CONTRIBUTORS Josh Bradley, Paul Catala, Maroon Stranger
PHOTOGRAPHERS Caesar Carbajal, Nick Cardello, Dave Decker
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THE COVER: Photos by Selina Román. Design by David Loyola.
October 4 • 10:30-1:30pm
Free Pumpkin Patch + Fall Market at Centro Ybor
Free Pumpkins for the first 50 attendees!
@centro_ybor
You’re the best
Photos by Nick Cardello and Caesar Carbajal
Nearly every damn morning, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay readers roll out of bed and do their absolute best to have an excellent day. On one night of the year, they stay up late to celebrate all the wonderful people, businesses, artists and special moments that made the last 12 months special. That’s Best of the Bay awards night when your local 36-year-old alt-weekly shares the results of the readers poll and a collection of critics picks. Last Wednesday night at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa, a very sold-out Hard Rock Event Center welcomed winners, finalists, and their friends for the annual throwdown. The effort that you all make to create the community you want to live in is not lost on us. Thanks for all your hard work and kindness.—Ray Roa
do this
Tampa Bay's best things to do from October 02 - 08
Grave situation
The headstones at Tampa’s Memorial Park Cemetery include a who’s who of the city’s Black History. Richard Doby, one of the city’s original developers, is there along with George Middleton, Zulema Cusseaux of Faith, Hope and Charity, Rev. Mansfield Dillard and others. East Tampa community leader, Norene Copeland Miller, who died at age 70 last year, is also at Memorial Park—and her memory is the motivation for a cemetery and gravestone cleanup. Supplies will be provided, and closed-toe shows are required.
Cemetery clean up: Saturday, Oct. 4. 9 a.m. No cover. Memorial Park Cemetery, 2524 E Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Tampa. tampa.gov/cemeterycleanup—Ray Roa
Drawing lines
Last week, the League of Women Voters St. Petersburg branch was among a group of Florida voters that urged the Pinellas County legislative delegation to oppose an effort led by Gov. Ron DeSantis to pursue a middecade congressional redistricting plan designed to keep the U.S. House in Republican control in 2026. “Floridians have clearly said that they don’t want partisan gerrymandering,” Amy Weintraub, chair of the organization said. Join her and Common Cause Florida Executive Director Amy Keith to learn more about the effort while drowning your sorrows a bit. “Come ready to learn and take action immediately,” the League added.
Day of Action, Stop Mid-Decade Redistricting: Saturday, Oct. 4. Noon-2 p.m. No cover, registration required. 3 Daughters Brewing, 2100 2nd Ave. S, St. Petersburg. @LWVSPA on Facebook—Ray Roa
Hey Joe
For a few years, the work of Joe Frontel regularly graced the cover of Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. Now the St. Petersburg artist is showing off what he’s been working on in his free time. His expressive new show, “Pile Drive,” includes screen prints on wood panels, free flowing doodles and graffiti. “They tend to look like piles and I’m the driver,” Frontel told CL. “But it’s something meditative I’ve done for the last four or five years. It’s more hands-on than my graphic design work as a means to keep up my drawing hand.”
‘Pile Drive’ Art show by Joe Frontel: Friday, Oct. 3. 8 p.m. No cover. The Bends, 919 1st Ave. N, St. Petersburg. @notjoefrontel on Instagram—Ray Roa
JOE FRONTEL
Showgirl time
Tampa is already home to an entire college class dedicated to Taylor Swift, and independent movie houses are singing the pop star’s praises now, too. SunRay Cinema already hosts the occasional concert on its lobby stage, but hands the reins over to Swift this weekend as the 35-year-old releases her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl. The multi-plex will screen a nearly 90-minute film that includes the world premiere of the music video, “The Fate of Ophelia,” plus behind the scenes footage from its creation, new lyrics videos and Swift’s reflections on the album. Sun-Ray isn’t the only indie movie house hosting release parties for Swift either. Tampa Theatre hosts two screenings in its Taylor Screening Room. Visit this post on cltampa.com/arts for links to details.
Taylor Swift ‘The Official Release Party of a Showgirl’: Friday-Sunday, Oct. 3-5. $12-$14. Tampa Theatre & Sun-Ray Cinema—Ray Roa
Make your case
Two hours is a long time to talk about local politics, especially in the context of a special city council election that’s essentially been happening since the untimely death of Tampa City Councilwoman Gwen Henderson last June. Candidates Naya Young and Thomas Scott (pictured) have reached the runoff stage, and Tampa Heights Civic Association has tapped a trio of informed, engaged and entertaining hosts—Florida Phoenix reporter Mitch Perry, United Way Suncoast’s Kari Goetz, and Tampa Bay Developer podcast host Garrett Greco—for a forum that promises to be “part talk show, part conversation, and a little late-night style fun.” And yes, there’s a Zoom link if you can’t make it in person.
District 5 City Council Runoff Candidate Forum: Next Thursday, Oct. 9. 6 p.m. No cover. Tampa Heights Junior Civic Association, 2005 N Lamar Ave., Tampa. @TampaHeightsCivicAssoc on Facebook—Ray Roa
Mema-versary
It’s not easy owning a restaurant these days, but Mema’s has made it an entire year after its much-anticipated return to Ybor City. The Alaskan taco spot was a staple in the district for 13 years and famous for tacos, which saw fillings like gator, shrimp and beef cooked in the shell, resulting in a crispy taco topped with shreds of cold iceberg lettuce and sharp cheddar cheese all served in a sorely-missed translucent wax paper wrapping. To celebrate, the concept— which just won a Best of the Bay award for “Best Drunk Food At 1 P.M. In The Afternoon”—offers half price on the tacos all day Friday and Saturday.
First anniversary celebration: Friday-Saturday, Oct. 3-4. 11 a.m.10 p.m. daily. No cover. Mema’s Alaskan Tacos, 1903 N 19th St., Ybor City. memasalaskantacos.com—Ray Roa
SALSA AND BACHATA ENTHUSIASTS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD FOUR DAYS OF ELECTRIFYING PERFORMANCES
INSPIRING WORKSHOPS
ENDLESS OPPORTUNITIES TO DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY
Dr. Lindsey was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida where she graduated from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg with her degree in Biology as part of the Honors Program. She earned her Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham before returning to the Tampa Bay Area to continue practicing cosmetic and general dentistry. Her goal is to provide a safe and honest environment where together she can help patients achieve a healthy smile that they are proud of. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her family, reading, and trying new restaurants. She is married to her high school sweetheart and together they share a beautiful daughter and two dogs.
Dr. Lindsey Crnalic
“It’s not the first time Pride has shut down events and blamed DeSantis.”
Out, not about Tampa Pride on pause for 2026, and more local news.
By Selene San Felice
Tampa Pride celebrated its 11th LGTBQ+ diversity parade in Ybor City this year. The group won’t celebrate a 12th—at least not in 2026. The organization announced a one-year hiatus of events this month, along with news that Tampa Pride would also not renew the contract of its founder, Carrie West.
Tampa Pride’s board blamed politics. The social media post, formatted as a letter from the board dated Aug. 1, cited “the current political and economic climate, including challenges with corporate sponsorships, reductions in county, state and federal grant funding, and the discontinuation of DEI programs under Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.”
the time, several board members were ousted or quit due to issues with West.
Tampa Pride’s board consisted of West as president, Derek Durum as vice president and Howard Grater as treasurer, as of an April Sunbiz filing. They have not yet responded to Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s request for comment.
Last year, West was paid $115,600 of Tampa Pride’s reported $457,985 budget, according to a December tax filing.
LOCAL NEWS
It’s not the first time Pride has shut down events and blamed DeSantis. Shortly after West’s husband, Mark Bias, was ousted from leadership in 2022 over comments about the trans community, the nonprofit announced the cancellation of Pride on the River. West told media outlets that DeSantis’ anti-drag laws were to blame, but former board members said there was simply no manpower to pull off an event. At
Bias, who was supposed to be off the board in 2022, was paid $6,200 as a key employee.
West recently ran in the special election for Tampa City Council’s District 5 seat, and did not make the runoff after earning just under 2% of the vote.
It’s unclear if another organization or entity will step up to host a Pride event in Tampa this spring.
As the board alluded to in its letter, local arts and DEI programs are being defunded. Nonprofit Creative Pinellas was just defunded, and community radio station WMNF Tampa was forced to hold an emergency fundraiser after cuts
at the state and federal level. Over Labor Day weekend, both Tampa and St. Petersburg officials complied with FDOT orders to take down street murals, including rainbow crosswalks.
A City of Tampa spokesperson didn’t immediately respond for comment.
In Tampa, city councilman Alan Clendenin pushes back hard against proposal to eliminate property taxes
Local government officials throughout Florida were among the most interested viewers tuning into the Florida Channel last week when the House Select Committee on Property Taxes convened for the first time in months in Tallahassee.
