Music This Weekend in Punta Gorda

 Here are some entertainers to check out this weekend:

The Beat Down is on tonight at the Celtic Ray at 9 p.m. Paul Rowan will perform tomorrow night from 8 p.m.

At Fishville starting at 5, Paul Roush.

Rockalive  is on stage at  Harpoon Harry's tonight from 8 p.m. and Category 5 is back tomorrow night at 8 p.m.

Kate Keys Band is live tonight  and Saturday night Zombie U at Dean's South of the Border starting at 9 p.m.

Catch Storm Warning  at 7 p.m. at Hurricane Charley's. Karen and Jimmy  perform  there at 7 on Saturday.

Chris Brett is playing live music at Sandra's from 5 p.m both Friday and Saturday. 


Gashouse Gorillas are live at TT Tikibar tonight from 7:30

Its a Great Place for the Irish - Punta Gorda's St. Pat's Day Weekend

It doesn't take a St. Patrick's Day for Punta Gorda to celebrate, but given it is St. Pat's Weekend, the City is a great place to enjoy Irish sounds and eat some Corned Beef or other Irish chow (if you like the stuff), or just down a Guiness or two.  Of course, the Ray will be celebrating all weekend and open all day with music on the 17th.... but lots of our local establishments will also be having St. Pat's fests.  Great weekend or day for a crawl.   Here's some ideas for your Punta Gorda St. Pat's:

Friday, March 16

At Harpoon Harry's: The Boogiemen from 8:30 p.m.
At the Celtic Ray:  The Freecoasters from 9 p.m.
At the Punta Gorda Elks: TAT2 
At Hurricane Charleys: Tropical Ave from 7 p.m.
At Deans South of the Border: Archer from 9 p.m.
At Sandras: St Patricks (German Style) live music. 
At the Orange House: OH Band 7 p.m.


Saturday, March 17

At Fishermen's Village : St. Patricks Celebration all day:  Live entertainment to include:
Singer/Guitarist Paul Cottrell, 12 noon-4 pm in the Village Courtyard
Island Sounds of Jimmy G 1-5 pm near Good ‘Ole Days Coffee
Singer/Musician Dave Heveron, 1-4 pm third section of Village
Finest Face Painting by MaryRose 2-7 pm
Lee County Pipes and Drums, parade through Village at 5:30 pm followed by performance in Village Courtyard
Traditional Irish Music by Mark Fitzpatrick and Eddie Dillon, 5-9 pm in the Village Courtyard
At Harpoon Harry's: The Boogiemen from 8:30 p.m..
At the Celtic Ray: St. Patricks Day starts today: entertainers  include: Bobby Vesey  and Paul Duffy and more 
At Hurricane Charleys: St Patricks Celebration Jack Mosley 1-5pm and
American Made 7-11pm!
At the Punta Gorda Elks: St Patricks Day Party 6-10 p.m Tidal Wave
At Deans South of the Border: Tone Jeff in afternoon, Gashouse Gorillas and Sexy Shamrocks from 9 p.m.
At 88 Keys at the Wyvern: Mickey Basil 6-9 p.m.
At Sandras: St Patricks (German Style) live music.
At the Orange House: Dave Powers 7 p.m.

Punta Gorda Weekend Entertainment Rundown for tonight and tomorrow night.

Punta Gorda's entertainment schedule is full this weekend.  Here are some entertainers to check out.

Irish musician, Paul Duffy, is on tonight at the Celtic Ray at 8 p.m. Jakob's Ferry Strugglers will perform Bluegrass tomorrow night from 9 p.m.

At Leroy's Southbound will be starting at 7 p.m. followed by Sean Chambers who will be playing until 1:30 a.m.

Tropical Ave. is on stage at  Harpoon Harry's tonight from 8 p.m. Southbound live at 5 p.m. and Storm Warning is back tomorrow night at 9 p.m.

A200 is live tonight  and Saturday night at Dean's South of the Border starting at 8:30 p.m.

Catch Trop Rock Junkies at 7 p.m. at Hurricane Charley's. Zombie University is back there at 7 on Saturday.

Chris Brett is playing live music at Sandra's from 5 p.m

Danny Sinoff and the Trio is playing keys at 88 Keys at the Wyvern tonight.

Doug Cassens and Mike Glean are at the Orange House tonight.

BJ Odom and Chris Zee will be performing comedy at the Library at Four Points Sheraton tomorrow night from 7:30. Call for reservations.

The Kollections are live at TT Tikibar tonight from 7, Neon Summer will perform tomorrow night.

Calostimucu - Punta Gorda's Whispering Giant

The face that looms mysterioulsy from behind the palm trees on Retta Esplanade has a long history. 

