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Reversal of Man once wrote in its Revolution Summer liner notes that reunion shows for the sake of “old school resurgence” should be a criminal offense. But last April, a quarter-century after leaving an indelible mark on Florida hardcore, the Tampa screamo legend announced a reunion show that sold out in minutes. The group booked an extra show, and disciples descended upon Crowbar in Ybor City last Saturday and Sunday to finally see it all go down. Support came from Gillian Carter, Novely, Meatwound and Thrull. See more photos via cltampa.com/slideshows.—Ray Roa
do this
Tampa Bay's best things to do from September 04 - 10
Saving primate Ryan
As we’ve learned post-pandemic, science that should be clear-cut can get muddied by human bullshit. For a “Science, Stories and Truth” series kickoff, author Michelle Nijhuis will speak on how history, politics and humanity’s flaws complicate scientific progress—especially in environmental conservation. She’ll share stories from her book “Beloved Beasts: Fighting for Life in the Age of Extinction,” including some about activists who helped save endangered species and the scientists who shaped the modern conservation movement. An evening with Michelle Nijhuis: Wednesday, Sept. 10. 7 p.m. No cover. Fox Hall at Eckerd College, 4200 54th Ave. S, St. Petersburg. eckerd. edu—Selene San Felice
Don’t sleep on them
If you’ve ever fantasized about banging your sleep paralysis demon, you’re in luck. “Angels of Your Screams,” a new monthly open stage drag event looks to “uplift our POC drag siblings, queer icons, first time performers, local artists and creatures of all gender expressions.” The first show is themed "Creepycore vs Dreamcore," with performances by Angel Rush Hour, Natasha Amoura, Ethereal Echoes, Good Old Fashion and a bunch more up and coming drag artists. Dress freaky and feel the fantasy, but don’t be weird. The show is 18-and-up and meant to be a safe, inclusive space. Sorry if your sleep paralysis demon is a bigot.
Angels of Your Screams: Creepycore vs Dreamcore- Saturday, Sept. 5. Doors at 7 p.m., show runs 8 p.m.-11 p.m. No cover. Deviant Libation, 3800 N Nebraska Ave, Tampa. @aoys.drag on Instagram—Selene San Felice
Vote
It’s been nearly 90 days since the passing of Tampa Councilwoman Gwen Henderson, and the special election to fill her seat is finally here. Tampeños have heard from over a dozen candidates in the meantime. One hopeful withdrew early (former Tampa City Councilman Orlando Gudes), and another just endorsed an opponent after spending the last three months on the campaign trail next to them. “Her passion has been palpable, her energy is undeniable, and her quick-witted intelligence is clear. If you want somebody who will fight for those that need it most, is willing to seek counsel from those with more storied experience, and will offer a breath of new life on the City Council dais,” Ash Dudney, a businessman and photographer wrote, “I believe the representative you want is Naya Young.” Young is pictured above, but make up your own mind by reading coverage of the race on cltampa.com, where you can make a plan to vote early (Sept. 4-7 at select sites), by mail, or on Election Day (Sept. 9).
Tampa City Council District 5 special election: Early voting starts Sept. 4; Election Day on Sept. 9. votehillsborough.gov—Ray Roa
The coast is queer Community organization Come Out St. Pete is looking to crown its 2026 royal court during the “Come OUT as you are” pageant. The pageant will honor the art form of drag as well as JoZiah Onassis Knight Bangkx, Mister E, and Ericka PC of the 2025 royal court. Judged by some of Tampa Bay’s favorite performers—Rockell Blu, Roman Lewinsky, Adam Cole, Pheyonce Montrese, and Adriana Sparkle—contestants must not tell, but perform their coming-out stories, with the chance of becoming the next Miss., Ms., Mx., or Mr. Come OUT St. Pete.
The 2026 Come Out As You Are pageant: Sunday, Sept. 7. 5 p.m.10 p.m. $20-$200. The Floridian Social, 687 Central Ave, St. Petersburg. comeoutstpete.org—Alisha Durosier
Con on
For its first pop culture convention, Dunedin Fine Arts Center hosts cosplayers, gamers and collectors of all ages. The day includes a flight simulator, costume contest, card game room for duels and RPGs, Smash Bros. tournament and Star Wars costume clubs. Rare movie posters and exclusive items will be up for bidding in a silent auction. Kids six years old or younger get in free. Tickets are $10 for everyone else.
DFAC Con: Saturday, Sept. 6. 3 p.m.-8 p.m. $10. Dunedin Fine Arts Center, 1143 Michigan Blvd., Dunedin. dfac.org—Selene San Felice
Bitch, please
On the surface, there might not be two Tampa musicians with more juxtaposed personalities: pop songwriter Jeremy Gloff is outspoken and out-as-can-be, while songwriter Shae Krispinsky is more reclusive. Deep homies in real life, Gloff and Krispinky’s Shower Beers project have collided to combat the “hate, darkness, and disillusion” of the word with a 14-track LP that a press release describes as “loud, proud, queer, sexual, political, thoughtful, and definitely human.” To mark the release, the duo heads to Disco Dolls and stages a “Bitch Cabaret,” an immersive performance with help from tap dancers, comedians, performance artists, rappers, a choir, and improv musical comedy. “After years of occasional collaborations, we finally came together and discovered a power greater than the sum of our parts,” Gloff and Krispinsky wrote in a statement. “This album is about survival, joy, and reclaiming our voices. Honestly? We’re nominating ourselves for album of the year.”
The Bitch Cabaret w/Jeremy Gloff & Shower Beers: Saturday, Sept. 6. 7 p.m. $10.The Disco Dolls Studio, 4220 N Florida Ave., Tampa. @thediscodolls on Facebook—Ray Roa
“This wouldn’t be the first time St. Petersburg is involved in a legal battle that sets precedent for laws on homelessness.”
Here we go again
Homeless
advocates intervene in lawsuit against St. Pete.
By Valerie Smith
Late last month, St. Petersburg restaurant owner Ronicca Whaley sued the city of St. Petersburg, saying that the city has caused damage to the Shiso Crispy restaurant by failing to enforce laws banning camping in public places. Last Thursday, according to documents obtained by Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, local mutual aid group Progressive People’s Action enlisted the help of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)—a civil rights organization that defends the legal rights of marginalized people— to represent the interests of St. Pete’s homeless residents who stand to be impacted by the outcome of the case.
The lawsuit against the city says that Shiso Crispy’s owner, employees and patrons have been subjected to harassment and threats by people who “regularly sleep overnight” in Williams Park and sidewalks outside the business. On Aug. 19, the city filed a motion to dismiss the case, saying that the police department enforces all applicable laws, and that Whaley’s complaints amount to a “litany of scandalous recitations designed to generate publicity, not plead a case.” The court has not yet ruled on the city’s motion to dismiss. Florida’s public camping law passed last year despite sharp criticisms and makes sleeping overnight in public places illegal in many circumstances. The law went into effect in January of this year and allows residents to sue local governments if they don’t enforce it. Detractors like the Florida Policy Institute say the law criminalizes homelessness without offering real solutions. The city’s motion to dismiss the case says that the law is designed for tent encampments, citing remarks made by Gov. Ron DeSantis when he signed the law into effect, and also says that the city has taken measures to prevent these for decades.
Earlier this year, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office cleared out a homeless encampment in Marathon after a lawsuit was filed by county residents and business owners. The land the encampment sat on was owned by the Florida Department of Transportation, who heard about the lawsuit and then asked MCSO to clear out the property. This resulted in the plaintiffs dropping the lawsuit.
SPLC senior staff attorney Jackie Azis told CL that if this legal battle continues, it will
mark the first time a court has to rule on a suit filed under this new law, making it even more important for homeless residents to have a voice in the discussion.
