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Icy hot
Photos by Ryan Metcalf
The Florida cold couldn’t keep the emo kids away from Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park last Thursday when Emo Night Tampa staged a takeover of downtown’s 15-years-running live music series. Rock The Park Tampa, which happens every first Thursday, was supposed to include Bill. (stylized all-lowercase) supporting a debut full-length, but the Tampa indie-rock band was forced to drop out last minute due to illness. Tampa punk trio Lychee Camp dutifully filled in (making up for its recent Rock the Park appearance that was forced into The Hub due to rain), along with Pet Lizard (playing as a trio due to a scheduling conflict for bassist Justin Reed). The night was capped off by a tight set from Bad, Bad Things. See all the photos via cltampa.com/music.—Ray Roa
PIONEER PARK PIONEER PARK
PARADE, MUSIC & MORE PARADE, MUSIC & MORE
SCAN FOR MORE INFO SCAN FOR MORE INFO
FEBRUARY 17, 2026
5PM-10PM
PARADE STARTS AT 7PM
MUSIC LINEUP
5PM-7PM
PAPA J & MO SOUL 8:30PM-10PM
MUTANT FUSION COLLECTIVE
do this
Tampa Bay's best things to do from Feb. 12-19. See more on p. 73
Get lit
In the Chinese Lunar New Year tradition, lanterns symbolize hope and prosperity while warding off evil spirits. Boy, we sure could use a lot of lanterns. This family-festival promises a “massive” lantern release, along with traditional Lion Dance performances, a $1,000 “Squid Game”-style challenge and dozens of Asian street food and retail vendors. The drive to Dade City should be worth it to escape some light pollution and let those lanterns do their thing. Releases are at 8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Lunar Lantern Festival: Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 14-15. 2 p.m.-11p.m. $15 & up. Little Everglades Ranch, 17951 Hamilton Rd., Dade City. hellofriendfest.com—Selene San Felice
On pointe
Tampa City Ballet is pulling back the curtain on how dance is made before it ever reaches the stage. This intimate evening inside its rehearsal room brings together finished works from the company’s repertoire alongside a live, inprogress choreographic demonstration led by guest choreographer Osnel Delgado. Audiences will see excerpts ranging from classical pointe work to contemporary pieces, offering a snapshot of the company’s stylistic range. Between performances, attendees are invited into the process itself. Dancers and artists take questions, discuss collaboration and show how pieces take shape in real time. “A lot of people go to the theater and see the full piece already done,” TCB founder and artistic director Paula Nuñez told Creative Loafing Tampa. “This is a chance to understand what happens behind the scenes–how the work actually grows.” It’s designed as an intimate gathering, with limited seating, light bites and wine, and room to connect, reflecting Tampa City Ballet’s broader mission. The series will continue monthly in rotating locations around Tampa Bay, alongside a busy spring season that includes the free Dance Now Festival at Water Works Park in March and the company’s Emerging and Resident Artists program in April.
Inside the Studio: Friday, Feb. 13. 7 p.m. $25. Tampa City Ballet Studio, 15367 Amberly Dr., Tampa. tampacityballet.org—Laura Troyer
Laissez les bons temps rouler
You don’t need to be in New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras. And, yes, even after Gasparilla, Tampa Bay still has plenty of beads to go around. Downtown Dunedin turns into the Latin Quarter this Fat Tuesday with a parade along Douglas Avenue. The street festival includes music from Papa J & Mo Soul and Mutant Fusion Collective. Music starts in Pioneer Park at 5 p.m. and the parade starts at Beltrees Street at 7 p.m.
Selene, here. I’d love it if you came to see my band play this weekend. What instrument do I play? As of this writing, I’m not sure yet. Who’s in my band? What’s it called? IDK! I find all this out about 36 hours before we take the stage at Bayboro Brewing on Sunday. And, yes, every act at this show is in the same boat. I’m joining about two dozen women and nonbinary folks for Ladies Rock camp in St. Pete, where we’ll form bands, learn instruments and collaborate on an original song for the big show. In the same vein as the Girls Rock Camp, this nerve-wracking process is all about empowering women and gender-fluid people to show ourselves and the world that we’re not to be underestimated. Most of the bands will break up once the show is over, but for some of us, this is just the beginning. Ladies Rock and Girls Rock have produced some badass real bands like Anarkitty and Hex Appeal. I’m more likely to die of embarrassment, but at least it’ll be entertaining.
Ladies Rock Concert: Sunday, Feb. 15. 6 p.m.-9:30 p.m. $10-$20. Bayboro Brewing Co., 2390 5th Ave. S, St. Petersburg. girlsrockstpete.org —Selene San Felice
Lez go
Sapphic dating in Tampa Bay can seem harder than just swimming to the Isle of Lesbos. Thankfully, there’s no shortage of communitybuilding events and queer-inclusive spaces. Whether you’re looking to U-Haul or want a safe, inclusive Galentine’s space, you’ve got options—like Sun City Sapphics’ “Villain Era” mixer. The dress code suggestion includes “Leather, corsets, sharp silhouettes, dark glam, statement boots, chains, red lipstick, slick hair. Think femme fatales, final bosses, and ‘I did it and I’d do it again’ energy.” See more sapphic Valentine’s events in our arts listings on p. 70 and at cltampa.com/arts.
Sun City Saphics: Villain Era Mixer— Friday, Feb. 13. 7 p.m.-10 p.m. No cover (donation suggested). Magnanimous Brewing, 6809 N Nebraska Ave., Tampa. @ suncitysapphics on Instagram and Meetup— Selene San Felice
ROSE CARVALHO
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12
7:00
a try in a positive, supportive environment? Look no further than our Drop-In! No prior experience required. 8:30 PM: GALENTINE'S ANGELS: A FEMME FATALE NIGHT OF COMEDY
Sweet on the surface, deadly funny underneath -- this fever dream of a variety show features poetry, standup, advice from a certifiable expert in LIFE, and improv comedy!
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13
7:30 PM: VERMIN SUPREME: LIVE AT THE COMMODORE!
Legendary political prankster and satirical presidential candidate Vermin Supreme brings his rollicking, frolicking, alternative reality, comedy roadshow to The Commodore for one night only!
9:00 PM: TAMPA UNHINGED
Tampa unHINGEd is raw, real, and ridiculous—an improvised comedy show tackling the good, the bad, and the ugly of dating and relationships, created in the moment, just for you!
Standup comedian Kortney Shane Williams brings you a handpicked lineup of comedians who tour nationwide and have been seen on Comedy Central, Netflix, and Dry Bar Comedy. Bring your Valentine to this hilarious show!
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15
6:00 PM: IMPROV STUDENT SHOWCASE
Graduates of our improv classes show off their skills in their class showcase performance.
7:30 PM: SOMETHING SKETCHY ART CLUB
Join your fellow artists and creatives at this monthly meetup for a night of community and collaboration.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16
8:00 PM: THIRD MONDAYS OPEN MIC
Calling all stand-up, improv, and alternative comedians for our Third Mondays Open Mic! All styles and genres of comedy are welcome at this free show.
- Lunch Specials available all day, Ladies Lounge Night - Happy Hour All night upstairs lounge for ladies
Help keep local journalism alive this giving season.
For 36 years, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay has amplified the voices others overlook. Now we’re launching the Tampa Bay Journalism Project to strengthen independent, local reporting on issues that matter—housing, transportation, arts, food, and accountability. Your tax-deductible support helps fund non-paywalled journalism for our community. Help support Creative Loafing Tampa during this giving season. Donating is easy, visit bit.ly/anfCLTampa
POLITICS ISSUES OPINION
Love letter to a fish
The gender-bending, aggregate-breeding goliath grouper.
By Thomas Hallock
Ihave a crush on a fish.
Jupiter, a goliath grouper, lingers near the front of his tank in the Florida Aquarium. He is a big guy, not fully grown (Goliath grouper can reach 800 pounds), but bigger than most of the kids who smudge the glass in admiration. Gender is a question mark; the young docent on my last trip says “she.” I guess. Epinephelus itajara are gonochoristic, meaning the femaleborn will sometimes transition to male.
Their eyes get me. Like glazed-over blueberries, set in mottled golf balls, Jupiter’s eyes half-protrude from their camo gray, suede-like head. Grouper are territorial, and a fanning pelvic (front) fin keeps this overstuffed body in one place, so Jupiter can take in what passes by. The flitting gaze holds a definite, charismatic self-regard.
CITY WILDS
Every time I visit the Florida Aquarium, and I go quite a bit, I make it a point to catch some light off my wrist watch or wedding ring, in the hopes that Jupiter remembers me. I know I should not bother a specimen in the aquarium, but I want that connection.
Goliath grouper, in the wild, lead remarkable lives. The name refers to aggregate or communal breeding. Late every summer, Epinephelus itajara flock from their usual underwater perch to congregating points, somewhere in the Gulf or off the Atlantic Coast. Hundreds of fish “group” together, simultaneously releasing eggs and sperm. That is why we call them “grouper.” They are, to my knowledge, the only species in nature named for how they fuck.
What does Jupiter think or feel, when spawning season comes?
Looking for answers, I seek out my marine science colleague Chris Stallings. Chris and I are former St. Pete neighbors, it dawned on us later that we had freecycled my son’s Ikea platform bed to his kids a few years back, and though we have both worked at USF for decades, we had never met on campus.
I find Stallings mazed away in the College of Marine Science bunkers. We come from different corners of the academic world. A spear gun sits upright in the corner of his office, next to a bookshelf stacked with chemistry and bio texts. I’m dressed for teaching, wearing my
first-day-of-class sportscoat and Cole-Haan loafers. Chris, tussled hair and half-shaven beard, comes to work in a Rays pullover and flip-flops; he looks like he could have spent the night on the Skyway Pier. Still, we get on. The best scientists (and I’ve collaborated with good ones over the years) often think like poets. Earlier that morning, I had introduced my students to “Moby Dick,” Herman Melville’s giant and baffling book: “For as the secrets in the currents in the seas have never yet been divulged….” Stallings possesses that same habit of mind—the bemused skepticism of someone who has spent a lifetime peering into murky water, netting provisional conclusions. In conversation, he leaps around a lot; when there’s a gap in his sources, he tentacles freely into analogy. I ask about Epinephelus itajara and he answers with a comparison species. There’s conjecture, followed by a dismissive laugh, a tangent, then a chart or graph. “I’ll send you the link,” he says, pausing to email me an article with some clues to a question he may never figure out. The data matters.
Goliath grouper were nearly harvested to extinction by the 1980s. Now protected, a source of resentment, their numbers have bounced back, though nowhere near where they should be. Locals claim they compete with game fish. That’s not really true, however. Stallings and his colleagues have reached down the gullet of a thousand Epinephelus itajara, raking out the contents of their communal gut, coming to a definitive conclusion. Goliath grouper are lazy feeders, or “opportunistic predators,” so yes they will nab the exhausted snapper off an angler’s line, but mostly they eat crustaceans.
I ask about migration. Around August or September, does Jupiter the grouper feel an itch to leave? What compels this species to migrate? The signal may come from inside, Stallings concedes—perhaps some enzyme? Or do these fish follow atmospheric triggers? Perhaps warming water temperature, or longer days combined with a cycle of the moon?
It’s tempting, but dangerous, to speculate on the inner life of a fish.
Do they change sex, I want to know. The short answer is yes, sort of. Some websites claim
“Goliath grouper, in the wild, lead remarkable lives.”
FINE SUITOR: Epinephelus itajara are gonochoristic, meaning the female-born will sometimes transition to male.
them as “hermaphroditic,” although that term is too broad; for a percentage of females, exact number still unknown, gonads pop in after maturation. Spawned in open water, the fry find their way to protective mangrove fringes. As adults they habituate reef-like structures, usually deeper water, like the Skyway. The best explanation for the individual, occasional transition is territorial. When a bull male disappears or dies, “androgen producing cells in ovarian tissue,” Stallings explains, “can initiate testicular development.”
Ray Davies, back in the day with The Kinks, was a lot less technical:
“It’s a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world.” These mysteries keep scientists going. Grouper teach, apparently. A study of tagged Nassau Grouper suggests that, in traveling to spawning grounds, the larger fish show their young where to go. Beacons positioned along the Nassau Groupers’ route reveal a pattern of schooling: Big fish, big fish, medium, medium, smaller.
