BAAMO's out and a dark masquerade is coming!

Those of you looking to go a big concert experience should check out BAAMO. No, it's not a comic book phrase. It stands for Bay Area Arts and Music Organization they just released a cd! The cd, titled Tales of Lust and Lounging includes music from Rebekah Pulley and the Reluctant Prophets, the Beauvilles, Jeremy Gloff and many others. The cd release concert will be going on this Saturday (4/11) at New World Brewery and it is one not to miss. Make sure to check out the schedule to see when you're personal favorite local musician will be going on.

Let's not deny it. No matter what, checking out a dark fetish masquerade is fun if only for checking out the various wild costumes. Taboo 2 at the Castle on Saturday (4/11) seems like the perfect place to go and check out anything stylistically as it's definitely putting fashion at the forefront for this event. Add in to this, the fact that the downstairs area of the Castle that is normally closed off will be opened up for any of you looking to climb up on chain spider webs. Just be warned. This is not something to enter with a closed mind. As long as you come with a good attitude, I can guarantee that you'll have a good time!

Grab a show and some fishnets

Rock while you shop: Usually, heading over to Hot Topic means you need to pick up some fishnets or find an obscure band T-shirt. If you go tonight, though, you’ll be able to see one of Tampa’s up and coming indie-rock groups in action.
With their mussed hair and poppy and catchy lyrics, the boys of Woodwork have the capability of blowing up big quickly. If you’re into bands like Panic at the Disco!, you’ll definitely want to give these guys a listen to.
While Hot Topic might seem like an odd venue, it should be interesting to see how the concert is set up. Just be prepared to fight your way through scores of screaming 14-year-old girls.
Worse comes to worse, You can have some cool music to listen to while shopping for a Lynard Skynard shirt for your dad.
The Woodwork will be playing at International Mall’s Hot Topic, 2223 N. West Shore Blvd. Tampa, tonight at 7 p.m. The concert is free so don't worry about bringing any cash (unless you want to shop).

Green Devils unite: NOVA 535 Art Lounge opens its doors 6-11 p.m. today for an evening of door prizes, free snacks and Green Devil beverage specials, including $3 Michelob Ultra and $5 green apple drinks plus non-alcoholic choices. Donation at the door benefits the St. Petersburg High School Green Devil Fund which supports classroom and school improvement projects. NOVA 535 Art Lounge, 535 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St. N, St. Petersburg. (727) 709-9841. nova535.com.

Bring your blue ribbon pig: With youth livestock show, midway rides, live music and other entertainment. Also a steer sale (Thursday), demolition derby (Friday), tractor pull (Saturday), truck pull (Sunday). Hernando County Fairgrounds, 6436 Broad St., Brooksville. Fair admission: $7, $4 ages 4-12, 3 and younger free. Parking $2. (352) 796-4552. hernandofairgrounds.com.

Not Patsy, but close: Patsy Cline tribute artist CJ Harding is joined by her son, musician Chris Carpenter. 2 and 7 p.m. today at the Largo Cultural Center, 105 Central Park Drive, Largo. $20. (727) 587-6793. largoarts.com.

In Soviet Russia, Orchestra plays you!: Sarasota may be a long way to drive on a school night, but look how far the performers has traveled to make music for you! You’re be humming the Sleeping Beauty Suite all the way home. 8 p.m. tonight, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. $55-$85. Toll-free (800) 826-9303. vanwezel.org.

State of the Art returns!

Just a quick note for all you art-stars out there, State of the Art v.2 is happening April 25th at the Roosevelt in Tampa. I had mentioned in my year end wrap-up for 2008 that the first State of the Art was the best art party I had been to that year. With that in mind, State of the Art v.2 should be a great party tonight. With live music, fashion and a live art installation being put out, State of the Art v.2 should be a no miss party to hit up tonight. Considering just how cool the last event was, I want to make sure people get a lot of notice for this one so the turnout will be amazing.

