In the theater business September is normally considered the “Dog Days.” Performance seasons get going in October in Florida, but not this year.   After taking a break for Labor Day weekend, the Palladium roars back with a month of shows that offer something for everyone. I’ve linked all of[…]

Great guitarists take the spotlight this Saturday night in a show headlined by vocalist Whitney James and two incredible guitarists – Dan Heck and LaRue Nickelson. We’re calling the show: Guitar Hero!   LaRue is the go-to guitarist in our area who moves easily through various genres, while always sounding[…]

This weekend we are welcoming back one of our favorite performers and introducing a newcomer to our stage. We’re bringing in a double bill of Lauren Mitchell and her band, along with Ari McManus and her band – Ari and the Alibis.   Both women are soulful singers with big[…]

For August, the Palladium is going upstairs! Our Side Door nightclub is getting some additional air conditioning and other improvements this month, so the fun and music will be focused on Hough Hall.   The Side Door will have a festival re-opening weekend on Sept. 29, 30 and Oct. 1.[…]

Part of the fun of my job is finding talented young performers and making them part of the Palladium family. A few years ago, one of those youngsters was a guy right out of the University of South Florida named Selwyn Birchwood.   We loved him from the start –[…]

Here at the Palladium we love introducing great new artists from our area. This Friday is one of those debut shows that I am thrilled to announce.   I’d been hearing about Siobhan Monique for a while and caught an early show at Ruby’s Elixer. She has the voice and[…]

As we planned out Summer of Soul program I knew we needed to give our patrons a “religious experience.” So of course, I had to call Rev. Billy C. Wirtz.  He’s the Master of The 88 Key Disaster, King of the Atomic Boogie, the paino man who can make you[…]

After performances over the July 4 weekend and a couple of very fun school shows, St. Petersburg Opera’s final performances of Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods are this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.   I’m looking forward to seeing the show Friday night myself,since I wasn’t around for the holiday weekend.[…]

The fastest-selling show at the Palladium this summer features a 7-foot, silent clown who sings other people’s hit songs.   That’s right, Puddles Pity Party, coming up next Thursday, July 13, is moving close to a sellout in advance. You can get your tickets by calling the Palladium box office[…]

Our newest Palladium sensation, The Florida Bjorkestra, is returning after a string of killer shows featuring the music of Bjork, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Tori Amos and more. These concerts, featuring 18 instruments and voices, are not boring tribute shows, but present music by these edgy artists performed by some[…]

Two new blues albums are topping the charts and getting lots of attention these days. Taj Mahal and Keb Mo have finally gotten together for a album called “TajMo.” And our own Selwyn Birchwood has just released his new Alligator Records album: “Pick Your Poison.”   You can see shows[…]

I’ve just returned from a two-week trip and happy that I’m back in time to see Tuesday’s final performance of The Tales of Hoffman, presented by St. Petersburg Opera.   The show has been getting great reviews from patrons and that was echoed this weekend in the review by TB[…]

  I am very excited to be playing the Palladium! This show, as has been the case for all of my USA tour dates before and after, are part of my web series Popp Over America! (More on that below). For this Side Door show, I will be performing solo[…]

It was already a good Sunday morning, I was up early with no obligations for several hours – our Mother’s Day celebration was a dinner. I’m sipping a home-brewed cappuccino and sitting in my favorite chair with my two best Sunday morning friends – The New York Times and The[…]

Thanks to Creative Pinellas for asking me to be the Guest Editor of the monthly newsletter.   This month we’re featuring some of my favorite artists and performers – Mark Sforzini, of St. Petersburg Opera and the Tampa Bay Symphony; Glass artist Catherine Woods; Bluesman Selwyn Birchwood; and an interview[…]

Very proud of our jazz pal –  pianist and new dad, John O’Leary. He’s done a successful Kickstarter campaign to support a new recording that combines his love of science and music.   John is a regular at the Palladium, performing as part of La Lucha, O Som Do Jazz[…]

Hard to believe but our 2017 Palladium Chamber Series is wrapping up on May 10. It will be the fifth concert of this season – our most ambitious ever. And this concert will feature all four of our core Chamber Players ensemble – Jeffrey Multer, Danielle Farina, Edward Arron and[…]