Third parties—parties who are neither the plaintiff who filed the suit nor the defendant being sued—may motion to intervene in a case when they have a stake in the outcome. In this case, Azis said Progressive People’s Action has an interest in the case based on their frequent work with St. Petersburg’s homeless population: “PPA has stepped up because, you know, the city has its own interests; obviously, Whaley, as a business owner, has her own interests; but the people who are going to be the most intimately impacted also have interests.”
This wouldn’t be the first time St. Petersburg is involved in a legal battle that sets precedent for laws on homelessness. In State v. Penley (1973), St. Petersburg’s ordinance against public sleeping was found to be unconstitutional. In Catron v. City of St. Petersburg (2011), the city’s policy on trespassing homeless individuals from public property without due process was also found unconstitutional—specifically citing removal of a homeless man from Williams Park, the same park mentioned by Whaley in her lawsuit. Azis said that PPA’s intervention in Whaley’s case will ensure that, should this litigation become precedent-setting, the interest of the homeless individuals affected will be represented, not just that of Whaley or the city.
LOCAL NEWS
Azis said that while Whaley may say she wants to improve conditions for homeless people her lawsuit indicates otherwise. Whaley said that one of her motivations for the lawsuit is to help the homeless population in St. Petersburg
by forcing the city to create a public space where people are allowed to sleep. Speaking to WTSP, Whaley referenced a part of the anti-camping law that allows counties to create spaces where public sleeping is allowed: “They’re adults that want to do what they want and I get that. So let’s provide, as the law says, a place for them to flourish safely and securely that is better for both sides.” However, Azis said, the law only permits counties to designate these spaces, and the city government can not do so on their own. It is unclear how the lawsuit would prompt the city to develop this location. Proposed outdoor sleeping sites must meet several requirements regarding location and resources on site and require approval from the Florida Department of Children and Families. The same WTSP report said Pinellas County did not yet have any plans to designate such a space.
continued on page 19
LEGAL EAGLE-EYE: Williams Park in St. Petersburg, Florida in February 2024..
Whaley’s lawsuit against the city vividly alleges public defecation, misogynistic harassment and property damage carried out by residents who she says are homeless. One reported incident involved an individual emptying a colostomy bag at one of the restaurants. The city’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit says that anecdotes like this are less about the law and more about influencing public opinion: “This type of inflammatory language was not added to the Complaint to prove the elements of F.S. § 125.0231, but rather strictly to get publicity for her lawsuit.”
In a public comment Whaley made at a June 10 St. Petersburg City Council meeting—several weeks before filing her suit—Whaley said: “When I send these people to jail, they show up right back on my property. … I have a gang of homeless people right now that know that I am trying to make a difference on my block and they have all come to my property and told my employees that they declare war.” Whaley’s lawsuit highlights a police incident report, where one of Whaley’s employees told police that a man said to him: “Your owner fucked up bad by kicking homeless people off the street. Your boss has created a war.”
not increase enforcement of punitive measures against people experiencing homelessness for simply sleeping, which is something that we all must do to live and survive.”
Whaley responded to a request for comment via a statement emailed to CL by her lawyer. The statement reads:
“Ms. Whaley’s lawsuit isn’t meant to criminalize, punish, or ostracize anyone in the homeless community. She fully recognizes that homelessness is a complex challenge, one that calls for the City of St. Petersburg to step in and support those who need it most.
LOCAL NEWS
The suit’s true aim is to encourage the city to deliver that essential assistance. At its core, this action simply seeks to enforce the law as it stands today, and Ms. Whaley hopes the city will move quickly to create solutions that serve both the downtown business community and individuals experiencing homelessness.”
“What the intervenors (PPA) want is an appropriate relief.”
However, Whaley did not respond to several specific questions, including ones that address how specifically she believes this lawsuit will benefit homeless people. She also did not confirm whether she had asked county commissioners to designate a space for outdoor sleeping.
Azis said that the outcome Whaley seeks is “inappropriate and unlawful,” and the city of St. Petersburg said in their motion to dismiss that Whaley “seemingly wants 24-hour around the clock monitoring of her various businesses at great expense to City taxpayers.”
“What the intervenors (PPA) want is an appropriate relief,” Azis said. “One that will
The city’s lengthy motion to dismiss the case refutes her claim that she is seeking to “enforce the law as it stands today.”
SPLC and PPA’s motion to intervene in the case says that Whaley’s lawsuit “alleges facts that are irrelevant to homelessness and sleeping, thus making a false and biased connection between homelessness and criminal activity.”
continued from page 17
CENTRAL ISSUE: Williams Park feels like it’s in the heart of downtown St. Pete.
SEPTEMBER12 - 14TH
100-plus groups demand Rubio free Florida teen from Israeli prison.
Home raid
of prison it is, he needs to be back with his family. He’s a 16-year-old young American man. We’re asking for help to bring him back.”
Ibrahim’s family resides in Palm Bay in Brevard County on Florida’s east coast. They are represented in Congress by Republican Mike Haridopolos.
Kadur said that he has personally contacted Haridopolos’ office seven times in the past six months — “at least” four times by email and three times by phone — but says he has never heard back.
George Alderman, communications director for Haridopolos’ Washington, D.C., office, told the Phoenix when asked about Mohammed Ibrahim that “this is constituent case work.”
“There’s not much to talk about because it is confidential. The details of it,” he said. “All we’re able to confirm from the office is that we are in contact with the family of Mohammed Ibrahim.”
Among those speaking out during the press conference in Tampa was Samuel Ronen, with the Progressive Jewish Coalition of Tampa Bay.
“If this child had my name, looked a little bit more like me. Believe as I believe. Would he be home already?” he asked. “I think we all know what that answer is.”
Ibrahim is a cousin of Sayfollah Musallet, the 20-year-old Palestinian American and Tampa resident who was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in the West Bank in July.
According to the letter sent to Rubio on Tuesday, more than two dozen Israeli soldiers broke into Ibrahim’s family home in the West Bank in February during the middle of the night and took Ibrahim to an Israeli military prison. He was 15 years old at the time.
The Guardian has reported that the Israel Defense Forces have not responded to their inquiries about the allegations against Ibrahim, directing questions to the Israel Prison Service, which manages the Megiddo prison. The IPS has not responded to requests for comment, the Guardian has reported.
When asked about Ibrahim, an official with the U.S. State Department sent a statement without referring specifically to Mohammed Ibrahim’s situation.
“We have no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens,” the statement began.
“If we become aware of an arrest of any U.S citizen, including a minor, we will provide consular services, including prison visits to ensure safety and security and communication with family as appropriate,” the spokesperson said. “Whenever a U.S. citizen is detained abroad, the Department works to provide consular assistance in accordance with U.S. and international law.”
‘WE
Good trouble
Pinellas pastors arrested over obstructing FDOT mural removal crews.
By Selene San Felice
Pastors and activists Andy Oliver and Benedict Atherton-Zeman were arrested Aug. 29 during the state’s removal of St. Petersburg’s “Black History Matters” mural.
Crews from the Florida Department of Transportation arrived around 8 p.m. to paint over the mural outside the Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American Museum, according to a spokesman for the St. Petersburg Police Department. That’s when Oliver and Atherton walked past police, then sat and knelt down to pray in the road and refused to move “in an attempt to block the FDOT machinery.”
After their release Oliver and AthertonZeman returned to the site of the mural and went to social media to cite a letter penned in 1915 by Woodson himself to the then-president of Washington D.C.’s NAACP chapter.
“Carter G. Woodson’s words echo to us in this moment,” Oliver wrote, “‘Let us banish fear… I am a radical. I am ready to act, if I can find brave [people] to help me.’”
LOCAL NEWS
They were both charged with misdemeanor obstruction and “Pedestrian obstructing or hindering traffic,” according to SPPD’s public information officer.
