This Week in Tampa Bay: Rays Playoff Baseball, Bucs vs. Packers, and a Weekend That Has Everything (October 1-7)

This Week in Tampa Bay: Rays Playoff Baseball, Bucs vs. Packers, and a Weekend That Has Everything (October 1-7)

October arrives with a full plate. Tampa Bay's got playoff baseball kicking off Saturday, a home game at Raymond James on Sunday, a comedian who's been everywhere this year hitting the Straz on Friday, an outdoor art festival at St. Pete Beach, and three nights of goth and industrial music at The Orpheum. There's genuinely something for every corner of the Bay this week.

Rays Playoff Baseball

This is the one. Tampa Bay is hosting ALDS games at Tropicana Field for the first time in years, and the energy around the Bay Area is already building.

Tropicana Field is loud during playoff runs. If you've got tickets, get there early. If you don't, every bar worth its salt in St. Pete will have the game on.

Bucs vs. Packers

The Buccaneers desperately need this one. Tampa Bay enters Sunday sitting at 0-3, hosting a Green Bay Packers team at 1-2 that isn't exactly lighting the world on fire either.

The Bucs have won playoff games at Raymond James in front of this same crowd. The stadium knows how to be loud. Come early if you're heading over, and bring some patience for the parking situation on the south end.

Atsuko Okatsuka: The Big Bowl Tour

Atsuko Okatsuka has had a hell of a year. She's an Emmy-nominated comedian and actress, her HBO special got serious attention, and this fall tour is her first full touring run since.

She plays the Straz Center on Friday, October 2 at 7:30 p.m. (Ferguson Hall). The show was originally booked at Tampa Theatre but moved to the Straz, so if you've been to one and not the other, it's a different vibe. The Straz is a proper theater experience.

Okatsuka's style is sharp, physical, and personal. If you've seen clips online, the live show lands harder.

Absolution Fest at The Orpheum

Three nights of goth, EBM, and dark electronics at The Orpheum in North Tampa. October 1-3.

The headliners include Aesthetic Perfection, Zanias, and Bootblacks, which should tell you exactly whether this is your thing or not. If it is, you've probably already got tickets. If you're festival-curious and dark electronic music isn't a foreign concept, this is a tighter, more interesting festival than most of what rolls through central Florida.

Corey Avenue Art & Craft Festival

This one runs Saturday and Sunday, October 3-4, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Corey Avenue in St. Pete Beach.

It's the 32nd year for this festival, which means it's earned its reputation. The district closes to traffic, regional artisans set up along the street, and it becomes a proper outdoor gallery for two days. You can walk from the festival to the beach in about five minutes. Free to browse.

If you're on St. Pete Beach Saturday afternoon and you don't have Rays tickets yet, it's the right call.

On the Radar for Later in the Month

A few things worth knowing now so you're not late buying tickets:

• Logic with G-Eazy and Juicy J at MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre, October 8
• Oktoberfest Tampa at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park, October 9-11 (17th annual, along the river downtown)
• Rocky Horror Picture Show feat. Patricia Quinn at the Straz, October 22 (the original Magenta, 4K restoration, live shadow cast)

October doesn't let up. Make a plan.

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