Weekend spotlight: The rockets’ red glare

Weather permitting, the rockets’ red glare will be this weekend’s big draw. The St. Pete Pier has, as always, the largest and most elaborate fireworks display on this side of Tampa Bay; weather permitting, the big boomers will light up the sky around 9 p.m.

Revisit our story from earlier this week about all the planned major pyrotechnics in Pinellas, and the other celebratory stuff that goes with them.

There’s not a lot of arts or stage events this weekend, as the decks have appear to have been cleared for Independence Day.

Weather permitting.

Still got the spook: Blue Oyster Cult plays the Seminole Hard Rock Event Center Friday. Publicity photo.

The spotlight

Blue Oyster Cult is one of those classic-era rock ‘n’ roll bands that endures, despite the twin ravages of time and taste. The band, best known for the atmospheric “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” and “Burnin’ For You” and a penchant for science fiction and the spook, has a date Friday (July 4) at the Seminole Hard Rock Event Center.

What makes BOC stand out from the scores of ‘70s bands that are still out there working is this: Lead guitarist and songwriter Donald Roeser (aka Buck Dharma) and singer, guitarist and fellow songwriter Eric Bloom have gone the distance and are still front and center. And in this era of “who’s left from the glory days?” that’s a quorum on the Mick-and-Keith level. Tickets for Friday’s show are at this link.

Tonight in Clearwater: How ’bout them Ninja Kidz? Publicity photo.

With 22 million subscribers on YouTube and over 10 billion views, Ninja Kidz has become a franchise worth celebrating. The live stage show, tonight at Ruth Eckerd Hall, brings young siblings Bryton, Ashton, Paxton and Payton (martial artists and gymnasts) to the stage for “audience participation, physical challenges, games and epic battles.” And, it’s promised, lots of laughs. Tickets are at this link.

Tonight at the Mid Florida Credit Union Amphitheatre: Stick Figure, the reggae/dub band that grew out of Massachusetts musician Scott Woodruff’s home recordings, thickly overdubbed. Stick Fire scored four consecutive No. 1 albums on the Billboard reggae chart. Stephen Marley and the Hip Abduction open. Find tickets here.

Classical music aficionados look forward each year to the University of South Florida-based Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival, featuring dozens of national and international pianists in performance at various venues around the bay area. Saturday brings a public concert at the New Tampa Performing Arts Center. The musicians are Jiahao Xu, 20; Yixuan (Fafa) Han, 29; and Chi Ieng (Melody) Ho, 21. Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. event are at this link.

At freeFall Theatre, The House of Future Memory is back onstage tonight, but won’t be performed Friday (so the cast and crew can go out and enjoy the fireworks). The AI-fueled improv show (read about it here) will resume Saturday and Sunday, then continue into its final week (curtain down is July 13). Showtimes and tickets here.

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

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