On a side note: I apologize to anyone who read the earlier article stating that the show was today. I got a little too excited when I got the e-mail stating it was April 2nd that I forgot to look at the flyer, which states the show is on the 25th. Honestly, no one feels more stupid than I, since I drove out to Tampa for a non-existent show!

State of the Art v.2 will be going on at the Roosevelt, 1812 N. 15th St., Ybor City, at 9 p.m. They don't have a cover charge listed but plan on paying around $10 to get into the show. Last year's was worth at least twice that with the amount of art and music going on. I'll get more information to you as this develops

Attack of the beards

Just because you're a guy, it doesn't mean that you can't have a little bit of pride in how your hair looks. The Beard contest at Dunedin Brewery this Saturday (3/28) is giving men a chance to show off their gorgeous facial fur in hopes for winning some awards. I'm personally looking forward to seeing the winner of the best freestyle beard. You know that one is going to be wild!

Everyone loves vintage. Any day when you can dress up as a 20's flapper or a 40's soldier is a good day. To help people out with that, Buffalo Gal Vintage is having a vintage clothing swap on Saturday (3/28) for people to bring in their old old clothes to trade in for new ones. Once you get your new duds, you can mosey on over to the St. Petersburg Yacht Club for the Back to the '50's FUNdraising Party for some swing dancing. Considering that it's being held to help out the Florida Poodle Rescue, there's no better time to break out that poodle skirt and dance the night away. I know I'd love to see a Frenchie out in the audience, complete with horrid hair.

If your looking for something a little more local, check out the hometown heroes Tres Bien at the Neptune Lounge on Friday (3/27) in their first concert back in the bay since going on a national tour. The added bonus is that they'll rocking with Win Win Winter. For those of you wanting to be dark and electronic, check out Synthetic Pleasures at the Orpheum on Friday (3/27). It's  a great alternative for the weekly Friday Castle-goers and local dj Curse Mackey will be performing as well. Check out their music before you go.

Making a scary movie isn't easy. Let the Right One In takes the overused concept of vampires and makes them frightening again. I saw this movie in Tampa Theatre a while back and my date had to leave because she was so scared. If you decide to go the showing at the Miller Auditorium at Eckerd College on Friday (3/27), prepare to get the chills. If you don't believe me, just watch the trailer. It's amazing to watch (and it's free!) just be sure to warn anyone you take with you.

Biking, concerts and disco darlins

Not at all Vamp related: Before you go thinking to dress up as a creature of the night, the Tampa Twilight Criterium on Saturday (3/21) is all about biking and not the young adult vampire books.  With both amateur and professional races going on throughout the day, it'll be good for anyone, even if you just want to hang out on the sidelines  and get your bike  decorated for the cycling parade. For a full list of the scheduled events, check out their website for a detailed schedule of everything going on.

For your music fix: Pull out all those old Wu-Tang albumsake sure to check out Ghostface Killah over at the Ritz on Saturday (3/21). The influential Wu-Tang member is joined up by another former Wu-Tang member, Raekwon. Seeing these two on stage together should be one of the best rap concerts of the year in Tampa Bay. If you're looking for a little more female empowering stuff going on, the queen of feminist rock, Ani DiFranco will be at the Tampa Theatre on Friday (3/20). Combining her acoustic musical styling with the intimate setting of the Tampa Theatre will make for an intense show for anyone who digs female-fronted rock shows.

Burn Baby Burn: If you want some violence in a sports environment, you should check out the Derby Disco Inferno over at the USA Skateplex on Saturday (3/21). As the Derby Darlin's first exhibition game of 2009, the ladies should pumped and ready to play hard. Add on to this fact that it's a disco related game so afros and bell bottoms will be rampant in the rink and the crowd. Make sure to dress a little 70's yourself and you'll get $2 off your ticket. It's definitely worth digging out those old gold pendants and platform shoes.