The Subject Charge Report from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office says Oliver, 45, has been released on cash bond and charged with resisting an officer w/o violence a misdemeanor. AthertonZeman, 45, has also been released on cash bond and faces the same charges.
Woodson’s home in Washington D.C. is actually part of the National Parks Service, but is currently closed with plans to reopen in 2026, according to NPS. It’s unclear if the artifacts and message preserved at the site will be revised under Trump’s latest push to rewrite and restore “truth and sanity to American history.”
This is the third of five city murals FDOT removed Friday after issuing a statewide mandate last month banning pavement art. University of South Florida St. Petersburg’s USF-themed mural and a geometric intersection in the Child’s Park neighborhood were also reportedly removed, according to USF St. Pete’s student newspaper
the Crow’s Nest, which said that the state arrived to remove the “Fluid Structures” mural at about 3 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 29.
The mural was completed during the 2023 Shine mural festival by Tampa artist Jay Giroux and 10 students from USF St. Pete, according to the paper, which added that “the mural depicted a marine ecosystem through a series of geometric shapes, and did not feature any political or identity-related symbols.”
As of midnight Saturday, the city’s LGBTQ+ Pride rainbow intersection on Central Avenue had not yet been removed. “Rainbow crosswalks” were specifically targeted by federal transportation leaders in a request for states to seemingly follow Florida’s lead.
St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch told reporters last week that he would let FDOT execute its own mandate to remove all street murals by its Sept. 4 deadline. Municipalities were tasked with removing their own street art until FDOT painted over a rainbow crosswalk honoring Pulse victims in Orlando last week.
At a press conference with city and St. Pete Pride leaders last week, Welch said fighting the mandate as cities like Key West and Delray Beach have done would be a losing battle not worth the risk of millions in vital state transportation funds.
The city would instead strategize a way to “build back stronger” and replace the street
murals with “even more powerful expressions of who we are.”
He also advised residents to “obey the law,” specifically not to block intersections.
“Don’t take the bait,” Welch said. “Be smart about how we take these next steps.”
When asked by a reporter if the mural removal was an opportunity for “good trouble,” a reference Welch often makes to a quote from Civil Rights leader John Lewis—who was arrested and beaten multiple times for peacefully protesting—Welch said yes.
When asked for an example, he responded, “when we build back better and stronger.”
As previously reported by the Florida Phoenix, Evan Mory, St. Petersburg’s transportation and parking director, had asked FDOT to exempt five specific murals, noting that they were all in place before the law changed. City officials also noted that traffic crashes had been reduced by 70% at the Common Ground mural painted at Fifth Street and Central Ave. in downtown St. Petersburg.
That mural, painted by Argentinian artist Cecilia Lueza, features a rainbow of huge triangles and geometric shapes that spread across the intersection.
Justin Hall, FDOT’s District 7 secretary, rejected that request. He said in his response that if the FDOT removes the markings instead of the city, those costs will be assessed to St. Petersburg.
BETTER DAYS: Muralists install St. Pete’s Black History Matters mural in July 2023.
THE WATCHERS: Activists outside ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ in July.
Walled off
Feds have stopped sending immigrants to ‘Alligator Alcatraz.’
By Dara Kam/News Service of Florida
Federal officials are complying with a judge’s order and have stopped sending immigrants to a detention center in the Everglades, less than two months after Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration launched the facility dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” in support of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts.
U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams last week issued a preliminary injunction ordering state and federal officials to begin winding down operations at the detention center, which the Florida Division of Emergency Management spent about $218 million to construct, according to court documents.
A U.S. Department of Homeland Security official confirmed in an email last Friday that the agency is “complying with this order and moving detainees to other facilities.” The email defended the mass deportation program as well as the Everglades facility, which is at an airport used for flight training.
“We are working at turbo speed on costeffective and innovative ways to deliver on the American people’s mandate for mass
deportations of criminal illegal aliens. This activist judge’s order is yet another attempt to prevent the president from fulfilling the American people’s mandate to remove the worst of the worst—including gang members, murderers, pedophiles, terrorists, and rapists from our country. Not to mention this ruling ignores the fact that this land has already been developed for a decade,” the email said.
The first immigrants were sent to the facility, which had a capacity for 2,000 detainees, in early July, and about 1,000 people were housed there in mid-August. The population at the detention center dwindled to about 330 last week, court records showed.
A lawsuit filed by Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity accused the Trump and DeSantis administrations of failing to comply with a federal law requiring an environmental-impact study before the facility could be built. The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida also joined the plaintiffs in the case. Williams’ Aug. 21 ruling ordered the Trump and DeSantis administrations to stop bringing
additional detainees to the complex and gave officials 60 days to wind down operations and remove temporary fencing, lighting fixtures and generators, gas, sewage and other waste receptacles.
Both administrations quickly asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to put the preliminary injunction on hold while appeals play out. Williams this week refused to block her order but the appeals at the Atlanta-based court remain pending.
Friends of the Everglades Executive Director Eve Samples said it was a “relief to see the state and federal government complying” with Williams’ preliminary injunction.
“When the last detainee leaves, the state should turn off the lights and shut the door behind them. The court’s ruling is a powerful reminder that people at the highest levels of government must comply with the law — in this case environmental law — and there are consequences when they don’t,” Samples said in an email.
Dismantling the lights, temporary fencing and other equipment could cost the state between $15 million and $20 million, according to State Emergency Response Team Chief Ian GadeaGuidicelli, who oversees day-to-day operations at the facility.
The state would have to spend another $15 million to $20 million to reinstall the structures if the detention center is allowed to reopen, GadeaGuidicelli said in a declaration filed Saturday in the lawsuit.
Trump’s hard-line approach to immigration enforcement.
In one challenge, immigration lawyers allege that detainees were unable to access legal representation or have private meetings with their attorneys. State officials attributed the problems to the hurried pace with which the facility was erected.
In a separate case, attorneys representing detainees argued the DeSantis administration lacks the authority to operate the site.
Both lawsuits also include allegations of inadequate water and medical care at the site.
Attorney General James Uthmeier, a former chief of staff for DeSantis whom the governor appointed as attorney general in February, was instrumental in selecting the Everglades site to temporarily house immigrants who have been arrested. The use of the airport, which can accommodate large planes, to deport people was a key factor.
During an episode of The News Service of Florida’s “Deeper Dive with Dara Kam” podcast that will be released Sunday, Uthmeier said he “felt good” about the state’s appeal of Williams’ decision.
If the courts don’t agree, Uthmeier said, the state could turn to other sites, such as the Baker County facility and a potential South Florida detention center outside Homestead.
FLORIDA NEWS
Williams’ preliminary injunction did not require the state to permanently shutter the facility, but her order “will eventually cause all detention operations at the site to cease,” the emergency-response chief added.
“In that event, FDEM (the Florida Division of Emergency Management) will lose most of the value of the $218 million it invested to make (the Collier-Dade Training and Transition Airport) suitable for detention operations,” the declaration said.
Florida is in line to receive $605 million for immigration detention from the Trump administration.The state could receive a partial reimbursement for the Everglades complex, which was projected to cost $450 million a year to operate, according to court documents.
The DeSantis administration is in the process of launching a second immigrant-detention facility at a mothballed state prison. The governor recently announced plans to convert Baker Correctional Institution in North Florida into a detention center that can house up to 1,600 detainees. The facility could come online as early as next week.
The Everglades facility has sparked at least two other lawsuits and has been a flashpoint in the debate about DeSantis’ and
Uthmeier credited the launch of the Everglades facility for a “huge uptick” in the number of undocumented immigrants who have signed up for a Trump administration program that steers $1,000 to people who register for voluntary self-deportation. The attorney general said about 2 million people have taken advantage of the program.
