It’s curtains for Crowbar. After owner Tom DeGeorge announced the venue’s lease was ending in 2026, the last year became a series of goodbye shows.

Though there will still be a few gigs in the new year, the last 2025 show featured the unveiling of an honorary “Legacy” beer from Coppertail Brewing Company along with music from Emo Night DJs, Four Star Riot and the Soft Rock Renegades.

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Tampa emo rockers Discord Theory have been touring in support of the band’s new double A-side single “Letters from Atlas” since it was released in March.

The lineup its last hometown show of the year in Ybor City featured Gloomchild, Big Sad, Luciidea, and Face the Fence.

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — As local organizing grows in importance and arts programming faces rising political attacks, musician and community organizer Dylan Dames (performer name “DAMES”) combines both spaces through his own work.

On Nov. 8th, the San Pedro Gazette attended DAMES at Woodlawn in Greater Woodlawn, St. Petersburg. Through interviews on Aug. 27 and Oct. 10, Dames shared his work and story.

As the sun sets through the live oak trees of a local backyard, Dames takes the stage for soundcheck with his band. The scene comes to life as a couple, Trista and Justin Miller, with their young son, Harris, place hand-carved wooden lanterns throughout the backyard between rows of chairs awaiting the audience soon to arrive. Music swells over the fence into the Greater Woodlawn neighborhood, a melodic mixture of covers and original songs as the performers rehearse their setlist.

Starting in a college dorm room

Dylan Dames, 26, performs under the moniker DAMES, a project he began in a college dorm room. Dames classifies his unique blend of sounds as “Pop Soul,” drawing from a broad array of time frames and generic techniques. His musical talents include both singing and acoustic guitar.

Growing up with both music and writing, the evolution seemed inevitable. “I would win national awards for storytelling, and eventually started singing. I’ve been singing in church my whole life – the first time I sang in church, I was four years old. That developed and grew, and eventually I started putting together an imagination of what kind of performer I’d want to be.”

As Dames directed the rehearsal, he led with collaboration, inviting his bandmates to participate alongside him in building the setlist and its structure. His approach treated the performance as collaborative joy. He ensured the comfort and wellbeing for his full team, heavily emphasizing preshow rest and dinner as they practice in front of a screened-in porch set aside for “Band Only.” He expressed his love and admiration for his wife, Gina Lever, as she prepared the DAMES merchandise table and checks in the concert’s ticketed guests.

Dames recalls his first show fondly during the August interview with the San Pedro Gazette.

While brainstorming ideas to earn money for a Tori Kelly concert in 2018, Lever suggested hosting an acoustic show to her husband. “I reached out to a couple friends of mine and was like, let’s put on a funk show,” Dames said. DAMES performed to a crowd at Concord Coffee, a coffee shop in Lakeland, Fla.

“It was packed wall to wall, body to body: over 100 people were there. I made nine bucks. I definitely did not fundraise for my trip, but something else was born that day,” Dames explained. “I’m grateful that that was the path we took – that springboarded me into finding my individual voice.”

Faith, social justice and community

The sun now disappearing, the crowd filed in to take their seats. Several sport progressive Christian slogans on T-shirts with phrases like “All Are Welcome” on full display. Families arrive with their children, groups of friends swap stories, and a buzz builds among the crowd as they await DAMES and his band’s presence. 

Many attendees proudly align with Allendale Methodist Church, known both locally and beyond for its social justice ethos.

For Dames, performance and local justice work both provide space for action, currently working as a paid community organizer for Faith in Florida, a faith-based nonprofit. 

“We’re like a multicultural solidarity network across the state of Florida[…] Here in Pinellas, we work on housing and criminal justice,” Dames said.

Growing up in the church with a pastor mother, faith and music have been constants in Dames’ life, alongside lifelong involvement in activist spaces. His recent reengagement in community organizing began in the late 2010s and continues to this day.

“I was disappointed in the church’s inaction during COVID, and then also in the church’s response to the uprisings in Minneapolis, and then eventually across the whole country after the lynching of George Floyd,” Dames said. “In that space, I was like, well, I need to ask some hard questions. I need to reevaluate some relationships and figure some things out.”

Dames began seeking spaces for meaningful action, which brought him to the same Allendale community, showing up in support of his Nov. 8th concert. 

