent creamy crab rangoons that are a throwback to recipes passed down from her grandmother, to mother to her—and now to Gulfport.
Since the hurricanes in September, Gulfport has found itself rebuilding. Locals have flocked to support local restaurants and markets. V-Roll Vietnamese Rolls & Bowls is another addition for the locals to support and ultimately help rebuild the city, one restaurant at a time.
If you’re interested in trying this cuisine, follow @vroll.restaurant on Instagram to find more about the opening and other updates.
St. Pete staple karaoke bar Lala opens new location in South Tampa
Tampa has a new excuse to butcher Taylor Swift.
After the success of Lala’s St. Pete location, Tampa’s new karaoke bar recently opened in SoHo. Lala Tampa has eight themed rooms
including Nashville, Gatsby, Reggae, Studio 54, Backstage, Hip-Hop, and Red Carpet. Each room has a different holding capacity, and the largest room—Moulin Rouge—can support up to 25 guests.
The potentially comical restaurant experience features ready-to-rent private karaoke rooms and offers an extensive menu, so you can stuff your face and sing— just maybe not at the same time.—Jani Burden
Raising Cane’s is opening a new location out of an old Largo Red Lobster
Tampa Bay’s ongoing chicken tender war has another competitor. Raising Cane’s already has four Bay area locations and will open another in Largo where a Red Lobster closed in 2024, according to the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
The Louisiana-born chain known for tenders, Cane’s sauce and Texas toast, plans to demolish the Red Lobster and open a double drive-thru at 10500 Ulmerton Rd. in the Largo Plaza. Locations in Lutz, St. Pete, and two in Clearwater are already open.
The chain with more than 800 locations in 41 states is named for Cane, a Labrador Retriever belonging to founder Todd Graves.—Ray Roa
STAY GOLDEN: Foxtail Coffee in Orlando’s Packing District.
FOXTAIL COFFEE CO.
MOVIES THEATER ART CULTURE
Stay weird
Tampa Fringe returns to Ybor City.
By CL Staff
Victoria Rose Ríos knew she wasn’t going to have a quinceañera. They’re expensive, for one, and a lot of work, too. “I also didn’t really feel like I was Latin enough to have one,” Ríos, who is half-British, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.
That changes next weekend, however, when the native Tampeña brings her solo debut to Ybor City as part of Fringe’s 10-day takeover of the historic district. Her party—“La Última Muñeca: A Theatrical Quinceañera”—is a homecoming for the 31-year-old who’s been working in local theater since she was five years old.
Layered, collaborative, and immersive, the production draws on Ríos’ background in music puppetry and experimental performance that turns the Puerto Rican quinceañera (a girl’s 15th birthday) into a narrative experience.
Those challenges include politics which inadvertently make their way into “La Última Muñeca.” Politics is woven into Tampa Fringe for now, too.
Last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis turned Fringe festivals into the scapegoat for his $32 million cultural grants veto. Fringe organizers from Tampa and Orlando tried to bargain with the governor—offering to forgo state grants that were approved for them in order to facilitate the restoration of the remaining legislature-approved arts & culture funding, with conditions—to no avail.
THEATER
Tampa Fringe 2025
The current political climate is not lost on Ríos ,who sees the joy in her show as a form of defiance as Latinos and women are targeted by the GOP.
Next Thursday, June 12-Sunday, June 22 Kress Contemporary (1624 E 7th Ave., Ybor City) & The Commodore (811 E 7th Ave., Ybor City). $9 & up. tampafringe.org
The show, which will be performed five times during Tampa Fringe, includes Barbie puppets acting out diary entries, a process that helped Ríos start to shape dialogue in a complicated comingof-age partyshow that explores identity, girlhood, grief and beauty
“It really is sort of this acknowledgement that Latino people are here. Our culture is here. It’s not going anywhere,” she explained. “And it’s hard to be a woman at the moment.
If that’s all too heavy, don’t worry. The immersive show also includes coquito.
“The show is a party.”
.“She’s got a little bit more of a personality that I wouldn’t have shown as a teenager, because she’s playing me as a teenager,” Ríos said. Yes, the doll curses, but she’s a lot more honest, which makes sense. “I think that happens with puppets a lot because you’ve got a proxy to sort of say what you’re thinking.”
While he’s barely mentioned in the show, bringing it to the stage involved Ríos thinking about her dad, Juan Carlos, who passed away before she left for grad school. “La Última Muñeca,” she explained, is not a show mourning him—but grief is a significant theme. Ríos hopes the exploration doesn’t come off as invasive or triggering, and noted that there is a certain kind of mourning over past versions of herself.
“The six-year-old version of yourself, the 15-year-old version of yourself, the 20-year-old version of yourself,” she said, adding that the work—made possible with help from her mentor Sophie Ellen Powell—is mostly a joyful tribute to life, despite its obstacles.
The Puerto Rican holiday staple is non-alcoholic, so while you may have to sneak in your own rum, “La Última Muñeca,” is definitely toast-worthy.
“The show is a party,” she said, “It’s a celebratory acknowledgement of figuring it out.”—Ray Roa
There is also a lot to figure out when it comes to Tampa Fringe. Here are a few key points.
• The 2025 festival includes 32 companies performing in five venues—including the Commodore on the western edge of 7th Avenue.
• Some shows are 18 & up, while others have ratings (PG-14, PG). There are shows designed for kids (see below) and other that are familyfriendly, but not necessarily written for kids. All ratings are available via tampafringe.org.
• A no-cover kids Fringe features acrobats, a secret agent Cinderella and a Seussian show from the Hillsborough Community College Theatre Club.
CRY IF YOU WANT TO: ‘La Última Muñeca’ explores grief, but there’s a lot to celebrate, too.
• There’s even a shuttle for anyone who needs it, and a speed-dating-esque preview night on Wednesday, June 11 where each company will perform a tight, three-minute preview of their shows.
