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This weekend’s top Tampa Bay concerts: Clearwater Jazz Holiday, ZZ Top

Plus, Zac Brown Band, Cheap Trick, Young Thug, Illenium, Bishop Briggs and more.
 
Billy Gibbons, right, and Dusty Hill of ZZ Top play the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in 2013.
Billy Gibbons, right, and Dusty Hill of ZZ Top play the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in 2013. [ JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT | AP ]
Published Oct. 16, 2019

STILL SHARP: ZZ TOP

As timeless as ZZ Top still sounds, every tour feels like it could be their last. Fifty years after their first gig together, Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard have had to cancel and postpone several shows in recent years due to health issues. They always come roaring back, but the writing’s on the wall: If you’ve always wanted to hear Sharp Dressed Man, Legs and La Grange live, now’s your chance. Fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Cheap Trick are joining them on the road this time around, as is Whole Damn Mess (featuring Tampa frontman Don Miggs). $29.50 and up. 7 p.m. Saturday. MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, 4802 U.S. 301 N, Tampa. (813) 740-2446. livenation.com.

FORTY AND LOVING IT: CLEARWATER JAZZ HOLIDAY

The cancellation this year of Ribfest leaves no doubt that in its 40th year, the Clearwater Jazz Holiday is Tampa Bay’s premiere fall music festival. And once again, it has curated an appropriately diverse and delightful lineup (even if, once again, proper jazz aficionados might leave scratching their heads). Here’s a breakdown.

Thursday: Nineties R&B group Boyz II Men will get things hot 'n' heavy alongside the Soul Rebels, Polyrhythmics and Ghent. Gates open at 3:30 p.m.

Friday: Funk maestro Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue return to the main stage, alongside Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Marcia Ball and Gloria West and the Gents. Gates open at 4 p.m. There’s an after-party at 10:30 at the Nancy and David Bilheimer Capitol Theatre with Allon Sams and more; tickets are $21 and up.

Saturday: Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Chicago lead the lineup, followed by fireworks at 10:45 p.m. Also performing: Blood, Sweat and Tears; a tribute to jazz voclists with Valerie Gillespie, Belinda Womack and others; the University of Miami’s Frost Jazz Ensemble featuring Dafnis Prieto; and the Clearwater Jazz Holiday’s Young Lions Jazz Master Sessions featuring James Suggs. Gates open at 1:45 p.m.

Sunday: 27-time Grammy winner Alison Krauss closes things out, along with Yonder Mountain String Band, Parsonsfield, Ashley Smith and the Random Occurrence and the Ruth Eckerd Hall/Clearwater Jazz Holiday Youth Jazz Band. Gates open at 1:15 p.m.

Tickets start at $20 per day, $35 for Saturday-Sunday and $70 for the weekend. Coachman Park, 301 Drew St., Clearwater. (727) 461-5200. clearwaterjazz.com.

Alison Krauss will perform during the Clearwater Jazz Holiday at Coachman Park on Sunday. [ Capitol Records ]

HOOTIN’ AND HOLLERIN’: ZAC BROWN BAND

Can anyone out there actually hum any songs from Zac Brown Band’s new album The Owl, even the ones with Shawn Mendes and Skrillex? Probably not. Will that stop 18,000 fans from packing the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre this weekend to hear them rip, roar and wiggle through Toes, Chicken Fried and a few delightful covers? No, it won’t. Zac and company are a modern, countrified Dave Matthews Band, playing reliably entertaining shows at the same venues year after year after year. It’s a format, and they’re masters of it. But when they start in on the new stuff, you’re safe to go grab another beer. With Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real. $45 and up. 7 p.m. Sunday.

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On Sunday, Zac Brown Band will perform at Tampa's MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre. [ Courtesy of Diego Pernia ]

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DIGITAL EMPIRE: ILLENIUM

Denver producer and DJ Illenium was one of the highlights of this year’s Sunset Music Festival, mixing live instrumentation into an atmospheric set beloved by the many fans wearing his gear. So it’s not surprising that he’s joining Avicii and Zedd on the short list of DJs who have headlined arena shows in Tampa. He’s scaling his show up appropriately, bringing a full band and some eye-popping visuals to what should be an immersive event. Dabin and William Black open. $39.50 and up. 8 p.m. Saturday. Yuengling Center, 4202 E Fowler Ave., Tampa. (813) 974-3004. yuenglingcenter.com.

Illenium will hit the Yuengling Center in Tampa on Saturday. [ Courtesy of Alexandra Gavillet ]

YOUNG GUNS: YOUNG THUG, MACHINE GUN KELLY

That digitized alien warble you’ve heard behind everyone from Post Malone to J. Cole to Camila Cabello lately? That’s Young Thug, the eccentric but much-adored Atlanta singer, rapper and songwriter who has made a slew of high-profile features and mixtape appearances this decade. While he has had famous fans for a while now, 2019 has been something of a breakout year. He won a Song of the Year Grammy for co-writing Childish Gambino’s This Is America; released his first proper album, the well-received So Much Fun; and has embarked on his first arena tour, a co-headlining trek with Machine Gun Kelly. MGK has his own legion of fans and even a few hits, but his big thing this year was starring as Tommy Lee in the Motley Crue biopic The Dirt. In other words, he’s worth catching live, but Young Thug is the guy worth remembering. YBN Nahmir and Strick open. $25.75 and up. 8 p.m. Friday. Yuengling Center, 4202 E Fowler Ave., Tampa. (813) 974-3004. yuenglingcenter.com.

Young Thug performs at Amalie Arena in Tampa in 2018. [ JAY CRIDLIN | Times (2018) ]

THE CHAMPION: BISHOP BRIGGS

A couple of years ago, Bishop Briggs was named one of everyone’s artists to watch. Well, the world’s watching. And so she produced Champion, a giant, reverberating single co-written by K. Flay and Lorde collaborator Joel Little. If her sophomore album, also titled Champion and due Nov. 8, sounds anywhere near this big, she might attract even more eyeballs, especially considering how fun and lively she can be on stage. Miya Folick and Jax Anderson open. 7 p.m. Oct. 23. Jannus Live, 200 First Ave. N, St. Petersburg. (727) 565-0550. jannuslive.com.

Bishop Briggs will stop by St. Petersburg's Jannus Live next week. [ Courtesy of Eric Ray Davidson ]