Kenny G is playing in Clearwater tonight . . . but letäó»s not talk about that. Sure, we gave a (totally sincere!) little shout out to Boston last week, but even we have our standards. So here are our picks for the really, actually great arts events in Pinellas for the coming week.
Eckerd College International Cinema Series: Mountains May Depart äóñ Friday, April 21st
Chinese auteur Jia Zhangke started his film career in Chinaäó»s äóÖundergroundäó» äóñ that is, he didnäó»t have state approval for his early films. Thatäó»s understandable, since most of them deal in some way with the transformation, instability, and even injustice of modern China. In Mountains May Depart, reflection on Chinaäó»s 21st century evolution and class tensions takes the form of a love story that spans nearly thirty years, including a step just slightly into the future.
7 p.m.,æFREE
Miller Auditorium, Eckerd College, 4200 54th Avenue South, St. Petersburg
Record Store Day 2017 at Planet Retro Records äóñ Saturday, April 22nd
While Record Store Day will be celebrated at any indie music store worth its salt, Planet Retro is our pick for where to spend this, the most sacred day of the year. Theyäó»ve just moved to a new location, and theyäó»ll be offering free beer and live music all day. Better still, theyäó»ll be collecting donations for Girls Rock Camp, and Kymatic Producations will be on-site filming the day for their series of videos about the arts in St. Pete. Bands include Car Bomb Driver, Shae Krispinsky, and Diealps!
8 a.m.-7 p.m.
FREE (until you see that one thing you just have to have . . . )
Planet Retro, 226 Martin Luther King Jr. Street North, St. Pete
Florida Antiquarian Book Fair äóñApril 21st-23nd
This nationally-renowned event was the anchor and raison däó»etre of the SunLit Festival until this year. It features an airplane hangaräó»s worth of dealers, their rolling shelves positively straining to support mountains of collectible books and printed matter including maps and photographs. Even if youäó»re just a gawker, itäó»s probably worth the price of admission to tour what is essentially a giant museum of the word. With Keep St. Pete Lit taking over, the SunLit fest is looking to emphasize contemporary work a bit more äóñ but the past, as they say, is forever with us.
$6 one day, $10 weekend pass
The Coliseum, 535 4th Ave North, St. Petersburg
Live Love Clearwater Fest äóñ Saturday, April 22nd
A celebration of local craftspeople, artists, and musicians, Live Love Clearwater is something we actually do need more of äóñ a chance to drink beer, outdoors, while listening to music and buying hand-thrown mugs. The selection of said beers will include fine products from Cigar City, Crooked Thumb, and St. Pete Brewery. (Oh, and musicians include The Ries Brothers and Aubrey Wollett.)
10 a.m. -4 æp.m., Bands start at 1 p.m.
FREE
Coachman Park, 301 Drew Street, Clearwater
Umphreyäó»s McGee äóñ Wednesday, April 26th
Umphreyäó»s McGee bill themselves as a prog-rock group who just happened to fall into the orbit of folksy jam bands like Phish and Widespread Panic. The regularly cover Pink Floyd, but truth be told, they probably have a more passionate swarm of followers than the old guard (translation: grab your tickets now).
5:30 p.m. – midnight (yeah, right), $27.50
Jannus Live, 200 1st Ave North, St. Petersburg
