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Just ahead of Tropical Storm Debby, and roughly 300 days since the latest conflict between the Israeli government and Hamas, about 30 activists marched around downtown Tampa last Saturday to protest the Florida-Israel Business Accelerator. The coalition of demonstrators from organizations like Tampa Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (TAARPR), The Progressive Jewish Coalition of the Tampa Bay Area, Bay Area Dream Defenders, Tampa Bay SDS and more came together as part of an international day of action for Palestine. Read more and see all the pictures via cltampa.com/slideshows.—Ray Roa
do this
Tampa Bay's best things to do from August 08 - 14
Here’s Florida!
On paper at least, Florida more or less didn’t exist before Hernán Cortés’ map of it appeared in a German book published in 1524. That book, and map, now belongs to the Tampa Bay History Center (TBHC) and is on display as part of a new exhibit that opened last weekend. A press release says “Mapping the American Sea: A Cartographic History of the Gulf of Mexico” hopes to “reset a narrative and place the Gulf States, particularly Florida, along with Mexico and Cuba, in their proper context as crucial players in the history and development of the United States and North America.” Also on display are Peter Martyr’s 1511 map of the Caribbean (the first to show any part of Florida) and Baptista Boazio’s 1588 view of St. Augustine(the first to show any city in the present-day U.S.). ““Just think, before this map was published 500 years ago, no map printed on Earth had the name Florida on it,” Rodney Kite-Powell, Dir. of the Touchton Map Library at TBHC, wrote. “The information on this map, as seemingly limited as it is, broke new cartographic ground and helped to usher in a new wave of European exploration and conquest.”
Mapping the American Sea: A Cartographic History of the Gulf of Mexico: Daily. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. $12.95 & up. Tampa Bay History Center, 801 Water St., Tampa. tampabayhistorycenter.org—Ray Roa
Primary schrimary?
Early voting for the primary election started in Hillsborough County this week and kicks off Aug. 10 in Pinellas. While the counties’ more than 1.4 million registered might think about skipping a primary and just jump in for the general election this fall, we encourage you to think again. Sure, primaries are closed for partisan races, but there’s so much more on the ballots including contentious school board races and judges. If you missed the July registration deadline for the primary, you can still register to vote in the general. Get more info on the primary via cltampa.com/news.
Primary election 2024: Hillsborough County (through Aug. 18); Pinellas County (Aug. 10-18). It’s free to vote, you just have to be registered. votepinellas.gov and votehillsborough.gov.—Ray Roa
Greetings from Tampa
Tuesday is a good day to be a Tampeño. It’s 813 Day in the Bay area (even if you have 656 area code), and spots across downtown are celebrating. On the north end, The Dan inside Hotel Flor is buying your appetizer when you order an entree between 6 p.m.8:13 p.m. while Cass Street Coffee Co. on the other side of the hotel gives early birds a free coffee and pastry, no purchase required (6 a.m.-8:13 a.m.). At Sparkman Wharf, several food containers and restaurants are offering everything from drinks, food and even sunglasses for $8.13, while nearby Tampa Edition kicks it up a notch. From Aug. 12-16, the Azure restaurant at Tampa’s only five-star hotel offers “The Watch 813” special which pairs its “Green Southside” gin cocktail with a fresh oyster ($18.13). Every shell from the oyster sales goes to Tampa Bay Watch’s Shells For Shorelines program, which bags them and uses them in vertical oyster gardens.
813 Day: Tuesday, Aug. 13. Various venues and times in Tampa.—Ray Roa
Spontaneous outbursts
Started in 2017 by Kelly Buttermore and Justin Peters (pictured), a comedy duo from Brooklyn with a penchant for DIY entertainment, Countdown began as a quirky exp eriment. Fast forward to today, and Countdown has grown from a modest three-night affair with 25 acts and a $4,000 budget to a five-night extravaganza featuring over 100 acts, three stages, and a roughly $75,000 budget.
Countdown Improv Festival: Through Monday, Aug. 11. Performing Arts Building at Hillsborough Community College, 1411 E 7th Ave., Ybor City. $20-$60. countdownimprovfestival.com—Devan Wilson-Harper
Hold my beer
During the hot, wet, summer, there are fewer better feelings than walking into a huge, air-conditioned building that normally hosts a hockey rink. Bolts Brew Fest lets you do that, with multiple beers in your hand. More than 135 beers—including close to two dozen exclusively in VIP—are available for sampling in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s annual tradition which marries the craft beer scene with the local, three-time world champ, ice hockey club. Big ass games will be on hand along with photo opportunities, and a chance to try Creative Loafing Tampa Bay and JDubs’ new collaborative “Beer Can Building Beer” guava wheat ale. VIP entry starts at 6 p.m. Bolts Brew Fest: Friday, Aug. 9. 6 p.m-10 p.m. $45 & up. Amalie Arena, 401 Channelside Dr., Tampa. boltsbrewfest. com—Ray Roa
Kinks out
Indulging in one’s kinks in a safe and healthy manner is a lifelong process that involves a lot of work (see p. 53), but Fetish Con—est. 2000 as “Diva Con”—gives Tampa Bay four days and nights to do just that together. From the Kinky Red Carpet kickoff on Thursday, to the Chaturbate-sponsored extraterrestrial burlesque from Femme’s & Follies on Sunday, the adults-only convention offers close to a dozen events including Bad Dragonsponsored get together at the “Pervy Pool, afterparties, demos, a trade show, Twisted Dungeon, and more. The dress code is pretty loose, but the one strict rule is no nudity. “If you are found nude inside the Hilton you will be asked to leave,” organizers wrote. Fetish Con: Thursday-Sun day, Aug. 8-11. $50-$200. Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront 333, 1st St. S, St. Petersburg. fetishcon.com Ray Roa
NICK CARDELLO
LOCAL NEWS
POLITICS ISSUES OPINION
Pulled over
Tampa City Council pumps the brakes on repealing police citizens review board.
By Mitch Perry/Florida Phoenix
The Tampa City Council has decided not to repeal the city’s police citizens review board, formed in 2015 to investigate complaints against officers—at least not yet.
The decision came last Thursday after council members reported receiving new information—most significantly that the city of Miami’s Civilian Investigation Panel had not shut down as they said they had been told. The Tampa civilian review board (CRB) will remain dormant until the council decides what to do later in the year.
In June, Tampa city attorneys advised the council that a recently enacted law (HB 601) gave them “no choice” but to scrap the agency, but advocates including the ACLU of Florida argue the city does not need to go that far.
The law as originally proposed in the Florida Legislature this year did call for outright eliminating oversight agencies across the state, but its sponsors in the Legislature ultimately softened the language to allow these boards to continue in a more restricted fashion.
The final version of the law says that threeto-seven-member boards can be created only by police chiefs or county sheriffs with at least one retired law-enforcement officer on a committee. However, the panels are prohibited from investigating complaints of misconduct by law enforcement officers or holding civilian oversight power over law enforcement agencies’ investigations of such complaints.
The LeRoy Collins Institute reports that 21 Florida cities sponsored oversight boards, and several counties have them as well. Nearly half were created to provide accountability for police misconduct in the aftermath of the 2020 protests over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
Nationally, dozens of cities launched civilian oversight agencies in 2020 and 2021 in a wave of police reform, according to a 2022 University of Chicago study.
During an earlier discussion of the measure, on June 6, Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera denounced the law. “I think it’s awful,” he said. “So, for me, this legislation is something that intrudes on local government control on a very, very sensitive issue, and I would have voted against it. But our hands are tied.”
Other local lawmakers around the state who have seen their CRBs shut down lambaste the law as another unnecessary preemption.
“It’s a shame the extremist state government has overreached into local authority yet again,” Tallahassee City Commissioner Jack Porter told the Phoenix. The Tallahassee Citizens Police Review Board is inactive. Porter says the idea of reviving the agency in a new form “may be revisited in the fall when we return from break.”
the Phoenix this week, without elaborating. In nearby Broward County, commissioners in June suspended their agency through mid-September to figure out their next steps, as well.
Some of these officials appear to be looking at what the ACLU of Florida argued in a memo issued in April, in which that organization noted that the law “explicitly restricts its applicability to ‘ordinances’ concerning receipt, processing, investigation, or oversight, and thus
In making the case for Tampa to shut down its CRB, City Attorney Andrea Zalman argued that similar review boards had already closed, including in Miami. “The Legislature has given us no choice in this matter,” she said in June.
That is not the case, insists Rodney Jacob, executive director of the Miami Civilian Investigation Panel. “We’re working in collaboration with the city for next steps,” Jacob told
does nothing to prevent citizens from independently joining together to form their own panel, nor does it prohibit government-established panels created through other legal means apart from an ordinance.”
The ACLU noted that several cities have created citizen-review boards by these other means, such as Key West, which established its oversight board through its city charter. The
ACLU noted that Tampa’s citizens’ review board was originally established by an executive order by then-Mayor Bob Buckhorn.
“That’s very misleading,” replied city attorney Zalman. Yes, the CRB was originally created by an executive order she said, but City Council codified the order as an ordinance and amended it in 2021. “Our CRB is a creation of an ordinance,” she said.
Lawmakers’ warnings
Hillsborough County Republican state House member Danny Alvarez, a co-sponsor of the legislation, warned the Tampa City Council in June to not even contemplate recreating their agency by going against the spirit of the law. Wayne Duggan via Florida House Danny Alvarez via Florida House
“Having worked on this bill and having cosponsored it myself, that if you were to find some sort of way that you’re going to keep it going, then I’ll just have to come back to the dais and tighten it up over whichever loophole you think that they may have found,” he said.
“I hate to have to be that way and talk about that, but the intent of this was to uniformly make these COAs [civilian oversight agencies] across the state of Florida, and the intent is after July 1 they all shut down, and then they can reopen at the will of the city of Tampa should you want that under the statute’s rules.”
Duval County Republican Wyman Duggan was the bill’s main sponsor in the House. He told a legislative committee earlier this year that one reason the legislation was needed was because there were “no uniform standards as to the qualifications or expertise of anybody to be a member.”
Additionally, “there’s no uniform standards on how they choose which cases to investigate,” he said. “There are no uniform standards by which that investigation is conducted. There are no uniform standards by which they reach their decisions, and there are no uniform standards as to the due-process protections afforded to the officer who is subject of the misconduct review.”
Duggan rejected criticism that rogue officers will escape accountability, pointing to a multitude of law enforcement agencies, including internal continued on page 18
RED, BLACK, AND BLUE: Tampa police arrest protesters on July 4, 2020.
continued from page 17
affairs offices within police departments as well as sheriff’s offices, state attorneys, the attorney general’s office, the FBI, and the Department of Justice, that can and do conduct such investigations.
Among the CRBs that have folded completely (for now) are those in Fort Myers, North Miami, and Orlando.
‘We want to be very transparent’
One city that has no intention of shutting down for long is St. Petersburg, which has renamed its civilian review board the Police Policy Review Commission. St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway said the six-member panel will review use-of-force cases once it is fully constituted.
“We will have them review the case, and have them review the policy, and see if we need to change it,” he said in an interview conducted in his office this week.
“We want to be very transparent in what we do,” Holloway said. “They can’t say, ‘You should have done this. You should have done that.’ But they will look at the policy: Do they have to tighten up the policy? Is there something that’s lacking, because we still want the community to see what we’re doing and, if we need to change our policy, then we want input from our community, this is where we police.”
The ACLU of Florida notes that the new law does not prohibit reviewing closed complaints, now the only type that some CRBs, such as in Tampa, Naples, and Daytona Beach, are allowed to investigate. The organization contends that even before HB 601 became law these agencies were only allowed to do only two things: review records related to closed investigations and express sentiments related to those closed investigations.