• Admission can be purchased for individual shows, in three or five-show bundles, or in the form of an “Eliminator Pass” that gets a festival goer into everything.
See more information on select Tampa Fringe 2025 shows below, and get links to the full schedule and festival guide by finding this story on cltampa.com/arts.
Acrobellum Acrobelles and acro-bubs have a show filled with laughter and crowd interaction. The family-friendly ragtag group features not just acrobats, but tumblers and fire performers.
—Marleigh Brown
American Fever Dream Not to spoil anything, but this one is set up as a game show where the rules are ever-changing and the audience calls the shots. Speaking of spoilers, Nicole Crowther—Assistant Professor, Theatre and Dance at the University of Tampa—is also known for a famous tweet that disclosed information about the show “Glee” while she was working as an extra back in 2016. From fumbling the details of" Glee" to leading a rule-bending voyage through the American Dream, she is certainly no stranger to going off-script, which should play well in this show that skewers the slippery concept of pursuing the American dream.
Bangs,Bobs & Banter: Confessions of a Hairstylist Following a sold-out run in Edmonton, Joanna Ranelli takes theater goers on a comedic voyage as Nikki, a charming hair stylist who loves spilling the beans. Nikki has a knack for storytelling, which is convenient when her job includes crazy, mind-boggling stories from her clients. The 2024 Orlando Fringe Critics’ Choice award-winning fly-on-the-wall show features desperate clients sharing their astonishing stories with both Nikki and the audience.—JB
Blah-Capella: Vulva Va-Voom Struggles
With Imperfection Ybor City’s Vulva Va Voom brings a song-and-dance comedy cabaret that tracks a journey toward acceptance through laughter, crowd-work puppetry, drag and multimedia projection. After Vulva Va-Voom broke from a more traditional resume that included almost all of the respectable professional performance companies in west central Florida, they discovered underground cabaret, comedy, drag sideshows. With 11 Fringe circuit awards and six diagnosed mental health conditions, VVV now presents a high-quality unpredictable act.—JB
Flamencodanza This contemporary performance has toured the world and is overflowing with intense dance and lively guitar. In it, choreographer Aylin Bayaz is joined by Anthony “Tiriti” Tran who drives this high-energy, family-friendly show with dynamic guitar. The family-friendly duo—voted “Best shoe of Dance and physical theatre” at Hollywood Fringe 2022—is well-travelled and taught the art of flamenco internationally.—JB Florida Christmas: The Musical Who doesn’t love Christmas in June? This is a family-oriented holiday show where an alligator named Alonzo dreams of having a white Christmas in the Sunshine State. The upbeat, laugh out loud musical written by local artist Dr. Alena Holmes has a rich cast ready to share a musical mix covering reggae, opera and disco. Altogether, it makes for creative and chaotic atmosphere.—MB
Pup Play:
A Queer Pseudo-Lecture (of sorts) Noah Alfred Pantano plays Professor Handler David, who teaches audiences how to “put their bitchboys into a submissive puppy headspace.” The show is not for the faint of heart, but it does have heart. Underneath the gritty puppy play, Pantano is fighting for affirming identity, and against homophobia and self-hatred. “We’ve gotten as many standing ovations as we have angry walkouts,” he said in a release. “Yet, those who push through will be moved by a surprising and heartfelt show about modern queer identity.” Pantano wrote the show as part of his Ph.D. in Theatre Studies at the University of Essex. It 's won Spirit of the Fringe at Colchester Fringe and the George Wallace Scholarship at Orlando Fringe.—SSF
Queen, Interrupted: The Rise and Fall of a Drag Pariah From growing up as a “club kid” and turning into a glamorous queen, “Queen Interrupted: The Rise and Fall of a Drag Pariah” goes through the life of Yoko Oso and her development as a person. From times of bias to experiences of hate, this play about being yourself shows what it means to love, and how to overcome hatred. It also talks about dreams and what it means for them to change, even if that means you have to walk away.—MB Ruthie in the Lesser Levels of Hell This is the second fringe show by A Silly Ami Production and follow’s 2018’s “Ruthie in the Shadow.” In it, Ami Sallee explores three different psyches and personas in different ways: Ruthie in Tears, Ruthie in FUN rehab and Ruthie in the Spotlight.—MB
THEATER
Strawberry Sideshow After years doing group performances, Mary Strawberry debuts a solo variety show. With over a decade of experience in burlesque and world-wide education, her unpredictable performance includes puppeteering, cosplay, drag and impersonations. It draws on volunteers, too. The production is rated PG, but is more geared toward those who enjoy peculiar and undisguised humor (translation: kids are welcome just maybe don’t sit in the front row).—JB
Whispers of the Wind: A Very Serious, Complete, and Thorough Academic Presentation on the Mother Fan Cult Audiences will laugh as much as it they think about concepts of truth, belief and identity. Its part of interdisciplinary theatre-makers George McConnell and Liz Bourgeois’ larger “Motherfan Project,” which follows the evolution of a fictional cult of fan worshippers. Audiences witness an academic expert who has been studying their online presence, sharing new findings on a bizarre, secretive cult. The talk is interrupted by a technical malfunction and unexpected guests, blending reality TV, Ted Talks and absurdist theater to make audiences question the narratives they follow and the unseen forces shaping their perceptions.—SSF continued from page 33
—Jani
Burden
DeCeption Theater A weird, dark and baffling display of cabaret and magic that includes a peculiar mix of circus acts, spirit medium and a not-so-happy ending. This show is a selfdescribed acquired taste, and the company only performs three times a year before hibernating until 2026. The show of Detroit derived theater is for anyone 14 or older and promises an unforgettably strange experience.—JB
Happy Tree Talks With Dad Wes Faler’s Fringe debut is a sophisticated yet satirical spoken word work about conversations with his dad, but through the eyes of an adult. The therapeutic performance contains light swearing and may not be suitable for young children.—JB Murderers Inspired by true events, this show takes place inside a stark interrogation room where two people convicted of murder face a manipulative detective. As psychological pressure mounts, the line between justice and cruelty blurs, exploring concepts of guilt in a meeting of fact and fiction.—Selene San Felice
RED ALERT: ‘Strawberry Sideshow’ is rated PG, but more geared toward those who enjoy peculiar and undisguised humor
and kimono demonstration with collector and dealer Sue Castner, presented in conjunction with our special exhibition Kimono: The Triumph of Japanese Dress. Drawing from her experiences living and working in Japan, Castner will share personal stories, insights into the world of kimono collecting, and her deep appreciation for this enduring tradition. During the talk, local textile and art enthusiasts will model an exquisite selection of vintage and antique Japanese garments from Ms. Castner’s personal collection. Whether you’re a seasoned curator or just curious, discover how these timeless pieces can be effortlessly layered and accessorized to elevate your modern wardrobe and solve today’s fashion dilemmas.
