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On the Fourth of July, a Tampa Bay woman broke the record for hot dog eating at the Nathan’s contest on Coney Island (Miki Sudo’s partner Nick Wehry, also from the Bay area, took fourth in the men’s competition). But the night before, 1,134 miles away at Crowbar in Ybor City, another chompion—Christian Restrepo—cemented himself in local history books by returning to the podium after eating more glizzies than anyone at Hot Dog Party 18. The throwdown, possibly one of the last at Crowbar where the lease is up in 2026, also featured sets from Wolf-Face, The Don’t Belongs, the always nasty Jeremy Gloff, plus appearances from a whole lot of local friends and lovers. See all the photos via cltampa.com/slideshows.—Ray Roa
do this
Tampa Bay's best things to do from July 11 - 17
Making history
A year after opening “Travails and Triumphs,” which tells the 500-year story of Black history in the Bay area, the Tampa Bay History Center (TBHC) has an even bigger plan. TBHC, together with the Tampa Housing Authority (THA), will open Tampa’s official Black History Museum in the Encore district, which sits on the same land once referred to as “The Scrub.” The museum will live at the St. James Episcopal Church, which THA spent $2 million restoring. Fred Hearns, Curator of Black History at the history center (pictured) will help bring the museum to life and this week joins the early birds at Cafe con Tampa to discuss how he plans to continue uncovering the past and inspiring future generations.
Creating Tampa’s Black History Museum One Story at a Time w/ Fred Hearns: Friday, July 12. 9 a.m. $12. The Portico, 1001 N Florida Ave., Tampa. @cafecontampa on Facebook Ray Roa
Drinking history
The City of Tampa turns 137 years old this week, and while there’s a daytime celebration happening outside of Old City Hall on Monday, a bar just two miles away is where the real party is at. Shuffle is where Tampeño historian Manny Leto will stage an 813 version of drunk history (don’t worry, anyone with a 656 area code came come, too). Leto, who is currently Executive Director at Preserve The ‘Burg, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that he’s not the foremost expert on local history (spoiler: he knows a shitload), and that he hopes this talk and Q&A—which will probably involve shots—opens the door for others to experience history in the comfort of a local pub before going to explore a museum, or partake in Archives Awareness Week which kicks off July 14. “This is not meant to be a definitive kind of look at Tampa’s history. It’s meant to have a little bit of fun, be a little irreverent,” Leto added. No telling exactly what the program will entail, but we’re hoping to hear about fights over which books lectors could and couldn’t read to cigar workers, Catholic priests who were clubbed to death after landing on local shores, and maybe that mayor of West Tampa who was kidnapped.
Drunk Tampa History: Monday, July 15. 7 p.m. No cover. Shuffle, 2612 N Tampa St., Tampa. @tampashuffle on Facebook—Ray Roa
Small talk sucks, let’s discuss
Spend any amount of time doom scrolling, and you’re bound to fall into a viral clip featuring the voice and views of Charlamagne tha God. The 46-year-old’s WWPR “Breakfast Club” radio show is gospel for millions of fans of nearly 90 radio stations across the U.S. and provides fodder for work and dinner conversations everywhere. A book of his take on the world—and about having macro discussions instead of small talk—was released in May and touches on a myriad of topics including mental health, fatherhood, and politics, with some help from friends like “The Boondocks” artist Aaron McGruder. Mr. Tha God (real name Lenard Larry McKelvey) will be in town with signed copies of “Get Honest or Die Lying: Why Small Talk Sucks” and ready for an interactive Q&A moderated by the Urban League of Hillsborough County. Tickets to the event come with a signed copy of the book, plus a one-year membership to the League.
Charlamagne tha God book signing: Friday, July 12. 5 p.m. $35 & up. 7th+Grove, 1930 E 7th Ave., Ybor City. @UrbanLeagueHC on Facebook—Ray Roa
Epic kicko
For the first time in the contest’s eight-year history, Feeding Tampa Bay’s “Epic Chef” opened the chef selection process to applications, and the feedback was tremendous. Last April, a panel featuring Stovall House Executive Chef Rachel Bennett, Mise en Place legend Marty Blitz, Mainsail Hotel’s Brandon Marshall and Creative Loafing Tampa Bay Editor-In-Chief Ray Roa selected four finalists for the “Chopped”-style tournament that crowns its 2024 champ this summer (2023 semifinalists, Adrianna Siller, left, and Jada Vidal, are pictured). This week local culinarians can mingle ahead of Epic Chef’s first round (Monday, July 22 at the Epicurean) with a kickoff reception featuring sampling from local hot spots like Mise, Élevage and Wild Child. All proceeds from the contest and kickoff go to the nonprofit’s mission to end hunger in the Bay area. Get additional details—including names of the four finalists—via cltampa.com/food.
Feeding Tampa Bay Epic Chef Kick Off Reception: Monday, July 15. 6 p.m. $95. Hall at Feeding Tampa Bay Causeway Center, 3624 Causeway Blvd, Tampa. feedingtampabay. org/epicchef—Ray Roa
Just go with it
Eight years after opening, Spitfire Comedy House stays busy. With programming and classes six nights a week, owner Zach Mouriz opens his venue up to anyone even remotely interested in improv—no matter how much experience they have. Late last month, Spitfire kicked off its Saturday summer sketch show “Just Go With It,” which wraps on July 20. The series features local comics working through everything from “a cheerleader spilling the tea to overly-supportive girlfriends, from existential conundrums to underqualified superheroes,” according to Mouriz. Other shows this weekend include “The Early Late Show” (Thursday) and two nights of “Whose Line St. Pete” (Friday-Saturday)
Just Go With It The Summer Sketch Show: Saturday, July 13. 9 p.m. $25. Spitfire Comedy House, 1920 1st Ave. S, St. Petersburg. spitfirecomedy.com—Ray Roa
Fairy tales
If “Shrek” and “Monty Python” had unprotected sex and ended up making a baby, it might look and sound a little something like “The Figs.” American Stage’s last show of the season also marks the world premiere of the piece by playwright Doug Robinson—a whimsical work that leaves a lot of room for the audience to use their imaginations as cast members (including Kayland Jordan, pictured) each play multiple roles in a story about a tyrannical king who’s dangerously obsessed with figs, which he naturally cannot grow himself. His solution to the issue ends up leading theater lovers through director Helen R. Murray’s rule-breaking production which is a celebration of love and also kindness. It closes on Aug. 4 and hits the stage seven times before this issue leaves the newsstands.
The Figs: Wednesday-Sunday through Aug. 4. $28 & up. American Stage, 163 3rd St. N, St. Petersburg. americanstage.org—Ray Roa
Just doob it
Despite imperfections, Florida’s recreational pot amendment has a diverse body of support.
By Ray Roa
In less than four months, Florida voters can approve an amendment that will legalize the recreational use of cannabis for adults 21 and older. Amendment 3 would also allow individuals to possess up to three ounces of marijuana, with up to five grams in the form of concentrate. Its passage—dependent on whether or not 60% of voters approve the amendment in the Nov. 5 general election—would make the Sunshine State the 25th in the nation to legalize pot for recreational use. The initiative is popular, too.
“What cannabis offers to patients, to consumers, is something that crosses party lines,” Chris Polaszek, Co-Founder and Chief Legal Officer of Sunburn Cannabis, which has a store in Tampa, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.
Since 2018, the 84-year-old has been in numerous court battles over homegrown pot and the nature of the state’s “vertical integration” model, which requires a medical marijuana treatment center (MMTC) to be integrated from seed to sale. The same system would presumably be in place if Amendment 3 passes—until legislators actually tweak the rules.
STATE NEWS
Election Dates General election: Nov. 5 (must be registered by Oct. 7). Primary election: Aug. 20 (must be registered by July 22). myfloridaelections.com
A June Fox News poll supports that claim, showing high approval for Amendment 3 among registered Florida voters who identify as Democrats (76%), Independents (71%) and even Republicans (57%).
Numerous studies suggest that if the amendment passes, the number of Floridians who consume marijuana will likely increase. Tax revenue could balloon, too, with economists recently estimating that once the market is fully operational, retail sales of non-medical marijuana in Florida would generate between $195.6-$431 million annually in state and local taxes (more on p. 21.)
