I survived another big night in downtown St. Pete on Thursday – checking out a hot new steakhouse and hearing some of my favorite musicians. I started at the VIP opening for Rococo Steak, the new restaurant on 2nd Ave South. The historic Y has been meticulously renovated to[…]
Haven’t been blogging for the past week but I was hearing a lot of music – and eating a lot of great food. We did a long Thanksgiving holiday with my wife’s family in her hometown – New Orleans. The city is really coming back strong these days. Lots[…]
One of the things I love about running the Palladium is hatching plots with talented people. The latest one developed over a Kahwa coffee with my friend and former newspaper colleague, Gina Vivinetto. Like me, Gina is a musician and a writer – and lately a teacher at University of[…]
We’ve not only got a great blues guitarist and singer coming to the Palladium Side Door this Friday, the show is also the first of what we hope will be a great partnership with the Suncoast Blues Society. The Palladium and SBS are co-producing Friday night’s Side Door show[…]
Since he emerged as an acoustic music prodigy in the early 1960s, Peter Rowan has been known by the company he keeps. That starts with Bluegrass legend Bill Monroe, who added Rowan to his Bluegrass Boys as lead singer and guitarist in 1965. After learning on stage with the[…]
We’re excited about the return of the great Brazilian jazz band, O Som Do Jazz. They’ll be back in one of their favorite venues – the Palladium Side Door – on Saturday night, Nov. 9 at 8 p.m. The last time the band played – on a sold-out night[…]
Take a look at these photos posted this week on the Daily Loaf, Creative Loafing’s music pages. They are from singer Lauren Mitchell’s recent photo shoot at the Palladium. The photos are by Dunedin photographer Kevin Tighe. Lauren, who is known for her powerful singing and her fire-engine[…]
Bob Night – a show we also call – All Bob Dylan, All Night Long – is returning this Saturday to the intimate Side Door Cabaret. The ringmaster is Palladium favorite Grant Peeples, the left-neck poet who created last year’s Bob Night and others around Florida. Grant, by[…]
Down at the Palladium we are all still reeling from the amazing opening weekend of our 15th Anniversary Season. Friday nights Side Door show featuring David Amram and John McEuen was absolutely magical. McEuen played some Nitty Gritty Dirt Band hits – like Mr. Bojangles and Will The Circle[…]
Paul Guzzo, of the Tampa Tribune, has written a wonderful story about David Amram, who appears tonight in the Palladium’s intimate Side Door Cabaret. Amram was a collaborator with many jazz and music greats, but he’s perhaps best known for his work with the beat writer Jack Kerouac. […]
Tampa Bay Times writer Steve Persall interviewed Kris Kristofferson about his upcoming show at the Palladium. To read the full story follow this link or enjoy the excerpt below: http://www.tampabay.com/things-to-do/movies/poet-picker-kris-kristofferson-performs-wednesday-in-st-petersburg/2147204 Ask Kris Kristofferson how he’s feeling and the raspy voice of the first New Nashville simply says: “Old.”[…]
If you don’t know the name David Amram, it may be because this master musician and composer is simply too talented. In a career that spans the 1950s to the present day Amram has been a musical chameleon, moving easily through jazz, classical, film scores, bluegrass, folk, world music and[…]
Tuesday night is your last chance to see the critically acclaimed St. Petersburg Opera production of Romeo and Juliet at the Palladium. I’ll be there Tuesday and word from friends and colleagues who saw the show this past weekend were all raves. Another rave came from the Tampa Bay[…]
We’re bringing back the Statesmen of Jazz, an ever-changing lineup of great jazz talents, produced by Arbors Records. This time the show features Palladium favorites Nicki Parrott on vocals and bass, Chuck Redd, vibes and drums, plus Adrian Cunningham on reed instruments, and an amazing young pianist named Ehud Asherie.[…]
NASHVILLE – Where we live the highways are lined with billboards for stern-faced auto accident attorneys. Probably we should nickname the Tampa Bay area – “Accident City.” In Nashville, they go by “Music City” and even their highway ads back it up. Nashville’s got billboards for Toby Keith’s new[…]
Billy Cobham has been in the top rank of jazz drummers – in fact all drummers – since his breakthrough in the early 1970s as a founding member of the Mahavishnu Orchestra. As a drummer/leader on recordings like Spectrum, his powerful, complex style of play exerted a strong influence on[…]
We had a lovely night of music Sunday – with Nashville Troubadour Jeff Black and Tampa Bay’s best songstress, Rebekah Pulley – in the Side Door. The show was one of the first in what we hope will be a series of great singer/songwriter nights in our intimate club.[…]