“In 2021, I found an internship at Allendale, which connected me with the organization that I work for[…] 2020 to 2022 was a revolution of sorts, where I went from being an activist to an organizer, and realized that people closest to the problem needed to be at the center of the solution: it wasn’t me, with my advanced degree and my middle class upbringing that needed to be talking about gentrification and food deserts in South St. Petersburg – it was people from South St. Petersburg,” Dames asserted.

Dames cemented himself as a cornerstone of community activism and connection.

DAMES, Live at Woodlawn

DAMES at Woodlawn attendees rose with reverence as the show began, a wave of support responding to his intentional work. 

These spheres are inseparable to Dames, neither existing as a full picture of his work without the other – a sentiment clearly shared as the band takes the stage to enthusiastic applause. He recently performed for the City of St. Petersburg’s Pride Festival and People’s Pride at Allendale.

“Wherever music takes me, I’m still going to be doing it. I can’t think of a single version of myself where I’m not organizing. Even if I’m selling out stadiums, I’m probably still going to be doing community organizing.”

Dames, alongside his band, begin their two-part set with a medley composed of covers and his original songs. His soulful vocals are supported by Carol Larrinaga and Astrid McIntyre, with James Brimson on guitar and sound mixing, Joshua Rodriguez on bass, and Jovanni Salas on drums.

As the show winds down, Dames and his band expressed their gratitude to the crowd. According to Lever, about 70 people came to the show. The merging and separation of DAMES, the musician and the activist, appears in his greetings to the audience as various groups approach him with their congratulations.

“I want to make music that connects with people, and I want to make music that feels honest from me, and music that I think actually contributes something to the cultural zeitgeist,” Dames said. 

He recalls his St. Pete Pride performance while reflecting on these converging spaces. 

“With the People’s Pride Coalition, a lot of those people are my friends, and a lot of those people understand me as an organizer, a community organizer that can sing,” Dames says. “At the Pride Parade, those people understand me as a musician and a singer that does community organizing on the side. I’m neither of those things.”

“I feel like I’m just Dylan in some ways, but it [did] help me think critically about how I wanted to be sure that I was showing up as myself in both spaces,” Dames said.

Whether Dames is showing up to an organizing shift with Faith in Florida or DAMES is performing his original songs onstage, his investment in his communities remains at the forefront.

• You can support DAMES directly at DamesTunes.com
• Stream his original music on streaming platforms, such as Spotify
• Follow DAMES for future performances on Instagram @dylandames

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As Phoebe Bridgers says, Halloween is a time when we can be anything—and Emo Night Tampa takes that to heart for its annual fall concert.

The 2025 lineup for its Halloween concert features Sam Bips & Friends covering Bright Eyes, J.IN.X channeling Kid Cudi, Devotion and Desire covering Bayside, and Peace Cult doing Green Day.

These Halloween editions have become a kind of tradition. The last time Emo Night Tampa rolled out this all-covers show, bands tackled Jimmy Eat World, Blink-182, and Radiohead.

What makes this Halloween extra scary is that Crowbar’s lease is set to expire in 2026 and while the venue has secured rights through then, what happens after is anyone’s guess—this could be one of the last Emo Night Tampa Halloween parties there.

Owner Tom DeGeorge has spoken openly about the challenges independent venues face in Ybor City, where development pressures are changing the landscape. “Our 20-year anniversary is in 2026, and I really want to get there,” DeGeorge told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay in 2021.

His club at 1812 N 17th St. opened in November 2006, and has a calendar packed with national tours and local staples.

Tickets for Emo Night Tampa’s Halloween 2025 concert at Crowbar in Ybor City on Friday, Oct. 31 are still available and start at $12.49.

Emo Night Tampa

Time Fri., Oct. 31, 8 p.m. 2025

Location Crowbar – Tampa, 1812 17th Street North, Tampa

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The Raging Nathans have been doing the punk-rock lifer thing long enough to prove that fast, snotty anthems about “tap water and boots for dinner” will never go out of style.

“The last great punk band” brought Tides and Miller Lowlifes to Skatepark of Tampa last Saturday.

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Oksana Kolesnikova built an international career ranging from Hollywood events to concerts for American troops overseas. Her latest performance is a personal one in St. Petersburg. 

The Siberian-born pianist and Florida State University grad performs in St. Pete’s Duncan McClellan Gallery this weekend.

