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Articles by Ray Roa
Hillsborough County’s ‘Hiking Spree’ is happening now, offering prizes to anyone who completes at least eight trails before April
Florida voters passed the property tax-cutting Amendment 3 this month, and the drama surrounding its implementation will unfold over the next few months. One good way to relieve the stress is to touch some grass, especially while parks departments have funding. In its 11th year, the Hillsborough County Hiking Spree offers just that, and incentivises participation by giving out prizes (patch, medallion, or dog bandana) to anyone who completes eight or more of the over two dozen trails.
Ybor City restaurant Lara hosts Greater Public Studio’s ‘FEED’ zine release this month
There are just a few more days left to enjoy Lara, the Ybor City restaurant shuttering this month after nearly two years bringing creative dishes to 7th Avenue. The space continues to host community events, however, including this Zine launch for Feed Zine (stylized in all-caps) created by Tampa’s Greater Public Studio.
Phoebe Bridgers’ phone-free Lost Tour is coming to Tampa in April
A decade after making her Tampa debut in front of less than 200 people at Gasparilla Music Festival, Phoebe Bridgers is bringing perhaps the most sought-after ticket in indie-rock to Tampa this spring. Today, the 32-year-old Los Angeles songwriter added dates to her headline-grabbing phone-free Lost Tour, including three in Florida. The tour supports latest LP, Lost Weekend, which is sure to top year-old best of lists in the coming weeks.
More than a store, Ybor City’s ‘Palimpsest’ book studio opens on November 19
It’s no secret that bookstores are having a moment as they pop up at rates higher than they’ve been in a century, and Tampa Bay’s been in on the movement. Just last week, South Tampa’s House of Analog’s welcomed Itimpi Books. St. Pete’s seen new shops like Pages & Perks and Reverie Room are now open. And in Ybor City, Bookends has finally cut the ribbon on its bungalow. Also in Tampa’s most famous historic district, Palimpsest (stylize it “Pal•imp•sest”) is so much more than a store.
FloridaRama Fest and Tigertail Asian Film Festival among best ‘Art Everywhere’ events happening in Pinellas November 12-18
Tampa Bay’s Art Everywhere celebration continues this week with a full slate of events led by the fifth anniversary of St. Pete’s FloridaRAMA, Pinellas Theatre Week, and the Print Party at Boyd Hill Nature Preserve. FloridRama CEO Liz Dimmitt unveils the venue’s Artstream, a mobile mini museum this weekend as part of Creative Pinellas and Visit St. Pete Clearwater’s new tourist-targeted month-long celebration of culture and creativity.
Tampa Bay’s best live music and concerts happening November 12-19, including Jimmy Eat World, Fin Fest, Deer Tick and more
Are you listening? Because Jimmy Eat World is finally coming to Tampa for its Bleed American anniversary tour. The gig is part of this weekly roundup of Tampa Bay’s best live music and concerts happening Nov. 12-19, including Eric Bachmann’s intimate Ybor City gig, the rager from The Faint, and Fin Fest taking over the St. Pete Pier. This listing is compiled by Creative Loafing Tampa Bay contributors and staffers, then supplemented with select gigs pulled from CL’s user submitted events calendar.
Heartland songwriter William Elliott Whitmore returns to Tampa this month
In a world where there are far too many Rivian-driving Americana scene posers and country guys doing it all for the ‘gram, William Elliott Whitmore offers an alternative. The gruff-voiced, wood-chuckin’ Iowan kicks off his tour this week and wraps just in time for winter. Supporting the 48-year-old is Texas-based husband-wife purveyor of gothic “border-rock” The Division Men. Tickets to see William Elliott Whitmore and The Division Men at New World Music Hall in Tampa on Thursday, Nov.
Vaporwave chaos goblin George Clanton plays Tampa concert on Tuesday
Vaporwave is the niche critics like to put George Clanton in, but the 38-year-old producer and songwriter contains multitudes. A chaos goblin before the term entered the lexicon, Clanton’s live shows are high-energy, head-scratching affairs where he’ll crowd surf and talk to the crowd all while making everyone who bought a ticket forget what ails them.
St. Pete’s Historic Kenwood neighborhood hosts four hours of porch concerts on Sunday
There’s a different kind of house show happening this weekend in one of St. Pete’s neatest neighborhoods. More than a dozen porches in Historic Kenwood host nearly three dozen sets from bands like folk-rock outfit Bite Size and the songwriter-cellist combo of Deb Ruby and Melissa Grady. Born in the summer of 2022 to mark “Worldwide Play Music on the Porch Day,” organizers have since adapted, thankfully, to accommodate the weather in these parts.
