Creative Loafing Tampa — June 20, 2024

PUBLISHER James Howard

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ray Roa

Editorial

DIGITAL EDITOR Colin Wolf

THEATER CRITIC Jon Palmer Claridge

FILM & TV CRITIC John W. Allman

IN-HOUSE WITCH Caroline DeBruhl

CONTRIBUTORS Josh Bradley, Kyla Fields, Chelsea Zukowski

PHOTOGRAPHERS Tre 'Junior' Butler, Dave Decker, Phil DeSimone

POLITICAL CARTOONIST Bob Whitmore

Creative Services

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Jack Spatafora

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Joe Frontel

ILLUSTRATORS Dan Perkins, Cory Robinson

Advertising

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Anthony Carbone, Scott Zepeda

AGENCY ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Michael Pereira

Events and Marketing

MARKETING, PROMOTIONS AND EVENTS DIRECTOR Leigh Wilson

MARKETING, PROMOTIONS AND EVENTS COORDINATOR Kristin Bowman

SOCIAL MEDIA AND MARKETING MANAGER Corrie Miserendino

Circulation

CIRCULATION MANAGER Ted Modesta

Chava Communications Group

FOUNDER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Michael Wagner

CO-FOUNDER, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

Cassandra Yardeni Wagner

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Graham Jarrett

VP OF OPERATIONS Hollie Mahadeo

DIRECTOR OF AGENCY SERVICES

Kelsey Molina

SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Meradith Garcia

DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL CONTENT STRATEGY

Colin Wolf

ART DIRECTOR David Loyola

DIGITAL OPERATIONS COORDINATOR Jaime Monzon chavagroup.com cltampabay.com cldeals.com

EDITORIAL POLICY — Creative Loafing Tampa Bay is a publication covering public issues, the arts and entertainment. In our pages appear views from across the political and social spectrum. They do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher.

Creative Loafing Tampa is published by Tampa Events & Media, LLC, 633 N Franklin St., Suite 735. Tampa, Florida, 33602.

The physical edition is available free of charge at locations throughout Tampa Bay and online at cltampabay.com. Copyright 2023, Tampa Events and Media, LLC.

The newspaper is produced and printed on Indigenous land belonging to Tampa Bay’s Tocobaga and Seminole tribes.

Our main number: (813) 739-4800

Letters to the editor: comments@cltampa.com

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JUNE 13TH - 23RD

CREATIVE LOAFING’S annual Food Issue hits stands on June 13th, and to celebrate, we’re hosting our 19th annual Tampa Bay Restaurant Week from June 13th through 23rd.

For a limited time, participating Tampa Bay area restaurants are o ering multiple-course prix fixe menus and exclusive pricing on drink specials and more!

To take advantage of Restaurant Week, all you have to do is ask for the Tampa Bay Restaurant Week menu, at any of the following participating restaurants:

3 CORNERS PIZZA

4 RIVERS SMOKEHOUSE

ALLELO

ANCHOR AND BRINE

AVA

BABUSHKA’S

BEACHWOOD SEAFOOD

KITCHEN

BEACON ROOFTOP LOUNGE

BESITO MEXICAN

BIRCH & VINE

BON APPETIT RESTAURANT

BULLA GASTROBAR

CORAZON AT HYATT PLACE

CIDER PRESS PUB

DRIFTLIGHT STEAKHOUSE

DUNEDIN FINE ARTS CENTER

ELEVAGE SOHO KITCHEN AND BAR

FLAMES INDIAN CUISINE

FLAMESTONE AMERICAN GRILL FOODIES

FORTU

GANGCHU GOOD INTENTIONS

HONU RESTAURANT & TIKI BAR

JACKSON’S BISTRO BAR & SUSHI

JIMMY’S TACOS

KONA GRILL

LATITUDE 28 (@ JW MARRIOTT CLEARWATER BEACH RESORT & SPA)

LOCHNESS GRILL AT INNISBROOK

LONA

LOS CHAPOS TACOS

MADFISH ST PETE BEACH

MADISON AVENUE PIZZA

MAMAS

MEL’S HOT DOGS

MELTING POT SOCIAL MUST WINE LOFT

OCEAN MAI AT THE WYHNHAM GRAND

PARKSHORE GRILL

ROME + FIG GLOBAL BISTRO

SAL ROSA

SAL Y MAR ROOFTOP BAR

SEA SALT ST PETE

SEASONS 52 SIX

THE BRINEHOUSE

THE BRISKET SHOPPE

THE DAN

THE DUNEDIN SMOKEHOUSE

THE HONU RESTAURANT & TIKI BAR

THE ORIGINAL CRABBY BILLS

THE PEARL TAMPA

THE SPANIARD

THE TIDES SEAFOOD MARKET & PROVISIONS

TIBBY’S NEW ORLEANS

KITCHEN

TIMPANO HYDE PARK

WAGAMAMA

WILLA’S + MORE TBA

INTRODUCING THE RESTAURANT WEEK APP! Scan the QR code to download, then check in at your favorite restaurants during Restaurant Week to win prizes.

This year, a portion of proceeds benefits:

DOWNLOAD THE APP

From the App Store or Google Play store & check in at your favorite restaurants to win prizes.

GATHER THE MOST POINTS

Gather the most points for ordering a Stella, buying Bolts Brew Fest tickets, Booking a cooking class at the Dunedin Fine Arts Center, visiting the Big Storm Distillery Taproom, booking your reservation through OpenTable, and more!

WIN PRIZES

Guests with the most points will win prizes at the end of Restaurant Week.

You’re a star

Photo by Dave Decker

Tampa’s WWE superstar Titus O’Neil has two sons and a daughter of his own, but he opened his arms to bear hug all the poppas in Tampa Bay last Sunday with a “Superstar Dad Celebration” and takeover of the grounds in and around Tampa’s MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre featuring games, entertainment and resources for families across the Bay area. See all the photos via cltampa.com/slideshows.—Ray Roa

do this

Tampa Bay's best things to do from June 20 - 26

Pinoy kaayo

While June 12 is the official Independence Day, marking the day in 1898 when the Phillippines broke free of Spanish rule, Filipinos spend the whole month celebrating the independence for the nation made up of more than 7,000 islands. And while expats are divided on whether or not President Bongbong Marcos is good for the country (his father was an ousted dictator accused of human-rights violations, and found to have ransacked billions of dollars of state money), nothing—absolutely nothing—will stop Filipinos from throwing a party with big ol’ plates of food. In the working class neighborhood of Palmetto Beach, Filipino restaurant Manila Eats teams up with the Juju Taiyaki to celebrate “Kalayaan” (aka “liberty” and “freedom”). There’ll be a little Japanese (Juju, Sugar House Confectionary) and Thai flavor on site (Chada), but the rest of the lineup is pure Pinoy, from the desserts (Yumsty’s, Reyzen’s), grill (Maya’s Merienda) and gloriouslyfunky fish thanks to Salt’n Fish which produces jeprox (crispy fried smelt), bagoóng (shrimp paste, IFYKYK, pictured), and dried fish, too.

Kalayaan Celebration Night Market: Sunday, June 23. 3 p.m.-10 p.m. No cover. Manila Eats, 1601 S 22nd St., Tampa. @jujutaiyaki on Facebook—Ray Roa

We be ballin’

The Boston Celtics are 2024 NBA champions, which means that the Big 3’s arrival in town is just in time. Week two in Ice Cube’s seven-year-old, fun-as-hell, three-on-three league features six matches that will feature fan favorites (including four-point shots), ex-NBA and international players on a half-court trying to end the game by being the first team to score 50 points (win by two, obviously). The league— which brought its championship to Amalie Arena in 2022—just announced expansion into Miami, and maybe Tampa Bay could be the next city to get a team if fans show out.

Big3 (week two): Saturday, June 22. 1 p.m. $22 & up. Yuengling Center, 12499 USF Bull Run Dr., Tampa. big3.com Ray Roa

Kind people

Spend any amount of time in Ybor City, and someone is bound to talk to you about the mob. Doug Kelly digs deeper than the tunnels under the historic district in his new book, which covers the entire state from Al Capone in South Florida to the Blackburn gambling empire in Orlando, and of course Tampa mobsters like Santo Trafficante Jr. (pictured). PR whiz Charlie Wall, a Trafficante rival, gets ink in the work, along with many pages about “bolita,” a money-and-widow-making illegal Tampa lottery. Kelly, a licensed private investigator, and writer, will talk about his book, and show off never-before-seen photos from mob family archives at this book talk. Read an exceprt via cltampa.com/arts.

‘Sunshine State Mafia’ author talk: Wednesday, June 26. 6 p.m. No cover. Centro Asturiano de Tampa, 1913 N Nebraska Ave., Ybor City. bookendsybor.com—Ray Roa

Dark history

With the RFP to rebuild Baltimore’s tragically-collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge due last week, it’s easy to think about Tampa Bay’s own Sunshine Skyway Bridge. The 430-foot tall span we see in this photo is the second iteration; the first featured a 1,584-foot long steel cantilever span that came crashing down on May 9, 1980 when a phosphate carrier ship hit the pier. Six cars, one truck and a Greyhound bus carrying 23 three people fell into Tampa Bay; 35 people died. The fallout from the accident has been dramatized in plays (“Mayday”), and this weekend, a St. Petersburg indie-movie house screens a documentary that tracks the lives of those involved, after the fall. Former FDOT divers Robert Raiola and Mike Betz will take part in a post-screening Q&A, too.

The Skyway Bridge Disaster Documentary: Friday, June 21. 6 p.m. & 8:30 p.m. $13-$16. Green Light Cinema, 221 2nd Ave. N, St. Petersburg. skywaybridgedisaster.com—Ray Roa

Where my dogs at

Festivities throughout Omega Psi Phi’s 84th grand conclave—which kicks off June 25—include a June 26 comedy show at Tampa Theatre featuring Ques like Peabody Award Winner D.L. Hughley, Rickey Smiley, Joe Torry and local chapter member Goldie. George Clinton headlines a concert on June 27 in celebration of the Purple Reign Reception and welcome party happening in conjunction with the international grand conclave for Omega Psi Phi. Greenville rapper C-Blaque, who appeared in the “Que Dog” video with Clinton will also be there. It’s the first time Tampa has hosted the gathering, and more than 50,000 people from across the globe are expected to attend, according to BN9.

Omega Psi Phi Grand Conclave: June 25-July 2. tampaconclave2024.com

—Ray Roa

True colors

The main event of the month, which draws thousands of queer Floridians and allies alike to the streets of downtown St. Pete each summer, finally returns to North & South Straub Parks. It’s kicked off by the sixth annual Trans March and continues with its annual street parade, a performance by main stage headliner Saucy Santana, tons of local food trucks, vendors and local drag entertainers. The parade itself begins at 6 p.m. and travels from Albert Whitted Park to Vinoy Park along Bayshore Drive. And please, remember to stay hydrated.