“It was a way to get attention where people that are here illegally would see, ‘I’ve got options. I may end up at a facility like that if I stay. But the federal government has advertised very clearly that I can get $1,000 and they’ll provide the transportation to get me back home,’” Uthmeier said.
Taxpayer costs for protecting and transport
ing DeSantis surged during failed presidential campaign, says report
Taxpayer costs to transport and protect Gov. Ron DeSantis and his family surged during the year that included much of his failed presidential campaign, according to state reports.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement annual reports show the state spent about $12.318 million during the 2023-2024 fiscal year and $11.146 million during the 2024-2025 fiscal year on transportation and security for the DeSantis family and visiting officials.
The 2023-2024 fiscal year included a substantial amount of the time DeSantis ran for the continued on page 29
JOKES ON US: DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race in January 2024. continued from page 25
Republican presidential nomination. He dropped out of the race in January 2024.
The reports were first reported and posted by the USA Today Network.
A 2023 law shields from release detailed travel records of the governor and other state leaders. People covered by the law include the governor’s immediate family, the lieutenant governor, Cabinet members, the House speaker, the Senate president and the chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court.
The law also allows keeping from the public the names of people visiting the governor’s mansion on non-governmental matters.
The total amounts of spending in the new reports are up from the 2022-2023 fiscal year when costs reached $9.876 million and 2021-2022 when they were at $6.097 million.
DeSantis’ announced his presidential can didacy on May 24, 2023, and he suspended the campaign on Jan. 21, 2024.
An additional $244,181 went toward 80 separate law-enforcement details related to dignitaries --- mostly governors of other states --- visiting Florida.
The largest single expense, $74,144, stemmed from the Democratic Governors Association win ter meeting in Miami in April 2024.
FLORIDA NEWS
The majority of the costs in 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 went toward guarding and transporting DeSantis and his family and protecting the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee. The state’s fiscal years run from July 1 through June 30.
In 2023-2024, $9.776 million went toward protecting the governor, with an additional $853,780 for First Lady Casey DeSantis and other members of the first family, and $1.44 million for securing the governor’s mansion.
The governor and first lady have three young children.
Transportation expenses accounted for $3.875 million of the costs involving the first family.
The state also spent $10,794 to protect thenEducation Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. in late May 2024. At the time, the Department of Education was facing criticism over issues related to teacher pay and school closures.
In the 2024-2025 fiscal year, costs for the governor decreased to $8.02 million, with the first family costs at $864,427 and protecting the governor’s mansion at $1.77 million.
Transportation accounted for $3.3 million of the costs.
There were also 113 protective details for visiting dignitaries, totaling $489,352.
The Republican Governors Association meeting in Fort Myers in November led to $185,643 in state law-enforcement costs.
President Joe Biden’s tour of Hurricane Helene damage in October, which included Air Force One landing at Tallahassee International Airport, required $2,336 in state law-enforcement costs.
As in past years, the report doesn’t outline how security details were staffed or how they operated.—Jim Turner/News Service of Florida
11206 Sullivan St • Riverview, FL • 33578 donovansmeatery.com
TAMPA BAY’S BEST LOBSTER ROLL
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OPENINGS & CLOSINGS
Savoir On Central
2531 Central Ave, St. Petersburg savoironcentral.com
RESTAURANTS RECIPES DINING GUIDES
On cloud wine
Savoir wine club opens on St. Pete’s Central Avenue.
By Selene San Felice
Another wine shop has been uncorked in St. Petersburg.
Savoir on Central opened last Friday at 2531 Central Ave., taking over the spot previously occupied by THC drink shop Rasta Canna.
Along with a la carte bottles and glasses, the wine club offers tastings, classes, monthly memberships.
Sharon Mahoney—nominated for 2025 Best of the Bay for Best Sommelier—pours her knowledge and experience running Events By the Glass into Savoir, co-owned by entrepreneur Christina Noordstar.
Savoir is the newest in a handful of St. Pete bottle shops, including Lolita’s Wine Market, Adult Therapy, CellarMasters, Bin 6 South, Hawthorne Bottle Shoppe and Book + Bottle. SmallBar is expected to open Spitz wine shop soon.
Mahoney runs the club’s wine course each Wednesday, teaching members about specific regions through tasting five different wines. She and two other in-house sommeliers also lead blind tastings, Friday Flight Nights and themed Sunday Supper Club dinners.
The shop also has an espresso bar with Kahwa Coffee and pastries.
Savoir’s first Sunday Supper Club is this week, including five Italian wines paired with a meal by chef Joshua Breen.
For more updates, visit savoironcentral. com and follow the shop on social media @ savoironcentral.
Pho Kien Giang opens new Pinellas Park location
It’s no secret that Pinellas Park is home to dozens of fantastic Vietnamese eateries, but one local favorite just reopened its doors down the street from its flagship location.
Pho Kien Giang—known for its assortment of no-frills, southern Vietnamese fare— closed its doors at 8730 49th St. N last month and relocated to a new restaurant a few blocks away.
The popular Vietnamese restaurant is now located at 8150 49th St. N in the building that recently housed Nam Viet eatery. Pho Kien Giang celebrated its first service at its new location last week, and was met with long lines of regular customers who have been eagerly awaiting its reopening.
Despite not using any social media, marketing techniques or even boasting an updated website, Pho Kien Giang’s dining room remains booked and busy on any given day of the week.
The restaurant’s variety of pho, made with beef bones, is arguably one of the most popular menu items, alongside other well-liked appetizers like spring rolls, egg rolls, wonton soup and its ultra-crispy chicken wings. And while Pho Kien Giang doesn’t offer any vegetarian or vegan pho options, it features an entire plant-based section with spicy lemongrass tofu (that’s locally-sourced in small batches), stir-fried noodles and vegetables, Chinese broccoli braised in oyster sauce and vegetable fried rice.
Other entrees Pho Kien Giang offers include bún bowls filled with vermicelli noodles, protein and fresh vegetables, broken rice platters, fried rice and a handful of traditional dishes on the “Family Special” portion of the menu—which range from caramelized claypot catfish and hot
and sour shrimp soup to tangy beef salad, caramelized spare ribs and dancing beef.
According to Pho Kien Giang’s infrequentlyused Facebook account, a second location of the popular Vietnamese restaurant is actually in the works, too. A Pho Kien Giang employee confirmed and told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that a second location at 5800 34th St. N is slated to open by early-2026.
Pho Kien Gang’s new location at 8150 49th St. N in Pinellas Park is now open from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 10 a.m.-10 p.m. FridaySaturday.—Kyla Fields
Buya Ramen closes in St. Pete’s Edge District
Buya Ramen said goodbye to downtown St. Petersburg last weekend, but restaurant owner Michael Sponaugle says it’ll be back.
The shop closed its doors after nine years at 911 Central Ave. in the Edge District on Sunday. Sponaugle told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that he decided not to renew the lease, opting to rebuild in one of downtown St. Pete’s new high rises.
“We’re very much looking forward to keeping St. Petersburg out home and evolving with the skyline,” Sponaugle said.
There was no issue with the landlord, he clarified. The lease has a few months left, but Sponaugle said he wanted to close during the summer slow season.
The revamped Buya will open by next summer with more of a focus on its izakaya-style small plates. But ramen fans will still be able to get their fix.
“When we opened in 2016, that term (izakaya) hadn’t become familiar with guests in our market, so we led with ramen,” Sponaugle said.
“Ramen will always be the star abut you’re going to see a more diverse menu that stays true to a lot of the Japanese cuisine we do with a lot more smaller plates to chose from.”
Buya won Creative Loafing’s Best of the Bay award for Best Ramen from 2020-2024. Since opening in August 2016, Sponaugle has expanded to several national and international locations and launched an upscale sister restaurant, Ukiah, in Ashville and Ft. Lauderdale.