“The new law does nothing to restrict civilian review boards from carrying out the important functions of reviewing closed cases, reviewing policies and procedures, and making recommendations to a chief, mayor, or city council,” the ACLU of Florida’s Kara Gross told the Phoenix on Thursday.
“The CRB was originally created because of ‘biking while Black.’ And our CRB does not really solve that problem,” he said, referring to a Tampa Bay Times 2015 report that ultimately led the U.S. Department of Justice investigation in 2016 and a report finding that the Tampa Police Department “burdened Black bicyclists by disproportionately stopping them in the name of benefiting Black communities by increasing their public safety.” (Emphasis in the original.)
“To be clear, Florida citizen-review panels are empowered to review closed investigations and offer their comments, just as any other Florida citizen would be able to do by requesting copies of materials relating to closed investigations under Florida’s public-records laws. Nothing in the new law dissolves already compliant existing review boards or alters existing procedures for reviewing and commenting upon closed or inactive investigations,” Gross said.
LOCAL NEWS
The report added that the analysis indicated that the policy “did not produce a community benefit.”
“The CRB only could review closed cases,” Carlson said of the Tampa review board. “It was toothless. It never did what everybody originally wanted it to do.”
There has also been criticism that CRBs in Florida lack power.
In Tampa, City Councilman Bill Carlson, who sponsored the proposal to kill the civilian review board in June, said he did so because, even before the new law went into effect, the city’s oversight agency was never able to achieve what it was intended to do.
The Tampa City Council will revisit the issue on Nov. 7.
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.
CHIEF CONCERN: St. Pete Police Chief Anthony Holloway. STATE
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Why widen?
Latest vote to widen I-275 angers Tampa residents, inspires push for better public transit.
By Dayna Lazarus
Let’s be clear: the recently-approved highway widening project on I-275 from Hillsborough to Bearss Avenues is still TBX—aka Tampa Bay Express, the same billion-dollar boondoggle Tampa neighborhoods fought tooth and nail in 2016.
The fight against highway widening in Tampa has been long, complex, and incredibly hard. But it’s not over. Thankfully, there are many new neighbors in town who can help.
How it started
To get on the same page, let’s briefly review the past and present of the TBX, then refocus on what we can do about it.
The history of the battle to stop TBX started in 2015, when a grassroots organization, Sunshine Citizens, formed to stop it. Members chose this name specifically because the owner of the TBX, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), did not properly inform the public of the plans for the massive $6 billion 90-mile highway expansion project, keeping it “out of the sunshine.”
Fortunately, the Hillsborough Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) had, and still has, the power to impact all federally-funded transportation projects in the county. At its June 2016 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) public hearing, the TPO Board could have blocked the funds required to pay for the widening.
Over 300 residents organized and showed up to that eight-and-a-half-hour hearing. The public clearly stated that highway widening does not meaningfully improve mobility, and would not result in a strong, healthy Tampa.
A resident living near the project even filed a Title VI Discrimination complaint, as 80% of the households that would be demolished for the project were Black or Latino. This complaint initiated a federal investigation that may have had an impact on the scope of the project.
Despite the incredible organizing efforts against TBX, the TPO Board did not vote to remove it from the project priorities list.
But as a result of community pushback, FDOT “hit reset” on the TBX in 2017. The 90-mile project was rebranded “TBNext,” then separated into smaller segments so that some portions could be opted-out of the widening. Several portions were altered to reduce the right-of-way required and remove widening altogether. Some structures, like Cafe Hey and La Segunda, were saved (until the next widening effort, at least).
After fighting hard, these changes indicated that citizens’ pleas were heard.
How it’s going
Fast-forward to 2024, and somehow the TBX is functionally materializing before our eyes.
Nearly every segment has been approved for widening, including the most recent section on I-275 which will further bifurcate Tampa’s dense, historic urban core from Hillsborough Avenue to Bearss Avenue. How could this happen with so many fumbles and so much opposition—from the neighborhood all the way to the national level?
History repeated itself at the most recent TIP hearing on June 12. Just like in 2016, verbal and written public comment strongly supported public transit projects and opposed road widening. Even the TPO’s own Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) issued a formal recommendation voicing strong support for those same public transit projects.
Per its function, the CAC analyzed the TIP document a week prior and passed its own motions recommending that the TPO Board move the following three widely-supported public transit projects up the TIP’s priority list for funding:
• Airport-to-downtown premium transit
• Brightline station multimodal connections
• HART CSX study
What happened next caught everyone in the boardroom off-guard.
These three transit projects were not moved up the priority list as requested. Instead, TPO Board member Joshua Wostal, a first-term Hillsborough County Commissioner, made a motion to convert a long-anticipated noise wall project on the I-275 segment from Hillsborough to Bearss to a widening project (this segment once included plans to widen per the TBX, but removed widening from the project’s description by a TPO board vote in 2021).
Wostal’s motion passed by just one vote, 8-7.
The majority of those in favor of widening included non-elected industry representatives (Tampa’s port, aviation, and expressway authorities), and elected officials who do not represent the citizens of Tampa (the mayors of Temple Terrace and Plant City). On the other hand, the seven “no” votes included six elected officials, including the three Tampa City Council Members appointed to the Board, and three Hillsborough County Commissioners.
There was very little discussion on Wostal’s motion outside of Tampa City Councilwoman Lynn Hurtak calling it a “bait and switch.”
Over the last 10 years, residents and workers of Tampa have tirelessly and selflessly shown up to Hillsborough TPO’s TIP public hearings and filled out the their surveys, telling their representatives, including the City of Tampa, Hillsborough County, FDOT, and even the state legislature, to support—with funding—public transit and multimodal transportation options.
The most recent example is the results of the county-wide survey for the Access 2050 Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), the area’s top plan
that informs transportation decisions written by TPO staff. It received over 4,600 responses, and even though the majority of those responses were from residents in Unincorporated County (88%), they showed unwavering support for all the proposed public transit projects and considerably less support for the road widening projects. Overall, highway widening is losing favor as people learn that induced demand just creates more traffic, particulate matter pollution from tires has been covering our homes with debris and filling our lungs, impacts disproportionately negatively impact Black and Latino communities, and more.
What’s next
The Tampa Bay community, particularly the neighborhoods in Tampa’s urban core most impacted by I-275, clearly still want to stop the widening, but can they? The answer is yes, and no.
Technically, the I-275 segment from Hillsborough Avenue to Bearss has Preliminary Engineering (PE) funding. According to state statute, when a project has PE funding, the only way to stop the widening is a magical handshake between the Secretary of the FDOT and the majority of the TPO Board.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean the project can’t be stopped.
DOTs across the U.S. have stopped similar projects because of community opposition. For example, in 2022, FDOT suspended construction of a turnpike that would’ve split the town of Royal in half.
And it definitely doesn’t mean that citizens are powerless. Here are some specific, tangible things anyone can do right now to influence transportation decisions in the near future.
Push back on the recent highway widening decision made by the TPO Board. Tell the Hillsborough TPO to:
• Reconsider the widening project on I-275 from Hillsborough Avenue to Bearss. This project could cost Florida taxpayers upwards of an estimated $291 million for the design-build phase alone. Only one TPO Board member needs to change their stance; then the board could make a new motion to pause the project. Email and call them, and show up to their upcoming meetings, especially if you live within 500 feet of I-275, between Hillsborough Ave. and Bearss Ave.
• Start talking about removing industry representatives as TPO Board voting members. Since 2016, the non-elected industry representatives from the Tampa Port Authority, Tampa Aviation Authority, and the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority have always voted proTBX. While these entities move tourists and goods, they have very specific special interests.
Planning Organization Board Meeting
Aug. 14. 10 a.m.-noon. Hillsborough County Center. 601 E Kennedy Blvd., Tampa. (26th floor). planhillsborough.org
Instead of having a vote, they could be retained as “advising members.”
Show support for Tampa’s transformative, nearly shovel-ready public transit projects, and get active in local transportation planning. Tell Tampa City Council and the mayor to:
• Support the HART Arterial Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. The project from downtown Tampa traveling north along Florida Ave. is well-studied and ready to go. The key to moving it forward is FDOT funding and support of HART’s plan, plus City of Tampa support, including local operations funding. Support from Tampa citizens would help move it forward.
• Fund the Tampa streetcar expansion project. Similar to the HART Arterial BRT study, this project has widespread support from key agencies and the community. What is still needed is local funding. Ask Tampa City Council to find the up-front “local match” funds to make this project a reality.
• Fund the HART transit authority at a minimum $10 million per year. Funds are immediately needed for the cost of operations, but also for additional buses, and more. It is common for local governments that understand the importance of public transportation in poverty reduction and the economy to fund public transit. There is still time for the council and mayor to allocate funds in this year’s budget cycle in which they have over a billion dollars. Budget hearings and decisions will take place in August and September.
Tampa City Council: tampacitycouncil@ tampagov.net, 813-274-8251
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor: jane.castor@ tampagov.net, 813-274-8131
On Wednesday Aug. 14 from 10 a.m.-noon, the TPO holds its next regular board meeting. Concerned neighbors should attend the meeting or sign up to give a virtual comment. More information about the meeting can be found via planhillsborough.org.
More actions will be planned. Contact Transit Now Tampa Bay at transitnowtb@gmail.com and join the @TransitNowTampaBay group on Facebook.
Dayna Lazarus is an A.I.C.P. certified urban planner in Tampa. She co-founded the grassroots organization Transit Now Tampa Bay, sits on the board of the Sunshine Citizens, and has been a member of the Hillsborough TPO’s Citizens Advisory Committee since 2017.
Hold your fire
Opposition groups say Florida’s Amendment 2 isn’t about the ‘right to hunt and fish’.
By Teddy Duncan
Florida’s Amendment 2 appears to be a noncontentious, apolitical securing of two rights many Floridians enjoy; it is aptly named the “Right to Hunt and Fish.”
For many voters, this Amendment—which will appear on the ballot in November—will seem like an easy, non-consequential decision. Why would we want to make fishing illegal? Beneath the surface, however, two contesting factions offer very different definitions of the Amendment and its underlying implications.
According to local animal welfare organizations, there is already a state statute that codifies the right to hunt and fish—and voters may want to reconsider.
Those supporting the amendment claim it is a commonsensical extension of what is already an important part of Florida culture. No matter who you listen to, the situation is politically and ethically complicated, involving the NRA, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida black bears, animal advocacy organizations, and the meaning of two sentences.
The entire prospective Amendment reads: “Fishing, hunting, and the taking of fish and wildlife, including by the use of traditional methods, shall be preserved forever as a public right and preferred means of responsibly managing and controlling fish and wildlife. This section does not limit the authority granted to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.”
Concerns by environmentalists and animal advocacy activists revolve around two specific phrases: “traditional methods” and “preferred means.”
Melissa Zepeda, a St. Petersburg animal activist, and corporate lawyer told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that “You may think a typical hunting rifle is a ‘traditional method,’ but a traditional method includes steel traps, poison, and clubbing an animal. A traditional hunting method could include clubbing an animal to death.”
To local animal activists, “traditional methods” is a deliberately ambiguous phrase that could allow a regressive return to modes of hunting that the public generally disagrees with. And this isn’t merely conspiratorial thinking.
According to a 2014 document distributed by the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF), the language around traditional methods is specifically intended to ease restrictions around controversial hunting methods.
The foundation—which provides guidance and sponsors state amendments to hunt and fish—writes that “by using a phrase like “traditional methods,” proponents can give a stronger protection to trapping without actually mentioning trapping.”
