Joan Jett and the Blackhearts >>
Details: Sunday 5 p.m. Busch Gardens, Tampa. Free with park admission; check buschgardens.com if you don't already have a pass. Toll-free 1-888-800-5447.
Just in time for MTV's startup in the early '80s, Joan Jett, the glam-punk girl with the Gibson, offered up crunchy power chords and a little sleaze. After her time in the Runaways, Jett branched off with the Blackhearts and recorded biker chick classics Bad Reputation and I Love Rock 'n' Roll. Soon, Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand and the rest of the era's ruling divas were scoping out Jett's heavy eyeliner and corresponding sneer.
Iration
With Ballyhoo
Details: Friday 8 p.m. Jannus Live, 16 Second St. N, St. Petersburg. $16. (727) 565-0551.
The beach-going buddies in Iration don't claim to be Leonard Cohen or anything. They write modest SoCal reggae-rock songs that go down easy. With tracks about sipping drinks and plunging in pools, infectious 2010 disc Time Bomb has spent an impressive 40 weeks on the Billboard Reggae Chart. If you like Pepper or Rebelution, you'll probably like Iration and its good vibes.
Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
Details: Today and Friday at 7:30 p.m. Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 N McMullen-Booth Road, Clearwater. $52.50-$103. (727) 791-7400.
Before Snooki and the Situation became Jersey's most recognized residents, doo-wop fellas Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons were doing the Newark projects proud with dreamy, falsetto-fueled pop music. Lots of hits (Sherry, Big Girls Don't Cry) and high notes are on the schedule for the group's two shows at Ruth Eckerd Hall. We just wonder what Frankie thinks of the terms Guido and Guidette.
Tonic
Details: Saturday. Concert included in your ticket for the Lightning vs. Florida Panthers game, which starts at 7:30 p.m. St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa. (813) 301-2500.
If Vertical Horizon can rock the rooftop of Tampa's Timpano Italian Chophouse and Third Eye Blind can get down at Derby Lane, fellow '90s powerhouse Tonic can certainly play the plaza after a Lightning game, no? Tonic's alt-rock romance If You Could Only See was the most-played rock song of 1998. But Take Me as I Am and You Wanted More were equally excellent.
WMNF Rockabilly Ruckus
Details: Saturday 5:30 p.m. Skipper's Smokehouse, 910 Skipper Road, Tampa. $20-$25. (813) 971-0666.
Featuring Kim Lenz and her Jaguars, Hot Rod Walt and the Psycho-Devilles, Rocket 88, Midnight Bowlers League, Slip and the Spinouts, Sarge and the Aeromen, 6 Volt Rodeo
When you think rockabilly, what comes to mind? Well-greased hair, hot rods, early Elvis, twists, twirls and hillbilly boogie, perhaps? Well, that's what WMNF was thinking when it created the Rockabilly Ruckus, a rollicking car and rock show now in its eighth year. Headliner Kim Lenz plays vintage rock with twang, no thanks to Mom's time in the rodeo and Dad's love for Wolfman Jack. "If Elvis had been a woman, he probably would have sounded just like Kim Lenz," says Rolling Stone. Rocket 88, an Orlando band with a Jerry Lee Lewis jones, gets its name from a Bill Haley song of the same name (widely considered to be one of the earliest rockabilly recordings). A car show precedes the music.
Times correspondent Carole Liparoto can be reached at carole. liparoto@gmail.com.
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