Chris Cano is Executive Director for the Suncoast chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), and this month he told WMNF public affairs program The Skinny that lawmakers must do more to put the consumer first. “The whole issue that we’re having with all of this is there’s no political will and no testicular fortitude among our legislators to actually be bold and actually pass legislation to reform the vertically-integrated system,” Cano, whose group supports Amendment 3, added.
Even opponents of Amendment 3 have tried to use the system in their arguments.
Last summer, in a brief urging the state Supreme Court to reject the proposed “Adult Use of Marijuana” initiative, state Solicitor General Henry Whitaker claimed that the proposal “entrenches the sponsor’s monopolistic stranglehold on the marijuana market to the detriment of Floridians.”
“I don’t see anything to stop it.”
And contrary to some critics’ claims, a study in the American Medical Association network found that fewer minors reported having used weed in states where the drug was legal. Other studies have also shown that legalizing recreational cannabis does not increase substance abuse.
Still, for many people, it’s simply about choice.
“It’s their own business. It’s not the government’s business,” Joe Redner told CL. Tampa’s “strip club king” has battled for personal liberties throughout his career, and says medical marijuana helped him beat the stage four lung cancer he was diagnosed with in 2011.
The “sponsor” Whitaker alludes to is Smart & Safe Florida, a committee that received, as of July 1, $55.27 million from Trulieve, which owns medical marijuana dispensaries in Florida.
But Carlos Hermida—Founder of Tampa and St. Pete's Chillum Mushroom & Hemp, plus the Florida Cannabis Coalition—said that complaining about the imperfections of the amendment takes away from the real issue of legislators actually being able to implement Amendment 3 should it pass.
After all, many of those voters who’ll vote Yes on 3 this fall did the same for the state’s medical marijuana amendment eight years ago—then
watched the legislature take two years to finalize laws clearing the way for smokeable medicine.
“We can complain about this amendment and what it doesn’t have: It doesn’t open up the business, it doesn’t open up for homegrow—but these are all things that our legislature could quite easily do,” Hermida added.
Sunburn Cannabis’ Polaszek shared a similar sentiment, and said, “The hardest work, I believe, starts after Amendment 3 passes.”
And despite the its popularity and wide range of support, there is still another figure looming over Amendment 3—Ron DeSantis.
The governor recently indicated that his Florida Freedom Fund PAC is working with entities who want to defeat the initiative. Last April, he described the the proposal as “extreme” and “radical,” and recently went as far as saying, “we cannot have every town smelling like marijuana.” (The governor’s office has not yet responded to a request for clarification about
what makes Amendment 3 radical and extreme, but we’ll update this post online if it does.)
But Cano said voter education will be key to getting Amendment 3 across the finish line; to that end, he said Suncoast NORML is holding a free Aug. 6 virtual town hall where the group will accept public comment and questions. “It’s making sure the voter knows, when they go into the ballot box, what they’re voting for, what Amendment 3 does and what it doesn’t do,” he told The Skinny.
Redner, who’s also supporting Amendment 3 despite its shortcomings, was even more confident and told CL that recreational use is a foregone conclusion in Florida.
“I don’t see anything to stop it,” Redner added. “I think the governor is wasting his time.”
Editor’s note: See the full text of the ballot language and read a more in-depth version of this story, via cltampa.com/news.
PUFF, PUFF… PASS? Amendment 3 might be popular enough to get 60% of the yes vote.
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“This is money that is slipping away to the black market.”
Seeing green
Florida economists predict pot would bring in ‘at least’ $196 million in taxes.
By Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix
One of the arguments supporters of the proposed state constitutional amendment legalizing the recreational adult use of cannabis in Florida tout is an increase in revenues to the state.
The nonpartisan Florida Financial Impact Estimating Conference said last July that, based on other states’ experience, if Amendment 3 is passes this fall expected retail sales of nonmedical marijuana in Florida would generate at least $195.6 million annually in state and local taxes once the retail market is fully operational. It could go as high as $431 million.
With that as the backdrop, Smart and Safe Florida, the advocacy group for Amendment 3, held a public discussion in Tampa last month with sitting and former elected officials and other stakeholders about how to use that money for public benefit if the measure gets the 60% approval required to become law in November.
“We have so many needs across so many different categories, that to me anything that you can help may free up dollars for other things as well,” said Hillsborough County Commissioner Harry Cohen.
“We need a new criminal courthouse in Hillsborough County. We need fi re stations and roads and sidewalks, and clearly schools have tremendous obligations going forward. We have wastewater and stormwater projects in the hundreds of millions of dollars, so anything that can help relieve some of this is benefi cial, and this is money that is slipping away to the black market. It’s not that
the money’s not out there, it’s just not being captured legally by us and put to good use.”
But former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, who served six years as Democrat in the Florida House, said he thinks it unlikely the GOP-controlled Legislature would allocate those funds to local government.
“Certainly, when I was there, I would have loved to have seen that happen, but my expectation is that it’s probably not returning,” he said—adding that with collections from gas taxes being reduced in recent years (and with the expansion of electric vehicles), he personally would like to see it invested in agencies like the Florida Department of Transportation for mass transit and roadway projects.
were not quite entirely fulfi lled, so to have this conversation on the front end of the inevitability of this, I think, is important,” he said.
Lottery money does go to education, but perhaps not nearly as much as people anticipated. According to the Florida Lottery, approximately 25 cents of every dollar spent on a ticket goes into the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund, managed by the Florida Department of Education. Each yea that money is distributed between public schools, Florida colleges and universities, and the Bright Futures Scholarship.
“Nobody has forgotten the Lottery,” said Shaw. “No one has forgotten the promise made and the promise that was not fulfi lled. And we don’t want that to happen again. I think that’s really important for the Legislature to hear that on the front end.”
STATE NEWS
Sean Shaw served as a Democrat in the Florida House for one term before he ran as the Democratic nominee for attorney general in 2018. He’s now a candidate for the Hillsborough County Commission. Like several panelists, he was “agnostic” about where the revenues should go, “other than not to the general fund.”
“I would want it dedicated for this, this, this, or this, and not into the giant state budget where some things might happen,” he said.
Darryl Jones, a member of the Leon County School Board, noted that Florida Lottery funds were supposed to be distributed to K-12 public schools when that issue came before the voters in 1986. “There were promises made about how that money would go to education. Promises that
Jake Hoffman, executive director of the Tampa Bay Young Republicans, said, “Everybody is going to have their hands out asking for that money.” His focus was on how to get more of it back into “the regular taxpayer’s pocket.”
“And if we’re able to do this in a way that offsets property taxes and their insurance situation—things that are affecting our average Floridian—that’s what I want to see happen,” Hoffman added.
Other states
According to a December 2023 report from the Tax Foundation, 21 states tax recreational cannabis. The Phoenix looked at how three of them distribute the tax proceeds:
In Arizona, which started its recreational cannabis program in 2021, one third of those revenues go to community college districts;
31% to public safety, including police and fi re departments; 25% goes to the highway user revenue fund, and 10% to the justice reinvestment fund, which is dedicated to providing public health services, counseling, job training, and other social services for communities “that have been adversely affected and disproportionately impacted by marijuana arrests and criminalization,” according to the Arizona Mirror.
In Oregon, 40% of cannabis taxes go to a state school fund; 20% goes to the Oregon Health Authority for mental health treatment or for alcohol and drug abuse prevention, early intervention, and treatment; 15% goes to the state police; 10% to cities; 10% to counties; and 5% back to the Oregon Health Authority for a separate program offering alcohol and drug abuse prevention, early intervention, and treatment services.
And in Montana, after $6 million is distributed annually to an agency dealing with ending addiction through recovery and treatment programs, 20% of adult-use and medical marijuana taxes goes to the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks to be used solely for wildlife habitat; 4% to the state park account; 4% for trails and recreational facilities; 4% to nongame wildlife; 3% or $200,000 (whichever is less) to veterans and surviving spouses; $150,000 to the board of crime control to fund crisis intervention team training; $300,000 to the Department of Justice for grant funding for purchasing and training drug detection canines and canine handlers; and the rest to the general fund.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@fl oridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and X.
OUT OF THE WEEDS: Hillsborough Commissioner Harry Cohen sees many uses for new tax revenue.
RAY ROA
Saint Cathy
Florida champion of medical marijuana dies at age 74.
By Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix
Cathy Jordan, who credited medical cannabis for keeping her alive for decades after she was diagnosed with ALS, died on July 4 at her home in South Florida at the age of 74.
The news was relayed to the public on Thursday by Jodi James, president of the Florida Cannabis Action Network, who said she received a phone call from Cathy’s son, John, informing her that Jordan had died at around 4 p.m. that afternoon.
Jordan was labeled the “patron saint” of medical marijuana in Florida for her long-term advocacy of the plant, dating to the late 1990s. Originally from Delaware, Jordan was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” in 1986. Patients typically live for two to five years after symptoms develop but Jordan lived for 38 years after her diagnosis. She said everything changed for her while visiting Florida in 1989, when a friend offered her a strain of cannabis called Myakka Gold.
Jordan Medical Cannabis Act,” in 2013, which never got a committee hearing.
“I really don’t have much respect for politicians. They just close their mind … and don’t open it and look into things,” she said in the Cathy Jordan Story.
FLORIDA NEWS
Within a week of the Cathy Jordan Medical Cannabis Act being introduced during the 2013 legislative session, Bob Jordan was arrested for possession of cannabis plants and charged with 23 counts of cultivation. It was a strain that he had he had developed specifically for her condition. The charges were ultimately dropped.
In 2014, organizers placed a medical marijuana constitutional amendment before the voters. While it received 57% support, that wasn’t enough to get over the 60% threshold required for passage. The amendment did pass in 2016 with more than 71%. However, the Florida Legislature passed an implementing bill in 2017 that banned use of smokable marijuana. That
prompted a lawsuit, which led to Jordan testifying against the law in Leon County Circuit Court in 2018. “It was absolutely amazing, being in the courtroom with Cathy Jordan as she discussed the value of having access to smokable cannabis was pivotal,” James recounted.
DeSantis on board
Shortly after he was elected in 2019, Gov. Ron DeSantis said, “I don’t think this [the medical marijuana] law is up to snuff,” and told Republicans that he wanted the Legislature to repeal the law’s ban on smokable pot for sick people. “If you had told me 22 years ago that this was going to take 22 years, I may have rethought it,” Jordan told Spectrum Bay News in 2019, when DeSantis signed legislation allowing smokable cannabis.
The news of her passing hit the cannabis community in Florida hard last Friday.
“I smoked it and I felt the disease stop,” she told Dr. Andrew Weil in a scene shown in the documentary, “The Cathy Jordan Story.” She described how she smuggled that cannabis on a plane to Delaware. “I flew home that way, and my husband had a nervous breakdown because I was interstate transporting drugs, but I was convinced I was going to live.”
Jordan decided with her husband, Bob, to move Parrish, in Manatee County, and began using cannabis regularly, which she said improved her physically and mentally.Jordan attended and spoke at a hemp festival at Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa in the late 1990s, organized by the Florida Cannabis Action Network, where James first met her. “She and I worked together hand-in-glove for 27 years,” James said last Friday.
Jordan would go on to become a full-time activist pushing to get medical marijuana legalized in Florida and ultimately became president of the Florida Cannabis Action Network from 2011-2015. She remained on the board of directors with the group.
Lobbying
Her journey to allow for the medicinal use of cannabis was an arduous one, as other states around the nation began passing laws legalizing its use. Jordan would make the trek to Tallahassee to lobby lawmakers to approve medical cannabis but those bills went nowhere in the GOP-controlled House and Senate, including what was called the “Cathy
to take place this weekend in St. Petersburg. “She was just an amazing woman and such a big loss to the community. She really was just the patron saint of cannabis here in Florida.”
“She lived more than 30 years [after her ALS diagnosis] by smoking joints,” said Carlos Hermida, who owns two hemp shops in the Tampa Bay area. “She was such a sweet lady. She found it hard to speak, she wheeled around everywhere in a wheelchair, but she was always smiling and was always great to everyone who came across her, so it really is a dark day in the movement that she’s not around anymore.”
“I smoked it and I felt the disease stop.”
“She was instrumental in getting medical [cannabis] passed, and getting any kind of cannabis legislation moved here in Florida, and we were privileged to have her speak at a few events,” says Pete Sessa, a co-founder of the Florida Cannabis Coalition and Cannadelic, an annual cannabis and hemp festival scheduled
“Cathy Jordan was born on Jan. 1. She was a New Years Day baby, and she left us on Independence Day,” said James. “Any other day would have just been boring, and Cathy is nothing If not interesting, and so her passing on the Fourth of July was just auspicious.”
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@ floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and X.
CATHY JORDAN
LOBBY HOBBY: Cathay Jordan was willing to advocate for the cause in Tallahassee.
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Sowing seeds
Dalia Colón to discuss new cookbook in St. Pete, and more food news.
By Kyla Fields and Ray Roa
You don’t have to be full-on vegan to enjoy vegetarian fare, and a new collection of Florida-centric recipes is here to give you more plant-based inspiration. Multimedia journalist and host of WUSF’s local food podcast “The Zest” Dalia Colón published her first book “The Florida Vegetarian Cookbook” earlier this year, and it features over a hundred recipes as well as commentary on Florida food culture.
St. Pete’s Coastal Creative hosts a discussion between “The Florida Vegetarian Cookbook” author and Tampa Bay Times’ Michelle Stark this week where the two will discuss the ins and outs of the newly-released work, favorite recipes, and the ways in which various fruits, vegetables and grains are woven into Florida’s food history.
another brewery to begin their journey,” Six Ten Brewing wrote. “From the first pint we poured to the countless celebrations, events and gatherings, every moment has been a life-changing experience for us. We are deeply grateful for the trust you placed in us, the feedback you shared, and the loyalty you showed.”
FOOD NEWS
“The Florida Vegetarian Cookbook” explores the endless, plant-based possibilities that the Sunshine State’s year-round harvests can offer—from chocolate-dipped avocado paletas and Tarpon Springs-inspired spanakopita to buffalo cauliflower, collard green pasta and a strawberry clementine salad. In addition to the variety of Southern-inspired vegetarian recipes, Colón’s recently-published cookbook also includes a dozen essays about Florida’s “cherished food traditions” and issues impacting its current food and produce industry.
Owners Leslie and Chris Johnson ditched their corporate jobs to open Six Ten Brewing in 2014, and quickly made a name for themselves in the local craft beer scene. In addition to an impressive “core beer” lineup of brews like the CBGB Berliner Weisse, TPA double IPA, Poco Loco Belgian Ale and Tent Beer Munich-style lager, Six Ten is also known for both its seasonal and specialty bottle drops.
‘The Florida Vegetarian Cookbook’ w/Dalia Colón
Wednesday, July 17. 7 p.m. $5 Coastal Creative. 2201 1st Ave. S, St. Petersburg. daliacolon.com
Six Ten Brewing— located at 7052 Benjamin Rd.—even snagged a gold medal at the 2021 Great American Beer Festival for its “Hold the Waffle” chocolate beer. While it’s unsure what up-and-coming brewery is opening out of Six Ten’s former Town ‘N’ Country location, the Johnsons assure their customers that they can expect great service and brews from the newcomers.
Tickets to see Dalia Colón talk about “The Florida Vegetarian Cookbook” on Wednesday, July 17 at Coastal Creative in St. Pete are still available for $5. Head to Colón’s Instagram at @ daliacolon for more information about this month’s event and how to pre-order her debut cookbook.
Tampa’s Six Ten Brewing has closed after a decade in business
The decade-old local brewery—largely known for its wide variety of craft beers, regular event programming, and friendly hospitality— took to social media to announce the sale of its building and closure of Six Ten, which it marked with final pours late last month.
“It is with mixed emotions that we announce the closing of our beloved brewery, as we have made the difficult decision to sell and allow
“As we close this chapter, we want to assure you that the spirit of the brewery will live on in the hands of its new owners, who share a commitment to quality and community,” Six Ten Brewing’s closing announcement continues. “We have every confidence that they will continue to uphold the standards and traditions we have established over the years.”