We have so much to love in this species. Goliath grouper gather for summertime orgies.
Adult females flip gender, as needed. The schools find a way, as community, to survive. I know, I know—I’ve drifted pretty far from Jupiter in the Florida Aquarium. But I told you, this was a crush.
And we humans can get pretty small-minded, mean-spirited even, in defining “normal.” In Florida, our politics tread harshly on things natural or in-between. Tallahassee declares it a “criminal trespass” against anyone not using a bathroom aligning with sex at birth. We build condos and sea walls where there should be mangroves. The non-binary students in my classes must go to another building to pee. As of 2024, the DMV reversed policy that would allow trans people to update the gender on their drivers license. Good luck to the transitioned Epinephelus itajara, trying to do the same. Thomas Hallock writes #Creekshed articles for Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. To learn more about goliath grouper, check out the Florida Museum of Natural History. Learn more about culture and fish and our stories about the underwater world at USF’s online seminar this Friday, “Keywords in Blue Humanities”
Dignified defiance
Black history month events to bookmark right now.
By Ray Roa
Make no mistake, the centennial for Black History Month is a major deal. “Who would’ve thunk that 100 years ago, what started as a day, then a week, has evolved into a whole month—and hopefully the whole year,” Patricia Wright, from St. Petersburg’s Historic Bethel AME Church, told WMNF News public affairs program “The Skinny.”
The celebration has its origins in Negro History Week, which was established by Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson back in 1926. The week expanded to a month in 1970 and finally got acknowledged by a sitting president— Republican Gerald Ford—in 1976.
“It’s important because we’re in a time where we’re trying to dismantle or discount the history— that we be ever more prominent to share it,” Wright added last Friday. Even at her church, members have a “village moment” where they explain the history to members. “If they are not teaching the history in our schools, if we’re not being included in the library, in the books, we have to take it upon ourselves to make sure that our children and even our seniors are still aware and cognizant of our history.”
and we insist on telling that truth—whether it’s widespread, adopted or not—we can still be committed to making sure that that history and that truth still exists, which is the original spirit of what Carter G. Woodson began,” Wright, who is National President and CEO of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference added. “I think we should embrace that spirit of dignified defiance.”
See a listing of Black history month events below. Add yours via community.cltampa.com.
‘The Niceties’ Thursday-Sunday. Feb. 12-15. Various times. $25-$30. The Studio@620, St. Petersburg. thestudioat620.org
LOCAL NEWS
Happy hour with a historian: St. Pete’s historic African American neighborhoods w/ Jon Wilson Thursday, Feb. 12. 6 p.m. $7-$15. St. Petersburg Museum of History, St. Petersburg. @HistoryStPete on Facebook
‘Razed’ screening Thursday, Feb. 12. 6:30 p.m. No cover. Dan and Mary Miller Auditorium at Eckerd College. Dan and Mary Miller Auditorium, St. Petersburg. gasplantfilm.com
Black history month celebration and pre-Ramadan sale Sunday, Feb. 15. 1 p.m.-7 p.m. No cover. BrideMother African Stores, Tampa. BrideMother Africa Culinary on Facebook
Black Love classic movie series: ‘Boomerang’ Sunday, Feb. 15. 3 p.m. $9-$14. Historic Duncan Auditorium at Tampa Theater, Tampa. tampatheatre.org
‘I Am Black History’ gospel musical Sunday, Feb. 15. 4 p.m. No cover. Shiloh Missionary Baptist, Largo. @elder.baldwin on Facebook
Connecting the past & present Black history in Pasco County & Tarpon Springs w/Marlowe Jones Wednesday, Feb. 18. 6 p.m. No cover. Peace Hall at Seven Springs School House, New Port Richey. @westpascohistoricalsociety on Facebook
‘Triumph’ (stylized all-caps) screenings Wednesday, Feb. 18. 12:30 p.m. No cover, but registration requested. Mainstage Theatre at Hillsborough Community College, Ybor City. wedu.org/triumph
NAREB Tampa Black History Month
Mixer Thursday, Feb. 19. 6 p.m. No cover, registration required. Tampa Club, Tampa. narebtampa.org
Celebrating 100 years of Black history month Saturday, Feb. 21. 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Tampa DJ Hall of Fame: Black History Program Saturday, Feb. 21. Noon-3 p.m. No cover. C. Blythe Andrews Jr. Public Library, Tampa. @halloffametampa on Facebook
Black Love classic movie series: ‘Carmen Jones ’ Sunday, Feb. 22. 3 p.m. $9-$14. Historic Duncan Auditorium at Tampa Theater, Tampa. tampatheatre.org
Black history book club: ‘The Message’ by Ta-Nehisi Coates Monday, Feb. 23. 5:30 p.m. No cover. Tampa’s Black History Museum, Tampa. tampabayhistorycenter.org
Fifth Annual Black History Month Reception Friday, Feb. 27. 5 p.m. $50. Tampa’s Black History Museum, Tampa. tampabayhistorycenter.org
Black history month celebration Saturday, Feb. 28. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. No cover. Lake Vista Park, St. Petersburg. stpeteparksrec.org Fish, grits & Black history Sunday, Feb. 28. 8 a.m. $75 donation. The Dr. Walter L. Smith Library & Museum, Tampa. wlsmithlibrary.org
Historic civil rights trolley tour Sunday, Feb. 28. 9 a.m.-11 a.m. $45. St. Petersburg Museum of History, St. Petersburg. historystpete.org
DeMark Liggins reminded WMNF listeners that Dr. Woodson started the week at a time when people did not want to acknowledge the contributions of Black folks in the U.S. and agreed with Wright.
“You can’t erase truth. As long as we know the truth in our communities, regardless of hue,
Black History Bike Tour Saturday, Feb. 14. RSVP requested. Meets at St. Pete Free Clinic, St. Petersburg. blackhistorybiketour.com
Tampa Bay Collard Green Festival Saturday, Feb. 14. No cover. The Woodson African American Museum of Florida, St. Petersburg. tbcgf.org
Black history celebration Saturday, Feb. 21. 5 p.m. No cover. Center for Manifestation, Tampa. 813-516-2376
Hidden, Historic Campbell Park walking tour Saturday, Feb. 21. 10 a.m.-noon. RSVP requested. Campbell Park, St. Petersburg. blackhistorybiketour.com
‘Triumph’ (stylized all-caps) screenings Monday, Feb. 23. 6 p.m. No cover, but registration requested. Student Center at University of South Florida, St. Petersburg. wedu.org/triumph
Food From The Soul Festival Saturday, March 28. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. $$25 & up. Carrollwood Cultural Center, Tampa, foodfromthesoulfestival.com
St. Petersburg’s Woodson African American Museum of Florida on June 19, 2023.
Knott so fast
Company proposing a new cruise port has a history of violating environmental laws.
By Kailey Aiken
Awell known marine developer says it will conserve Rattlesnake Key. Court settlements and the company’s record in other parts of the country have environmentalists in doubt.
SSA Marine sparked outrage last month when it announced plans to build a large cruise ship port in the 328-acre Knott-Cowen tract— with promises of “conservation” for the 710-acre Rattlesnake Key, an undeveloped island adjacent to the tract just south of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Manatee County.
“We are at the beginning of engaging with the community to discuss our vision for the region which is rooted in the idea of protecting and conserving Rattlesnake Key, while creating long-term economic opportunities on the Knott-Cowen tract.” Sally Dee, a spokesperson for SSA Marine, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay in a statement.
says contains harmful gases and more than 40 known cancer-causing compounds.
SSA told CL that no determination was made that any diesel emissions were released, and that delays were related to “market availability of required filters.” The issue was fixed by the time of the settlement, per SSA.
In June 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from the Port and SSA., but the case is still ongoing.
“This type of erosion could certainly be problematic for Rattlesnake Key.”
ENVIRONMENT
But SSA has been forced into settlements after receiving violations related to maintenance and certification of cargo-handling equipment at the ports of Long Beach and Oakland.
In 2017, SSA Containers, owned by SSA Marine, settled for $2.5 with the California Air Resources Board (CARB), which said that SSA failed to repower, retire or retrofit its Cargo Handling Equipment (CHE) and failed to certify large spark ignition engines on yard trucks servicing those terminals, as required by state law. CARB fights for worker protections against the risks of excess diesel exhaust, which the board
Two years later, in September 2020, SSA Terminals, also owned by SSA Marine, paid $37,500 in a settlement with CARB for violating CHE Regulations in Oakland. CHE Regulations aim to reduce toxic diesel emissions from cargo equipment at ports. These violations were directly tied to harmful emissions from SSA’s machinery polluting the air. This investigation by CARB found that SSA failed to perform annual opacity tests, which measure smoke and diesel emissions, on 29 pieces of CHE as required by the CHE Regulation in 2018 and 2019. This issue was also fixed by the time of the settlement, per SSA.
SSA is also involved in an ongoing lawsuit brought on by an environmental group, Puget Soundkeeper, which argues SSA and the Port of Tacoma were in violation of the Clean Water Act for failing to control polluted stormwater runoff into Puget Sound. An appeals court ruled that stormwater runoff, which carried metals and other pollutants from the terminal, was subject to state stormwater permit requirements and that the Port and SSA did not have proper stormwater controls in place.
SSA Marine, Inc. was dropped from the case, while SSA Terminals (Tacoma), LLC remains a party to the lawsuit. “SSA Terminals continues to vigorously defend itself, while operating in compliance with the Clean Water Act and Washington’s Industrial Stormwater General Permit,” the company told CL.
Puget Soundkeeper referred to the SCOTUS decision as “a win for clean water, Puget Sound, and the rule of law.”
In its four-page response to CL, SSA argues that it has been environment-forward, reducing greenhouse emissions, using solar power and LED light upgrades and earning industry certifications and high sustainability scores.
Tampa Bay area environmentalists are pushing back on SSA’s cruise port plans
SSA Marine is working with Tampa-based Slip Knott LLC to bring a terminal to Tampa Bay with similar promises of conservation. The project would include a multi-berth cruise port adjacent to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge on the seaward side, allowing newer, larger cruise ships that can’t fit under the Skyway to port in Tampa Bay.
Manatee County resident Corey McKeever told CL he got to work organizing an opposition effort within hours of SSA’s proposal launch on Jan. 16. By 9 a.m. the following morning, he’d posted a petition and ordered yard signs.
“I was gonna do this fight without anyone,” McKeever told CL.
But McKeever is not alone in this fight. His Change.org petition has already garnered over 18,000 signatures. The Save Rattlesnake Key social media page is approaching 800 followers as of this publication. There, McKeever and community members post about the environmental concerns that a cruise ship port in Terra Ceia would pose.
Justin Tramble, Executive Director of Tampa Bay Waterkeeper, told CL it would not be enough even if SSA Marine leaves Rattlesnake Key untouched.
“It’s a ‘We’re gonna preserve your hand, but we’re gonna destroy your whole entire arm,’ type of argument,” said Tramble. “They’ve swooped in as this ‘superman’ saying they are protecting [Rattlesnake Key] for us at the expense of the whole entire area around it.”
Construction of the proposed cruise terminal would harm the parts of the estuary within the site, according to the Tampa Bay Estuary Program.
TBEP estimates that approximately 295 acres of natural habitats are located within the proposed project site, and that impacts to these habitats would reduce progress of Habitat Master Plan 2030 restoration targets by 5% for freshwater wetlands, 23% for salt marshes and salt barrens, 67% for oyster bars, and 13.8% for seagrasses.
“I mean, there is a line. And I think Floridians are like, this crosses it significantly. We’re Olympic jumping across the line,” said Tramble, of the potential negative environmental effects of terminal plans.
continued on page 23
THE JUMP OFF: SSA Marine says it’s just ‘at the beginning of engaging with the community’ about
ARM AND A LEG:
Tampa Bay Waterkeeper’s Justin Tramble is not buying SSA’s argument.
To build a cruise port of this size, a significant amount of dredging would also be needed to deepen the channel for large ships to pass through.
Maya Burke, Assistant Director of the TBEP, told CL the primary impacts of dredging, filling, and building a cruise terminal in the proposed property would be harmful to the existing habitats in the area, consisting of seagrass, mangroves, marshes, and oyster reefs. There would also likely be secondary impacts that would need to be addressed, Burke added.