‘No Christmas Cards for Fascists’ songwriters play no-cover Tampa concert this weekend
When it comes to post-election concerts, punk and Americana fans might not do better than this no-cover gig from the artistic power couple, Micah Schnabel & Vanessa Jean Speckman.
Flipturn, the Florida indie-rock band gone global, plays St. Pete’s Fin Fest concert this weekend
After staging its long-running reggae festival at Vinoy Park over spring break, organizers of Reggae Rise Up are back with this festival packed with the kind of indie-rock that’s a hallmark of your Spotify algorithm. Flipturn is the gem on the Fin Fest poster for good reason. Florida-born, and alum on early Gasparilla Music Festival lineups, the band has gone big.
The Faint, Saddle Creek pioneer of early aughts dance-punk, comes to Ybor City this weekend
Gone are the days when $20 could get buy all the drinks anyone needed for a proper night out at the hip indie-rock club. We can at least relive the music this weekend thanks to The Faint. A throwback from the golden days of Saddle Creek—and featuring Reptar’s Graham Ulincy on keys—the dance-punk band has spent the last few years revisiting its classic albums Blank-Wave Arcade (1999) and Wet from Birth (2004), which could make up a bulk of the night after hyper-punk band Cozy In The Black opens.
Archers Of Loaf’s Eric Bachmann plays intimate Ybor City concert on Friday
Archers Of Loaf has a hell of a history in Florida, once playing Tallahassee on a bill with Sebadoh. The early-’90s indie-rock hero even played Nebraska Avenue’s Stone Lounge in 1995. In February 2025, Loaf co-founder Eric Bachmann played an intimate gig at the Kress Contemporary in Ybor City (see photos from the show below), and the 56-year-old is back to do it again, this time with a new LP from his other project.
Tampa Bay’s best food and drink events, including Burger Week happening November 12-22
It’s time to expand your innards ahead of Thanksgiving. Tampa Bay Burger Week returns on Nov. 12, bringing with it 10 days of beefy deals—and vegan ones, too. More than two dozen restaurants on both sides of Tampa Bay have already signed up, including The Dan, A Boy Named Sous, Common Dialect Beerworks’ brand new kitchen, Juno & the Peacock and more.
Photos: For week one of Pinellas’ Arts Everywhere, creativity really was all over the place
Arts Everywhere is, well, all over Pinellas County through Dec. 6, thanks to a new injection of energy into the county’s tradition of celebrating creative culture in the fall. At the Morean workshop space, clay was shaped and will soon be part of an “Under One Canopy” bench to be unveiled next month. At the nearby FloridaRama—celebrating its fifth anniversary this weekend by the way—Chad Mize opened the new Impact Gallery with his “Untitled” show.
Florida State Rep. Elect Ashley Herrmann, consultants and analysts break down Florida election results
Ashley Herrmann at WMNF in Tampa, Florida on Nov. 6, 2026. // Photo by Ray Roa Some pundits think Nov. 3’s “blue-nami” missed Florida–not Matthew Isbell. The Democratic analyst says Independents broke for Democrats in the Sunshine State. He joined WMNF Tampa public affairs program The Skinny on the Friday after Election Day to discuss his party’s wins and losses, voter registration, plus the future of the party, and pollsters, going forward.
Safety Harbor songwriter Kip Kelly to play vulnerable debut LP at Saturday concert
From open (“Mother’s Day”) to close (“Let It Fly”) Kip Kelly’s debut LP is a heavy listen, but what he simply set out to do was capture the first two years of a songwriting journey that started nearly a decade ago.
St. Pete artists and bikers host Saturday benefit for nonprofit that does laundry for free
For most of us, a pile of laundry is an annoyance. For others, it’s one of the many barriers to a better quality of life. Over the last 17 years, Tampa-born nonprofit Current Initiatives has helped families climb that mountain with a simple act of kindness: doing their laundry for free.
Tampa Bay’s best food & drink events happening November 5-12, including Savor St. Pete at Vinoy Park
The weather looks perfect this weekend, and what we all need in the wake of the election is a big ass glass of wine. Savor St. Pete organizers will have that and more when over 100 chefs, bartenders, breweries, spirits makers and brands take over Vinoy Park. Fly By Jing creator Chef Jing Gao is among the culinarians doing demos, alongside FOMO Chefs founder Johnathan Rodriguez and others.