Welcome home
St. Pete-Clearwater Airport’s ‘Sightline’ art gallery is now open.
By Jennifer Ring
Florida’s landscapes, flora, and fauna have inspired its residents and visiting artists for centuries. Now, thanks to a partnership between Creative Pinellas and St. Pete-Clearwater Airport, a sample of contemporary Florida-inspired art greets travelers as they fly in and out of PIE.
The partnership isn’t exactly new—the two organizations started working together in 2022, bringing new murals by Bay Area artists Leo Gomez and Laura “Miss Crit” Spencer to PIE Gate 12.
But this spring, they expanded the partnership with a new exhibition space located post-security in the area of Gates 7-11. Sightline Gallery opened in April 2025 with artwork by contemporary Tampa Baybased artists Elizabeth Barenis, Matthew Drennan Wicks and Babette Herschberger.
and want to bring into their homes to reflect the outside and bring it in. I just found a different way to represent the palm fronds so we can still have that tropical feel, but in a contemporary way.”
Once Gibson secured her main artist for the largest wall, she considered what types of works would communicate with Barenis’ Florida flora in an interesting way, before landing on a series of Wicks sculptures that resemble patio chairs.
Together, they provide the illusion that one is sitting in the shade of Barenis’ palm trees, hence the show’s title, “Made in the Shade.”
In a different corner of the airport, Gibson paired more of Wicks’ chair-like sculptures with a garden of Babette Herschberger’s colorful ceramic vessels.
LOCAL ARTS
Choosing the artists was easy for independent curator Katherine Gibson. What was difficult, Gibson told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, was envisioning the space as a gallery.
“The space wasn’t white, and there was no lighting, so it was very dark,” said Gibson. “I had my doubts in the beginning.”
“First, we’d have to paint it if they’d let us, which they did,” Gibson added. “And then we’d have to go for an artist who could carry the weight of a large space and a large piece, and Elizabeth can definitely do that.”
Barenis is known for her large, colorful palm fronds, which she started painting in 2016. Seeing half a dozen of her fronds and flowers stretched across a 33-foot green wall definitely gives Florida vibes.
“The reason I do palm fronds is because I’m in Florida,” Barenis told CL. “I wanted to do something that people here would appreciate
Herschberger’s work, although fully embracing Miami’s coastal color palette, is the least direct in its Florida references. But, as Hershberger points out, not all contemporary Florida artists are creating Florida scenes. She expressed gratitude for the opportunity to show this side of Tampa Bay’s contemporary art scene.
“There’s not a lot of contemporary exhibition space, from my perspective, in St. Pete or Clearwater,” Herschberger told CL. “So to have another layer to represent that type of work really helps. It illustrates that not everyone here is doing really representational work of flora, fauna and water.”
“Sightline” opens just in time to greet Tampa Bay residents and visitors going to and from their summer vacations. So if you’re traveling out of PIE this summer, stop by Liquid Provisions bar & restaurant, grab a drink, and sit in the shade of Elizabeth Barenis’ palm trees. And if you like the art, you’re welcome to purchase it using the QR code next to each piece.
SKY LOUNGE: Margaret Murray, Gibson, Herschberger and Barenis at PIE.
JENNIFER RING
Burning bright
Tampa Bay Sun faces Dallas in semifinal.
By Jani Burden and Sofía García Vargas
Tampa Bay sports fans are used to watching playoff hockey this time of the summer, but they should ditch the skate for spikes this year. After securing its spot in the elimination round last month following a hard-fought 1-1 tie against the league-leading Carolina Ascent FC, Tampa Bay Sun FC furthered its success soon after by winning its season-closer, gaining home-field advantage in the first ever USL Super League Playoffs.
In front of a sold-out crowd of more than 5,000, the Sun sent itself to the semifinals in true Tampa Bay fashion with a huge, psychedelic firework display and a 2-0 win over DC Power FC on May 24.
Tickets to the Tampa Bay Sun’s semifinal match happening Saturday, June 7 at Tampa’s Riverfront Stadium are still available and start at $26.
SPORTS
The playoffs consist of four teams, and Tampa Bay—the no. 2 seed—will host Dallas Trinity FC in Tampa on Saturday, June 7 at Blake High School’s Riverfront Stadium in downtown Tampa. The Sun is 1-1-2 against Dallas all-time, with the last match on May 4 finding the Sun earning a 1-0 home field win.
USL Super League Playoffs
Dallas Trinity v. Tampa Bay Sun Saturday, June 7. 7:30 p.m. $26 & up Riverfront Stadium at Blake High School 1701 N Blvd., Tampa. tampabaysunfc.com
The game will be accessible for Spanish speakers, too. Last month, the Sun announced plans to team up with interpretation and translation provider Language Services Associates (LSA) to make the matchday experience más accesible for the more than 25% of Tampa residents who identify as Hispanic or Latino. Sun fans will see, and hear, the difference at Blake High School’s Riverfront Stadium, where everything from signage to tickets and printed materials is getting a bilingual boost. Spanish-language support is now available when buying tickets by phone.
