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Passion Pit, Matt and Kim to headline new Tampa music festival

 
Kim Schifino and Matt Johnson of the band Matt & Kim
Kim Schifino and Matt Johnson of the band Matt & Kim
Published July 16, 2013

It's been a few weeks since we had a huge new music festival in Tampa Bay. Are you ready for another one?

Live Nation's inaugural Coastline Festival will hit Tampa's MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre on Nov. 9, organizers announced Monday on YouTube, with a lineup of up-and-coming indie rock acts that have played just about every festival in the country: Passion Pit, Matt and Kim, Two Door Cinema Club, Fitz and the Tantrums, the Joy Formidable, Surfer Blood, the Mowgli's, St. Lucia and the Royal Concept. At least one more "special guest" will be announced soon, according to a poster for the event.

The all-day festival — which is being called "a musiculinary experience" — will kick off at noon and include a food truck rally, craft beer garden and local artists. Advance early-bird tickets are just $20 and go on sale Friday; after that they'll be $35-$55 on LiveNation.com.

This is a lot to process, so let's break it all down:

• This is Live Nation's third new festival in Tampa Bay this year, following January's Sunshine Blues Festival at Vinoy Park and the Funshine Music Festival at the Florida State Fairgrounds. But whereas those two festivals were aimed at older and more mainstream audiences, the inaugural Coastline Fest — which is also playing West Palm Beach on Nov. 10, with additional artists the Neighbourhood and Capital Cities — is targeting younger, more indie-minded concertgoers. In fact ...

• This seems like a shot across the bow to alt-rock station 97X, whose annual Next Big Thing festival has traditionally owned the local market for late-in-the-year alt-rock festivals. Any one of these bands could have been a solid choice for this year's Next Big Thing; now it's highly unlikely any of them will, considering Coastline will take place less than a month before Next Big Thing.

• If there is a drawback to the lineup, it's that most of these bands have been to Tampa Bay at least once in the past couple of years. In fact, Fitz and the Tantrums will be back in Tampa Bay this summer, opening for Bruno Mars on Aug. 28 at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. But that's not to say the lineup won't appeal to local concertgoers. Passion Pit, Matt and Kim and Two Door Cinema Club have all packed out the Ritz Ybor. Top to bottom, the lineup is solid enough that this festival could sell a lot of tickets.

• At least a few more bands, including some locals, are likely to be added to the bill. We'll keep you posted.