Friday Night Ybor...

WE were heading to see the band "SemiSoul" in Ybor last night(Great band), but never made it to actually see them. Lisa came over around 630, we picked up some friends off Bayshore went to Ybor. We decided for the some dinner before the show, and Valet parked at Centro Ybor on 9th Ave, behind the theaters(great idea if you are goign to the movies, or eating in the restaurants in Centro Ybor-only $3 with validation). We ate at the Tampa Bay Brewing Company, great outdoor patio that was lively with music..the food was great, service was excellent(thanks Phil). I had the Shepards Pie, and the others had Salads. Lots of homeade Brews in this joint.
After dinner we went over to the Orpheum to see the show, SemiSoul was opening for Del Castillo. Arriving about 5 minutes before 8pm, we were let in, and then told that we would need to come back at 8. After asking the bouncer and others when SemiSoul would be playing(there were three bands playing), that did not know the line-up, and then we asked if we could just hang out for 5 minutes(till 8), and they said no we had to leave and wait outside...for 5 minutes! What a joke...we left and watched the Tampa Bay Lightning lose to the Devils in the Stanley Cup playoffs game 3 at Rockin Sports Grille. A good time there, we talked with some strange woman(she must have been 80 yo, and an Ybor resident), but she had lots of good stories. After the game was over(about 845), we went back to Orpheum, only to hear as we walked in that SemiSoul was playing their last song...one of us stayed, the rest of us left to go elsewhere. The Orpheum is a very grungy type music venue, large stage, one large bar, but definitely not kept up like the State Theater in St. Pete(their sister venue-same owner).
We walked down 7th and stopped by Adobe Gila's, great guitarist playing, and it was sort of outdoors on the 2nd floor of Centro Ybor. There were some fine looking people in this place. Centro Ybor was packed, Tracey Morgan was a the Improv. After a drink there and some laughs, we headed again down 7th Ave to Green Iguana, great crowd, played some darts, and the live band was awesome.
Deciding to be closer to home, we left Ybor, and headed to the Green Iguana Westshore. Again, a great crowd..had some Yummy Chicken Nachos(John the manager made sure the kitchen made one last item for us)..live band inside, but we stayed outside on the Tiki Deck.
Busy weekend ahead..Madre is moving into her home in South Hillsborough, so my bro and I are doing lots of stuff for her, then a BBQ in Roser Park neighborhood of St. Pete, Mainsail Art Festival at Vinoy Park, and the Lightning are home on Sunday for an afternoon playoff game at the Forum.