“We know from operating two major ports in Tampa Bay that these large ships do generate ship wakes and the wave energy changing the wave environment can create erosion that needs to be considered,” Burke said.
In 2013, well-connected developer Carlos Beruff proposed plans for a large mixed-use development on Long Bar Pointe in Sarasota Bay. The proposal faced major criticism due to environmental concerns, including mangrove and seagrass destruction and extensive dredging.
Community pressure stopped the most environmentally damaging aspects of Long Bar Pointe before its approval in 2017. And years of delays, lawsuits, and permitting hurdles resulting from community demands have so far stopped the project from being built.
Still, Wildman worries that public pressure may not be enough to stop this project. “I just feel like the dollar is stronger at the moment,” Wildman said.
ENVIRONMENT
Shorelines within the project site would likely need to be fortified by artificial reefs, such as oyster reef balls and domes. “This type of erosion could certainly be problematic for Rattlesnake Key,” Burke said.
‘I don’t think I would survive…’ For those who make their living working on Tampa Bay, the concerns raised by environmentalists and analysts aren’t just theoretical. The impacts would be immediate.
“I don’t think I would survive that as a fishing guide,” Wes Wildman, a local fisherman who has been running fishing charters and boat tours in Tampa Bay for 11 years, told CL. Wildman grew up fishing off Anna Maria Island and has seen Manatee County lose the battle of environmentalism against economic promise as more housing and developments have been built in the once-quiet county. But he does recall a time when the voice of the community beat out corporate greed.
SSA Marine’s leading argument is its estimation of new 31,000 jobs earning those workers about $1.6 million. “You’ll create some jobs. But is it the right thing to do?” Wildman asked.
Tramble doesn’t think so. The Tampa Bay region already has a strong tourism industry; many activities—like fishing, water sports, and sightseeing—rely on the health of marine ecosystems. The proposal would mainly benefit the property owners of the new port, not the broader tourism economy, Tramble argued.
“There’s so much value in protecting this spot that goes way beyond lining the pockets of the few folks that are going to prosper off of a project or a proposal like this,” Tramble said.
Even in the plan’s beginning stages, Tramble wants this issue at the forefront of people’s minds. He advised those against the development to attend public meetings, sign petitions, and stay informed by local environmental groups like Tampa Bay Waterkeeper and Suncoast Waterkeeper.
“We’re going to fight like hell to prevent this from happening,” said Tramble.
monday–friday 11:30 am–6:00 pm
Fair fight
Union push
sees airport restaurant workers asking contractor for fair process to organize.
By McKenna Schueler
Food servers, bartenders, and other restaurant staff at Tampa International Airport who offer respite to more than 20 million passengers traveling through the airport annually are calling on their employer—one of the airport’s contractors—to allow them a fair process to organize a union.
The restaurant workers are technically employed by SSP America, an airport contractor that operates several popular eateries at Tampa International, such as Hard Rock Cafe, Buddy Brew, Ulele, and Ducky’s, in addition to restaurants at 56 other airports in the U.S., Canada, and Brazil.
On Feb. 2, SPP America told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that it respects its employees rights under the National Labor Relations Act, and will not interfere with any organizing activity.
“Also, the union has agreed to our offer to discuss labor peace,” the rep added after being asked for comment on this story.
At several of these other airports, including the Orlando International Airport, workers employed by the same contractor, SSP, are already unionized. They earn higher wages for the same jobs that workers do in Tampa, receive better benefits, and have other protections and perks that workers there have collectively negotiated into a contract.
For instance, more stable scheduling and hours. A free meal on-shift. Plus, at least in Orlando, a selection of health insurance plans that are mostly paid for by their employer,including plans that offer coverage for products particularly helpful for hospitality workers, such as free orthotics—specialized shoe inserts—for servers who are on their feet all day.
“If the company has afforded the workers in Orlando these opportunities, I think it’s only fair that they should offer the same to their employees in Tampa,” said Paul Lipps-Lee, a server at Ducky’s for almost four years.
“We want a better job, security, and protection for our employees, because we are not protected at all,” said Jessica Gonzalez, a server at Hard Rock Cafe who works six-hour shifts,typically in the afternoons. She earns minimum wage ($10.98/hour) plus tips. “We are the ones that make money for SSP America,” she said.
The SSP Group, her employer’s U.K.-based parent company, reported $4.8 billion in revenue last year, according to Forbes, with an operating profit of $298 million. Workers at TPA, employed by SSP America, are seeking to organize a union with Unite Here Local 362, an Orlando-based hospitality workers’ union that already represents SSP restaurant workers at Orlando International Airport. A union rep told CL they’ve had a good working relationship with SSP, historically.
LOCAL NEWS
Lipps-Lee, a former bar manager at the American Legion in Seminole Heights, has worked in hospitality all his life, and at 48 years-old, and has never been a union member. Most of Florida’s workforce—roughly 94%—don’t have union representation either.
But for him, the fight to organize a union at TPA is, at its heart, simply about “fairness.”
“You feel like a second-class citizen,” he said, speaking on the phone with CL. Several of his coworkers at the airport’s Hard Rock Cafe, who are similarly involved in the effort to organize a union—despite having no former experience with union membership themselves—agreed.
Under the union’s new 49-page contract with SSP’s Orlando airport operations, bussers and cashiers earn $19.30 an hour—roughly $5 more than the $14 hourly rate paid to servers at Tampa International.
Workers in Orlando also have access to a pension plan—almost unheard of for non-union hospitality jobs—in addition to paid parental leave, the right to speak in the language of their choosing when not in the presence of customers, and job protections for immigrant workers.
The right to a fair process
Immigrants make up nearly 30% of the hospitality workforce in Florida, and at Tampa International Airport, many of the SSP workers are migrants from Venezuela or Cuba.
Under the Trump administration’s commitment to conduct the “largest deportation operation in American history,” several workers told CL that their coworkers are afraid to go through a union election process, if it would mean being in the same room with federal officials.
Just last month in a piece titled “To Their Shock, Cubans in Florida Are Being Deported in Record Numbers,” The New York Times checked in with the plight of a Tampa mother, Heidy Sánchez, who was separated from her infant daughter after going to her routine appointment at the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“We’re just claiming our rights, so I don’t have any fear,” said Gonzalez, who lawfully immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba in 2023. “But I know some of my coworkers don’t want to do it because they’re scared. They don’t want to be fired.”
It’s unlawful under the National Labor Relations Act for an employer to coerce or retaliate against immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, for organizing a union. This hasn’t, however, stopped some employers from doing so, by for instance threatening termination, cuts to hours, or even deportation for unionizing.
“They fear about losing what they have,” said Rodolfo Alejandro Yepej Garcia, a server at Hard Rock Cafe and an immigrant who, like many of his coworkers, is lawfully working in the U.S. on a visa.
“A lot of our Spanish-speaking coworkers … with everything that’s happening in the news today, in the political climate today, I feel like they’re almost afraid,” added Cameron Waterhouse, a server of 10 years at Hard Rock
COAST TO COAST: SPP America operates from Tampa to Oakland and in between.
OAKLAND AIRPORT
Cafe. “They feel like, if they do speak up, if they do go to an election, what is that going to mean for them? Are they going to have ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] knocking on their door saying, ‘Hey, we heard you voted. Let’s see some identifications.”
Union organizers say that getting confirmation from SSP that they will stay neutral, and allow a fair process for workers to organize, would help alleviate concerns of retaliation.
“All we’re asking is for the same fairness that was given to Orlando, and the same process, which is for the management to accept true neutrality and stay out of this,” said Lipps-Lee.
Federal labor law allows for workers to organize a union in one of two ways: by voting to unionize through an election—a process that can take months and allow time for the employer to intimidate or pressure workers—or by getting a majority of the workforce to sign cards in support of unionization and present those to the employer. If the employer is satisfied and able to verify that a majority of the workers want to form a union, the employer can grant what is known as voluntary union recognition.
This is how SSP workers at Orlando International Airport formed a union more than a decade ago, according to a union rep. And this is generally the preferred option for workers, so they don’t have to unnecessarily undergo a drawn-out process, or potentially face intimidation from their employer that would affect their vote.
First steps
One step in the process of getting voluntary union recognition is to ask for a neutrality agreement from the employer, also known as a labor peace agreement. This is, essentially, a commitment from the employer to allow a fair process for workers to organize a union, should they wish to do so. Without this show of neutrality, an employer can force workers to go through an election—a process that can take months.
Lipps-Lee, the Ducky’s server, told CL that he helped organize a delegation of about a dozen SSP workers a couple of months ago who delivered a petition to their manager’s office,with an ask for neutrality, along with signed cards from about half of the 155 workers in support of unionization.
According to Lipps-Lee, however, it didn’t go well. He said the company started sending emails to workers about unionization that he worried would instill fear and uncertainty in his coworkers. Copies of flyers and text from these emails, shown to CL, make assertions about unionization and the negotiations process that are, to put it mildly, less than inspiring, arguing that there are no guarantees in the process.
to guarantee that they can follow through on these promises.”
The company also argues in these communications that they wish to “preserve the right” of workers to vote in a union election, even if a majority of workers have already signed cards in support of the union and don’t want to go through an election process.
For Lipps-Lee, and other workers CL spoke to, the union contracts that SSP has negotiated with its workers at other airports is enough to convince them they can do better than what they’re currently afforded without a union.
“Why do I have to pay $100,$200, $400 a month for my [health] insurance when Orlando is not?” said Lipps-Lee, speaking of the unionized Orlando airport employees.
LOCAL NEWS
“While we are committed to providing you with truthful and accurate information, we are not allowed to make promises. The union is not subject to the same restrictions,” one email read, according to Lipps-Lee. “Instead, they are free to promise you the world, but are unable
Waterhouse, the Hard Rock Cafe server, moved to Tampa from Orlando after graduating from the University of Central Florida roughly a decade ago, and was similarly perplexed. “I know what it’s like to be in Orlando, and I know what it’s like to be in Tampa. And why are we being treated differently than our coworkers in another area?” he asked. “That’s literally just a stone’s throw—it’s a hop, skip and a jump.”
Tampa is expensive
Both Florida metros—Tampa Bay and Orlando—are costly to live in and were both affected by double-digit rent hikes after
COVID-era eviction moratoriums expired. In Tampa, one study found that a single adult would need to make an annual salary of $100,963 or an hourly wage of $48.54 to comfortably afford the city.
Another study, from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, found that a Tampa Bay renter would need to make at least $32.42 an hour to afford the average one-bedroom apartment, or roughly $67,440 per year.
Garcia, meanwhile, said he hasn’t been to a doctor in two years because he can’t afford it.
Waterhouse said that more consistent hours and a free, on-shift meal—something that can be guaranteed in a union contract—would also go far.
“That can literally be life changing for some people, for some of the people who—not even talking about not getting paid fairly—but for those people who are struggling just to make it,” he said.
Workers said they feel like they’re held back by this double standard. That, and the collective voice they can have as a union, is why they’re organizing with Unite Here.
“I really do believe that bringing everybody together and standing up for the rights that we deserve is crucial,” Waterhouse affirmed.
The rep for SSP America told CL that the company is “committed to operating ethically, legally, and in full compliance with labor laws and airport contractual requirements,” while mentioning SSP’s long-running open- door policy for employees who want to share concerns.
“We are the ones that make money for SSP America.”
• Free STD Screening & Treatment
• HIV Testing & Linkage to Care
• PrEP Services
Friday, March 6 & Saturday, March 7th th
RESTAURANTS RECIPES DINING GUIDES
Mortar matters
The Bricks’ Ybor City property sold, and more food news.
By Ray Roa
Sixteen years ago, The Bricks brought new life to the corner of E 7th Avenue and N Avenida Republica de Cuba in Ybor City—now the property it’s on has been sold to a company helping develop Darryl Shaw’s nearby Gasworx project.
Records from the Hillsborough County Tax Collector show that the deed for 1327 E 7th Ave. was transferred to the Ybor City Mixed Use LLC on Jan. 9. According to sale history from the property appraiser, the company with ties to Tampa developer Joshua Pardue paid $3.14 million in the deal.