St. Pete Pride Parade & Festival: Saturday, June 22. 2 p.m.-10 p.m. No cover. North Straub Park (400 Bayshore Dr. NE) and South Straub Park (198 Bayshore Dr. NE), St. Petersburg. stpetepride.org Kyla Fields

Xunami

Thelma

Money Montanari

GOP pumps cash into councilman’s race against Rep. Lindsay Cross.

By News Service of Florida

State Republican leaders are putting money behind St. Petersburg City Council member Ed Montanari’s bid to unseat Rep. Lindsay Cross, D-St. Petersburg, in the November election.

A newly filed finance report shows that the Florida House Republican Campaign Committee, which is chaired by incoming House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, gave $25,000 last month to Montanari’s campaign. Also, the report shows the Republican Party of Florida provided $13,000 in in-kind contributions of staffing and research in April and May. Montanari is challenging Cross in Pinellas County’s House District 60.

The new finance report shows that Montanari raised $45,445 in cash from April 1 through May 31 for his campaign account, bringing the overall total to $165,400.

As of March 31, Cross had raised $195,265 for her campaign account. She faces a Monday deadline for filing an updated report showing finance activity through May 31.

Citing First Amendment, federal judge blocks Florida financial disclosure law for elected o cials

A federal judge has blocked a 2023 Florida law that required municipal elected officials to disclose detailed information about their personal finances, ruling that the law likely violated First Amendment rights.

U.S. District Judge Melissa Damian last Monday issued a preliminary injunction, siding with municipal officials throughout the state who challenged the law. The decision came three weeks before a July 1 deadline for filing the information.

Damian, who is based in Fort Lauderdale, wrote that the Legislature did not adequately justify a need for the law after decades of the state requiring less-detailed financial disclosures by municipal officials. She wrote that a law “compelling speech, as with a statute forbidding speech, falls within the purview of the First Amendment.”

“After a thorough and careful consideration of the record, this court concludes that defendants have failed to establish that the state seriously undertook the consideration of less intrusive means to address the identified interests,” Damian wrote.

The law (SB 774) required mayors and other elected municipal officials, such as members of city councils, to file annual reports detailing issues such as their net worths, incomes and assets. Other elected officials, such as the governor and state legislators, have long faced such requirements.

The requirements caused an uproar among local governments, with more than 125 municipal elected officials resigning in the months after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the measure in May 2023, according to Damian’s ruling. The law took effect Jan. 1, though the deadline for filing financial-disclosure reports is July 1.

Jamie A. Cole, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs and a partner at the firm Weiss Serota Helfman Cole + Bierman, issued a statement Tuesday praising the preliminary injunction.

“Most municipal elected officials receive little to no compensation for their public service, yet they are being asked to disclose their precise net worth, income and assets,” Cole said in the statement. “This legislative overreach

ELECTIONS

Primary Election Day

Tuesday, Aug. 20. Registration deadline, July 22 votepinellas.gov, votehillsborough.gov

has already resulted in the mass resignation of about 125 municipal elected officials and, if allowed, would discourage many others from serving their communities.”

In the past, municipal officials were required to file what is known as a “Form 1,” which provided less-detailed financial information. The law required them to file a more-detailed “Form 6,” the type of disclosure filed by state elected officials.

Supporters of the law said, in part, that disclosure of detailed information can help show officials’ potential conflicts of interest while conducting government business. The Legislature this year rejected a proposal that would have pushed back the effective date of the requirement for municipal officials to 2025 and exempted officials in communities with 500 people or fewer.

Rep. Spencer Roach, a North Fort Myers Beach Republican who led the effort to prevent changes in the law, said during a March debate that it is an “issue for me of transparency.”

In February, local officials filed the federal lawsuit and a separate challenge to the law in Leon County circuit court. The Leon County case is pending.

Damian’s decision Monday delved into legislative staff analyses and debates before the law passed. She wrote that both sides “agree that SB 774’s goals of deterring corruption, increasing transparency and public trust in government, and avoiding conflicts of interest all constitute compelling state interests.”

But Damian, who was nominated to the federal bench by President Joe Biden, said the state did not show a need for the change.

“Defendants have not demonstrated the need for SB 774’s heightened disclosure requirements for municipal elected officials and candidates by showing, for example, that the disclosure requirements previously in place (Form 1) were not adequate,” she wrote. “This conclusion is borne out by the absence of any evidence, data, or studies in the legislative record indicating that Form 1’s disclosure requirements were inadequate to address the compelling interests at stake here (deterring corruption and conflicts of interest, bolstering public confidence in state government, and educating the public).”—Jim Saunders/NSF

Florida appeals federal block on voter-registration group restriction

Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd and Attorney General Ashley Moody last week appealed a federal judge’s decision blocking part of a 2023 Florida elections law that placed new restrictions on voter-registration groups.

As is common, a notice of appeal filed last Monday did not detail arguments that lawyers for Byrd and Moody will make at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

But they are challenging a final judgment issued May 15 by Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker involving part of the law that would prevent non-U.S. citizens from “collecting or handling” voterregistration applications. In issuing a permanent injunction, Walker said that part of the law violated the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.

The groups Hispanic Federation and Poder Latinx and individual plaintiffs filed the challenge in May 2023 after Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican–controlled Legislature approved the restrictions.

“Here plaintiffs have suffered — and continue to suffer — irreparable injuries,” Walker wrote in explaining the injunction. “Indeed, the individual members in this case have been unconstitutionally discriminated against based on their non-citizenship status. This discrimination has prevented plaintiffs from registering new voters — a lost opportunity that cannot be remedied with monetary damages.”

The state also is appealing a July 2023 ruling by Walker that placed a preliminary injunction on the part of the law related to noncitizens and another part that would make it a felony for voter-registration group workers to keep personal information of voters. A panel of the appeals court heard arguments in January but has not issued an opinion.

DeSantis and Republican lawmakers in recent years have made a series of controversial changes to elections laws. They have argued, in part, that the changes are needed to prevent voter fraud and ensure the integrity of elections. But opponents have contended, for example, that what are known as “third-party voter registration organizations” play an important role in registering Black and Hispanic voters. They say placing restrictions on the groups could make it harder to register voters.

Walker on March 1 granted partial summary judgment to the plaintiffs on the part of the law dealing with non-citizens, barring Byrd from enforcing that part of the law. But Walker left unresolved issues related to Moody’s power to enforce the law.

The May 15 decision said the plaintiffs had legal standing to sue Moody and barred enforcement of the law. Walker wrote that an “injunction prohibiting the attorney general from exercising this enforcement authority would effectively redress plaintiffs’ injuries as it would remove the very real threat of a civil enforcement action.”

MAKE IT RAIN: St. Pete City Councilman Ed Montanari.

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gold medal beer in Ybor City, plus openings and closings.

By Ray Roa

It’s time to blow bubbles in Ybor City. Last month at the World Beer Cup in Las Vegas, BarrieHaus Beer Co.’s Bublina CzechStyle Pilsner took home a gold medal in the Bohemian-Style Pilsner category which included 152 entries (Massachusetts’ Bright Ideas Brewing got second place and Minoh Beer from Japan was third).

“Jim, our Head Brewer, has a talent and passion for crafting beers that are reminiscent of our personal favorite beer memories like drinking lagers by the liter in Biergartens in Munich on our honeymoon,” Brittney Barrie, Co-Founder and Director of Hoperations of BarrieHaus, wrote in a release.

The victory marks the brewery’s second World Beer Cup gold after it took home the top prize in 2022 for its Family Tradition Vienna Lager—and there’s a banner unveiling set for Aug. 24.

The press release adds that the Pinellas Park store “is also the first modern prototype design in the new era of Pepper Lunch since the U.S. parent group, Hot Palette America Inc., took over American operations for the brand.”

Founded in 1994, Pepper Lunch prides itself on getting customers in and out of its restaurants for under $20. Menu items include steaks, teriyaki and pasta-based dishes, plus “Pepper Rice”—all served in sizzling pans for patrons to mix and cook themselves.

Beloved St. Pete cafe, The Chelsea, has closed

Nearly four years after arriving at St. Petersburg’s Warehouse Arts District, a beloved cafe is saying goodbye. The Chelsea, at 2462 5th Ave. S, took to social media to tell followers that this would be the cafe’s last day was Sunday, June 16.

FOOD NEWS

What’s more is that BarrieHaus, according to the press release, has plans to expand its footprint in the Tampa Bay area with a satellite location opening this fall in South Pasco County’s Trinity/ Starkey Ranch area. “There will be more details to come this summer on this exciting project!,” BarrieHaus wrote.

Japanese fast-casual chain Pepper Lunch to open in Pinellas Park this fall

There are more than 500 Pepper Lunch locations across the word, but the first ones in the Southeastern U.S. will be in Florida. The Japanese-born experiential fast-casual teppanyaki concept announced that its first Tampa Bay location hopes to open in Pinellas Park by September.

The restaurant at 4699 Park Blvd. will pack 38 seats into a 1,435-square-foot dining room, with 25 more seats on the 500-square-foot patio. Tampa-based Majestic Restaurant Group— which operates Zukku concepts across the Bay area along with Lings Dumplings and the Han Hand Roll Bar—will own and operate Pinellas Park’s Pepper Lunch. The group has also signed on to open 10 more locations in and around Tampa Bay, Orlando and Gainesville over the next five years.

“Thank you to all the wonderful people who were a part of The Chelsea St Pete!!,” it wrote. “I hope we pop up again one day.”

Furniture and art from the ridiculously cute, cozy, and pet-friendly coffee shop staple is also on sale.

Owner Teresa Vidal Chalkley opened The Chelsea to pay homage to her experience as a student working in New York’s bustling Chelsea district and exploring Manhattan’s boutiques, galleries, cafes and bistros.

Owner of Tampa’s Champion Pizza will open a new food hall in Seminole Heights

If you’ve driven by Florida Avenue’s former Little Care Bears daycare recently, you may have noticed the speedy construction happening on the Seminole Heights building. The owner of NYCbased chain Champion Pizza Hakki Akdeniz tells CL that a brand new food hall is slated to open out of the former plaza at 4205 N Florida Ave. Records from the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser show that the 5,184-squarefoot Seminole Heights strip mall was purchased for $750,000 in 2021 by 4205 Florida Ave LLC, an entity owned by Chong Yo, Akdeniz’s business partner and co-owner of Tampa’s various Champion Pizza locations.

Both Akdeniz and Yo tell CL that their new food hall will boast 8-9 different concepts—from

Korean street food and Japanese fusion to Vietnamese fare and American offerings like pizza and smashburgers.

