Music4Life Living Arts Center
Jesse Ruben
CLEARWATER — Singer-songwriter Jesse Ruben will perform on Saturday, June 14, 7 p.m., at the Music4Life Living Arts Center, 1204 Rogers St., Clearwater.
Tickets start at $25. Visit wileyhouseconcerts.org.
Based in Brooklyn, Ruben is best known for his lyrical storytelling and engaging live shows. His songs have been heard on more than a dozen TV shows in the United States and abroad including “Teen Mom,” “Switched at Birth,” “The Bachelor” (Germany), and the recent Disney+ series “Diary of a Future President.” His most recent single, "This Is Why I Need You,” reached the Top 10 in 12 different countries, and has been streamed more than 60 million times across all platforms. He has recorded live sessions for NPR and MTV Asia and has been featured on CNN and in Esquire Magazine.
Beyond his music career, Ruben is highly active in philanthropic endeavors. He has run the New York City Marathon three times for the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, the largest nonprofit devoted to spinal cord injuries, and five times to raise money for Lyme disease research. He is a co-founder of Generation Lyme, a community built to empower people facing Lyme disease through sharing patient stories and hosting online meet-ups. In addition, he is the founder of The We Can Project, an initiative for young students designed to help them discover their passions and give back to their communities. To date, more than 800,000 young people have participated. To promote the program, he was personally invited by Hoda Kotb to perform live on “The Today Show.”
Jannus Live
Peter Hook & The Light
ST. PETERSBURG — English post-punk band Peter Hook & The Light will perform on Wednesday, June 11, 7 p.m., at Jannus Live, 200 First Ave. N., St. Petersburg.
Tickets are $34.50 in advance. Visit www.jannuslive.com.
Formed in 2010, the band is led by bassist and vocalist Peter Hook, formerly of Joy Division and New Order. Other band members include Hook's son Jack Bates (bass), as well as Andy Poole (keyboards) and Paul Kehoe (drums).
Hook first revisited the seminal Joy Division album “Unknown Pleasures” in May 2010 for a commemorative charity concert. He has followed it each year by performing subsequent albums from the repertoire of his bands, Joy Division and New Order. Peter Hook & The Light have since moved through each of those albums, culminating in the Factory Records Substance compilations. Hook recently celebrated over four decades of the continuing influence of Joy Division and Ian Curtis with the “Joy Division: A Celebration” concerts where both of the band's albums were played in full.
According to Wasserman Media, Hook's dedication to his back catalogue has seen him move through “Unknown Pleasures,” “Closer,” “Still,” “Movement,” “Power Corruption & Lies,” “Low Life,” “Brotherhood,” “Technique” and “Republic.“ Having toured these albums extensively, the band have now amassed over 600 concerts.
Max McNown
ST. PETERSBURG — Max McNown will perform on Friday, June 13, 7 p.m., at Jannus Live, 200 First Ave. N., St. Petersburg.
Tickets start at $30. Visit www.jannuslive.com.
According to his official website, McNown creates the kind of songs that perfectly soundtrack our most intimate moments: times of intense heartache and tremendous loss, immense upheaval and life-changing revelation. Within just a year of teaching himself to play guitar, the Oregon-bred, Nashville-based musician turned out three EPs spotlighting his emotionally potent yet nuanced lyrics — an element beautifully displayed on his breakout single “A Lot More Free,” a track that landed on Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart and greatly expanded his grassroots following. Anchored in the charmingly warm vocal presence he partly honed by busking at the beach in Southern California, McNown’s debut album “Wandering” brings an even deeper sense of purpose to his songwriting — and, in turn, reveals his extraordinary capacity to ease the mind and strengthen the soul.
At 23, McNown has already been on a storied musical journey. Taking control of his future and drawing inspiration from his brother who was bravely fighting cancer, McNown packed his bags and drove from remote Oregon to Southern California. From there, videos of him busking on a pier made an impact online and eventually grew into a legion of supporters on TikTok.
After attracting interest from major TV talent shows, McNown auditioned for one and then decided it wasn't for him, and gracefully turned them down as he knew he needed to walk his own path. His loyal fanbase then helped McNown amass 80 million streams and a spot on Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart with his breakout single, “A Lot More Free,” which was recently #1 on the TikTok Breakthrough USA chart.
Yuengling Center
Victor Manuelle
TAMPA — Renowned Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Victor Manuelle will perform on Friday, June 13, 8 p.m., at the Yuengling Center, 12499 USF Bull Run Drive, Tampa.
Tickets start at $49. Visit www.ticketmaster.com.
Manuelle is on the road for his U.S. Tour, “Retromántico PT.2.” He will be sharing his greatest hits and songs that have become classics throughout his illustrious three-decade career. A true celebration of the musical legacy of Victor Manuelle, on select dates, Victor Manuelle will share the stage with India “La Princesa de la Salsa.”
Manuelle has placed 29 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Tropical Airplay chart and has received numerous awards and honors including the Premio Lo Nuestro Premio A La Trayectoria 2023.
India has elevated tropical music, broken barriers and amplified the voices of women in a genre traditionally led by men.
Babymetal
TAMPA — Japanese metal band Babymetal will perform on Tuesday, June 17, 7 p.m., at the Yuengling Center, 12499 USF Bull Run Drive, Tampa.
Tickets start at $34.75. Visit www.ticketmaster.com.
The band’s headlining tour will also include performances by Black Veil Brides along with Bloodywood.
In April 2016, Babymetal became the first Japanese artists to ever headline at the prestigious Wembley Arena in the U.K. In June 2019, they performed at one of the world's largest music festivals, Glastonbury Festival, and their appearance at this festival made headlines around the world. That same year in September, Babymetal embarked on their “Metal Galaxy World Tour.” The following month, they released their third album, “Metal Galaxy.”
