Weekend spotlight: The good stuff’s in Pinellas

A good many of this weekend’s biggest concerts take place on the Pinellas side of the bay. Tampa’s usually out in front, numbers-wise. Not this time.

Boston’s Lake Street Dive is back in the area. Vocalist Rachael Price leads the soul-tinged, funk-dusted pop band Saturday at Jannus Live in St. Petersburg. Trousdale opens. Tickets are at this link.

How ’bout that “Weird Al”? He’s at the BayCare Sound tonight. Publicity photo.

Also returning to our fair county is parodist “Weird Al” Yankovic, whose clever pop-smithery has continued to win fans for something like four decades. The cool thing about an Al show is that, sure it’s funny – that’s what he does – but it rocks, too. He always has a great band. The show is tonight at the BayCare Sound; find tickets here.

Also at BayCare (the outdoor amphitheater adjacent to Clearwater’s Coachman Park) are bluegrass icon Alison Krauss and her band of top-drawer pickers and singers, known as Union Station. AKUS (Alison Krauss & Union Station) checks in Saturday night; find tickets at this link. The Catalyst spoke with veteran singer and guitarist Russell Moore, who just joined the band this year. Read that interview here.

The Florida Orchestra performs several times at the Mahaffey Theater: Tonight, backing a live blues band and a documentary film narrated by Morgan Freeman; the Oscar-winning actor will be there, in person, to introduce the evening (tickets for the 8 p.m. event are here); Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and again at 2 Sunday afternoon, TFO will play John Williams’ landmark score for Jaws, as the film is screened. Tickets are here.

The Palladium Theater Side Door Cabaret is wall-to-wall with music, as the bay area jazz-rock-pop group Hot Tonic plays the music of the Beatles Friday; tickets are here. Saturday brings Colombia-born jazz bassist and composer Alejandro Arenas’ Mixtura – A Multicultural Journey in Sound, with John C. O’Leary III (Mexico); Patrick Bettison (England/Australia); James Suggs (USA/Argentina); Jean Bolduc (Canada); Simon Lasky (England); Fernando Cruz (USA/Mexico); Pat Hernly (USA/Ecuador); Mark Feinman (USA) and Allison Nash (USA). Arenas discussed this program on a recent Arts Alive! podcast (listen here). All Palladium Side Door tickets can be found at this link.

Anime fest is back

Anime St. Pete’s Pokemon-powered weekend is Saturday and Sunday at the St. Pete Coliseum. Photo provided.

Anime St. Pete returns to the St. Petersburg Coliseum Saturday and Sunday. It’s the fourth annual local “fan con” dedicated to anime and cosplay, with a special emphasis this time around on Pokémon. With how-to workshops, voice actor and artist appearances, contests and merch aplenty. Get all details at this link.

And more concerts

Friday brings the annual Mahaffey Theater performance by world music and flamenco guitarist (Roni) Benise, and his company of musicians and dancers. Tickets.

Bayshore Comedy brings a night of standup to Tampa’s Stageworks Theatre Friday, part of the venue’s Act 2 series of performances. Tickets for Hot Mic, Hot Nights can be had by clicking here.

At the Capitol Theatre (Clearwater), Classic Albums Live is onstage Friday with a note-for-note playback of the Eagles album Hotel California. Tickets.

Saturday night’s all right for rocking, as A Day To Remember and Yellowcard share the bill at the Mid Florida Credit Union Amphitheater in east Hillsborough County. Find tickets here.

David Manson, Andrea Morales Manson and their Brazilian-music ensemble O Som do Jazz play the New Tampa Performing Arts Center Sunday at 3 p.m.; tickets are at this link.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Tell Me on a Sunday” (with Julia Rifino) is onstage at freeFall Theatre. Image: Thee Photo Ninja.

On theater stages

It’s the second and final weekend for Neil LaBute’s (very) dark comedy Fat Pig, from Dead Canary Productions at The Studio@620 in St. Pete. Showtimes and tickets are here.

Continuing through Oct. 5 at LAB Theatre Project in Ybor City is Goddess of the Hunt, a comedy from playwright Doug DeVita. Showtimes and tickets are here.

Tell Me on a Sunday, the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, continues through Oct. 5 at freeFall Theatre in St. Petersburg. Tickets.

And the pre-national tour production of Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors continues in the Jaeb Theatre, part of Tampa’s Straz Center complex. Tickets.

Your Weekend Spotlight appears every Thursday in the Catalyst’s CREATE section. 

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