Some of those concerns—and excitement— about the still-unwritten plan promoted to substantially reduce or eliminate property taxes for Florida homeowners was discussed at the Tampa Tiger Bay meeting on Friday.
The challenge for local public officials debating a likely constitutional amendment to that effect on next year’s ballot in Florida is that no one knows exactly what the proposal will call for.
All options on the table
“Do you think the constitutional amendment will give the either/or, so if we do away with property taxes for homesteaded properties that at the same time we’ll have a choice to make on how that happens?” Hillsborough
County Property Appraiser Bob Henriquez asked state Rep. Berny Jacques (R-Seminole). “Or do you think the complete proposal includes some form of backfill?”
“It’s too early to say one way or another,” Jacques responded. “All options are on the table.” Jacques went on to say that not every local government was the same in Florida in terms of how reliant they are on property taxes to fund essential services. He mentioned that Largo—a city he represents—brought in $239 million in revenues last fiscal year, with only $39 million from ad valorem property taxes. And only 23% of that revenue was from homestead properties.
“I think that they can do just fine, especially when they look under the hood and make key priorities about what’s necessary and what’s not.”
However, some municipalities and counties in Florida rely heavily on property taxes to run substantial parts of their local governments.
“I look under the hood in the city of Tampa, our crime’s the lowest it’s been in decades,” said Tampa City Councilman Alan Clendenin. “This is not accidental, because we’ve had the investment in crime prevention in our police and our first responders.”
According to Tampa Mayor Jane Castor’s proposed fiscal year 2026 budget, every dollar of Tampa’s $380 million in property tax revenue is allocated to police and fire services. continued on page 27
HEADED WEST: Tampa Pride’s announcement said it was parting ways with co-founder Carrie West.
YOUR FIRST RESPONSE
PUSHING BACK: Tampa City Councilman Alan Clendenin has major issues with eliminating property taxes.
continued from page 25
Hillsborough County Commissioner Josh Wostal is a supporter of providing tax relief to owners of homesteaded properties in Florida. He floated his own proposal to get rid of all property taxes in the county and make up the loss of revenue by raising the sales tax in the county by 3.5%. He said the part of that could be subsidized by visitors.
“About 20-30% of people who [pay sales taxes] don’t even live here. That’s free money,” he said. “That’s relief for the fixed-income senior citizens and low-income citizens that own property that yes, while the more affluent people feel the sting of property taxes the most, the poor people and mixed-income citizens feel the burden the most because it’s ever increasing and inescapable. You can choose not to pay a sales tax. You cannot choose not to pay a property tax. “
Tallahassee grab to seize power so that your local officials are no longer accountable to the citizens.”
“This idea that this is kind of a grab from the state—nothing could be further from the truth. If anything, it’s empowering to people of the state,” said Jacques, referring to the fact that it will be the voters who decide.
“If that’s a power grab, then I guess I don’t know the definition of that, because you’re giving the people the choice,” he added.
LOCAL NEWS
Meanwhile, Rep. Ryan Chamberlin, R-Belleview, like Jacques is a member of the House committee assigned to figure out what the proposed amendment on property taxes will look like, proposed his own “Freedom 1,2,3” proposal to reporters earlier this week.
However, state legislators working on the proposal say that a complete elimination of property taxes—while espoused on the campaign trail by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia—is not on the table.
“We can certainly talk about it,” Rep. Toby Overdorf, R-Palm City, co-chair of the select committee on property tax, told Spectrum News this week. “However, the direction’s that been given to me at this point in time is that the total elimination of property tax is not something that we would likely be putting forward in a constitutional amendment.”
‘A Tallahassee grab’?
No one on the panel was more critical of the proposal to reduce property taxes than Clendenin, a longtime Florida member of the Democratic National Committee. He said that it was absolutely critical that it fail at the ballot next year “because it will so adversely impact our first responders and the security and safety of our community and our state.”
But he received serious pushback by Jacques, who rejected Clendenin’s assertion that it was “a
“There is a political risk for me or anyone else who rolls out an actual plan, because immediately, there’s going to be those who organize opposition,” Chamberlin said. “It’s easy to talk about doing something about property taxes without ever getting specific about doing anything about it. But I’m convinced that we must have a starting point.”
Although local officials are critical of the idea, Gov. DeSantis and CFO Ingoglia continue to campaign around the state for the proposal. In Ingoglia’s case, his DOGE auditing team has been scrutinizing spending by some of the state’s biggest cities and counties and calling them out for what he alleges is unnecessary spending.
This week alone, Ingoglia travelled to Jacksonville and Orange County, where he accused both of those local governments of “wasting” $200 million and $190 million, respectively (local officials disagreed). The CFO said it’s important to call those local officials out now, so that they don’t start complaining next year that a reduction in property taxes will force cuts that could devastate public safety and other essential services.
The House Select Committee on Property Taxes met last Monday and Tuesday at the Capitol.—Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix
Dam plan
Courtney Campbell Causeway expansion intrigues environmentalists.
By Vicki Parsons/Bay Soundings
As the Florida Department of Transportation
(FDOT) considers expanding the Courtney Campbell Causeway, environmental leaders are calling for a design that would increase tidal circulation in Old Tampa Bay. Long recognized as Tampa Bay’s “problem child,” Old Tampa Bay has less seagrass than ever before.
“The causeways restrict tidal flow allowing nutrients from a highly urbanized watershed to reduce water quality and stymie seagrass recovery in Old Tampa Bay,” said Ed Sherwood, executive director of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program.
our network,” said Justin Tramble, executive director of Tampa Bay Waterkeeper. “They understand that the causeway is essentially a dam that blocks normal flushing. We all appreciate FDOT’s desire to make the causeway safer and more efficient, and we hope that any modification can also improve a part of the bay that isn’t doing very well.”
ENVIRONMENT
“We’re seeing toxic algal blooms nearly every summer, along with seagrass losses far exceeding any other bay segment. As plans are drawn for a new causeway, it presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve tidal circulation and support overall restoration activities in this bay segment.”
That opportunity has broad backing from local governments as well as grassroots support. “We’re seeing a lot of engagement from
Local evidence demonstrates that interventions to improve circulation have positive impacts on water quality. To mitigate for additional stormwater created when the Howard Frankland Bridge was expanded, a 239-foot bridge was built in 2018 to replace a segment of the eastern Courtney Campbell Causeway. With increased flow came improved water quality that would allow seagrasses to return to approximately 300 acres on the northeastern side of the causeway.
Concentrations of algae that block sunlight from reaching the bay bottom, where seagrasses need it to grow, declined by 82%.
FDOT earned environmental awards from the
Federal Highway Administration, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council for the project.
FDOT began studying ways to increase capacity and improve the causeway’s ability to withstand hurricane-force winds and waves earlier this year. Multiple alternatives are being considered, including adding two new lanes, further hardening the causeways, replacing parts of the causeway with culverts or bridges like the 2018 structure, or doing nothing.
Balancing the cost/ benefit for the alternatives will be an important consideration, said Kirk Bogen, environmental engineer for District 7, which covers Tampa Bay. “Structures like bridges are typically more expensive than causeways, but we do consider water quality improvements as part of the cost/benefit equation.”
T. Davis, the 9.5-mile causeway was constructed in phases as Davis’s company had time available to work on it. When completed in 1934, it was the longest over-water fill across an open body of water in the US, while two bridges that allow some tidal flow in and out of upper Old Tampa Bay make up less than a mile of the span.
“They understand that the causeway is essentially a dam that blocks normal flushing.”
Dredge-and-fill projects like the Courtney Campbell would be nearly impossible to build today as their impact on nearby ecosystems became clear. “You can see the difference in water quality north and south of the causeway, and the local scientific community agrees that these conditions could be significantly improved if water circulation allowed for the natural ebb and flow of tidal waters in the more tidally restricted western sections of Old Tampa Bay,” Sherwood said.
At this point, FDOT is working from a “blank slate,” Bogen said. Public outreach will continue through the summer of 2026 with a public hearing on those plans set for the fall of 2026. Final plans should be completed by the spring of 2027.
Originally conceived in the 1920s by the owner of a local dredging company named Ben
Waterkeeper Tramble concurs. “Our community is coming together to support this effort. It’s a chance for FDOT to check many boxes –safety, efficiency and a positive environmental impact. “We believe that every investment in infrastructure should help the environment, and this is an opportunity for a gigantic win.” This post first appeared at Bay Soundings.
Side hustle
Tampa
City
Councilman Luis Viera pens column on why he loves being Latino.
By Luis Viera
Ihave always been proud to be Latino. With us being in the midst of Hispanic Heritage Month, I wanted to write a preface to this month with my Top 10 reasons why I love the Latino character.
