Tropical Heatwave

I went to Tampa this weekend to visit with my parents and go to Tropical Heatwave. Heatwave is an annual concert put on by WMNF, the local community radio station. It's a chance to find new music that you might not normally be exposed to. Most of the musicians haven't played Tampa before or are up and coming. It wasn't quite as good as last year, but still worth it. We arrived at 5:30pm and got home at 1am. I was extremely proud of my parents. Only minor annoyance at the late night!
It was great people watching if you didn't let the crowd get to you. There was plenty of tie-dye and hippy stink (patchouli), but also a great variety in people. It amazes me how people can appreciate such different genres of music and get along so well. The standout performances of the night included Julie Black, a local blues/torch singer, Blue Vipers of Brooklyn, a traditional jazz and blues band that practices in the the Subway, Rocket 88, a rockabilly group from Orlando with a crazy show, Soul Rebels, a brass band from New Orleans with hip hop influences. There were many many other great musicians, but these stick out.