The other USL Super League semifinal finds another Florida team—Ft. Lauderdale United FC—traveling to face league leader Carolina Ascent FC. All the USL Super League playoff matches will air on Peacock, and the final is scheduled for the weekend of June 14 .
The Sun’s success in this inaugural season has been a true group effort with the offense scoring 42 goals this season and defense conceding only 28 goals. But the power and commitment of Sun fans did not go unnoticed.
“Tampa Bay has come alive in support of their first professional women’s team,” Christina Unkel, President and General Manager of the Sun, said in a press release. “We’re riding that energy—and it’s delivering historic results. We can’t wait for our fans to see the Sun rise in the playoffs.”
“We live in a city shaped by its Latin roots — from the cigar rollers of Ybor City to the mercados of West Tampa,” Unkel said in a press release. “This partnership makes sure that spirit is present at every match.”
LSA is no rookie when it comes to sports. It already works with Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union, providing services like realtime translation for players and American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters for deaf and hard of hearing fans. That same level of support is coming to Sun matches starting in the 2025/26 season of the Gainbridge Super League.
An ASL interpreter will sign the national anthem at every home game, and LSA’s AI-powered tools may eventually allow nonEnglish speaking players to hear their coach’s words translated instantly into their native languages.
“Language should never be a barrier to passion,” Scott Cooper, CEO of LSA, said in the release.
FORWARD MARCH: Tampa Bay Sun’s Ashley Clark.
Safe words
St. Pete publisher offers free kids book for hurricane prep.
By Jani Burden
Families lost homes, and businesses last year when so many frightening storms landed in the Tampa Bay area last hurricane season. The impacts were devastating for everyone, but Sparks Creative Stories wants to make sure that kids don’t go uninformed amidst the chaos.
A new book “Day of Disaster and Doom! How to Feel Safe When It’s Scary,” takes a look into how kids can be prepared and less tense for the upcoming hurricane season. It was published early last month and is available in English, Spanish and ASL. It's performed in English by actors Vickie Daignault and Jim Sorenson, and translated and performed in Spanish by Associate Professor of Theatre at USF, Dora Arreola.
The book contains a very realistic perspective of what a kid may go through when facing a hurricane, from the confusion of putting plywood on the windows because “why would anybody want it dark inside?” and the sinister feeling of being unsafe in your own home.
her—from an alien invasion to a giraffe stampede—thanks to a “save the day kit.” Her little brother Bert is less confident in the face of such disasters, so throughout their evacuation and encounters with the storm she is able to help Bert feel less anxious.
After returning to their damaged home, the family is overcome with heartache, but through sticking together and getting help from the community they are able to uplift each other and raise their spirits.
BOOKS
The main character never mentions her own name, but Cowley told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that her narrator is telling her own story “and doesn’t ever mention her own name, so kids can imagine themselves as the main character who’s having these experiences and taking action throughout.”
Despite the uneasiness, “Day of Disaster and Doom!” focuses more on what they can control. Being prepared, sticking together and staying strong.
It walks kids safely through some of the circumstances that might come to pass during a hurricane such as evacuating to a city shelter, having a thorough emergency plan, and receiving help from friends and unlikely helpers.
The main character in the book is always prepared for anything life may throw at
“Day of Disaster and Doom! How to Feel Safe When It’s Scary” is just one of many free illustrated audiobooks that have been published by Sparks Creative Stories. The company launched during the Covid-19 pandemic when it would perform bedtime plays via phone by connecting actors with the audience calling from home.
Now, Sparks shares stories and brings them to life through visuals that are created by scientists, internationally-known artists and even by kids.
The new kids book “Day of Disaster and Doom! How to Feel Safe When It’s Scary” is available for free via YouTube.
SHORE THING: ‘Day of Disaster and Doom!’ puts a soft lens on storms.
MARK SFORZINI - GENERAL DIRECTOR
Saturday, June 7, 2025 • Doors at 8:00 PM, Show at 8:00 PM
Emo Night Tampa 10 Year Anniversary @ Crowbar
1509 East 8th Avenue, Tampa
1812 N 17th St Tampa
Free for 21+, $5 for 18+ crowbarybor.com/calendar/#/events
Sunday, June 8, 2025 • 3:00 PM - 9:00 PM EST
R&Vegan: Ybor City @ 1920 Ybor
1920 East 7th Avenue Tampa
Free to the Public bit.ly/RveganYbor
Sunday, June 8, 2025 • 3:00 PM - 11:59 PM EST
The Breakdown: Day Party and Mini Ball @ The Catacombs
1909 North 15th Street #Suite A, Tampa
Tickets start at $12.51 bit.ly/TheBreakdownYbor
Sunday, June 8, 2025 • 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM EST
Sip & Strut Pride Bar Crawl @ Showbar Ybor 1613 East 7th Avenue, Tampa
$20 General Admission bit.ly/SipStrutYbor
Friday, June 13, 2025 • 10:00 PM - 3:00 AM EST
Doctor P and Flux Pavilion @ The RITZ Ybor 1503 E 7th Ave, Tampa
$25.95 General Admission bit.ly/docpflux0613
Saturday, June 14, 2025 • 8:00 PM - 1:00 AM EST
The Annual-Summer Groove-All White Party
@ Italian Club Ybor City 1731 E 7th Ave Tampa
Tickets start at $55.20 bit.ly/AllWhitePartyYbor
Sunday, June 15, 2025 • 7:00 PM - 12:00 AM EST
THE GRAVEYARD CABARET
@ Italian Club of Tampa 1731 East 7th Avenue, Tampa
$17.85 General Admission bit.ly/GraveyardCabaret
Sunday, June 15, 2025 • 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST
Coffee Roasting & Cupping 101 @ Retro House Coffee Bar & Asian Bistro 934 East Henderson Avenue, Tampa
$87.20 General Admission bit.ly/CoffeeCuppingYbor
Saturday, June 21, 2025 • 8:00 PM - 11:59 PM
2025 Juneteenth Tampa Networking & All White Party @ 1920 Ybor 1920 East 7th Avenue, Tampa Tickets from $52.19 bit.ly/JuneteenthTampa
Sunday, June 22, 2025 • 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM
Chicken Yoga with Yoga Loft Tampa and Ybor Misfits @ Hotel Haya 1412 East 7th Avenue Tampa
$14.64 General Admission bit.ly/41WVJnj
Nominate your favE Ybor places for Best of the Bay
(Don’t forget to nominate your favorite place on vote.cltampa.com)
Pepper’s Island Restaurant 1701 E 4th Ave, Tampa peppersislandrestaurant.com/
Ybor Seoul 1531 E 7th Ave, Tampa yborseoul.com/
Bad Monkey Ybor 1717 E 7th Ave, Tampa badmonkeyybor.com/
Where to Live: Places To Visit:
Casa Ybor
Casa Ybor offers unique retail spaces, office spaces, and apartment homes for rent or lease in both newly constructed and lovingly restored historic buildings throughout the vibrant National Historic Landmark District of Ybor City near Downtown Tampa, Florida. casaybor.com
La Union
Community, connection, and culture come together at La Unión Apartments, where Tampa’s rich history and vibrant future unite. Inspired by the historic social hall once on this site, our Ybor City apartments honor that legacy by fostering bonds among residents, the neighborhood, and the area’s deep-rooted heritage. bit.ly/LaUnionYbor
Hive Ybor
1802 E 3rd Ave, Tampa
Rooted in community, Hive is a cozy coworking space designed for creative professional and coffee-shop hoppers in the Tampa + Ybor area. yborhive.com/
Blue Devil Tattoo 1603 E 7th Ave, Tampa
T ampa’s Oldest Tattoo Shop. You’re in the right place! Established 1994. Walk-ins always welcome. bluedeviltattoo.com/
The Ritz Ybor 1503 E 7th Ave, Tampa
The Ritz Ybor is an events venue located in the historic Ybor City, within Tampa, Florida. Opening in 1917, the theatre catered to the Afro-Cuban community in the emerging neighborhood. theritzybor.com/
By Ray Roa C CL Recommends
FRI 06
C Metallica w/Limp Bizkit/Ice Nine Kills/Pantera/Suicidal Tendencies After 15 years away, Metallica is back in Tampa. The band’s M72 World Tour launched back in 2023, and now the nine-time Grammy Award winning metal outfit is spending the weekend in the Bay area with a big ass in-the-round stage and completely different openers on Friday and Sunday. There are no repeats on the setlists for what are Metallica’s only Florida shows. (Raymond James Stadium, Tampa)
SAT 07
C Emo Night Tampa 10th Anniversary: Leisure Hour w/Virginity/Cinema Stare/Pilot Jonezz A decade’s worth of tears gets to blow out birthday candles this weekend when two staples of the Tampa scene—Emo Night Tampa Founder’s Theo Severson and Chris Wood, aka the Crate Bros.—mark a huge milestone with yet another no-cover concert (it’s $5 if you’re under 21). Muncie, Indiana poppunk trio Leisure Hour anchors festivities on Saturday night as it supports a 2024 LP, The Sunny Side . Another out-of-state visitor (Cinema Stare from Connecticut) is on the bill along with beloved Sunshine State band Virginity (Orlando), Tampa’s own Pilot Jonezz, and a pop-up by recently-shuttered vegan restaurant Golden Dinosaurs. In true Emo Night Tampa fashion, the party gets started a day before, thanks to another no-cover show at the American Legion in Seminole Heights where alum of the series—Hovercar, Big Sad, He Kindly and Earthgirl—take the stage. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
C Jim Lauderdale w/Shawn Kyle Your anxiety about giving the robots everything you’ve ever learned officially has a soundtrack. “Artificial Intelligence,” the new song from Americana godfather Jim Lauderdale, is about love and humanity— and uncertainty. “On one hand, it could be a beneficial thing for the world. On the other hand, there are a lot of unknowns that might run askew of our good intentions or our hopes. For some, the possibilities may bring great benefits; for others, there could be unintended consequences,” the 68-year-old said about the release. “Time will tell. We shall see.” (Bayboro Brewing, St. Petersburg)
Kirk Hammett: The Collection His band’s in town for the whole weekend, so guitarist Kirk Hammett stops by the casino on Metallica’s night off where he’ll join Mark Agnesi, Director of Brand Experience
FRI JUNE 06–THU JUNE 12
for Gibson Guitars, for a discussion and exhibition of sorts surrounding a new coffee table book, “Collection: Kirk Hammett.” Seminole Hard Rock’s Metallica Takeover weekend starts earlier that afternoon, however, during an artist talk with Tony Squindo a longtime collaborator with the band whose art has adorned much of Metallica’s work. While these events are not concters, tickets are required; find links to more information by visiting this listing on cltampa.com/music. (Hard Rock Event Center at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Tampa)
Old Dominion w/Redferrin/Ernest
Nobody’s won more Group of the Year Academy of Country Music Awards than Old Dominion. The Nashville mainstay is just over two months away from releasing its sixth studio LP, Barbara , which looks back not just on the band’s 10-year career,
but on lives lived well (and perhaps not well enough). “I think the feeling good means more when you’re looking life straight in the eye. So much is illusion or what we tell ourselves it is, sometimes if you look in your heart though, reality is even richer,” lead singer Matthew Ramsey recently told Music Row. “And I think that’s as much the point as anything.” (The BayCare Sound, Clearwater)
Tampa Bay Freestyle Summer Bash: Betty Dee w/Sammy Zone/Jessee B/ more Tampa usually gets its own arenasize freestyle festival, but this one’s a bit smaller, and will probably get sweatier, as Miss Betty Dee from Bronx-based pop and Latin freestyle group Sweet Sensation (“Hooked On You”) headlines a sports bar show in Pinellas. (Mugs Sports Bar & Grill, Clearwater)
SUN 08
Songwriters Round: Matt Burke w/ Michah Madore/Daniel Collins John Kelly—who owned and operated St. Petersburg’s beloved and long-shuttered Hideaway Cafe listening—has his hands all over the imprint of Bayboro Brewing. That means nights like this songwriters round will sound pristine. A staple of the Bay area’s Americana scene, Have Gun, Travel’s Matt Burke is at the top of the lineup, and is joined by new-to-St. Pete songwriter Daniel Collins and Winter Haven Travis-picking enthusiast Michael Madore. The venue's talent buyer, Shawn Kyle, opens the show— and if you like the vibe ask him about the songwriters night he hosts at St. Pete's Kerouac House. (Bayboro Brewing Co., St. Petersburg)
The Crate Bros.