It is neither a diner, drive in or dive, but Buya was featured on the Food Network’s “Triple D.” Guy Fieri approved of the restaurant’s crispy duck ramen and blistered shishito peppers.
LOTS TO MERLOT-VE: Savoir on Central owners Christina Noordstar (L) and Sharon Mahoney.
UPCOMING RELATED EVENT ON VIEW NOW THROUGH SEPTEMBER 21
AFTER HOURS (21+): NINA YANKOWITZ | IN THE OUT/OUT THE IN
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 | 7-10 PM
Step into a fully activated MFA for a night where art meets sound in unexpected ways. At this 21+ community celebration, we’re blending live DJ sets, contemporary art, and hands-on experiences into one immersive evening. Explore the museum like never before—with live DJ sets by Brian Schanck, Justin Depth & jubilee, transforming our permanent collection into a sonic playground. In the conservatory, dance to DJ-curated beats, grab a signature drink, and dive into vibrant conversations. This special night features the dynamic In the Out / Out the In exhibition, including work by renowned multimedia artist Nina Yankowitz, whose groundbreaking contributions help reimagine how sound and visual art interact within the museum space.
20 crazy road trip stops between Tampa Bay and Orlando.
By Chloe Greenberg
Florida has weirdness sprinkled throughout the state, but one of the quirkiest stretches just might be between Orlando and Tampa. Whether you’re looking to break up your road trip or tick a true roadside attraction off your bucket list, there are airboats, dinosaurs, haunted roads and plenty of reptiles waiting for you.
Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art This attraction remains a less “touristy” sight well worth seeing. The Morse Museum houses the most comprehensive collection of the works of stained glass pioneer Louis Comfort Tiffany in the world, including the masterpiece that is the Tiffany Chapel. 445 N Park Ave., Winter Park
Citrus Tower The 226-foot-tall structure in Clermont was originally built in 1956 to allow visitors to observe the miles of surrounding orange groves. It was once among the Orlando area’s most famous landmarks, but now it’s home to a boutique coffee company. 141 S Highway 27, Clermont
Dinosaur World Tampa Bay’s own prehistoric playground is the perfect place to wander around hundreds of life-sized dinosaurs in natural settings. The attraction offers a dino-themed play area, a massive interactive boneyard, and a museum featuring a collection of animatronic beasts. 5145 Harvey Tew Rd., Plant City Fantasy of Flight Museum Polk City’s Fantasy of Flight Museum features all things aviation, including a large collection of vintage aircrafts. The museum is fully open seasonally, with private tours and the complete collection on display, while a “lite” version is open year-round. The season starts in April. 1400 Broadway Blvd. SE, Polk City
FSC’s Frank Lloyd Wright buildings
The largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture exists right here in Florida, on the campus of Florida Southern College in Lakeland. The college offers guided tours for guests to stroll through and enjoy the iconic collection. 840 Johnson Ave., Lakeland
Gatorland This 110-acre theme park and wildlife preserve was founded 73 years ago by Owen Godwin on former cattle land, and has since been a wildlife adventure park. 14501 S Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando
Kissimmee Swamp Tours Go classic overthe-top Florida at this roadside stop, where you can hop on an airboat with Kissimmee Swamp Tours for a firsthand look at all the flora, fauna and weirdness that makes the Sunshine State what it is. 4500 Joe Overstreet Rd., Kenansville Lakeridge Winery and Vineyards
Lakeridge Winery brings a tiny taste of Napa Valley to Central Florida. The more than-80-acre plot of grape-planted vineyards is the perfect place to get lost in Central Florida. Traveling wine lovers and connoisseurs can sample local
Orange World This is just what is sounds like: one big orange-themed extravaganza. At this Kissimmee roadside stop, you can find fresh oranges and other produce, Florida-themed gifts, and plenty of wacky souvenirs. 5395 W Irlo Bronson Memorial Hwy., Kissimmee Phosphate Museum This may just be one of Florida’s most niche museums, but here we are. The Central Florida town of Mulberry is home to the Phosphate Museum, dedicated to the history of the phosphate mining industry. The museum features tons of fossils, memorabilia, and exhibits to really get you really hyped about prehistoric chemical compounds. 101 SE 1st. St., Mulberry Presidents Hall of Fame This Clermont stop offers a history lesson wrapped up in a grand ol’ time. The museum includes displays and models of iconic sites such as the White
BITING TIME: Gatorland is a 110-acre theme park and wildlife preserve started 73 years ago.
wines and spend the day in the sunny countryside. 19239 U.S.-Hwy 27, Clermont Monument of States Built as a symbol of American unity after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Monument of States was created with donations of stone that came from around the world, including a rock from President Franklin D. Roosevelt. 300 E Monument Ave., Kissimmee
House, the State Dining Room, the Oval Office, and more. It also features life-size models of many U.S. presidents, a mini-Mount Rushmore, and a collection of gowns worn by former First Ladies. 123 N Highway 27, Clermont Reptile World Serpentarium If you’re willing to take the long route between Tampa and Orlando, Reptile World is a must-do. This reptile zoo features more than 75 species of
snakes, lizards, crocodiles, alligators, and more. It’s operated by herpetologist George Van Horn, who also puts on venom-milking shows with the park’s resident snakes. 5705 E Irlo Bronson Memorial Hwy., St. Cloud
Safari Wilderness Ranch Lakeland’s Safari Wilderness offers its guests a first-hand drive-through experience featuring plenty of exotic wildlife. Safari Wilderness prides itself on being totally different than a zoo or theme park; its emphasis is on immersing its guests in nature. 10850 Moore Rd., Lakeland Safety Harbor Art and Music Center This is Safety Harbor’s home to all things creativity, with art and wacky sculptures on display and regular live music. The spot’s Artery gallery and gift shop proudly features the work of more than 35 local artists. The center is open Thursday through Sunday. 706 Second St. N, Safety Harbor Spook Hill This is one of the country’s oldest “gravity hills,” offering an optical illusion that makes it appear as though cars are rolling up the hill. It’s one of Florida’s pre-Disney World roadside attractions, filled with eerie mystery that’ll (probably very briefly) entertain the most skeptical skeptics. Lake Wales
Wekiva Island This Central Florida destination is just under a 30-minute drive from Orlando, and offers plenty of water fun for kids. Rent a kayak or paddleboard, play beach volleyball, or just splash around in the cool, clear waters. 1014 Miami Springs Dr., Longwood Whimzeyland Just down the road from the Safety Harbor Art and Music Center, Whimzeyland started as an eclectic collection of art and knick-knacks and turned into one of Florida’s most recognizable local landmarks. The “Bowling Ball House” called Whimzeyland is covered with recycled materials, art projects and, yeah, bowling balls. 1206 3rd St. N, Safety Harbor
Wild Florida Airboats and Gator Park
If you’re looking to really dive into the Florida roadtrip essentials, Wild Florida probably has something to ignite your excitement. This massive wildlife park and outdoor experience offers drive-through exotic animal sight seeing, airboat tours, alligator handling shows and a petting zoo. 3301 Lake Cypress Rd., Kenansville Wish Farms This is one of the many U-pick farm destinations travelers will stumble across on the drive between Orlando and Tampa. At Wish Farms, the nationally recognized strawberry company invites visitors to its property for fruit picking and a bit of fruit-fueled history. 1014 Miami Springs Dr., Longwood
Friday, September 5, 2025 • 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Chateau Cellars Jazz Night | Prix Fixe Dinner @ Chateau Cellars Ybor 2009 N. 22nd St.