First, family means everything to Latinos. We call our parents every day—anything else is unacceptable. We live near and show up for family. When one of us is at the hospital, we all go: We sit in the lobby, stare and wait. Children are gifts from God to be overwhelmed with affection; parents are treasures to be revered; and deceased abuelos and abuelas who we have loving memories of reside in our sentimental hearts. When we talk to one another about a beloved departed family member, there is reverence, longing and gentle spirituality assumed.
Second, we spiritually internalize family journeys. The journey of Venezuelan, Cuban or Nicaraguan refugees fleeing Communism is sacred. The Mexican-American or ColombianAmerican seeking opportunity—or Puerto Rican family with pride in photographs of Abuelo in the Borinqueneer 65th regiment in Korea—is a blessing.
Third, we are patriotic. My friend Jose Valiente celebrates two birthdays: the day he was born and the day his family came to the United States from Communist Cuba. This is a patriotism of the heart, not always language. My late maternal Grandfather, Modesto “Api” Suarez came here at age 40 as a Cuban refugee and never mastered English. Api taught me more about patriotism and American culture in Spanish than anyone did in English. Api was my hero as a kid and is my hero today. When you have to dial 1 for English, remember Api.
Fourth, we are passionate. This is big. Think Andy Garcia glare big. We are passionate about worldviews, romance and conversations. Latino passion is urgency, not anger. Like a biblical Prophet with a Divine edict he must reveal, Latino passion has urgency. It is an urgency to share what is in our heart. Love for a woman can be urgent (our love letters are long and emotional). We are not detached or emotionless. We find it hard to hold sentiments in—we do not keep stuff in the basement.
Fifth, we hug and physically embrace. A sterile handshake is an insult to the affection we have for a friend or a bond shared.
Sixth, we have faith in God. The Latino journey includes the refugee, the demonized migrant and the farm laborer. Most are led in this journey by Jesus Christ (not all—there are proud Jewbans, for example). Our Jesus
is with los balseros Cubans on a raft; He was with abuela when she was mocked as a teenager for her broken English; He is with the Spanish Harlem garment worker; He is with the Latina housekeeper whose boss never paid into Social Security; and He was with Dolores Huerta. And for those who do not believe in God, God believes in us and stands ready to welcome us back into the Latino God fold.
Seventh, we have romantic, intense and passionate music. There is the one-two punch soundtrack of my youth, Julio Iglesias and Hansel y Raul. Think Chavela Vargas, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Orquesta Aragon, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Ernesto Lecuona and Astrud Gilberto. Listen to Eydie Gorme and Los Panchos sing “Nosotros”—if there is a better song, I do not want to know about it.
Eighth, we helped build Tampa and make Tampa awesome. Watch television’s most unintentionally entertaining variety show, Tampa
City Council, and you will see the kind and sentimental stylings of Latino Guido Maniscalco and the Cuban macho man only occasionally tamed by age, Charlie Miranda. Tampa Latino names and institutions include Lt. Baldomero Lopez, Judge Virginia Covington, Tony Garcia Jr., Francisco Rodriguez, La Gaceta, Marti-Maceo, the Gonzmart family, Governor Bob Martinez, Judge Dennis Alvarez, Col. Orlando Rodriguez, Julianne Holt, Roberto Pizano and Tampa’s Mr. Latino and patron saint of Latino lawyers, Judge EJ Salcines. And there are the Latino “hands that built Tampa” whose names are not collectively acknowledged, but who live in the hearts of Tampeno families. The Tampa Latino bus driver or teacher’s aide who is now an aging parent and raised a family is a giant in their adult son or daughter’s life and memory.
hard as a lawyer and public servant—I work like an immigrant. I do this because nothing is more Latino than to work hard. Anyone who says otherwise can go to hell.
And 10th, our men cry. Some say crying is a sign of weakness. Tearing up can be as masculine as arm wrestling to Latino men. Crying can be a sign of principle, love and devotion. I tear up at least once a week—and I would have it no other way.
I cried writing this column.
“Do not let the bigots fool you: Latinos come here to work.”
Ninth, we work hard. Do not let the bigots fool you: Latinos come here to work. My paternal grandfather, Juan Viera, saw his business—built by his once impoverished hands—taken by Fidel Castro. He would come to the United States with his family and worked harder. So did his sons. I work
Be proud of your Latino gifts. Family gatherings should be loud and your heart revealed. Passion is no vice and rejecting your blood is no virtue. West Tampa, Town & Country and Wimauma got it going on. On matters of the heart, never compromise your Latino spirit to become an Inanimate Carbon Rod. Love that spirit—get teary eyed over it and embrace how God made you.
Special thanks to my sentimental Latino son, Luis Viera II, who helped me create this list.
Readers and community members are always welcome to send letters to the editors Please let us know if we may consider your submission for publication.
ROAD WARRIOR: Viera talks to workers outside 10 Roads Express in Tampa, Florida on Feb. 28, 2025.
Saturday, October 4, 2025 • 10:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Centro Ybor Fall Fest Pumpkin Patch @ Florida Museum of Photographic Arts 1600 East 8th Avenue
Free to the public bit.ly/YborFallFest
Sunday, October 5, 2025 • 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Street Photography Class @ Florida Museum of Photographic Arts
Veteran’s in Business Happy Hour @ Saddlebags Ybor
2234 East 7th Avenue
Free to the public bit.ly/VeteransInBusinessYbor
Thursday, October 9, 2025 • 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Sip, Bloom & Celebrate Fall @ Ybor City Museum State Park
1818 East 9th Avenue
Tickets - $49.87 bit.ly/SipBloomYbor
Saturday, October 11, 2025 • 6:00 PM - 12:00 AM
Art & B (R&B Art Show) @ 1920 Ybor 1920 East 7th Avenue
Tickets start at $24.84 /bit.ly/ArtRnBYbor
Sunday, October 12, 2025 • 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Tampa Glass Bottle Painting - Halloween Edition @ Ybor City Society Wine Bar
1600 East 7th Avenue
Tickets from $40.98 bit.ly/GlassBottleHalloween
Thursday, October 16, 2025 • 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Château Cantenac Brown Masterclass Bordeaux Dinner @ Chateau Cellars Ybor
2009 N. 22nd St.
Tickets - $145.37 bit.ly/BordeauxYbor
Friday, October 17, 2025 • Doors at 6:30 PM, Show at 7:30 PM Fangsgiving VIII @ Crowbar
1812 N 17th St
Day 1 Pass - $17.67, 2-Day Pass - $22.85 crowbarybor.com/calendar/#/events
Saturday, October 18, 2025 • 6:45 PM - 9:00 PM
Ybor Ghost Tour with Tampa Bay Tours x Hotel
Haya @ Hotel Haya 1412 East 7th Avenue
Tickets - $36.39 bit.ly/GhostToursYbor
Sunday, September 19, 2025, 11:00 AM
Chicken Yoga with Yoga Loft @ Hotel Haya 1412 East 7th Avenue, Tampa
Tickets - $15.74
bit.ly/GhostToursYbor
Chateau Cellars - RUNNER UP 2009 N 22nd Street
Where to Live:
Casa Ybor • casaybor.com
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.
La Union • bit.ly/LaUnionYbor
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.
Miles at Ybor • milesatybor.com
Step into the pulse of Tampa’s most vibrant neighborhood at Miles at Ybor, where modern luxury apartments in Tampa blend seamlessly with the rich cultural tapestry of historic Ybor City. These aren’t just furnished apartments in Ybor City – they’re your gateway to an elevated urban lifestyle that celebrates both heritage and innovation.
Centro Ybor 1600 E 8th Ave
In the heart of Ybor City, where the echoes of cigar rollers and jazz musicians still hum through the brick-lined streets, Centro Ybor is where Tampa’s past meets its future. centroybor.com
Game Time 1600 E. 8th Avenue Tampa
With over 100 interactive games, full-service dining, and over 60 HDTVs in our sports bar, everyone can have a blast. gametimeplayers.com/home-tampa Centennial Park 1800 E Ave A Saturday morning Farmers Market is held at this 2.5acre park in historic Ybor City. Picnic tables and public restrooms are available. yborcityonline.com
JOIN US FOR DUNEDIN ’ S FIRST ANNUAL BOUCHERIE, A LOUISIANA TRADITION OF: FOOD - FUN DRINK - MUSIC & COMMUNITY
BENEFITTING METROPOLITAN MINISTRIES AND SHOWCASING CHEF CLAYTON PARRETT ’ S LOUISIANA ROOTS
RESTAURANTS RECIPES DINING GUIDES
Float on
Madeira Beach’s famed Fruit Float opens land-based cafe, and more food news.
By Emily McLaughlin
Hannah Nygren didn’t set out to be a fruitslinging kingpin when she started with a kayak and a hand-drawn sign in 2023. But now, she’s the captain of a Fruit Float fleet and owner of a recently opened brick-and-mortar cafe.
Her four Fruit Float boats sell fresh-cut fruit sourced from Lily Jo’s Produce and Florida coconut waters to Pinellas County boaters and beachgoers.
