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Weekend forecast: New plays and old rockers
Know your legacy rock acts, Part 1,116 …
In the 1970s, Foghat was a great British band that played boogie-blues with ferocity. The quartet was anchored by lead guitarist Rod Price, a royal terror on the electric slide, and charismatic singer, guitarist and frontman “Lonesome” Dave Peverett. The drummer was Roger Earl, and Tony Stevens played bass.
Peverett, Price and Earl formed Foghat (nee Brandywine) after leaving the boogie band Savoy Brown.
Foghat in the glory days: Peverett, left, Earl, Price and Stevens. Bearsville Records photo.
“Slow Ride” was a massive hit in ’75 (it’s still “in rotation” on Classic Rock stations); the band’s other hard-charging watermarks include “Fool for the City,” “Stone Blue,” “Drivin’ Wheel” and that old blues chestnut, “I Just Want to Make Love to You.”
Foghat sold millions of albums; one went double platinum, and eight went gold.
If we need any more evidence that it ain’t the ‘70s any more, consider this: The Foghat that headlines Friday’s rock ‘n’ roll show at Ruth Eckerd Hall includes Roger Earl, the original drummer. And three other guys.
Price and Peverett are long dead. Stevens currently plays in a Foghat tribute band.
On the “plus” side, the circa 2024 Foghat’s guitarist Bryan Bassett was an original member of Wild Cherry (“Play That Funky Music,” 1975).
Fiery drummer Carmine Appice is the sole original member of Cactus (“The American Led Zeppelin”), which is also on the Ruth Eckerd Hall bill.
Friday’s lineup also includes the Pat Travers Band – happily, guitar wizard Travers (“Snortin’ Whiskey,” “Boom, Out Go the Lights”) is still very much with us, and fronting the contemporary iteration of his ’70s platinum-selling rock ‘n’ roll trio.
As always, caveat emptor. Find tickets here.
Opening tonight: The Musical “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” at freeFall Theatre. Image: Ashley Emrick Photography.
On theater stages
Sunday is absolutely the final performance of Jobsite Theater’s The Smuggler – A Thriller in Verse, which is a one-man show with actor Giles Davies commanding the stage and hypnotizing the audience with a sordid, first-person description of the American Dream’s soft white underbelly. Tickets are here.
At freeFall Theatre, it’s opening weekend for the musical You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, a collaboration with ThinkTank Theatre (headquartered across the bay in Tampa). Read all about the family-friendly show in this story, and find tickets here.
The rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch is entering its final weekend on the mainstage at American Stage. Starting Wednesday, June 12, the production becomes a real-life rock ‘n’ roll experience at Jannus Live (through the 16th). All tickets are here.
Musicals in Tampa: Falsettos, by William Finn and James Lapine, opens Friday at Stageworks; the Tampa Repertory Theatre production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Next to Normal continues at the University of South Florida. Tickets for Falsettos here. Tickets for Next to Normal here.
The eighth annual Tampa International Fringe Festival is at Kress Contemporary, 1624 East Seventh Ave. through June 16. It’s experimental theater, standup comedy, monologues and other stuff out there on the “fringe.” Read more about the festival here, and find the schedule (and tickets) at this link.
Chelsea Lehnea (left, foreground) sings the title role in the St. Petersburg Opera Company production of “Lucia di Lammermoor.” Photo: Jim Swallow.
At the opera
Donizetti’s tragedy Lucia Di Lammermoor is the latest St. Petersburg Opera Company production – June 9, 11 and 13 at the Palladium Theater. Meet soprano Chelsea Lehnea – playing Lucia herself – here.
More concerts
Tonight at Central Park Performing Arts Center (Largo): Nashville singer/songwriter Deana Carter, whose 1996 debut Did I Shave My Legs For This? sold five million copies. “Strawberry Wine,” “We Danced Anyway” and “How Do I Get There” from that album were No. 1 singles. Tickets are here.
Hip hop artist Megan Thee Stallion is at Amalie Arena Saturday; rapper The Kid Laroi performs Sunday at the Yuengling Center. Both venues are in Tampa.
Sunday finds Texan singer and songwriter Steve Earle (“Copperhead Road”) back in the bay area for a solo show at Clearwater’s Capitol Theatre. Tickets.
Your weekend arts forecast appears every Thursday in the Catalyst.
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