Blast Friday: 10,000 Maniacs

Description

Blast Friday returns to Downtown Clearwater for its 10th season. This free food and craft festival kicks-off featuring a live concert starring BSTREETBAND on Friday, January 31 from 5:30 to 10 pm on the Tampa Bay Times Cleveland Street Stage. Food trucks and vendors will be serving a wide variety of freshly prepared specialty food and beer, wine and non-alcoholic beverages that will be available for purchase. Concert goers are welcome to bring their lawn chairs to watch the concert. Please see concert listings below (line-up, date and time subject to change). VIP packages are on sale now. Live local music and other activities will be located in the 600 block of Cleveland Street. The band has covered plenty of ground in its 35-plus years, from cult-herodom to international stardom, to their current status as a cornerstone alternative band. But the sound and spirit of 10,000 Maniacs remains consistent. The live shows embrace their entire catalogue and the lineup is still anchored by four of the six original members. Drew and bassist Steven Gustafson cofounded the band in 1981, drummer Jerry Augustyniak came along shortly afterward and founding guitarist/singer John Lombardo, who'd never completely left the picture, was welcomed back fulltime in 2015. The other two ''new'' members have long been part of the family: Mary Ramsey toured and recorded with the Maniacs as a viola player and backup singer before stepping into the front woman's role 24 years ago. The new guy Jeff Erickson, the lead guitarist for a mere 17 years, came in at the behest of his friend and mentor, the late Rob Buck.