The Fruit Float Cafe, which opened Sept. 19 at 13050 Gulf Blvd. in Madeira Beach, builds on that with smoothies, açaí bowls, fresh fruit, toasts, and coffee.
“It’s really a joy to provide something fun, fresh, and unique to our community,” Nygren told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.
brought support through the struggles. Precision Marine in Largo and Suzuki worked together to gift Fruit Floats Boats two new motors. Florida Tiki Tours and Hubbard’s Marina embraced Nygren and her business.
“I think the common negative perception that we have about having a women-owned, operated, marine business is that there would be maybe some level of cattiness, or, you know, this, like negative perception that we wouldn’t be capable of doing these tasks on our own,” Nygren said.
OPENINGS
Fruit Float is one of the only women-led marine businesses in Pinellas County. The 12 women who work for Nygren work both on the boats and at the new cafe, which now allows them to work in the off-season.
The cafe’s grand opening “blew my expectations out of the water,” Nygren said. “It was really, really humbling and gratifying to see how many people support what we’re doing.”
The turnout reminded her of the official Fruit Float’s first outing in the spring of 2024. A massive line of customers waited at Madeira Beach for two hours, and the boat sold out.
“That’s when I realized that it was going to be a really successful beach amenity,” Nygren said.
With Nygren’s success, there came challenges. During her first year of business, Hurricane Helene devastated Pinellas’ shoreline community, including both Nygren’s business and home.
“Obviously, nobody was on the beach or at the sand bars for the following months after Helene, and that was definitely a difficult obstacle to overcome,” Nygren said.
“But as a lifelong Pinellas County resident, I don’t feel scared of hurricanes, and I feel excited about building a business in our community, despite the risk of natural disaster. If anything, Hurricane Helene made our business stronger.”
But the aftermath of Hurricane Helene
“But I will tell you that working with women has been such a pleasure. All of us get along really well. We empower and uplift each other. It has been an incredible experience to watch these young women gain confidence and grow into themselves with the support of such a unique job.”
The Fruit Float Cafe is open 8 a.m.-6 p.m. daily. For more information, follow @fruit.float and @fruitfloatcafe on Instagram and Facebook.
Lucky Tigre gets AC and more room for growth in Old West Tampa
Lucky Tigre has leveled up from a little food truck to a new brick-and-mortar space in Old West Tampa. The Filipino-American shop opened Sept. 3 at 1901 N Howard Ave., just a block from where its old food truck used to be.
The indoor seating and air conditioning mark a big shift from the trailer, picnic tables, and tent that served as its former base. “Believe it or not, people really like AC in Florida,” chef and owner Julie Sainte Michelle Feliciano, 27, said over the phone with Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.
Though without it, they still liked Lucky Tigre. Feliciano recalled customers showing up for dumplings and bao even in hurricanes and record heat. “People still came out. But, at the end of the day, even if your food is amazing, and the things that you do are really great, it’s really freaking hot out here, and with so many other options in Tampa that do have an indoor space, you know, that’s kind of something hard for us to navigate,” Feliciano added.
In its first few weeks indoors, Feliciano said its customer base is now even more dedicated. “We’re way busier than we were when we were
in the trailer, that’s for sure,” Feliciano said. Originally, Feliciano and her husband, Seanissey Loughlin, planned to move inside the building next to the food truck at 1737 N Albany Ave., but pivoted when a more accessible location became available. For fans, the new spot means all of the Lucky Tigre classics will stay on the menu. But the new space now allows for expansion of the menu in the future, including breakfast options (longsilog, please).
Lucky Tigre first gained attraction through Felciano’s pandemic pop-up, Good Fortune Baby, and later as a sari-sari counter on South Howard Ave. Classics—including coconut-ginger braised greens, spicy tocino pork dumplings with tangy garlic and soy dipping sauces, and chicken adobo bao buns—will stay on the menu. Fans can look forward to the menu’s future expansion, including breakfast options (you can never have too much longsilog).
With the help of friends and family, the restaurant was up and running within three weeks, working late into the night after running the food truck all day. “The day we closed the trailer, I clocked in at 9 a.m. and I clocked out at 2 p.m. the next day,” Feliciano said.
She and Loughlin leaned heavily on their friends and family for help during the transition. With their three kids, they were ready to help whenever they could. Feliciano is hoping the sales bump will fund work on Lucky Tigre’s outdoor patios and some parts of the dining room.
“We got kids and we’re a small business,” Feliciano said. “Times are tough, and restaurants are really freaking hard as it is once you get open.” But she’s got no regrets. “AC fixes everything,” Feliciano said.
Lucky Tigre’s new location at 1901 N Howard Ave. is now open from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. WednesdayFriday, 11 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Saturday, and noon-7:30 p.m. Sunday. For more information, check out theluckytigre.com and @theluckytigre on Instagram.
Ocean Ink Raw Bar opens in Ybor City
Two years after announcing plans to open in Ybor City, Ocean Ink Raw Bar has finally done it. The Seventh Avenue restaurant opened on Sept. 10, according to a press release, which added that its owner Ken Emery—who opened Barterhouse just a block away in the historic district—hopes to bring Charleston seafood tradition to Ybor City while contributing to the growing Tampa culinary culture. Located at 1632 E 7th Ave. at a former outdoor hookah lounge, the corner restaurant features a handful of tables, a marble topped bar, and a courtyard that mixes indoor and outdoor dining. Chef Burtis Brown leads the kitchen with a menu that showcases Key West pink shrimp, cold water lobster, signature seafood towers, and oysters from all over the U.S. Hours of operation at Ocean Ink Raw Bar in Ybor City are from 5 p.m.-11 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. Happy hour happens 5 p.m.-7 p.m. daily featuring $1.25 oysters, drink specials and shareables. is coming soon.
LUBBER LIFE: Hannah Nygren’s Fruit Float concept now has a mailbox.
Loafing Tampa Bay. “I could appreciate other fat bodies. I just couldn’t … I wasn’t giving myself the same grace as them. And so that realization made me question myself, like, ‘OK, why do you feel this way?’”
standards of thinness in situations like public transportation or corporate marketing—despite the fact that most Americans aren’t represented in those standards.
MOVIES THEATER ART CULTURE
Taking space
Selina Román reimagines the body in SMA photo exhibit.
By Sophia Lowrie and Selene San Felice
Selina Román doesn’t fit in the frame of her self portraits. And she’s not trying to.
In a new installation, “Abstract Corpulence,” the Tampa native and Ringling College photography professor known for delightfully uncomfortable work, turns the lens inward, using her own plus-sized body as both subject and medium.
At the B. Claire Rusen Gallery, the exhibition opened Aug. 31 blends photography, self-portraiture, and installation into a dreamlike exploration of form, vulnerability, and power.
Wearing pastel bodysuits and tights, Román twists and contorts herself into tightly cropped compositions that dissolve the figure into undulating landscapes and sculptural abstractions. Some are standalone images, while others are layered into long, abstract collages.
“This is what I want people to feel: that bigness isn’t a flaw. It’s a presence,” Román explains in a release.
The installation pushes back against conventional beauty narratives while embracing what Román calls the “absolute bigness” of her body.
Sarasota Art Museum senior curator Rangsook Yoon describes the work as “an unapologetic embrace” of size and form, infused with humor, defiance, and critical play with popular culture.
Román, who has long photographed other women in staged portraits, avoided self-portraiture until now. She was inspired by Shoog McDaniel, a Tallahassee photographer whose work often uses natural settings like Florida springs to showcase fellow fat, queer bodies.
“I just felt like ‘Wow, it’s a body similar to mine. I find it beautiful. Why can’t I feel that way about my own body?” Roman told Creative
She started experimenting with self-portraits, but found herself trying to hide her body. It wasn’t until she saw herself through someone else’s lens—a 2019 role in Kalup Linzy’s web series “As Da Art World Might Turn”—that she started to push herself further.
LOCAL ARTS
“I still was a big person, but I didn’t mind that I was this big person in front of the camera,” Roman told CL. “I was becoming OK with it, and then I just started buying props and tights and experimenting in the studio.”
‘Abstract Corpulence’ by Selina Román
Through March 29 at the Sarasota Art Museum 1001 S Tamiami Trl, Sarasota. $20 sarasotaartmuseum.org
Once she was comfortable getting into the frame, she pushed herself to go beyond it through composite collages that stretch across SMA’s walls.
“I was thinking about those kinds of things where there is spillage, or where our bodies extend,” Roman told CL. “And so I wanted to play with that idea even more in the museum. That’s why the work is unframed, for example, and they start to become layered. It’s because I wanted to keep going...keep spilling over into the next image.”
