Tampa. You never know what you have until you are not around it for a week or so. Tampa is small, it has small venues, few shows, and it has minimal culture, but it does HAVE it, unlike Key West which is basically just a tourist hole. Now I can’t really say anything to bad about it, because hey I was there, but after walking the streets of Key West I see exactly what they have done to Ybor City. You see at the end of Duval Street in Key West (like 7th in Ybor) is a large dock for the cruise ships (port of Tampa). All the tourists get off and go swarming through the ‘old part of town’ looking for those great deals on vacation spot items and overpriced food and drink. Ybor has resisted somewhat as it still claims a few distinct independent shops and stuff, but this wont last for long with the constant assault of tourists. Key West a few years back ( before the ships ) had many distinct shops, but now its shop after shop of the same mindless t-shirts, coffee mugs, key lime candy, and metal signs. This is all well and good if you are in it for the tourist sales, but its kind of sad to see a cool area degrade into the typical cruise ship port city that you see from Cozumel to East coast resort towns. But never fear, Tampa Bay Area isn’t based around Ybor city, as a matter of fact there are tons of spots around town to find cool things, here are some good resources for you to check out.
http://seminoleheights.blogspot.com/
This is a typical blog style website with a great amount of resources devoted to the Seminole Heights area. Includes recent articles from magazines and newspapers about Seminole Heights, politics that might affect the area, and best of all a ton of links to places in and around Seminole Heights. Read through the archives, it’s a great place to get a feel for whats going on in this hip part of town. From art galleries, restaurants to small shops, Seminole Heights can keep you out of the tourist throng.
http://www.coffeestain.com/genres/punk/index.shtml
Looking for a punk band to go check out in the Tampa area, well Coffeestain.Com ( well known for its flame wars ) can provide it for you. An awesome list of bands A-Z in the Tampa area as well as links to their websites, show dates, messages and more. Its not all about Punk either, find all types of bands in the Tampa area, from metal to hip hop, you wont be disappointed.
http://www.hellotampa.com/Art/Index.Cfm
I haven’t had a change to really explore this site in great detail but I have noticed it has a lot of resources and has been coming up on Tampa searches quite a bit lately. A great layout, nice format, and it has an excellent listing of Tampa art and artists. The site also features other types of events, from concerts to real estate, another great way to find some fun stuff in Tampa.
http://tampaunderground.tribe.net
Of course its not all about myspace even though everyone thinks it is. Tribe.Net has a great resource for seeing what is really happening in Tampa’s non tourist darkside. From fire eating shows, reggae, art events, political group meetings, and just about everything in between. Signing up on tribe is easy and its more personal and event driven then myspace, check it out.