“Trapping admittedly faces a lot of controversy in this country,” CSF acknowledges, “much more so than the more mainstream ways of hunting, such as by firearm or bow.”
They explicitly state that the “vague” language could also reinforce “other methods of hunting that have come under scrutiny.”
Despite the Amendment’s qualification that it does not “limit the authority of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission,” because Amendment 2 is a state constitutional amendment, if it passes, implementing and enforcing new regulations could become more difficult. “It would be a Herculean task to get a new regulation passed,” said Zepeda, “because now you’re saying that the right to hunt is like our freedom of speech.”
The other troubling language, “preferred means of wildlife management,” presents an entirely new set of potential problems. Myriam Parham, president of Florida Voices for
Florida Black bears are a point of contention since they are a distinct species of bear (Ursus americanus floridanus) and were previously on the threatened species list from 1974-2012. In 1974, there were only a few hundred left. Today, things are looking much better, with slightly over 4,000 reported by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in 2023.
For environmentalists, Florida Amendment 2, along with Florida bill HB 87—which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law, allowing for the killing of Black bears under “specified conditions”—poses an immediate threat to the Florida Black Bear population.
Chuck O’Neal, political chair of noto2. org and President of Central Florida environmental organization Speak Up Wekiva, reiterated this concern and is critical of hunting being named the primary form of wildlife management.
Animals—a local Tampa Bay animal rights organization—explained that “if you really care about the environment and animals in the wild, there are many non-lethal methods of wildlife management.” The issue with hunting being the “preferred means” of management, according to Parham, is it makes hunting the first choice rather than a last resort or merely a recreational activity.
Parham cited Florida black bears as a particular source of anxiety. The Amendment would seemingly favor shooting bears over simple preventative measures, such as requiring automatic locking trashcan lids in counties with bear populations. According to Parham, this small modification to residential trash cans is over “92% effective” in deterring bears from roaming on homeowner’s property.
“If there were a shortage of a species, like Key deer, the preferred means should be to stop hunting,” said O’Neal, “there is no way that you can bring back a species by killing it.”
Activists maintain that there are other means of managing wildlife, such as animal protection, preventative measures, or reproductive management, that should be employed first.
To O’Neal, it is significant to consider who is backing the Amendment, such as the NRA and trophy hunting organizations, with the latter being a largely unpopular form of hunting in the United States. O’Neal clarified that those against the Amendment are not necessarily opposed to hunting and fishing but think that this Amendment is excessive. “I cannot speak for everyone in the movement, but Noto2.org
is not opposed to hunting and fishing. We just want to see it regulated.”
Further, Amendment 2 is perceived as deceptive by many since it seems to imply that hunting and fishing are not already protected by Florida law. Florida statute 379.104, however, clearly secures the legal right for Floridians to hunt and fish subject to state wildlife regulations. The statute reads: “the citizens of Florida have a right to hunt, fish, and take game.”
Proponents of Amendment 2, namely the organization Vote Yes on 2 (who did not respond to a request for comment), state on their website that a constitutional state right to fish and hunt is necessary. Their site states, “Amendment 2 definitively protects our right to fish and hunt in the state of Florida ... [it] will prevent extremists from taking away our rights.”
Zepeda observed, conversely, that “if Amendment 2 doesn’t pass, then Floridians still keep their right to hunt, which is already in our state section—that would not change.”
Additionally, the fears surrounding state laws taking away hunting and fishing rights, which pro-Amendment 2 organizations say are propagated by “extremists,” seem to be largely unfounded. O’Neal argued that these organizations misrepresent these statutes.
“I’ve seen the Yes to 2 propaganda, so to speak,” said O’Neal, “they say that they’re doing this because Oregon almost passed a law to make hunting illegal, but it never even made it on the ballot.”
The Oregon statute, IP-3, which attempted to outlaw the killing of animals outside of selfdefense, was more than 80,000 signatures short of making it onto the state ballot—meaning that no votes were cast in favor of it, and the law had a less-than marginal chance of ever being passed. In short, there have been no documented, substantive, and politically viable state-wide pushes to make hunting and fishing illegal.
“The other side is entitled to their own opinion,” O’Neal told CL, “but they aren’t entitled to their own facts.”
Facts are precisely what is at stake here. Zepeda stated it is crucial that the public is informed of the facts of these issues before they vote. “Most people respect the right to hunt, but if you told them that hunting and killing is going to be the primary way of managing animals, I think that people would have a problem with that.”
Voting for president is not the only consequential decision to make in November; Floridians must also weigh both opinions and facts to determine what Amendment 2 means for Florida—and its animals.
BEAR DOWN: Florida’s new HB87 allows for the killing of Black bears under ‘specified conditions.’
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Hang time
Ybor City’s Sky Puppy Brewing will be open by September.
By Matthew McGovern and Ray Roa
There’s a lot of history built into the walls at Sky Puppy Brewing. It sits on the site of Casa Bomberos, where Tampa Fire Station No. 2 was until 1924, and it’s technically the city’s oldest fire house still standing. More recent history is on the walls, too. There’s an old graffiti tag for “GOD” which didn’t get scrubbed off in the buildout for the much-anticipated brewery. And of course, there’s the ghost of New World Brewery, an almost-mythical watering hole and venue that called the 1300 block of E 8th Avenue home for 22 years before relocating to Sulphur Springs.
And that’s where the love comes in.
New World is where Danielle Vergnaud and Matthew McKinnon had their first date in 2011. Six years later, they got engaged outside of New World on the venue’s last night in Ybor City. They’ve since married (it’s Danielle VergnaudMcKinnon, now) and have recently been spending lots of time together, pouring almost every ounce of themselves into a brewhouse and tasting room that’s been nearly three years in the making.
space, Sky Puppy keeps grain and other supplies on a second story landing and storage area. After a wall collapse in the initial stages of buildout, the couple salvaged material and have integrated much of it into a space that is sophisticated in a way that only Vergnaud-McKinnon—a decadeslong professional in retail—could pull off.
“We strategized early on when we walked the space on moments of memory and tribute,” Vergnaud-McKinnon said. “We lodged the brew house as far left as possible and the fermentation tanks as far right as possible so you could see where New World operated their taproom and turned their kegs for 20 years.”
That brewhouse is where the couple has spared no expense in installing a seven-barrel SS Brew Tech system for Matthew—a highlydecorated, 20-year brewer who’s made some of America’s best beer (and has the hardware to prove it).
OPENING
Sky Puppy Brewing
1313 E 8th Ave., Ybor City skypuppybrewing.com
Vergnaud-McKinnon told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that Sky Puppy Brewing will finally open in Ybor City late this month or early-September.
The charming space at 1313 E 8th Ave. (the same address as the old New World) is adorned with dramatic sculptures of bats by Florida artist Copper Tritscheller (there are 13 of them as tap handles). A giant Tritscheller bat on loan stands near the front door, just beneath a small cloud of bat sculptures on the wall.
While the tasting room can accommodate a total of about 45 people between its sleek benches, custom booths, and standing area, a small bartop near the taps has room for just five people—an ode to another lost Ybor City staple, the tiny Fuma Bella bar that was across the street from New World.
The high ceilings and exposed century-old brick have also been methodically composed and intentionally meant to preserve the rich history of the block. The gateway into the brewhouse itself boasts a wall that is made of the original brick from the firehouse’s original facade. To maximize
McKinnon’s excitement for opening Sky Puppy comes less from the charm of the space, and more so from the product that he plans to roll out. His philosophy for brewing relies largely on his focus on constant growth, improvement, and collaboration.
“We are very non-static and believe that there is always room for growth,” VergnaudMcKinnon added. ”We’re going to attack styles and beers the same way. More specifically, we’re going to brew great lagers, stouts, hazy IPAs, West Coast and San Diego IPAs and a sour.”
He’s currently fermenting sweet stout, Mexican lager, a Czech pilsner, and IPA, DIPA, Florida sour and Belgian wit. VergnaudMcKinnon said she’s still not sure which styles will ferment and be available on opening day. That short list, however, is just a glimpse of the breadth that Matthew is capable of producing.
Matthew’s award winning resume in his home brewing career has also created a drive to enter Sky Puppy’s beers into local and international competition. His extensive knowledge is something he wishes to share with guests in the space. He added that collaboration with other local brewers including Cigar City Brewing, Magnanimous and others will be on display in the space by means of collaborative brews, and
products will be available in the take away area which sits across from the bar.
The couple also plans to roll out a limited selection of the aforementioned styles upon opening, most of which will be house-made ales. A rotating collection of artwork will also be on display with select pieces being made available for purchase.
As opening the business draws near, the excitement between the couple is coming to a
headpoint, as they are eager to share what they have been working tirelessly on for over a year.
“I think I’m just excited for what’s happening in the West End of Ybor,” Vergnaud-McKinnon added. “It’s always been a place to come and have fun, but it’s been a difficult place to thrive and we’re glad to see that changing”
Get real-time updates on the opening of the Ybor City Brewery via @skypuppybrewing on Instagram.
PUPPY LOVE: Matthew McKinnon (L) and Danielle Vergnaud-McKinnon in the early stages of their brewery’s buildout.
Birds of a feather
Flamingo Bar’s 55th leads a trio of milestone dive bar anniversaries.
By Jourdan Ducat
As with many storied dive bars, this revered local haunt at 1230 9th St. N is referred to through various nicknames, depending on who you’re talking to. To some, it’s Flamingos, to others it’s The Flamingo. Veteran bartender Mary Green calls it Flamingo Bar, and the sign above the front door agrees with her.
All that really matters is that it’s a damn good dive bar filled with regulars who have become like family to both each other and the staff.
Behind the bar or not, Green plays the role of “bar Mom” at St. Pete’s Flamingo Bar. She’s well known for feeding customers, most notably on St. Patrick’s Day with her annual “one woman” feast of enough corned beef and cabbage to feed a village. Green also makes it a point to learn regulars’ names and birthdays and takes care of innumerous things behind the scenes that keep the place running.
She moved to St. Petersburg from Buffalo, New York in 1977, joining her sister and escaping the blizzards back home. Both of her parents were bartenders, and she herself started bartending at the age of 18 at a local Buffalo bowling alley. She’s now been at Flamingo Bar for 24 years, with her 25th anniversary approaching on Nov. 1 of this year.
When she first got the job, Green was simultaneously working at the now-shuttered 4th Street Pub. She eventually chose to work full time at Flamingo—which celebrates its 55th anniversary this month—because she made better tips. She once even paid her rent with a month’s worth of coin change from tips, although this was notably several years ago.
Green takes her job seriously, but still appreciates practical jokes and is quick to hit patrons with a good one liner. Once, when a promotional sign for a “whiskey sour” looked more like “whiskey soup” and a customer jokingly ordered it, she poured whiskey in a bowl and served it to him with crackers on the side. She has also been known to toss a foam brick towards an unsuspecting patron to make them do a double take.
She truly loves her job and says that the customers are the reason it’s her favorite she’s ever held. She bartends five to six shifts a week and likes to relax at home and cook on her time off, but from time to time will stop into Sunset Grille and order some chicken wings and a beer.
When asked what her signature drink behind the bar is, she easily answers that she makes a good Bloody Mary from scratch, and the sentiment is emphatically echoed by many longtime patrons. She’s a fan of the drink herself and ritualistically has one every Sunday, but normally sticks to beer and the occasional shot of tequila.
As for her outlook on the future of the bar business, she just hopes places like Flamingo Bar continue to succeed and stay as relatively traditional as possible. Support your local dive bars while they’re here, and be sure to say hi to Mary when Flamingo Bar celebrates its 55th anniversary on Saturday, Aug. 10.