Pardue’s company purchased the property from Ybor City Properties LCC—registred to Skatepark of Tampa founder Brian Schaefer— which bought the building in 2009 for $825,000, according to records.
Under Schaefer and a team of locals, The Bricks revived the western end of E 7th Avenue. When it opened in 2010, The restaurant and night spot was caddy corner from a sinceshuttered Czar nightclub and parking lot that would eventually become Hotel Haya.
development of Ybor City’s western end and the corridor connecting the district with Channelside and downtown Tampa.
Last summer, Shaw’s Gasworx announced plans to have Pardue’s JPRE Development help spearhead the curation of retail and restaurant experiences at the development, adding that Pardue’s “team is taking a curated, methodical approach to tenant recruitment to prioritize brand alignment, longevity, and authenticity.”
In the summer of 2024, Pardue stood on the site of the original New World Brewery and told the Tampa Bay Developer Podcast how Shaw’s Gasworx project will fill in the space between Ybor City and Channelside so that visitors and residents can literally walk between the neighborhoods.
“Once that happens with some of the other benefits that Tampa’s known about, it really puts it on the map,” Pardue told the podcast. “Been waiting for this 20 years.”
OPENINGS & CLOSINGS
A year later, Pardue returned to the podcast to talk about courting companies to lease property at Gasworx.
The Bricks quickly established itself as a hipster haven, with a solid, vegetarian and vegan-friendly menu and exciting bar scene bolstered by programming that includes art shows, concerts in the courtyard, and wild parties after athletes wrapped competition at the skatepark’s Tampa Am and Tampa Pro contests.
The restaurant recently reduced operations to four days a week, with lunch service happening Saturday-Sunday only.
In a text message to Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, Schaefer said that the staff at The Bricks remains the same and that nothing is changing in the immediate future. New owners, he said, are working on getting the concept back to sevenday service, and making improvements to the property’s interior and exterior. “Tenants will remain,” he said of the businesses upstairs, adding that new ownership is, “honoring all leases and flow of how it’s been for the last 15 years.”
Pardue and his representatives have also not yet responded to requests for comment, but he has been happy to be the face for recent
“I think in general the amount of demand for Tampa is hard to even explain,” Parude, who is also involved with the redevelopment of CL’s old office in Tampa Heights, said. “It’s so high.”
Pete’s Bagels opens in Tarpon Springs
Pete’s Bagels is finally open in Tarpon Springs. The shop’s fifth location opened last week, selling out three batches of bagels in its first two days on the sponge docks, per its social media.
The shop is located inside the historic Dolphin Gift Shop at 810 Dodecanese Blvd.
The opening follows a period of steady expansion for the St. Pete-born bagel spot, which launched a drive-thru location and introduced a café concept, Seymour’s, last year. Owner Steven Peterman has been baking and boiling bagels in-house since 2019, originally opening the shop as Pete’s General before rebranding in 2021.
The Tarpon Springs location offers the same bagels and coffee regulars know well, continuing the brand’s partnership with Look Alive Coffee,
but with a new setting: two stories of seating overlooking the water.
Pete’s Bagels in Tarpon Springs is open daily from 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m., serving up their classics like the Spicy Pete–a bagel topped with jalapeño cream cheese and hot honey–or the Grand Central Pete, layered with house-made harissa cream cheese and pickled vegetables.—
Laura Troyer
2 dads take over St. Pete’s 2D spot
A new breakfast and lunch spot is getting ready to open its doors on Central Avenue. Dads’ Kitchen and Co. is set to open this month in the Grand Central District. Dads’ takes over 2105 Central Ave., the former home of 2D Cafe, which closed in early 2025 after three years in business.
Dads’ Kitchen and Co. is owned by Nicholas Ellis and Joseph Christianson, who describe themselves on social media as “two proud dads raising four incredible kids.”
The pair previously operated Roo Roo’s Diner in Largo for four years before selling it in 2024, and many familiar dishes from their former diner will carry over to the new concept, per St. Pete Rising.
The spot still has some of 2D cafe’s black and white doodle aesthetics, with new seating and green accents.
Expect American and Southern-leaning comfort fare, including chicken and waffles, biscuits and gravy, country-fried steak, eggs Benedict and omelets. Lunch options lean into classic diner staples like club sandwiches, patty melts, mini corn dog and chicken tender baskets, along with a signature Reuben and buttermilk breakfast tacos.
Dads’ Kitchen and Co. will be open daily from 7 a.m.-3 p.m., serving breakfast and lunch all day, along with weekend brunch. Follow Dads’ Kitchen and Co. on Facebook and @dads_ kitchen_co on Instagram for updates.—LT
“Attraction should never outweigh emotional safety or compatibility.”
THEATER ART CULTURE
Good luck babe
The secrets of Sapphic dating in Tampa Bay.
By Selene San Felice
If you’ve been in Tampa Bay’s sapphic dating scene for a while, it doesn’t take long to feel like you’ve gone out with—or at least swiped through— everyone. We promise, you haven’t. (Seriously, see p. 68.) The Sapphic umbrella (lesbians, bi women, nonbinary and trans folks) might be bigger in places like New York or Los Angeles, but don’t pack your bags just yet. We asked local sapphic community leaders and organizers for their words of wisdom.
Valerie Smith, Sapphic Sun editor-inchief and Creative Loafing Tampa Bay contributor Date casually, go out before tex ting, and move on often. Dates are meant to be low-stakes. It shouldn’t be awkward to run into someone you went on one date with a few months ago; a date doesn’t mean anything.
If you’re going to meet someone from an app, don’t spend days texting back and forth with them. Ask them on a casual date, then wait to text more until after you’ve met in person.
This will do three things for you: First, it will keep you from committing to someone you think you’re interested in but don’t actually have chemistry with. Second, it will build anticipa tion. Third, it will give you a chance to make a physical connection before digital.
Dating apps are nearly inescapable, so rather than avoid them entirely, just use them wisely. My partner and I met because I posted on a local classifieds app that I was looking for someone to join me at a mangrove thicket that I thought would make a great makeout spot. The only texting we did beforehand was to set a date.
You don’t have to “give love a chance” after a bland first date, or after one that got your blood pumping but didn’t show much relationship prom ise. Romanticizing a first date is how we get stuck in relationships that don’t actually suit us. It’s OK to text someone saying you appreciate the date, but you didn’t feel a spark. Move on! You’ll probably know when you’ve found the right rela tionship for you. If you spend more than 5-10% of the relationship talking about the relationship, that’s probably a good sign to move on. Don’t stay in a relationship for comfort’s sake; true love is waiting for you. If you can’t quite make a relationship stick, work on yourself first.
relationships look like, which can create confusion when navigating dating as adults.
My advice is to take an inner-self approach to dating. Become what you want to attract. That starts with doing the internal work, healing trauma through therapy or intentional self-reflec-
with yourself and with the dating process is equally important. Take accountability for your role in past dating or relationship challenges and actively work to change behaviors that may have contributed to unhealthy patterns.
Ultimately, peace and happiness come from within. Setting and maintaining boundaries that protect your emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being is not selfish, it is necessary. Dating is, first and foremost, a journey about you. It only becomes about you and someone else once a strong foundation is built and there is mutual
rolling in. They would feel predatory for hitting on another woman, it’s the other person’s role (especially if their would-be suitor is more masculine of center) to approach them, or (gasp) what if the person isn’t attracted to them and turns them down?
While understandable, many of these fears are rooted in narratives we’ve been told about homosexuality–that queer sexual desire is immoral, and that taking any kind of agency over your sexuality (AKA making the first move) can only come from a place of ill intent. We’ve
SEX & LOVE
Pilar Walker AKA P, co-leader of Her Way Many sapphic women grow up without clear examples of what healthy, long-term same-sex
settle for connections that don’t truly serve you. While dating, it’s important to never ignore red flags, no matter how strong the chemistry may be. Attraction should never outweigh emotional safety or compatibility. Clear, firm, and honest communication is essential, as is the willingness to listen and receive feedback. Patience
the art of flirting. I constantly see sapphics complain that while they’d love to have a cinematic meetcute at the club, it seems that no one EVER approaches them! When I’ve asked what’s stopping THEM from sidling up to that cute masc they’ve been sharing sordid glances with all evening, the excuses inevitably start
your ideas of what romance is ‘supposed’ to look like. Take control of your desire and hit on that femme on the dance floor, or that butch smoking outside the bar. Get told ‘no.’ Get told ‘yes.’ Get told ‘no, but my friend over there is very interested.’ The world, despite the horrors, is your oyster.
MOVIES
LEZ BE HONEST: Dyke Night brings sapphics together.
Lez go
Sapphic dating by the numbers.
By Selene San Felice
There are likely between 100,000 and 145,000
LGBTQ+ identifying women and nonbinary adults currently living in the Tampa Bay metro area. Excluding those married or in domestic partnerships, that leaves somewhere between 55,000 and 85,000 in the sapphic dating pool.
straight or cis may have changed teams since then. And some of those partnered couples are bound to have broken up.
SEX & LOVE
These are scientific calculations, but life and love are anything but scientific. The stats are based on the most recent data from the Williams Institute (2021) and Gallup (2024). Some who identified as
Of course, we can’t speak to how many of these people have dated your ex (TBH the number is probably higher than you think). But even if it feels like you’ve exhausted your options, you most likely haven’t.
Here are a few examples of how many single sapphics Tampa Bay has. Poly folks, check out the graph below the illustrations for even more possibilities.
All the estimated single Gen Z and Millennial sapphics could sell out Raymond James Stadium (a note for the next Chappell Roan tour).
All the single senior sapphics standing shoulder to shoulder could stretch across
Sunshine Skyway Bridge.
TAMPA BAY SAPPHIC DEMOGRAPHICS
Join us for beautiful blooms, melodic music, awe-inspiring architecture, historic home tours, and more! Experience a day like none other in the beauty of Bok Tower Gardens this season.
YACHT ROCK ON THE OVAL LAWN
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27 · 7PM
ROOTSTOCK SPRING PLANT SALE
SA TURDAY, MARCH 7 · 9AM - 4PM
ST. PATRICK’S DAY WITH THE MUSICAL HAMMERS
SA TURDAY, MARCH 17 · 11AM - 1PM
INTERNATIONAL CARILLON FESTIVAL:
OPENING DAY OF ICF · WED, MAR 18
SINGING BELLS & SINGING BOWLS · THURS, MAR 19
BLOOMS, BELLS, & BROADWAY · FRI, MAR 20
GO SWIFTLY TO THE TOWER · SAT, MAR 21
A DAY OF PEACE IN THE GARDENS · SUN, MAR 22
TICKET TO TH E MOON: THE WORLD’S BEST ELO TRIBUTE
FRIDAY, MAR 27 · 7PM
1151 TOWER BOULEVARD
LAKE WALES, FL 33853
863-676-1408
BOKTOWERGARDENS.ORG
ART AFTER DARK AT THE MFA + JAZZ NIGHT
WITH CHAUNCES TRIO
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12 | 5-8 PM
Experience the museum after hours with discounted admission and rotating programming, including guest lectures, special docent tours, and live music. On February 12, we welcome the Chaunces Trio, one of St. Pete’s most exciting emerging jazz ensembles. Soak in the late-night ambiance and experience art in a fresh, captivating way—the perfect night out for everyone!
SPANISH-SPEAKING TOUR WITH NELSON LEES
FEATURING IN CARAVAGGIO’S LIGHT AND BAROQUE CONTINUUM
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15 | 2-3 PM
Join us every third Sunday for the MFA’s Language Tour Series! Each month, an MFA Docent will guide a tour in a language other than English, offering visitors a fresh and immersive way to explore the museum’s collection.
ART MARKET HOUR: EXPO CHICAGO
EXPO CHICAGO DIRECTOR, KATE SIERZPUTOWSKI IN CONVERSATION WITH MFA CEO, KLAUDIO RODRIGUEZ
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18 | 6-7:30 PM
Join Kate Sierzputowski (Director, EXPO CHICAGO) and Klaudio Rodriguez (Executive Director & CEO, MFA) for a conversation on the contemporary art market. They’ll discuss EXPO CHICAGO’s global impact and offer insights on how collectors can thoughtfully engage with emerging artists and galleries.