It was important for her to use that “absolute bigness” to challenge how fat people are often shamed or punished for not fitting the
Around 74% of U.S. adults are considered “overweight” or “obese,” per the National Library of Medicine. The average woman is a size 16-18 or XL-XXL, according to the International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education. “It’s just tiring and sad to see fat people be demonized,” Roman told CL. “As a fat person, often I would think, well, I’ll do that when I lose X amount of weight, or, like, these goals that were dependent on me losing weight. I started to think, ‘You’re just going to the beach.’ Like, I could just go to the beach now and not wait until I meet this certain criteria.”
The result is both deeply personal and communal, an intimate and expansive experience that invites viewers to consider their own relationship to size, presence, and beauty. And Roman isn’t done. She wants to continue the project with more poses and possibly some video.
“It’s definitely not over,” she added. “And I’ll still get in front of the camera. There’s some more things I want to explore.”
“Abstract Corpulence” runs through March 29 at the Sarasota Art Museum. The exhibit is included in the museum’s $20 admission. Students under 17, veterans, and Ringling College Students get in free.
Stamp of approval
Tampa Bay Arts Passport builds community through yard signs and in-person events.
By Emily McLaughlin
Avery Anderson believes the fight for local arts can start with a yard sign. After starting Tampa Bay Art Passport in May as a “cultural guide to Pinellas County,” Anderson gathered a community of dedicated arts lovers. Now, they’re turning that engagement into action.
This month, Tampa Arts Passport printed “Better Together” yard signs inspired by Pinellas County commissioners’ vote to eliminate county funding for Creative Pinellas. The $1.1 million cut—nearly half of its funds— resulted in the layoffs of about half its staff.
“Creative Pinellas has been such a force for artistic good,” Anderson told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay over the phone last week. “It’s a real blow to the tapestry of this region, but Creative Pinellas is trying to move forward.”
“I wanted something different—smart, human-centered coverage that’s rooted in the community,” Anderson said. “What makes us different is we’re not chasing clicks or trying to ‘sell’ culture; we’re building a community around it.”
They’re the singular force behind Tampa Bay Art Passport, running everything from weekly stories and social media to events organizing and initiatives like the local yard signs.
LOCAL ARTS
Arts Passport Book Club: ‘Lies In Bone’ Sunday, Oct. 5. 11 a.m.-1 p.m. No cover freeFall Theatre, 6099 Central Ave. St. Petersburg tbartspassport.com
Anderson’s “I support the Arts in Tampa Bay” yard signs, which feature Leo Gomez’s “Better Together” mural, are available for a $10-$20 donation. Proceeds go directly to Creative Pinellas.
They’re available online or at the next series of Tampa Bay Arts Passport events, which kick off Sunday, Oct. 5, with freeFall Theatre’s monthly book club.
A new way to discover the arts
Tampa Bay Art Passport offers readers a free newsletter. A paid option ($10 per month) unlocks discounts to local museums, theater shows, and events, as well as free books at monthly book clubs. Three months in, Tampa Bay Arts Passport hit 400 email subscribers, with 10% as paid members, mostly through word of mouth and social media, Anderson said.
Longtime arts reporter, critic and former CL Editor-In-Chief David Warner recently awarded it a Best of the Bay staff pick for “Best New Resource for Arts Coverage.”
After a decade in the media business, Anderson decided to start their own blog to fill a gap in local reporting, including a lack of coverage for lesser-known artists. Anderson was tired of seeing “things to do” roundups without in-depth analysis on how the programming is a part of the area’s larger arts ecosystem.
As a freelance marketing and development consultant, they also understand how hard it is for organization—specifically in performing arts—to connect with audiences.
Through Passport events, Anderson’s subscribers go behind the scenes with backstage tours, first rehearsals, talkbacks, private previews and book clubs tied to local productions. Their goal: make people feel like they are inside the creative process, not just watching from the outside.
“There are so many cultural offerings in Tampa Bay, and it can kind of get a little daunting at times to navigate it all,” Anderson said. “I think we often forget that these artists are our neighbors. They are just people like you and me, and so (I’m) really trying to humanize them and show the stories behind them.”
SHOW ME A SIGN: Proceeds from the ‘Better Together’ campaign go directly to Creative Pinellas.
ON BEHALF OF OUR ENTIRE COMPANY OF ARTISTS, SINGERS, AND MUSICIANS, THANK YOU CREATIVE LOAFING READERS FOR MAKING ST. PETE OPERA YOUR FAVORITE OPERA COMPANY — AGAIN.
Accused, alienated, and alone, the story of one women’s struggle in a small-town community. OCTOBER 17-21 AT THE PALLADIUM.
VISIT OUR WEBSITE OR CALL THE BOX OFFICE (727) 823-2040 FOR TICKETS.
GENERAL DIRECTOR MARK SFORZINI
Carmen 2025
Delightfully disoriented
If you think years of doomscrolling through social media has rotted your brain too much to read a book, you’re wrong. Patricia Lockwood took years of memes and useless internet slang and wrote a book. No, not a cutesy coffee table book. Her 2021 novel, “No One is Talking About This,” is a heartwrenching and hilarious piece of fiction that serves as a love letter and a cure for brainrot. Based on her family’s experience after Lockwood’s niece was diagnosed with a rare and fatal disorder en utero, her protagonist—who’s viral post, “Can a dog be twins” qualified her to give talks on social media culture around the world—must grapple with how to care for fleeting innocence in a broken world.
Saturday, Oct. 4 at Tombolo Books in St. Petersburg. Look below for some of the best book and literary events happening in Tampa Bay. For more (free!) events, check out your local library at hcplc.org/events.
BOOKS
‘Extinction Capital of the World,’ an evening with Mariah Rigg Thursday, Oct. 2. 7 p.m.-8 p.m. RSVP. Tombolo Books, 2153 1st Ave. S, St. Petersburg. tombolobooks.com
‘Will There Ever Be Another You’: An evening with Patricia Lockwood
Her latest novel, “Will There Ever Be Another You,” (released Sept. 23) raises the stakes from brainrot to “brain shredding,” according to its publisher, Penguin. A fictional Patricia must navigate physical and mental illness in a global pandemic (the real Lockwood got COVID when it first hit in 2020, which she wrote about in an essay titled “Insane After Coronavirus?”) while grieving and trying to hold her family together.
And who better to lead a conversation with Lockwood than Orlando-based author Kristen Arnett? Also versed in the art of laugh-til-you-cry/cry-til-youlaugh, the author of bestsellers “Mostly Dead Things” and “With Teeth” released “Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One”—a novel exploring love and grief with lesbian clowns— in March.
Tickets start at $5 for “Will There Ever Be Another You with Patricia Lockwood on
Arts Passport Book Club reads “Lies in Bone” with author Natalie Symons Sunday, Oct. 5. 11 a.m.-noon. RSVP. freeFall Theater, 6099 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. tombolobooks.com
Banned Books Read-In with Bookends Ybor & libro.fm
Sunday, Oct. 5. 4 p.m.-6 p.m. Gasparilla Distillery, 2102 E 4th Ave., Ybor City. @bookendsybor on Instagram
Spooky & Gay: Queer Horror Storytelling Cabaret with Bruce Ryan Costella Monday, Oct. 6. 7 p.m.-9 p.m. $30. Book + Bottle, 17 6th St.N, St. Petersburg. bookandbottlestpete.com
‘Beyond the Blue Horizon,’ book signing & convo with A.L. Jackson Wednesday, Oct. 8. 7:30 p.m.-9 p.m. $15 & up. Steamy Lit, 2832 S MacDill Ave. Suite C, Tampa. steamylitbookstore.com
Poetry at the Dalí w/Romeo Oriogun & Natalie Scenters-Zapico Thursday, Oct. 9. 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. No cover. Dalí Museum, Dalí Blvd., St. Petersburg. tombolobooks.com
‘Cry Havoc’: Jack Carr Live on Stage Saturday, Oct. 11. 2:30 pm. $44. Tampa Theatre, 711 N Franklin St., Tampa. tampatheatre.org
Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, Boy Bitten by a Lizard c. 1597, Oil on canvas, Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell’Arte Roberto Longhi, Florence, Italy
CAT LADY: Patricia Lockwood brings her new book to St. Petersburg on Saturday.
By Selene San Felice and Maroon Stranger
By Ray Roa & Josh Bradley
C
CL Recommends
THU 02
C Rock The Park Tampa: The Beauvilles w/Triangulata/Scars Are Proof of Survival Shawn Kyle has come to a place where he’s at peace with all sides of a career in music that includes his 22-year-old storied rock band The Beauvilles. In fact, in the two decades since the outfit’s inception, Kyle, who books music at Bayboro Brewing Co. and owns St. Pete’s Redwoods Vintage Guitars, has reconnected with drummer and former Beauville’s bandmate Jesse Pullen along with guitarist Ash Dudney whose uncle Jason was a Beauvilles alum. Kyle’s also started kicking around old demos and recordings from the band, and even played a few “revival” shows with whoever’s been in town. “This show will be different,” he told CL, adding that Pullen, keyboardist Jason Dudney, Ash Dudney, and John Barker on bass make up a new Beauville’s quintet. “The world and American culture feels stratified the way it did when the band first formed, during the Bush Jr. years. The band was originally based on an idea of music communicating more than just three chords, or controlled rock and roll chaos, but an overall feeling that translated to an audience on a level that had some sort of catharsis,” Kyle added. “That means it’s time for another show.” Triangulata, a new piano-led jazz-ish instrumental trio featuring Aaron Blakely, Brandon Carroll and Giorgio Castaldo makes its live debut in the opening slot of this nocover show that doubles as the kickoff for the 16th year of Rock the Park Tampa. (Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, Tampa.)
