We’re blessed to have pianist Rebecca Penneys calling our area home. She is an internationally known concert artist and was a long-time professor of piano at the famed Eastman School of Music.   She is the founder and continues to lead the Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival, a training ground for the next generation of top […]

Our friends at the Florida Holocaust Museum are in the middle of an exciting new exhibition called Bill Graham and the Rock and Roll Revolution. Graham escaped the Holocaust as a child, but lost his mother at Auschwitz. Graham went on to become the greatest promoter in rock history, known in particular for his venue […]

Our Friday night stand-up comedy show in the Side Door features none other than Brute Force, the King of Fuh. And for a guy who first emerged in the 1960s as a songwriter and singer, he’s on a complete roll in 2018!   The hottest album release in the world today is by a young […]

Got to sit down with Nate Najar last week for a good conversation.  He was  fresh off the airplane from shows in England and France all in conjunction with the release of his new album of French tunes – Under Paris Skies. The local release party is this Thursday, Oct. 4, in the Side Door […]

Just visited with Nate Najar who is fresh off the airplane from shows in England and France all in conjunction with the release of his new album of French tunes – Under Paris Skies. The local release party is in the Side Door on Thursday, Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m.   He’s bringing his touring […]

OK, I’m not in the demographic for Buffy The Vampire Slayer. But that didn’t stop me from LOVING last year’s Buffyfest. And I’m so excited about the  even bigger return of Buffyfest in 2018 that I might have to go out and drive a stake through someone’s vampire heart.   It’s that big.   Not […]

 One great thing about the growth of this area – especially in the arts – is the talented folks who are choosing St. Pete and the Tampa Bay area as their home base.,   One of the best is Phil Magallanes, an incredible pianist and arranger. He’s brought his Phil’s Juke Joint to the Side […]

Our 2018 staging of Webb’s City – The Musical has a lot going for it. For one, the show is going up without the threat of a killer hurricane bearing down on our city. (Remember Irma?)  And most of the cast members from last year’s production are back.   When the show was staged in […]

Doc Webb not only created the first “superstore” in America, he put St. Petersburg on the national map and inspired one of my favorite musicals.   This weekend the Palladium is bringing back Webb’s City – The Musical. We’ve got lots of folks coming who have seen this show before and love it. And if […]

For the past 10 years the Palladium has enjoyed a successful partnership with Tampa Bay’s public television station, WEDU. First with Dick Lobo at the helm, and when he retired, his successor  Susan Howarth continued the relationship without missing a beat.   She went out of her way to befriend us and did a tremendous […]

Lauren Mitchell has long been a favorite down here. And it has been fun to watch her career advance – due not only to her great voice and stage presence – but the way she has built her musical dream one album and one tour at a time. Nobody works at her show and her […]

We love being the place where Tampa Bay’s best bands and artists release their new material. One of our favorite jazz groups, La Lucha, will release their new album, “Pa’ Lante” in the Side Door on Friday, Sept. 14 at 8.   You can get tickets and information by calling our box office at 727-822-3590 […]

Part of the fun of my job is finding talented young performers and making them part of the Palladium family. A few years ago, one of those youngsters was a guy right out of the University of South Florida named Selwyn Birchwood.   We loved him from the start – even when his first show […]

Your favorite local venue has become one of the busiest places in Tampa Bay over the past 10 years. The Palladium at SPC now produces a season of shows that run virtually non-stop from late September to mid-June.   And we don’t really rest in the summer, we just produce a special season of shows […]

Wanted to share some photos of our Cannonball and Nancy jazz concert last Thursday. The concert featured Jack Wilkins and an all-star band in the Side Door. It was part of our Summer of Soul series. Cannonball and Nat Adderley, both Tampa-born and Florida-raised, certainly fit that bill.   Larry Feldman, a great concert photographer, […]

Michael Murillo is one of the funniest guys I know. And he proves it on stage regularly, opening for Amy Schumer and Tig Notaro, and delivering a very funny set in a Side Door stand-up night at the Palladium last year.  Michael produces “Girls Night Out,” a night of comedy by women and for women […]

Latimore, I learned from John Capouya’s book, Florida Soul, doesn’t play where he lives, and since he lives in Riverview, that means the Blues Hall of Famer and veteran soul man doesn’t play in Tampa Bay. Except this Saturday night, when Latimore and his band take the stage in the Palladium’s intimate Side Door Cabaret. […]

The first blues act we brought to the Side Door has proven to be one of our all-time favorites – Damon Fowler. When Damon and his trio play here, the Side Door transforms into a laid-back Sugar Shack and the band and the audience  have some down-home Florida fun.   And I love to hear […]

Our Summer of Soul theme is a celebration of John Capouya’s new book, Florida Soul, which chronicles the history of soul pioneers from the Sunshine State. One name that shows up a lot in John’s book is Cannonball Adderley. Perhaps the greatest jazz player – along with his brother Nat – to come out of […]

I love it when one of our Side Door shows is picked as a “must see show this weekend” alongside such big entertainment offerings as Imagine Dragons and Disney’s The Lion King.    TBN newspaper group  did just that singling out tonight’s Love Letters concert featuring Jamie Perlow on vocals and pianist and arranger Jeremy […]

What a magical weekend at the Palladium with Nate Najar’s Bossa Nova Guitars last Friday  and Saturday night’s soul-tastic evening with Little Jake and the Soul Searchers. Both nights were sold-out and everyone was happy they came out.   Nate and Phill Fest have performed here together in the past, but both guitarists have been […]

  Somehow, I hadn’t heard Jamie Perlow sing until the night she fronted The Florida Bjorkestra,  in a concert of Bjork’s unforgettable music.  Now, I can’t get enough of Jamie’s powerful, evocative voice and her commanding stage presence. If you haven’t heard her sing with  The Florida Bjorkestra, or the Helios Jazz Orchestra, you should […]

As we planned out Summer of Soul program I knew we needed to give our patrons a “religious experience.” So of course, I had to call Rev. Billy C. Wirtz.  He’s the Master of The 88 Key Disaster, King of the Atomic Boogie, the paino man who can make you howl until you’re healed.   […]

Just a quick update on Saturday’s show featuring Little Jake Mitchell and his large band, The Soul Searchers. I just found out St. Pete’s own Frankie Gearing, another veteran of the classic soul era, will join Little Jake for several songs during the Side Door show Saturday night.   Both Jake and Frankie are featured […]

Wow.  I knew I liked our great summer lineup for soul, jazz and comedy – a series we’re calling the Summer of Soul – but it’s great to know our audiences agree with me.   Last weekends shows were both sold out. Jeremy Carter brought a killer band and great arrangements to his Soul of […]