Just don’t be surprised if she’s got more than a few plates spinning.
Many well-known baseball players have passed through the doors, but the most famous former patron of Flamingo Bar is the ubiquitous Kerouac. The bar’s affiliation with the late Beat Generation writer, who passed away in St. Pete in 1969, is echoed throughout the space via newspaper clippings, commemorative T-shirts and his regular order of a “shot and a wash.” This ongoing special consists of a shot of well whisky and a 4 oz glass of Busch Light and will only set you back $3.50, an inclusive price that anyone can afford.
The deals here are always tough to beat, but at the 55th Birthday shindig happening this month, party goers will be offered free hot dogs to soak up those celebratory shots. There will also be commemorative T-shirts and koozies for customers to take home as mementos, as well as various giveaways. The place always packs out for these events, and inevitably stories will be swapped by longtime regulars who each contribute to the fabric and soul that makes Flamingo’s heart beat.
FOOD & DRINK EVENTS
One of the stories recently overheard here is that when Vietnam Veteran Dale Nichols purchased the bar, he asked friends for suggestions on how to get customers. When someone suggested a sign that read “Girls, Girls, Girls,” Nichols ran with it before eventually removing it after enough disappointed customers realized it was a false advertisement.
Like many established dives, Flamingo Bar offers its patrons a chance to buy drinks for fellow customers via a token system—buy
someone a drink, and they get a chip so you and the bartender know you have one coming. Lucky drinkers may even be present when Dale pops in and feels generous enough to buy the bar a round. Although some updates have been made over the years, including installing a TouchTunes and adding more TV’s, the pool tables remain at the retro price of 50 cents.
Pete Gallagher from the “Florida Folk Show” on WMNF-Tampa 88.5FM will be on site at 7 p.m. to play some jams on the patio. Tampa Bay has been fortunate to have this local gem around for over half a century, and surely there are many good years to come.
Home to misfits, and an integral part of Ybor City, Reservoir Bar, celebrates 20th anniversary Dust off those pool sticks and get ready to shoot some Mr. Purple’s because Ybor City’s Reservoir Bar celebrates its 20th anniversary this month.
continued on page 34
SOUP OF THE DAY: Whiskey with Mary Green of the Flamingo Bar
The 7th Avenue dive is a favorite among local pool sharks, artists and “misfits” and has become an integral part of the local community’s morale.
Reservoir Bar—located at 1518 E 7th Ave. and affectionately referred to as “Res” by regulars— has hosted many events that showcase local talent and is a proud ally to the LGBTQ+ community. When a member of the community needs help, Lisa and the rest of the crew at Res always step up to lend a helping hand, whether it be selling raffle tickets to cover a friend’s unanticipated medical bills, promoting other local businesses on social media or helping to protect the Ybor chickens.
All this to say, these folks and the legacy they’ve created in Ybor City deserve to be celebrated, and they’re teaming up with local legend Tom DeGeorge and Death Metal Dave of Metal Messiah Radio to throw one hell of a party on Aug. 18.
The fun starts at a pre-party hosted by Crowbar, where thrash metal bands like local outfits Blood of Angels, Thrash Attack, and The Path. Clam Master Jay will sling the funky delicious grub that Ol’ Dirty Sundays denizens have grown to crave over the years.
Once the pre-party wraps up at 9 p.m., those still standing will take the three-minute walk over to the honorary Res and keep the party going until doors close at 3 a.m. The famous pool tables (late-Yonkers rapper DMX played pool here in 2019), will most definitely be hopping, the Malort will be flowing and the jukebox will
be jamming. There’s bound to be a raucous mix of local musicians, pool players, drag queens, and everyone in between.
Come as you are, smoke em’ if you got em’— since Res is one of the last smoking bars left in Tampa Bay—then raise a glass to an amazing 20 years and the many years to come.
Tickets to the Reservoir Bar 20th anniversary pre-party at Crowbar in Ybor City next Sunday, Aug. 18 are still available for $20, and there’s no cover to keep partying at Res afterwards.
Revered Tampa dive bar The Hub celebrates milestone anniversary with three-week party
These days, it’s pretty rare for a bar to make it to its 75th anniversary, so staff at The Hub is going all out to throw one of Tampa’s oldest dives a hell of a party.
The iconic watering hole has been located at 719 N Franklin St. in between the Tampa Theatre and downtown’s Kress Block since 2002, but its history may go all the way back to 1933 when a “Hub Hotel” was at 212 1/2 Franklin St., according to a city directory. A Hub Saloon lived at 801 Tampa St.. in the mid-1930s, according to Paul Guzzo, who added that there was another at 904 1/2 E. Broadway Ave. in the 1940s.
But most people who talk about “the old Hub” are referencing the iteration at 701 N Florida Ave., just a block away from the current location where it first opened as a cigar store in 1949 before eventually adopting dive vibes in the ‘80s. The 700 block of downtown Tampa
has been more-or-less razed, but the horseshoe bar from that location of The Hub still lives at the current spot where a roughly three-week celebration happens this month.
Commemorative anniversary merch will be available, and the locally famous, Best of the Bay-winning, jukebox was recently refurbished and is ready to party. The entertainment lineup is stacked, with a plethora of local acts from various genres performing and an anniversary edition of the monthly DJ night dance party, Rock n’ Soul.
The music starts on Friday, Aug. 16 with The Dennis and John Tribute Band playing in honor of a celebration of life for recently lost friends of the band. The show on Saturday, Aug. 17 features three punkrock bands—The Vindicators, Boney Fiend and St. Pete’s Atl Dog (stylized in all-caps), making its Tampa debut.
Silence who stage Rock ‘n’ Soul before Tampa instrumental-rock trio Florida Night Heat reunites for a Thursday, Aug. 29 show alongside rowdy rock and roll trio Night Child (formerly Johnny Mile & The Kilometers).
The final weekend of The Hub’s 75th anniversary includes sets from Kenny Green and his band Native Solz (Friday, Aug. 30), and a Saturday, Aug. 31 show with outlaw-country and gospel hybrid One Trip Little opening for The Cacophony Street Band—a band fronted by John Nowicki who will revive his Tom Waits cover set for the show.
FOOD & DRINK EVENTS
On Sunday, Aug. 18, the theater next door is showing “Casablanca,” so Tampa’s “second best bartender,” Kamran Mir is making the timeless French 75 in addition to other champagne cocktails that are sponsored by Lamarca and New Amsterdam.
Lauris Vidal, who’s no stranger to performing at The Hub, is bringing his one man band on Saturday, Aug. 24.
The Hub gets right back to it the following Monday, Aug. 26, with Mes McDonald and DJ
To cap the seemingly endless celebration off, This Little Pig’s food truck will be outside on Sunday, Sept. 1 serving “elevated comfort food with influence from creole flavors.” Another tasty offering, while supplies last, will be donuts from neighboring sandwich darling Supernatural that will feature a glaze inspired by “Tampa’s official cocktail, 6 a.m. on 7th”. Details on daytime entertainment are still up in the air, but at night there will be performances from local favorites Pet Lizard and The Urbane Cowboys. There’s no cover for any of the 75th anniversary celebrations happening this month at The Hub in downtown Tampa.
Whether you plan to attend any of these events or decide to celebrate on your own time, remember that the Hub remains cash only and bullshit free. Cheers to 75 years!
CENTRAL RECEIVING: The Hub, a cradle of Tampa barflies for 75 years.
RAY ROA
Breakfast
Fresh air
Lara’s future home, and more Bay area food news.
By Kyla Fields
It’s been well over a year since seasoned Tampa chef Suzanne “Suz” Lara announced the opening of her debut concept that pays homage to her newly-acquired last name, but watchers of the local dining scene haven’t forgotten about the unique bar, kitchen and marketplace.
After taking a slight pause to deal with some personal circumstances earlier this year, owner and Executive Chef Lara says that her concept’s opening is chugging along.
The 41 year-old chef tells Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that Lara’s doors are slated to open sometime this fall.
While she was originally looking for a space in Tampa Heights due to its centralized location, her debut concept will now open in Ybor City, although its exact address has not yet been released. The decision to open in Ybor City was definitely intentional.
“I think it’s time for some good news about Ybor, since there’s been mainly bad news on all fronts lately,” Lara says. “I’m hoping that when I do announce the exact location and opening date, it’ll be a breath of fresh air—not only for Ybor but for all Tampa residents.”
any of the new development because I think it’s great to be diversified—but when it comes to what I want the Lara brand to be...I want it to be authentically Tampa,” Lara tells CL.
“I want to honor Ybor for what it is and play off everything that it’s already known for,” she continues.
Make sure to follow @lara.tampa on Instagram to keep up with the soft opening teasers—or in her own words, “little juicy updates”—that Chef Lara will be dropping throughout the summer.
Lucky Tigre moves to West Tampa with an expanded menu of Filipino-American favorites
A South Tampa favorite has moved a few miles north, but it’s still dishing out the fusion fare that loyal customers love.
Lucky Tigre now slings loaded Filipino plates, dumplings, egg rolls, milk teas and more out of a food trailer parked at 1713 N Albany Ave. in West Tampa.
OPENINGS & CLOSINGS
Described as an “apothecary bar and culinary market,” Lara will be a multifaceted space that revolves around its bar—which will serve a variety of both N/A and alcoholic beverages—plus a marketplace filled with specialized goods and a food program that Lara calls its “supporting member.”
While she’s not ready to share any details about her menu or Lara’s dining experience just yet, she describes her debut concept as a “social drinking experience that just so happens to have some of the most amazing food that you’ll have at a bar.”
The locally-owned eatery served the last customers at its flagship location on South Tampa’s Howard Avenue on July 1, and soft opened a few days later in West Tampa with an expanded food menu.
“I think it’s time for some good news about Ybor.”
While there’s a few dishes that didn’t make it over to to the new location—like its bola bola dumplings, halang halang na gulay (snow pea tips and green papaya in a savory coconut broth) or chicken adobo bao buns— there are a few newcomers on the Lucky Tigre menu, too.
Chef Suz started her culinary journey about 20 years ago as a dishwasher at Tampa’s nowclosed Viva La Frida, eventually becoming a line cook. She then helped open Ella’s Americana Folk Art Cafe and helmed its kitchen as the Executive Chef for about a decade before helping open Cass Street Deli in 2019. She also worked as Rooster & the Till’s sous chef in 2021 while finalizing business plans for Lara’s eventual debut. Her highly-anticipated bar, marketplace and “supporting” kitchen will certainly be a culmination of her experience running kitchens, developing menus and helping open different restaurants throughout Tampa.
“With Lara, I really want to represent what I think is authentic to Tampa—no disrespect to
A few additions include its mochi-fried, adobo-glazed chicken or lechon kawali plates complete with rice, atchara and cucumber salad, plus a few more plant-based options like its veggie-filled pancit, lumpia made with Impossible pork, and vegan chili oil dumplings.
A range of plant-based milk teas, iced coffees, fruit teas and plant-based halo halo are still available at Lucky Tigre’s new location, too.
Tampa native Julie Sainte Michelle Feliciano—who owns and operates Lucky Tigre with her husband Sean Loughlin—opened their flagship, “sari sari-style” location in the fall of 2022 out of a former shipping container that offered less than 200 square-feet of kitchen space.
Over the past two years, Lucky Tigre’s menu has seen some dishes come and go, but its range of offerings have always remained true to Feliciano’s Filipino-American heritage.
“Our menu reflects Filipino roots and flavors from experiences growing up in the diaspora,” she writes on Lucky Tigre’s website.