Vicky Dodds, beloved manager at Tampa’s Skipper’s Smokehouse, retires after 44 years Dodds has been with Skipper’s since 1980, when she graduated from the nearby University of South Florida with a degree in psychology and got a job in the kitchen to make ends meet. Though she never pursued a career in psychology, she feels her knowledge in the field has been beneficial to her decades in the hospitality industry. She’s done most everything in the place, including bartending and serving as a day manager, but she eventually found her true passion as the catering manager, a role in which she has truly become
a shining star. She’s been on television several times, including serving Adam Richman smoked alligator ribs on “Man vs Food” and on Fox 13 showcasing the restaurant’s famous blackened grouper reuben.—Jourdan Ducat
Detroit Coney Island opens new location in
Clearwater
Clearwater has a new tube steak spot. After 14 years in business and seven years of serving chili-loaded glizzies in Palm Harbor, Detroit Coney Island abruptly closed its doors last February, while hinting that a new location was in the works. Well, now the popular Tampa Bay hot dog purveyor has found a new home in Clearwater Beach.
Detroit Coney Island new outpost is at 280 Windward Passage, inside the The Market at Island Estates convenience store, which is just kitty corner to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.
Owners Dante and Barb Guarascio still offer up all the classics from their popular menu, like a hot dog in a steamed bun smothered in a beanless chili, raw onions and mustard. However, the new spot also features new offerings, and the menu now spans everything from ice cream, desserts, walleye fish platters and sandwiches,
pitas, salads, daily specials and more. Of course, there’s also classic Michigan staples like Better Made Chips and Faygo.—Colin Wolf
ICYMI
• When someone stole the smoker at Haven, Chef Chad Johnson & co. decided they would embrace the circumstances and emerged with the South Tampa restaurant’s Larceny BBQ event, which showcases the team’s live-fire skills. Smoke, fat and acid come together again on Tuesday, July 16 with a menu that includes what a press release describes as “creative BBQ twists, from lamb shoulder to foie gras.” Dine-in reservations at Haven (2208 W Morrison Ave., Tampa) are still available on OpenTable, and there are preorder options, too. haventampa.com
• The Bern’s Steak House family of restaurants was well represented in the 2024 Wine Spectator Restaurant Awards. Bern’s took home the Grand Award reserved for the world’s best wine programs while Haven won a Best of Award of Excellence. Outside of the Bern’s world, Boulan Brasserie in Water Street—along with Timpano and Union New American—also took home Awards of Excellence.
DROP THE BEETS: Dalia Colón shows how Florida fare can be delicious and
MOVIES THEATER ART CULTURE
Carrie’s complexity
Sarah Gerard interrupts the staid rhythm of true crime books.
By Caroline DeBruhl
So many true crime stories sound the same. A man kills a young woman. He’s caught. Then, the media and courts comb over his interests, his upbringing, his “psyche” for some clue as to why he did it. The victim is given stock treatment. She’s always a “beautiful soul,” someone who “lit up the room.” The only remarkable thing about her, it seems, is that she was killed.
Sarah Gerard interrupts this narrative with her new memoir, “Carrie Carolyn Coco,” which covers the life and murder of poet Carolyn Bush. A St. Pete native, and Gerard’s friend, Bush was living in New York City and an active member of the literary scene when, on Sept. 28, 2016, her roommate Render Stetson-Shanahan stabbed her seven times for no apparent reason. Bush was six weeks shy of her 26th birthday.
Much of Gerard’s book goes to examining the life of Carolyn and the dozens of people who were affected and grieved for her loss. Bush emerges as a complex character, someone who took her art seriously and hustled to make ends meet. A self-proclaimed witch, she made several appearances in her friend’s dreams post-death, chain-smoking and pissed as hell.
New York and learned they were from the same hometown, had the same dear friends, chose the same career. Because of this proximity, Gerard witnesses this drowning grief in real-time. She is not an outsider but someone who can paint a portrait of what it means to a community when a remarkable young woman is killed.
In a way, “Carrie Carolyn Coco” is an antitrue crime book. It trades in the sensationalism and gory fascination for an unflinching look at grief and celebrates the fiercely lived life of Carolyn Bush, whose own words echo throughout the book. I was lucky to sit down with Gerard and ask her about how she chose to tell this story.
What was important for you to convey while telling Carolyn’s story?
INTERVIEW
‘Carrie Carolyn Coco’ Out now via Zando Projects sarah-gerard.com
In traditional true crime fashion, the media focuses solely on Render, a rich kid with a New Yorker cartoonist father. Despite spending most of his time posting about guns on Reddit, Render is labeled as a “struggling artist” while Bush, the active poet and writer, was relegated to “a part-time waitress.”
Gerard rightly avoids giving Render any sort of mystique. He is a boring sociopath, someone who complains about not getting gift baskets of organic food in prison and looks forward to being committed to a psychiatric hospital so he can “relax and read and paint.” He is every entitled rich kid millennial you know. He is uninteresting, even in this narrative, which firmly centers on Carolyn.
Gerard deftly braids the stories of Carolyn’s past, her writing, the present grief of friends and family, and the court case against Render. What makes this account fascinating is that Gerard emerges as a character. She met Bush in
Who she really was, and the complexity of her, as much as I could capture it. Writing about anyone necessarily turns them into a character, which is not fair. So there’s a little bit of tragedy in that, too. But now, all these different people get to meet her who never would have known who she was otherwise and keep telling stories about her.
And I also obviously wanted some sort of justice. It was just really unfair what happened to her and how her story was being told afterward. I think stories hold people accountable. And I wanted to start a conversation also about the ways that these wealthy institutions and the criminal justice system are organized to protect people who hurt women.
You do open up the story to talk about things that happened, like other men who committed violence at Bard (where both Carolyn and Render went), as well as “the shitty men in media list” and instances of racial and immediate partner violence. Why did you decide to open up the story instead of sticking to what happened to Carolyn?
Because it’s part of a larger pattern. What happened to Carolyn is not an isolated incident; actually, 90% of the time, if not more, when a woman is murdered, it’s by somebody she knew. And domestic violence is a pandemic. I mean,
it affects every woman I know in some way or another. If not, personally, then familiarly. It’s affected me, it’s affected my mother, and obviously, it affected Carolyn. I mean, she was killed by somebody who she lived with.
I also wanted to try to define what an institution is at one point. In a way, Bard exists as an institution to protect itself and the people who perpetuate it instead of the individuals who live under it. What does this institution stand for? That was one of the research questions [I had] when looking at the institution of the criminal justice system.
“I think stories hold people accountable.”
Why did you decide to include yourself as a character instead of as a removed narrator?
I chose to appear in the book when I had something to contribute from my perspective. One of the things that really made me want to get to know Carolyn more was this weird pyramid scheme [The Circle] that she invited me to.
She was a struggling 20-something in the most expensive city in the country. I was also struggling at that time. I was—I am still—part of the gig economy, and so was she. I decided to include that scene because it demonstrated some of what she was going through at the time financially. I think it captures so many aspects of Caroline’s experience and personality. It was another women-led organization talking about spiritual experiences and female empowerment. Plus, I tried to collect as much of Carolyn’s writing as I could: texts, emails, blog posts, you know, poems, essays, and I had this email from her [trying to recruit me.]
I included myself because I was there and I thought [The Circle] was an important thread in her life. And I could talk about being with her face to face and, and also a little bit of my own motivation for wanting to write about her. She was my friend… I wish she had gotten to write her own book. I know she would have written so many books. She should have been able to do that.
LOOK BOOK: Gerard’s perspective on Carolyn Bush changes the storytelling around her friend.
Emily Martinez, 27 DIC. 1974 (Mother’s Embrace) (detail), 2024, Acrylic on canvas and wood
REVIEWS PROFILES MUSIC WEEK
Young love
Catching up with ‘70s heartthrob Donny Osmond.
By Gabe Echazabal
The shelf life of a teen pop idol is extremely slim. When thinking of all the pin-up poster boys who’ve graced the bedroom walls and the turntables of teenagers over the last several decades in pop culture, only a handful can truly claim to have transcended the typical staying power an actor or pop singer marketed as a teen heartthrob is normally allowed to have.