TUE 10
C Illuminati Hotties w/Georgia Maq/ Allie Sarah Tudzin is an in-demand Los Angeles-based producer also riding high off a Grammy win for her work on Boygenius’ debut full-length, The Record (band and album name stylized in all-lowercase). Last Friday her rock band also released a new EP, Nickel on the Fountain Floor. The outing is made up of stuff that didn’t make last year’s critically-acclaimed album, Power, a record about love and grief where the leader of Illuminati Hotties mines the ongoing extreme lows and highs of losing her mother to cancer and finding a life partner in musician Maddie Ross. “Maybe they didn’t serve that story as much,” Tudzin Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “There’s some that, I think, feel less emotionally close to the surface, especially now with just my perspective changing and life changing.” Read our interview via cltampa.com/music. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
C Modest Mouse w/Doug Martsch Isaac Brock’s band has a massive itinerary this year, and Bay area fans without tickets to this sold-out gig are gonna have to travel elsewhere to see Modest Mouse. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)
C Wu-Tang Clan w/Run The Jewels
Nearly 33 years after its inception, Wu-Tang Clan wants to bring the “ruckus” one last time. The legendary Staten Island rap group is on its latest, and what appears to be its final, tour which has just one Florida stop. Anyone that can still stay up late might want to make plans for a sleepover at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino where Inspectah Deck plays an afterparty. (Amalie Arena, Tampa)
THURSDAY JUNE 5
LAUGH LAB: COMEDY OPEN
TAMPA MAKERS MARKET
WED 11
C Peter Hook & The Light New Order’s founding bassist is reminiscing on a honeymoon for this tour with his current band, The Light. The 69-year-old wraps a short run of shows next weekend, and this first of three Florida dates finds the band playing New Order’s 2001 album Get Ready in full along with some of the best by Joy Division, too. The record has aged well, and Hook agrees. “I think is massively underrated,” he said in a press release, admitting that while he and guitarist Bernard Sumner had soured on each other, they still worked hard to make a great record. “I am looking forward to playing all the tracks, many of which have never been played live before.” (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)
THU 12
C Twen w/Mold! The shellfish is great in Boston, but Twen is enjoying local seafood lately. “Almost ALL our money is going directly to the crab budget,” the duo joked on social media while telling fans it had plans to play a lot of its new album on its June tour. Singer Jane Fitzsimmons and multi-instrumentalist Ian Jones have spent the last six years living up to the name of a 2019 debut Awestruck and arrive supporting a 2024 EP, Infinite Sky, a pristinely-record blast of shimmery psych-pop. This superbill of sorts is a sure-thing for anyone looking for exemplars of the Florida scene, thanks in part to Carlo Barbacci’s Miami band Mold! which arrives ahead of its own new album, III . Due July 17, the 12-track outing continues the Magic City’s habit of putting out the Sunshine State’s highest quality fuzz-rock. (Music Hall at New World Brewery, Tampa)
PINTS
American
In the ‘90s, getting a hold of any recording by Slum Village was a feat in itself. Founded by groundbreaking producer J Dilla along with rappers Baatin and T3, the trio from the Conant Gardens neighborhood of Detroit became the stuff of legend thanks to a debut album, Fantastic (Vol. 1), that floated around underground for almost a decade before its official release in 2006.
Less Ummah-fied than A Tribe Called Quest, and grittier than De La Soul, the group first known as Ssenepod dominated open mic nights alongside Motor City staples like DJ House Shoes with songs that painted a picture of life in a part of the city that is ingrained in the DNA of not just rap, but dance music and pop.
Dilla, who left the group before it reached wider audiences, passed in 2006, and Batin followed three years later; surviving founder T3 (aka,
Jupiter Bloom w/Sofia Camille/ Weatherboys/Mossheads Friday, June 13. 8 p.m. $10. Music Hall at New World Brewery, Tampa
Dionne Warwick Wednesday, June 18. 8 p.m. $90.90. Hard Rock Event Center at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Tampa
Jeff Brawer and Dan Padilla Thursday, June 19. 7:30 p.m. No cover. New World Brewery, Tampa
The Resilient w/Adam Keys Friday, June 20. 8 p.m. No cover for veterans and first responders, $19.98 for everyone else. Jannus Live, St. Petersburg
Madison Morris w/Josh Gibbs Saturday, June 21. 8 p.m. $7. Biergarten at New World Brewery, Tampa
Trés, née RL Altman III) has kept Slum Village alive. The group is a duo these days thanks to Trés and Young RJ—son of RJ Rice, frontman of ‘80s electro group R.J’s Latest Arrival. The young producer initially crossed paths with Dilla & co. at his dad’s ill-fated John Salley collab Hoop Sound Studios, and has been in the Slum Village family ever since, releasing an LP as recently as 2022.
Opening the show is Ohio producer Vice Souletric.
Tickets to see Slum Village play Crowbar in Ybor City on Sunday, July 6 are on sale now for $30.83 including fees.