VISIT MFASTPETE.ORG/EVENTS-CALENDAR FOR TICKETS, RSVPS, EVENT INFORMATION, AND ADDITIONAL PROGRAMS. EVENTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
If you couldn’t snag a swanky reservation (in this economy??), there are still a ton of ways to celebrate love around Tampa Bay with your Valentine, Galentines or Palentines this month. For more things to do, check out our regular listings on p. 73. See more Valentine’s offerings or add your own to our calendar at community.cltampa.com—Selene San Felice
Galentine’s in the Courtyard Thursday, Feb. 12. 7 p.m.-9 p.m. No cover. Armature Works, 1910 N Ola Ave., Tampa. armatureworks.com
Heart Shaped Wreath Workshop Thursday, Feb. 12. 11 a.m.-1 p.m. & 6 p.m.-8 p.m. $45. Robert’s Recreation Center, 1246 50th Ave. N, St. Petersburg. stpeteparksrec.org
Romantic Movie Night Friday, Feb. 13, 7 p.m.-9 p.m. No cover. Yuengling Draft Haus & Kitchen, 11109 N. 30th St., Tampa. yuengling.com/tampa
Sun City Sapphics: Villain Era Mixer Friday, Feb. 13. 7 p.m.-10 p.m. No cover (donation suggested). Magnanimous Brewing Seminole Heights, Tampa. @suncitysapphics on Meetup and Instagram.
Disco Tits: Valentine’s Day edition Friday, Feb. 13. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. No cover. 21+. The Ball, St. Petersburg. theballstpete.com Love, Lace & Liquor: Pre-Valentine’s Galentine’s Night at Jerk Hut Tampa Friday, Feb. 13. 9 p.m.-3 a.m. $75. No cover. Jerk Hut Island Grille & Beach Club, 1241 E Fowler Ave., Tampa. jerkhut.com
Meditations on Love Silent Retreat Saturday, Feb. 14, 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. $40. Kadampa Meditation Center, 201 Sixth Ave. South, Safety Harbor.
Valentine’s Day at Shuffle Saturday, Feb. 14. noon-11:59 p.m. No cover. Shuffle, 2612 N Tampa St., Tampa. shuffletampa.com
Youth Council Exhibit Z: Palentine’s Day Saturday, Feb. 14. 2 p.m.-5 p.m. No cover. Tampa Museum of Art, 120 W Gasparilla Pl., Tampa. tampamuseum.org Blue Valentines Portrait Workshop with Lalo MacKenzie Saturday, Feb. 14-16, 5 p.m.-7 p.m. $175/couple. Morean Center for Clay, 420 22nd St. S, St. Petersburg. moreanartscenter.org
Love You First! A Galentine’s Celebration Saturday, Feb. 14, 6 p.m.-10 p.m. $45. FloridaRama, 2606 Fairfield Ave. S, St. Petersburg. Floridarama.art
Singles on Deck Valentine’s Day Party
Saturday, Feb. 14, 8 p.m.-2 a.m. No cover. Lower Deck Harbour Island, 601 S Harbour Island Blvd., Suite 110, Tampa. lowerdecktampa.com
Heartbreaker Heels + Bubbles at Hotel Haya with Christian Valentin Tuesday, Feb. 17, 7 p.m.-8:15 p.m. $25. Hotel Haya, 1412 E 7th Ave., Ybor City. hotelhaya.com
Her Way: Luv Her Galentine’s R&B Party Saturday, Feb. 28. 10 p.m.-2 a.m. $20 & up. Venue 2106 2106 W Main St., Tampa.
Supreme leader
Famed activist and political prankster does two Tampa shows this weekend.
By Kelly Benjamin
Ifirst met Vermin Supreme after we were both released from an overnight stay at the Los Angeles County Jail, following the infamous Rage Against the Machine police riot at the 2000 Democratic National Convention (see Weekly Planet, August 2000). By then, he was already a veteran of the American political protest scene. Even in the pre-smart phone era, his antics as a political prankster, anarchist agitator, and perennial candidate for public office were legendary. Four decades into his “career” of heckling politicians, police and the ruling class, the tyrant you can trust’s long running joke has aged like a fine boot-on-the-head.
INTERVIEW
Vermin Supreme live Friday, Feb. 13. 7:30 p.m. $12
The Commodore, 811 E 7th Ave, Tampa commodorecomedy.com
The 64-year-old has two Tampa performances this weekend: A Friday comedy cabaret at the Commodore, and an appearance before the screening of the documentary ‘Who Is Vermin Supreme’ happening at Sun-Ray Cinema. Creative Loafing Tampa Bay caught up with Vermin Supreme to discuss his origin story, evolution as a cultural figure and internet meme, and why the absurdity of the American political process deserves both a mirror and a sledgehammer.
How long has this been going on now?
Well, I ran my first campaign as Vermin Supreme against Kurt Schmoke, the mayor of Baltimore, in 1987. Before that, I tried out the names Hypester Magneto and Bagel Pizazz as back then punk rockers and art weirdos used a lot of strange names, but as all politicians are Vermin, I knew I had something with Vermin Supreme.
How’d that campaign go?
It wasn’t really political in nature, more of a lark, really. But of course, I won, just not in the conventional sense. Shortly after that, I picked up a copy of Mother Jones and read a story about the great peace march for global nuclear disarmament. It was sort of a mobile city of peace activists complete with kitchens on trailers, and a school for children, and giant water tanks, and their own city hall, and even their own zip code. It was a very impressive thing for me at this point in my life so I went to a thrift store and bought a sleeping bag and I signed up. That’s where I learned about anarchism and the practical practice of American dissent.
How did Vermin Supreme evolve from that?
Probably through the Rainbow Gatherings. After the march ended, I was fully politicized but transient. I spent a lot of time at Rainbow
Gathering in the woods in the late-’80s and early-’90s, outside of regular society, honing my clown skills and making people laugh and while I was doing that, I became very much aware that, because of the nature of the gatherings, security was very important. We’d have local cops and state troopers coming in at all hours ramrod straight looking to harass and bust people so, seeing the need, I sort of took on this role, using my clowning skills, to greet them, distract them, joke with them and let the hippies know of their presence by walking in front of the troopers and saying things like, “I don’t mean to sound paranoid, but I think I’m being followed by the cops!”
Over time, I developed a method of smoothing over the friction through laughter. I’d make fun of the cops and the hippies would laugh but also poke fun at the hippies and the cops would laugh so essentially, I was able to learn to use humor in these tense situations to deescalate and put people at ease and it mostly worked. When I went back into politics and the protest world, I took those skills to the streets. I
discovered that, between the riot police and protesters, there’s usually this void where a cop or a protester could do something stupid and everything would go haywire and people could get hurt. What I realized is that I could occupy this no man’s land during this volatile powder keg type situation and crack a few jokes when tensions were really high and things would typically defuse. Sometimes I’d take my bullhorn and read from their riot control manuals to let them know that we know what they’re supposed to be doing and what their limitations are supposed to be.
When did you begin to accessorize with the boot?
Sometime around ‘91, I discovered that people like seeing a boot on my head. It took off at the Rainbow Gatherings so I wore it to the New Hampshire primaries when I ran that year—they’re both full tilt circuses, really. Every Democratic and Republican candidate and their massive entourages, buses, every media outlet in the world all show up with their talking heads…it’s a singular happening. I found out quick that if I went up there with a boot on my head and started talking authoritatively, people paid attention and I’d wind up in a photo or two on the wire and get a mention on NPR. So I started running for office every four years spending a week in New Hampshire during the primaries, making appearances at both the Republican and Democratic Conventions and then of course at the Inauguration. I’ve been doing this every cycle since 1992.
How did you wind up a meme?
It was probably the glitter bombing of Randall Terry in 2011. I paid to get on the ballot that year and noticed a lot was changing as opposed to previous election years, handheld gadgets everywhere for example. Anyway, Randall Terry is a staunch anti-abortion, antigay scumbag who I wound up sitting next to at the alphabetical “lesser known candidates” debate that year. I thought it only appropriate that I fuck with him so I went to the craft shack and filled my pockets with glitter and we ended up with the glitter bomb heard around the world.
The stakes are high in this political moment and dissent is increasingly being met with state violence. How do you keep doing this in times like these?
As horrific as things are right now, as these fascists psychologically torture communities, I’m inspired to see activists who are, once again, facing down evil with absurdity, shining a mirror to it and fighting back in a way that is clearly grounded in love and light. When you have people showing up in inflatable frog costumes facing off against gangs of masked thugs in tactical gear with assault weapons, it’s pretty clear who the bad guys are. Essentially, they’re disarming the police in the public opinion with levity. It’s much harder to demonize your opponents when they’re wearing inflatable animal costumes.
“I developed a method of smoothing over the friction through laughter.”
MAKE OUT, NOT WAR: Vermin Supreme said he’s proud
Out and about: Events happening in Tampa Bay
The events listed in our Do This section on pp. 12-13 aren’t the only things to do in town this weekend. Have a look at more events—like Eckerd’s ‘No Other Choice’ screening—going down the week of Feb. 12-18, and see even more by finding Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s user-submitted events calendar at cltampa.com. Don’t see your event here? Please head to the website to submit it yourself.—Ray Roa
ARTS
Second Saturday Art Walk Saturday, Feb. 14. 5 p.m.-9 p.m. No cover. Downtown St. Petersburg. stpeteartsalliance.org
Ceramics Continued Study Sunday, Feb. 15 and select Sundays through April 19. 10 a.m.-1 p.m. $45. Tampa Museum of Art, 120 W Gasparilla Plaza, Tampa. tampamuseum.org
Santa’s Sudden Dysfunction: Holiday
PAW Art of Tim Gibbons Monday-Sunday through Feb. 13. No cover. Pinellas Ale Works, St. Petersburg. pawbeer.com
Jennifer Schumacher Waller: ‘In
Between’ Opening Saturday, Feb. 14. 5 p.m.-9 p.m. No cover. Morean Center for Clay, St. Petersburg. Runs through April 4. jenniferwallerart.com
Hunt Slonem Opening Feb. 19. 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Feb. 20 6 p.m.-9 p.m. (artist talk & book talk). No cover. Drew Marc Gallery, Tampa. drewmarcgallery.com
Impressions: 35 years of Women in Print at USF Graphicstudio MondayFriday through March 2. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. No cover. Graphicstudio at University of South Florida, Tampa. ira.usf.edu/GS/gs_about.html
Brian Maguire: La Grande Illusion Monday-Saturday through March 7. No cover. USF Contemporary Art Museum at University of South Florida, Tampa. ira. usf.edu
Selina Román: Abstract Corpulence Through March 29. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. $0-$20. Sarasota Art Museum, Sarasota. sarasotaartmuseum.org
Jun Kaneko: Silence Before Sound Through Aug. 23. $5 & up. Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa. tampamuseum.org
Dirty John’s Dirty Disco ThursdaySaturdays. 8 p.m. The Studio@620, St. Petersburg. thestudioat620.org
Kathy Griffin Friday, Feb. 13. 7 p.m. $50 & up. Straz Center for the Performing Arts, 1010 N W C Macinnes Pl., Tampa. strazcenter.org
T. J. Miller Friday, Feb. 13. 7 p.m.- 8:30 p.m., 9:30 p.m.-11 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14. 6:30 p.m.- 8 p.m., 9 p.m.-10:30 p.m. $37. Funny Bone Comedy Club, 1600 E 8th Ave. C-112, Tampa. tampa.funnybone.com
Tampa Metropolitan Improv Third Fridays through May 29. 7 p.m. $5. Carrollwood Cultural Center, Tampa. carrollwoodcenter.org
FILM & TV
No Other Choice - International Cinema at Eckerd College Friday, Feb. 13. 7 p.m. No cover. Miller Auditorium, 4200 54th Ave. S, St Petersburg. eckerd.edu ‘Triumph’ Thursday, Feb. 19. Time TBD. No cover, registration requested. Hillsborough Community College, Ybor City. wedu.org
FOOD & DRINK
Yuengling Tampa Brewery Tour and Strawberry Blonde Ale Dinner Thursday, Feb. 12 6:30 p.m.-9 p.m. $99.49 Yuengling Draft Haus & Kitchen, 11109 N 30th St., Tampa. yuengling.com/tampa St. Pete Super Greek Festival FridaySaturday, Feb. 13-4. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 15. 11 a.m.- 6 p.m. No cover. St. Stefanos Greek Orthodox Church, 3600 76th St. N, St. Petersburg. ststefanos.org
Mardi Gras on Corey Avenue Tuesday, Feb. 17. 6:30 p.m. No cover. Corey Avenue, St. Pete Beach. coreyave.com
Safety Harbor Art & Seafood Festival
Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 21-22. Gates at noon (closes 9 p.m. Saturday, 6 p.m. Sunday). No cover (VIP tickets available). Safety Harbor Waterfront Park, Safety Harbor. safetyharborchamber.chambermaster.com
LEARN
Cafe con Tampa Every Friday, through forever. 8 a.m. $12. The Portico, 1001 N. Florida Ave., Tampa. cafecontampa.com
DFACT Presents: Coffee & Conversation with Latonya Hicks Thursday, Feb. 19. Noon-1 p.m. No cover, RSVP requested. Dunedin Fine Art Center, Dunedin. dfac.org
SPORTS
BE on Bikes Friday, Feb. 13. 5-6:30 p.m. No Cover. The Body Electric Yoga Company, 3015 7th St. N, St. Petersburg. thebodyelectricyoga.com
Tampa Bay Sun v. DC Power Saturday, Feb. 14. 7:30 p.m. $23 & up. Suncoast Credit Union Field, 1701 N Blvd., Tampa. tampabaysunfc.com
THEATER
The Niceties Thursday-Sunday, Feb. 12-15. $25-$30. The Studio@620, 620 1st Ave. S, St. Petersburg. thestudioat620.org
Where You Are Friday, Feb. 13. 4-8 p.m. $50. Early Bird Dinner Theater, 13355 49th St. N, Clearwater. earlybirddinnertheater.com
TRAVEL & LEISURE
Wildflower Walk Saturday, Feb 28. 1-2:30 p.m. $5. Boyd Hill Nature Preserve Visitor Center, St. Petersburg. stpeteparksrec.org Sunset on the Serengeti Sunday, Feb. 15 and select dates through March 8. 5:30-8 p.m. $90 & up. Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, 10165 McKinley Dr, Tampa. buschgardens.com
Interested in advertising around this listing? Contact jhoward@cltampa.com.