Since the former strip mall is in the middle of a complete build out, it’s hard to pinpoint a projected opening date, although Yo is confident that it will be open by the end of the year. Construction plans depict that the food hall will occupy about 75% of the plaza itself with about 1,200 square-feet of shared dining area, bar seating, multiple kitchens, a patio and a large walk-in cooler, while the rest of the building will be occupied by a separate, undisclosed restaurant tenant.

While recent permit-related documents acquired through Accela state that the upcoming food hall will be called “Hikari,” ownership says that its name may be subject to change.

Akdeniz, who owns and operates Champion Pizza franchises across the country with local partners, made his debut in the Sunshine State last year. Tampa’s first Champion Pizza opened

out of Ichicoro’s former Seminole Heights space in 2023, a few months after the Bib Gourmandwinning ramen spot suddenly closed its doors.

Since last spring, a second location popped up in South Tampa at 138 S Dale Mabry Hwy., with another by USF getting ready to open its doors at 11802 Bruce B Downs Blvd. Akdeniz and Yo tell CL that Tampa’s third Champion Pizza is also slated to debut later this year.

Akdeniz—a Turkey-born restauranteur with a popular rags-to-riches story that’s been highlighted by The New York Times, CNN and in a recent Discovery Channel-produced documentary—thinks that the greater Tampa Bay area can eventually support over a dozen Champion Pizza locations.

Since there are no social media pages or website for his new Seminole Heights food hall just yet, keep your eyes peeled on the construction happening at 4205 N Florida Ave. as it inches towards an opening date. Kyla Fields

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Tampa

Bay’s best restaurants and bars with a view.

By CL Sta

Whether it’s beachside views or skyline views, Tampa Bay is truly a looker, and quite a few of our local restaurants and bars offer some of the best spots to take in the views. From beachside restaurants, to tiki bars, rooftop perches, and more. Here you’ll find a few essential gems where the sips and eats are as good as the vista.

American Social Arguably one of downtown Tampa’s more popular waterfront spots, American Social brims with a packed nightlife crowd, especially on the weekends. But it’s also a solid pick for a quick lunch midweek, or just grab a drink after work and take in the views of the Hillsborough River. 601 S Harbour Island Blvd. No. 107, Tampa. americansocialbar.com

Beacon Situated on the 27th floor, JW Marriott Tampa Water Street’s new rooftop bar Beacon is the “tallest public rooftop bar in Tampa,” according to the company, and the second tallest in the state of Florida (the hotel

is 309 feet tall, according to a rep for Beacon). Since it’s debut, the space has been a bit of a viral sensation, offering guests the chance to sip on craft cocktails, snack on booze-friendly share-ables, and arguably the best view of Hillsborough Bay, the Garrison and Sedon Channels and the Ybor Turning Basin. 510 Water St., Tampa. marriott.com

Caddy’s Treasure Island

While Caddy’s has multiple locations, its original spot on Treasure Island beach undoubtedly offers direct access to the beach and the most scenic sunset views. With plenty of shaded picnic tables right on the sand, live music at most times of the day and cold drinks, Caddy’s takes the dub in good Florida vibes. Additionally, Caddy’s has live music every day so you can dance the worries away and take in beautiful sunsets. 9000 W Gulf Blvd., Treasure Island. caddys.com

Cane & Barrel Located on the eighth floor of the 36-story hotel and apartment complex

Ascent St. Petersburg, Cane and Barrel is a Cuban-inspired bar and lounge that opened in early March. There’s an indoor bar and outdoor patio, with rum being the star of the menu, as the name itself is a homage to the spirit’s voyage from “cane” to “barrel.” 110 2nd St. N, St. Petersburg. caneandbarrelstpete.com

photoshoot, but hosts a menu for any and all kinds of eaters and drinkers. 6100 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach. coconutcharliesstpete.com

DINING GUIDE

Casa Cami Casa Cami debuted this spring on the 10th floor of Tampa’s Current Hotel. Oxford Commons’ newest hospitality concept offers a spread of tacos and salsas, salads, small plates of ceviche, snapper crudo, flautas and blistered shishitos alongside entrees like bistec with mojo butter, shrimp fajitas and green chili chicken over a sweet plantain hash. 2545 N Rocky Point Dr., Tampa. casacami.com

Coconut Charlie’s Beach Bar and Grill With a motto like “You are only as strong as the drinks you mix,” you know Coconut Charlie’s doesn’t play around with its cocktails. Situated on St. Pete Beach as part of Hilton’s Garden Inn, Coconut Charlie’s not only shows up with its drinks and pastel decor for the perfect sunset

Craft It’s almost unfair to include a dining cruise on this list, but Tampa’s only river cruise dining experience hosts arguably the best views of the city. At 130-feet in length and featuring only 11-feet of air draft, the upscale dining ship is the largest commercial vessel currently on the Hillsborough, all while still being able to pass under five of the river’s lowest bridges. The menu is helmed by Executive Chef and Tampa native Allison Beasman, and features brunch, dinner, and craft cocktail options. 603 Channelside Dr., Tampa. crafttampa.com

Edge Rooftop Bar Located at the tip top of the Epicurean Hotel, Edge Rooftop Bar (stylized “EDGE”) focuses on cocktails, a robust beer and wine list, light bites and some of the best views of the Tampa skyline. 1207 S Howard Ave., Tampa. epicureanhotel.com

Ember Rooftop Lounge at Cambria Hotel This new elevated drinking perch is located within the five-story Cambria Hotel at the Madeira Beach Marina. Ember is pouring up wine by the glass and bottle, draft and bottled continued on page 35

WHERE THERE’S A GETAWAY: This Gandy Bridge gem opened in 2018.

brews, and mixing up tropical cocktails named after local hotspots and beaches. The food and drink menu ranges from $13-$23 per dish. 15015 Madeira Way, Madeira Beach. choicehotels.com

Frenchy’s It’s going to be hard to spend a day at Clearwater Beach and not walk past at least one Frenchy’s. Heck, if you spent a week you could hit a different one almost every day. Frenchy’s has six different locations spread across Clearwater Beach and Dunedin Causeway, serving fan-favorite dishes like its Cajun grouper sandwich, island shrimp tacos and seafood pot pie as well as local craft beers and frozen rum runners. 7 Rockaway St., Clearwater. frenchysonline.com

The Getaway If you’ve ever taken the Gandy Bridge from Tampa to St. Pete, you’ve probably passed The Getaway. Much more than a roadside bar, this beachside watering hole and grill features a wrap-around deck with a shallow drop-off for the kids to play, palm-thatched covered outdoor seating spaces, adirondack deck chairs at every corner and immersive views of the bay. Rolling up on your boat? The Getaway also has docking space. 13090 Gandy Blvd. N, St. Petersburg. thegetawaytampabay.com

Harry’s Beach Bar With rows of shaded loungers, a covered outdoor bar, swings, a pool and live music, direct access to the beach is only one of many amenities at Harry’s Beach Bar. Located in the Sirata Beach Resort & Conference Center, Harry’s says it’s the oldest beach bar on St. Pete Beach. Serving a unique selection of fruity and frozen cocktails, virgin options are available for the kids, too. 5300 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach. sirata.com

Hi-Fi Rooftop Bar Take in the sunset and enjoy a nightcap atop Dunedin’s historic Fenway Hotel at the Hi-Fi Rooftop Bar. Off the beaten path but right next to the Dunedin Channel, Hi-Fi provides a more chill night without any compromise of good drinks and amazing sights. 453 Edgewater Dr., Dunedin. fenwayhotel.com

Hurricane Seafood Restaurant Look for the colorful and vibrant beachside building. Hurricane’s tropical feel allows guests to enjoy an epic roof-top sunset or an upscale dinner on Level Two. Some of its signature dishes include salmon, Old Bay peel ‘n’ eat shrimp and calamari strips. 809 Gulf Way, St. Pete Beach. thehurricane.com

Jackson’s Bistro, Bar and Sushi Right next door you’ll find Jackson’s Bistro, Bar and Sushi. Though the view is pretty much the same as its next door neighbor, the offerings at this waterfront fav are quite different. As the name implies, sushi and seafood reign supreme here, but there’s also plenty of vegan options and heartier land-based eats like burgers, chicken and wagyu steak up for grabs. Plus, be sure to pair the watery view of the Tampa Convention Center with one of Jackson’s signature cocktails. 601 S Harbour Island Blvd, Tampa. jacksonsbistro.com

Jimmy B’s Beach Bar Located in The Beachcomber Hotel, Jimmy B’s is right on the sand, and besides being a great spot to watch the waves, the beachside hotspot also keeps the vibe alive with two stages for live music and a solid food and drink menu. 6200 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach. beachcomberflorida.com

M. Bird Perched at the top of Armature Works offers the M. Bird customer an amazing view of the Hillsborough River, a view to go along with an extensive cocktail and small plate menu of course. It even features a locally-themed cocktail named “I left my wallet at La Segunda.” It’s pricey as expected, but come on, it’s Armature Works. 1903 Market St., Tampa. armatureworks.com/m-bird

PCI Beach Bar & Snack

Shack Live on vacation mode all day long at the Beach Bar & Snack Shack, which is part of the Postcard Inn in St. Pete Beach. The restaurant offers a variety of tasty options with poolside service and a solid drink selection. If it gets too crowded you can take your order of black and bleu chips and black raspberry gingerita poolside or for a stroll along the beach. 6300 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach. postcardinn.com

any other in the city. Guests can enjoy anything from a Maui Mule to the “Kill the Pain” cocktail. 800 2nd Ave. NE, St. Petersburg. pierteaki.com

Pool bar at Tampa Edition Offering 360 degree views of downtown Tampa, the Pool Bar at Tampa Edition is arguably one of the best place to perch up with a cocktail. Besides booze, the space also offers a full menu of light bites, and heavier entrees like burgers, swordfish kabobs, and more, with the hotel’s Azure just a step away. 500 Channelside Dr., Tampa. editionhotels.com/tampa

DINING GUIDE

Sal y Mar Located on the seventh floor of the Aloft Hotel, Sal Y Mar offers an upscale cuisine from chef Johnathan Rodriguez and a uniquely tailored cocktail menu. But besides the food and drinks, the views of Tampa’s skyline aren’t too bad either. 3650 Midtown Dr., Tampa. salymarrooftop.com

for visitors and hotel guests. Open for lunch and dinner reservations, the menu is an eclectic mix of chef crafted specialties from cocktails to hearty entrees. 510 Water St., Tampa. @ SiXTampa on Facebook

