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The month of September in the arts: From Ringo to Lizzo
It happens every couple of years, less often than a presidential election, but more frequently than an appearance in the night sky by Halley’s Comet.
One of the Beatles is coming to town.
Of course, there are only two of them left, and they’re both octogenarians now, but you’ve got to hand it to Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney for continuing to get out there and play – surely they don’t need the money – and making people deliriously happy.
Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band will perform Sept. 16 at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, postponed from earlier this year by a Covid case within the band.
All is well now, and this year’s incarnation of the All-Stars includes Toto guitarist Steve Lukather, singer/songwriter Colin Hays (Men at Work) and Hamish Stuart (from Average White Band and the Paul McCartney Band), and keyboard wizard (and true star) Edgar Winter. Warren Ham (saxophone) and Gregg Bissonette (second drummer) round out the group.
Lizzo. Publicity photo.
Singer/rapper Lizzo, coming off the recent No. 1 hit “About Damn Time” and the Special album, the highest-charting album by a female artist in 2022 thus far, will be in concert Sept. 24 at Amalie Arena in Tampa. This is the second date on the Special tour.
Rod Stewart is at Amalie, with Cheap Trick, Sept. 3. Amalie’s also got Scorpions (14th), Kevin Hart (15th) and reggaeton singer Karol G’s “Strip Love Tour” (26th).
The fabulous singer/songwriter Cat Power has a Sept. 22 date in Ferguson Hall, part of Tampa’s Straz Center for the Performing Arts.
Coming to the Straz Center’s Morsini Hall, the “Lost ‘80s Live” tour brings a slew of radio-and-MTV groups from that wacky musical era: A Flock of Seagulls, Missing Persons, the English Beat, Wang Chung, Naked Eyes, Stacey Q and Musical Youth. And yes, there are numerous original members on this show
The bay area’s biggest September concert, Alicia Keys at the Seminole Hard Rock Event Center (Tampa), has been sold out for many months. It’s Sept. 18, if you want to try looking for straggler tickets.
And at the Hard Rock Sept. 15, it’s New Jersey favorites Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes.
September at Tampa’s gargantuan Mid-Florida Credit Union Amphitheatre looks like this: One Republic (Sept. 2); Lamb of God (Sept. 18); Wu-Tang Clan and Naz (Sept. 21); Alice in Chains, Breaking Benjamin and Bush (Sept. 30).
Collective Soul and Switchfoot share the bill Sept. 14 at Ruth Eckerd Hall.
The Florida Orchestra’s scheduled season of concerts doesn’t start until October, but the band is slipping something in this month: They’ll perform the works of Mozart, as the 1984 film Amadeus screens, Sept. 17 at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Pete. With chorus!
Jazz bassist and composer Kyle Eastwood and his band have a two-night stand, Sept. 18 and 19, in the Side Door, downstairs at the Palladium. Eastwood’s film scores include Invictus and Letters From Iwo Jima, both directed by his father, Clint Eastwood.
Theater
The Tampa Bay professional theater community has an impressive lineup of new productions in September:
St. Pete’s American Stage debuts the rock musical Green Day’s American Idiot Sept. 7.
The musical version of The Color Purple begins the season at Stageworks Theatre (Tampa). Dates for the acclaimed stage play are Sept. 9-25.
Steve Martin’s historical comedy Picasso at the Lapin Agile is the new offering from Jobsite, in Tampa, opening Sept. 14.
Vino Veritas by David MacGregor opens Sept. 22 at St. Pete’s Studio Grand Central.
And the Straz Center’s Jaeb Theatre production of the Tony-winning musical Avenue Q, directed by Jobsite’s David Jenkins, opens Aug. 31 and will remain onstage through Sept. 25.
Other stuff
Black Pioneers: Legacy in the American West, opening Sept. 3 at the James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art, explores the path of Black history in the West with a timeline of original pictorial quilts.
Actor/comedian Amy Schumer plays the Hard Rock Sept. 8; it’s billed as “The Whore Tour.”
With the dearth of dance performances around here, now nice to see that the touring company Ballet Magnificat has a show (“Deliver Us”) Sept. 8 in the Palladium Theater’s Hough Hall. On its website, Ballet Magnificat bills itself as “an arts organization dedicated to presenting the good news of Jesus Christ to the whole world.”
The Daily Show Writers Tour (Sept. 16 at Central Park Performing Arts Center) brings comedians Kat Radley, Matt Koff, Randall Otis and, Joe Opio to the Largo venue.
Rhythm & Brews By the Bay, a Sept. 16 event at the Florida Aquarium, features performances by Gin Blossoms and Sister Hazel’s Ken Block and Andrew Copeland.
The Comics of Late Night TV (Sept. 30 at the Palladium) includes sets from Caroline Rhea, Eddie Brill and Nick Griffin.
As always, events are subject to change, and additional events will likely be added as the month progresses.
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