At the head of that class is Donny Osmond. Growing up in the spotlight, as part of a singing group with his brood of older brothers, Osmond has been in the showbiz game since the tender age of five. As the 1970s were kicking off, Donny and his brothers were riding high on pop music charts, thanks to the hit singles and the concert tours they’d embarked on. Of the five singing brothers—who’d often appear onstage wearing matching Elvis Presleylike, ornate jumpsuits—the youngest of the bunch, Donny, always got the lion’s share of the ovation and the most passionate responses from audiences, thanks to his cover boy good looks and his dynamic appeal. Scoring solo hits while still a member of his family band, Osmond was a staple on the covers of ‘70s teen magazines like Tiger Beat and 16 and his popularity was astronomical.
excited and elated to talk about his summer tour recently. Read our full Q&A at cltampa. com/music.
I know you’re fresh o some shows from your long tenure in Las Vegas and you have this lengthy tour coming up, including four shows throughout Florida.
INTERVIEW
Donny Osmond: Direct from Vegas
Next Thursday, July 25. 8 p.m. $80 & up Hard Rock Event Center at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. 5223 Orient Rd., Tampa casino.hardrock.com
Well, I guess the fi rst thing I could say was, sometimes when you have a huge show like this, like a Las Vegas production, people have a tendency, promoters and managers and artists, have a tendency to kind of downgrade it a little bit for the sake of expenses on the road and logistics. And I’m doing just the opposite. I am bringing the entire production to Florida!.
I fi gure, you know, not everybody can make it out to Las Vegas. So, I’m gonna bring Vegas to you and why bring a half big show, an abbreviated show? Why not take the full award-winning show on the road? So that’s what I’m doing.
You still get that sense of excitement from that after all these years.
“I’m gonna bring Vegas to you.”
The decade was kind to Donny, and he was able to add a weekly television variety show to his resume, but he fell out of the spotlight for the bulk of the 1980s.
Osmond was able to pull off a miraculous comeback of sorts late in the decade when his surprise hit “Solider of Love” put him back on the top of the pop charts. Benefitting from gaining a new audience while maintaining a large portion of his original (and devoutly faithful) fanbase is no easy feat, but he was able to do just that. Back in the public’s consciousness, Osmond expanded his reach to include the Broadway stage and a return to television and music.
Now a major attraction in Las Vegas at age 66, Osmond is stepping away from the Vegas strip to take his act on the road. Promising to bring all the allure and dazzle with him that the glitzy town is known for, Osmond seemed
Most defi nitely! Especially with this show because it’s everything I’ve done in six decades in one show. There are two segments that probably are my favorites, and they’ve become fan favorites. Number one is the request segment and it goes maybe 15-20 minutes long, however long we wanna go. I put all 65 albums that I’ve done up on the huge screen behind me and the audience can pick any song from any album and we do it. So, the show changes every night.
I’ve noticed from a lot of the young women, who are now mature women, who still hold that deep love and admiration for you. Why do you think that is?
My mind goes to a moment I had with Elvis Presley when I fi rst met him and got to know him. He said “If I could do it all over again, I would give back to my fans a little bit more.” And that’s why I do a lot of social media. That’s why I hold events because, it never made sense
to me how certain artists will shun the fan and be above them when it’s the fan that made them a star in the fi rst place. And so that’s why I do spend a lot of time doing pre-show events before the actual concert where about 50 people, it’s very, very small, come in for a Q&A, where we tell stories, sing songs, whatever. It is special, and not just a meet and greet.
Do you have any particular favorite album you’ve done, dating back to the era of The Osmonds? I ask because a good friend of mine loves [1973 concept album] The Plan, and I love that one too.
That is probably one of our favorites because it was so ahead of the game, and it was so unexpected from the Osmond Brothers. I think that [1975 release] The Proud One is a great album. Yeah, The Plan was so out of the realm of what The Osmonds were doing from the audience perspective. They thought, “OK, they’re the ‘One Bad Apple’ group, and all that kind of stuff.”
But then, we come out with “Crazy Horses,” that kind of blew everybody away. People were thinking,”Who is this?” And then we do The Plan! Now this is what’s interesting: I was recording that kind of music along with teeny bopper music. So, I was doing both ends of the spectrum at the same time! And that’s what’s fun about the request segment, because you actually see, in real time, the juxtaposition of all the different genres of music that I’ve done over the years.
On that note, I can’t resist asking you, but are you still “A little bit rock and roll?”
Most defi nitely! In fact, recently, during the request segment, a young lady, who was, like, in her 30s, requested “A Little Bit Rock and Roll!” I said, ‘Do you know the words?’ She said ‘Yeah, I think so,’ so I said, ‘Come here!’ I got her on stage, and I said ‘OK, you’re Marie now, here for a few minutes’ and we sang it together. It was so funny.
THE PLAN: Donny Osmond says no two shows are the same.
By
THU 11
C The Doobie Brothers w/Robert Cray I think it’s safe to assume that in terms of his 50th anniversary tour return to The Doobie Brothers earlier this decade, Michael McDonald is here to stay. According to bandmates Patrick Simmons and Tom Johnston, a new album with McDonald (which would be the band’s first with him at the forefront in over 40 years) is just about in the can. While most of the details are being secured, the yacht-rock legends are stoked about throwing in some gospel influence with a track called “Walk This Road,” supposedly featuring guest contributions from gospel legend Mavis Staples. Blues guitar virtuoso Robert Cray opens at the ol’ Gary. (MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa)—Josh Bradley
Morgan Wallen w/Jelly Roll/Nate Smith/ Bryan Martin At this point, Morgan Wallen could probably run someone over and still sellout stadiums. The 31-year-old—who in 2021 was caught on video drunkenly-shouting the N-word and then busted for throwing a chair off a bar rooftop last April—has the longestrunning No. 1 hit of the year (“I Had Some Help”), and arrives at the highest-grossing stadium in America alongside Jelly Roll, a rising, and better-behaved, superstar of crossover country. (Raymond James Stadium, Tampa)
FRI 12
Felly w/Perception Jesuit high schools aren’t famous for producing rappers, but Christian Robert Felner is an exception. The 28-year-old went to one in his hometown of Fairfield, Connecticut, and used his free time to earn money (and notoriety) selling beats. While he opened for MadLib as a teenager, a move across the country for college at the University of Southern California opened up even more doors, and now Felner—better known as Felly—tours the country on the back of a catalog that’s evolved from rap into straight up pop music (he told Revolt that his sound is “modern tween tweak”). Perception, a Tampa man that’s a bonafide lyrical emcee opens the show. ( Crowbar, Ybor City)
C Image Research: Mind Quest No. 2 w/ Datagram/Rat Galactic/Akasha System/ Justin Depth After kicking off its “Mind Quest” series in Tampa last week, the folks at Image Research records are heading across the Bay for another no-cover exploration of electro. This time, curators Justin Depth and Akasha System are joined on the bill by erajumping Hallucination Before Christmas alum Rat Galactic, and Scott Olson (aka Datagram) who marries an obsession with hardware (think Korg samplers and Volca keys, modular synth and Meeblip Anodes) with modern
tech like Ableton to create experimental downtempo and ambient music. (The Bends, St. Petersburg)
SAT 13
11th Annual 710 Dab Day Festival: Manic Focus w/Axel Thesleff/ Evaluation/Dizzle Phunk/more In case you missed the cover of the publication this week, there’s a cannabis holiday this weekend. July 10 (or 7/10 aka “OIL”) has been co-opted by fans marijuana concentrate, and a bunch of them will be in Ybor City for this “Dab Day” celebration. In its 11th year, the festival takes over the Cuban Club for a full evening of electronic music driven by funky EDM producer Manic Focus, classically-trained keytarwielding Finnish composer Axel Thesleff, and Dizzle Phunk who plays bass for festival favorite Universal Funk Orchestra. (Cuban Club, Ybor City)
