By Brent Michael, Rock At Night Tampa Senior Correspondent
Venue: Crowbar, Ybor City/Tampa, Florida–February 16th, 2024
Band Websites: Hannah Wicklund, Persephone’s Choice
Band Facebook: Hannah Wicklund, Persephone’s Choice
It was definitely “ladies’ night” at the Crowbar on Friday. I don’t know if they had any specials going on, but as you can see by the above photo, the crowd definitely consisted of a female majority! Hopefully, they’ll all vote in the next election, and we’ll get four more years of a relatively calm society!
Opening duties were handled by up-and-coming Persephone’s Choice, based in Tampa but going places! The band consists of Lead vocals and acoustic guitar: Courtney Bradley, Lead guitar: Linnea Christina, Drums: Nathan McAllister, Bass Guitar: Taylor McAllister. A little history here: In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after her abduction by her uncle Hades, the king of the underworld, who would later also take her into marriage. The myth of her abduction, her sojourn in the underworld, and her temporary return to the surface represents her functions as the embodiment of spring and the personification of vegetation, especially grain crops, which disappear into the earth when sown, sprout from the earth in spring, and are harvested when fully grown. In Classical Greek art, Persephone is invariably portrayed robed, often carrying a sheaf of grain. She may appear as a mystical divinity with a sceptre and a little box, but she was mostly represented in the process of being carried off by Hades. Oh, you thought I meant band history? None that I could find, I only know the names because they were mentioned onstage!
You’ll note there’s no one in the band named Persephone, don’t be like the club managers who called David Lee Roth “Van” because he was the lead singer in Van Halen! That story might not be true, it may have been stolen from Pink Floyd’s line in “Have a Cigar,” “Oh by the way, which one’s Pink?” Still a good story!
Anyway, the crowd was shamefully sparse for their opening, which was the crowd’s loss, as my companion for the night said she liked them better! Oh man, I am feeling my age, remembering when Motley Crue opened for Ozzy Osbourne at the USF Sundome (1982?), and people missed out by being late as well! There were some people close to my age there, but they were band parents! Doesn’t matter though, as both myself and my companion could relate to the sheer flood of emotion pouring out from the bands, especially the lead singers! If you get a chance to see Persephone’s Choice, make the right choice and go!
Now the headliner, Hannah Wicklund, is the actual performer’s name! It gets confusing…also, Hannah is an artist who does watercolors (and sells prints and originals, though the originals are currently sold out), a vlog, lots of entertaining stuff! She started right off with her latest hit, “Hell in the Hallway,” which has a very Dali-esque music video and is a definite rocker in the vein of Melissa Etheridge. After a few songs with the band backing her up, she showcased her talents as a musician by performing a mini-set, singing and playing guitar and keyboard, all by herself while the band scurried off for a break. She also made good use of a talk box, an effects unit that allows musicians to modify the sound of a musical instrument by “vocalizing” the instrument’s output into a microphone, an effect popularized by Peter Frampton.
As is not uncommon for eponymous bands, there is no mention of the band’s other members, all three being mellow but competent musicians who gave supportive but not overly showy performances. All in all, an excellent night with great performances by fantastic artists!
Photo Gallery
VIDEO – Hannah Wicklund at the Crowbar, Ybor City, Tampa
When not in custody, I've been involved with music, photography, and writing my entire life. Ever since I was a young boy and played those silver tunes, I've had the beat, but being a drummer didn't suit me so I became a lead singer, which lasted a few years. Settling down, sort of, I translated my knowledge of audio and glib tongue into mobile emcee work, and my training as a photographer and videographer into a living in the wedding, party, bar/bat mitzvah, and entertainment industry. During this time I also managed to bamboozle my way into a master's degree in writing, worked for a couple of magazines (yes, I took photos for a nudist magazine!), have photographed hotels, done commercial work (shot the cover of Tablet and Capsule magazine), published a few articles, hosted some public access shows (a couple times in drag, but that's another story), and generally made a nuisance of myself until I landed here.
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