Sloppy Joe’s On The Beach With extra large and shareable American-Caribbean entrées, Sloppy Joe’s offers a great setting to get together with friends. Located at The Bilmar Beach Resort, the restaurant offers one of the best views of Treasure Island Beach, plus its directly on the sand. 10650 Gulf Blvd., Treasure Island. sloppyjoesonthebeach.com

Pier Teaki Perched atop the St. Pete Pier, this tiki-themed hangout comes with top-notch views of St. Pete, as well as tostones-filled beach pails and piña coladas. At the end of St. Pete’s new(ish) pier, Pier Teaki delivers a view unlike

Salt Shack on the Bay Accessible by both land and sea, Salt Shack on the Bay offers shaded waterside seating with views of the bay, and impeccable Florida vibes. Surrounded by sand and palm trees, this “rustic- refined beach getaway” serves fresh seafood, seasonal picks and tropical cocktails right off of WestShore and Gandy. 5415 W Tyson Ave., Tampa. saltshack.com

Six at JW Marriott Overlooking the hotel’s gorgeous rooftop pool and bay views, Six (stylized in all caps) creates an IG-worthy backdrop

Spinners Rooftop Grille No obstructed views at this iconic revolving restaurant. Aptly named for a restaurant that literally spins, Spinners Rooftop Grille boasts 360-degree views of St. Pete Beach atop the Bellwether Beach Resort. Along with its iconic merrygo-round-like dining space, Spinners hosts a rooftop bar with instagrammable drinks, mood lighting and beach backdrop that can’t be beat. 5250 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach. spinnersrooftopgrille.com

Vista at the Top Grab a mojito and soak up the views of the docks and the Gulf of Mexico at Vista at the Top. Located at the literal top of the Residence Inn St. Petersburg Tierra Verde, the spot offers a variety of seafood appetizers like tuna tataki and poké, regular happy hours and space for private events. 214 Madonna Blvd., Tierra Verde. vistaatthetop.com

PIER-LESS: There aren’t many other views as good as the one atop the St. Pete Pier. CITYOFSTPETE/FLICKR

RESTORING A 17TH CENTURY SPANISH TABERNACLE

ON VIEW THROUGH JUNE 23, 10-2PM

Lizzi Bougatsos, Idolize the Burn, 2022, Brass chandelier, red wax, silver, candles, resin dipped toe shoes, and wood. Courtesy of the artist and James Fuentes Gallery, NY. LIZZI BOUGATSOS & LONNIE HOLLEY

ON VIEW THROUGH SEPTEMBER 15

Rudolph Eickemeyer, Portrait of Evelyn Nesbit, 1905, Hand-colored platinum print, On loan from a private collection

& LEISURE

MOVIES THEATER ART CULTURE

Shell of a summer

St. Pete Shell Club and ShellTok teach about ethical shelling on Florida beaches.

By Chelsea Zukowski

In 1975, John Jacobs brought a live shell back to his dorm at Andersen Air Force in Guam. He learned quickly that a mollusk doesn’t give up its home that easily. As a young, single airman, he taught himself to snorkel as a hobby while stationed on the small island in the Pacific Ocean. But he knew little about the shelled creatures he saw in the waters off the U.S. territory. Then he learned about the Guam Shell Club, conveniently located on the base.

“And I never looked back. The rest is history,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs is the president of the St. Petersburg Shell Club, a group passionate about mollusks, seashell collecting and marine conservation since 1936. His wife, Cheryl, is the club’s Tidelines newsletter editor.

Jacobs is originally from Boston, and he and Cheryl have lived in Hawaii, Texas and Florida through his 24 years in the U.S. Air Force. They’ve been in the Sunshine State for 31 years and currently reside in Seffner. No matter where they traveled or lived, a love of shells was a constant in the Jacobs’ life.

“I’m more scientifically into it than some people are; they’re not just pretty shells taking up dust on my shelf,” Jacobs said. “I like to learn about the animals themselves, their habitats, all of that. And not just shells but mollusks in general, which includes octopus, squid, cuttlefish…things like that.”

After learning and collecting for nearly 50 years, Jacobs’ home and mind are treasure troves of seashell knowledge. A self-proclaimed data nerd, his collection of tens of thousands of shells is meticulously categorized, organized and logged in Excel.

He considers himself a citizen scientist and a general collector who enjoys walking the beaches in search of common and rare shells he can learn more about. With decades of shelling experience, Jacobs also trades specimens and helps other collectors identify and categorize their finds. This and putting on shell shows—like the Club’s Annual Shell Show, which happened last February—is one way Jacobs promotes ethical shelling, collecting and conservation. These shell shows connect casual hobbyists with actual scientists, who can benefit greatly from the data collected by citizen shellers.

“That’s the beauty of the organization and shell clubs in general,” Jacobs said. “You have people who just walk the beaches to find shells and you have the more advanced collectors who are more scientifically interested, like I am.”

The Conchologists of America, where Jacobs is second vice president, includes citizen scientists, hobbyists and malacologists from around the world—many of whom are based in Florida.

“Every shell club is different. And you think, ‘oh, they don’t have one in Ohio.’ They have one in Ohio,” Cheryl said. “It just takes a number

Don’t just pick up shells, take them home and clean them out and put them on a shelf.”

Besides joining a club or attending a shell show, one of the best ways to connect with other shelling enthusiasts is through social media.

On TikTok, #ShellTok has thousands of tropical aesthetic-filled videos of people hunting for seashells and sharing their finds. Most are shot in Florida, the surrounding Caribbean waters and in Hawaii.

JoJo’s videos are peaceful and comforting to watch, but they also venture beyond aesthetics to include the names of every shell she picks up.

“It’s where I feel most at home.”

Gulf Coast resident JoJo is one such local sheller who’s gained a sizeable following on TikTok and Instagram. She’s originally from New York and has lived in California and Hawaii, moving to the Tampa Bay area in 2022 after four years in Fort Lauderdale.

“I absolutely love Florida,” she said. “It’s where I feel most at home.”

STRIKING:

of people interested in shelling. They’ll find a way; they find each other.”

Affection for shells, community and education are at the heart of organizations like the Shell Club. Shellers like the Jacobses stress ethical shelling and seeking more information about the beautiful shells brought home from a day at the beach.

“I stress education when it comes to mollusks,” Jacobs said. “Don’t over collect. Try to be responsible. Learn about what you’re doing.

JoJo, who declined to use her last name for privacy reasons, credits her parents for her love of shells. When she moved to Florida, her mom sent a guidebook on seashells and has since read through it “so many times.”

“I just love identifying the shells,” she said. “I also had no idea so many people didn’t know that shells had names or that an animal created that shell. I think that also makes me realize… there is a lot of need for education on this stuff. And I’m excited to share everything I can.”

“Come sunrise shelling with me in St. Petersburg, Florida,” JoJo says in a March video at Pass-a-Grille Beach. In the video, she shows off a live lightning whelk before putting the creature back in the water. She then finds a sand dollar and a couple of live banded tulips nestled in the low-tide sand.

JoJo also shows off the shell of a shark eye sea snail, a twisty worm snail, a deep purply-brown bay scallop and a tiny drill shell and bubble shell.

Some of her most popular videos on TikTok—with millions of views each—were from shelling trips to Pass-a-Grille and other local beaches. In them, she finds live starfish and sand dollars, a snake-shaped lightning whelk egg case, live Florida fighting conchs, shiny lettered olive shells and a brittle star.

JoJo got into shelling to make art and began posting her finds on social media in January.

“This whole TikTok thing came out of nowhere; I was just going to use it as a way to promote my art,” she said. “But then the shelling videos did really well, and I’ve been having so much fun doing them.”

Like Jacobs, JoJo emphasizes education and ethical shelling. She advises to be careful of live shells and barnacles and to put creatures back where you found them.

“Also, just pick up trash as you’re going along looking for seashells,” she said. “That’s one of the rules of shelling…to make it better than you found it.”

Educating yourself about shells and the creatures that inhabit them is one of JoJo’s biggest tips for new shellers. “It helps to know what you’re looking for…it’s easier to go there with that in mind because you can overlook so many cool shells,” she said.

Florida boasts over 800 miles of sandy beaches and various coastline habitats. Beachcombers often flock to barrier islands like Sanibel, Shell Key and Honeymoon Island State Park for fighting conchs, lightning whelks, banded tulips and moon snails.

Sarasota resident Kristen Williams, who goes by @theseashellmermaid on Instagram and TikTok, shares her finds from southwest Florida beaches and her favorite spot—Ten Thousand Islands off the coast of Collier County. Her shelling journey began on a trip

continued on page 41

A lightning whelk.

continued from page 39

to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, a few hours from where she used to live in Virginia. That’s when she found her first big seashells— a couple of knobbed whelks—and was hooked.

“The beach was my place to get away from the realities and struggles of everyday life,” she said. “I would go as often as I could, some days driving several hours just to spend time there. It was therapy.”

What started in 2018 as a place to store beach memories has grown into combined Instagram and TikTok pages with over 150,000 followers. Williams’ pages are focused just as much on pretty beachcombing videos as ethical shelling tips. She has videos about how to tell if a sand dollar is alive, tips for what to do when you find a live shell and must-have gear for shelling trips.

Harley Sampson Jr., frequenting Florida’s Panhandle beaches. On YouTube and TikTok, Sampson shares shelling trips and tips from Emerald Coast beaches like Navarre, Pensacola and St. George Island.

“I am amazed at how you can check one stretch of beach and not find much, then walk a half mile or drive to a nearby beach, and you’ll find tons of shells,” he said. “Secondly, it is interesting to see how the species vary across the state.”

TRAVEL & LEISURE

“I was also passionate about protecting the ocean and researched how over-harvesting of seashells, among other factors such as climate change, development, toxic algae blooms, etc., impact the ocean environment,” Williams said. Her passion for marine conservation led her to create her own “keys to ethical shelling”—1. Never take living shells or creatures, 2. Never over-collect and 3. Return shells to the beach and sea when they are no longer wanted.

“I was never expecting the response I would get to this, but so many people have messaged me to say that they’ve learned so much through my page and are now practicing ethical shelling as well,” she said.

Travel several hundred miles north and you’ll find the Beach Bummin’ Dad, a.k.a.

In southwest Florida, look for popular tulip shells, cones, lace murex and moon snails. In his backyard, scotch bonnets and flat scallops are common finds. Sampson also created the Florida Shelling Report, which aggregates news, tips and shell finds from groups around the state. The undera-minute videos are another way shellers like Sampson stay connected and share their treasures.

Like with any collecting hobby, there are rare “shells of a lifetime” that shellers are always on the lookout for. That includes the giraffepatterned Junonia sea snail and the lion’s paw scallop, Sampson said.