J. Roddy Walston, purveyor of chaotic piano-rock, plays St. Pete on Friday
Rocking a piano is a lost art in rock and roll, but J. Roddy Walston has it figured out. With his new Automatic Band backing him, the 43-year-old is the kind of frontman that can get a room sweating after just three songs, thanks to chaotic and rollicking performances that are rooted in the blues and honky-tonk, then colored with elements of Southern rock and Americana. Tickets to see J. Roddy Walston at Bayboro Brewing in St. Petersburg on Friday, Nov. 6 are still available and start at $31.99.
Tampa Democratic Socialist Ashley Herrmann elected as Florida State Representative
Democratic Socialism continues to infiltrate state politics in Florida, even in Tampa where Ashley Herrmann just defeated incumbent State Rep. Danny Alvarez in District 69. With all precincts reporting, Herrmann has just under 52% of the vote, according to unofficial results from the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections. Herrmann ran a disciplined campaign and was boosted by big canvassing efforts by the Tampa DSA chapter.
Democrat Aileen Rodriguez defeats Josh Wostal in race for Hillsborough County Commission
Break out las chanclas, Aileen Rodriguez is headed for the Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners after ousting incumbent “hostile” Josh Wostal. With 95% of precincts reporting, Rodriguez has 56% of the vote, according to unofficial results from the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections.
Democrat Brian Nathan wins re-election to Florida State Senate
Democratic Florida State Sen. Brian Nathan can really settle into his office on the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and Highland Avenue, after winning re-election in the race for Florida’s District 14 State Senate Seat. With all precincts reporting, Nathan has more than 52% of the the vote, according to unofficial results from the Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections.
Charlie Crist has been elected Mayor of St. Petersburg
Former Florida Governor Charlie Crist will be St. Petersburg’s next mayor. Crist won the blue city in spite of his connections to Republican donors and an embattled Republican political operative. With 53% of precincts reporting as of 7:30 p.m., the former Governor of Florida holds a commanding lead over incumbent Ken Welch, according to unofficial returns from the Pinellas County Supervisor of Election . The mayoral race was one of the ugliest St. Petersburg has seen.
Tampa Bay’s best things to do, November 5-12, including ‘The House of Analog’ opening
The 200 block of South Tampa’s Howard Avenue has a big weekend planned for people who love putting their phones down. That’s because three businesses contained within neighboring bungalows have combined forces to form “The House of Analog.” Located at 211 & 213 S Howard Ave., The Paper Seahorse, Noisy Crane Tea House, and Itimpi Books make up a triumvirate ready to celebrate parchment, tea leaves and stepping away from the internet connection.
Tampa transit activists will host a bus ride-pub crawl this month
There are about 14 blocks between the Independent Bar & Café and Ology Brewing Co., and a group of transit activists intend on covering them all during a bar crawl later this month. Grassroots organization Transit Now Tampa Bay (TNTB) wants to put the “pub” in “public transportation” when it brings folks on HART’s No. 1 bus, which travels up and down N Florida Avenue.
Hidden Springs Ale Works plans to relocate Tampa Heights tasting room, will host last service on December 20
Hidden Springs Ale Works’ Tampa Heights tasting room has had a front row seat to changes around the neighborhood, and this month becomes part of that turnover. The brewery, located at 1631 N Franklin St., opened in September 2015 and recently announced plans to close its tasting room on Sunday. Dec. 20 and search for a new location. “ …we are here to stay,” Hidden Springs wrote on social media.
‘Tampa Bay Reporter’ news website to celebrate launch with Friday party at Ferg’s
In the Tampa Bay news ecosystem, there are few bylines as active as Mark Parker’s. For nearly five years, his work covering municipal issues carried much of St. Pete Catalyst, and now, after a short stint freelancing (with one byline at Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, in full disclosure), Parker is now editor-in-chief at a new, non-paywalled publication. Tampa Bay Reporter is published by “Fast Pitch” organizer and venture capital firm founder Scott Kelly and has been online since late-September.
Photos: Dead Poet Society played a rain-soaked Halloween concert in Tampa
Dead Poet Society was in Tampa on Halloween night for a show at Orpheum but mostly skipped the costumes as it supported a new album. Just guitarist-singer Jack Underkofler (space cowboy?) was in the spirit along with fans singing along to many of the words of Monarch, released just a few weeks before the show. Hunny (stylized all-caps) was in full regalia for the holiday, however, as it opened the show alongside Broadside. Pitch in to help make the Tampa Bay Journalism Project a success.
The best new concerts coming to Tampa Bay, including Pete Yorn and a Roger Waters produced Pink Floyd show
For Pete Yorn fans, the morning after was 25 years ago. Illustrating just how long ago that was, the early-aughts songwriter darling of indie-rock took to TikTok and other social media platforms to announce a solo acoustic tour celebrating the silver anniversary of his debut LP, which was released in March 2001.