We are so proud to welcome Jeff Black to the Side Door this Sunday. The Nashville-based singer-songwriter is excited about returning to the ‘burg, where he made a lot of friends at shows at the Hideaway Café and the Studio at 620. “It seems like I’m traveling regularly to[…]
TC Carr is mostly known for his harmonica chops and his crisp singing style but surviving brushes with death seems to be a growing part of his repertoire. On his website, TC talks about his first film role in a recent National Geographic TV special. He plays, naturally, a[…]
In case you missed it here’s a great review of last weekend’s Adam Ant show – which drew a big, enthusiastic crowd to our intimate theater. The costumed rocker – who emerged in the 80s – performed songs from his new album, his hits, along with some fun surprises including[…]
We’ve been telling you for the past year that our Palladium membership program – “Friends With Benefits” – really lives up to its name. Tonight, we’re proving it again with a special “Buy One – Get One Free” offer for the Nate Najar Trio show in the Side Door. […]
At first we thought the Rose Bilal benefit – For the Love of Rose – would fill the Side Door cabaret. But by Sunday, the show had moved upstairs and more than 375 people turned out. And for everyone involved – it was a day to remember. Rose[…]
I can’t recall the first time I met Rose Bilal – sometime in the early ‘90s I think – but whenever it was, I’m sure neither of us had any idea how much our lives would interconnect over the years. After I got word that she had suffered a stroke[…]
To get you ready for Friday night’s concert by the “dandy highwayman’ of the 1980s – Adam Ant – I wanted to share a great Q & A from the Tampa Bay Times written by Steve Spears. He talked to the Spears from London about his comeback tour, his[…]
Politics was the topic, but the Palladium was the star of Tuesday night’s mayoral debate, which was televised live on Bay News 9. Other stations had reporters stationed across the street with their cameras aimed at our beautiful building. So the Palladium was also a hit at 6 and[…]
If you didn’t get into the Side Door last weekend – Thursday, Friday and/or Saturday – you missed some incredible jazz, Cuban salsa, a powerful soul singer and the Palladium’s first-ever Conga Line! This weekend promises to bring even more crowd-pleasing, head-bobbing, finger-snapping, table-thumping, dance-floor-jamming music. If you haven’t[…]
The Palladium is proud to be part of a great benefit concert for one of Tampa Bay’s best jazz and soul singers – Rose Bilal. Rose has been a longtime friend of mine and I don’t think I’ve ever seen her without a smile on her face. She’s performed[…]
Loved the new music issue of Creative Loafing now out on the stand. Your favorite small venue, the Palladium’s Side Door Cabaret, get’s a great mention in a story on the local jazz scene. The story features the boys from La Lucha – Mark, Alejandro and John – and leads[…]
Where did the four years go? It doesn’t seem that long ago the Palladium was the site of the last St. Petersburg mayoral debates – and now they are back. Mayor Bill Foster and challengers Rick Kriseman and Kathleen Ford will be on-stage Aug. 6 at 7 p.m. for A[…]
I’m excited about the return of La Lucha to the Side Door this Saturday Night at 8. Their CD release party last summer was a highlight of the season. They are back in the Side Door with new material and lots of favorites from their first two albums. Joining them[…]
This Thursday, July 11, The Palladium’s Side Door Cabaret hosts a special evening of Brazilian jazz featuring two amazing acoustic guitarists. Palladium favorite Nate Najar shares the stage with South Florida guitarist Phill Fest. Phill played and recorded Brazilian jazz with his late father, the renowned pianist Manfredo Fest. Manfredo[…]
Our good friend, Sarah Hogan, has died and everyone in the Palladium family is feeling the loss. Sarah was a Palladium regular – and a real fan of the jazz shows our Side Door Cabaret. She was normally sitting at a high top table in back with her pal, Winnie[…]
I became a Kevin Smith fan early on after seeing his hilarious slacker comedy Clerks and then he cemented our relationship with Dogma, which remains my favorite Smith film. I lived in Los Angeles for a few years and was on the set of Jay and Silent Bob Strike[…]
Hedda Lettuce, New York City’s hilarious “Queen of Green” returned to the Palladium on Thursday for another one of her film nights. Last year it was “Mommie Dearest” and this time it was “Valley of the Dolls,” arguably the worst movie to come out of the 1960s. I think that[…]