“It’s not uncommon to see hundreds of people along stretches of Sanibel and Marco Island hunched over in the ‘Sanibel stoop,’” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, the junonia is a beautiful shell, but we have to remember that any seashell is just a part of our overall journey. The surroundings, the sun on our shoulders and the sand between our toes are what wash away the stress of everyday life; the shell is just the icing on the cake.”

Shore Things: Bay area shell collectors o er tips for smart collecting on local beaches

Affection for shells, community and education are at the heart of organizations like the St. Petersburg Shell Club. Shellers like the club’s John and Cheryl Jacobs stress ethical shelling and seeking more information about the beautiful shells brought home from a day at the beach. And they’re not alone.

Gulf Coast sheller Jojo shares tips on shelling responsibility, and so does Sarasota resident Kristen Williams, who goes by @ theseashellmermaid on Instagram and TikTok. Look below for basic tips on ethical sea shelling on Florida beaches.—Chelsea Zukowski

JoJo

• Know some shells you’re looking for before you go by reading and referencing seashell guidebooks. Be patient—look for shells in piles along the shoreline and in the shallow water.

Kristen Williams

• “The time you go is important. Follow the tides and try to go during the least busy times of the day. Remember the amount of shells on the beach can look different each day, and the ocean never guarantees us anything.”

• “Be mindful of the keys to ethical shelling when you go. There are other creatures that rely on seashells for shelter and protection. These keys help to protect the environment and keep this wonderful hobby sustainable. It’s also important to read up on local laws before collecting, as it is prohibited in some places.”

John Jacobs

• “Join a shell club. Go to shell shows. Even if you don’t really want to join a club, go to a shell show and see what they’re like in Florida. You’re in a great place right here in Florida for shell shows.”

• Check out museums like the BaileyMatthews National Shell Museum & Aquarium and local shops like the historic Shell Store in Largo.

More resources

• FWC: Recreational sea shell collecting rules (myfwc.com)

• Pinellas County Beaches & Shells Guide (pinellas.gov)

• Visit Florida: Best beaches for shell collecting (visitflorida.com)

SO-SHELL MEDIA: Kristen Williams’ Instagram and TikTok pages have over 150,000 followers

By Josh Bradley & Ray Roa C CL Recommends

FRI 21

Fourth Annual Filthy Rock Fest: Filthy Royalty w/Murder The Crow/ Somebody’s Villain/Before Arcadia

Nicole Cognato of Tampa-based stanky rock quartet Filthy Royalty is keeping the group’s plans for this annual gig (which it headlines) under wraps, but the show has been described as a major release party for four local outfits with new material to share. “We keep what we are doing a secret until the event and then announce it at the event,” Cognato told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. If what emerges is anything like Filthy Royalty’s easy-going latest single “Light It Up!,” this Ybor City show won’t be one to forget anytime soon. (Crowbar, Ybor City)

FL Rules Pre-Show: Awkward Stares w/Defrauded/Highest Crown/No Plea/ Sometimes Sentinel/Vile Serpent

Because every city needs songs about its local venues, Zeiler Lucas and his maniacal bandmates in Awkward Stares have a Sabbath-meets-Fang track called “Meet Me at the Brass Mug,” which can turn even the fanciest of situations into a mosh pit. The rock trio headlines a pre-show for FL Rules— an also-stacked, locally-built music festival taking place at The Noise Box in Brandon on Saturday—and even though this show will be indoors, don’t heckle the guys if they take their shirts off. (Deviant Libation, Tampa)

C Red Hot Chili Peppers w/Ice Cube/ Irontom Check your nutsack for thumbtacks, because after spending the bulk of 2023 overseas promoting two new studio albums (Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen ), and having the likes of Iggy Pop and The Strokes sharing the bill, Flea and company have decided to enlist the finest in hip-hop to open up shop in the States. Ice Cube opens the Tampa date, which makes sense since his Big3 basketball league is in town this weekend, too (read more on p. 12) (MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa)

St. Pete Pride: Sasha Colby The 39-yearold “RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 15 winner was the first native Hawaiian contestant to ever appear on the show. But before making it that high, Colby’s beginnings were in Las Vegas, where she worked as a drag queen in gay bars for a time after leaving home. She went on to win Miss Continental, appear on “Hawaii 5-0,” and even be invited to the White House by Vice President Kamala Harris last summer. Though St. Pete’s big Pride parade-slash-concert takes place the next day, perhaps a yassified Friday night is what we need right now. Oh, and before you start bitching and whining about protecting the children, this is an 18-and-up event. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)

Tyler Farr There’s not a lot on the Dallas Bull concert calendar, which would lay practically barren if not for Farr’s arrival. The 40-yearold singer actually took vocal lessons as a teenager, leading him to take on opera pieces for a time. These days, he’s worried about pulling a muscle when it comes to singing those pieces, and his latest releases are out on Night Train Records, under the direction of one Jason Aldean. Following his first gig in town since a November 2020 gig (really) in the same room, he’ll appear on the bill at Aldean’s Alabama stop on his “Rock The Country” country music festival tour. (Dallas Bull, Tampa)

SAT 22

C Abducted By The 80’s: Wang Chung w/Men Without Hats/The Motels/Naked Eyes SiriusXM’s ‘80s on 8 station, hosted by most of the original MTV VJs, are always talking about ‘80s megashows taking place across the country, and Clearwater is finally getting one. Fourteen years after releasing an EP of the same name, Wang Chung finally headlines an “Abducted By The ‘80s" nostalgia tour, featuring a handful of groups from the same era that may not be recognizable by name, but still have a few timeless anthems. Most of the acts have ended up on a number of quintessential playlists revolving around that decade, and Men With Hats (“Safety Dance”) have even been parodied by “Weird Al” Yankovic, so don’t think you’re going into this blind. Consider it a Gen-X version of the “Happy Together” tour. (Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater)

Cruel Curses (single release) w/The New Brutarians/In Transit/Persephone’s Choice Cruel Curses has an 18-minute single up its sleeve, which has a 12-second section

of a repetitive low-octave synth riff and unsettlingly psychedelic vocals perfect for a terrifying moment in your weekend night ganja sesh. The Tampa-based rock quartet has kept the remainder of “How to Perform an Exorcism” fairly cryptic, but expect to hear bits and pieces of its self-described “creative intermingling guitars, groove-driven rhythm sections, and odd time signatures.” A plethora of locals that experiment onstage and in the studio in similar ways are also on this St. Pete bill. (Bayboro Brewing, St. Petersburg)

C Emo Night Tampa: Blvck Hippie w/ Pilot Jonezz/Bad Bad Things/Earthgirl Right out of the gate on his new album, Basketball Camp , Josh Shaw lets listeners know what kind of ride they’re about to go on. The guitars on “P&H” shimmer as the Memphis songwriter croons about not having fun anymore. And while Shaw, who’s trained on classical piano and records as Blvck Hippie, has been writing about sad stuff since the summer before his junior year of college, the 11-track album also features plenty of groove (“Adult Swim Commercial Break”), texture (“A Spike Lee Joint”), and collage, too (“Cain and Abel Fighting”). Shaw is supported by some of the Bay area’s best rock outfits for this show curated by the Emo Night Tampa crew. (Crowbar, Ybor City)

C Parker Barrow w/The Ben Rogers Band/Vagabond Tweed Parker Barrow’s debut album—last year’s Jukebox Gypsies is listed under the country music genre, when in actuality, it should be under the Americana umbrella, sounding more like a Margo Price record than a Tanya Tucker one. On “Back to Birmingham,” lead singer Megan Kane sentimentally admits that making her family proud means that she has to be away from them, while also blending a “Roll Tide” reference in, and “Long Black Train” alludes to

Red Hot Chili Peppers

an impending breakdown of some sort. In short, if Lana Del Rey continues to have acts like Nikki Lane open for her, don’t be too surprised if the “blues-infused Southern rock and roll” quartet’s next Tampa gig (following this one, to be opened by The Ben Rogers Band) is on a bigger stage. (Music Hall at New World Brewery, Tampa)

St. Pete Pride: Saucy Santana w/ Hym/Jared Vasquez/Little Roddy/DJ Nightwing/Roxx Revolt/MoZaic/Raffy Bleu/Faithe/Live Hart/more Mic check, one, two, one, two. Even before his flamboyant opening set on Lizzo’s "Special" tour in Tampa, Saucy Santana had already collaborated with Madonna on “Material Gworrllllllll!,” a remix of the 30-year-old’s song that shares a title with the Queen of Pop’s megahit. Filming for “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta,” which he joined the cast of this year, must not be going right now, because Mr. “I’m Too Much” headlines this year’s St. Pete Pride. Last year’s gig was headlined by all-female rock trio Meet Me @ The Altar, so consider this year’s lineup a common St. Pete Pride W. (North and South Straub Parks, St. Petersburg)

C Still Dancing: A Night at the Gallery Pride Party w/Nicky Siano/Austen van der Bleek New York City’s Studio 54 was a haven and incubator for the best of the Big Apple’s LGBTQ+ creative scene, and one of the club’s first resident DJs, Nicky Siano, is in the Bay area to help the ‘Burg celebrate

the big parade. The 69-year-old almost predates disco and appears in a new three-part PBS docu series (“Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution”) that debuted last Tuesday. For this post-parade rager that goes into the late night, Siano brings the underground spirit and music of The Gallery (a club he coowned) to the Warehouse District. (Graffiti Gallery, St. Petersburg)

SUN 23

Heralds of Harmony There’s something chill-inducing about acapella arrangements from large ensembles, something Tampa Bay’s own Heralds of Harmony does very well. The barbershop harmony makers have plans to be in Cleveland for the Barbershop Harmony Society International Contest on July 5 (the group earned a third place medal in Louisville last year). But before leaving, the fellas—more than four dozen of ‘em sometimes—welcome hometown fans to a send off show where they hope to raise a little money to offset travel costs. (New Tampa Performing Arts Center, Tampa)

Little Big Little Big is blacklisted in its home country (which the Russian rave duo fled due to the Ukraine invasion in 2022), but now calls Los Angeles its home. Expect to hear tracks from Ilya Prusikin and Sonya Tayurskaya’s new album Lobster Popstar at what appears to be their first-ever gig in Tampa. (The Ritz, Ybor City)

elder Adolescents opens the show along with Las Vegas trio Mercy Music, which is on the road supporting a new album What You Stand To Lose . (Orpheum, Tampa)

MON 24

C Exile w/Sirplus/SlopFunkDust/ Sponatola/O.P. Supa/Xzstnce/Deejay Kellan/Wally Rios/Mr. Naso/Knux/more The first few minutes of Sirplus’ new beat tape Squares feel like a funkier version of Mort Garson’s Plantasia , but quickly morphs into the full on tribute to the classic Akai MPC 2000XL it was meant to be. The record finds the Dirty Science producer joined by Exile (Blu & Exile), and both icons of the scene are in town for this heady producers showcase where they’ll be supported by a who’s who of Bay area beatsmiths. (Crowbar, Ybor City)