While Ybor City is coming up on the year anniversary of the last Ol’ Dirty Sundays, the afterparty for this show will surely have the vibe of the district’s long-running courtyard party.
See Josh Bradley’s roundup of new concerts coming to Tampa Bay below.—Ray Roa
Velvet Sky w/The Scream Queens/ Tragic Friday, June 27. 7 p.m. $10 at the door. Brass Mug, Tampa
Eli Mac Sunday, June 29. 7 p.m. $17. Bayboro Brewing, St. Petersburg
Dissectomy w/Deadweight/Crypt Keeper/Law of Casualty/Fear of Infirmity/Blue Corpse Saturday, July 5. 6:30 p.m. $15 at the door. Brass Mug, Tampa
The Dead of Summer Party: Thin Spaces w/High Press/Face The Fence/ Grim Gardener/Social Wreckage Saturday, July 12. 6 p.m. $10 at the door. Brass Mug, Tampa
Ajeva’s Hometown Throwdown: The Ain’t Sisters Saturday, July 19. 7:30 p.m. $19.10. Bayboro Brewing, St. Petersburg
A legend of
music is coming to Tampa over Fourth of July weekend.
Jerked around
By Dan Savage
Irecently came home from a short meeting to find my husband in the bathroom with the door locked—locked to keep the kids out—meaning that he was secretly jerking off to porn while I was out. This has happened a few times before while I was home or out briefly and I’ve tried to explain how hurtful it feels to me. If he’s that interested in sex while I’m away briefly, I would rather he ask me to have sex, include me in watching porn, or even tell me his plan so it doesn’t feel like a secret. I have nothing against him watching porn and we sometimes do so together. It’s the idea of him doing it at home secretly when I’m out briefly that upsets me. It makes me feel like he is waiting for an opportunity alone and jumping on it as soon as he can, and that he prefers this to sex with me. And though he insists that watching porn doesn’t mean he isn’t also attracted to me, the secret nature of this makes me feel unattractive. He says that the secret nature is not part of the desire for him. Rather, jerking off is more akin to boredom/enjoyment, like deciding to “eat a bowl of ice cream.” He travels a good bit for work, and I’ve encouraged him to watch porn freely when he’s away. He insists that he’s satisfied with our sex life, including how frequently we have sex. He says that his interest in porn is just something fun that he—like most men—likes to do, and that it’s an entirely different category than our sex life. But there’s something about looking at women with perfect/fake bodies while I’m out briefly that feeds into my insecurities as a middleaged woman and makes me extremely angry. Am I being unfair in asking him to stop jerking off to porn secretly when I could walk in on him easily? What else could we do to solve this problem?—Porn Over Reality Needles Offended Spouse
to it, so the issue isn’t secrecy. Often for couples, the true objection is not to porn in and of itself, but the fact a partner has a solo sex life, and it doesn’t make a difference what they’re using to reach orgasm alone, whether we’re talking about porn, their own fantasies, or Chris Isaak music videos.”
Focusing on the real issue—which, again, isn’t porn but your husband having orgasms on his own once in a while—could help you work through this conflict.
SAVAGE LOVE
“PORNOS and her husband need to figure out what role masturbation has—and should have— in their marriage and ensure they’re on the same page about it,” said Dr. Sprankle. “Our solo sexuality exists whether or not we are in a relationship, and masturbation does not have to compete with partnered sex. Even though an orgasm is an orgasm, there are different motivations for masturbation compared to partnered sex, and each one can meet unique needs the other isn’t equipped to meet.”
While your husband needs to be considerate of your feelings, PORNOS, you need to accept that your husband has a solo sexuality and is entitled—as we all are—to a zone of erotic autonomy. Meaning, he’s allowed to have fantasies that don’t revolve around you, just as you’re allowed to have fantasies that don’t revolve around him. So long as his fantasies don’t consume all of his erotic energy, i.e. so long as he’s not neglecting your needs, and so long as he can indulge them without neglecting or endangering your kids, attempting to police your husband’s solo sexuality is unnecessary and unwise, as doing so creates conflict.
masturbate when you’re less likely to “catch” him (not to keep secrets, but to be considerate)—you’re going to need to shrug it off when you realize the bathroom door is locked for that reason.
“They’re both still individuals in this partnership,” said Dr. Sprankle, “and individual needs require a certain amount of space and alone time. And that alone time may include occasionally locking yourself in the bathroom, and it shouldn’t matter whether the person in there is masturbating to porn videos on their phone or taking a dump.”
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I’m a cis female in my late-30s and my partner is a cis male in his 40s. We have been married for 10 years, together for 15, and have schoolaged children. I actually met my husband when I started dating his then-wife. This situation was not a trio, but I was around him a lot, so we became friends, and eventually the three of us talked about all moving in together. Ultimately, I got scared and ended the relationship with his wife. It was a confusing time in my life, and I made the decision that I did not want to be with a woman long-term. Things happened, he and his wife split, and he and I fell madly in love. In the beginning of our relationship, we had a LOT of conversations about commitment, about my sexuality and about my past (I had significantly more experience), and I explained to him that I could not be happy “going without” being with a woman ever again. He knew I was bisexual and that I needed openness.
wreck and resentment is a cancer), it’s not just your marriage that’s at stake. You have kids. If your kids are still young and/or you can’t afford to divorce, it may be in their best interest for mom and dad to suck up a few sexless-or-nearlysexless years before mom attempts to impose terms. (You did sign up to be parents, BLAAHS, and parenting sometimes means doing what’s best for the little shits.)
Zooming out for a second… You hammered out an asymmetrical agreement at the start of your marriage: to accommodate your bisexuality, you were allowed to sleep with other women—and so was your husband. Your husband had the freedom to pursue anyone he might be interested in while you could only pursue half the people you might be interested in. Now, I think you deserve a lot of credit: I’ve gotten countless letters from married bi women over the years who felt entitled to a get-out-of-monogamy-free card that allowed them fuck other people (with vaginas) because their husbands couldn’t meet that need… but who didn’t think their husbands should be allowed to fuck other people. Sorry, but if you get to sleep with other people, your partner gets to sleep with other people. It’s only fair.