Friday means "free-day" today

Free frozen treat No. 1: Today is the first day of spring, and for the 17th year, Rita’s Italian Ice is celebrating by giving away a free, 10 oz. cup of frozen deliciousness from noon to 10 p.m. You can cool off at any one of Rita’s Tampa Bay locations, including Brooksville, Clearwater, New Port Richey and Tampa. Visit Ritasice.com for a complete list. 

Free frozen treat No. 2: Everyone knows vampires only come out at night, and vampire fans will be out in force tonight as the Blockbuster at 13610 Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in Tampa celebrates the DVD release of Twilight at midnight. In addition to being among the first to buy or rent the DVD, the first 50 people who volunteer to give a pint of blood to Florida Blood Services will receive a free pint of Edy’s ice cream. The fun — or fright — starts at 8 p.m. and will also feature trivia games, giveaways, face painting, drawings for special prizes and appearances by radio stations Mix 100.7 and 93.3 FLZ. Free. 

Frozen fun with donation: The shelves at America’s Second Harvest of Tampa Bay are critically bare, so they’re teaming up with Disney on Ice to collect donated canned goods in exchange for tickets to Worlds of Fantasy, running May 14-17 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa. A donation of 10 cans of non-perishable food entitles each consumer to one ticket for opening night only, with a limit of four tickets per family. You can make your donation today at the Forum box office from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Worlds of Fantasy, features characters from Cars, The Lion King and The Little Mermaid, as well as fairies from Tinker Bell. If you can’t make a donation, tickets go on sale today at all Ticketmaster outlets. Prices start at $16. 

Ryan Sheckler does a kickflip over the 12-foot bank to bank at the 2006 Tampa Pro. (Photo from Times files)

Dude alert! Top skateboarders converge on Skate Park of Tampa this weekend for the 15th Annual Tampa Pro. The contest showcases the best skateboarders and attracts some of the top skaters who typically don’t enter contests, so the cool dude count is high.  This year’s purse is $100,000 between the top finishers with $20,000 going to the top street course skater. Some of the riders this year include Red Bull athletes Jereme Rogers, Joey Brezinski, Zared Bassett and Nick Dompierre at SPoT, 4215 E Columbus Drive in Tampa. Tickets are $5-$15. See www.skateparkoftampa.com for a schedule.

Tongues a-blazing: The Chili Blaze, a Pinellas Park Firefighters’ event, will have a chili cook-off, Born to Ride motorcycle show, live music by Tropical Brain Freezes and the St. Pete All Stars and crafts show. It all benefits the Muscular Dystrophy Association from 6 to 11 p.m. today at the England Brothers Bandshell, 5121 80th Ave. N, Pinellas Park. Free admission and an all-you-can-sample chili armband is $7. (727) 687-4494. chiliblaze.com.

Going green: It's St. Patrick's Day

Mark Bradley of St. Petersburg is already setting up at the Cockney Rebel in St. Pete Beach. (Photo by Cherie Diez)

You won’t need the luck of the Irish to find a great St. Patrick’s Day party today:

O’Brien’s Irish Pub: One of the largest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the area, the Brandon pub will open at 6 a.m. today for breakfast and have live music starting at 3 p.m. with Surf Chicks, the PJ Smith Band and Slugger O’Toole. It’s at 701 W Lumsden Road, Brandon. (813) 661-9688.

Four Green Fields: The authentic thatched roof Irish pub is as close to the Emerald Isle as you’re gonna get. They started celebrating Friday with Irish food, drinks and traditional Irish music. Today’s Irish lunch buffet starts at 11 a.m. followed by outdoor food tents and live non-stop Irish music from noon until 2 a.m. at 205 W Platt St. in South Tampa.

Tommy Duff’s Irish Aviation Pub: The “World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade” proves a parade doesn’t have to be long to be fun. It’s a costumed pub crawl! Pull on a St. Patrick’s Day costume or hat and beads, bring flags and posters and parade (between drinks!) your way along the Clearwater Causeway to the Tiki Deck (for more drinks!). Returns to Tommy Duff’s for more tent party fun with music by Unclaimed Baggage and the Orb’s. 5:05 p.m. 126 Island Way, Clearwater. Free. (727) 449-1366.