Feliciano’s new West Tampa food trailer resides on the property of Lucky Tigre’s upcoming brick and mortar and final destination, which is currently undergoing a complete build out. She told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay earlier this year that this new restaurant will be “modeled after a classic Filipino diner.”
Head to @theluckytigre on Instagram for the latest news on Lucky Tigre’s menu, events and operating hours. During the summer, Lucky
Tigre is open every day from noon-8:30 p.m., but its hours may expand later this year. Its new West Tampa location hosts a collaborative “End of Summer Cookout” on Saturday, August 10.
Atlanta’s Slutty Vegan hosts a month-long Brandon residency at Vine Vegan Slutty Vegan, Atlanta’s beloved burger spot with a cult-like following of plant-based folks and carnivores alike, is heading to the greater Tampa area this month.
continued on page 39
FALL IN LINE: Chef Suz Lara hopes to open her Ybor City restaurant before the winter.
HOW
THOUGH?: Somehow, the Slutty Vegan can fulfill carne desires.
continued from page 37
Brandon’s Vine Vegan (2080 Badlands Dr.) is taking a break from its normal menu to host the popular burger spot until the end of August.
According to a social media post, there’s a two-burger limit at Slutty Vegan’s, month-long Tampa pop-up, and no burger modifications are permitted.
For now, Slutty Vegan’s Brandon menu includes the: One Night Stand with plant-based bacon, the spicy Sloppy Toppy, the straightforward Fussy Hussy burger with pickles, the sweet plantain-topped Dancehall Queen and the Hollywood Hooker, a vegan Philly cheese steak with jalapeños, bell peppers and onions.
All burgers and sandwiches start at $18.72 and come with a side of fries.
While Slutty Vegan usually pops up in Tampa with its bright yellow food truck, the popular plant-based eatery will take over Vine Vegan’s kitchen this time around.
residencies in other cities like Nashville and Grayson, Georgia.
CEO and founder Pinky Cole opened the first Slutty Vegan in 2018 in Atlanta, and the plant-based business quickly expanded throughout the country over the next few years. Slutty Vegan now boasts a dozen locations in cities like Birmingham, Brooklyn, Dallas and inside the Atlanta Braves stadium.
Slutty Vegan’s burgers will be available at Vine Vegan from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. SundayThursday and 11 a.m.-10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. It only accepts mobile pay, credit or debit cards—no cash.
OPENINGS & CLOSINGS
For the month of August, the Vine Vegan crew will take a break from dishing out its beloved vegan Cuban sandwiches, salads and bowls to sling Slutty Vegan’s popular burgers, although a variety of Vine Vegan’s smoothies, coffees and juices are still available.
“Thanks for your excitement and support— this is an incredible opportunity and a big boost for us during a slow season,” Vine Vegan owner Danielle Stevens writes on Instagram. “Let’s make it a memorable month!”
She opened her plant-based eatery in Brandon two years ago with a goal of “ bringing people together over food, capturing the culture of community, and using ridiculously delicious vegan food to do it.”
In addition to its month-long stint in Tampa, Slutty Vegan is also hosting August
Chef Jeannie Pierola’s celebrated restaurant known for its rotating selection of modern plates. Counter Culture has remained open for service during Bayshore Gardens’ extensive renovations, courtesy of the complex’s new owners, real estate investment firm Asana Partners, who purchased and renamed the South Tampa building in 2021.
While O-ku boasts several locations throughout the South and up the East Coast, Tampa will be home to Maru’s very first restaurant.
The Japanese-Peruvian eatery will boast about 90 seats between indoor and outdoor seating, focusing on fresh dishes like ceviche, hand rolls and more.
While some may be unfamiliar with the blending of Japanese and Peruvian fare, Nikkei cuisine has been a part of Peru’s food culture since the influx of Japanese immigration in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Despite Japanese-Peruvians representing less than 1% of the country’s population in modern times, Food & Wine Magazine says Nikkei–style dishes like ceviche can still be found throughout homes and restaurants in Peru and beyond.
Follow @okutampa and @marutampa on Instagram.
Tampa’s Bastet Brewing is closed
One of Tampa Bay’s locally-owned craft breweries just shut its doors for good. Best of the Bay-winning Bastet Brewing, located at 1951 E Adamo Dr. Suite B on the edge of Ybor City, served its last pint of fermented goodness on Tuesday, Aug. 6.
“History has again and again shown that beer has changed the world in significant ways,” they write on the brewery’s website. “The name Bastet is a celebration of this fact and is an homage to one of the world’s greatest beer making cultures, ancient Egypt.”
Egyptian-themed decor could be found throughout the Tampa brewery, too.
In fall of 2021, both Ross and Lett graced the cover of CL for a story that delved into the world of Tampa Bay’s Black brewers and the challenges they faced. Lett talked about his experiences with racism as one of the few Black brewers and brewery owners in Florida.
On the National Black Brewers Association’s directory, there were only three Black-owned breweries in the state of Florida, including Bastet Brewing and St. Petersburg’s Green Bench Brewing. In 2023, the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation reported that the Sunshine State is home to almost 500 craft breweries.
“We want to sincerely thank everyone, near and far, who supported us. We also want to thank the amazing group of regulars who showed up in the taproom week in and week out,” Ross and Lett write to their loyal customers. “We’re really going to miss you guys. We shared good times and good beer and forged great relationships that we will cherish forever.”
And if you don’t want to wait in line for your slutty eats, you can always order online via vinevegan.com or through DoorDash, Uber Eats, and GrubHub.
Head to @sluttyveganatl or @vineveganfl on Instagram for more information about this month’s Slutty Vegan pop-up at Brandon’s Vine Vegan.
Charleston-based company to open sushi and Japanese-Peruvian concepts in South Tampa
Two new restaurants are opening soon in South Tampa, and they both have a focus on fresh seafood and seasonal ingredients.
Tampa Bay Business Journal says that Charleston’s Indigo Road Hospitality Group will debut Japanese-Peruvian concept Maru out of Bayshore Gardens’ rooftop space in late 2024. An upscale sushi spot, O-ku, will follow, set to open on the ground floor of the building slated in early-2025.
Both of these new-to-Tampa concepts are headed to Bayshore Gardens (formerly known as the Bayshore Center) at 2909 W Bay to Bay Blvd.
These two new restaurants will share the South Tampa complex with Counter Culture,
“The short explanation is that adverse socioeconomic conditions that began in 2020, the year we opened, have led us to make a pragmatic decision that is the best for moving forward,” Bastet Brewing’s owners wrote on its website this week. “For nearly 4 years we’ve fought against the persistent unfavorable challenges within the beer industry to keep the doors open, but with limited options available to us, the financial burden has proven to be too great.”
During its last few days open, the Tampa craft brewery offered $6 pours of everything on its tap list—from its German-style Apep Pils to its deep purple, ube and Meyer lemon-based Ube Dube Do. Other popular sips from Bastet Brewing included the fruity Florida Midriff, Orange! Bloody Orange! Pale ale, Poysenous Apple cider, and the Seedless Regime watermelon sour, in addition to a variety of lagers, blonde ales, hazy IPAs and imperial stouts.
Co-owners Tom Ross and Huston Lett opened their craft brewery in late 2020, ultimately inspired by ancient fermentation techniques and traditions from across the globe. The duo named their microbrewery after the Egyptian lioness warrior goddess Bastet, one of the many examples of Ross and Lett incorporating ancient themes and cultural diversity in their approach to brewing.
MOVIES THEATER ART CULTURE
Man with a plan
St. Pete’s Green Light Cinema goes nonprofit, and raises $8K in a week.
By David Warner
There’s a movie poster in the lobby of St. Pete’s Green Light Cinema for a 1996 satire called “Man with a Plan.” It’s about the long-shot Congressional candidacy of a 73-yearold Vermont dairy farmer named Fred Tuttle.
Green Light owner Mike Hazlett came up with a plan, too, after he and his wife, Susan, moved to St. Pete 10 years ago. He saw a need for a small independent movie theater like the ones he’d known and worked for in New England.
“On paper, 80 seats, a city of 250,00 people— I thought it was an open lane,” he recalled recently over lunch at Mio’s, a short walk from Green Light in St. Pete’s downtown.
to show films at Webb’s City Cellar. Activities like these and a reasonable rent by downtown standards ($6,000 a month) allowed him to break even last year.
Break even, that is, without paying himself anything. And that’s with just one paid staffer, the affable Zack Howard, who works the ticket and concessions counter. While Susan, a corporate accountant, makes “a nice living,” said Mike, “I can’t work forever for free.”
LOCAL ARTS
The endeavor turned out to be almost as quixotic as Fred Tuttle’s crusade for Congress.
It wasn’t just the fact that Green Light opened during the pandemic in October 2020. The Hazletts were also the victims of circumstances beyond their control, like the contracting film industry, the competition from at-home streaming, and an audience pool that shrinks when the snowbirds go home.
So last month, the couple revealed a new plan.
“To help us survive and flourish,” they announced on July 18 via social media, “we’ve decided to restructure and have formed a nonprofit association—The Friends of Greenlight Cinema.”
“I would make this case,” Hazlett told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “The vast majority of independent movie theaters—Burns Court in Sarasota, Tampa Theatre—they’re all nonprofits.” The big corporate chains, he added, are also being underwritten—“by split stocks, restructured debt and the like. The entire industry is being underwritten one way or the other.”
With nonprofit status, Green Light can not only seek donations but sponsorships and grants. He sees big potential in the cinema’s future, like a possible expansion of the acting studio. And more than that, he can continue to bring St Pete the films he loves.
“I feel like we’ve done really good stuff and the programming we do matters,” he said. “A place like this, a city like this, whether they know it or not, needs it.”
So far, it seems that the citizens agree. The online appeal raised close to $8,000 in a week, much of that in the day immediately following the email. He has a board now. And he’s optimistic that he can reach his goal of bringing in donations totaling approximately $120,000 annually. That would be a substantial boost to his annual $300,000-$350,000 budget, which would include a salary for himself.
“A place like this, a city like this, whether they know it or not, needs it.”
Green Light has managed to endure these past three years with the help of strategic partnerships. Eugenie Bondurant’s highly popular Station 12 acting studio holds classes at the theater, splitting revenue with Hazlett. The theater is home to the Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and Second Screen Cult Cinema series. Hazlett has branched out
Still, the overarching problem is not just keeping an art-house cinema alive. It’s the movie industry as a whole. According to an April 2024 report in Variety, worldwide box office is headed for a marginal decline of 3% this year, “a setback that follows three years of recovery from a pandemic era low in 2020.” Mike Hazlett says that only 15% of available tickets were sold on average at U.S. movie theaters last year, whereas Green Light sold 30%.
Every theater is vulnerable to the potential moviegoer rationale, “I’ll wait till that comes out on streaming.” But just as a blockbuster like “Oppenheimer” had exponentially more impact when seen in a theater, that’s also true of smaller, quieter films.
“Janet Planet,” a film that played recently at Green Light, is a case in point. Its extended closeups, long silences, and wide shots of the rural Massachusetts countryside would not have made the same impression on a home screen.
And get this: Box office tally for Janet at Green Light wasn’t great—just 150 tickets sold over a six-day run—but that was the highest among any of the theaters showing it in Florida that week.
This is a common occurrence for Hazlett and Green Light. From January through April of this year, the theater was no. 1 in Florida week-long grosses for two of this year’s Oscar-nominated international features and for the Oscar shortfilm program. Ava Duvernay’s “Origin,” the Finnish film “Fallen Leaves” and several others also were among the top performers during that period.