I first heard Daniel Giron at a private party in South Tampa last year and he really caught my attention. He’s the kind of player who makes you want to stop talking and listen – even in a party setting.   So I’m very excited that Daniel will be in[…]

For everything you want to know about Palladium Paul and more, Creative Pinellas has produced a podcast featuring a lengthy interview with yours truly.   The conversation runs from my days as a journalist, my years in the middle of the Ybor City arts colony, and on to these fun[…]

We are excited to welcome back the Listening Room Festival Showcase this Friday night on our mainstage. Last year’s show was incredible and this year’s model should be no less stellar.   These songwriters and bands have been playing at house concerts in our area this week and come together[…]

David Amram arrived at TIA with a lot of bags, but very little baggage.   I found him Tuesday night near the luggage carousel. He was already weighed down by two large carry-ons. Moments later, a huge silver, triple-zipped bag circled by. I picked it up and thought perhaps it[…]

This Friday’s appearance at the Side Door by David Amram is fast approaching. You’ll want to see this multi-faceted musicians, composer and Jack Kerouac collaborator. He’s a delightful human being and always entertaining.     He’ll be playing piano and flutes, along with three of our favorite jazz musicians –[…]

We’re excited to have two great tenor sax players in the Side Door tonight (Friday, April 07), alongside the Nate Najar Trio, which will feature John Lamb and another Palladium favorite, Baltimore’s Chuck Redd on drums.  Blowing the horns will be Harry Allen, no stranger to the Side Door, and[…]

In advance of our Palladium Chamber Players concert on Wednesday, April 12, classical music writer (and chamber music lover) Kurt Loft interviewed violist Danielle Farina, who will be performing a solo work by Bach that night.   The concert, which features our entire Palladium Chamber Players ensemble – Jeffrey Multer,[…]

I was looking around the web for stories and tidbits about our Saturday night star – Nicole Henry. Nicole joins a long-line of top drawer jazz artists who have visited our Side Door stage.   Then I saw a list that samples some of  Nicole’s recent shows and trips and[…]

Palladium favorite Lauren Mitchell is back at the Side Door this Friday with a big new album and a large band, including some special guests.   Tickets are going fast – this show will be sold-out by Friday – so I recommend you follow this link for online tickets or[…]

Thursday,  March 30th  the Palladium Theater, will host The Resurrection of Stevie Ray Vaughan, featuring Billy Evanochko in the starring role. Good seats are going fast, so follow this link for tickets and more show info.   Now a little about this show and the great Stevie Ray Vaughan, and[…]

We are pleased to have another world-class poet coming to the Palladium on Monday, April 3. The Palladium, SPC and the Plume Poetry Series are presenting Robert Pinsky, who was U.S. poet laureate from 1997-2000.   Tickets for his reading, with an introduction by the Florida Poet Laureate, Peter Meinke,[…]

THIS JUST IN: Team mascots from all over Tampa Bay will take Chubby Checker’s Twist Challenge at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 21 on the steps of the Palladium.   Raymond (Tampa Bay Rays), Thunderbug (Tampa Bay Lightning), Pelican Pete (Tampa Bay Rowdies), along with mascots from the Tampa Yankees, Clearwater[…]

Excitement is buildng for Sunday’s show with the Florida Bjorkestra. The TB Times music writer, Jay Cridlin, sat in on a several rehearsals leading up to this Sunday’s “Life On Venus: The Music of Bowie and Bjork” show at 6 p.m. with the 18-piece Florida Bjorkestra.   There are lots[…]

I got to hear a preview of our Bjork-Bowie show coming up on Sunday. The 18-piece (!) Florida Bjorkestra gathered on our main stage Monday night for a rehearsal and sound check. it took a while to get everybody mixed, but once they started playing it was magical.   This[…]

Apparently I wasn’t the only one who through our March 1 Palladium Chamber Players concert was a stunning success.   I wanted to share a review of the concert by Tampa Bay Times Performing Arts Critic, Andrew Meacham, that appeared in Friday’s newspaper. Andrew clearly liked what he heard.  […]

I love so many of the great shows we present here at the Palladium, but my favorite night of the year is always our Boogie Woogie Blues Piano Stomp. The eighth anniversary of the show is coming up Saturday night at 8 p.m.   Two grand pianos on stage. Five great[…]

