Saturday’s “Totally ‘80s” concert, with three vintage “name” bands and a DJ spinning hits from MTV’s golden era, is the latest step in Ferg’s transformation from sports bar to what owner Mark Ferguson is calling an entertainment complex.
The show with Big Country, Bow Wow Wow and Tommy Tutone will take place on Ferg’s newly-installed, covered backyard stage, with a ceiling rising 20 feet into the air.
Ferg’s, just north of Tropicana Field at 1320 Central Avenue, is putting new emphasis on its concert schedule.
“Without baseball this year, we started pushing more shows,” Ferguson said, “because we don’t have the income from baseball. We’re trying to keep all the bartenders and our workers working, and hopefully we’ll make a little money with these concerts.”
More “name” shows have been booked, in addition to smaller shows from tribute acts and other special events.
“We’re still seeing what size fits best – basically, the sweet spot is 1,500 to 2,500 people at the most. We can close down 13th Street if we want to.”
Until 2018, the backyard shows took place on a temporary stage; Ferguson shut them down because of complaints from neighbors. The City subsequently passed noise ordinance laws for downtown businesses.
After he made adjustments to the venue’s sound and lights, Ferguson said, “the noise doesn’t seem to be a problem any more.”
The St. Pete ordinance prohibits noise, detectable from 500 feet away from the source, after 11 p.m.
Saturday’s “Totally ‘80s” concert starts at 7 p.m. Find tickets by clicking on this link.
The Scottish band Big Country came into the American pop consciousness in 1983 with passionate, cinematic guitar-based rock songs with overt Celtic influences (see Ireland’s U2, or The Alarm, from Wales). The impossibly catchy “In a Big Country” had big presence on MTV, but it was the band’s only real hit Stateside (the accompanying album, The Crossing, however, went gold). The U.K. Top Ten also recognized “Chance,” “Wonderland” and “Look Away.”
Rhythm guitarist Bruce Watson is the sole original member still performing with Big Country.
(Big Country returns to St. Pete Aug. 12, as part of a tour called Lost 80s Live, at the Mahaffey Theater.
The story of England’s Bow Wow Wow is one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most unusual; the band was “assembled” by fashion designer and marketing maven Malcolm McLaren, who also unleashed the Sex Pistols on an unsuspecting world.
Known for a cover of the old pop hit “I Want Candy,” Bow Wow Wow’s pounding, tribal rhythms were overlaid with chirpy vocals by a Mohawk-sporting 14-year-old girl named Annabella Lwin (McLaren had discovered the Burmese/British teen working at a dry cleaner, and changed her name from her native Myant Myant Aye).
The appeal, obvious from the first, was sexual. McLaren knew exactly what he was doing.
Bow Wow Wow’s Burindi beats were reminiscent of another McLaren band, Adam and the Ants. In fact, original drummer David Barbarossa had been a member of that group (also marketed by McLaren) before the creation of Bow Wow Wow.
Bass player Leigh Gorman (another Ants refugee) is the sole original member still performing with Bow Wow Wow. This iteration of the group has a lead singer named Dame Madelyn.
Anabella Lwin will not be at this show. She performs as Anabella The Original Bow Wow Wow; she’s touring America this summer on a different nostalgic tour, called I Love the ‘80s.
Also on the bill is Tommy Tutone, an American one-hit wonder whose one hit (“867-5309/ Jenny”) was ubiquitous in 1981, and beyond; it went to No. 4 in the Billboard Top Ten and caused lots of headaches to the phone company (people kept calling the number and asking for Jenny).
Although the power pop outfit from San Francisco continued to record and perform for years (and decades) afterwards, just “Jenny” had their number. Tommy Heath, the founding singer/guitarist, remains out front.
Ferg’s next “name” shows arrive in October. FM staple (from the 1970s) Head East will perform Oct. 10; Steven Pearcy, the lead singer from ‘80s rock outfit Ratt, stops in Oct. 17; and Oct. 28 brings Stiff Records’ Lene Lovich, the eccentric vocalist known for “Lucky Number” and a quirky cover of “I Think We’re Alone Now.”
The Ferg’s show takes place on a day off from the fall Devo/B-52s “Cosmic De-Evolution Tour,” on which Lovich is the opening act.
In the meantime, music is becoming a main-menu item at the sports bar-turned entertainment complex.
“We have a small stage on our patio,” said general manager John Currier, “and the sidewalk’s right there. We started doing just normal bands on Friday, Saturday, Sunday. When there’s no football.
“People love walking by, hearing the music. Now, on the inside stage, we’re doing music seven nights a week, pretty much.”
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