Weekend spotlight: Two disparate nights at the BayCare Sound

Since its grand opening in 2023, Clearwater’s BayCare Sound amphitheater has rarely stood dormant. The open-air Coachman Park venue has covered seating for 4,000, and can fit 5,000 more on its grassy lawn.

And while not every show has been a slam-dunk sellout, there’s been some major successes on that stage. And the diversity of headlining entertainers is always a fascinating roll call.

Tonight (Thursday, April 17) brings country music’s Warren Zeiders to the BayCare Sound. The 25-year-old is on the road plugging the 21-song “deluxe” version of his album Relapse, and recently performed the single “You For A Reason” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and the TODAY Show.

Zeiders has 3.6 billion career streams and two platinum singles: “Ride the Lightning” and “Pretty Little Poison.”

Tyler Braden opens the show (7:30 p.m.); find tickets at this link.

Things at the Sound turn upside down Friday night as the Texas trio Khruangbin takes the stage. The mostly-instrumental psychedelic groove music, heard recently in Season 3 of The White Lotus, is, according to the group’s hometown paper (the Houston Chronicle) a blend of “surf, blues, spaghetti western, Middle Eastern, Latin and Asian influences.”

Half of the set, reportedly, will consist of a live performance of the group’s latest album, A La Sala, in its entirety.

Friday’s showtime is 8 p.m., and tickets are at this link.

For a rundown of all scheduled BayCare Sound shows, visit this page.

Jazz in Largo

Canadian musicians Rob DeBoer (keyboards, bass and guitar) and Tony Grace (percussion) are Four80East, playing the Central Park Performing Arts Center (Largo) Friday. The genre-jumping jazz duo tours as a six-member band. Tickets are at this link.

And more concerts

Back for his annual concert at Clearwater’s Capitol Theatre is longtime Moody Blues lead singer Justin Hayward. Catch Mr. “Nights in White Satin” Friday; tickets are here.

Friday at the Tampa Theatre: Comedian Tiffany Hadish (co-star of Girls Trip and its forthcoming sequel, and Grammy winner for the comedy album Black Mitzvah). Tickets are here.

Singer/songwriter Tommy Prine – whose father was John Prine – performs Friday at Skipper’s Smokehouse in Tampa. Read about the Prines’ local roots in our story from Wednesday.

It’s pedal to the metal Saturday at the Yuengling Center, on the University of South Florida’s Tampa campus, with the bands Meshuggah, Carcass and Cannibal Corpse. Get tickets here.

World music guitarist Ottmar Liebert and his Luna Negra band, frequent visitors to the Capitol Theatre, are onstage at that downtown Clearwater venue Saturday. Tickets are at this link.

At freeFall Theatre, the comic farce “For Closure!” features, from left, Matthew McGee, Sara Delbeato and Renata Eastlick. Photo: Thee Photo Ninja.

On theater stages

After an extraordinarily long run at Morsini Hall in Tampa’s Straz Center, the national tour of the musical The Lion King will move on following Sunday’s two performances. For all of this weekend’s showtimes and tickets, click here.

New at the Straz this weekend (in the Jaeb Theatre): The Tampa Repertory Theatre production of the Jason Robert Brown musical The Bridges of Madison Country. Meet the leads in this romantic drama in our story from earlier this week. Tonight’s the preview, Friday is opening night, and all tickets are available here.

St. Petersburg’s professional theater companies are firing on all cylinders this weekend. There’s Love Bird, a quirky comedy onstage at the Off-Central (read all about it here); Hair, the classic 1960s musical produced by American Stage in Demens Landing Park (tickets and info here); and Florida playwright Hannah Benitez’s farce For Closure! at freeFall Theatre (tickets and info here).

Benitez and For Closure! cast member Matthew McGee are the guests on Friday’s edition of our Arts Alive! podcast.

And a road show production of the musical adaptation of Pretty Woman is at Ruth Eckerd Hall (Clearwater) Friday and Saturday. Find tickets at this link.

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

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