Brad Paisley
With the Band Perry, Scotty McCreery
Details: Friday 4:30 p.m. 1-800-Ask-Gary Amphitheatre, 4802 U.S. 301 N, Tampa. $30-$80. (813) 740-2446.
Brad Paisley is one of the finest guitar slingers in country music today, not to mention a West Virginia everyman with a sense of humor and some serious mud tires. On Friday, Paisley will trot out fresh fret board maneuvers on recent cuts like Camouflage and super-new Southern Comfort Zone, which contains a hint of (gasp) Coldplay! So is Paisley going sensitive? Not likely. He'll still give his snarky take on backwoods romance (Ticks) and take jabs at reality television stars (Celebrity) with special guest and 10th season American Idol winner Scotty McCreery. If I Die Young act the Band Perry opens the show. Listen for singer Kimberly Perry's particularly stellar cover of Alison Krauss' part in Whiskey Lullaby during the set.
Fiona Apple
With Blake Mills
Details: Saturday 8 p.m. Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen-Booth Road, Clearwater. 51.50-$75.50. (727) 791-7400.
After a long hiatus, the frail one with the massive pipes has made a triumphant return to the stage. But it hasn't come without a few bumps in the road. Last week, Fiona Apple had a run-in with the law when she was arrested in Texas on charges of marijuana possession. Fear not, though, Paper Bag lovers. The incident won't derail this Saturday date, one expected to contain all of the trademark Apple oddities — tangled, temperamental piano rock, brooding jazz, metaphor-heavy pop and confusing between-song banter. Apple, who made her debut at age 19 with the triple-platinum Tidal in '96, but hadn't released a new album since 2005, now has shiny new album, The Idler Wheel Is Wiser than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More than Ropes Will Ever Do. And if the length of that title is any indication of how long she'll stick around the spotlight this time, we'll be in good shape.
Adam Ant
Details: Tonight at 9. Hard Rock Cafe, 5223 Orient Road, Tampa. $25. Toll-free 1-866-502-7529.
A U.S. tour by Mr. Goody Two Shoes is a very rare thing indeed, especially one that brings the New Wave icon to Florida. The singer, actor, sex symbol and all-around bon vivant is best known for that solo, horn-heavy '80s radio hit, but he was already a star in England before that, charting singles like Prince Charming and Stand and Deliver with his band Adam and the Ants. After lengthy bouts with mental illness, this is his first American tour in a decade and a half. Perhaps he'll preview songs from his forthcoming album — his first since 1995 — Adam Ant Is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner's Daughter. (What is it with album titles this week?)
Metric
With Half Moon Run
Details: Saturday 8 p.m. The Ritz Ybor, 1503 E Seventh Ave., Ybor City. $28.50-$30.50. (813) 247-2555.
Sharp-tongued singer Emily Haines and buzzsaw guitarist James Shaw are cutting-edge players who occasionally perform with Broken Social Scene, but always lead Canada's Metric. Back in the early '00s, when rock acts wouldn't dare be caught with analog synthesizers, the pair tinkered with garage-rock-bitten New Wave in NYC clubs, paving the way for just about every future Pitchfork darling. The band should draw heavily from this year's Synthetica, which contains the excellent glam-and-fuzz stomp of Youth Without Youth. Help I'm Alive and Dead Disco are also likely to be on the agenda.
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
With Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Details: Monday 7:30 p.m. Jannus Live, 16 Second St. N, St. Petersburg. $25. (727) 565-0551.
During a Tampa show in 2010, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros ringleader Alex Ebert asked a packed house to "have a seat and relax" on the floor of the Ritz Ybor. It was unusual to say the least. Sticky, too. But it was the perfect kumbayalike culmination to an evening of blissful indie-gospel-grass-folk, one that included the frenzied jangle of the tambourine on 40 Day Dream, a beautifully spooky "Hail Mary" chorus line on Desert Song, and the sheer, spirited joy of whistling-and-trumpet-tickled Home. Among the revivalist collective's 10+ members, hometown girl Jade Castrinos shined brightly as her family watched from the crowd. On Monday, the group adds two-steppin' epic Man on Fire to the mix, during which no foot should go unmoved.
Times correspondent Carole Liparoto can be reached at carole.liparoto@gmail.com.
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