It’s gotten to the point now that distributors that deal in indies—A24, Sony Pictures Classics, and the like—are calling Hazlett to see if he wants their films. That’s one way he gets a bead on films that may turn up at Green Light before they reach the mainstream
cineplexes (if they ever do). His savvy programming also reflects close attention to advance reviews and film festivals.
Green Light’s decision to announce its nonprofit initiative followed closely upon Governor Ron DeSantis’s withdrawal of funding from the state’s arts nonprofits. It’s another example, said Hazlett wryly, of “my impeccable sense of timing.”
But if Green Light managed to endure the pandemic, chances are good they’ll weather this storm, too.
“Despite the difficulties and challenges of this business,” Hazlett says, “there are great, great films being made and no one else is showing them.”
Across the Green Light lobby from “Man with a Plan,” there’s another poster for a film that Hazlett says is his favorite: the 1983 comedydrama “Local Hero.”
For film fans in the area, the title’s not a bad description of Hazlett himself.
To donate to The Friends of Green Light Cinema, look for the Donate button at greenlightstpete.com.
GIVE HIM THE GREEN LIGHT: Mike Hazlett’s indie movie house has gone nonprofit.
DAVID WARNER
REVIEWS PROFILES MUSIC WEEK
I’ll be damned
Before Clearwater gig, Slash talks gear, new blues album, and more.
By Josh Bradley
Even Slash knows that one of the qualifications to be a guitar legend is to be somewhat fluent in blues. The 59-year-old shredder’s new, all-covers album Orgy of the Damned has seemingly been a long time coming. Just before the turn of the century, he founded Slash’s Blues Ball, a six-piece specializing in celebrating blues icons that came before it.
“We had a really broad setlist, but there were specific songs that had a really big influence on me as a guitar player, and just had an impact on me growing up,” Slash told Creative Loafi ng Tampa Bay during a recent phone call.
INTERVIEW
S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival: Slash w/Larkin Poe/ZZ Ward/ Robert Randolph
Festival tour stop. Steel pedal whiz Robert Randolph—who opened for Eric Clapton’s second-most-recent Tampa Bay gig in 2008—as well as blues singer-songwriter ZZ Ward, and roots-rock outfit Larkin Poe will all play respective sets though, and Slash has already thrown around the idea of releasing a live recording of a performance in Denver, and making the tour an annual affair. “Now that we’re in it, it’s really working out, so I defi nitely want to look into doing that,” he told CL Tampa.
Saturday, Aug. 10. 6:30 p.m. $40 & up
The BayCare Sound. 255 Drew St., Clearwater rutheckerdhall.com
The group must have been on his mind sometime in the last few years, because two former members helped him construct Orgy, in more ways than just instrumentation. “[Keyboardist Teddy Andreadis] managed to save some of the setlist from back in 1998. So, I picked some songs off of that,” he added, also stating that Andreadis is part of his current touring repertoire.
The rest of the album’s guest list is immaculate, too. Bad Company’s Paul Rodgers makes a rare appearance on “Born Under a Bad Sign,” Demi Lovato continues to truck through their rock era on “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” and is it really a modern blues collaborative project if Gary Clark Jr. isn’t in the mix? Though his vocals on “Crossroads” would wow anyone in that scene, Billy F. Gibbons embodying the soul of Muddy Waters on “Hoochie Coochie Man” is the highlight of the 12-tracker.
Read parts of our Q&A below, and see the full chat via cltampa.com/ music.
I heard that you handpicked all the performers on the bill for this tour. You’ve got Larkin Poe, ZZ Ward and Robert Randolph on deck in Clearwater. Tell me a little bit about your fi rst encounters with some of them.
“I had to chase him down to get this recording.”
“I had to chase him down to get this recording,” Slash told CL. I had to fi nd him in a place where there was a recording studio, get the tape to him, and let him do his thing. And I’m so happy that I did.”
The ZZ Top legend won’t be with Slash when he arrives at The BayCare Sound in Clearwater, but a trio of bands and artists cut from a similar cloth are set to kick off Saturday’s S.E.R.P.E.N.T.
Well Robert, I know, and I’ve actually jammed with him a few times. He’s just a fantastic musician and artist. ZZ Ward is somebody who I’d gotten introduced to more recently, in the last few years, I guess. She’s great, and I just love her sound. These really authentic blues, and almost a little bit of a country influence in there. It’s very sincere and from the heart, and I love that. And then Larkin Poe is just amazing. I’d never met them, but I’ve liked them for years, and I was really excited to be able to get them on the bill. I didn’t know if they would do it, but they’re one of those kinds of artists that are just mesmerizing, you know? Very soulful. I mean, all the artists that we put on this tour are really great, and I’m very happy and honored that they would come and do this.
You’ve described this tour as a traveling festival in a sense. Do you see yourself making this an annual thing? Kinda like Willie Nelson and his Outlaw Music Festival.
Yeah. The idea in my mind was that if this went well, I would like to do it annually or semi-annually. But now that we’re in it, it’s
really working out, so I defi nitely want to look into doing that. And also taking it overseas to Europe and stuff. I think it would be really well-received in other countries.
Let’s talk about Orgy Of The Damned a little bit. When you were making that, what was your criteria for selecting a song to cover?
Like, was there anything that helped you condense so many choices down to 11 tracks?
Well, I had a band with a couple of the guys on this record back in the late ‘90s. And so, we had a really killer setlist back then, and Teddy Andreadis, who plays keyboards and whatnot on the record—and also sings on the tour and B3 and all that—he managed to save some of
the setlist from back in 1998. So, I picked some songs off of that. Now, we had a really broad setlist, but there were specific songs that had a really big influence on me as a guitar player, and just had an impact on me growing up. So, it’s sort of easy to narrow down those ones that you really remember specifically when you fi rst heard them, and how they influenced you. And then, there are a couple of songs on the record that I was thinking of that I hadn’t covered before, but had a really big impact on me as a musician and as a person. So, we could have made a double record, I’m sure, but I didn’t want to do that, so I just narrowed it down to these.
HOOCHIE COOCHIE MAN: Slash has a new album of covers out now.
GENE KIRKLAND
By Josh Bradley and Ray Roa C CL Recommends
THU 08
C Dad Bod w/Oruã/Domino Pink On its 2021 album Pastels , Salt Lake CIty indie-rock band Dad Bod established itself as reliable purveyors of poppy psych-rock. The family band—brothers Michael and Matthew and Marcus Marinos, plus compadres Russ Alphin and Michael Morgan—stays rooted there on a new album, Loop de Loop Miracle Ministries Lords of Glory, but gives itself a whole lot of room to sprawl out and sharpen the songwriting while also dipping into blues-rock (“Feels Like Forever”) and manic melancholia, too (“Alcohol”). Brazilian rock band Oruã says it plays “A poor man’s jazz. Working-class’ krautrock,” but a new album released last month (Passe , stylized in allcaps), is so much more complicated than that. A throwback of sorts to the glory days of ‘90s underground rock (members of Oruã did back Built To Spill on its 2022 LP), the 13-track outing goes loud and soft in unexpected places and deploys just-off-time rhythms to great effect, all alongside guitars in weird tunings and odd-but-irresistible melodies. Palmetto psych-rock outfit Domino Pink rounds out this knockout of a show. (Hooch and Hive, Tampa)
FRI 09
Giorgi w/TV Breakup Scene/Gloomchild
Michael Giorgi refuses to find a niche, and defines himself as someone for fans of Foo Fighters and Jimmy Eat World. The 27-year-old just saw Jack White perform at a 600-cap venue, so don’t be surprised if his headlining gig on Cass Street takes inspiration from a live experience from the White Stripe. Indie-alt outfit TV Breakup Scene and alt-metal sextet Gloomchild both open. (Hooch and Hive, Tampa)
C Laura Reed w/Kristopher James On a new single, “Just Breathe,” soulful Bay area songwriter Kristopher James juxtaposes the weight of his anxiety and depression with a feel-good arrangement colored with horns and a toe-tapping rhythm. James told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that while those difficult conditions have been his constant companions since he was a kid, it wasn’t until adulthood when they started to manifest themselves in more physical and visceral ways. “It got to the point of not being able to leave the house, shaking/hiding and most notably not being able to catch my breath,” he added. “While life wasn’t conducive for traditional therapy, I knew it was deeper than I could do on my own and tried to understand what was happening and why, through friends, family, and as many responsible resources as I could read/listen to.” So the words “just breathe” became a mantra for him whenever he was having an episode.
