Donna the Buffalo
With Lanzallamas (Tues.), Under The Willow (Wed.)
Details: Tuesday-Wednesday 8 p.m. and Jan. 1 at 6 p.m. Skipper's Smokehouse, 910 Skipper Road, Tampa. $25-$40. (813) 971-0666.
Is there enough room at Skipper's Smokehouse to leave a camper in the parking lot for three days? Can we bring our fireworks, too? The Swamp Juice and Crawdaddy Mac will nourish our bodies, but New York quintet Donna the Buffalo will feed our need for music with a three-night stand that starts in 2014 and ends in 2015. Frontwoman Tara Nevins and company have plenty of material (10 LPs over the past two decades) to spread across the trio of shows, and if their laid-back, zydeco-folk-bluegrass attack isn't enough, then the rotating cast of support acts (Midwest jam collective Under The Willow, Miami afro-electronic collective Lanzallamas) will keep attendees interested. This will be Donna the Buffalo's fifth consecutive New Year's Eve at the Skipperdome, so expect these performances to feel super cozy and get super-sweaty, too.
Kyle Chason and the Swindlin' Hearts CD release
With Broken Things, Not For Nothings
Details: Friday 7 p.m. Studio@620, First Ave. S, St. Petersburg. $5. (727) 895-6620
It seems like 2014 was the year of the local CD release show. These shows, where the ancient idea of physical product gets celebrated, is not just a chance to add music to your shelf, but an opportunity to hang with the bands as they experience that artistic sigh of release that happens once a project finally goes from idea to reality. St. Pete-based Chason and his band — David Wolfkowski and Andrew Mort — are a Townes Van Zandt-loving bunch whose twang is balanced with just the right punk-rock touch, and their live show is the perfect vehicle for it.
Alexander and the Grapes
Details: Saturday 5 p.m. Amalie Arena, 401 Channelside Drive, Tampa. Free. (813) 301-2500.
Alexander and the Grapes' original arena debut (okay, they're playing outside and not inside Amalie Arena) had to be postponed. This makeup date will remedy all that, and Tampa Bay Lightning fans who show up early before the Bolts' matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes will be treated to a set from one of the area's most consistently bright and shining bands. Led by frontman Alexander Charos, the boys have been steady working on the followup to their stellar debut full-length, Hemispheres, and early indications of new work (Naturally Strange) suggests that the Grapes' already intricate indie-folk sound has matured and mutated into one that also boasts a heavy dose of rock 'n' roll punch plus salt-licked power-pop riffs. The show is free, so you won't need a game ticket to see it.
Sleepwave
With Tides of Man
Details: Tuesday 6:30 p.m. State Theatre, 687 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. $12-$15. (727) 895-3045.
In bay area music circles, you can utter the word "Underoath" and get a thousand stories about the beloved Tampa post-hardcore band. That group is gone now, but their fans have a new outfit to hold on to, and that's Sleepwave, fronted by Underoath vocalist Spencer Chamberlain. The band played 97X Next Big Thing last year and have spent the past 12 months prepping and then touring behind a debut album, Broken Compass, released in September. The 40-minute offering is something of a new direction for Chamberlain, 31, and mostly abandons the screaming and metalcore principles of his old band in favor of a hyper-melodic brand of rock that's been injected with heavy doses of grunge and even electronic music.
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Explore all your optionsOliver Heldens
With Janpier Beauchamp, Basomatik
Details: Saturday 10 p.m. Amphitheatre, 1609 E Seventh Ave., Ybor City. $20. (813) 873-8368.
The Netherlands pumps out dance music producers at the same rate Willy Wonka produces candy, and while it's hard to stand out among the sea of Dutch beatmakers out there, one particularly young mind has managed to do that in a big way. At age 19, Oliver Heldens can lay claim to being signed by Tiesto and counting David Guetta as a fan. Rolling Stone has described his deep and future house as "Disclosure on steroids" and "EDM that doesn't wear neon." Heldens' latest hit, Koala, is a prime example of that with heavy grooves and deep basslines all being prodded quickly along by an almost tangible energy. Dubstep and trap star UZ will play the Amphitheatre on New Year's Eve, but you won't regret spending your disposable income on this show instead.
Rock the Park
With the Urbane Cowboys, Ursaria, Los Demolirs
Details: Jan. 1 6:30 p.m. Curtis Hixon Park, 600 N Ashley Drive, Tampa. Free. (813)274-8677.
For the past four years, Rock the Park has been an anchor for fast-growing downtown Tampa. Attendance has swelled from a few handfuls to more than a thousand, so what better way to spend the first night of 2015 then on a blanket with the beautiful Tampa skyline in the background? Urbane Cowboys — who've been doling out rollicking Americana and roots country music since 1999 — will be on hand, and so will a pair of younger Florida area outfits. Ursaria weaves bright guitar, whimpering vocals and dizzying, distorted leads together on A Heavy Tow, a highlight from their 2014 debut EP. And Sarasota beach bums Los Demolirs are coming out of the garage to play fuzzy psych-rock cuts like Jet for the early crowd.
Contact Times correspondent Ray Roa at suburbanapologist.com.