The heat took a break on August 28, and the revelers at the sixth installment of Summer Jam took advantage of a night devoid of the season’s typically high temperatures and sweltering humidity by filing in and out of Crowbar and New World Brewery to catch one of the 16 eclectic acts that took part in the annual gathering of local, regional, and national talents who descend upon Ybor to celebrate Tampa Bay’s music and art culture.

If the promise of a diverse line up wasn’t enough, both venues offered free barbeque. Sure, New World’s spread of chicken, baked beans, slaw, and garlic bread easily trumped Crowbar’s well-done hotdogs, but biting into the burnt skin on the frankfurters revealed that (much like Tom DeGeorge – Crowbar’s owner, operator, and grill master) behind the seemingly hardened exterior lies a pretty awesome dog (and person). While it’s impossible to be in two places at once, here’s my take on what went down.

Friends of Giants – Magic Hat Stage , New World Brewery

Just before 7 p.m., Friends of Giants warmed up the ears of the revelers at New World with “Armies.” The delicately plucked intro and Dave Emmert’s shimmery guitar were a fine aural wake up call, but the band quickly kicked it into full gear on “More Ways Than One.” The upbeat, country-ish stomp finds singer-guitarist Jacob Cunningham singing “I don’t know what I want with my life/sick of being confused,” but there was at least one person who didn’t share that sentiment with the St. Petersburg six-piece: a young man wearing a monkey backpack/leash who obviously knew that all he wanted to do was dance. The band harmonized well on “The Light” and “The Circle,” and while you don’t get to see live harmonium very often, watching Amber Long play the portable version of the 19th century instrument on “Pretty Girl” was a good indicator of the unique evening that was about to unfold.

Setlist:

01. Armies
02. More Ways Than One
03. Promises
04. The Light
05. The Circle
06. Pretty Girl
07. Remember
08. Hidden

Florida Night Heat


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The Zou – Magic Hat Stage, New World Brewery

Their website describes their sound as “music for driving of a cliff in slow motion,” and their set was a little like that. If the barbeque lulled the crowd into sedated, stuffed belly state during the break, then Youngstown, Ohio six-piece, The Zou, intended to shake them out of it with a loud, energetic nine-song set. Bernadette Lim killed the keys on the psychedelic, fuzzed-out jam, “Nothing Beats a Hanging,” and Khaled Tabbara – who was wearing earplugs for the whole set – led the band through an eardrum rattling version of the thrashy “Pink Lincoln.” Credit Mark at New World for mixing a set that, despite the volume, allowed for every single synth blip and bass not to be heard. Tabbara told stories like Bob Seger’s angry little brother on “They Don’t Make Them (Like They Used To),” and and he even sang into a megaphone on “The International Department of Cute,” which made the band sound like a southern rock version of the Killers. While Bill LaGuardia donned a Queen shirt behind the drum kit, it was the harmonizing of the band’s own two fat bottomed boys (Tabbara and bassist Murad Ghazi Shorrab) on the track that made this early set one of the evening’s best.

Setlist:

01. Everyone’s Fault But Mine
02. International Department of Cute
03. Sleazy (Love Song for the Shallow)
04. Pink Lincoln
05. Forget My Name
06. Nothing Beats a Hanging
07. They Don’t Make Them (Like They Used To)
08. When The Ink Dries
09. Pine Box


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Anonymous


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Mother Night – Magic Hat Stage, New World Brewery

Out of the ashes, Mother Night returned to Ybor and played an eight-song set that surely left broken heartened fans of the now defunct XOXO relieved that this reincarnation of the band hasn’t abandoned the polished pop sound they’ve become known for. Their style still boasts the Moog-y synth of XOXO and the Orlando based four-piece still sounds a lot like Motion City Soundtrack. “Whiskeytown” had singer-guitarist Noah Kussack sounding a little like Billy Joe Armstrong, and the band even took a “risk” playing a new song that Kussack wasn’t so sure the band would get through. They even worked in a Thermals cover and ended their set with XOXO track “Merry Times” which featured a vocal harmony that audience member Michael Raimondi said “reminded him of National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation.”

Bobby Treacherous – Magic Hat Stage, New World Brewery

Bobby Treacherous has been producing tracks for Tampa emcees for over a decade, but he’s only been behind the mic for two years. While it has to be hard for an emcee to walk into New World, see kids dressed in V-necks and tight jeans, and not feel a little nervous, Treacherous told REAX that he relished the opportunity to hit the Magic Hat stage at New World and win over a new audience. It turns out that Treacherous had nothing to worry about.