Dubliner Irish Pub: They’ve been partying all weekend at the Dubliner. Today they continue with a traditional St. Patrick’s celebration from 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. 12836 Henderson Road, Tampa. Free. (813) 300-2076.

O’Keefe’s: Today is Day 2 of the party with corned beef and cabbage, burgers, Irish drinks and live entertainment including The Holligans (11 a.m.), Irish Dancers (3 p.m.), Pooka Irish Band and Dancers (4 p.m.), Otis Velt and the Old School Band (8 p.m.) and bagpipers (all night). 1219 S Fort Harrison Ave., Clearwater. $5-$10 (food and drink extra). (727) 442-9034.

Brass Tap: Wiregrass Mall’s inner streets will be blocked off and full of beer, music and good food. Refrigerated trailer with nine taps of Irish beer. Live music hits the stage from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. Portion of the proceeds benefits Relay for Life. 10-2 a.m. today. 2000 Piazza Ave., Wesley Chapel. $5. (813) 991-4343.

Tank’s Tap Room: One of three Guinness-endorsed bars in Tampa Bay throws an all-day St. Patrick’s Day party with lots of beer, Irish whiskey, car bombs (that’s a drink), corned beef and cabbage and more starting at 11 a.m. 13150 N Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa. No cover, food and drink individually priced. (813) 961-2337.

MacDinton’s: They say it’s “the place to be seen in your green.” A daylong celebration with live music by the Go Daddies, Irish dancers, bagpipers, drink specials, food and more. Starting at 11 a.m. 405 Howard Ave. S, Tampa. $10 after 5 p.m. (813) 251-8999.

Flanagan’s Irish Pub: Main Street Dunedin comes alive with Irish festivities including entertainment by Noel Cooney, Jeff Glover, the Dunedin Pipe Band, Irish dancers and a traditional Irish session. Also, Irish banger sandwiches, corned beef and cabbage, shepherd’s pie and plenty of beer (including green!). Starts at 11 a.m. at 465 Main St., Dunedin. Free (food and drink charges separate). (727) 736-4994.

Courigan’s Irish Pub: Stop by for a tent party with live entertainment and $6 Irish car bombs all day. 1 Beach Drive, St. Petersburg. (727) 551-9019.

The Happy Shack: Grab some fresh corned beef sandwiches ($6), Mickey’s Wide Mouths ($2) or a Guinness Pint ($4) from noon to 2 a.m. 4400 Fourth St. N, St. Petersburg. (727) 525-0969.

The Cockney Rebel: The pub will be opening at 9 a.m. to serve an Irish breakfast of eggs, sausage, baked beans and blood pudding. From lunch till closing, Irish stew, fish and chips and corned beef and cabbage will be served. Bagpipers, Irish dancers and two bands will be featured entertainment throughout the day. 6395 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach. (727) 360-4840.

Know of a great party today that's not mentioned here? Let us know!

Careful how you party; it's Friday the 13th

Protect your mirrors and keep your black cats indoors. Friday the 13th is upon us. It doesn't mean you can't go out and get a little wild. You've just got to keep in mind that some events could have some unlucky repercussions. Keep your rabbit's foot handy just in case if you go to any of these events.