Early in McClellan’s glassblowing career, before studying in Murano, he asked Oksana’s husband, Alex, to teach him basic Italian so he could communicate with fellow glassblowers. 

Now, the gallery hosts the couple for an evening of music and art. Guests can tour the gallery’s exhibits, mingle with the artists and enjoy Italian cuisine from Felice Italian Deli.

Tickets start at $100 for Oksana Kolesnikova performing Saturday, Sept. 14 in St. Petersburg.

OKSANA Live! in Tampa Bay

Time Sun., Sept. 14, 6-9 p.m. 2025

Location Duncan McClellan Gallery, 2342 Emerson Avenue S, St Petersburg

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The 26-year-old, whose real name is Jaylah Ji’mya Hickmon, was full of emotion while receiving her first ever Grammy from Cardi B for her album Alligator Bites Never Heal; she expressed gratitude toward her mother, label, and fans, while also emphasizing the untapped talent in Tampa.

“There’s so many people out there who probably don’t know who I am,” said Doechii, “I call myself the Swamp Princess because I’m from Tampa, Florida! There is so much culture in Tampa. Whenever people think about Florida they only think about, like Miami, but Tampa has so much talent. Labels, go to Tampa. There is talent there.”

“This category was introduced in 1989. Two women have won, Lauryn Hill —” said, Doechii cutting herself off. “Three women have won. Lauryn Hill, Cardi B and Doechii.”

The Tampa rapper—who’ played local venues as small as The Bricks and The Ritz—has experienced an incredibly rapid rise to success, after her 2020 single “Yucky Blucky Fruitcake” became the soundtrack of a popular Tik Tok trend called the “why don’t you introduce yourself to the class?” challenge. She was also featured in 2022’s XXL Freshman Class.

Chick Corea—who called Clearwater home at the time of his death—won a posthumous Best Jazz Instrumental album award, but it’s hard to think of any artist from Tampa who’s won such a significant award at the Grammys. Hardcore band Underoath was nominated in 2007, 2019, and 2024. Jazz composer Chuck Owen has been nominated five times.

“I know that there is some Black girl out there, so many Black women out there that are watching me right now, and I want to tell you, you can do it. Anything is possible. Anything is possible. Don’t allow, don’t allow anybody to project any stereotypes on you that tell you that you can’t be here that you’re too dark or that you’re not smart enough, or that you’re too dramatic or you’re too loud,” she added. “You are exactly who you need to be to be right where you are, and I am a testimony.”
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“He was like a brother to us, but it had been so long since we’d even spoken. It feels surreal when someone who was such a deep part of your life can just drift away, or even disappear,” the band—which includes Tampeño musicians Natalie DePergola, Seth Adam Lynn and Roger Lanfranchi—told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.

On Animal Prince’s new single, “Parallel Lines,” the R&B and pop-leaning Gainesville-based indie-rock putfit explores grief and how to honor a relationships that went on different paths.

The band’s new album, Have Good Dreams, keeps the gaze inward and is a reflection of the self-reflection and growth de Lestang and McLeod experienced as they recorded the album at home during the pandemic.

“The lesson we kept coming back to was that you really have to take it upon yourself to create and protect your joy. This record is a story about that internal journey, and taking ownership of your life experience,” they added.

Animal Prince doesn’t have any more Tampa Bay shows planned this year, but hopes to be at Crowbar in early 2025.

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“The 12-song collection sits tightly at about 40 minutes and knits together a collage of sounds: thrift store cassette tape samples, distorted vocals, breaks that make you bop, and a percussive energy that’s impossible not to move to,” Creative Loafing Tampa Bay wrote last year.

These days, the band is selective about gigs, but Myers regularly pops up for a new electronic music series curated by Image Research Records.

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In fact, hip-hop is a common way for pop music fans to start exploring instrumental music. Just ask Tampa producer Wally Rios who fell in love with it while he was brainstorming ideas for raps.

“Eventually I just learned to enjoy the beats as they were,without lyrics. It made me get interested in creating beats myself,” Rios told CL.

He tries to create moods and change energy with his work, which often pays homage to his love of animation and comic books—and he loves it when artists take his beats and make their own art.

“What’s amazing is, you create beats with certain visions in your head but its interpretation can be different depending on the listener or artist. Ultimately it is fulfilling when another person just gets it, lets you know you’re doing something right,” he added.

Rios regularly spins at the Wu-Tang Sunday brunch at Tampa Shuffle.

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