Thursday, February 12, 2026, 8:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Crown & Corked: GALENTINE GIRLS NIGHT
@ Madame Fortune Dessert + HiFi Parlour
1930 East 7th Avenue, #C
Tickets - $76.55 bit.ly/CrownCorkedGalentine
Friday, February 13, 2026, 6:30 PM - 11:30 PM
R&Vegan: Lover’s Edition @ 1920 Ybor 1920 East 7th Ave
Tickets from $13.45 bit.ly/RVegan1920
Friday, February 13, 2026, Doors at 7:00 PM, Show at 8:00 PM
FMAM Events Presents Not Another Emo Show @ Crowbar 1812 N 17th St
Illuminated Knight Parade @ Ybor City 1600 East 7th Ave.
Open to the public krewesantyago.org/knight-parade-2
Saturday, February 14, 2026, 7:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Gasparilla Knight Parade Patio Seating @ Ybor City Society Wine Bar 1600 East 7th Ave.
Tickets - $21.50 bit.ly/GasparillaPatioSeating
Saturday, February 14, 2026, 7:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Hive Community Yoga @ Ybor Hive 1802 E 3rd Ave
Donation Based bit.ly/HiveYoga
Saturday, February 21, 2026, 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM
Muertas de la Risa en Tampa @ Centro Asturiano de Tampa 1913 North Nebraska Ave
Tickets from $53.61 bit.ly/MuertasdelaRisa
Sunday, February 22, 2026, 11:00 AM
Chicken Yoga with Yoga Loft @ Hotel Haya 1412 East 7th Ave
Tickets - $59.34
bit.ly/WineGirlScoutCookies
Sunday, February 22, 2026, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Elevated Wine Society - Sparkling Wine & Girl Scout Cookies @ Ybor City Society Wine Bar 1600 East 7th Ave
Free Admission bit.ly/ChickenYogaFeb
Wednesday, February 25, 2026, 7:00 PM
Nep w/ briZB @ Crowbar 1812 N 17th St
Tickets - $21.82 nep26.eventbrite.com
Restaurants:
Kaia Bowls Ybor - NOW OPEN 1208 E 7th Ave
Flor Fina at Hotel Haya(Check out their new menu) 1412 E 7th Ave
Where to Live:
Casa Ybor • casaybor.com
Casa Ybor offers unique retail spaces, office spaces, and apartment homes for rent or lease in both newly constructed and lovingly restored historic buildings throughout the vibrant National Historic Landmark District of Ybor City near Downtown Tampa, Florida.
La Union • bit.ly/LaUnionYbor
Community, connection, and culture come together at La Unión Apartments, where Tampa’s rich history and vibrant future unite. Inspired by the historic social hall once on this site, our Ybor City apartments honor that legacy by fostering bonds among residents, the neighborhood, and the area’s deep-rooted heritage.
Miles at Ybor • milesatybor.com
Step into the pulse of Tampa’s most vibrant neighborhood at Miles at Ybor, where modern luxury apartments in Tampa blend seamlessly with the rich cultural tapestry of historic Ybor City. These aren’t just furnished apartments in Ybor City – they’re your gateway to an elevated urban lifestyle that celebrates both heritage and innovation.
Ybor City Sirens LLC Everything from cosplay, pole dancers, acrobats, roller babes and much much more! bit.ly/YborCitySirens
Craftsman Supply 1605 N 23rd St
We are Family Owned and serving you since 1957 in Hardwood Lumber, Exotics, and Cabinet Grade Plywood. csclumber.com
BarrieHaus Beer Co 1403 E 5th Ave
Like our ancestors, we proudly carry on the tradition of predominantly brewing lagers. barriehaus.com
REVIEWS PROFILES MUSIC WEEK
Croc rock
Joey Valence & Brae talk Crocs, writing, and getting older.
By Gabrielle Reeder
Before diving into more serious questions about their career and music, hip-hop duo
Joey Valence & Brae (which often goes by its initials, “JVB”) took on a hard-hitting question about whether they had heard about Crocs’ new collaboration with Lego. Brae jumped to respond, showcasing his elite fashion knowledge, telling Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, “Dude, I actually sent that post to Joey and was like, ‘these are pretty fucking cool.’”
Valence admitted the post missed his attention, claiming he’s been a little busy. “Thank you for notifying me,” Valence added, intrigued by this new collaboration of wearable bricks, teasing that they may sport the shoes on stage. The playful banter mimics JVB’s aura: Never fearful of darker topics, but still silly and expressive.
The duo launched in 2021 with “Crank It Up,” a ‘90s hip hop-inspired rhythm paired with goofy lyrics. The pair has since released three albums (Punk Tactics, No Hands, and its latest, Hyperyouth, stylized in all caps), all recorded in Valence’s makeshift bedroom studio.
shifted away from, but didn’t totally abandon. As they tackle penning message-driven lyrics, their third album maintains and reminisces on the central ideas that shaped JVB in the first place: Friendship and humor. “We’re just developing ourselves as different kinds of writers, but a lot of the time just trying to make shit to make each other laugh,” Brae quipped.
At this point in a musical odyssey that stemmed from self-described “bullshit” to real, thematic narratives, Hyperyouth explores what it means to age in a time where de-aging promotion occupies our screens, and movies like “The Substance” suggest aging is a concept of horror, not nature.
INTERVIEW
Joey Valence and Brae
Friday, Feb. 13. 9 p.m. $40.69
Jannus Live, 200 1st Ave. N, St. Petersburg jannuslive.com
“I think it’s not because we don’t want to go to a studio. I think we just feel comfortable in our own house,” Valence told CL. “You don’t really need much. You just need your brain. There’s this stigma around needing a bunch of crazy equipment to make good music, and that’s just simply not true. At all.”
The bedroom hip-hop studio quickly cemented the boys’ respective identities as resourceful underdogs. Instead of writing numerous albums and workshopping their favorite record into a neatly polished project, JVB sticks to its process. As some artists shy away from their older deposits, the two embrace growth and their sonic evolution.
“I will say it’s kind of hard to write stuff that isn’t really on a topic anymore. It used to just come out so easily. Just like write a bunch of bullshit. Write about anything. But now, in a lot of the songs, we want there to be a theme or a purpose,” Brae added. “You have to tailor it a little bit, but it’s making us stronger writers.”
Hyperyouth’s predecessors implemented purely punchline-based songs, which the duo
“As you grow older, you shouldn’t lose that sense of your youth. Like, that’s quite literally the whole purpose of the album. I mean, I think about it a lot of the time, too. I get very introspective in terms of like, ‘I’m already Unc in this stage of my life,’” Valence explained, being met with a chortle from Brae. “I’m not, but like, it’s just a thing where life is life, dude. You just make the best of it. It doesn’t fucking matter. You just enjoy yourself.”
“I think a lot of the time where everybody struggles with their age and how they’re feeling is purely based on time, place, and just overall setting,” Brae added. It is funny when people think they’re super washed up, ‘cause you can feel that way. It’s how you look at it. It’s your perspective on everything. You can be washed up at 15 if you wanna be, or you can be washed up at 65. You probably are washed up at 65, for sure. I’m trying to call it quits by 78,” Brae chuckled in a fairly standard, light-hearted manner. Like a good chunk of its peers in the genre, JVB interpolates various genres into their unique sound through sampling ‘70s funk and 2000s EDM, just to scratch the surface. Naturally, the guys also favor collaboration, leaning on female and queer icons in recent releases. On the deluxe version of 2024’s No Hands, they featured Ayesha Erotica on the “Badder” remix of “The Baddest,” a testament to dancing. And on Hyperyouth, they feature Ms. “Friday” herself, Rebecca Black, in the 120 bpm club hit “See U Dance.” And that
openness extends beyond genre. It also shapes who they collaborate with.
“We are so embracing of [the queer community] and personally just very welcoming of anybody expressing themself in any type of way. The whole point of JVB is that you can be whoever you want to be, and we just fucking love that,” Valence declared. “I think there’s so much good queer art that comes from that community, and especially with a feature like Ayesha. I think we just naturally gravitate toward these more alternative personalities, and they just so happen to be part of the queer community. We love representing that, not only because we wanted to support that, but also it’s a nice contrast to our stupid voices.”
Hyperyouth’s title track kicks off the album with prerecorded audio of fans chanting “JVB,” highlighting their full-circle moment of evolving from kids with a dream to revered musicians playing sold-out shows on world tours. While the album pinpoints the guys’ success and growth, a deeper message reverberates. Music is a universal art that extends to everyone, not an exclusionary practice.
“I think our music reaches everybody,” Brae said. “Joey and I say all the time how cool it is where it’s kind of a bonding experience with parents and kids.”
“A lot of the time just trying to make shit to make each other laugh.”
Audience members include four-year-olds declaring JVB their favorite artists along with their like-minded, hip grandparents. Then you have the car lovers, hip-hop enthusiasts, pop aficionados, and just virtually anyone who likes music. Valence and Brae’s inability to conform to a single sound or genre translates well to their age-diverse fanbase. “JVB really is for everybody,” Valence reiterated.
When asked what a typical pre-show routine looks like, the guys giggled. JVB told CL they always try to conjure a funny answer to this question just to end up unloading the unbearable truth. They sit in silence, taking on a meditative state to prepare for the high-energy show.
While JVB may not stick to an elaborate preshow routine, they do share a commonality in stage prep, formed during their early years. Valence and Brae ensure they connect physically in a quiet, low-stakes area prior to their typical powerhouse performances. In other words, they fist bump. As the boys jump on stage, a message radiates to the audience: Encourage dancing, discourage caring. The best advice JVB can give to their crowds is to be themselves. When audiences turn off their egos and forget about fear, they settle into the comforting, carefree space, no matter what kind of Crocs they’re rocking.
HOOLIGANG: Joey Valence & Brae often goes by its initials ‘JVB.’
