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Local Music Venues Featured Lively Year Of Performances

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By CURTIS ROSS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 26, 2008

Aside from the Rays, there wasn't a lot of good news to report this year. Fortunately, there was a lot of good music.

The live musical year started strong Jan. 10 with The Dresden Dolls' performance at Tampa Theatre. The piano-drums duo combined musicianship and theatricality for a show that was jaw-droppingly amazing and one of the best I've seen in 30-plus years of attending concerts.

Tampa Theatre scored big this year. Besides the Dolls, the venerable venue played host to country-soul chanteuse Shelby Lynne, ex-Kink Ray Davies and ex-Talking Head David Byrne.

Lynne's show, July 17, was a marvel of spontaneity and seductiveness. Byrne's show, on Dec. 12, combined choreography and music for a sexy, funny, enthralling show. And seeing Davies playing Kinks hits as well as tunes from his two recent (and excellent) solo albums was a never-to-be-forgotten thrill.

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings brought earthy funk and soul to a packed Skipper's Smokehouse Jan. 22. Radiohead returned to the Tampa area at the Ford Amphitheatre for the first time since 1995 supporting the fine "In Rainbows" album and proved worth the wait.

The Cure's long-awaited "4:13 Dream" was a disappointment, but the band's June 11 performance at the Forum wasn't. Robert Smith and Co. were spellbinding, going back as far as "Three Imaginary Boys" and up through some of the best moments of the then-yet-to-be-released "4:13 Dream." The next night, Pearl Jam and Kings of Leon teamed up for a show that confirmed both bands' substantial live reputations.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played their first show after the death of Danny Fedirici at the Forum on April 22. The show opened with a howling, raging "Backstreets" and reached an emotional peak with Fedirici's signature accordion number, "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)."

Songwriters supreme Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt proved to be an effective comic duo as well on Sept. 26 at Ruth Eckerd Hall. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were even better than usual - and they're usually great - July 16 at the Forum.

Finally, there was Beatles weekend. Cheap Trick performed "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" in its entirety on Nov. 21 at Ruth Eckerd Hall. The next night, listener-supported radio station WMNF, 88.5 FM, presented four bands - The Ditchflowers, Rebekah Pulley & the Reluctant Prophets, Four Star Riot and The Vodkanauts - each performing a side of the 1968 release known as "The White Album." The edge goes to the looser and livelier White Album show, but both were great reminders of why the Fab Four's music remains vital.

The year ended with an explosive - literally and figuratively - AC/DC show at the Forum.

I'll give the album of the year nod to Ra Ra Riot's "The Rhumb Line," but there were plenty of great ones. Check out the Liner Notes blog on TBO.com for more.

Reporter Curtis Ross can be reached at (813) 259-7568.

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