Tickets drom $59.34 bit.ly/ChateauJazzNight
Saturday, September 6, 2025 • 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Bloom with Kindness - Bouquet Making For A Cause @ J.C. Newman Cigar Company 2701 N 16th St
Tickets $42.13 bit.ly/BloomWithKindness
Saturday, September 6, 2025 • 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM
LUX Pole Cabaret | RED CARPET @ The Castle 2004 North 16th St
Tickets from $30.66 bit.ly/LUXpole
Wednesday, September 10, 2025 • 7:15 PM - 8:30 PM
September Floating Sound Bath @ Hotel Haya 1412 East 7th Avenue
Tickets $39.19 bit.ly/FloatingSoundYbor
Thursday, September 11, 2025 • Doors at 7:00 PM
BREED w/ Saints of Saturn, Midnight Vice & Mulch @ Crowbar 1812 N 17th St
Tickets $14.56 crowbarybor.com
Friday, September 12, 2025 • 10:00 PM - 3:00 AM
It’s A 2000’s Party @ Zodiac 1507 E 7th Ave
Tickets from $20.12 bit.ly/2000sYbor
Saturday, September 13, 2025 • 2:00 PM - 6:00 PM
The Official Tampa Day Party @ Crowbar 1812 N 17th St
Tickets $13.45 bit.ly/DayPartyCrowbar
Tuesday, September 16, 2025 • 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
A Taste of Spain Wine Dinner @ Chateau Cellars
2009 N. 22nd St
Tickets $110.96 bit.ly/TasteofSpainYbor
Wednesday, September 17, 2025 • 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Wedding Pro Networking Night @ Ybor City Museum 1818 East 9th Avenue
Tickets - $13.45 bit.ly/WeddingProNight
Thursday, September 18, 2025 • 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM
UNCORKED & UNPLUGGED: TBGP Jazz & Wine Kick-off @ Pour Decision Ybor 1818 East 9th Avenue
Tickets - $13.45 bit.ly/UncorkedUnplugged
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.
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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.
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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.
Tattoo 1603
Tampa’s Oldest Tattoo Shop. You’re in the right place! Established 1994. Walk-ins always welcome. bluedeviltattoo.com
REVIEWS
PROFILES MUSIC WEEK
Doing the most
Rock The Park celebrates 15 years anchoring culture in downtown Tampa.
By Ray Roa
As making a life in Tampa grows more complicated every week, one aspect of downtown living has stayed almost completely the same for the last decade-and-a-half.
“It is what it is, right—it’s three bands,” Joe D’Acunto told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay about the Rock the Park series he’s booked for the last 15 years.
Born just months after then-Mayor Pam Iorio cut the ribbon on Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, the free concert on the first Thursday of every month was the brainchild of a promoter in his early-30s and the equally fresh-faced people calling the shots at the Tampa Downtown Partnership.
“The Riverwalk was supposed to be coming in soon, so it was meant to get ahead of all that and help shape this jewel of downtown with programming that was family-friendly, something to create a culture of music in the district,” D’Acunto, 46, added.
Launched a year before Spotify landed in the U.S., the vision for Rock The Park was to create a playlist for music fans whose tastes cover multiple genres. A grab bag of styles and flavors that represent not just the city, but music as a whole. The formula, D’Acunto added, has always been to give up-and-coming bands a platform while celebrating existing legacy acts from around the region.
that there have been 180 iterations of Rock the Park in the last 15 years. A few lineups have had just two bands, and a spoken word poet makes the bill occasionally, but she estimates that the series has platformed and supported nearly 500 artists.
Every one of those artists will have their name on the back of special commemorative t-shirts that’ll be given to the first 100 fans who arrive at the anniversary show this week.
D’Acunto—who’s booked shows locally since 1998—can remember pretty much every one of those bands and has a few highlights including a set from a then-fledgling Florida indie-rock band Flipturn, which went on to play Tampa’s Gasparilla Music Festival and most recently Lollapalooza in Chicago.
“The music community itself has embraced it…”
“The park was packed, and there were hundreds of their fans on their feet their entire time singing along. All the while, people are walking babies in strollers, moving around the park, getting food from a local vendor,” he said.
“It was just one of those all encompassing ‘holy shit,’ moments. Like, not only is this band great, but they’re going to be exceptional.”
“The music community itself has embraced it, so in that manner it kind of directs itself,” he noted about the way the series has taken on a life of its own.
Set on the north side of the park, with the Tampa Museum of Art and Glazer Children’s Museum behind it, the concert places visitors on the terrace steps facing south as they watch bands play. The backdrop includes familiar sights (read: Beer Can Building), but the skyline has also grown up around the concert series. Playing the stage is a rite of passage for any outfit that hopes to build a following not just locally, but nationally, too.
Ivy Lupco started working at the Tampa Downtown Partnership as an events lead in 2018 and is now Manager of Public Space Placemaking & Programming. She told CL
The future of pop music will once again be on display for Rock the Park’s 15th anniversary thanks to a headlining performance from highenergy rap ensemble Barely Legal Collective (aka the “Black Backstreet Boys”), which takes the stage after sets from Gainesville’s six-piece Sooza party brass band plus tried, true and always-evolving Americana-rock hero Have Gun, Will Travel.
Mark Anthony’s MA Art will do live painting as food trucks like Jam Dish (by chef Mugabe Tenn whose reggae band Tribal Style is a Rock the Park alum) and Boy Named Sous feed concertgoers.
D’Acunto has literally watched kids who used to come to Rock the Park bring their own bands to the stage, but he’s most grateful to just get an opportunity to be a kind of cultural steward of the event.
“It’s my favorite thing that we do because it is about community. It is about family and about exposing young artists to a different crowd,” he
LOCAL MUSIC
Rock the Park 15th anniversary w/Barely Legal Collective/Have Gun, Will Travel/ Sooza Brass Band. Thursday, Sept. 4. 6:30 p.m. No cover. Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. 600 N Ashley Dr., Tampa. tampasdowntown.com
added. “So it kind of embodies everything that I love about concert promotion and booking.”
Could Rock the Park go another 15 years?
Kenyetta Hairston-Bridges has been President and CEO of the Tampa Downtown Partnership for less than a year, but recently wrote in a press release that she’s “quickly seen how special this tradition is.”
So special in fact, that it’s inspired the partnership to listen to all of downtown’s neighborhoods and develop other series like Tampa Heights’ “Rhythm & Hues’ alleyway art show and a forthcoming quarterly jazz concert series
set for Central Park within the Encore development near the former site of a famed Black Tampa neighborhood commonly referred to as The Scrub.
What’s more is that Lupco definitively told CL that Rock the Park—which moves to the Hub dive bar when it rains and even happened remotely during COVID lockdowns—is not going anywhere.
“It’s a staple of the community. It’s made a name for itself. We’ve developed all these other programs and categories of programs, and it’s its own category,” she said. “We won’t even buckle it into another category—it’s Rock the Park.”
CHAUNCE OF A LIFETIME: Chance Reynolds plays Rock the Park Tampa in September 2024.
Fantastic day
Nick Heyward talks Haircut 100 reunion and more.
By Gabe Echazabal
It’s been seven years since pop music icon and master songwriter Nick Heyward last spoke to Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. The former lead singer and chief songwriter for the bouncy, breezy 1980s pop band Haircut 100 was living in the Tampa Bay Area at the time, eager to continue the sparkling run of solo records he’d released since leaving his former band, and anxious to play live in the United States. With his always cheerful and boisterous aura, the Beckenham, England native, now 64, seems to have never lost his passion and zeal for life and for making music.
What has been the reaction from the fans to the touring been?