“Metal Galaxy” reached No. 13 on the US Billboard Top 200 chart, surpassing their own record of their previous album, and ranked No.1 on the Top Rock Albums chart for the first time ever as an Asian artist. In the U.K. official charts, the album consecutively ranked in the Official Albums Chart Top 20 from their previous album and ranked No.1 on the Rock & Metal Albums Chart for the first time in history as a Japanese artist.
In 2021, over a four-month period from January to April, they accomplished a total of 10 headline performances at the Nippon Budokan called “10 Babymetal Budokan.”
Riding the success of 2023's concept album “The Other One,” Babymetal hosted the first edition of their very own festival, Fox Fest.
The Orpheum
Huntley
TAMPA — Blues-rock singer-songwriter Huntley will perform on Tuesday, June 10, 7 p.m., at the Orpheum, 14802 N. Nebraska Ave., Tampa.
Tickets start at $20.78. Visit www.theorpheum.com.
Originally from Spring Hill, Huntley was the season 24 winner of the “The Voice,” competing on the team coached by Niall Horan. He toured in the wake of his Voice success, performing for tens of thousands and sharing the stage with his band of exceptionally talented and diverse musicians collected, as well, from the Mid-Atlantic region.
Huntley now takes the next steps on this amazing journey with the premiere of a pair of independently released, scintillating original singles — “Tell Me When It’s Over” and “Fire and Flames."
Blacktop Mojo
TAMPA — Blacktop Mojo will perform on Friday, June 13, 7 p.m., at the Orpheum, 14802 N. Nebraska Ave., Tampa.
Tickets start at $28.42. Visit www.theorpheum.com.
According to Satellite Touring, Blacktop Mojo was founded in late 2012 by vocalist Matt James and drummer Nathan Gillis in the small East Texas town of Palestine. The band’s fiery blend of sludgy grooves, classic rock guitar riffs, and southern metal shredding falls somewhere between Soundgarden, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and ZZ Top to form a sound deemed by some as “Texas grunge.”
The music draws on a multitude of genres and styles to form a hodgepodge of dirty, heavy rock and roll mixed with sensual and at times even, carnal blues. After their debut album “I Am” in 2014, the band spent a few years cutting their teeth in dive bars, dancehalls, and honky-tonks around Texas.
In 2017, during the recording of their sophomore record “Burn The Ships” the guys quit their day jobs, moving into a small house together in Palestine. The house created an unbreakable fellowship between the band and a culture of constant creativity.
Since then, the band has kept a relentless touring and recording schedule, with multiple songs reaching the Top 40 on both the Mediabase and Billboard Rock Charts, no small feat for an independent artist. The band continues to grow the old-fashioned way by hitting the road, sweating it out on stage, and growing slowly, but surely, by word of mouth. “When you come see us,” said lead singer Matt James, “you’re seeing rock and roll the way it used to be. A group of people on stage playing their instruments right in front of your face. No laptops, no backing tracks. What you see is what you get.”
Casket Robbery
TAMPA — Casket Robbery will perform on Thursday, June 12, 7 p.m., at the Orpheum, 14802 N. Nebraska Ave., Tampa.
Tickets start at $15. Visit www.theorpheum.com.
According to Continental Touring, Casket Robbery is a death metal act with an industrialized edge from Wisconsin. The band delve into occult themes and the horrors of the human condition which has been masterfully captured on their sophomore album “Rituals of Death.” The album was mixed and mastered by Cryptopsy guitarist Christian Donaldson and received critical media acclaim. With support tours alongside acts such as Cannibal Corpse, Psycroptic, Immolation and Death Angel and a performance on the outstanding Milwaukee Metal Fest with the band sharing the stage with acts such as Anthrax, Lamb Of God, Fear Factory and many more, the path of brutal conquest for Casket Robbery is unstoppable.
The Kiffness
TAMPA — The Kiffness will perform on Monday, June 16, 7 p.m., at the Orpheum, 14802 N. Nebraska Ave., Tampa.
Tickets start at $23. Visit www.theorpheum.com.
Led by South African musician, producer, and parody artist David Scott, founder and lead singer of The Kiffness,
Before the 2020 pandemic, The Kiffness was a well-established touring artist and music producer in South Africa, with multiple singles playlisted across stations. Scott rose to internet fame with his coronavirus parody videos and "Internet collabs" with various animals and people, most notably his remix of "Ievan Polkka" and his collaboration with "Alugalug Cat" & "It´s a Beautiful Day."
With more than 300 million views on his YouTube channel and an appearance on the Billboard Charts, Scott has become one of South Africa's leading online creators.
Skipper’s Smokehouse
Damon Fowler
TAMPA — Damon Fowler will perform on Saturday, June 14, 8 p.m., at Skipper’s Smokehouse, 910 Skipper Road, Tampa.
Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance and $22 the day of the show. Visit skipperssmokehouse.com.
Fowler is a singer, guitar player and songwriter who had a featured slot in Butch Trucks Freight Train Band and a side gig as guitarist in the Dickey Betts Band.
Fowler’s 2021 Landslide Records release, “Alafia Moon,” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Blues Chart, spent four months in the Top 20, and was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the Blues/Rock category. His follow up record, “Damon Fowler and Friends, Live at The Palladium,” garnered strong airplay throughout the United States and Europe.
The new release, “Barnyard Smile,” features eight new original Fowler compositions plus distinctive covers of Bo Diddley and Jerry Reed tunes. The album combines all the influences that have shaped his distinctive blues career.