Harvard project talks Florida’s young voters, and we hear from Melissa Rutland who’s running for state house in Pinellas
Melissa Rutland at WMNF in Tampa on Oct. 30, 2026. / Photo by Ray Roa Overnight Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis was on Twitter wondering if Polk County Republicans will show up on Election Day. Democrats are also thinking about who’s voted in the General Election and who hasn’t, and the Harvard Public Opinion Project (HPOP) has data on whether or not young voters could decide the midterms.
Music from the fringes of Florida’s music scene comes to Dunedin for November ‘Unusual Noise’ festival
Last year, Pinellas County Commissioners handed Visit St. Pete-Clearwater money that was supposed to go to Creative Pinellas. Part of the distribution of those funds has resulted in “Art Everywhere,” a month-long celebration of art. Programming kicks off Sunday and runs through Dec. 6. There’s almost never anything normal about the music at Dunedin Brewery, so it makes sense to see the venue staying weird with the grant it got from the tourism agency.
Tampa Bay’s best live music this week including Dana and Alden, Damon Fowler benefit and Halloween concerts
Grab your costume, live music lovers. The Tampa Bay show calendar is freakishly packed, with Halloween concerts of course, but also headlining sets that span genres. This listing of Tampa Bay’s best live music and concerts happening Oct. 29-Nov. 5 is compiled by Creative Loafing Tampa Bay contributors and staffers, then supplemented with select gigs off CL’s user-generated events calendar. Don’t see your show here?
Tampa Bay’s Halloween concert lineup includes ‘Zombie Prom,’ emo covers show and more
A robust slate of Halloween concerts awaits live music lovers across Tampa Bay, and it kicks off Friday with this indie-rock prom of sorts. “Zombie Prom” finds St. Pete’s We’re Sweet Girls DJ collective playing selector, while the Tampa Bay area’s favorite bearded queen Adriana Sparkle hosts as the party takes over the Coppertail loading dock. Tickets to see Peace Cult, WSAB, NowInColor, and Pocketknife at Coppertail Brewing in Tampa on Friday, Oct. 30 are still available and start at $19.62.
After a short summer break, the Bay area’ beloved Emo Night Tampa series kicks off its 12th year this weekend with a Halloween ritual: an all-covers show where local favorites take on the genre’s most revered bands. Paraless—a supergroup of sorts featuring members of Tampa and Orlando bands like Bad Bad Things, Pet Lizard, and Skeletizer—cover Paramore while “Bad, Bad Cowboy” takes on Australian pub-rock outfit Amyl and the Sniffers. Anything kind of goes on Oct.
Meek Mill is playing downtown Tampa’s big ‘Nightmare on Channelside’ Halloween concert
People love to complain (rightfully) about Live Nation’s death grip on independent live music. Well here’s a show where an indie promoter actually booked one of the largest venues in town, Benchmark International Arena, with an ambitious lineup of rap stars. Hip-hop’s most famous MAGA rapper Kodak Black tops the bill alongside “2 Phones” emcee Kevin Gates. Former Roc Nation star Meek Mill rounds out a support bill that includes Tampa’s OG jook god Tom G.
‘Dixie Be Damned’ country songwriter Nick Shoulders plays Tampa this weekend
Tampa gets a dose of shithole country this weekend thanks to Nick Shoulders. The mustachioed Arkansan songwriter released his fifth studio LP Refugia Blues almost a year ago and continues to support the rootsy collection of Americana that addresses the social issues prevalent in past releases (Home On The Rage, All Bad) while bringing the 37-year-old back to his solo roots (before the arrival of his ace band, Okay Crawdad).
Off the wall psych-jazz band Doom Gong plays Tampa brewery concert in November
Over the last two months, Doom Gong has been on the road playing its weird AF brand of proggy-experimental psych-jazz. On albums like last year’s Megagong (stylized all-caps), the band weaves together Mellotron, more synth, horns and traditional keys with percussion of all stripes and vocals that are less lyrical and more like yet another instrument in the arsenal.
Tampa activists will hold ICE protest this Sunday in Ybor City
The Bay area, especially Tampa, was built on the backs of immigrants. And politicians love to talk about them. On the campaign trail, Republicans talk about deporting them, regardless of whether they’ve violated a criminal statute. Some Democrats toe the line, trying to convince moderates that they believe in borders while also pandering to progressives.