C Molly Tuttle w/Joshua Ray Walker/ Cecilia Castleman Take the journey, because Molly Tuttle is set to finally make her downtown Clearwater debut. The 32-yearold singer-songwriter’s band of three years,
Golden Highway parted ways earlier this year, and she’ll be touring with a brand-new, currently nameless, four-piece repertoire. Tuttle’s banger of a new album So Long Little Miss Sunshine —her first without Golden Highway since 2020’s …But I’d Rather Be With You (stylized in all lowercase)—features not only an early Charli XCX cover, but also contributions from her partner Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show. Tuttle hasn’t done a gig in the area since her incredibly intimate 2022 set at Ybor City’s late, great Attic at Rock Brothers Brewing, which shuttered the following year. (Bilheimer Capitol Theatre, Clearwater)
FRI 03
C 60 Juno w/Mr. Floyd Larry/Blonde Gentlemen/Maily Rock It’s been a long time since anyone’s heard anything from Jonny Pierce. If you’re missing The Drums frontman, turn your head towards what Jericho Tejeda has built with Daniel González and Marcus Felix. Their California post-punk band 60 Juno transcends its indie-rock tag with tunes that long for grungy ‘90s rock while also giving fans the joyous janglepop of outfits like Crocodiles and Dum Dum Girls. Zesty indie-pop outfit Mr. Floyd Larry opens along with homegrown heroes Blonde Gentlemen and Maily Rock. (Bayboro Brewing, St. Petersburg)
Absolution Fest: Amulet w/Dead Cool/ Dildox/Dancing Plague/Then Comes Silence/Qual To make the gig, it’s not just a short jaunt for Claus Larsen; it’s about a 5,000-or-so mile venture. But that’s not stopping him. Larsen is the founder of Leæther Strip. He’ll be bringing his Danish electroindustrial act as one of the headliners at the 2025 edition of Absolution Fest, scheduled for this weekend in Ybor City. This year marks the fifth edition of the intimate-scaled goth-industrial-synthpop-centered music festival (it wasn’t held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Co-founded in 2002
with Pete Olen, concert promoter-DJ Mark Paradise began the festival in 2018 after attending large, alternative, goth-centered music festivals in Germany. Paradise, who is also a host of the weekly alternative-music podcast Communion After Dark, said this year’s Absolution Fest will be larger and more diverse for those who attend. He said the festival has gone from 18 acts to 21, featuring some of the best darkwave, synthpop, industrial and post-punk acts together in one venue. Each festival is exciting because it gives like-minded people a chance to congregate and enjoy bands they would not usually see,” he said. “It also allows people to meet old and new friends.” Along with Leæther Strip, other headliners include the four-piece Canadian post-punk group Actors, William Maybelline of the cyberpunk-centered Qual from the United Kingdom and Creux Lies, a Sacramento-based act blending 1980s-inspired gothic atmospheres with current synth padding. Read our interview with Larsen at cltampa.com/music. (Crowbar, Ybor City)—Paul Catala
Freddie Gibbs w/Mavi Tampa’s getting another helping of Alfredo . our years after rocking the same room, Freddie Gibbs is headed back to The Ritz. The 43-year-old Grammy-nominated rapper is on the road fresh off the release of Alfredo 2 , the sequel to his 2020 album (which lost two Nas’ King’s Disease for Best Rap Album in 2021). The 14-track album includes guest spots from Anderson .Paak, JID, and Larry June. (The Ritz, Ybor City)
C Liquid Pennies w/Sorry Barb/Human Kinda There aren’t a lot of chances to see Sorry Barb, but the Tampa art-pop band has been out and about lately. The quintet plays a no-cover set in support of heartwrenching Bitter Seed , an EP released last Halloween, featuring harmony-drenched folk tune “Mountain Air” and the equally melancholy “Thief.” (The Bends, St. Petersburg)
SAT 04
Beats On The Street: Magic City Hippies w/The Hails/Kelsey Hickman/Cosmo Baker x DJ Excel/April Showers/Chris Flowers and Joe Cosas/DJ Deacon/ Earthtonez Music Collective/more More than 30 local and national acts gather on eight different stages across Water Street. Miami’s Magic City Hippies—fresh off a groovy new album called Enemies —closes out the day, along with the likes of Phillybased DJ Cosmo Baker and Illinois-bred singer-songwriter Kelsey Hickman. On the local front will be Indie Night organizerslash-regular Rohna, singer-songwriting wunderkind Judyanne Jackson, and a collaborative set between Chris Flowers and Joe Cosas, the latter having played in Jon Anderson of Yes’ backing band on his “1000 Hands” tour (which was one of the greatest local shows of 2019.) And if at any point you find your tinnitus needing a quick pause from
the live music, a popup record shop, silent disco, and an instrument petting zoo (zither, anyone?) will be available at your disposal. (Water Street, Tampa)
Down From Jersey (album release) w/ Toe Knife/The Deluxe 12 Down From Jersey was born at The Bends, and the St. Petersburg rock band returns to the womb for the release of its new album, Paper Marriage . The 11-track outing features an ode to “Sixteen Candles” (“Jake Ryan”) plus a reflection on changes happening in their hometown (“Linger”). (The Bends, St. Petersburg)
Kevin McGinnis w/Edam Archer Kevin McGinnis is no stranger to talent-filled collaborations. His band Twelve A.M. Flowers has included Tony Maimone from Cleveland rock band Pere Ubu and Kevin March who played drums for Guided by Voices. For the first time in six years, McGinnis is playing songs from his long career, and bringing Edan Archer along. (Gasparilla Distillery & Cocktail Bar, Ybor City)
Magnanimous Brewing 5th Anniversary: The Burial Ground w/Suffering Spirit/ Skeletizer/Gillian Carter Over the last year or so, Seminole Heights’ Magnanimous Brewing taproom has become a haven for heavy metal. To celebrate its fifth anniversary, the venue throws a day-long party that includes a pig roast, bounce house, face painter and pizza for the kids, plus this hardhitting free concert featuring The Burial Ground from Ocala and Orlando legend of the genre Gillian Carter. (Magnanimous Brewing, Tampa)
Papa Roach w/Rise Against/Underoath It’s been a long road back home for Underoath. Tampa’s Grammy-nominated hardcore hero announced this tour with Papa Roach nearly a year ago and has spent the last six months (with a summer break) crisscrossing the country ahead of this homecoming. (MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa)
C Riespect Fest: The Ries Brothers & Friends w/Nick Hexum Kevin Ries might’ve played solo sets around town recently, but the Ries Brothers multi-instrumentalist has tapped older brother Charlie to get the band back onstage for its first Bay area headlining show in two years. And they’re in good company, too. Friends from The Movement, Seranation, Honey Hounds, Badda Skat, The Reality and more will all sit in, along with Nick Hexum. The boys released a single with the 311 frontman this year, and told CL that “Golden Sun” was born after they played the 311 cruise for the third time and signed to Hexum’s SKP Records. “When Nick approached us we started writing together, and that instantly changed the way we work and made us fall in love with songwriting once again. He just knows exactly what a song needs and where to take it,” the continued on page 69
Jon Batiste
band said, adding that the process has been a whirlwind. Guests at Riespect Fest will sit in with Kevin and Charlie for a song or two, with Hexum playing co-headliner. “It’s truly going to be an epic night of community and music, and we hope to make this the first of a new yearly event in our community,” The Ries Brothers added. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)
Songwriters in the Round in the Gallery: Joe Harley w/Billy Summer/Wyatt Norton There’s always an opportunity to see Billy Summer shred with one of his powerpop bands, but rarely does the studio ace and guitar wizard play a solo set under his own name. (The Ale and the Witch, St. Petersburg)
Tom Petty Birthday Tribute Show: Hex Appeal w/Gracie Topp/The Mark Warren Commission/Talk To Mark/Cottondale Swamp/Burke Brothers/Melissa Grady and the Same Day Delivery Orchestra/ Will Quinlan/Ted Lukas/more It’s a good weekend for tribute band fans. Skipper’s hosts this tribute to Gainesville’s god of classic rock (with a rare appearance from Barely Pink’s Mark Warren), while Shuffle in Tampa Heights hosts a tribute to John Cougar Mellencamp at the very same time. (Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa)
TUE 07
Glixen Fans of Hum and even Sunn O))) will love Glixen. Since arriving half-a-decade ago, the Phoenix quartet has quickly built a reputation as one of the U.S.’ premier shoegaze outfits, and earned slots opening for the likes of Narrow Head, Interpol, Airiel and Blushing. More melodic than bands as loud as it is, Glixen is fresh off playing Coachella and on the road supporting the Quiet Pleasures EP produced by Sonny Diperri, who worked on records by My Bloody Valentine, DIIV and M83. The record is darker and more abrasive than Glixen’s past work, but doesn’t stray from the band’s penchant for making catchy, pretty and ethereal rock. (Music Hall at New World Brewery, Tampa)
Long Knife w/Walled City/Headless State/Human Error/Flag Burner The Trump administration is about to send the “full force” of the National Guard into Portland. Long Knife probably has a few thoughts about that. Rooted in the sounds of early-’80s hardcore, Long Knife was formed around 2012, heavily-influenced by fellow Portland punk band Poison Idea. Colin Jarrell & co.
make their Florida debut alongside homegrown favorite Walled City and others.