C DIY Fest II: Have Gun, Will Travel/ Discord Theory/Pilot Jonezz/Peace Cult/Hollyglen/Bangarang/Hovercar/ Fantastical Tigers/Mak/Mortal Sons/Mak/ more Indie venues like Crowbar face significant threats to their existence, but the local scene is never short on bands ready and willing to play their stages. In Ybor City this weekend, organizers of DIY Fest II have assembled more than a dozen of the Bay area’s most-seasoned live acts who’ll take over two stages and play more or less every strain of rock from thirdwave emo (Hollyglen), and indie-pop (Peace Cult, Mak), to Americana (Have Gun, Will Travel), grunge (Hovercar), electro (Fantastical Tigers), and more subgenre-bending sounds (Discord Theory, Bangarang, Pilot Jonezz). (Crowbar, Ybor City)
C Fathom w/Sustenance/Peacemaker/ Grasping At The Shadow/Spiritual Chaos Ybor Heights’ de facto church of hardcore hosts worship again this weekend, with guests from Ohio (deathcore band Fathom) and Georgia (death metal outfit Sustenance) coming to the altar. A trio of locals play support. (Deviant Libation, Tampa)
One Grunge-y Summer: In A Nutshell w/ Stone Tampa Pilots Children of the ‘90s, there’s a local Stone Temple Pilots tribute act with the perfect moniker, and it’s part of a grunge tribute show that features another tribute act, In A Nutshell. And if you can’t figure out which band that covers, then, well, Orpheum is not a place for you to call home on Saturday. (Orpheum, Tampa)
C The Queens of R&B Tour: Xscape w/SWV/Mya/Total/702 There are some bands that shepard people through adolescence, and the ones coming to Tampa on the Queens of R&B tour certainly did that. This bill finds Xscape (“Who Can I Run To?”) and SWV (“Weak”) onstage together, mixing and matching hits like we are back in the era of six-CD car changers on shuffle. Bad Boy trio Total supports the nostalgic offering along
THU JULY 11–THU JULY 18
with Mya (“Ghetto Superstar”) and “Where My Girls At” hitmaker 702. (MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa)
C Rutterkin w/Bad, Bad Things/ Earthgirl/Victor Alvarez So many great local bands meet the day when one of its members moves out of the city, and that time in now for punk scene staple Rutterkin and relative newb Bad, Bad Things. Both outfits represent what can happen when good people, with even better taste in music, get together and share the fruits of their hang with friends. Both of them also count James Pendleton as band member, and he—along with Bay area artist Cort Hartle—are getting the fuck outta town (New Jersey calls). You’ll have to DM @victoralvarezmusic on Instagram for the address of this farewell house show where Alvarez’s New Aesthetics emo-ish project plays support alongside Earthgirl. (The Lighthouse, St. Petersburg)
C Tampa Bay International Carnival: Kes The Band w/Desperadoes Steel Orchestra/Inner Circle/Don Chezina/ Notch/OsoCity/David Marquez/DJ Spice
and DJ Kirky C/more A two-day Caribbean carnival is headed for the downtown St. Petersburg waterfront this weekend, and while there’ll be regional cuisine, crafts and costumes, the air will also be filled the sounds of soca (Kes the Band), reggae (Inner Circle), reggaeton (Don Chezina), a 30-piece steel drum orchestra (Desperadoes) and more. (Albert Whitted Park, St. Petersburg)
SUN 14
BossMan Dlow Curmudgeonly old heads better stop reading now. Billboard has a TikTok chart that tracks engagement on the social media platform, and Devante McCreary is bound to be a regular there. The 25-year-old Florida rapper better known as BossMan Dlow entered that listing last week on the popularity of “Shake Dat Ass,” a twerktastic single, which he’ll surely bring to the historic district this weekend. The show is sold-out, which is no surprise since Mr. Dlow is the only Florida rapper in to make XXL’s vaunted “Freshman” list this year. (The Ritz, Ybor City)
continued on page 38
Ray Roa
C CL Recommends
Manic Focus
C Juno Dunes w/The George About 800 miles separate New Orleans and Juno Beach, but the album Everybody’s Talkin’ is the kind of stuff to make any chamber of commerce proud. Created by Louisiana-based Juno Dunes (the indie-rock project of Conner Reever), the eight-track outing is a tight collection of songs that are certainly beachy like the band’s Floridian moniker (there’s even steel drum), but also play like classic Southern-pop complete with pedal and slide guitar all pushed along by Reever’s breezy gift for melody. (Hooch and Hive, Tampa)
Sammy Hagar w/Loverboy The Red Rocker’s band for this “Best of All Worlds Tour” is kind of insane and includes bassist Michael Anthony (Van Halen), drummer Jason Bonham, and guitarist Joe Satriani. Hagar, who famously eschews rehearsal, even practiced ahead of a show that features a deep setlist. “This is so many lyrics for me to remember and so many high notes for me to hit and it’s coming together. I’m happy,” Hagar recently said in a social media Q&A. (MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa)
Steve Aoki What happens when a bunch of birthday cake falls into a swimming pool? Folks are going to find out this weekend when Grammy-nominated, party-starting producer and Benihana heir Steve Aoki plays a Sunday pool party at the Hard Rock. The 46-year-old’s brand new album Paragon , per usual, features a laundry list of hitmaker guests (Lil Jon, Kid Cudi, Ne-Yo) but also continues Aoki’s expansion of his multifaceted Hiroquest universe (stylized “HiROQUEST”) which includes trading cards and a graphic novel. (Hard Rock Event Center Pool at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tampa)
MON 15
C Sexblood w/Livernois/Human Factors Lab/DJ Christina Zombie
Thanks to the Summer Olympics, France will be on everyone’s mind this month. But Sexblood, a gothic rock band from Mulhouse (“the French Manchester” according to the quartet), is bringing itself to Tampa Bay first. A relative newcomer to
was joined by Usher and Birdman, pop icon Janet Jackson brings a 50th anniversary tour to town (she’s just 58 years old, but has been in the biz for a long time). At Essence, Jackson played pretty much nothing but the hits (“Love Will Never Do (Without You),” “Nasty,” “Rhythm Nation”), and fans can expect the same for this more-than-twohour show spread across four acts and and an encore. (MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa)
WED 17
MC Chris w/Crunk Witch/Swell Rell Nerdcore has no quit in it. Just ask MC Chris. The 48-year-old rapper’s last tour was supposed to be his final one, but alas, here he is, back in Tampa, this time 20 years removed from his 2003 album Knowing Is Half the Hassle , which has kind of become a sought-after piece of the catalog since legal issues have prevented it from streaming. Wife-husband electro-pop duo Crunk Witch open the show along with fellow Nerdcore rapper Swell Rell. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
THU 18
C April Showers w/Liam Bauman April Showers (aka Biishop The Artist) is a bright young star in Tampa’s songwriter scene and recently spent some time in California’s Topanga Canyon tracking the latest evolution of a sound that somehow blends the sensuality of Frank Ocean with the bombastic energy of jazz and jam of artists that might call the GroundUp Music collective home. Biishop is joined by an expat of the modern Bay area folk movement, Liam Bauman, for this return to the ridiculously intimate and cozy climes of Seminole Heights’ Far Forest. (The Far Forest, Tampa)
a scene with one of the most devoted fan bases, Sexblood has quickly gained notoriety for the way it brings old-school eyeliner EBM and darkwave to modern music. New Orleans industrial outfit Livernois opens. (Music Hall at New World Brewery, Tampa)
TUE 16
C Central Ave. Live: Celebrating Tampa’s Music History and Hope For Future Musicians Central Ave. Live’s last show at St. James Church has sadly arrived, and it comes on the heels of the news that the venue that played host to the series in May and June will soon become Tampa’s Black History Museum (read more on p. 12). Expect end of the school-year, missyou-much, vibes from the all-star lineup of musicians who’ve spent the last three months celebrating the music of Tampa’s past. (St. James Church at Encore, Tampa)
C Janet Jackson w/Nelly Fresh off a headlining set at Essence Fest where she
The Moss w/Dogpark/Rohna On “The Place That Makes Me Happy,” Moss frontman Tyke James has all the swag of Elvis with a lot more shag on his head. The band’s brand new single, “Alive” is FFO of bands like The Strokes, but wears lyrics that anyone surviving the pandemic can relate to. “I wrote ‘Alive’ at a time in my life where the beliefs that I had for so long started to seem very fickle and incomplete. ‘Alive’ is the ambassador of a new way of thinking for me that involves trusting and taking care of myself, and letting go once in a while,” James wrote in a press release. Freshfaced New York City rock band Dogpark opens along with local heavy-hitter Rohna. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
C Steel Pulse w/Jesse Royal Drummer Conrad Kelly only played with Steel Pulse for a decade in the mid-’90s and 2000s, but was instrumental on a trio of albums that earned the band Grammy nominations. Kelly died last month at the age of 65, and it would be no surprise if the legendary U.K. reggae band dedicated large parts of its set to their former bandmate. One of the genre’s bright young stars, Jesse Royal, opens the show. (Jannus Live, St. Petersburg)
See an extended version of this listing at cltampa.com/music.