“Any time porn use is causing problems in a relationship, it is important to assess whether it’s actually the porn use that’s the problem or the masturbation,” said Dr. Sprankle, a professor of clinical psychology at Minnesota State University and the author of “DIY: The Wonderfully Weird History of Science and Masturbation.”
“How would PORNOS feel if her husband wasn’t watching porn and was just masturbating to a fantasy while in the bathroom? Would there still be concerns that he’s dissatisfied in the relationship? Would there still be feelings of insecurity and anger over the thought of him fantasizing about other women?”
Dr. Sprankle noticed that you used “secret/ secretly” a half a dozen times in your question.
“A secret would be you suspecting him masturbating in the locked bathroom, but when confronted, he lies and just says he has IBS,” said Dr. Sprankle. “But PORNOS is aware that her husband masturbates, and he’s admitting
After answering your question, PORNOS, Dr. Sprankle wanted to put one to you.
“PORNOS said that he—her husband—is satisfied with their sex life,” said Dr. Sprankle, “but is she satisfied? Is he meeting her sexual needs? Is she able to masturbate as often as she would like? Is she having sex as often as she would like? Have there been instances in which you tried to initiate sex, but he turned you down because he masturbated earlier that day? That would suggest his masturbation frequency is interfering with PORNOS sexual satisfaction, and that would definitely be a problem. If she communicated this to him, along with her feelings of insecurity and anger, and he continued to lock himself in the bathroom, essentially dismissing her needs and feelings, that would be an even bigger problem.”
But if you’re generally satisfied—if you’re satisfied enough (really, the best any of us can hope for!—and your husband isn’t neglecting you or the kids and he’s making a good-faith effort to
For many years we were open in this way— mostly threesomes or foursomes together, but there were a couple times where I had sex with another woman without him. He also had sex with other women without me. Over time, I began wanting to explore sex with other men, but this has been a hard “no” on his end. He says that’s not what he agreed to, which is true. We have had many discussions about this over the last five years, but I eventually gave up. It’s definitely caused some resentment on my end, and because of what I perceive to be an unfair dynamic, I closed our relationship completely a few years ago. It wasn’t out of spite; I just no longer felt good seeing him enjoy a freedom born out of MY sexuality and MY needs in the beginning. Our sex life has gone downhill since. I don’t know how to move past this resentment. I feel misunderstood and I feel locked in a cage over this issue. I think we are at an impasse, and I don’t know how to get back to a happy, healthy place together. How do we fix this?—Bi Lady And Annoyingly Het Spouse
You have two shit options here, BLAAHS: you can live with a deeply frustrating status quo—no fucking other people and no desire to fuck each other—or you can issue an explosive ultimatum. And while it’s tempting to say, “What do you have to lose?” (since your sex life is a
Also only fair: if your spouse can pursue 100% of the people they’re into… you should be able to pursue 100% of the people you’re into. Still, when your husband says, “This isn’t what I signed up for,” he’s not lying, BLAAHS, which, also to your credit, you’re able to acknowledge. You agreed to a “one-penis policy” back when you weren’t interested in other penises, BLAAHS, but that’s changed—you’ve changed—and that change has already changed your marriage. You went from seeing each other as the reason you could (you could have a loving commitment and crazy sexual adventures) to seeing each other as the reason you can’t (you can’t sleep with other men; he can’t sleep with other women). When he refused to grant you complete freedom you longed for, BLAAHS, you took back the complete freedom he’d always enjoyed. So, you didn’t go from an open relationship to a closed one, you went from an open relationship to a hostage situation… and hostage situations aren’t sexy.
Getting your marriage back to a happy, healthy, and horny place is gonna involve risk. (I’m supposed to pay lip service to compromise here, but there’s no compromise position between “you’re allowed to fuck other men” and “you’re not allowed to fuck other men.”) Maybe a hostage negotiator could help you hammer out a truce— sorry, maybe a couples counselor could help you navigate these issues —but a serious conflict is unavoidable. If divorce (as opposed to sexlessness) is your worst-case scenario, BLAAHS, you may have to learn to live in that cage for a while. Got problems? Yes, you do! Email your question for the column to mailbox@savage.love! Or record your question for the Savage Lovecast at savage.love/askdan! Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love.
Notice of Public Sale Notice is hereby given that the undersigned will sell, to satisfy lien of the owner, at public sale by competitive bidding on www.storagetreasures.com. ending on June 13, 2025 at 10:00 am for units located at Compass Self Storage 1685 Hwy 17 N Eagle Lake Florida 33839 . Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at time of sale. All Goods are sold as is and must be removed at the time of purchase. Compass Self Storage reserves the right to refuse any bid. Sale is subject to adjournment. The personal goods stored therein by the following may include, but are not limited to general household, furniture, boxes, clothes and appliances, unless otherwise noted. Unit 1048 Kevin Johnson, Unit 3025 Michele Mann, Unit D310 Charles Greene. Run dates 5/29/25 and 6/5/25.
NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE Pursuant to Section 715.109, notice is hereby given that the following property will be offered for public sale and will sell at public outcry to the highest and best bidder for cash: a 1971 SHEB mobile home, VIN 126422023T and the contents therein, if any abandoned by Irene Kessler on Friday, June 20, 2025 at 9:30 a.m. at 1019 Fountainview South, Lakeland, FL 33809. ICARD, MERRILL, CULLIS, TIMM, FUREN & GINSBURG, P.A. Alyssa M. Nohren FL Bar No. 352410 2033 Main Street Suite 600 Sarasota, Florida 34237 Telephone: (941) 366-8100 Facsimile: (941) 3666384 anohren@icardmerrill.com smenasco@icardmerrill.com Attorney for Fountainview Estates, LLC
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