WED 26

C Mission Manatee: Navin Avenue w/ GodDamnSonOfABitch/Teen Cobra/ Slap of Reality If you were filled with rage when you read about someone carving the name of a former president of the United States into a manatee, four local punk/indie outfits are coming together at The Nest to fight back. Every penny from the benefit gig will go directly towards both the Save The Manatees Club and The Florida Springs Institute, which devote themselves to protecting seagrass (which has been experiencing an alarming shortage lately) and the mammals that eat it. (The Nest at St. Pete Brewing Company, St. Petersburg)

Jazz

David Pate w/Jen Logan Chapels across the globe, including the American Cathedral in Paris and Duke University Chapel in North Carolina, bridge the improvisational spirit of jazz and the ancient ritual of evening vespers—and St. Petersburg gets a turn this weekend. David Pate, arguably the most accomplished saxophonist the Bay area has ever produced, leads the meditations along with vocalist Jen Logan, and they’ll both have the late Pauli Murray on their minds. The civil rights activist, scholar and theorist passed away on July 1, 1985, but not before living a life that saw her become the first Black woman ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church. Rev. Janettarose Greene, Associate to the Rector at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Arlington, Virginia, is the guest preacher for this special engagement, which includes a reception afterwards. (Cathedral Church of St. Peter, St. Petersburg)

Strung Out w/Adolescents/Mercy

Music

Thirty years after its studio debut, California punk band Strung Out is still at, with founding members in the lineup, too (R.I.P Jim Cherry). Jason Cruz & co. have new work to share this time around, thanks to Strung Out’s 10th studio album, Dead Rebellion . “It was written, performed, and produced with a deep conviction that none of this is in vain, and if you love something enough, it will always take care of you in the end,” the band said about the effort written at the height of the pandemic. Fellow Golden State punk

THU 27

C Jmsn w/Mr. Floyd Larry There are some voices that transcend labels and genrefication; Christian Andrew Berishaj’s is one of them. The 37-year-old Motor City producer and songwriter better known as Jmsn (stylized in all-caps) has been recording music for 25 years, and released his major label debut via Atlantic in 2006. His latest, Soft Spot (2023, White Room Records), updates a sound that’s landed Berishaj in record store bins alongside Frank Ocean and Justin Timberlake, by sprinkling elements of pop, rock, gospel, dance and hip-hop (he’s worked with Ab-Soul in the past) in with a labeldefying sound akin to the late, great, Prince. Miami dream-punk maker Mr. Floyd Larry opens the show. (Crowbar, Ybor City)

C Omega Psi Phi Grand Conclave: George Clinton w/C-Blaque Omega Psi Phi has an impressive list of distinguished alumni (Michael Jordan, Count Basie, Jesse Jackson), but none are as funky as Clinton, who was inducted into the fraternity as an honorary member in 2020. The 82-year-old leader of Parliament Funkadelic even rerecorded his hit song, “Atomic Dog” into “Que Dog” to mark the occasion. He’s coming to celebrate with the Tampa Ques and will have Greenville rapper C-Blaque, who appeared in the “Que Dog” video, in tow. (1920, Ybor City)

C Pauli Murray

Vespers:

Pauli Murray

C Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival For 20 days, the 2024 Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival stages free classes and performances, and it all kicks off this week when more than two-dozen, world-renowned faculty welcome nearly twice as many students from around the world on June 27. The first soiree performance featuring music and conversation happens on Friday, June 28 before the festival stages more than 20 concerts at various venues across Tampa Bay, culminating in two celebration concerts on July 15-16. All are welcome to attend, for free, but donations will be accepted. More information is at rebeccapenneyspianofestival.org.

Also playing

The American Stones Friday, June 21. 9 p.m.

$25. Wild Rover Brewing Company, Tampa

The Family Funk Friday, June 21. 8 p.m. No cover. Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin

Friday Night Jazz Fridays through June 28. 7:30 p.m. No cover. DI Coffee Bar, Tampa

Full Moon Fire Jam Friday, June 21. 7 p.m. House show, St. Petersburg.

Jazz Vinyl Night: DJ Milo Friday, June 21. 7 p.m. No cover. Independent Bar and Cafe, Tampa

Matthew Frost Band Friday, June 21. 7:30 p.m. No cover. The Ale and the Witch, St. Petersburg

Nadya Fridays & Saturdays. 6 p.m. No cover. The Dan, Tampa

Radiate Friday, June 21. 9 p.m. $20. TK Lounge, Tampa

Jimmy Hoffman 50 going on 30 birthday: Tribal Style Saturday, June 22. 8 p.m. No cover. The Bends, St. Petersburg

Myr w/Sicari and Zoinks/Wilco Beats and Level 7/Maylay and Handro Friday, June 21. 10 p.m. No cover with RSVP before 11:30 p.m. The Ritz, Ybor City

Narcotic Wasteland w/Collapsor/Scorch/ Voidrium Friday, June 21. 6:30 p.m. $18. Brass Mug, Tampa

A Night of Drum & Bass: Ben Soundscape & Collette Warren Friday, June 21. 9 p.m. $10-$20. Hooch and Hive, Tampa

Pending Rain and the Wrath of Zeus Friday, June 21. 6:30 p.m. No cover. Cafe BarBosso, Sarasota

Peter Neumer Friday, June 21. 6 p.m. No cover. Crown & Bull, Dunedin

SydLive Trio Friday, June 21. 3 p.m. No cover. Ella’s Americana Folk Art Cafe, Tampa

Tony Tyler Band Friday, June 21. 8 p.m. $10. Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa

Trevor Bystrom Band Friday, June 21. 8 p.m. No cover. Hard Rock Cafe, Tampa

Big Bubble Rave Saturday, June 22. 9 p.m. $20. The Ritz, Ybor City

Biscits w/Camo/Gemini Saturday, June 22. 12 p.m. $20 & up. WTR Pool, Tampa

Crossfire Creek Saturday, June 22. 8 p.m. No cover. Hard Rock Cafe, Tampa

Florida Trance Family Unite: Suzy Solar w/DJ Santana/DJ Edit

Saturday, June 22. 9 p.m. $20 & up. Hyde Park Cafe, Tampa

D.R.U.G.S. w/Savage Hands/Downswing/ The Requiem Saturday, June 22. 6 p.m. $20. Orpheum, Tampa

FL Rules: 430 Steps w/Between You and God/Cold Steel/Days Spent/Drawn Out/ Fixed View/Flask/Fortitude/Gaijin/Gas

FL/more Saturday, June 22. 12 p.m. $20. The Noise Box, Brandon

Gn@ts Saturday, June 22. 8 p.m. No cover. Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin

Homegrown: The Zac Brown Experience w/Leify Green Saturday, June 22. 8 p.m. $10. Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa

Jaded: Aerosmith Tribute Saturday, June 22. 9 p.m. $25. Wild Rover Brewing Company, Tampa

James Suggs w/John Lamb/Rick Steuart Saturday, June 22. 2 p.m. Prices TBA. The Ale and the Witch, St. Petersburg

Jariah Higgins Saturday, June 22. Noon. No cover. Rooftop bar at Tampa Edition, Tampa

#NoFilter Saturday, June 22. 8 p.m. No cover.

3 Daughters Brewing, St. Petersburg

Lot Lizards w/Arcane Arcade/Weird Times/No Pants Maurice Saturday, June 22. 7 p.m. $8. Oscura, Bradenton

Sam Williams Saturday, June 22. 7:30 p.m. No cover. Biergarten at New World Brewery, Tampa

Acoustic Brunch: Rev. Billy C. Wirtz w/ Marvelous Marvin Sunday, June 23. 1 p.m. No cover. Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa

Bluegrass Night: Free Range Strange Sunday, June 23. 5 p.m. No cover. Bayboro Brewing, St. Petersburg

DJ Von Garden w/The Crate Brothers Sunday, June 23. 11 a.m. No cover. Hooch and Hive, Tampa

Grateful Walker and Friends Sunday, June 23. 3 p.m. No cover. Cage Brewing, St. Petersburg

Hot Tonic Sunday, June 23. 6 p.m. No cover. Tiki Bar & Grill, Gulfport

Jamie Thomas Duo Sunday, June 23. 6:30 p.m. No cover. Independent Bar and Cafe, Tampa

Jazz and Blues Jam: James Varnado Sunday, June 23. 5 p.m. No cover. Cottonmouth Southern Soul Kitchen, Bradenton

Jeremy Carter Sunday, June 23. 10 a.m. No cover. The Fenway, Dunedin

LC Williams and the Drivers Sunday, June 23. 2 p.m. No cover. 3 Daughters Brewing, St. Petersburg

The Lost Tropics Sunday, June 23. 2 p.m. No cover. Dunedin Brewery, Dunedin

Ol’ Dirty Sundays: DJ Casper w/DJ Fader Sunday, June 23. $5. Crowbar, Ybor City

Red Dirt Roses Sunday, June 23. 8 p.m. No cover. Hard Rock Cafe, Tampa

Sunday Blues Session: Josh Nelms Sunday, June 23. 5 p.m. No cover. The Ale and the Witch, St. Petersburg

Sunday Jazz in the Lounge: Boho Sideshow Sunday, June 23. 2 p.m. No cover. Floridian Social, St. Petersburg

Sunday Jazz Project: Sandi Grecco w/ James Suggs/Mark Moultrup Sunday, June 23. 3 p.m. No cover. The Studio Public House, St. Petersburg

Sunnery James and Ryan Marciano w/ Alvero/Gemini Sunday, June 23. 12 p.m. $20 & up. WTR Pool, Tampa

The Wandering Hours Sunday, June 23. 3 p.m. No cover. Ella’s Americana Folk Art Cafe, Tampa

Yacht Rock Night: DJ $tephmoney w/ Scott Imrich/Christopher Crossfader Sunday, June 23. 5 p.m. No cover. Hooch and Hive, Tampa

Motown Monday: A.J. Hall Monday, June 24. 7 p.m. No cover with RSVP. Floridian Social, St. Petersburg

Peggy Morris Monday, June 24. 6 p.m. No cover. The Fenway, Dunedin

Scott Murley w/John Tschirhart/Greg Cannella Monday, June 24. 6 p.m. No cover. Treble Makers Dueling Piano Bar & Restaurant, Wesley Chapel

These Times w/Seneca Burns/The Hand Of Reason/Amateur Taxidermy Monday, June 24. 7 p.m. $8. Hooch and Hive, Tampa