Steel Pulse
PATRICK
Jimmy Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band announced a handful of tribute tour dates over the summer, and while the late singersongwriter (pictured) rose to fame and fortune in the Sunshine State, there’s not one date in Florida. Enter Bluffett.
The eight-piece tribute band features a Jimmy lookalike and headlines the 1st Annual Fin Fest happening in Clearwater this summer (and not to be confused with
Emo Social St. Petersburg: Chris Kamrada w/TBA Friday, July 26. 10 p.m. $15. Floridian Social, St. Petersburg
Technics DMC: Da Odd Couple Saturday, July 27. 6 p.m. $15. Crowbar, Ybor City
Minion Rave Thursday, Aug. 8. 9 p.m. $15. Crowbar, Ybor City
Stormbringer w/The Black Honkeys Friday, Aug. 9. 7 p.m. No cover. The BayCare Sound, Clearwater
Ivan Cornejo Friday, Aug. 16. 8 p.m. $48.24 & up. Yuengling Center, Tampa
Sauce Pocket w/Dionysus Saturday, Aug. 17. 8 p.m. $10. Music Hall at New World Brewery, Tampa
Scott H. Biram Thursday, Aug. 22. 8 p.m. $20. Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa
Rod Wave & Friends Saturday, Aug. 24. 7 p.m. $60 & up. Amalie Arena, Tampa
The Original Wailers feat. Al Anderson w/Cas Haley Saturday, Aug. 31. 7 p.m. $30. Jannus Live, St. Petersburg
Cannons (opening for Imagine Dragons) Sunday, Sept. 1. 7 p.m. $184 & up (resale only). MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa
Jacksonville Beach’s Florida Fin Fest). A full set from Bluffet’s “Son Of A Sailor Band” promises all the favorites, while festival organizers also have plans to screen the 1975 classic “Jaws” in the evening.
There’s no cover for the 1st Annual Fin Fest happening on Thursday, Aug. 1 at The BayCare Sound in Clearwater. See Josh Bradley’s weekly roundup of new concert announcements below.—Ray Roa
The Red Pears w/Ultra Q/The High Curbs Tuesday, Sept. 24. 7 p.m. $20. Crowbar, Ybor City
Epik High Wednesday, Sept. 25. 8 p.m. $44.50 & up. The Ritz, Ybor City
The Interrupters w/Against All Authority/Crazy & The Brains Wednesday, Sept. 25. 6 p.m. $27.50. Jannus Live, St. Petersburg
Cancellations/reschedules
The Alarm w/Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel/Belouis Some at Bilheimer Capitol Theatre, July 6 Postponed
You’re invited to our 30th Anniversary Party!
Saturday, July 27th from 10am - 2pm at Rollin’ Oats Market St. Pete 2842 Dr M.L.K. Jr St N, St. Petersburg, FL 33704
Live music, free samples, photo booth, face painting, wine + beer tasting, flower truck and more!
But a dream
By Caroline DeBruhl
Dear Oracle, I want to go back to school and get my associates. I’m discouraged because I struggled last time (due to mental health) and ended up withdrawing from many classes. I have a career goal in mind, and this would be the first step, but I’m anxious. Is this a bad idea? School Dreams
Cards: Three of Swords, Ten of Cups (reversed), The Seeker, Six of Cups (reversed)
Dear SD, it is profoundly brave to start working towards a dream. That goes double for starting again after a setback. It is not a bad idea to go back to school—if it’s something you want to do, then it’s a great idea! That is easy enough to glean from the cards. But they also give a glimpse into your emotional landscape.
Your current position is the Three of Swords, a card of heartbreak and grief. When it comes to returning to school, you are still hurt about what happened last time and might be worried that it will happen again. It can be incredibly crushing to work hard towards something and not be able to achieve it, I know. I think you should look back at the context. You said you had to withdraw due to mental health reasons. Have you been able to tend to yourself? Do you have better coping skills or medication or resources that may help you now that you didn’t have back then?
With the Ten of Cups and the Six of Cups reversed, I would bet your career goal is something you’ve wanted since childhood. These are cards of a long-lasting love and a desire for completion. It’s understandable that you would be hesitant to start back on the path to your goal because if you didn’t start, you can’t fail. It can feel like a softer blow to not try for something that you want rather than try and fail.
But here’s the secret: it’s fucking painful to give up on a dream, no matter how you go about it. If you try, at least there’s a chance you’ll get it.
The only Major Arcana card here is The Seeker, a card unique to my deck (Uusi’s “Pagan Otherworlds”). The drawing is of a man reaching through a dome surrounding the earth and looking towards the heavens. It is for seeking a greater truth and a world beyond what you know.
break because life happens, so be it. But you can do this.
I know you can.
Dear Oracle, I have a parasocial hatred for a certain celebrity. They’ve always bothered me, but now I can’t escape them, and I spend a lot of time thinking about how they’re evil and all the fucked up things they’ve done. I find myself on snarking subreddits and shit-talking with others a lot…and I think it’s affecting my soul?
How can I stop giving a shit about this famous person?—Hate Rain On Me
Cards: Three of Wands, Five of Swords (reversed), Knight of Pentacles, Ace of Cups
ORACLE OF YBOR
Send your questions to oracle@cltampa. com or DM @theyboracle on Instagram
It might take a few years for you to accomplish your first goal. It might take many years for you to reach your ultimate goal. But time marches on, whether we’re doing something we love or not. You have the drive of The Seeker and the love of the Cups to guide you as you take on academia—and they will see you far. You can do this. If you need to go slow for your health, then you go slow. If you need to take a
Dear Hate, reading your question made me think of Christopher Hitchens, the blustering writer and intellectual parasite, who I still want to punch in the teeth, and that fucker’s been dead for 13 years now.
Believe me, I understand the weird thrill of a parasocial beef, but hate-consuming content just leads to soul-rot for you and article clicks for your nemesis. It’s a no-win situation.
I want to start with the Five of Swords reversed, which can be read as “but I’M RIGHT!”
This celebrity might be evil. They might deserve public reckoning, but that’s not your job. You’re not going to be Michael the Archangel here. This hatred is wrapped up tightly in your ego, and I think it’s time to let it go.
The Three of Wands is a reflective moment of growth. You already know that snarking on Reddit is bad for your heart. So what can you replace it with? What sort of higher purpose might you find with that time and energy?
That question also comes up with The Knight of Pentacles, a card about holding on to what you value and helping it grow. So, what do you actually give a shit about? Hobbies? Career? Friendships? How can you be calm and present and fill your life with things you value?
We end, of course, with The Ace of Cups because the only way out of blinding hate is boundless love. Do things you love, spend time with people you love, give to those who need love. Block tags for your celebrity nemesis on Twitter or Instagram or Spotify or wherever and follow artists or people you like. Make something with your hands for someone. Volunteer. Help out your neighbors. Give without expecting anything back. Embrace Agape. Live vivaciously and leave the brittle little hate behind. There is so much darkness in the world already. If you can create a small pocket of light for yourself and those you love, if you can witness and propagate wonder and beauty, if you can do your fellow humans a good turn, then perhaps you’ll feel your soul bloom again. And if you need a drop of poison to make the cure, think about your “evil” celebrity nemesis—don’t you want to be a better person than them? Moral superiority isn’t soul-gratifying, but if it gets you to start growing, so be it. May your life be filled with wondrous love, my dear. See more of Caroline’s services via carolinedebruhl.com.
Bruise control
By Dan Savage
My question could come across as kink shaming. That is not my intent. I am a habitual self-harmer who is planning to seek therapy. However, I find myself unable to stop comparing attitudes towards the kind of self-harm I’ve engaged in with attitudes toward BDSM pain play. When I was a teenager, I would describe myself as a masochist because I was unaware of the sexual connotations of the word, and I bought into the stereotype that self-harm was only self-harm when it was done by an emo kid cutting themselves with a razor blade. My method was different: blunt force. In my view, the self-harm I engage in is no less ethical or healthy than the kind of “pain play” I’ve read about others engaging in.