INTERVIEW
Howard Jones w/Haircut 100 Saturday, Sept. 6. 7 p.m. $35 & up Duke Energy Center for the Arts at Mahaffey Theater. 400 1st St. S, St. Petersburg themahaffey.com
Since then, Heyward has had the chance to reunite with his former bandmates, and they’ve collectively decided to have a go at it again, and the results have been remarkable. In 2022, the band’s sole album with Heyward at the helm, Pelican West, celebrated its 40th anniversary, and a lavish, deluxe four-CD box set came out to commemorate the record’s release. Playing a run of reunion gigs throughout its native United Kingdom the following year to capitalize on the momentum and the attention the box set received, the group played to sellout crowds who’d never stopped loving the band or its bright, infectious blend of jazz and funk-influenced pop music. Known for hit singles “Love Plus One,” Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl),” and “Fantastic Day,” the band enjoyed tremendous chart success throughout Europe in its heyday, which also spilled over to the States and earned it a respectable spot on American album sales charts.
While Haircut 100 never toured extensively throughout the U.S. back when the album was racing up the charts and they were enjoying exposure as mainstays on MTV, the band was invited to partake in a package tour in 2023 throughout the U.S. that found its on a bill with contemporaries like ABC and headliner Howard Jones. Due to the overwhelming response they got from audiences on that run of shows, Jones has invited Haircut 100 to once again join him on tour for another trek, which, luckily, includes a stop in St. Pete this weekend.
Speaking to me from a cafe in Nashville, Tennessee (where the current tour, which spans the entire month of September, is due to kick off), I had the chance to once again chat with the always jovial and lively Heyward about his reuniting with Haircut 100, the promise of new music with the band, and their return to the limelight. Read an extended version of this Q&A via cltampa.com/music.
Yeah, there’s been full-on, grown men crying, like the Rolling Stones lyric goes! We were in Utah and on the second gig of the last tour when it really kicked into shape. It was just, ”Ah, right, OK! This is gonna be an amazing tour!” and we went out to do a sort of impromptu [autograph] signing, and we sat down, and the first people were coming up, queuing up, and three guys just came up and started talking, and they started crying, and it made us cry. It was like, there were six men crying, because these songs meant so much to them. This was their road trip that they did. It was an emotional moment, and that kept happening throughout the whole tour. It was an emotional tour.
I can relate! I got pretty emotional myself when I went to New Jersey to see you all perform on that tour. I was so happy
to finally see a band I loved so much, and that I never thought I’d get to see perform live, onstage, and right in front of me. It’s really good to be kind of like a proper band again, like in the studio and working together in a creative way, and just smiling at each other when you get that groove going. And you just go “I don’t know what it is,” when Blair starts playing drums, and we start kind of warming our hands on him like he’s some kind of fire!
There were so many great albums that came out during the 1980s. But, from your perspective, why do you think Pelican West has remained such a fan favorite and has stood the test of time?
Nobody sounds like that. Even though you can listen Pelican West and go “Oh, that sounds a bit like Tower of Power, that bit”, and there’s a bit of Earth, Wind & Fire, and “Oh, that might even sound like Orange Juice there.” Obviously, you’ve got influences of the period, but it was not derivative of one thing in particular. But the magic of a band is that you all come together with your influences and bring them into your playing. And at that particular stage, we were all aspiring to do something, and it was all authentic. It was all just thrown into the mix, so to speak, and so that’s what, I suppose, that’s what it is. It didn’t really sound New Romantic
at the time, even though we were in that new wave, new romantic period, that cultural wave, we actually were never it, music-wise.
The reformed group has released one single so far, and I’ve read that there’s a new album coming out soon. What’s that process been like this time around?
It’s just pure joy. That’s what the recordings are and that’s what the delivery of the music is. I still feel that joy inside, I know Graham still feels that joy, I know Blair still feels that joy, and Les still feels that joy. I know that for a fact because we’re working together, and we feel that joy, and we’ve just recorded that joy again on this new album. It’s more “up” than my solo stuff. My solo stuff is, it’s just different, and something happens when you just get together and it’s like Haircut 100 energy! It’s really weird. It’s the spirit of Haircut 100.
It’s the album, plus another energy, another level of energy and joy. The shows we used to do had a lot more energy than the first album did. The album sounded accomplished and in some parts, you know, intricately woven together, but the live shows take on this built-up momentum, like a dynamo. They’ve just become something, just playing them and playing them, and they’ve developed. It’s just like the celebration of living and life, and they’ve built momentum as they’ve gone on.
“There’s been full-on grown men crying.”
MARINE BOYS: (L-R) Graham Jones, Nick Heyward, and Les Nemes are coming to the St. Pete waterfront.
GREG GORMAN
DAILY HAPPY HOUR!
tix&info: www dot aestheticized dot com
"Keeping
If The Joe Perry Project’s tour kickoff earlier this month left you craving more live Aerosmith, get back in the saddle again because it’s Tom Hamilton’s turn to show off what he’s been up to.
The 73-year-old bassist, who co-founded the iconic hard rock collective in 1970, has put together Close Enemies, a new repertoire that features the likes of The Babys drummer Tony Brock and Angus Young guitar tech Trace Foster.
The band’s current set only features a smattering of Aerosmith jams, but almost
Breed w/Saints of Saturn/Midnight Vice/Mulch Thursday, Sept. 11. 7 p.m. $14.56. Crowbar, Ybor City
Vampires Everywhere! w/Another Day Dawns Thursday, Nov. 13. 7 p.m. $27.51. Crowbar, Ybor City
everything else is currently unreleased original material, so if you want to hear the closest to new ‘Aero we might get for a while before anything releases, Largo’s Central Park is where you’ll want to be come January.
Tickets to see Close Enemies feat. Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith play Largo’s Central Park Performing Arts Center on Friday, Jan. 23 are now available and start at $25.
See my weekly roundup of new concerts coming to Tampa Bay below.—Josh Bradley
Long time reader! I’m a mostly straight boy in my early 20s with a new girlfriend. I say “mostly straight” because I’m into bondage and finding men who wanted to tie me up was always easier than finding women who wanted to tie me up. But I met a girl at a party this summer, and we started dating, and she’s beautiful and smart and really into me. But she isn’t into bondage at all. She’s not okay with me getting tied up outside our relationship. She said I should “stop being kinky” for her, as it makes her uncomfortable to think I have sexual needs she can’t meet. She also hates thinking about me being “abused by predators.” None of the half a dozen men and one woman who’ve tied me up since I became sexually active were “predators.” If anything, they were extremely kind to me, and I’ve had nothing but good experiences. But seeing my bondage photos deeply upset my girlfriend. (She asked to see them when we “laid our kink cards on the table,” which we did three months in, like you recommend.)
I know what you’re going to tell me — break up with her — but there aren’t lots of other girls lining up to date me. I’m tall and skinny and pretty in a twinky way that attracts male attention but turns off women. (Gay men are disappointed when I tell them I’m straight, but at least they believe me. When I tell straight and bi women I’m straight, they think I’m lying.) The last time I had a girlfriend was in high school, Dan, and I’ve really enjoyed having a girlfriend for the first time in my adult life. Finding another girl who is into me isn’t going to be easy.
Is this a case where I need to settle? (“Settling down requires settling for.” — Dan Savage) My very first sexual fantasies were about bondage. I don’t think I’ve ever had an orgasm when I wasn’t either thinking about being tied up or actually tied up. Do I give up my kink for now — or pretend to give it up (I’ll still be thinking about it) — in the hopes that my girlfriend gets more comfortable over time? Or do I break up with her even if it means I’ll probably wind up alone the rest of my life? I sometimes wish I wasn’t like this. It honestly feels like a curse. Finding a girl who is into me is hard enough. Finding one who is also into bondage feels impossible.—Thai American Bondage Boy
P.S. I’m only 24 but I count as a “long time reader” because mom told me to start reading you when she found the porn I was looking at online when I was 14. I’ve been reading and listening ever since.