In 1974 Fred Babcock had just built a Holiday Inn  where the PG Hotel and Hurricane Charleys are today.   Mr. Babcock, owner of the huge Babcock Ranch (known as the Crescent-B) was a winter resident of Punta Gorda and president of the Babcock Lumber Company headquartered in Pittsburgh.

After buying the waterfront property that had been owned by Perry and Marion McAdow  in the 1890s and which later had become the Bayview Inn, he noticed a dead tree on his acquired land. The tree was “monkey pod” or “ear” tree imported from the Orient as a sapling by Marian McAdow in 1898. Marion sought many exotic plants to bring to her new home in Punta Gorda and  is credited for much of the tropical ambience that town has today.

 Babcock recalled that a renown sculptor, Peter Toth, was developing a series of works called Whispering Giants across the county, and decided to commission Toth to sculpt a statue from the tree’s wood for $10,000.

Toth had completed his first monumental sculpture, a stone Indian head, carved from a cliff in La Jolla, California in 1972.  By that summer he had switched from stone to wood, and made a decision to make a sculpture of an Indian, to honor them, in each of the fifty states.  Calostimucu was his tenth project, and the only one with two faces – on one side a male, on the other a maiden.  Each has a symbolic animal coming from their heads, the male has a bison, the maiden, an eagle. The name of the statue is a combination of the two Native American tribes that lived in this area of Florida. Toth completed his goal of a whispering giant statue in each of the fifty states in May 1988.

Calostimucu, the Punta Gorda statue, was a fixture in front of the Best Western (formerly Holiday Inn) until Hurricane Charley destroyed much of the hotel in 2004.  New owners of the property wanted to replace the statue with a fountain, and for a time there was controversy over its disposition until it was finally moved in front of the relocated Freeman House right across the street, where it stands today. 

Punta Gorda's Historic District is the Place to be on Halloween

Come twilight, the Victoria-era streets of  Punta Gorda's historic area with it's looming gothic mansions and trees dangling in Spanish moss already resemble the setting for a spooky movie.  But on All Hallow's Eve or as we refer it today Halloween, the residents of the historic district go all out to embellish the setting by draping their homes in gossamery garland, decorating windows with eerie lighting, hanging animated witches, ghosts and other goblins from porch fronts and doorways, adding ghostly music and other chilling effects to create a Disneyesque haunted neighborhood attracting costumed visitors from all around in search of treats in the Halloween atmosphere.

In addition to trick or treating at the homes of the historic district, golblins and witches can visit  the City's celebration in the parking garage of City Hall and the Punta Gorda Masons who are giving out free ice cream (the gift of Gilchrist) next to the Annex from 5 p.m. (126 Harvey Street). The First United Methodist Church at 507 Marion Ave. is sponsoring a trunk or treat event from 6 p.m. featuring candy and hot popcorn along with music and vintage car displays.  Nearby on  Marion the Punta Gorda Kiwanis will be giving out free glow lights. 

Haunting on the Harbor in downtown Punta Gorda also continues today from 5 p.m.  

Entertainment Full Weekend in Punta Gorda

This first October weekend, Punta Gorda's activity calendar is starting to heat up with the Bar Stool Open, Oktoberfest downtown, and around town at the various venues here's some ways to spark up your weekend: 

Catch Michael Hirst tonight at Fishville 5 to 9 p.m, tomorrow same time,same station.

At 88 Keys at the Wyvern, Danny Sinoff is playing the keys tonight, and tomorrow night Susi and Regis

At Hurricane Charley's  Storm Warning is on tonight at 7, Fortunate Sun tomorrow starting at 7. At Deans, A200 starts at 9:00  tonight and tomorrow night same time.

FThe Gummy Sharks  will be performing live at Harpoon Harry's  tonight from 7:00 p.m..  The Kollections 8:30 tomorrow night.

At the TT Tiki Bar at the Sheraton Caribbean Festival all weekend.  

Your Post Irma Punta Gorda Weekend Entertainment

Irma won't dampen this Punta Gorda weekend.  The craft fair is on for Sullivan Street.  And the usual venues are back up and running with entertainment to perk you up after the Hurricane debacle. Lots to celebrate.   Here's some suggestions for tonight. For now we're taking it one night at a time.


Paul Duffy, with Irish, blues and more takes the stage tonight at the Celtic Ray around 8.

At 88 Keys at the Wyvern, Danny Sinoff is playing the keys to tonight. Live music by Dave Rode, the Piano Man,  at the Perch from 7 p.m.

Live music from Chameleon from 7:30 at Harpoon Harry's tonight.

At Hurricane Charley's the Kollections. At Deans, Juke Box Prophets at 9.

 Tropical Ave tonight at 7 at the Tikibar.