{"id":171616,"date":"2026-02-27T16:06:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T16:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/171616\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T16:06:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T16:06:07","slug":"sun-ray-cinema-is-the-best-place-to-see-a-movie-in-tampa-and-it-does-concerts-now-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/171616\/","title":{"rendered":"Sun-Ray Cinema is the best place to see a movie in Tampa\u2014and it does concerts now, too"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img data-perfmatters-preload=\"\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"780\" height=\"520\" data-attachment-id=\"340393\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.cltampa.com\/arts\/tampas-sun-ray-cinema-is-a-destination-for-fans-of-blockbuster-movies-and-offbeat-classics-too-photos-20630174\/attachment\/sunray-12-webp\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cltampa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sunray-12.webp.webp?fit=1000%2C667&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1000,667\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"sunray-12.webp\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Sun-Ray Cinema in Tampa, Florida on Aug. 12, 2025.&lt;\/p&gt;&#10;\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cltampa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sunray-12.webp.webp?fit=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cltampa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sunray-12.webp.webp?fit=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/sunray-12.webp.webp.jpeg\" alt=\"Interior view of the dimly lit Sun-Ray Cinema lounge and bar area in Tampa. Industrial-style sputnik chandeliers with exposed amber bulbs hang from a dark ceiling over curved booths, with colorful neon accent lighting and mural art on the walls.\" class=\"wp-image-340393\"  \/>Sun-Ray Cinema in Tampa, Florida on Aug. 12, 2025. Credit: Dave Decker \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n<p>at the University Mall is hands down the best place to see a movie in Tampa (free popcorn and soda refills, cushy new recliners, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cltampa.com\/arts\/tampas-sun-ray-cinema-is-a-destination-for-fans-of-blockbuster-movies-and-offbeat-classics-too-photos-20630174\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.cltampa.com\/arts\/tampas-sun-ray-cinema-is-a-destination-for-fans-of-blockbuster-movies-and-offbeat-classics-too-photos-20630174\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Pee-Wee Herman regalia all over the place<\/a>). And now the place does concerts.<\/p>\n<p>The shows will take place in the theater\u2019s lobby, which includes a large corner stage.<\/p>\n<p>Curated in part by St. Pete scene lifer Craig Adams, this week\u2019s installment of \u201cAfter The Movies Presents\u201d is headlined by art-punk outfit Tiger 54 (listen to its tribute to oligarchs and narcissists, \u201cThis Place Is A Fucking Mess\u201d) which is joined by Central Florida rock trio The Drop Deads and bloody-entertaining alt-pop band Earthgirl.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/community.cltampa.com\/event\/after-the-movies-presents-tiger-54-the-drop-deads-and-earthgirl-21198385\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/community.cltampa.com\/event\/after-the-movies-presents-tiger-54-the-drop-deads-and-earthgirl-21198385\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tickets to see Tiger 54 play Sun-Ray Cinema in Tampa on Sunday, March 1 are still available for $10.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/tiger54.bandcamp.com\/track\/this-place-is-a-fucking-mess\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">THIS PLACE IS A FUCKING MESS by TIGER 54<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/altnewsfoundation.org\/cl-tampa\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Pitch in to help make the Tampa Bay Journalism Project a success.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-normal-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cltampa.com\/tampa\/NewsletterSignup\/Page\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow us:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAiECLjru3gB6BLYKOKFLfkVZsqFAgKIhAi467t4AegS2CjihS35FWb\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbreak.com\/@c\/1599764?s=01\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/CreativeLoafingTampa\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/cltampabay\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cltampabay\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/cltampabay.bsky.social\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">BlueSky<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"collection-link has-small-font-size\">This article appears in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cltampa.com\/collections\/feb-26-mar-04-2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Feb. 26 \u2013 Mar. 04, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead his 2016 intro letter\u00a0and disclosures from 2022 and 2021.\u00a0Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief&#8230;\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"author-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cltampa.com\/author\/rroa\/\" rel=\"author nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMore by Ray Roa\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sun-Ray Cinema in Tampa, Florida on Aug. 12, 2025. Credit: Dave Decker \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay at&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171617,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1864,40009,135,1865,137,136],"class_list":["post-171616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-live-music-in-tampa","tag-sun-ray-cinema","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay-concerts","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}