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<\/p>\nOnce more, the bay area\u2019s in for an embarrassment of guitar-playing riches. Here comes another weekend with a half dozen or more top-shelf guitarists onstage, in different cities and playing different genres, at virtually the same time.<\/p>\n
Roll call:<\/p>\n
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Jazz guitarist Dave Stryker is in New Tampa Sunday. Photo by Steve Splane.<\/p>\n
The Catalyst spoke with rock\/fusion pioneer Steve Vai earlier this week<\/a> about his longstanding association with fellow six-string legend Joe Satriani. They\u2019re performing together Friday at the BayCare Sound. Tickets<\/a>.<\/p>\n Friday brings astonishing country blues guitarist Rory Block to the Safety Harbor Art & Music Center. She is a seven-time Blues Music Awards winner. Tickets are here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Luther Dickinson is, in the minds of many (including this columnist) one of the best country blues slide guitarists in the world, plays Skipper\u2019s Smokehouse Saturday with his band, North Mississippi All-Stars. Tickets<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tonight at the Palladium Side Door Cabaret: Jazz guitarist Diego Figueiredo. This Brazilian finger-picking stringbender is a frequent and favorite area performer, for festival and theater dates. Find tickets here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dave Stryker plays electric jazz guitar, and has a pedigree that involves 10 years as Stanley Turrentine\u2019s guitarist, among other prestige gigs. Styker performs Saturday at New Tampa Performing Arts Center; his band includes retired USF Director of Jazz Studies Jack Wilkins on tenor sax. You can find tickets at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n Saturday brings Ottmar Liebert & Luna Negra to the Capitol Theatre. This is Latin music and melodies (aka \u201cNouveau Flamenco\u201d) from a fleet-fingered German guitarist, playing a gut-string classical instrument. Tickets<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n 225,000 tickets sold<\/p>\n The South Korean boy band phenomenon BTS opens its world tour with three (nearly) consecutive concerts at Raymond James Stadium, Saturday through Tuesday (April 25-28). All three shows (75,000 seats each) are sold out. Tampa Bay Boulevard, which runs along the southern side of the stadium (connecting N. Dale Mabry Highway and Himes Avenue), was shut down Wednesday and will remain closed until April 29.<\/p>\n The entire road is now home to the K-pop septet\u2019s merchandise tents. According to a notification from the City of Tampa, \u201con Thursday, April 23, thousands of fans are expected to start visiting the site daily to shop ahead of the band\u2019s world tour performances.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Where\u2019s the orchestra?<\/p>\n Concertmaster Jeffrey Multer leads The Florida Orchestra chamber music concerts this weekend. Here\u2019s the program: Astor Piazzolla\u2019s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, Bach\u2019s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 and Suite No. 1 and Golijov\u2019s Last Round. Performances: Friday (7:30 p.m.) at Clearwater Church of the Ascencion; Saturday (7:30 p.m.) at Peter and Cynthia Zinober Concert Hall at USF Tampa; Sunday (2:30 p.m.) at the Palladium Theater. Find all details (and tickets) at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n Florida Orchestra musicians (conducted by Chelsea Gallo) will accompany Opera Tampa for performances of Verdi\u2019s MacBeth in the Straz Center\u2019s Ferguson Hall, at 8 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Find tickets here<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Sunday brings the curtain down on the American Stage musical \u201cInto the Woods\u201d at Demens Landing Park. Image: Chaz D Photography.<\/p>\n On theater stages <\/p>\n Writer and performer Janice Creneti\u2019s one-woman show My Year of Saying No is onstage at the Off-Central Saturday and Sunday, and again May 2 and 3. This \u201cserio-comedy\u201d is the opening salvo in the theater\u2019s new \u201cThink Inside the Box\u201d initiative, delivering slightly out-of-the-mainstream productions to its 43-seat facility (the \u201cbox,\u201d see?) The show \u201ctracks one woman\u2019s journey to confront all that isn\u2019t working in the world, and in her life, to build a path back to herself.\u201d Saturday performances at 5 p.m., while Sundays find Creneti onstage at 3. Find showtimes and tickets here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sunday\u2019s 7:30 p.m. performance at Demens Landing Park will bring down the curtain on the American Stage production of the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods. Find tickets at this link. Tickets<\/a>.<\/p>\n Continuing at freeFall Theatre: The emotional Holocaust drama And Then They Came For Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank. Showtimes and tickets are here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Check out our interview at this link<\/a> with the stars and director of Stageworks Theatre\u2019s The Meeting, which imagines a conversation between Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The show is presented through May 3. Tickets and showtimes can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Studio@620\u2019s take on A Streetcar Named Desire closes with Sunday\u2019s performance; in this Catalyst story<\/a>, actress Debbie Yones discusses the classic drama. Showtimes and tickets are here<\/a>.<\/p>\n LAB Theater Project\u2019s X does not equal X, a drama by Steven Patrick, continues through May 3. Showtimes are at this link<\/a>, along with details and tickets.<\/p>\n The Light Bringer, a one-man show written and performed by Laila Lee, is on the Stageworks Theatre stage Sunday at 7:30 p.m. The show reflects her experiences growing up Muslim in the American South. Tickets<\/a>.<\/p>\n More concert calendar\u00a0<\/p>\n Tonight at the Capitol Theatre: The indefatigable Graham Nash (he was also here Wednesday night). Tickets<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cLong Island Medium\u201d Theresa Caputo is onstage tonight (at 7:30) at the Mahaffey Theater. Find tickets here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Comedian and actor Chris Tucker is back in our midst tonight, for a Morsani Hall concert (at the Straz Center). Tickets.<\/p>\n You might be a redneck if you go to see and hear Jeff Foxworthy at Ruth Eckerd Hall Friday. \u00a0Tickets are here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Saturday brings culinary TV personality, writer and humorist Alton Brown to Ruth Eckerd Hall. Tickets<\/a>.<\/p>\n Another frequent visitor to our fair region is former Moody Blue Justin Hayward; Mr. \u201cNights in White Satin\u201d sings Saturday at the Capitol Theatre. Tickets<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Tuesday (April 28) at the Mahaffey Theater: Illusionists Penn & Teller. Publicity photo.<\/p>\n Coming soon<\/p>\n April 27 Belinda Womack at Stageworks Theatre<\/p>\n April 28 Penn & Teller at the Mahaffey Theater<\/p>\n April 28 Florence + The Machine at Benchmark Arena<\/p>\n April 29 Nate Najar & Daniela Soledade at the Palladium Theater<\/p>\n April 30-May 3 Sunscreen Film Festival<\/p>\n May 1 The Kid Laroi at Yuengling Center<\/p>\n May 1 Rend Collective at the Capitol Theatre<\/p>\n May 2 6 Guitars at the Capitol Theatre<\/p>\n May 2 Steve Forbert at Jack Kerouac House<\/p>\n May 3 Steve Forbert at Bayboro Brewing<\/p>\n May 5 Laura Jane Grace at Bayboro Brewing<\/p>\n May 6 Devon Allman\u2019s Blues Summit at the Capitol Theatre<\/p>\n May 7 10,000 Maniacs at the Capitol Theatre<\/p>\n May 8 Kid Cudi at Benchmark Arena<\/p>\n May 8-10 Country Thunder at Coachman Park<\/p>\n \u00a0Your Weekend Spotlight<\/a>\u00a0appears every Thursday in the\u00a0Catalyst\u2019s CREATE section.\u00a0<\/p>\n Please add us to your mailing list \u2013 send all press releases and event info to\u00a0bill@stpetecatalyst.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Into-the-Woods-American-Stage-300x200.jpg\")
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