Tropical Heatwave, Ybor City’s beloved exotic evening of eclectic entertainment, stages a comeback

Folklore says that in 1975, the University of South Florida’s student-run programming on WUSF was taken off the air by a school president who wanted a fine arts radio station instead of the rock and R&B that was on the airwaves.

In response, one student vowed to start their own public radio station. Three years later, six or seven likeminded people went door-to-door across the Bay area asking people what kind of programming they wanted from said station—they asked for donations to get the project off the ground, too. Tens of thousands of replies were gathered; eventually, that ragtag group collected enough money to go on the air in September 1979.

WMNF hasn’t looked back.

For more than four decades, the non-commercial community radio station, which broadcasts on 88.5-FM and hosts several channels online at wmnf.org , has been steadfast in its commitment to platforming a diverse body of voices who not only host music and public affairs shows, but volunteer behind desks, answer phones, raise money and more.

( Full disclosure: This writer is a volunteer programmer who hosts a show on Friday mornings. )

One of those voices belongs to Linda Reisinger who started at the station in ‘79 as the host of “Friday Nite Crusin’,” which was on the airwaves for 26 years. Reisinger—better known as Linda Lu and co-host of WMNF’s Tuesday afternoon drivetime show—also has a fond memory of knocking on a door for the station.

“It was in Hawthorne,” Reisinger told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay about that fateful day.

With her in Alachua County was WMNF’s first station manager Janine Farver and the late Bruce Christensen who hosted a program called “Let the Good Times Roll.” The year was 1985, and the log cabin door belonged to rock and roll originator Bo Diddley. WMNF was there to ask him about playing for the station’s then-fledgling music festival Tropical Heatwave.

“He took us out to his shed where he practiced with his guitar, and he introduced us to his daughters who had a band then,” Reisinger added, alluding to The Diddley Darlings. “They begged him to play.”

Three years after founding a festival stylized after Ybor City’s famed Artists and Writers Ball inspired by Bud Lee , Reisinger explained, “Bo Diddley was our very first major Heatwave artist.”

For a while Heatwave looked like a party that would never cool down.

In 1986, Buckwheat Zydeco nearly caused a riot when the Cuban Club filled up past capacity, and in 1987 avant-jazz god Sun Ra brought his Alter-Destiny 21st Century Omniverse Arkestra to the stage . By the early-’90s, Heatwave expanded to the nearby El Pasaje Plaza and added a second day.

The growth stalled a few years later, and in ‘96 the party went back down to a single day. Heatwave bounced back in the year 2000 when Buckwheat Zydeco returned, and booked indie-rock darlings like Andrew Bird before he got famous.

Beloved for its lookalike contests and sweaty revelry, Heatwave cemented itself as an institutional event where old farts and young punk s could come together to enjoy really good music that crossed genres and generations, whether they knew the band or not. In 2012, more than 73 artists played 13 stages that extended well beyond Heatwave headquarters at the Cuban Club, and the festival eventually started hosting sets at the second Orpheum location several blocks away.

But in 2016, then station General Manager Craig Kopp put Heatwave on ice , suspending the festival and claiming losses that other station leaders later disputed . WMNF tried a Heatwave Cruise in 2018, but even the Royal Caribbean couldn’t hold a candle to the charm of Cigar City. Talks about a May 2020 return died with the arrival of the pandemic, and last year Heatwave finally came back to life with a 16-band lineup that included blues powerhouse Shemekia Copeland and a rare hometown set from new-wave heavyweight Glove (now known as girl garçon). WMNF Program Director Samantha Hval came on board at the station in 2021.

Heatwave was already 12-years-old when she was born. Headliners that year included Dick Dale, Brave Combo, and The Iguanas; Man Or Astroman? held it down for the underground. For the first part of her life, Hval’s parents would get a babysitter and enjoy the festival while she was being a kid at home.

Hval—who is part of a four-person events team that helps build and book the lineup—was clear about the main catalyst for Heatwave’s return.

“It was our listeners,” she told CL. “Even as I was just getting my bearings, everyone was already saying how amazing it would be to bring back Tropical Heatwave. So many people were pushing for it. The community was clamoring for Heatwave to return.”
This year, Hval is looking forward to seeing rising, deeply-harmonic, Nile Rodgers-approved, soul-disco trio She She She, which is one of close to 20 bands taking over four stages at the Cuban Club.

Grammy-nominated blues-rock trio The Record Company is a huge coup for the festival in 2024, along with WMNF favorite songwriter Ruthie Foster, rock duo The Dollyrots, Freddie King-channeling guitarist Eddie 9 Volt, gospel-soul band Sensational Barnes Brothers, and a host of homegrown heavyweights like Selwyn Birchwood and Kristopher James.

World music, per usual is represented (look for Wahh World Fusion band to pay tribute to late WMNF icon Ray Villadonga), and so are bands like Tiger 54 which makes the kind of darkwave and industrial music typically played at The Castle just a few blocks away. There’s even a hip-hop lounge in the theater where DJs will trace the 50-year history of the genre over four hours.
And while tickets are still inflation busters—it was $5 to get into the first Heatwave in ‘82, and just $40-$50 now—the festival is not immune to the rising costs of everything from artist fees to fencing.

“We respect the artists, number one, and we’ll offer the best we can do,” Reisinger said about Heatwave’s approach to booking. The stress of it all can cause heartburn on an hourly basis, but looking around and seeing new and old faces makes it worth it. Now, WMNF just needs the community to show up and help the Heatwave revival gain steam and become sustainable.

“Heatwave should always keep going, if we can afford it,” Reisinger added. “It’s got to work. It’s really got to work… It’s always been Tampa Bay’s exotic evening of eclectic entertainment. I want to carry that forever.”

Tickets to WMNF's Tropical Heatwave on Saturday, May 4 at the Cuban Club in Ybor City are still available and start at $40.
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