Hillsborough County Fair, complete with a demolition derby, opens November 5
In a world where even the Florida State Fair will break a family’s bank, it’s good to know the Hillsborough County Fair exists. Kicking off next Thursday and running for 11 days, the hoedown has all the accouterments of the big fair in February—and arguably more, thanks to the opening weekend rodeo and fair-closing demolition derby. There are deals galore, too, including carload nights (up to eight people as long as they have seatbelts on!) and discount days that see tickets drop as low as $6.18.
It’s a good weekend to try one of Tampa Bay’s many ghost tours
It’s your last acceptable weekend to talk about the ghosts you’ve seen without people thinking you’re weird—and there are plenty of haunted tours around the Tampa Bay area to help. • The scariest may be the Ghosts of Tampa Theatre Tours and more frightening is that that every single one of them is totally sold-out. • Down the street, however, the University of Tampa’s Henry B.
Tampa Bay’s best things to do, October 29-November 5, including a cypress swamp talk with NatGeo photographer Mac Stone
In the September issue of National Geographic, Mac Stone painted Florida in a majestic light with photography that captured the annual striped mullet migration. In his photos, millions of mullet look like walls in the ocean as they move south to spawn. The photos alone can radicalize someone into a conservationist, but the videos that came out of the project will finish the job. The 42-year-old Virginia Tech grad spends a lot of time in the swamp, too.
Photos: The Linda Lindas play Tampa Orpheum
Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief... More by Ray Roa Sandrasonik's Photography and Digital Art Work is driven by outstanding proposals, projects, causes and people.Photographer, Singer, Songwriter, Graphic Designer, Web Designer, Documentary Film Maker,... More by Sandra Dohnert
The best new concerts coming to Tampa Bay, including Andy Grammer, The Casualties, Cold Steel and more
Taste of Pinellas just announced two parts of its lineup coming to Tropicana Field this spring, but Andy Grammy and Old Dominion are just part of this new roundup of new concert announcements coming to Tampa Bay. Punk elder The Casualties is also on the way back, along with one of Tampa’s finest new hardcore export Cold Steel, Jason Isbell, and more. Cozy In The Black/Thee Liquid Jesus (opening for The Faint) Saturday, Nov. 14. 8 p.m. $39.55 & up.
For insight into the desperate, worn out Republican election playbook, voters just need to turn on the Devil Rays game. In between innings, the folks supporting former Florida Rep. Josie Tomkow are running an ad built around a photo of State Sen. Brian Nathan snapped by Creative Loafing Tampa Bay photographer Dave Decker.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: Hillsborough and Pinellas congressional seats
It was a bit of a surprise to see The Tampa Bay Times recently “recommend” incumbent Republican Gus Bilikrakis over Democrat and former Hillsborough County commissioner Kimberly Oveman. In the write-up, the Times referred to Bilikrakis as “effective,” “measured” and “reasonable.” We’re wondering if the Tampa Bay Times editors even read their own paper.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: How to vote in Tampa Bay, and who we’re voting for
Some people don’t do politics, choosing instead to let politics do them (and their neighbors). Many don’t have that privilege and that’s why you’re here. The 2026 general election ballot is a doozy that’ll take stamina, but use this voting guide to warm up. These picks come after Creative Loafing Tampa Bay skipped endorsements for the summer primary, partly to staff limitations, but also because we weren’t sure readers wanted them.
Creative Loafing voting guide 2026: Florida’s Constitutional Amendments
Creative Loafing Tampa Bay Florida’s Constitutional Amendment recommendations are easy: Vote “No” on all three, especially No. 3, the extremely well-funded property tax-cutting amendment, which even the bill’s former champions are now voting against. Here’s why. On the ballot, expanding the “Budget Stabilization Fund” might sound like a good idea. Who doesn’t want a bigger rainy day fund?
Tampa Bay’s best things to do this week, including East Tampa’s haunted car wash
The Tampa Bay area has no shortage of haunted attractions. There might not be one more interesting than the “Terror Wash” on the corner of E Bougainvillea Avenue and 30th Street in the shadow of Busch Gardens. Running for two hours a night Thursday-Sunday throughout October, the wash features creepy characters and zombies, jump scares and special effects. All of it happens while your car gets cleaned and dried and is covered in the price of a wash ($25).
Tampa Bay live music calendar, October 22-29, including The Linda Lindas, Indie Night, and more
Tampa Bay’s live music weekend kicks off tonight with the Rock & Roll Circus happening in Ybor City, and it rolls hard over the next seven days, with homegrown talent carrying the load from Indie Night, to Rott Fest, Dfaz’s rap house, Rap-toberfest, and the Heightened Senses concert happening to close out the Music Week. The Linda Lindas, Alice Cooper, and Jacuzzi Boys are among the national and regional acts swinging through, too.
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