Melody Artisans of Crooked Thumb Tuesday, June 25. 7 p.m. No cover. Crooked Thumb Brewery, Safety Harbor

Kyle Schroeder Tuesday, June 25. 6 p.m. No cover. The Fenway, Dunedin

The Remix: Albert J Tuesday, June 25. 8 p.m. No cover. Shuffle, Tampa

Rhythmic Exhibits: Mai Sweet Basil Tuesday, June 25. 5 p.m. $5. Imagine Museum, St. Petersburg

Kid Royal Band Wednesday, June 26. 8 p.m. No cover. Bayboro Brewing, St. Petersburg

RM Johnson and the Tomcats Wednesday, June 26. 7 p.m. No cover, but donations appreciated. Hooch and Hive, Tampa

Sarah Long w/Scott Perez Thursday, June 27. 7 p.m. No cover, but tips appreciated. Oscura, Bradenton

Schaff-Wall Collective Wednesday, June 26. 6 p.m. No cover. The Village Courtyard, Gulfport

Witchgrass Wednesdays: Fil Pate Wednesday, June 26. 7 p.m. No cover. The Ale and the Witch, St. Petersburg

Jarrod Barefoot Trio Thursday, June 27. 8 p.m. No cover. Hard Rock Cafe, Tampa

John O’Leary w/Jean Bolduc/Bryan J. Hughes Thursday, June 27. 7:30 p.m. No cover. The Horse and Jockey, South Pasadena

Luxe: A Latin Night Thursday, June 27. 6 p.m. $10. Floridian Social, St. Petersburg

Uncle John’s Band Thursday, June 27. 8 p.m. No cover. Bayboro Brewing, St. Petersburg Listen to music from this listing at cltampa. com/music.

Monday - Friday, 4pm-7pm Saturday 3pm-6pm

Live music was made for artists like Cimafunk, whose live show has been compared to that of James Brown. The songwriter and musician born Erik Alejandro Iglesias Rodríguez already has a somewhat long love affair with the Tampa Bay area—where he made his debut as part of Gasparilla Music Festival’s 2022 lineup, before returning eight months later—and he’s coming back this fall.

Last April, the 35-year-old New Orleans Jazz Fest alum made Coachella history by becoming the first Cuban-born artist to play the festival where the rhythm of his heartstopping gig brought audiences back to a tribal state of consuming live music. “It’s trying to make you forget things and get you connected with your environment — people, trees, land, the way you move, everything,” he told Nylon about the show he works to bring to life each night.

Cimafunk recently released a collaboration with another Southern favorite, Big Freedia (who he recently hosted at CimaFest in New Orleans), and has spent the weeks after Coachella working on a follow-up to his 2021 album, El Alimento , which was nominated for a Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album Grammy award. “My new album is called «

Cacophony Street Band (Tom Waits cover set) Saturday, June 29. 7:30 p.m. No cover. Biergarten at New World Brewery, Tampa

Sydney Valette w/Matt Hart/More Is Not Enough Friday, July 12. 7 p.m. $18. Music Hall at New World Brewery, Tampa

Lucki Tuesday, July 23. 7 p.m. $33. Jannus Live, St. Petersburg

VooDood Wrap Party: The Sh-Booms Saturday, July 27. 7 p.m. $15. Hooch and Hive, Tampa

Icon for Hire w/Skydxddy/Keith Wallen Friday, Aug. 2. 7 p.m. $20. Orpheum, Tampa

Astari Nite: Violet Silhouette w/Layne Lyre/DJ Maus/DJ Dave Saturday, Aug. 3. 7 p.m. $15. Crowbar, Ybor City

Black Pistol Fire w/Gloom Girl Mfg Wednesday, Aug. 7. 7 p.m. $20. Crowbar, Ybor City

Dad Bod w/Oruã/TBA Thursday, Aug. 8. 7 p.m. $10. Hooch and Hive, Tampa

Weekend Nachos w/Cold Steel/ Contention/Plague Spitter/Migrant Fury Sunday, Aug. 11. 6 p.m. $25. Orpheum, Tampa

Leo Kottke and Julian Lage Thursday, Aug. 15. 7:30 p.m. $35 & up. Bilheimer Capitol Theatre, Clearwater

King 810 w/The Last Ten Seconds Of Life/Extortionist/GasFL/

Tickets to see Cimafunk play Crowbar in Ybor City on Sunday, Oct. 6 are on sale now for $35. See Josh Bradley’s latest rundown of new concerts coming to Tampa Bay below.—Ray Roa

withpaperwings Sunday, Aug. 18. 6:30 p.m. $20. Orpheum, Tampa

Crown The Empire w/Dark Divine/ Capstan/Oni Saturday, Aug. 24. 6 p.m. $25.25 & up. Jannus Live, St. Petersburg

Jane’s Addiction w/Love and Rockets Thursday, Aug. 29. 7 p.m. $57 & up. MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa

Ricky Valido (album release) Friday, Aug. 30. 8 p.m. $11.11. Hooch and Hive, Tampa

Chase & Status Saturday, Aug. 31. 10 p.m. $35. The Ritz, Ybor City

The Psychedelic Furs w/Black Lips

Sunday, Sept. 1. 8 p.m. $44.50. Jannus Live, St. Petersburg

Scary Neighbor Festival: Yosemite in Black w/Jar/Fiends/Second Impact/ Discord Theory/Lychee Camp/Drawn Out/Coma Waves/No One Road/more Saturday, Aug. 31. 12 p.m. $20 & up. Crowbar, Ybor City

The Fall of Troy w/The Number 12 Looks Like You/Strawberry Girls Friday, Sept. 13. 6 p.m. $29.50. Orpheum, Tampa

The Expendables Wednesday, Sept. 18. 7 p.m. $25. Jannus Live, St. Petersburg

Trampled By Turtles w/Crowe Boys

Wednesday, Sept. 18. 6:30 p.m. $35.50. The Ritz, Ybor City

ALE WORKS

Pa’ tu Cuerpa » and it’s out on August 23rd,” he wrote on social media.

Slick moves

By Dan Savage

I’m frustrated. I’m transmasc and use silicone “attachments.” My partner is AMAB. Also relevant: We have very old hardwood floors, non-laminated. For YEARS, I have expressed frustrations about the careless ways my partner handles silicone lube. Multiple times, he has created dangerous slippery spots on the floor by spilling it. Our old hardwood floor absorb it and it won’t come out. (I have slipped while getting out of bed because it’s now slippery there. Also, mildly annoying, stains on sheets, blankets, etc., including the brand-new sheets that we began using a month ago. Also, even more frustrating, I have REPEATEDLY pointed out that my (very expensive) silicone parts can be damaged and have a shorter lifespan if silicone is used directly on them.

I have gone to great lengths to make sure we always have an assortment of silicone, hybrid, and water lubes, as well as non-lubricated condoms that can be placed over my silicone dicks with the option to put silicone lube on the outside. I have purchased cheap plastic trays to leave lubes on so excess lube doesn’t run down the outside of the bottle. I have bought a few cheap towels that can be kept nearby so lube bottles that are tossed don’t wind up on the sheets, couch, floor, etc. And yet he keeps putting the silicone lube directly onto silicone parts and being careless about spilling on the floor, bed, couch, etc.

I am at my wit’s end. The worst part is that he is usually the one who handles cleaning floors and bedding, so he should definitely understand this! I completely lost my libido recently because he was about to put silicone lube directly on a new silicone vibrating butt plug and then accidentally spilled it on the living room floor, which I immediately scrubbed by hand. Suddenly, instead of feeling turned on, I was imagining the next time one of our elderly mothers walk into the living room and falls down. This is no longer just about lube. This is about a total disregard for things that aren’t that difficult to manage, and if I reach the point where I have to get pedantic and say, “I don’t feel comfortable with you handling silicone lube anymore,” it’s a huge turnoff. Advice? —Sexy Partner Lacks Listening Skills

If your partner can’t be trusted to use the right lube for the right toy and/or the right lube for the right act, SPILLS, and if your partner can’t manage to get the lube out of the bottle and onto a toy and/or hole without getting the lube all over the floors and the sheets and the furniture and your moms, then your partner shouldn’t be allowed to handle the lube. You shouldn’t have to apply the lube every time you have sex—you shouldn’t have to do all lotional labor in this relationship (forgive me)—but for your peace of mind and the safety of your elderly mothers, SPILLS, you might wanna do it.

Zooming out for a second… There are really two different issues here. The first is practical: your partner is making staining the sheets, creating safety hazards, and damaging expensive toys, some of which you acquired (and wear) more for his enjoyment than yours. The second issue is symbolic: he’s not listening. He’s not taking your concerns seriously, to say nothing of your sheets, and that makes his inability—or his refusal—to do something as simple as use the right lube or return place the bottle on a tray or a towel despite your repeated requests ten times more upsetting. Seeing as partner was AMAB, and seeing as you used he/him pronouns when talking about him, I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that he’s one of those dudes who has a hard time thinking/reasoning/remembering when his dick is hard. Calling off sex when he can’t remember to use the right lube or set the bottle down on a tray or a towel might do the trick—it might break through—but if it doesn’t, SPILLS, I would suggest making the silicone lube less handy. Keeping the water-soluble lube on top of your nightstand and the silicone lube in the drawer wouldn’t just add an extra step when he wants to use the silicone lube, it would require him to make a conscious decision that required him to think about what lube he was using.

experience the pleasure I give her when I go down on her. And this woman had many lovers, men and women, before I came along.

I’ve never had a moral problem with sex work, but I can’t envision a life fulling the fantasies of men. I have no interest in men at all. However, going down on women for cash sounds like the best job in the whole entire universe. When I was a pervert teenager, looking in the back of free papers for colorfully worded personals for jerk-off fodder (which is also where I first found you), I saw ads that men placed to give oral sex to women. Is there a market for this? I live in the San Francisco area. Should I just place an ad somewhere? Can I visit a resource center for sex workers to ask some basic questions about safety as a potential sex worker? Or are these questions moot because this—women servicing women for money—isn’t a thing and there’s no market? —Screwed After Pandemic Harms Income Chances

SAVAGE LOVE

P.S. Your letter made me think of gay men I’ve known and loved who took a hit of poppers, put the cap back on the bottle, and then opened their hand and dropped the bottle on the bed… even though it meant they wouldn’t be able to find the bottle five minutes in the future when they wanted another hit because it was lost in the sheets.