(Noisemakers, St. Petersburg)
WED 08
C Everclear w/Local H/Sponge Everclear wasted absolutely no time in getting back on the road once COVID-19 restrictions loosened up, and its first show back was as a headliner for a Super Bowl special at St. Pete’s Ferg’s. Four years down the line, the band’s main creative force Art Alexakis is in the midst of celebrating the 30th anniversary of his breakthrough album Sparkle and Fade , and he takes a lot of pride in how age-diverse his crowds are at these full-album-and-then-some gigs.
“I’d say 3% of our crowds these days are kids that weren’t even born when this record came out,” he told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay during a recent phone call. “Obviously, there’s a relevance to it, and if you ask me, I think it’s genuine. And I think genuine is always going to—pardon my use of the word—trump over non-genuine.” Read our full interview with Alexakis at cltampa.com/music. (Bilheimer Capitol Theatre, Clearwater)
C Jon Batiste w/Diana Silver This September marks 10 years since “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” debuted, with Batiste—who appeared almost every night until 2022—and his band Stay Human serving as the house band. The 38-year-old has since composed the jazz pieces heard in DisneyPixar’s “Soul,” portrayed Billy Preston—and provided the score—in last year’s “Saturday Night,” and won five Grammy Awards for 2021’s We Are (stylized in all-caps), including Album of the Year. His date in Clearwater will be his first stop in Tampa Bay in over a decade and comes in support of a new album, Big Money. (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)
THU 09
C Daikaiju w/Seems/Reef-Raff Right on schedule, masked Alabama surf-rock legend Daikaiju is back in Tampa, this time in New World’s beer garden alongside Seeems, a newish punk band that includes Permanent Makeup’s Chris Nadeau, plus surf-rock band Reef-Raff. (Biergarten at New World Brewery, Tampa)
See an extended version of Music Week via cltampa.com/music.
Be a bitch, because ex-country singer-songwriter Maren Morris is returning to Tampa Bay for a free concert part of an open house weekend hosted by Benchmark International Arena.
The 35-year-old Texas singer-songwriter has had a reformative few years, especially with her exit from country music, triggered by “go woke, go broke” fans starting to whine about how she dared to stand up to Jason Aldean’s wife for not supporting trans rights. Morris, who also went through a divorce with her husband Ryan Hurd not long after, recently played St. Augustine’s Sing Out Festival and just dropped hear new, singer-songwriter album Dreamsicle in May, which she described as a depiction
Broadway Rave Friday, Oct. 17. 8 p.m.
$25.98. Bayboro Brewing, St. Petersburg
Tampa Pig Jig 2025: Megan Moroney w/Midland/Jamestown Revival/more Saturday, Oct. 18. $125 & up. Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park, Tampa
Jorge Celedon Thursday Oct. 23. 8 p.m. $81.75 & up. Hard Rock Event Center at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tampa
Doechii Saturday, Oct. 25. 8 p.m. $70.65 & up. Yuengling Center, Tampa
Ybor Horror IV: Mortal Sons w/Discord Theory/No One Road/Hollyglen/ Persephone’s Choice/Twin Rova/Cozy in the Black/Marrison Saturday, Oct. 25. 6 p.m. $15 with costume, $20 without. Crowbar, Ybor City
Emo Night Tampa Halloween 2025: Sam Bips & Friends w/J/IN/X/Devotion and Desire (Bayside tribute)/Peace Cult Friday, Oct. 31. 8 p.m. $12.49. Crowbar, Ybor City
Guitar Pull: Chase Matthew w/Josh Ross/Lauren Alaina/George Birge/ Tucker Wetmore/Kameron Marlowe/ Shane Profitt Sunday, Nov. 9. 7:30 p.m. $137.14 & up (resale and premium only). Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg
of what happens after a divorce of sorts, as well as the healing that one endures afterwards instead of the pain of the process.
Dreamsicle is an expansion of the Highwoman’s 2024 EP Intermission , and if this show is anything like her incredible summer 2024 appearance at St. Pete’s Mahaffey Theater—where she played the entire EP and more—this won’t be a free gig to sit out.
There’s no cover to see Maren Morris play Tampa’s Benchmark International Arena on Saturday, Oct. 18, but you have to reserve your free ticket online. See my weekly rundown of new concerts coming to Tampa Bay below.— Josh Bradley
Chiodos w/Hawthorne Heights/ Emmure/Big Ass Truck Thursday, Nov. 13. 6 p.m. $51.25. The Ritz, Ybor City
Trans-Siberian Orchestra Sunday, Dec. 14. 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. $55 & up. Benchmark International Arena, Tampa
Jon Pardi Friday, Dec. 19. 8 p.m. $141.40 & up. Hard Rock Event Center at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tampa
MGK w/Julia Wolf Friday, Dec. 19. 8 p.m. $52.60 & up. Benchmark International Arena, Tampa
Acraze Wednesday, Dec. 31. 10 p.m. $36.87 & up. The Ritz, Ybor City
Barry Manilow Thursday, Jan. 8. 7 p.m.
$41.85 & up. Benchmark International Arena, Tampa
The Coral Reefer Band Thursday, Jan. 15. 8 p.m. $100 & up. Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg
Orange you glad
By Jane Dyke
I’ve been unapologetically a dyke my whole life. Short hair and masculine presenting since childhood. Recently the internalized homophobia been going crazy. My whole life I feel like dykes/butches have been the butt of the joke. Especially big masculine women. Like Boo from “Orange Is the New Black.” That’s like the number one thing everyone deems ugly and the worst version of a dyke to be. Why! It’s created crazy internalized homophobia within me. When I look in the mirror I don’t feel like the sexy dyke I used to. I be feeling like a freak. I try not to let the internet or bigots get in my head but it’s hard. How can I reclaim my identity and be confident in my dyke-ness like I used to be?—Sincerely, Browbeaten Butch
Dear Browbeaten, butches are, and have always been, sexy. Ask anyone at Dyke Nite how they think of butches, and they’ll say: “Constantly.” In short, my advice for you is to spend less time seeing what the internet and mainstream media thinks of you, and to spend more time reading queer history and having gay sex. But don’t stop reading this column just yet.
from the fact that she is “everyone’s Boo.” The prison Lothario.
Boo is all of these things. I’m guessing BBB has an issue with fat. They therefore miss the point. In short, Browbeaten Butch is beating their own brow. Maybe they should read up on their own history, that of the queer movement in the latter part of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, before coming at the people who made that history happen. Self-loathing queers only hold us back.
DeLaria’s tough love here is spot-on. After decades as a butch trailblazer, she seems to rightfully be tired of seeing internalized homophobia take over butches’ self-images. Remember the butches that walked so you could run!
Without getting too deep into the convoluted world of overspecified queer identity labels, butch was generally popularized through the early lesbian bar scene’s butch-femme dynamic.
ASK A DYKE
Got a burning question? Ask a Dyke at sapphicsunfl.com/ask
When I first watched “Orange Is the New Black,” I was struck by Big Boo, the big bad butch with a major soft side, and her innate sex appeal to the other women in the prison. Watching the scene where she danced her ass off affirmed that I can be attractive BECAUSE OF my fatness and masculinity, not just in spite of it.
Boo was portrayed by butch legend Lea DeLaria, an iconic dyke who was the first out lesbian comic to perform on TV and came up with the famous “U-Haul lesbian” joke. DeLaria has spoken at length about butchness and all the associated stereotypes. I combed through some of her interviews and comedy routines in search of some advice that she could impart.
This is where I need to apologize to you, Browbeaten Butch. I am sure you didn’t mean for it to go this far, but I can only pull so much wisdom from media blog quotes. Rather than summarize what I think DeLaria (pictured) would say to you, I reached out to her directly. Much to my surprise, she responded. Here’s what Big Boo herself had to say about your dilemma: You might wanna tell this self-hating dyke to watch OITNB again. Boo is:
• The smartest person in that prison.