THU 2/12 - HELL ON HEELS BAND (PARTY DECK)
FERG’S TRIVIA (INSIDE)
FRI 2/13 - BIG BROTHER BAND
SAT 2/14 - RAYS FAN FEST
DISASTERPIECE BAND COMEDY NIGHT (UPPER DECK)
SUN 2/15 - DAYTONA 500 NASCAR (PAVILION) MAGWOOD DUO (PARTY DECK)
MON 2/16 - JORDYN & AUSTIN MUSIC
FERG’S TRIVIA
TUE 2/17 - CHRIS POWERS (SOLO)
WED 2/18 - BAREFOOT BOB & THE HOPE (OPEN JAM)
THU 2/19 - PIPER LANDON BAND (PARTY DECK)
FERG’S TRIVIA (INSIDE)
FRI 2/20 - TWINKLE & ROCK SOUL RADIO BAND
SAT 2/21 - GULFSTREAM BAND MICHIGAN BASKETBALL CHILI COOK OFF
By Ray Roa
THU 12
C Digable Planets Digable Planets’ mainstream success stopped on the Grammys stage (fitting since the latest iteration of the industry's superlatives show just a happened this month). Collecting two awards in the 1994 ceremony, the emcee trio from Philly—Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler, Craig “Doodlebug” Irving, and Mary Ann “Ladybug Mecca” Vieira—used its speeches to call out hypocrisy in the music business. “We’d like everybody to think about the people right outside this door that’s homeless,” Butler told the crowd. “As you sit in these $900 seats … they out there not eating at all. Also, we’d like to say to the universal Black family that one day we’re gonna recognize our true enemy. We’re gonna stop attacking each other, and maybe then we’ll get some changes going on.” The Planets’ sophomore album, Blowout Comb, carried the same tone, spreading antifascist messages to stand up for Black Americans. Unsurprisingly, it got virtually no label support and was considered a commercial flop, leading to the group’s breakup. Somewhere along the way, its message and complex production made Blowout a cult classic. Thirty years later, the group—which played Gasparilla Music Festival in 2024—is back together, and St. Pete is part of an extended anniversary tour. 8 p.m. $28 & up. Jannus Live, St. Petersburg—Selene San Felice
Michelle Shirelle w/Jason Paul/Vic Alvaraz/Earthgirl For her New York City band Hasty, Michele Shirelle (who was also in The Steinways) plays bubble-gum chewing, literally unapologetic (“I Don’t Know Anything”) pop-punk. At this solo acoustic gig alongside Jason Paul, Shirelle is joined by local favorite Vic Alvarez (Awkward Age) also with acoustic in hand, plus Earthgirl playing a full-band set. Get there early, too, to play some of the arcade games. 7 p.m. $10-$15. The Potion Portal, St. Petersburg
C Vincent Neil Emerson w/William Prince If you feel that outlaw country music is on life support, you’ll gain a little bit of hope upon listening to folk-country protagonist Vincent Neil Emerson. The Texan arrives with less-than-twangy tracks about adversities like living in his car and losing his father to suicide at the age of nine, and reminiscing about the brutal history of his Choctaw ancestors. The 33-year-old’s last set in town was an opening gig for Dallas Green’s City and Colour at The Ritz Ybor (just four blocks down from where the old Orpheum once stood), and it saw him confess how Green was the reason he picked up a guitar in the first place, and how his father was a truck driver, serving as the main reason why that commonly-used-in-moderncountry theme squeezed its way into his set. 7 p.m. $35.06. Orpheum, Tampa—Josh Bradley
FRI 13
Tim Cain (album release) w/Ronnie Dee & the All Stars After more than 50 years of making music Bay area pop songwriter Tim Cain is playing what’s likely the last concert of his career. Ronnie Dee (who brought saxophone to four tracks on Cain’s new album, Love, Tim Cain Vol. 1 & 2) brings his band to headline a show that will feature cuts from the album that is made up of three originals, and three covers including some from David Bowie’s 1975 album Young Americans. Friday, Feb. 13. 7 p.m. $34. Beach Theatre, St. Petersburg
C Too Many Daves w/The Slow Death/ Tides/Lot Lizards Jesse “Pretty Boy” Thorson’s punk supergroup might’ve just released its best album yet. Featuring a shifting lineup that’s included members of Tiltwheel, The Ergs!, Dillinger Four, The Raging Nathans, and more, the personnel on No Light To See boasts members of Arms Aloft including drummer Jack Gribble (who was recently arrested during a Minnesota anti-ICE protest—and released without charges) and guitarist Alex Bammel. The outing’s bleak, personal, lyrics juxtapose the big melodies and cathartic hooks and should play well in the tight quarters of Anchor Skate Supply where Too Many Daves supports. The Slow Death and Daves play Tampa to close the weekend alongside Miller Low Lifes during a Sunday show at New World. Friday, Feb. 13. 8 p.m. $15. Anchor Skate Supply, St. Petersburg
SAT 14
C Samara Joy The Grammys were big for Joy whose Portrait won Best Jazz Vocal Album. Onstage alongside the superstar of the genre was a homegrown composer and trumpeter, Jason Charos (cover subject of Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s 2019 jazz issue), who collected his second Grammy last weekend. Joy, 26, workshopped the songs on Portrait for two years before she, arranger Charos and other Floridian jazz musicians (saxophonists Kendric McCallister and David Mason, co-producer Brian Lynch who is the Studio Instructor of Jazz Trumpet at Miami’s Frost School Of Music) put it to tape. Leagues above her peers, Joy, whose tone goes from sultry to operatic in a breath, can solo and work through deep cuts from the American jazz catalog like a master. Her last local gig traversed across Mingus, Billie Holiday, Betty Carter, Sun Ra and more—so expect a jawdropping affair when she makes her Tampa debut. Saturday, Feb. 14. 7:30 p.m. $49.50 & up. Ferguson Hall at David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts, Tampa
St. Pete Punk Flea Market: Valentine’s Day Edition w/The Drop Deads/Ekibyo/ more For those who love gritty St. Pete, there are staples like Planet Retro’s Punk Flea. More than two dozen vendors are in the lineup alongside bands like Ekibyo, a crusty quintet that last year released
THU FEBRUARY 12–THU FEBRUARY 19
a bludgeoning collection of demos (Condemned to a Worthless Existence ) recorded and mastered by two Bay area legends of the DIY scene, Tim Anderson and Carson Cox, respectively. There’s no cover, but for chrissake buy something to keep weird St. Pete alive. Saturday, Feb. 14. 2 p.m. No cover. Planet Retro, St. Petersburg
C Terror Management Band w/Diamine/ Hawgs There’s regular guitar, and weird guitar on Austerity Gospel, the new album from St. Augustine art-punk outfit Terror Management Band. Apocalyptic, paranoid and strangely-uplifting, the 10-track collection of anti-anthems is inspired by the “Internet viruses, endless war, destabilization” that surrounds us. Another band from northern Florida (Hawgs) supports on a bill that features a visitor from Washington D.C. (Diamine) which released its debut full-length on legendary Spanish punk imprint Bcore last year. Saturday, Feb. 14. 7 p.m. $10. Microgroove, Tampa
SUN 15
C Bill Mason Celebration of Life: Steve Connelly & the Lesser Gods w/JGLB & Crew/Rob Stoney/The Shaguars/ Ricky Wilcox & Friends/The Henrys/ The Brainiacs feat. Ed Lowery/Brenda Shawver Mason/more There are musicians, and there are the engineers who make them sound good. Bill Mason was one of the latter. At his Hitmakers recording studio (which has been around longer than even Morrisound), he literally made bands’ dreams come true. Known also for his kindness
and unselfish nature, the Plant High School graduate died last November at the age of 74. The rockers who loved him—including Zen Studios’ legendary Steve Connelly—celebrate Mason’s life under the Skipperdome. Sunday, Feb. 15. 1 p.m. No cover. Skipper’s Smokehouse, Tampa
Ladies Rock Concert Sorry to anyone who emailed Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s Managing Editor Selene San Felice this week and got an out-of-office message. As part of her job, Selene went to camp. Ladies Rock Camp, to be exact. An offshoot of St. Pete’s famous Girls Rock Camp, the summit finds a couple dozen women coming together, learning instruments and forming brand new bands that will all hit the stage this weekend for the first time. Sunday, Feb. 15. 6 p.m. $10-$20. Bayboro Brewing Co., St. Petersburg
MON 16
C Matthew Logan Vasquez w/ Kristopher James/Shy Blossom Neil Young just canceled all his tour dates, but at least there’s Vasquez. Frontman of west coast rock band Delta Spirit, the 42-yearold has always been a little unhinged in the best way (“Taco Trump”), but his recent Frank’s Full Moon Saloon outings find MLV re-recording his band’s songs and turning them into epiphanies from the past that are dustier and more rootsy than anything Delta Spirit put to tape. Expect nothing less than a masterclass in songwriter and showmanship from one of the country’s most undersung voices. Monday, Feb. 16. 7 p.m. $20-$25. Oscura, Bradenton
TUE 17
Hip-hop in the Heights Shuffle’s famed “Remix” open mic is no more and has since passed the aux to this monthly where emcees, producers and singers join other creatives to share their work. Third Tuesdays through March 17. 9 p.m. No cover. Shuffle, Tampa
WED 18
C Whippersnap 2026: Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe w/Spafford/ Thumpasaurus/Eddie Roberts & the Lucky Strokes/more Rolling Stones’ Karl Denson (who co-founded The Greyboy Allstars) fronts his longtime Tiny Universe band to headline what’s become Brooksville’s premier camping music festival. The unit—a purveyor of funk, jazz, soul, and rock—is the tip of the spear on a lineup of jam scene heavyweights that delve into electro (Spafford), party-rock (Thumpasaurus), old-school (Eddie Roberts) and more. Wednesday-Saturday, Feb. 18-21. $50 & up. Florida Sand Music Ranch, Brooksville
C CL Recommends
Samara Joy
Pop music fans not living under Kid Rocksized fedora know full well that Puerto Rican music is having a moment.
Ahead of last weekend’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos picked up the Album of the Year Grammy award last Sunday—and this summer a band that helped him along the way plays its own headlining show in Ybor City. Chuwi, which calls the island’s northwestern coast home, is credited on Bad Bunny’s “Weltita” (stylized “WELTiTA”), and backed Mr. Bunny for the song on every night of his hometown residency, which staged 31 concerts last year from July-September.
Known for its infectious, updated, blend of plena, salsa and bomba, Chuwi traverses not just Latin music, but jazz and pop, with ease (as evidenced on its NPR Tiny Desk last fall). Founding siblings Willy, Lorén and Wester Aldarondo work with bandmate Adrián López to bring many sounds from home into their music, much like another Bad Bunny collaborator Fabiola Mendez (a cuatro player who brought the jíbaro music of PR to Tampa a year ago at Gasparilla Festival of the Arts)
Canaan Cox Thursday, April 16. 7 p.m.
$24.04 & up. Music hall at New World Tampa, Tampa
Bad Suns Friday, April 17. 9 p.m. $37.86. Jannus Live, St. Petersburg
Eric Johnson Friday, April 17. 8 p.m. $37 & up. Bilheimer Capitol Theatre, Clearwater
Steinway Piano Series: Arthur Greene Sunday, April 19. 4 p.m. No cover, tickets required. Barness Recital Hall at University of South Florida, Tampa
UB40 feat. Ali Campbell Sunday, April 19. 8 p.m. $50.25 & up. Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater
Boogarins Friday, April 24. 7 p.m. $24.06. Bayboro Brewing Co., St. Petersburg
Harvey Street Friday, April 24. 7:30 p.m. $20. Music hall at New World Tampa, Tampa
Tropical Heatwave 2026: Keller Williams w/Eilen Jewell/more Saturday, April 25. 5 p.m. $50-$60. Cuban Club, Ybor City
Support is yet to be announced (we vote for Katara and Mila Killa), but the gig is a punctuation mark for Crowbar, a legendary Tampa venue that will close before the fall after 20 years in Ybor City. The show is one of three Florida concerts by Chuwi, which also plays Orlando and Miami after its Tampa gig.
