Gasparilla Music Festival

March 11, 2019

The Avett Brothers

 

Tank and the Bangas

Gasparilla Music Festival

The same day as the Hunahpu’s Day beer festival at Raymond James Stadium, another awesome festival gets underway in downtown Tampa at Curtis Hixson Park, the annual Gasparilla Music Festival. This year marked the eighth year of the two day weekend music fest and it marks about the fifth year that I have had the pleasure of attending. This was the first time that Kathy has made it as she has not traveled up to St. Pete for the Indy Car opener in a number of years.

 

The Avett Brothers

This year the festival, which I have always loved because of the small feel and intimate nature, as well as the relatively low cost for VIP tickets and the wonderfully eclectic selection of musical acts represented, set an all-time new attendance record with over 20,000 attendees. You could really tell and to me the burgeoning size of the crowds was not a good thing. It was way too crowded and lines for drinks and food were way longer than usual and the packed crowd even in the VIP area made it a much less appealing experience than it had in previous years.

 

The Pharcyde

Because of the throngs, we opted to not even return for Sunday evening, despite having VIP tix. Even with the increase in crowd and resulting lessening of the experience, it is still a pretty cool little festival. The musical selection made up for the other unpleasantness as this festival continues to provide a wonderfully diverse mix of musical acts and even focuses on filling in the opening spots with up and coming local Tampa Bay acts, which is pretty cool.

 

We arrived just in time to see Toro Y Moi on the main stage. We were pretty much totally unfamiliar with this act, even though they have been at the forefront of what has become known as chillwave movement that began in earnest at the start of this decade. Certainly the massive crowd on hand was familiar with their music, which we enjoyed very much, even if it all sounded a bit redundant. I would never have gone to see this group on my own and am so glad that the Gasparilla Music Festival allowed us to see and experience it.

Toro Y Moi 

Danny and Alex

Next we checked out local band Danny and Alex in the very small, very cool circular Ferman Amphitheater that is a permanent part of the riverfront park. The small intimate space was packed with knowing Tampa locals who were fans of the hometown band and they were pretty good I must say. The coolest part was introducing Kathy to a show in the cool setting the amphitheater provides. It is one of the most unique set-ups for live music anywhere.

Pharcyde 

Pharcyde

Our next stop was at the secondary stage where the best of the undercard always plays to see the amazing hip-hop act the Pharcyde. Based out of South Central Los Angeles. A major player in the alternative hip-hop movement since their formation in 1989, the Pharcyde offers another example of the wonderful diverse and interesting musical selections that can be found at Gasparilla. The band put on a wickedly good, wonderfully sounding set of driving rap and jazz influenced hip hop. 

 

Tank and the Bangas

We were back at the main stage for more traditional heavy metalish rock and roll from the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club before heading back to the side stage to see a truly unique and revolutionary band, Tank and the Bangas. This New Orleans based group plays a crazy upbeat fusion of funk, rock, hip hop, jazz, soul and spoken word. It is truly impossible to try and categorize or describe them but their stage show is truly a sight to see and they are certainly worth checking out.

The Avett Brothers

The main stage headliners were something altogether different, the Avett Brothers. This marks the third time in a year that Kathy has seen the Avett Brothers as we saw them at last spring’s Innings Music Festival and Kathy caught one of their two nights at the Key West Amphitheater last fall. They once again delivered an amazing tour de force show that had the 20,000 people on hand thrilled and excited to see.

 

Every act we saw was completely and totally different and unique from the others and the Avett Brothers were merely the icing on a wonderful day of music that Gasparilla offered up. So long as the eclectic selection process continues and the fest falls on the same weekend as the Indy Car race, I will keep coming back in spite of the increasing crowds.

https://gasparillamusic.com/