A sneak peek at his setlist might suggest a flashy, sexually charged performance but B-Treach opted for real songs about just trying to feed his family and his love of green (“Foggin’ Up The Windows”). Where most rappers want to tell you about what they have, Treacherous gave off a working man/storyteller vibe on “Hustle ‘n’ Flow” which found the emcee spitting lines like “so I smoke out on some weed/’cause I got a mouth to feed/plus my girl and my son/so that amounts to three.” It was rap at it’s realest and hopefully he stays true to the “Come A Little Closer” lyric that finds Treach saying, “I won’t stop rockin’/ ‘til I retire.”

Setlist:

01. Come A Little Closer
02. All Flavors
03. Hustle ‘n’ Flow
04. Foggin’ Up the Windows
05. So Low
06. Belly Dancer
07. I Am Bobby Treacherous
08. Treacherous


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Rahim Samad – Magic Hat Stage, New World Brewery

As a result of The Matt Kurz One having car troubles, Rahim Samad ended up at New World instead of Anonymous (who wound up at the REAX stage at Crowbar), and even though Samad was sporting a Philadelphia Phillies cap, the fact that he put out one of Tampa’s finest hip hop albums – Travel Properly – in 2008 is enough reason to forgive the Bronx, N.Y. native for being confused about his misaligned sports team allegiance. Watching him scratch in between tracks was a welcome distraction to the other acts’ usual band setup, and he even brought Mike Deluxe on for the Travel Properly track, “John Horse,” rewinding the track to reiterate the line “this is fall classic/we’re on our way to the top.” Add in the fact that he stuck around and head bobbed to Look Mexico and it was easy to believe Samad when he rapped, “Tampas where I’m comin’ from/ ain’t no other one/more realer than this brother shining from the Southern sun.”


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Sleepy Vikings


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Look Mexico – Magic Hat Stage, New World Brewery

Look Mexico almost didn’t make it to Summer Jam, but they managed to borrow a van, leave their broken down, veggie-powered tour bus in Tallahassee, and find their way back to the friendly confines of New World Brewery – a venue that has seen the once Florida-based band go through many changes. Since their first show at 8th Avenue watering hole, the band has added Dave Pinkham on keyboard and guitar, traded bassist Tyson Kuhlhoff for Ryan Smith, and lost Joshua Mikel on drums.

While Matt Agrella’s croon is still a big reason the now Austin, Tex.-based five-piece sounds amazing, Agrella – who confessed that he’d been puking all afternoon – did sound a bit flat compared to some of the band’s other performances. He still played the haunting trumpet part on “Just Like Old Times” perfectly, and although many of the mathy-polyrhythms that marked Look Mexico’s past work are no longer evident in their music, the more atmospheric sound they began experimenting with on this year’s To Bed To Battle surprisingly made This Is Animal Music track “Done and Done” and The Crucial EP’s “Guys, I Need A Helicopter” sound more full, and more intricately mellow than ever. The crowd still sits cross-legged for “Helicopter,” and even though it’s weird not seeing Mikel busy behind the skins, Alex Gooding did a fine job on “You’re Not Afraid of the Dark, Are You?” from the Gasp Asp EP.

As Agrella yelled “Thank you/thank you for/thank you for absolutely nothing” on set closer, “You Stay. I Go. No Following.,” the crowd applause made it evident that they felt like that line could be nothing could be farther from the truth.

Setlist:

01. Me and My Dad Built Her
02. Just Like Old Times
03. You’re Not Afraid of the Dark, Are You?
04. Twin Falls (Built To Spill)
05. Guys, I Need a Helicopter
06. They Offered Me A Deal ( I Said No, Naturally)
07. Don’t You Dare
08. You Ever Get Punched In the Face For Talking Too Much?
09. You Stay. I Go. No Following


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Awesome New Republic – REAX Stage, Crowbar

Arriving late to Awesome New Republic’s set, it was surprising to find the Miami-based psych-pop duo playing to an almost empty room. Maybe it had something to do with the time (1 a.m.), but Michael John Hancock and Brian Robertson we’re playing to a whopping ten people – including the bartenders and staff. Still, they didn’t really let the lack of warm bodies spoil their party. They played like a two-man ball of energy on “Stay Kids” and “Holes” from their forthcoming album of the same name, and while we’ll probably have to wait to October to hear studio versions of the songs, the cuts’ energy is almost palpable live. Robertson plays his triple-keyboard setup like a man on fire, and watching Hancock just cool out behind the drums makes it easy to believe that he’s the man responsible for the chilled out “I’m Your Man” from his 2007 solo release, Part Mongolian. You might not have been there, but they’ll catch blogosphere fire after opening for Yeasayer in October, and we’ll all wish we could say “I saw them when…”

Obrother

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