Tampa's Gasparilla Music Festival Previews Bands for 2017 Lineup

The Gasparilla Music Festival presented by Frontier (GMF) has released a preview of several acts that will be performing at the 6th annual Gasparilla Music Festival taking place March 11-12, 2017 in downtown Tampa.

Cage the Elephant will be performing Saturday night March 11 on the Sykes Stage at Curtis Hixon Park. More bands will be announced in the coming weeks and a final lineup will be released in January.

Formed in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and long celebrated as one of the most explosive live bands in the world, Cage the Elephant has also experienced incredible success on the radio with an astounding seven #1 singles on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in the 2010s. GMF will be their first show in Tampa Bay Area in over two years.

"We are very excited to have Cage the Elephant bring their incredible live act and energy to downtown Tampa," said David Cox, GMF's Executive Director.

In 2016, GMF featured 55 acts across 5 stages along the Riverwalk in downtown Tampa. Each year the festival includes an eclectic mix of music styles including rock, reggae, R&B, country, hip hop, gospel, bluegrass, electronic and latin. Several bands scheduled for the 2017 festival that were previewed this week represent those diverse styles including Nashville based Moon Taxi, UK based The New Mastersounds, and New Orleans based Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Shamarr Allen & the Underdawgs.

Tickets to the festival are available at www.gmftickets.com.

$40 - 2 Day General Admission Early Bird (while supplies last)
$150 - 2 Day VIP
$100 - Sat-only VIP
$75 - Sun-only VIP

GMF is produced by the Gasparilla Music Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2011. In addition to the music festival held annually during the 2nd weekend of March, the foundation works year round to support music education through its Recycled Tunes program and to promote local musicians through its GMF Productions program. The foundation receives support from its membership program, Higher Ground. For information about becoming a member, visit www.higherground2017.com.

About the Bands:

Cage the Elephant (Rock)

Formed in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and long celebrated as one of the most explosive live bands in the world, Cage the Elephant has also experienced incredible success on the radio with an astounding seven #1 singles on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in the 2010s.

"Best. Rock show. Ever! Lead singer Matt Shultz channels Mick Jagger as he flies on, off, left, and right of the stage and even into the crowd. The band is unrivaled in their connection to the crowd and intensity of their set. A true can't-miss at any festival." - Marco Torres, Houston Press

Moon Taxi (Indie-Progressive Rock)

Hailing from Nashville, the five-piece Moon Taxi formed in 2006 while attending Belmont University and set out to conquer the Southeast with their unforgettable live set.

"Simply put, Moon Taxi is one of the purest live experiences of just about any musical act in the business." - Angel J Melendez, fuzzyheadphones
"The high energy and virtuosity of this band is not to be missed." - Alex Borsody, JamBase

The New Mastersounds (Jazz Fusion/Funk)

Leeds, England-based The New Mastersounds are one of the cornerstone acts of the U.K. retro-soul scene. They play taut, old-school instrumental funk with a contemporary energy and an enthusiasm that has earned them rave reviews and led them to collaborate with a number of major acts in Britain and the United States.

"Not only are The New Mastersounds the very best at what they do, there's nobody else even in their league. If you are looking for four men who can interpret and deliver the very best of '60s and '70s funk, soul and R'n'B with a jazz bass, then Eddie Roberts, Joe Tatton, Pete Shand and Simon Allen are your A++ team." - Scott Hopkins, Tie Your Shoes Reviews

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band (New Orleans brass)

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band is a legendary New Orleans, Louisiana, brass band that brings the party wherever they go. Established in 1977, they revolutionized the New Orleans brass band style by incorporating funk and bebop into the traditional New Orleans jazz style, and has been a major influence on the majority of New Orleans brass bands since.

"The Dirty Dozen Brass Band has changed everything but the instrumentation (of brass band music) to reinvent a modern omnivorous brass-band music that embraces be-bop, funk, and rhythm-and-blues. The arrangements are crisply focused and the music sounds at home in a club as well as on the march. Yet for all the changes, the Dirty Dozen has retained an essential part of the tradition - their performance still conveys a sense of communal jubilation." - Jon Pareles, NY Times

Shamarr Allen & the Underdawgs (Funk, Soul, Hip Hop)

Shamarr Allen is the definition of New Orleans. Hailing from the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, Allen has influences in jazz, hip-hop, rock, funk rhythms, blues and country and is an Offbeat Magazine award winner for best trumpet player of the year.

For more about the festival, go to www.gasparillamusic.com or follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/GasparillaMusicFestival and Twitter: twitter.com/GasparillaMusic.

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