By Brent Michael, Rock At Night Senior Photojournalist
Venue: New World Tampa, Tampa, Florida. Sunday, April 14th, 2024
Band Links: Jigsaw Youth (website), Jigsaw Youth (Facebook), Des Rocs (website), Des Rocs (Facebook)
First time I’ve ever been to this venue, so I’ll begin with a shout-out for being one of the friendliest venues I’ve been to! If you’re ever in the Tampa area, stop by New World Tampa!
Kicking things off for Des Rocs was another New York band, this one from Staten Island: Jigsaw Youth. Now, what one female person in attendance noted is definitely true: Put two hot chicks on stage in bikini tops and it doesn’t matter how they sound, guys will still love them! But don’t jump to any conclusions, these hot chicks rock! Maria Alvarez, handling bass and lead singer duties, vocalizes with deep growls closer to Five Finger Death Punch than Heart or Joan Jett. Whipping her frizzy hair and the crowd into a frenzy, she’s the perfect complement to Nastacha Beck’s sizzlling lead guitar work. All the pieces of the jigsaw are there, and all look like they won’t fit together: Maria’s dark Spanish looks play against Natasha’s Lily Munster (Yvonne DeCarlo) vampire-pale/black hair with a white stripe vibe, and the third, possibly temporary (?) member of the power trio, wouldn’t look out of place in a Southern Rock band! I say possibly temporary because the band was previously known as an all-female band and did have a female drummer – which this guy was not!
Regardless, he handled the beatkeeping duties quite well, we’ll see if he’s a permanent piece or if the former piece returns, or maybe another piece will be fitted in. Regardless, with our two frontwomen, they’ll still live up to their nickname of “That Nitty Gritty City Shit,” which you can listen to here!
After a fairly short break – kudos to the crew who minimized the wait – Des Rocs made his entrance! Think of a young Bruce Springsteen, mix in some Elvis (including the hip swiveling), turn the volume up to 11, and get ready to blow the roof off! Des Rocs is a 4th generation NY’er and fierce force of nature bringing back the glory days of epic ROCK. A rock n’ roll revivalist who has served his 10,000 hours, playing like his life depends on it in a stadium or his bedroom. Mailing it in is not an option. Des brings it 24/7! With the playful sneer of Johnny Thunders, in a custom-made leather suit a la Evil Knievel, and over 300 million streams, Des Rocs will renew your faith in the future of rock n’ roll.
Handpicked to open for The Rolling Stones in 2019, Des is here to slay. His new single “I’m Am the Lightning” from his latest album, Dream Machine is about to enter the Top 10 @ rock radio – and of course, when he played it in Tampa, home of the Tampa Bay Lightning hockey team, he naturally donned a Lightning jersey! He just completed his first (sold-out) headline tour of Europe and Tampa was Stop #2 on his 15-date US headline tour with his fiery 3-piece band, so you’ve still got plenty of time to see him!
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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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