While the song started as a somber waltz, it was brought to life in a more vibrant manner during the pandemic. “The song needed something happier, something with more energy, something that looked at my anxiety and depression and said ‘smile,’” he added. James opens for Nashville’s “tiny giant” Laura Reed and then backs her in a headlining set. (Side Door Cabaret at Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg)
C Ms. Lauryn Hill and Fugees w/YG Marley Although she recently postponed a Bay area show just 51 days after announcing it, the iconic 49-year-old rapper, singer and artist says she’s feeling good enough to do a 21-date tour that will not only celebrate her Grammy-winning catalog, but also the music of The Fugees with whom she arrived on the scene with in the early-’90s. The gig is in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Hill’s landmark 1998 album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill , which was nominated for 10 Grammys in 1999 (it won five). Hill’s son, YG Marley, will open the show. (MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa)
Stormbringer 30th anniversary w/The Black Honkeys Three decades of bandom is no joke, and long-running ‘80s cover band Stormbringer marks the occasion with a big ol’ show at Clearwater’s outdoor shed. The only band that could possibly meet the moment—Brother Phil Esposito’s Black Honkeys—opens the no cover gig. (he BayCare Sound, Clearwater)
SAT 10
C BK Jackson The thrill of seeing alumni of Blake High School come back to the neighborhood’s gigantic performing arts center never gets old, and BK Jackson gets to step into that spotlight for this “Party In the Bay” show. The saxophonist spent four years as part of Prince’s 11-piece New Power Generation Hornz band and currently tours with New Orleans living legend Trombone Shorty (who is headed to Tampa this fall). This headlining gig finds the smooth jazz composer also collecting supplies for Hillsborough Education Foundation. (Jaeb Theater at Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa)
Marcus Rezak’s Shred Is Dead If you’re a Deadhead and haven’t seen a show at Cage Brewing, you’re really missing out. Just about every event of late has been related to the most recognizable jam band of all time, and Rezak’s Shred Is Dead is no exception. The band—which has played at a few postDead and Co. shows near The Sphere in Las Vegas—turns the songs of Jerry Garcia and friends into much longer, progressive rockinspired pieces, while staying true to the original recordings. So if you ever wanted to hear “Shakedown Street” with a horn section, just thank your dark stars that this show is going down. (Cage Brewing, St. Petersburg)
THU AUGUST 08–THU AUGUST 15
C Rath & The Wiseguys w/Lot Lizards/ The Kutoffs/Arcane Arcade/Manarovs
The rude, crude, and socially unacceptable sounds of Rath and the Wise Guys (“Rath” stylized in all-caps) return with a release party for a new, surely dirty seven-inch single “In The Mirror.” Ahead of the stacked gig, featuring the band’s old friends Lot Lizards, The Kutoffs, and Arcane Arcade, Steve “Rath” Cutter told CL about folk-metal outfit Turisas opening for Cradle of Filth being the best gig he ever saw. “My buddy Jeff and I got our faces all painted up Viking-style to see this epic band play on about 1/4 of the stage, having to perform in front of big backlined equipment,” he recalled. Read his full quote at cltampa.com/music. (Hooch and Hive, Tampa)
Tampa Bay Rays concert series: Riley Green On the title track to his latest EP Way Out Here , the 35-year-old country singer cites Johnny Cash and his John Deere tractor as inspirations for his lifestyle, while throwing around the thought of shooting anyone who shows up to his house unwelcome. On the other hand, his cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City” (ironic, huh?) adds a mandolin and twang just not heard on the Boss’ original Nebraska recording. Green hasn’t been playing many tracks from the EP of late, but if the Orioles beat the Rays on Saturday, you’ll probably find yourself crying for two reasons during “I Wish Grandpas Never Died.” (Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg)
C S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival: Slash w/ZZ Ward/Robert Randolph/more A day after telling CL about how he hopes to make his new S.E.R.P.E.N.T. festival an annual affair, the gear he used on his new album Orgy Of The Damned , and how there might be a new live album recorded in Denver on the way, Slash’s stepdaughter Lucy-Bleu Knight
James
died at the age of 25. This stacked show is still scheduled, but if you attend, maybe walk in with an extra ounce of gratitude that the 59-year-old guitar legend is still showing up for his fans at all during such a trying time. Also, be warned: Just like his Ruth Eckerd Hall gig with Myles Kennedy in 2022, this ain’t no Guns N’ Roses show. Read our full interview with Slash on page 43. (The BayCare Sound, Clearwater)
SUN 11
Grey Day: $uicideboy$ w/Pouya/ Haarper/Shakewell/Ekkstacy Is it really August in Tampa Bay if Grey Day—headlined by $crim and Ruby da Cherry’s iconic trap project—doesn’t roll in? Their horrorcore duo $uicideboy$ sticks to the formula of topics centered around excessive drug use, mental health and post-rehab struggles, and occasional misogyny on new album New World Depression where a few titles (“The Light at the End of the Tunnel for $9.99 a Month”) are too real for comfort. The last time the boys were in town, they stopped cold mid-song, due to a fan having a seizure. “I guess Grey Day’s just too hot for y’all motherfuckers,” $crim jabbed. (Amalie Arena, Tampa)
C Ol’ Dirty Sundays: Blenda x Shafiq w/ DJ Casper/DJ Fader/Indy The end of Ol’ Dirty Sundays’ weekly presence in Ybor CIty gets closer every weekend, and the farewell run continues with this slate of guests whose selections were part of the foundation that made ODS so strong. Blenda—co-founder of the Gwan Massive Collective, and a living encyclopedia of reggae and dub joints—is on the ones and twos alongside fellow Gwan-er DJ Shafiq Sokoo, founder of Vinyl Sounds On Patrol. Sokoo’s tastes were formed in Gordon
After seven years away, Weekend Nachos is back, and seemingly tighter than ever. The Chicago-based hardcore outfit was on good terms during its breakup process, but simply felt that it was time to hang up the selfdeprecating lyrics after 12 years. Since the split, guitarist Andy Nelson and singer John Hoffman kept busy, collaborating with seemingly anybody who’s anybody on the scene, but the days of yore (aka 2011) will be revisited, when Weekend Nachos runs through more than half of its fourth album Worthless and more. (Orpheum, Tampa)
WED 14
C Zach Bryan w/Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit/Levi Turner Country music is having a moment, and while some of the hype tends to be a bunch of hoopla over a song about rich guys, it’s still fun to watch all corners of the genre get time in the sun. One of country’s new Oklahoma smokeshows is finally here. While we were all stressing out over Idalia last year, Zach Bryan announced plans to play the local football stadium. Bryan, 27, is some kind of “total-Libertarian” (wait until he finds out he’s playing in a stadium paid for by taxpayers), country Bon Iver, having come to prominence posting lo-fi videos of himself playing guitar during his time in the Navy. He’s spoken out against transphobia (hello, Alice Cooper, did you hear that?), and has seen his almost-exclusively self-written, Springsteen-ian lyrics about heartland living earn Grammy nominations, chart-topping hits and the adoration of a legion of fans. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit open the show alongside Levi Turner, who’s signed to Bryan’s Belting Bronco
Records. The stop is the only Florida show on the “Quittin’ Time” tour. (Raymond James Stadium, Tampa)
THU 15
4th Annual Solomon Keim music and art show Thanks to the awards and positive reception he received as a student, the jazz wunderkind has been giving back to music education programs, and even established his own scholarship for college-bound students in Pasco County. On Thursday, Kiem will host a handful of students at VeroPolo—an art company that strives to amplify the rich heritage and culture of Haiti—to do live painting and a jazz-meets-hip-hop set on the Side Door stage. On the side will be a silent auction that benefits the Solomon Keim Musical Excellence Scholarship. (Side Door Cabaret at Palladium Theater, St. Petersburg)
Deep Purple w/Yes Geoff Downes was just in town with the current lineup of Asia, and he continues filling Rick Wakeman’s vacancy in Steve Howe’s iteration of Yes. The legendary prog outfit opens for Deep Purple (a pairing that may have happened when both bands were still in their respective primes) with a set of mostly Jon Anderson-era tracks. (Hard Rock Event Center at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tampa)
Leo Kottke and Julian Lage Fingerstyle guitarist Leo Kottke hasn’t released new material by himself in 20 years, other than a handful of records with Phish’s Mike Gordon. In a recent interview with Westword Denver, the 78-year-old guitarist described his “open marriage” with 6-strings and 12-strings, both of which he’ll probably bust out at his seemingly-annual stop in downtown Clearwater. Jazz guitarist Lage, on the heels of a new album entitled Speak To Me will also be on hand. (Bilheimer Capitol Theatre, Clearwater)
See an extended version of this listing via cltampa.com/music.
and Suffolk Country on Long Island, and marked by the rise of hip-hop luminaries like De La Soul, Rakim, Public Enemy, JVC Force, Grand Daddy IU, and more. (Crowbar, Ybor City)
Zach Bryan
TREVOR PAVLIK
All the real boys who raged to Say Anything’s landmark 2004 album are probably real-old men by now, but that’s not going to stop them from tiptoeing back into the pit for this tour.
Last month, Say Anything announced that fall run to celebrate the 20th anniversary of …Is A Real Boy would kick off in Florida and land in Tampa Bay this November.
While frontman Max Bemis said that band was retiring in 2019, the stop finds the L.A. emo/pop-punk band playing the 21-track concept album in full, plus supporting its newest album, …Is Committed , released last May.
Tickets to see Say Anything play Jannus Live in St. Petersburg on Sunday, Nov. 3 are still available and start at $34. Social Animals, Circus Trees and Runt open the show.—Ray Roa
Buju Banton w/Fridayy Sunday, Aug. 25. 8 p.m. $54.75 & up. Amalie Arena, Tampa
Buffalo Strange Saturday, Aug. 31. 7 p.m. No cover. Floridian Social, St. Petersburg
Meghan Trainor w/Paul Russell Monday, Sept. 2. 8 p.m. $150 & up. Hard Rock Event Center at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tampa
Fea w/Hovercar/Eleni and The Uprising Thursday, Sept. 5. 7 p.m. $10. Hooch and Hive, Tampa
Rewind Reunion: Huda Hudia w/Xquizit DJ X/DJ Mondo/Jason Gemini/Matt The Brat/more Saturday, Sept. 7. 8 p.m. $10. The Ritz, Ybor City
Back 2 Da Streetz: Gucci Mane w/Rob 49/Yung Miami/Plies/Ball Greezy/Tom G./more Friday, Sept. 20. 8 p.m. $59 & up. Yuengling Center, Tampa
Carter Vail (opening for Yung Gravy) Saturday, Sept. 21. 7 p.m. $35.75 & up. Yuengling Center, Tampa
PJ Sin Suela Saturday, Sept. 21. 7 p.m. $25 & up. Crowbar, Ybor City
Rex Orange County Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 26 and 27. 8:30 p.m. Saturday, 8 p.m. Sunday. $29.50 & up. Morsani Hall at Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa
Saturdays At Your Place w/Carpool/ Harrison Gordon/Trash Saturday, Oct. 26. 7:30 p.m. $18. Music Hall at New World Brewery, Tampa
Hammer & Nail Fest: Three Knee Deep w/No Friend of Mine/Cold Steel/Right On Time/Migrant Fury/Zero Chill/Death Before Dishonor/Vietnom/Exit Strategy/ more Friday and Saturday, Nov. 8 & 9. 6 p.m. Friday, 5 p.m. Saturday. $30 per day, $50 for weekend pass. Crowbar, Ybor City
The Devil Wears Prada w/Silent Planet/ Like Moths To Flames/Greyhaven Sunday, Nov. 10. 5:30 p.m. $27.50. Jannus Live, St. Petersburg
The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show Thursday, Nov. 14. 8 p.m. $53.25 & up. Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater
Bridge City Sinners w/Holy Locust/ Possessed by Paul James/Lightnin’ Luke Friday, Nov. 15. 7 p.m. $25. Crowbar, Ybor City
Dave Koz and Friends Saturday, Nov. 30. 8 p.m. $42 & up. Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater
Bowzer’s Holiday Rock ‘n Roll Party: Peter Noone’s Herman’s Hermits w/ Johnny Contardo and Henry Gross/ Joey Dee/Bowzer and the Stingrays/ more Sunday, Dec. 8. 6 p.m. $41.75 & up. Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater
Lonnie Holley, Watering Myself the Best I Can (Channeling My Energy), 2018, Tin watering can and funnel. Courtesy of the Artist, BLUM Gallery (LA/NYC/Tokyo), and Edel Assanti Gallery (London). Photo Truett Dietz.
Got away
By Caroline DeBruhl
Dear Oracle, my ex started texting me after a long time. Does he still love me? I’m in a relationship now and not looking for anything, but I want to know.—Past Lives Cards for what he thinks about you: Four of Wands, Seven of Swords, Waxing Gibbous Cards for what you think about him: Knight of Pentacles (reversed), Ten of Pentacles (reversed), Four of Pentacles Dear Past,in stories of heartbreak, there is no character better to be than The One Who Got Away. To the heartbroken, The One Who Got Away takes on almost mythic qualities, all faults washed away and replaced with impossibly-perfect character. And if you are The One Who Got Away, you moved on, usually to something better and more secure. The poor heartbroken sucker is just someone in your rearview mirror. You are, arguably, the only winner in the situation. You got a happily ever after elsewhere and someone thinks you’re a golden god. I think everyone knows what it’s like to be the one left pinning. It’s godawful. So, who among us wouldn’t get a little thrill discovering that someone out there is longing for us? But that joy comes at the expense of someone else’s pain. Unless you had a pretty acrimonious ending, do you really want someone you used to date to be alone and heartbroken forever?
I don’t know your ex or his intentions for texting you. I don’t know if he loves you now or even if he ever did. But I do think that, to him, you’re The One Who Got Away. With the marriage card of the Four of Wands and the protentional of the Waxing Gibbous, he might be reminiscing on what could have been, what your relationship was “meant” to become. And with the forking path of Seven of Swords, he might be considering that he made a mistake. (With this card, I also get the feeling that he’s the one that ended it.)
ORACLE OF YBOR
Send your questions to oracle@cltampa.com or DM @theyboracle on Instagram
I think that, once upon a time, you expected to marry him, too. He was your secure Knight of Pentacles, someone to create a lasting legacy and family with, according to the Ten of Pentacles. But that was not the path taken. Now, you say you’re with someone new and not looking, and I believe you.
But the security-seeking Four of Pentacles raises some interesting questions. Do you want to be loved by this ex and your current partner? Would that put your current relationship into jeopardy (through jealousy or doubts that may arise)? Is there any chance that your ex is The One Who Got Away to you?