Here in the middle of our 2017 Palladium Chamber Players season, it is great to see one of the star ensembles from our 2016 season land a very prestigious honor. The Calidore String Quartet was chosen for the Lincoln Center Emerging Artists Residency, one of the top honors out there[…]

  I asked my friend Kurt Loft, who spent much of his career covering the classical music world for newspapers and magazines, to take a look at our March 1 Palladium Chamber Players concert and write something if he was so moved.   He was so moved he even reached[…]

Here at the Palladium we’re always trying to catch the rising stars on the way up. That way you can say you saw them here first – and I can still afford to hire them. You’ll be seeing one of those fast-rising stars here on April 6 when we present[…]

With the Palladium’s 20th anniversary just around the corner, it saddens me that one of our founders and supporters won’t be around for the festivities. Frances Stavros, wife of Gus Stavos, died at the age of 92 on Feb. 4.   The Stavros Family, along with the William R. Hough[…]

  I hope you didn’t miss last Wednesday’s incredible chamber music concert, featuring the Ehnes Quartet. That concert was the second installment in the Palladium Chamber Players 2017 season.   TB Times performing arts writer, Andrew Meacham attended the concert and wrote a review that I’d like to share with[…]

We are so excited to have landed the Upright Citizens Brigade touring company for the Side Door on Friday, Feb. 17. The improv troupe from The Box Theater, will open the show.   The web log – 727area.com – did a preview of the show that I’ll share today. I’ll[…]

Wanted to share this note from Andrew Meacham, the performing arts writer at the TB Times about tonight’s Palladium Chamber Players concert, featuring the Ehnes Quartet. James Ehnes is the leader and Amy Schwartz Moretti, the popular former concertmaster at the Florida Orchestra is part of the group.   Here’s[…]

One of the highlights of our 2017 Palladium Chamber Players series happens this Wednesday, Feb. 8, when the acclaimed Ehnes Quartet presents three of Beethoven’s finest quartet works.   Just prior to our concert, the group is playing at Mercer University. Here’s what News@Mercer had to say about this world-renowned[…]

I was traveling to Austin for a wedding last Friday when the great pianist Henry Butler reached me by phone. Henry was on the bill for our March 4 Boogie Woogie Blues Piano Stomp.   Turns out, Henry has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and must travel[…]

The Palladium Chamber Players make their 2017 debut Wednesday night (1-18) in Hough Hall with a selection of piano trios by Mozart, Barber and Dvorak.   Season tickets for all five shows – one each month through May – are still available.   Here’s what Tampa Bay Times Performing Arts[…]

BEACON, the dance and performance series that debuted in 2016 to much acclaim, returns this Friday and it promises to be more ambitious and exciting than ever.   Again, the Palladium is working with St. Pete’s own Helen Hansen French and Lauren Sloane – both veteran dancers and choreographers –[…]

Welcome to January 2017!   Your favorite blogger returned from a two-week holiday this morning and I’m exhausted just hitting the delete button on all the emails. Imagine how much work it would have been to read them?   Coming back to work is not really so tough when I[…]

After Thursday night’s record-breaking Jazz Holiday show, with our own Nate Najar, the Palladium’s holiday season is wrapping up with another December favorite  – St. Pete Opera’s Seasonal Sparkle.   This crowd-pleasing show features a mix of opera and holiday works, beautiful holiday decor, and the excellent singing and musicianship[…]

It has been another tremendous year at the Palladium. As we close out 2016, I am looking back at a year of  record-breaking attendance and fundraising, great new additions to our staff, and so many memorable shows I can’t count ’em all. And 2017 promises to be even better!  […]

How fast the years fly – our young jazz guitarist, Nate Najar, is suddenly celebrating the 11th anniversary of his Jazz Holiday show. That’s two years longer than I’ve been at the Palladium.   Over the years the show has become a much-loved holiday tradition in St. Petersburg and among[…]

After selling out the Side Door and amazing everyone there with his “Florida Bjorkestra” show last summer, pianist and arranger Jeremy Douglass is back this Sunday with a new project. Red Rain features the music of Peter Gabriel and Tori Amos – performed live with 16 players and singers on[…]