She’s beautiful, she’s smart, and she’s wrong for you — she wasn’t a mistake, she was right for this summer, but she’s not right for the long haul. At 24, TABB, you’re too young to settle for someone who doesn’t respect your sexual needs. (Please note: I said, “doesn’t respect your sexual needs,” I didn’t say, “doesn’t satisfy every one
of your sexual needs.”) But even if you were 64, you shouldn’t settle for someone who shames you for having sexual needs/interests/kinks they won’t or can’t meet.
As a long-time reader, you’re no doubt familiar with my “price of admission” concept: we don’t get everything we want from our sexual and/or romantic partners — some needs go unmet, everybody has their annoying shit, not two people are a perfect fit — and figuring out whether you wanna be with someone comes down to deciding whether you’re willing to pay the price of admission. Your partner is a slob and you’re a neat freak: Is being the one who keeps things tidy without (too much) complaining a price of admission you’re willing to pay to be with them? You’re into anal or bondage or watersports or whatever and your partner isn’t into anal or bondage or watersports or whatever: Is going without anal or bondage or watersports or whatever a price of admission you’re willing to pay to be with them?
Being the one who tidies up (the price of admission I pay to be with my husband) or going without anal or bondage or watersports or whatever are reasonable prices of admission that a reasonable person might be willing to pay to be with someone who makes them happy in lots other ways/meets lots of other needs. But what your girlfriend is asking — what your girlfriend is demanding — is not reasonable. She’s not asking you to go without being tied up by her, TABB, something you might be able to live with if you were allowed other outlets, she’s asking you to reach into your erotic subconscious and rip out your kinks for her psychological comfort. That demand is equal parts unreasonable, disrespectful, and impossible, TABB; it’s not only a price of admission you shouldn’t be willing to pay, it’s not one you can pay (see: impossible).
looking at bondage porn again, TABB, and your awful girlfriend won’t be as understanding as your wonderful mother was.
Now, you could play the long game here — you could tell your girlfriend what she wants to hear and hope she comes around — and I’ve met people at kink events (enthusiastic participants) who weren’t into kink until they fell in love with someone who was and slowly warmed to their partner’s kinks. But they were the kind of vanilla people (or formerly vanilla people) who’d given their kinky partners permission to enjoy and explore on their own and not the kind of vanilla people who demanded that their partners take their kinks behind the barn and Old Yeller ‘em. (Google it.)
Finally, TABB, right now you’re telling yourself that this girl was a fluke and that she’s the only pretty girl you’re ever gonna pull. Why not tell yourself that you’ve turned a corner? You could be telling yourself that you’ve grown into your body and/or aged into your face and you’re suddenly attracting female attention, and this girl is proof. But instead of telling yourself a story that builds your confidence (“Getting this girl proves I can get a girl!”), TABB, you’re telling yourself a story that tears it down (“This girl is the only girl I’m ever going to get.”). Tearing yourself down instead of building yourself up is a choice, TABB, and it’s a dumb one.
SAVAGE LOVE
Long time reader here, Dan. Cis man, happily married to a lovely woman more than twenty years. I’m probably something like a Kinsey 2-3 (and unconflicted about it), and I’ve concluded it’s high time I sucked a dick or two while I’m still hot enough for it to be fun for the other parties. I don’t really need to process any of that and understand the importance of informing my wife beforehand and working with her limits about sexual safety, etc. What I’d like to hear from you is your practical advice about the best way to have a good first time.
app for pop-up sex parties in private homes, and then go to a bathhouse or a sex party or a house party. If there’s a dick you want to suck, suck it. If there isn’t, don’t. It’s better to wait for someone you’re genuinely attracted to than to start your cocksucking career with a dick you could take or leave.
And relax. No one cares that it’s your “first time” — bathhouses and sex clubs are full of dudes at every imaginable level of experience and, you’re right, there’s not a lot of chatter in bathhouses and sex clubs. So, you don’t have to announce yourself as a rookie or explain why you’re there. You just have to be polite, hygienic, and friendly — same as you would at any other kind of party. If you get on Grindr to look for someone one-on-one, you might want to tell them it’s your first time, as that will definitely turn some guys on.
As for risk: if you’re only sucking dick (and not bottoming), you don’t need to get on PrEP, the daily medication that protects gay and bi men from HIV infection. HIV transmission via oral is vanishingly rare, even for swallowers. But oral is a great way to pick up gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis, CRAFT, so to protect your wife (and yourself), you’ll want to… 1. Get on doxy-PEP. That’s 200mg of doxycycline taken within 72 hours of a risky encounter… and pretty much all sexual encounters in bathhouses and sex clubs should be seen as risky. Taking doxy-PEP dramatically lowers your risk of contracting bacterial STIs.
2. Get tested regularly. You should be tested every three months if you’re sexually active with more than one partner. And don’t wait for symptoms to appear to get tested — a lot of STIs are asymptomatic, and you can pass them on (to your wife or some nice guy off Sniffies) without realizing you’re infected.
That said, TABB, there are people out there with kinks they don’t get to act on because they fell in love with someone who doesn’t share their kinks and wants monogamy. But there’s a difference between a loving partner who says, “You can explore this through fantasy and solo play,” and a controlling lunatic who says, “You must cut this out of your erotic imagination like it’s some sort of tumor.” The loving partner’s ask (“I’m willing to make space for this”) demonstrates respect for your erotic autonomy. The lunatic partner’s ask (“I’m asking you to kill this part of yourself”) shows no respect for your erotic autonomy, TABB, and puts you in the impossible position of having to lie to your partner for the rest of your life. And since there’s no chemo for kink — there’s no cure — you’re gonna get caught
I live in a large city where more or less every option is possible — bars, spas, sex clubs, apps, etc. — and all of these seem like they would lead to such different experiences. I believe in the value of in-person chemistry, so identifying people in real-world spaces seems good. On the other hand, it sounds like everyone is finding each other online these days. I also like a bit of badinage and socializing, but the idea of a gay sex club or bathhouse — where I understand there isn’t a lot of chatter — seems exciting. Dicks get sucked without condoms and suspect I’m more of a swallower than a spitter, so STIs are going to be an unavoidable risk. What’s the best way to manage that risk to protect my wife’s health? Looking forward to your inside-baseball advice.
Cocksucking Rookie Asking For Tips
If you want dick right away, CRAFT, go to a bathhouse or a sex club or get on Sniffies, the
3. Talk about this shit with your wife at great length. If she says, “Condoms for oral,” then it’s condoms for oral. (Though I suspect she’ll be more concerned about condoms if/when you have anal down the road.) And if you’re only going to suck a dick once in a great while, you could take your doxy after and then waiting a few weeks — and getting tested — before you have fucked your wife again. That doesn’t mean you can’t meet your wife’s sexual needs (vibrators, penetration toys, outercouse) while you wait for the all-clear.
Finally, the very first blowjob you give could be good but it’s unlikely to be the very best blowjob you give — it might be good, but it’s not going to be great — because first-time experiences rarely best-ever experiences. Low expectations are easier to exceed, CRAFT, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself (or the first guy you blow) to get it right. Just enjoy. Then circle back and tell us how it went.
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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 September 12, 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. Ivette Vazquez unit 1000 Cynthia Journell unit 1032 Darvyn Jones 1119 Traci Green unit 3094 Sharon Coleman E407. Run dates 8/28/2025 and 9/4/2025.
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 September 12th, 2025 at 10:00 am for units located at: Compass Self Storage 2291 S. Frontage Rd, Plant City, Florida 33563. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the 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 103 Donna Hallback Unit 2039 Erika Saniago Unit 2087 Janeteria Mitchell Unit 2246 Elizabeth Trice Unit 3028 Kim Stone Unit 3179 Christopher Brower. Run dates 8/28/2025 and 9/4/2025.