• Burger Bash at Chefs on the Loose: You'll get some great food and it's perfect for anyone wanting to indulge in some juicy hamburgers. Unlucky side: With the amount of food that'll be available, you'll be lucky if you don't have a gargantuan stomachache during the night.
• The Belleview Biltmore Hotel ghost hunt: Have dinner and a reception with some local ghost hunters then head through the hotel in search of paranormal activity. Unlucky side: If you encounter a real ghost, you'll probably act more like Lou Costello then Peter Venkman.
• New Kids on the Block at the Amway Arena: Come relive your favorite '80s memories of boy bands with songs like Step by Step and Hanging Tough. Unlucky side: A revival tour of New Kids on the Block may lead to more unsavory reunions (i.e. Milli Vanilli)
• Kat DeLuna and the Sexy Oz party at the Honeypot: Go hear the up-and-coming R&B star in an atmosphere decorated like a sexy version of Frank L. Baum's classic American tale. Unlucky side: There might be a couple people out there who decide to dress up as a provocative version of Toto. That's something you can't unsee.
• 6th Annual Streetcar Hop at various locales around Tampa: Kick off St. Paddy's day early by hitching a ride with the Rough Riders on the trolley and booze your way through Tampa and Ybor. Unlucky side: If you end up partying the night away in Ybor only to realize at 2 a.m. that the streetcars have stopped for the night and your vehicle is in Channelside.

The best events start late tonight

Turn down, tune in: The Orpheum is usually filled with loud guitars and thumping beats, but tonight Mason Jennings brings his laid-back folk sound to Ybor. You might recognize his voice as that of another Minnesota-bred folk singer performing The Times They Are A-Changin’ in the Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There. 7 p.m. Orpheum, 1902 N Republica De Cuba, Ybor City. $17. (813) 248-9500.   

Bracket-ball: Few sports are as exciting as college basketball come tournament time. (Are you listening, college football?) Today the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament tips off at the St. Pete Times Forum with games at 1, 3:15, 7:30 and Florida facing Arkansas in the final game at 9:45 p.m. The championship game is 1 p.m. Sunday. 401 Channelside Drive, Tampa. Tickets might be tough to come by, but if you can find one, a ticket book for all the games is $325. (813) 301-2500.   

Shop but don’t drop: Spring is here, the weather is perfect and it’s time for the annual Corey Avenue Spring Sidewalk Sale. Merchants will be offering sales, promotions, door prizes and more while you groove to the sounds of island music on steel drums. It runs 10 a.m.-5 p.m. today through Saturday on Corey Avenue in St. Pete Beach. Free. (727) 366-2003.

Caution, zombies ahead: To celebrate the release of Resident Evil 5 at midnight, GameStop and other businesses at Parkside Mall in Pinellas Park will welcome a new legion of the undead. Naturally there will be a zombie walk and a board game tournament by Parkside books. Other businesses participating are Starbucks, Movie Stop, Chipotle and more. It all starts at 10 p.m. 3720 Park Blvd., Pinellas Park. Free. And if you just pick up a copy of the game and get it back to your console quick, see Gamestop.com for a complete list of participating locations. 

Set a new high score today

Set a high score: Delayed due to renovation, the “Video Stuff: Electronic Gaming Through the Years” exhibit at the Dunedin Historical Museum is finally open. A retro show worthy of Ms. Pac Man’s favors, “Video Stuff” takes you through the history of video games, from the now 30-year old legend Pong to the Wii and Xbox 360 you pretend are really for the kids. Best of all, the exhibit includes a game area where children (and adults) can take a crack at playing some of the early video machines. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. 349 Main St., Dunedin. $2 donation. (727) 736-1176.

Tip-off time: Though play doesn’t begin until Thursday, you can start cheering for your favorite team in the SEC’s men’s basketball tournament tonight at the Party Under the Stars. Held outside the St. Pete Times Forum, it’s free and open to the public with cheerleaders, school bands and live music starting at 7 p.m. The Florida Gators face Arkasas in the first round at 9:45 p.m. Thursday. 401 Channelside Drive, Tampa.(813) 301-2500. 

It’s a bird, it’s a plane! Look to the east tonight and you might catch a glimpse of the Space Shuttle Discovery on its way to the International Space Station. With only eight more scheduled missions before being retired, this could be one of your last chances to see the shuttle in flight. Lift-off is scheduled for 9:20 p.m. and the weather is forecast to be perfect.