• She says it herself: “I’m a lover, not a fighter.” She presents as scary because that’s what one has to do to survive in prison. But it is clear that she has a big heart and only wants what is best for her friends and those she loves.
• Sexy AF. Her nickname, Big Boo, comes
Lesbian historian Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy’s 1993 book, “Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold: The History of a Lesbian Community,” reads: “The core group that built the lesbian bar community of the 1940s were the severely masculine yet gentle butches who were willing to be identified as different, as ‘homos.’ The Black and white tough lesbians continued this tradition in the 1950s, pushing to be identified as lesbians, or ‘queers,’ 24 hours a day.”
Butches presented as masculine not only to denote their role in a relationship, but also to intentionally make their queerness visible. Generally speaking, before dating apps, the best way for lesbians to find each other was for one member of the duo to present as visibly queer. This involved receiving more harassment from homophobes, so the party willing to shoulder that burden was seen as tough and chivalrous. Embodying masculinity gave these dykes the opportunity to display these traits while marking them as visibly queer. Thus, the butch and all of its ensuing roles were born. Lesbians of all forms thirsted after the strong figure of the butch.
While roles have changed somewhat, and were never truly rigid to begin with, much remains true: Butches still face harassment and are often the butt of the joke on TV (femmes and other dykes have their own troubles, but that’s for another month’s Ask a Dyke). This is especially true of butches that embody the classic bull dyke look, characterized by tight haircuts and an overtly masculine appearance—and often being both fat and muscular. If you are willing to face daily life as a butch, you are already projecting some degree of inner confidence and
acceptance of the self, which are universally attractive traits.
Do as DeLaria suggested: read up more on your history. If you haven’t read “Stone Butch Blues,” it’s a great starting point that can help deepen your understanding of the context behind the butch identity. Kennedy’s aforementioned book is also a great resource from an academic point of view. Alison Bechdel’s comic series, “Dykes to Watch Out For,” shows nuanced images of daily life in the lesbian community. Even watching DeLaria’s comedy sets can make you feel more seen. These classics are a starting point to dip your toes in.
However, you can’t JUST read. You probably won’t find all the positive representation you’re looking for in books, TV or movies (though there is some). The tonic for mainstream media and its opinions is, as always, meeting real people. You can’t connect with your body and your identity
if you’re not actively experiencing the world in physical spaces where the two come into play. Meet other butches, including older ones. Meet femmes and other dykes. Have sex that makes you feel hot, because butches are sexy and they always have been. Hetero society might try to sell you one idea of what it means to be attractive, but when it comes to the people who really matter (dykes), you’ll be drooled over.
Yours in love, Jane Dyke (feat. Lea DeLaria) The Sapphic Sun 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
WHAT MAKES LOCAL CULTURE
Had to get away
By Dan Savage
Dear Readers: I’m at a family event—a happy one—this week. This column originally appeared on July 10, 2013. Back with a new Savage Love next week.—Dan
I’m a 26-year-old straight female. I’m writing because I need to ask someone what to think right now. I just fucked a guy while on holiday in Costa Rica. I thought I was sex-positive and adventurous, so why do I feel so ashamed? I’m dating a boy back in the U.S. who I absolutely adore, but we’re not necessarily exclusive. The guy was a 22-year-old local—I thought he was so sweet. But he did that bullshit “fuck her and then get her out of bed and drive her home” shit. I told him it wasn’t OK, and he made excuses. I feel so fucking pathetic right now. Is this because I did something stupid? Is this a natural feeling? Or is it a result of some deep psychological self-induced slut-shaming? Why would he kick me out like that? Please help me wrap my head around this.—Truly Underestimated Risk In Sexy Travel Adventure
SAVAGE LOVE
girlfriend who has a choking fetish. She needs to be choked during sex to get off. I’m more of a vanilla kind of dude, but in the spirit of being GGG, I’ve been doing this for her. The thing is, it kind of scares me. I don’t particularly get off on it, and it actually brings out parts of me that I don’t like. More importantly, I’m really scared of hurting her. Recently while on vacation, hotel security was called because our neighbors thought I was assaulting her, as she’s a screamer and likes to struggle during sex. I’m trying to be GGG, but now it feels like every fuck needs to be a rape scene, complete with choking. She doesn’t like it any other way. I don’t want to accidentally hurt her or kill her and wind up in jail, but she’s dismissive when I share my concerns. My friends in the BDSM scene scold me and say that breath play is never OK. Your thoughts?
Throat Harm Really Obsesses This Terrific Lady Entirely
to be that girl.” It seems like a delicate situation. I love my best friend’s entire family. I love their mom. I have spent holidays at their house and vacationed with them. I don’t want to embarrass myself. But I know she couldn’t ask me that same thing. It just wouldn’t be right from her side, since I am her little sister’s best friend. Is there a way to roll this out?—Lesbian Under Straight Tease
Let’s do a quick risk/reward analysis, LUST. By hitting on this woman, you risking screwing up your relationship with your best friend, your best friend’s sister, and your best friend’s mom—and you risk losing all future family holiday/vacation invites—for the potential reward of getting into the pants of your best friend’s hot married older sister once or twice. Seems like a lot to risk if you ask me, LUST, and you did ask me. That said, there are a lot of married bi women out there. But if Gladys has an open relationship with her husband—or if they’re actively seeking for a unicorn—it would be better if they made the first move. So, keep flirting and live in hope.
Lovecast. It has made me feel a lot more comfortable about some of the things I like to do, consensually, with my loving GGG boy. My girlfriends sometimes turn their noses up at some of the sexual stuff I’ve tried or mentioned being interested in trying. The calls and guest experts on your podcast make me feel so much more normal, and my boyfriend loves that I’ve recently become a lot more open about the things I want to do. I don’t have a question, Dan, I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate what you and the tech-savvy at-risk youth do every week.—Eager Nice Girl Living In Scottish Highlands
Thanks for the lovely note, ENGLISH, and tell your boyfriend I said hello. 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.
My hunch — and it’s just a hunch—is that before you could give yourself permission to fuck this guy, TURISTA, you had to convince yourself the encounter wasn’t just two strangers using each other for sex. Like a lot of people who wanna have one-night stands—men and women, gays and straights, locals and tourists—you “virtue-washed” a sleazy sexual encounter by convincing yourself that you shared a meaningful insta-connection with this boy. (“I thought he was so sweet.”) You convinced yourself that if circumstances were different—if you were single, if you lived in Costa Rica—you could see yourself dating this guy. You rounded this dude up to boyfriend material, TURISTA, but the way he treated you after the sex was over (“Back to the hotel”) stripped away your illusions: He was a player (probably), and you had been played (most likely), and you wanted to be played (with).
Was your reaction sex-negative? Yes, it was. Are you slut-shaming yourself? Yes, you are. You did something kind of sleazy on vacation, TURISTA, just like millions of other people before you, and you misjudged someone. Who hasn’t? I’m assuming the sex was good, it was just the aftermath that sucked. As for why he kicked you out, TURISTA, I couldn’t tell you. Maybe he’s in a relationship that’s “not necessarily exclusive,” and his girlfriend was coming over in the morning and wouldn’t appreciate finding a turista—yet another one—in her boyfriend’s bed.
Never thought I’d be writing to you for advice, but here goes: I’m a straight guy with a long-term
Here’s what kink author, educator, and activist Jay Wiseman has to say about choking in his book “SM 101: A Realistic Introduction”: “I know of no way whatsoever that suffocation or strangulation can be done that does not intrinsically put the recipient at risk of cardiac arrest... I know of no reliable way to determine when such a cardiac arrest becomes imminent. If the recipient does arrest, the probability of resuscitating them, even with optimal CPR, is small.”
Even if choking weren’t dangerous—and it may be less dangerous than some make it sound; most news stories about people getting killed during “breath play” involve solo scenes, not being choked by a partner—being this woman’s boyfriend/ assailant has become tedious. Setting choking and its dangers aside, THROTTLE, you’d need to ask yourself if you wanna spend the rest of your life with someone who’s as inconsiderate, selfish, and sexually limited as your girlfriend appears to be.
I am a 29-year-old lesbian. My best friend has an incredibly hot sister to whom I am very attracted. Let’s call her Gladys. Gladys is about 10 years older than me and happily married to a man. We talk about life on Facebook and text each other frequently. Recently, things have gotten a bit more flirtatious. I am dying to say to her, “I am super-attracted to you and I don’t want to assume anything about your agreements with your hubby. If you ever want to explore your sexuality with a girl, I would love
A girl I worked with introduced me to your podcast a couple of months ago. You must get this e-mail (or variations on it) all the time, but I wanted to say thank you for the Savage