I’m a 42-year-old white cis woman. I own a small business and I’ve been living on credit cards since the pandemic. My business is struggling, and I may have to close it. The thought of going back to work for someone else after being my own boss for so long is too sad. Here I am, in middle age, contemplating bankruptcy, and the possibility of losing everything. When trying to find a silver lining, I remember I am not married and do not have children. I don’t even have nieces or nephews. So, when I think about things from a different angle, I am free to start a totally different life. In weighing my possible options, some unexpected things have come to mind. Since I was a teenager every woman I have ever been with—every single one— has remarked on my oral sex talents. I don’t get bored or tired, and I seem to be better than most at reading subtle physical cues and responding correctly. My current lover is an OB/GYN in her late-60s and has told me—over and over through the years—that the majority of women do not ever

People argue about why there are so few sex workers out there serving women exclusively. One reason frequently mentioned: women are paid less than men and therefore don’t have the expendable income needed to pay for sex. (Other reasons: women are socialized to feel less entitled to the sex they want; the negative consequences of sex—from pregnancy to STIs to sexual violence— disproportionately impact women, which makes women more risk-averse than men; women are likelier to have moral and/ or political problems with sex work.) But while the pay gap remains a fact of life (and the orgasm gap remains a fact of life for straight women), the pay gap has narrowed significantly over the years. One result of the growing economic clout of women: the closing of the infidelity gap. While we used to think women were less likely to cheat because women were better people—because they were better at honoring monogamous commitments—we now know women were more vulnerable. It was the devastating financial consequences of divorce that kept women who from fucking around and not a lack of desire. But even as the infidelity gap has narrowed along with the pay gap, the payingfor-it gap doesn’t seem to have narrowed at all.

Which is a long way of saying… you’re gonna need a different backup plan, SAPHIC. And I have an idea: You’ve been dating a doctor for years— you’ve been going down a doctor for years—so close your business, declare bankruptcy, and tell that doctor she’s gonna have to marry your ass if she wants to keep eating her pussy.

P.S. Really sorry about your business going under—that sucks.

I’ve been with my partner for 15 years. We are in a May/December relationship, as he’s about a decade older. We both wanted a monogamous relationship at the start, which was a likely product of our similar religious upbringings. My perspective on this has greatly shifted,

especially over the course of the last few years. Our bedroom is essentially dead, unless you count mutual masturbation sessions once a month that might include a few minutes of oral. My partner gets excited when we watch porn featuring threesomes and finds DP in porn sexy, but he has vehemently expressed his opposition to nonmonogamy even though I’ve never brought the subject up. I’ve tried to get him to open up about his fantasies, but he’s super guarded. How can I go about bringing up this conversation and my desire to open our relationship up with a better chance of success? —Enjoying New Models No risk, no reward—forgive me for tossing out a cliché, ENM, especially one that doesn’t capture the stakes here. You can’t get the reward you want (some allowance for outside sexual contact) without risking everything you have (your loving but sexually-stale relationship). I suspect your partner knows you’re unhappy with the state of play, ENM, which is why he keeps expressing—seemingly out of nowhere—his opposition to nonmonogamy. You could take a mini-risk and make a neutral statement of fact, ENM, in an attempt to gauge just how adamantly he’s opposed to non-monogamy. (“Nonmonogamy works for a lot of couples, especially gay couples, and I don’t think those couples are any less committed.”) But seeing as your partner is already arguing with you in his head about monogamy means he’ll most likely interpret any neutral statement you might make as a disguised request to open your relationship… which isn’t entirely irrational on his part, seeing as that’s what you would be doing. So, if you’re going to risk upsetting your partner by addressing the subject at all, ENM, you might as well risk asking for what you want. It might comfort you to know there are lots of couples out there who were once monogamous but are now in happy, healthy open relationships because one partner took the risk of asking and the other reluctantly agreed and eventually came around… and it might discomfort you to know there are lots of single people out there who got dumped after they risked asking their partners to open their relationships. But even if you don’t get the reward you want, ENM, I think your relationship will survive the inevitable argument you need to have about non-monogamy. Because if he was going to break up with you for not feeling the same way he does about it, ENM, he probably would’ve broken up with you already, seeing as he kindasorta knows already that you want an open relationship. Good luck, ENM, and here are few more clichés that might give you the courage to ask for what you want directly: no guts, no glory; nothing ventured, nothing gained; fortune favors the bold; he who hesitates is never double penetrated, etc., etc., etc.

Got problems? Yes, you do! Email your question for the column to mailbox@savage.love! Or record your question for the Savage Lovecast at savage.love/askdan! Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love

ABANDONED PROPERTY

THE UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, SEIZED THE PROPERTY DESCRIBED AS FOLLOWS: $210,770.44 SEIZED FROM: 13141 US 301, RIVERVIEW, FL 33578. THE PROPERTY LISTED ABOVE REMAINS IN THE CUSTODY OF THE U.S. SECRET SERVICE, TAMPA FIELD OFFICE.

PARTIES HAVING LEGAL CLAIM TO THIS PROPERTY ARE HEREBY ADVISED THAT YOU MUST FILE YOUR CLAIM BY FEDERAL EXPRESS FOR THE ABOVEDESCRIBED PROPERTY ON OR BEFORE JULY 20, 2024, AND MAY DO SO BY CONTACTING THE ASSISTANT SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, TAMPA FIELD OFFICE, 501 EAST POLK STREET, 11TH FLOOR, TAMPA, FL 33602, (813) 228-2636.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE Pursuant

to Section 715.109, notice is hereby given that the following property will be offered for public sale and will sell at public outcry to the highest and best bidder for cash: a 1966 ATLA mobile home, VIN 7163, and the contents therein, if any, abandoned by previous owner Terry Kania and occupant Leila Kania. on Friday, June 28, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. at 100 Holly Drive, Tavares, Florida 32778.. ICARD, MERRILL, CULLIS, TIMM, FUREN & GINSBURG, P.A. Alyssa M. Nohren FL Bar No. 352410 2033 Main Street Suite 600 Sarasota, Florida 34237 Telephone: (941) 366-8100 Facsimile: (941) 366-6384 anohren@icardmerrill. com smenasco@icardmerrill.com Attorney for Tiki Village MHC, LLC

NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE Pursuant to Section 715.109, notice is hereby given that the following property will be offered for public sale and will sell at public outcry to the highest and best bidder for cash: a 1973 NEWP mobile home, VIN 9820, and the contents therein, if any, abandoned by previous owner Monica Ellen Werner. on Friday, July, 5, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. at 3441 Pine Avenue, Lot 24, Ocala, Florida 34471.. ICARD, MERRILL, CULLIS, TIMM, FUREN & GINSBURG, P.A. Alyssa M. Nohren FL Bar No. 352410 2033 Main Street Suite 600 Sarasota, Florida 34237 Telephone: (941) 366-8100 Facsimile: (941) 3666384 anohren@icardmerrill.com smenasco@icardmerrill.com Attorney for Nautilus Mobile Home & RV Park.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE Pursuant to Section 715.109, notice is hereby given that the following property will be offered for public sale and will sell at public outcry to the highest and best bidder for cash: a 1973 ENGF mobile home, VIN 12123 and the contents therein, if any. abandoned by previous owner John Lawson, IV. on Friday, July 5, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. at 10528 Poplar Street, Lot 15, St. Petersburg, FL 33716. ICARD, MERRILL, CULLIS, TIMM, FUREN & GINSBURG, P.A. Alyssa M. Nohren FL Bar No. 352410 2033 Main Street Suite 600 Sarasota, Florida 34237 Telephone: (941) 366-8100 Facsimile: (941) 3666384 anohren@icardmerrill.com smenasco@icardmerrill.com Attorney for Pinewood Co-Op, Inc.

NOTE: Some famous people have alliterative names that sound more made-up than real, as if they were invented by an ad person for the sake of a slogan. Forthwith, a sampling.

Crater, for one

The Minuteman III, e.g.

than a ballpark wiener?” 57 Diamonds, e.g.

“___ expert but ...”

Oscar category

Atticus Finch’s boy

___ sez: “Photo fans! Preserve the past, make it last, with plastic!”

Salary

Make up (for)

Roof overhang

They pick up whistles

___ sez: “It’s never too soon to prune!”

___ sez: “Ain’t cheese grate?”

___ sez: “I’m in jail, under lock and key; stay out of trouble, don’t be like me!”

25 Chopper 26 Org. in Kosovo in the 1990s 27 Actor Lorenzo 28 Distressed

Chorus member

Loafer 31 Barrier-bustin’ craft 33 Hitch, e.g. 34 ___ sez: “My business is growing!”

39 Got an A in

Straightens 42 Emeril’s word 43 She gave us Heartburn

46 It’s shelfcontained? 49 Lass 50 Dinero of a sort 51 Actor Delon

___ sez: “A puzzle a day keeps the blues away”

109 Many Little League coaches 110 Zero 113 ___ sez: “Take a chance on romance!”

115 ___ sez: “Broadway—it’s not the same old song and dance!” 117 ___ sez: “Come to where the syrup is—and pour it on!” 118 Thought 119 Lodge folks

Sean Lennon’s mom 121 Mailing courtesies: abbr. 122 Tall crop 123 Parlor particles

32 Iraq negotiator Aziz 34 Teo of racing

Transportation category that includes the biggest railroad companies, like CSX and Union Pacific

Meadow 93 Stovetop feature

Type of sch.

___ sez: “It’s never out of style to wear a smile!” 98 Like E. Fudd

Emulate Diaz 103 Hosp. areas 104 The Paleozoic et al.

105 Raised in Paris?

107 “I just had a thought ...”

DOWN 1 Zhivago’s love 2 Trojan War hero 3 Mitty portrayer 4 Go astray 5 Pen denizens 6 The ___ many colors 7 Singer-turned-pol

8 Letters once seen with 6 on your dial 9 Wizard’s creator 10 SeaWorld critters 11 Bottomless pit 12 The Gal in a 1942 flick

Ambush

Good, to Garcia

Plus

10 x 10 x 10: abbr. 19 Point fingers at 20 Come to

Alley or trust preceder

In a chat room, e.g.

Oaf 29 Ins and outs 30 Corleone thug

IN THE ART GROUP:

BEST GLASS-BLOWING STUDIO

BEST NEW MURAL

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BEST POET

IN THE BEAUTY & WELLNESS GROUP:

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IN THE DRINK GROUP:

BEST ESPRESSO MARTINI

BEST MARTINI

BEST BLOODY MARY

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IN THE FOOD GROUP:

BEST BAKERY FOR YOUR PET

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BEST CHEESECAKE

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BEST HOT DOGS

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IN THE GOODS CATEGORY:

BEST JEWELERY STORE

IN THE SERVICES GROUP:

BEST ‘BEST OF THE BAY’ CATEGORY TO ADD

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BEST BAIT & TACKLE SHOP

BEST BIRTHING CENTER

BEST MIDWIFE/DOULA BEST PROCTOLOGIST

IN THE PEOPLE GROUP: BEST LOCAL ONLYFANS ACCOUNT