I didn’t get to see the Americanarama Fest Thursday night at the Live Nation Amphitheater because I was spending the evening at the Palladium. We had a night filled with belly laughs as New York’s Hedda Lettuce delivered her comic commentary on one of the world’s worst films – Valley[…]
Tampa Bay Times Performing Arts Writer John Fleming wrote a preview of The Medium, a St. Petersburg Opera production on the Palladium mainstage this Saturday night at 7:30 and Sunday at 2. The opera is timed to coincide with the this weekend’s St. Pete Pride celebration. Here’s an excerpt from[…]
Not sure what the rest of St. Pete did for music last Saturday night. But I do know that a heavy percentage of the working musicians from our area were at the Palladium that night for a concert featuring Bob James, David Sanborn, Steve Gadd and James Genus (the bassist[…]
When we tell you that the performers in our Young Artists concerts are about to be the next big thing – we aren’t just tossing hype. Violinist Caroline Goulding, who played here in 2011, is returning this fall as a featured soloist for the Florida Orchestra. Hahn Bin, the violinist[…]
Tampa Bay Times arts writer John Fleming interviewed David Manson, leader of O Som Do Jazz, in advance of Thursday’s CD release party at the Palladium Side Door. Here’s an excerpt from his story: David Manson is one of the most versatile musicians around. A trombonist, he has[…]
Had a chance to chat with Lauren Mitchell this week in advance of her return to the Side Door Cabaret this Friday night. We’re calling this a “welcome home” appearance because Lauren and the band just returned from several weeks of dates in North Carolina, Ohio and Canada. It[…]
To get you ready for Kurt Elling’s appearance at the Palladium this Friday, I wanted to share excerpts from a story about Elling in today’s Tampa Bay Times, by one of my favorite jazz writers – Philip Booth. Philip talked to Elling, who was perfroming in Europe last week, about[…]
Tampa Bay Times Fine Arts Writer John Fleming wrote a glowing review of Ariadne auf Naxos, the St. Petersburg Opera production that closes tonight at the Palladium. Here’s a selection from the review or for more, here’s a link to the entire article: http://www.tampabay.com/things-to-do/stage/ariadne-auf-naxos-review-with-ridiculous-glory-st-petersburg-opera-hits/2124328 By John Fleming/Tampa Bay Times ST.[…]
With the great jazz vocalist Kurt Elling coming in concert at the Palladium on June 7, I wanted to share this item from London’s Guardian newspaper. In April, Elling had an extended stay at Ronnie Scott’s, the legendary London jazz club that’s been around since the 1959. […]
With our 2012-13 season winding down and a summer of great main-stage concerts and Side Door Cabaret shows coming up, we’ve got a special membership offer that no music lover can refuse. If you join the Palladium’s Friends with Benefits Membership Program before June 30th, we will send[…]
The latest issue of Tampa Bay Magazine gives special recognition to the Palladium at St. Petersburg College in the annual “Best of 2013” edition. Your beautiful and historic theater was again named “Best Community Performing Arts Center.” Here’s what the editors at Tampa Bay Magazine said: “Now part of St. Petersburg[…]
We’ve got some very cool shows coming up this summer – including jazz greats Kurt Elling, David Sanborn and Bob James, ’80s star Adam Ant, and the legendary bluesman, Taj Mahal. Now some of my favorite slackers are making a stop at our historic old theater. Check out this preview that[…]
I’ve got two of my favorite bay-area bands in the intimate Side Door this weekend. It’s a double-bill of ‘60s bachelor pad jazz, by Stolen Idols, and the eclectic music masters known as the Vodkanauts. The Side Door, our nightclub, was recognized as a “Best of The Bay” music venue,[…]
We’re excited to have Jackie Bristow returning to the Side Door this Sunday. Jackie made a name for herself in New Zealand and Australia, before moving to the states to build her career as a singer-songwriter. Palladium audiences remember her from her great opening set with Tommy Emmanuel and a[…]
I’m excited about Damon Fowler’s rockin’ return to the Palladium’s Side Door Cabaret this Friday, April 26. To get yourself ready for the show, check out this 2011 interview from BluesWax Magazine. Since this article appeared, Damon’s been busy recording and touring with Southern Hospitality, his new band with JP Soars[…]
Coming up this Saturday night is a unique Palladium concert. It’s an evening of classics and jazz, featuring George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, performed by world renowned pianist Mark Markham and the nationally recognized Tarpon Springs Leadership Conservatory for the Arts jazz and wind ensembles. This is a benefit concert sponsored[…]