My self-harm provides catharsis for the sadness and anger I feel. Sometimes when my negative emotions are intense, I feel as if they will burst my body and I am desperate to release them. In these times I find relief in turning emotional pain into physical pain. I haven’t always done this as safely as I could. Last year, during one of the most difficult years of my life, I failed to consider how the visible marks on my body might bother others. I wound up upsetting my coworkers and now I am facing disciplinary action at work, which has only added to my stress.
I’ve read that people into BDSM engage in pain play in seek of catharsis. I also do it for catharsis. The only difference seems to be the motive. Mine is to cope, and theirs is sexual gratification. I now know how hard I can hit myself without causing lasting injuries. I typically do it alone and discreetly, so non-consenting parties are not involved, and I of course consent to the pain I inflict on myself. Yet what I do is perceived as unhealthy and BDSM pain play is considered healthy. Am I wrong to wonder why that is? I feel that people are told not to judge others for their kinks while I am judged and shamed for what I do safely, consensually, and in private.—Perplexed About Intensely Nebulous Esoteric Distinctions
P.S. I have very little sexual experience personally due to almost no one finding me attractive.
Before I bring in the big guns—before I roll out our guest experts—I wanna encourage you to follow through on your plan to see a therapist. Advice columns are great, of course, and the insights and/ or dick jokes of a halfway decent advice columnist can help. But your issues—your physical and emotional safety—require more thorough analysis than I could possibly provide for you in this space. Alright, PAINED, with that said… I shared your letter with Leigh Cowart, the author of “Hurts So Good: The Science and Culture of Pain on Purpose,” a terrifically entertaining and insightful book about the different ways different kinds of people seek out different kinds of pain. “I don’t think PAINED is seeing similarities where there are none,” said Cowart. “What
people who practice BDSM do and what PAINED is doing are both ways of using aversive sensation and the brain’s reward system to create a desired emotional state.”
Americans, as Cowart argues in their book, assess consensual suffering—and so much else—using moral judgments that aren’t always consistent or logical. People who seek out pain in socially sanctioned ways, e.g., long-distance runners, mixed martial artists, celebrities who go on chat shows and eat chicken wings slathered in extreme hot sauces, are looked up to—particularly when their pain-seeking behaviors out, “[come] draped in the dignity of athleticism,” as Cowart puts it—while BDSM players are subjected to a lot of judgment and shame.
Now, numerous studies have shown that BDSM players are just as emotionally healthy as vanilla people, which is why mental health professionals no longer pathologize people into consensual sadomasochism. But kink muggles don’t admire kinksters the same way they admire, say, long-distance runners. A masochist and a marathoner may push themselves to their limits for similar reasons—both may be seeking the rush of endorphins freely chosen pain can induce, both may be seeking the kind of emotional catharsis freely chosen pain can provide.
“Generally speaking, in potentially risky situations—be it BDSM or rock climbing or swimming or fight club—humans mitigate risk with the buddy system,” said Cowart. “If you’re going to do something dangerous, you want to be able to say, ‘Hey watch this!’, before you jump, in case someone needs to save your life. If PAINED explored pain catharsis in a more social, structured environment, where there are more explicitly defined boundaries for engagement, he may find deepening catharsis through pain shared.”
Your local BDSM group is a good place to find the kind of social, structured environment Cowart is talking about. Most people at the munch you’ll attend first and the play party you might attend later will be sexually aroused by BDSM, PAINED, but in every large kink group there are serious players who are seeking emotional release, not sexual release.
Now, for a second opinion, we turn to another Leigh: Leigh Wakeford, a California-based psychotherapist who specializes in shame-resilience work with queer and kinky or kink-curious couples and individuals.
SAVAGE LOVE
“I am sorry to hear that PAINED feels judged and shamed for the way in which they have learned to cope with their sadness and anger,” said Wakeford, “and how their relationship to pain compares to the kind of pain experienced by partners engaging in BDSM pain-play, is a valid thing to contemplate.”
Dom) and/or your ability to take it (your appetite as a sub) that matters most, not your jawline or your waistline. Follow @voraciousbrain on Instagram, Threads, and Twitter.
I had a sexual experience that left me feeling shitty. Met another gay man on an apps, got wasted together at a leather bar, fucked at his place on a number of substances. He stopped when I was too out of it to proceed, he played some music, and let me crash with him until I’d sobered up enough to get a Lyft. When we fucked, I’d asked him to degrade me. I asked him to do and say things an abusive ex had often done to me without consent. Why, when wasted and fucking, did I try and recreate sexual assaults I had experienced? In the moment: hot. In the aftermath, I feel as horrible as I did when those events first happened to me.—Super Upset Boy
I asked Wakeford to weigh in on your question as well. “Recreating a traumatic sexual experience is not uncommon among survivors of abuse,” said Wakeford, “So, most importantly SUB needs to hear that he is not alone. And he also needs to know that one of the beautiful offerings of BDSM play is the potential for revisiting and re-narrating traumatic encounters in a safe, consensual and empowering way, which can help us reclaim things that were taken from us without our permission.”
“While pain on purpose for emotional benefit is common and normal, and while it is not inherently harmful,” Cowart said, “it can be harmful—so it deserves a thoughtful risk analysis to assess for avoidable dangers.”
To that end, PAINED, Cowart wants you—they want any person seeking out pain on purpose—to think about these questions:
• “Am I emotionally regulated enough to safely give myself catharsis through pain?”
• “Am I looking to feel pain that is temporary or am I risking harm with lasting effects?”
• “Do I feel like I can stop or does this feel compulsive?”
No one wants to see of themselves as damaged, PAINED, which means you’ll have to be on your guard against rationalizing behaviors that actually might be compulsive and harmful—and if you’re showing up to work covered in bruises so alarming you might lose your job over them, that points to compulsive and harmful. So, I would urge you not to engage in solo pain play—if that’s how you wanna think of it for now—while you think about Cowart’s questions and wait for your first appointment with your therapist.
Cowart had another suggestion for you: If you are emotionally well-regulated, if you aren’t doing yourself lasting harm, and you—and your therapist—don’t think this is compulsive behavior, you should find some like-minded friends.
There are, however, easily identifiable makers that can help to distinguish healthy BDSM play—which may or may not include consensual and controlled pain play—from emotional or physical abuse.
“Pain-play in BDSM operates within clearly defined boundaries and collaborative parameters that allow for pain to be safely expressed and experienced between the consenting partners,” said Wakeford. “These ‘rules’ make the interaction with pain playful, pleasurable, and potentially transformative. And there’s a greater degree of safety when these things are experienced with another than is possible when engaging in these things alone. What comes to mind for me here are the numerous kinksters who have lost their lives during solo ‘breath control’ play due to the very fact that another was not present to safely assist and witness.”
So, it’s unanimous: Cowart, Wakeford, and Savage all vote for finding friends who share your interest in safe, sane, and consensual impact play. Connecting with others who share your need for for release through pain—even if it takes some effort to find them—will not just make you safer, PAINED, it will transform something that currently isolates you from others into something that helps you connect with others. Good luck.
P.S. Kink scenes tend to be more welcoming spaces for people who don’t feel conventionally attractive. For many in the kink scene, PAINED, it’s your ability to safely dish it out (your skill set as a
What your abusive ex took from you is a kind of consensual D/s sex play—involving humiliation, degradation, verbal abuse, etc.—that you may not have been consciously aware you were into before his abuse started. Right now, these things may be tainted by their association with your ex, SUB, but that doesn’t make them bad things. Just as sex in the missionary position in the absence of consent will be experienced as assault by someone who might otherwise enjoy sex in the. Missionary position, kinky like humiliation and degradation in the absence of consent will be experienced abuse by someone who might otherwise enjoy them.
“SUB had some shitty and bad things happen to him,” added Wakeford “but he is not a bad or shitty person for wanting to experience pleasure in ways that are uniquely exciting to him.”
Which may be exactly what you did that night, SUB: In an effort to create new and positive associations with your kinks, you went out and found some you intuitively felt you could trust—and your intuition proved to be correct, as evidence by the way he took care of you when you had to tap out.
“But in my experience, the most effective and safest way to create a new narrative around a past traumatic encounter is also the most sober possible way,” said Wakeford. “Being in a less conscious state can interfere with the clarity and level of control required to heal and grow.”
Follow @LeighWakefordTherapy on Instagram and Threads and via LeighWakefordTherapy.com. Got problems? 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.
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