You asked me for information about this situation, not advice, but still, I offer this: tread carefully. The One Who Got Away is based on fantasy and hope, and any rekindling will
quickly bring things back to reality. It may shake even the most secure foundations. Consider all possible outcomes before taking any further steps, including what’s best to be left to fantasy and what’s best for the real world.
Good luck, my darling.
Dear Oracle, I started at my current job in 2020. In the past four years, I feel like I have given a lot to the company and have proven myself to be a valuable member of the team. The problem is my boss doesn’t seem to think so. I’ve been passed over for promotion twice, and while nothing ever comes up in my reviews, I feel like I’m just invisible to him. This might be sexism (I’m a woman in a male-dominated field) or it might be something else. But I know I’m good enough to be higher up than I am. What should I consider as I think about next steps?
With Temperance as the only right-side-up card, I think you really need to temper your expectations of your boss. He might be a sexist piece of shit, he might be an unconscious sexist piece of shit but kind of a nice guy. It’s irrelevant. Things aren’t working and I don’t think that will change. Accepting that might free up more energy that you can direct towards yourself and something that gives you pleasure—like a more satisfying job.
As The Fool reversed shows, this job was a great launching pad for you, but that long-drawn Two of Wands suggests that you aren’t seeing the fruits of all that labor. With The Chariot also reversed, I think you’ll just keep hitting a wall at this place and need to drive onward in a different direction.
—Disappointed in Dunedin
Cards: Temperance, Two of Wands (reversed), The Fool (reversed), The Chariot (reversed)
Dear Disappointed, you know, when I started this column (also deep in the pandemic times) I answered a lot of questions about work. People, by and large, were sick of their boss’s bullshit, and many wanted permission to quit and seek out greener pastures.
You, on the other hand, aren’t asking to quit, simply what to consider.
And I think you should consider quitting— though not yet.
With three major arcana cards, including two of movement, I think this is a big break that needs to happen, but you aren’t there yet emotionally, financially, or literally.
Of course, groceries are still mad expensive, so I don’t suggest quitting until you’ve found a new place to land. But, I do think you should start looking. Temperance is a patient card, so take your time in looking. (Better to find the right fit now than quickly jumping ship only to have to repeat the process in a year.) But do look. I’ve talked before about how The Chariot can drive us down the wrong path and spending all this energy on this bumbling villain of a boss will lead to burnout.
So start casting those nets. Find ways to care for yourself in the meantime to prevent burnout, and keep your expectations of your boss low. You’re working now to get out of this place, not to impress him.
Godspeed, baby.
See more or Caroline and learn about her services at carolinedebruhl.com.
Solo survivor
By Dan Savage
Literally the only sex I’ve had is being raped. The only person who ever expressed any passion for me—the only person who ever made me feel sexy and desirable—was my rapist. While other people get to look back on great and terrible sex, all I have is a sex crime. A big part of why I was raped in the first place was because I was so desperate to find a partner that I went on a date with someone I shouldn’t have and got into a life-threatening situation. I do not blame myself, but that is how it happened.
I don’t know how to find a partner who wants me and who I want. Compounding the problem, I’m a niche interest in the best of circumstances. I’m a straight submissive male. Dominant women are all but impossible to find. I’ve tried joining clubs and going to events, but the people I meet are invariably too old or already coupled. I’ve tried personal ads and only received responses from gay men. Dating coworkers is out of the question for obvious reasons, and speed dating results in bust after bust. Escort services and prostitution are financially, legally, professionally, and ethically unacceptable to me. “Make a FetLife account and go to munches!” is the usual advice, but I’ve done that for a year with no results. Personals sites are littered with M4F posts with zero replies, and in all the events I’ve attended I haven’t met a single dominant woman. Masturbation wasn’t doing it for me anymore even before I got raped and now it is much harder to touch myself. I suppose there are toys to try, techniques to experiment with, but at a certain point nothing can replace an actual sex partner.
I’m sorry if I sound a bit ranty. I just feel like I’ve hit a dead end in a sex life that never even got started. I have no idea what to do.—Sexually Stillborn Submissive
I can offer you some practical advice and some encouragement in this space, SSS, but I can’t help you work through your lingering trauma. So, if you aren’t already seeing a therapist—if you haven’t spoken to someone who specializes in working with male rape victims—you need to find one. The American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists has a database of therapists you can search by location and specialty, SSS, and the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) helps run online support groups for male survivors in partnership with 1in6, an organization that advocates for men who have been raped or sexually assaulted.
OK, so… There are a lot more straight male subs out there than there are dominant women, SSS, which is why women can make a living as professional dominants and men can’t make a living as professional submissives. So, what do you do? You keep going to munches and events (you don’t give up after a year), you show up in good working order, you remind yourself you’re playing
a long and sometimes frustrating game, and you try your best—maybe with the help of your kinkpositive therapist—to be Zen about it. You can and should continue to date women you meet outside of munches and kink events and then lay your kink cards down on the table after establishing mutual interest but before things get serious.
I would encourage you to play with some of the couples you’ve met—I’m assuming we’re talking about opposite-sex couples here—and that you play nice, you play responsibly, and that you show gratitude after you play. Play with a partnered woman may not be what you ultimately want, but it’s better than no play at all. And a couple who has gotten to know you as a person and a player and who likes you—which they’re unlikely to do if you’re seething with resentment and/or trauma dumping all over them—will be able to vouch for you as a person and a player if one of those rare single and dominant women should show up at a munch or a play party.
Some other tips: some of the best dominants are frustrated subs, SSS, and some women who are dominant now were submissives at the beginning of their kink explorations. And I’ve met lots of submissive straight men over the years whose partners were vanilla but GGG and came to really enjoy D/s sex play. So, don’t rule out vanilla women, just be honest with them about who you are and the kind of sex you’re interested in having.
am wondering if it’s justifiable to have sex with other people just to satisfy certain aspects of our desires that are not currently fulfilled within the relationship? Or is that the easy way out? Are we escaping a duty to adapt ourselves sexually to each other more fully in the hopes of achieving perfect sexual satisfaction together? Or should we assume that we are never going to fulfill each other completely and it’s natural to look for other people to fill certain gaps?—Binging On Your Show
P.S. I’m a new listener and reader from Lisbon! English is not my first language. Thank you for your work!
If you and your boyfriend wanna have sex with other people and you’re in agreement about it—and you’ve had and open and honest conversation about rules, limits, boundaries, and safety—you don’t have to come up with a justification for opening your relationship (or keeping it open). “We talked about this, we’re in agreement, this is what we both want,” is all the justification you need.
Don’t think of it as adapting to each other— and don’t think of it as an obligation to do anything and everything your partner wants— but rather as a willingness to explore and grow together sexually.
P.S. You describe your relationship as monogamous, BOYS, but it sounds likes it’s been open pretty much the entire time you’ve been together. Sticking with what you already know works is also a good idea.
SAVAGE LOVE
Finally, SSS, I’m going to emphasize again the importance of seeing a kink-positive a therapist who specializes in male victims of rape. You’ve been dealt an unfair hand, and you have every right to feel aggrieved and a right to rant. But working through your anger, hurt, and disappointment with a qualified therapist—ranting at a professional—will set you up for success with your first dominant girlfriend, however she comes into your life. Good luck.
P.S. Some of the smartest, kindest, and most emotionally intelligent women I’ve ever met were professional dominants. There are terrible people in every field, of course, but the best professional dominants view their clients as people with needs, not as walking wallets, and many have helped their clients move more comfortably through kink spaces, which enabled their clients to meet and date other kinky people.
I am gay and in love. I’ve been in a non-traditional monogamous relationship for the last three years. We’ve had a few threesomes during our time we’ve been together, and we have attended a few sex parties. Recently, we had to spend time in different places and experienced things with other guys separately. Now we are back in the same place and redesigning the terms of our relationship. I
With that said… While allowing your partner to explore kinks you don’t share is one reason many couples open their relationships—sometimes just a crack—stepping outside your sexual comfort zones for each other is a good idea. If neither of you is willing to give something the other one wants to explore a try, BOYS, you boys wind up missing out on sex acts and/or kinks you might discover you enjoy. Additionally, sexual exploration with/for a partner can benefit and improve your emotional connection. Being GGG (“good, giving, and game for anything—within reason”) was some advice I pulled out of my ass, but Dr. Amy Muise at York University actually studied people who were “motivated to meet a romantic partner’s sexual needs.” And what Dr. Muise found was that people who explored their romantic partners’ sexual interests and kinks reported high levels of relationship satisfaction and strength as a result of those explorations, i.e., getting kinky together brought them closer together. (You can read Dr. Muise’s 2014 “Good, Giving, and Game: The Relationship Benefits of Communal Sexual Motivation” paper on what she dubbed “communal sexual motivation.” But be sure to clock the title of her paper.)
So, I would advise you to give the things your partner wants to try a shot, BOYS, and I would advise your partner to do the same for you— barring, of course, anything either of you finds disgusting, appalling, or triggering. If you’re into feet and he’s not, he should be able to let you go to town on his feet. If he’s into fisting and you’re not, allowing him to explore fisting (and maybe fisting only) outside your relationship may be the better option. No one should do anything in the bedroom or darkroom or dungeon or wherever that they don’t wanna do—of course—but there’s a difference between “this is something sexual that turns me off and I don’t wanna do” and “this is something sexual that wasn’t my idea but I might be willing to try.”
We’re a straight couple in our 40s. We have some very dear friends who are younger and queer and we sometimes find ourselves giving them life and relationship advice. We don’t want to unintentionally muddy things with our heteronormative expectations. So, here’s the question: If a gay man goes out with another gay man—something prearranged, intentional, with an articulated plan to spend the night together afterward—is it rude for one of them to flirt with other men and disappear for periods of time? There is no relationship to define as of yet, just a planned night out together. To us heterosexuals, this seems like a very shitty thing to do. But maybe there’s a different set of expectations or a different baseline in the gay male community?—Seeking Input Today, Thanks You!
What you describe is deeply shitty behavior regardless of sexual orientation. A good guy doesn’t bring a date (a date date) to a club or a party and then start looking around for better D. If the man who ran off to flirt with other men didn’t realize they were on a date—sometimes a person asks to “hang out” instead of making their romantic/sexual intentions/hopes clear—then it could’ve been a misunderstanding. But if this was an unambiguous date (a date date) and if they’d made explicit plans to spend the whole/hole night together, that guy—the one who ran off to search for better D—is an inconsiderate asshole. Now, maybe that guy decided halfway through the date that your friend wasn’t someone he wanted to spend the night with… and maybe he had good reason to bail… but he needed to use his words to officially end the date and given your friend a chance to head home and/or shift gears and start looking for other D himself. I was on a date date with a guy once and we quickly determined that we weren’t sexually compatible and instantly pivoted to being each other’s wingman, something it was possible for us to do because 1. the feeling was mutual and 2. we used our words.
Sometimes a person hesitates to use his words because he knows the other person isn’t going to like hearing them. But someone who opts to show rather than tell in a case like this… by serving up context clues like flirting with other men and/or disappearing to go get railed in a bathroom stall… is either a coward (the worst kind) or a sadist (the wrong kind).
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by Merl Reagle
NOTE: Every theme answer in this puzzle contains a Y and two K’s, and every Down word that crosses one of these letters can become a new word if the Y or K is replaced by a different letter. (Thus, STORY could become STORE, STORK, or STORM In each case, the new entry is a common, uncapitalized, single word.) If you change every Y and K correctly and write all the new letters in order (from left to right, row by row) into the blanks above, you’ll get a 24-letter film title that’s an apt description of what Y2K was hyped to be. Word lengths in the film title are for you to determine.