Tickets to see Chuwi play Crowbar in Ybor City on Wednesday, May 13 are on sale now for $36.99 (including fees). See Josh Bradley’s rundown of newly announced concerts below.—Ray Roa
Romeo Santos w/Prince Royce Sunday, April 26. 8 p.m. $95.75 & up. Benchmark International Arena, Tampa
Alabama Shakes w/Lamont Landers Thursday, April 30. 7:15 p.m. $75 & up. The BayCare Sound, Clearwater
Nite w/TBA Thursday, May 28. 7 p.m. $20.22. Music hall at New World Tampa, Tampa
Josh Groban w/Jennifer Hudson Friday, June 19. 8 p.m. $82 & up. Benchmark International Arena, Tampa
Hot Dog Party 20 Friday-Saturday, July 3-4. Cover TBD. Crowbar, Ybor City
Triumph w/April Wine Sunday, May 24. 8 p.m. $68.20 & up. MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa
Toto w/Christopher Cross/The Romantics Saturday, Aug. 1. 6:45 p.m. $35 & up. MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa
Avenged Sevenfold w/Good Charlotte Tuesday, Aug. 18. 6 p.m. $54.50 & up. MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa
Goo Goo Dolls w/Neon Trees Monday, Aug. 24. 7:30 p.m. $40.50 & up. MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, Tampa.
Quickies
By Dan Savage
I’m an 81-year-old heterosexual woman whose husband died last May. I have found that my 56-year-old gardener of 15 years can make me sexually happy. But now after four months he says he’s not respecting his wife by having sex with me. He relates this to going to a Catholic priest for confession. He seems to enjoy our sex. What should I tell him?
“You’re fired.” P.S. Kidding, kidding—don’t fire your gardener. Tell him you’re grateful for the sexual happiness, you don’t want him to do anything that makes him feel uncomfortable, and then give him a raise. P.P.S. Will no one free us from these meddlesome priests?
I have a boyfriend who never asks for anything. He also never says “I love you.” Do you think this is a red flag? It depends on how long you’ve been seeing this guy. If you’ve only been seeing him for a few weeks—especially if you haven’t had a DTR convo and your use of “boyfriend” is the relationship equivalent of grade inflation—the fact that he isn’t asking you to pick up his dry cleaning (just this once) or peg his ass (on the regular) could be seen as a green flag, e.g. he doesn’t expect you to do girlfriend grunt work before you’re BF/GF official. Same goes for saying “I love you”: if you’re still in the early stages, he may be feeling it, he may be thinking about saying it, but waiting until he’s sure before he says it? Another green flag… if the relationship is still relatively new. But if it’s been a year and he doesn’t ask you for anything (and doesn’t offer anything) and he doesn’t say “I love you” (or stopped saying “I love you”), then we’re in red flag territory.
Best creative positions for pregnant people? There aren’t good positions that work for all non-pregnant people—some positions/ angles of penetration work for some people but not for others—and experimentation with different positions is the best way to find the positions that work for you as an individual and a couple. I assume the same is true of pregnant people: some positions/angles of penetration work for some and not for others, and experimentation is the best way to figure out which ones—creative or not—work best for you right now. (And congrats!) Why do guys who wanna get pegged refuse to douche/prepare? What to do in those cases? Peg a guy who doesn’t prepare once, shame on him. Peg a guy who doesn’t prepare twice, shame on you. P.S. In fairness, some straight guys don’t know how to prepare; their girlfriends/ wives/Dommes should direct them to one of the five million douching tutorials on YouTube. In cases where a guy has been directed to online douching tutorials and he still isn’t cleaning out properly… that guy doesn’t deserve to be pegged. What amount of jealousy/insecurity in a poly relationship is OK? “What matters most
is not so much the amount of jealousy/insecurity, but the way it’s handled,” said Dr. Marie Thouin. “If someone grapples with jealousy but they’re staying on the same team with their partner(s), that’s okay; but if someone feels so disempowered that they start seeing their partner as an enemy, something needs to change.” Dr. Marie Thouin is a dating and relationship coach who has extensively researched and written about compersion. Follow @drmariethouin on Instagram.
Can lesbians please stop being so mad at me for being bi? I just want to have sex with a woman and not lie about my sexuality on my dating profile. I promise I don’t make being bi my whole personality. You encounter two types of people on dating/hookup apps: people who are there to fuck people who wanna fuck them and people who are there to complain about (and complain at) people they don’t wanna fuck and/or people who don’t wanna fuck them. Yes, it sucks when a stranger goes out of their way to say something shitty to you on a hookup app; there are lots of shitty people everywhere, and some of them are lesbians. But your best move is to block shitty people and then refrain—as hard as it might be—from blaming all lesbians everywhere for the shitty behavior of a few lesbians on the apps.
as a cocksucker—they may set off other people’s gaydar—but they’re highly unlikely to get him laid. If a gay or bi dude sees your husband in public and thinks 1. he’s hot and 2. he must be gay or bi given those earrings, that tattoo, those bisexual bracelets, etc., that guy is more likely to open up Grindr or Sniffies or Scruff and send your husband a message—if he finds him there—than he is to approach your husband on the street and risk making a pass at him.
daddy,” to their actual father during sex—and no one is saying that to their actual brother or father—then it’s fine. Just as adults calling each other “baby” during sex doesn’t invoke, endorse, or normalize pedophilia, men calling each other “bro” and “daddy” during sex doesn’t invoke, endorse, or normalize incest.
SAVAGE LOVE
P.S. You know who’s never mad at bisexual women for being bisexual women? Other bisexual women! You have options!
You never write about a hair fetish, let alone a fetish for completely bald heads. Because I’m a guy who’s very much turned on by women with smooth, shiny heads. And I’m not the only guy who has this fetish. What do you say about this? I would say… you shouldn’t read anything into my not having written something about your particular fetish. I’m aware that some men like women with smooth, shiny heads, and it’s a perfectly fine fetish for a man to have. If it hasn’t come up in the column, that’s because no one has sent me a letter about it.
I’m a cis bi female in my 40s married to a cis bi male in his 50s. He came out to me last year as bi, which was a HUGE surprise and incredibly rad. We have started to explore non-monogamy, and he has been on the apps looking for a male FWB and not having much luck. I’ve heard you mention things that were “gay coded” in the 1990s, like tribal armband tattoos. If a man my husband’s age wears earrings and has a ‘90s tribal armband tattoo and wears rainbow bi pride bracelets, etc., will he set off anyone’s gaydar? Is there anything else he can do? Your husband’s earrings, tattoos, and pride bracelets may get him clocked
I’m a bisexual nonbinary person in my late-20s. I use gender-neutral pronouns in the workplace and on my legal documents. However, my family members don’t seem to believe me. I’ve asked my parent and my sibling to use my preferred pronouns multiple times, and they just laugh it off. I’ve tried GNC hairstyles, and I dress pretty GNC; that doesn’t seem to help. Their behavior feels dismissive, but I know they love me, which makes me hesitant to be firmer with them. I don’t understand why you would hesitate to be rude to your family—sorry: why would you hesitate to be firm with your family— given that your family is rude to you. That said, you’re not Tinkerbell: you don’t need them to believe. I got a lot of, “Oh, you just need to meet the right girl,” from my extended family after I came out, which felt dismissive and disrespectful. My strategy was to make fun of them for being straight (“You just need to meet the right guy, Uncle Jerry”) and—if they kept it up—to describe what I loved about gay sex in graphic detail. I’m not sure what the equivalent move for a nonbinary person might be (describing your last haircut in graphic detail doesn’t have the same punch), but the general lesson applies: respect earns respect.
There are a million think pieces on how and why people—men and women—are obsessed with “Heated Rivalry” but no one has really touched on the power of a longterm, soft Dom/sub dynamic, like the one Ilya and Shane have. We need your analysis! My analysis: it’s fucking hot when Ilya orders Shane around (“Get on your knees”) and Heated Rivalry shows us that a naturally skilled Dom like Ilya can give orders and still check in (“This OK?”) without ruining the D/s vibe.
How can I make sex more spontaneous? Planning to have more spontaneous sex seems a little contradictory—like, doesn’t planning to have more unplanned sexual encounters highlight the fact that the best sex is planned? I suppose you could make a plan to spend time together in a place where you can’t or shouldn’t have sex and then go ahead and have sex in that place… but it’s still a plan, isn’t it?
Thoughts on guys saying, “I love you, bro,” or, “I love you, daddy,” during sex? So long as no one is saying, “I love you, bro,” to their actual brother during sex or, “I love you,
Any thoughts on why and when gay men started sniffing butts before rimming? Is this a new fetish? If there was ever something that needed to pass the smell test, it would be the ass you’re about to eat. I don’t know if this is a “new fetish,” but I sincerely hope it’s not. This is something gay men—at least the ones who eat ass—should’ve been doing all along.
A new partner is not well-endowed. My other partner is. How do I gracefully decline a romantic relationship knowing it will be unsatisfying when I like the person, but I just don’t want sex from him. You can tell a guy you don’t wanna keep fucking him without telling him precisely why you don’t wanna keep fucking. If this guy insists on knowing the real and actual and true reason you don’t wanna keep fucking him, make something up. P.S. The Golden Rule applies here: If a guy didn’t want to keep having sex with you because your pussy was too loose or too tight or too wet or too dry or too busy or too bedazzling… would you want that man to tell you the truth or would you rather he tell you a face-saving, ego-sparing white lie? Do unto others.
Are there “woman-friendly” glory holes in places that aren’t porn shops? And what is the glory hole etiquette? Leo Herrera, author of “Analogue Cruising” and other books, walked his readers through basic glory hole etiquette in a piece he wrote for his newsletter, “Herrera Words.” As for woman-friendly glory holes…
Glory holes in porn shops and truck stops and men’s toilets in university libraries are not “woman-friendly.” And you could argue that since no one would expect a woman to be on the other side of a glory hole in any of those spaces, a woman who got on the other side of one of those glory holes would be guilty of a consent violation—I mean, guys who stick their cocks through holes aren’t exactly choosy about who sucks their cocks, but it’s not unreasonable for them to assume that it will be a man. The best place to find a “woman-friendly” glory hole—one where the guy sticking his cock through the hole is hoping there’s a woman on the other side—is at a sex club that caters to straight swingers. Are we going to be OK? Depends on your time horizon. Will we make it to tomorrow? I think we will. But I am not placing any bets on 2027.
Got problems? Yes, you do! Email your question for the column to mailbox@savage.love! Or record your question for the Savage Lovecast at savage.love/askdan! Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love.
Onset of cold
Valley girl’s reaction to her first beer?
Mock, in a way
It makes a freeway into a feeway
The ___ (bending the elbow?) 25 TV Johnny, the rebel
“Star Wars,” really: abbr.
Global turning point
Tyson’s home, for a while
Pig Latin cancellation
Con vote
Rattles
Lethargy
Beer-lover’s dinner? 45 North by Northwest star’s first name
Guam et al.
Feathered “friend”? 50 Beery attorney?
Swiss river
Forty-___
Memo opener
On the tip of
58 “___ the bag”
60 See 45 Across
61 Start of a Shakespeare comedy
63 What Rip Taylor says even when he’s on the wagon?
66 With 71 Across, a beer drinker’s bio?
See 66 Across
Ataturk’s first
Tranquillity Base place
Last letter
Sandy getaway
Go over again
Llama land
Top number?
Bit of grade-B entertainment for beer drinkers?
Brosnan’s sleuth
Kozol classic, Death at an
or Robbins
Smarter about beer?
Subaru model
game show hosted by Bill Cullen, 1966-69
Last one to know
Startling syllable
Fontanne’s guy
One-beer bars?
Slaw, for one
Pay this: abbr.
Getting romantic in a bar?
Mahler’s mate (who later married Walter Gropius)
“What ___ without the beasts?” (Chief Seattle)
Join this
Zoic preceder
Closely trimmed, as meat
Anti-smoking org.
Queue after Q
Fend off a fencer
Jog
67 Impediment to humility
68 Calibration: abbr.
69 Saber alternative
70 Attractive quality?: abbr.
71 TV sidekick in buckskin
72 Reagan’s third Interior secretary
“___ a vacation!” 75 Pull a boner
Grocery section
Let in or on
Like clay 79 Rustic parents 81 Drug abuse, discrimination, etc.
82 Leonard ___ (Roy Rogers) 83 Regan’s dad
84 Work unit
87 Stay down, as a yo-yo
89 Murray and West 90 Eye part 91 vu 93 Station ending
