Plant and Krauss pre-sale!!!

Finally, a summer tour that doesn't feel the same as LAST summer's tours:

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley on June 27!

Presale tickets go up THIS Thursday at 10 a.m. Check it out here.

This is going to be one of THE concert tours of the year - as N.W.A. might put it, Fuck Tha Police! OK, OK, we like the Police, Dee Doo Doo Doo, etc, and we are nowhere near above taking a free $225 ticket, if we can swing it.

But Plant and Krauss at the Greek has MAGIC written all over it. Not only is their album together, Raising Sand, one of last year's best, they will have T Bone Burnett opening up for them. And lord knows they're going to have a killer band, perhaps led by Burnett himself (he produced the album!). AND it's at the Greek, NorCal's finest large venue! SWEET!

News about Radiohead and Van Halen shows coming up. But first...

Here's a video for a song my cousin Todd sent me - another great list song in the tradition of "88 Lines About 44 Women," "It's the End of the World As We Know It" and (if you must) "We Didn't Start the Fire." It's called "Thou Shalt Always Kill," and it's by dan le sac VS scroobius pip - lots of fun:



Now, as promised, this word: Van Halen will be back at Arco Arena just about half a year since the last time. The show is April 25, and tickets will go on sale next weekend. And odds aren't they will NOT be a great deal. This news comes just days after word that The Police will also be making another round of profit-taking - er, playing - at Marysville's Sleep Train Amphitheatre. Elvis Costello will open. That's on July 17.

You already knew about that, and then there's also Keith Urban's tour, again. Honestly, it's looking like the Big Tours of 2008 are basically the Big Tours of 2007. Like that was a thrill.

But this IS a thrill, potentially: Radiohead is said to be one of the headliners of a three-day festival in Golden Gate Park on Aug. 22-24, the week before Burning Man. Other headliners are said to be Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Jack Johnson, who is headlining Coachella.

This news comes courtesy of SF Weekly's website. No ticket prices or onsale dates have been confirmed - in fact, NONE of it has been confirmed, but the site says that Another Planet Entertainment, who are also doing a second version of the wonderful Treasure Island Music Festival that debuted last year, are in charge, so the quality is going to be high. But that goes without saying with Radiohead, right?

Nothing to do this weekend? Right...

The big entertainment thing this weekend is the Oscars on Sunday night (go, Juno!), but that's not the only fun to be had.

Tonight, the Deftones' singer/guitarist Chino Moreno is going to be DJ'ing at Harlow's to celebrate the one year anniversary of Royal Peacock Tattoo Parlor at the corner of 21st and P Streets downtown. Chino is one of Sacramento's best and most successful international rock acts. This is a chance to see him in a different role. He's on at 10 p.m.

Gregory Isaaks, who has been doing reggae proud for decades himself, will be at Harlow's on Thursday night. This guy is the real deal. Here's a video of him at Reggae Sunsplash way back in 1983...



Not music, but should be fun: the All-Sketch Comedy Festival plays three days this weekend, put on by local comic and man-about-town Keith Lowell Jensen, who we like because he also has three names. AND he's funny. That's Thursday-Saturday, with TEN different sketch comedy groups, including Sacramento's own I Can't Believe It's Not Comedy troupe, as well as The Trash Film Orgy All-Stars, The Weekly Armenian, Sketch Armstrong and Neil Hamburger. That's at the Crest Theatre Thursday through Saturday. Tickets for the whole shebang are $75, but if you can only take so much fun, you can get individual tickets as well, and discounts area available. Check it out here.

Sweet Honey in the Rock will be playing the Mondavi Center Saturday night. These four women sing a cappella arrangements of spirituals, folk songs and even classic reggae, with great skill and subtlety. They've been going for about 35 years now, and they are said to be better than ever.




Pablo Cruise was a semi-big deal around these parts about 30 years ago, and the group, or a semblance, will be playing the Powerhouse in Folsom tonight. You know, "Love Will Find a Way," the Seventies, remember?



Going back another decade, early punk rock/metal band Blue Cheer, with Sacramento's own Dickey Peterson on bass and vocals, is together and working its version of "Summertime Blues" - which preceded The Who's by a couple of years. They'll be at the Blue Lamp on Saturday, with Th' Losin' Streaks and Dungeons and Drag Queens opening. Tickets are $12.



Tickets go on sale on Saturday for The Police concert on July 17 at the Sleep Train Amphitheatre. 10 a.m. at Ticketmaster. Seats are $225!!! But you can get the "cheap" lawn seats for "only" $40.50. And there are some upper level seats at $90.50. Elvis Costello and the Imposters will open. For some cool Police videos, check a couple of blog posts back.

Also, Music Circus season subscriptions are now on sale, and you can see SEVEN musicals for $251, little more than the price of one Police concert. Don't roll your eyes: One of the musicals is Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd" and "Hairspray" is another. OK, so they'll never be as cool as a great rock show, but a well-done musical - and California Musical Theatre, the folks behind Music Circus - do it WELL. Also on the season ticket: Evita, Gypsy, Swing!, My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music.

Finally, tickets are on sale for my second live talk show, now dubbed, for lack of a better name, "The David Watts Barton Show" - if you have a better idea, let me know. I had a hard enough time naming myself, let alone my show (long story...). Anyway, it's set for next Friday, Feb. 29, and my guests so far include a very rare public appearance by Tower/R5 honcho Russ Solomon, as well as Sacramento favorite son Anton Barbeau, before he heads back to his adopted country, England. Show time is 8 p.m. at the Geery Theatre, 22nd and L Streets downtown.

Music in the Streets!

It began in France in 1981, and since Sacramento is THAT MUCH behind the times, it's fitting that we here in The Paris of the West finally get on board with the Fete de la Musique!

What the heck is that? It sounds foreign...

The Fete de la Musique is a proposed free-for-all of music in the streets, buskers on every corner for one summer night, and it is being "organized" by the estimable John Downs, whose wife Cecile is the force behind each summer's French Film Festival at the Crest. The Downses visited Paris last year and saw what a great thing people playing music for free in the street could be. And, John wondered, why not do it here?

So, on June 21 - the summer solstice - Downs is encouraging musicians - ANY musicians, there is no audition - to get out on a street corner and let 'er rip. Downs is encouraged by a local ordinance that exempts street performers from needing a permit if they're not charging money.

This is a new idea to me, and it will likely raise some eyebrows - what? people on the street? performing?? Next thing you know, they'll be selling FOOD! - but it sounds like a great, harmless idea for the Grid.

To see what it looks like in Paris, check this video...



In order to lend a semblance of order to this event, Downs has put up a Sacwiki page so that people can sign up for corners. We recommend the Second Saturday area around the intersections of 20th between I and Capitol, all the way down J Street, and other areas as well. Best to keep it concentrated.

Imagine, the sound of music coming from all over. Even if it's SHIT, it's going to sound good, if you get my drift. Visite ze my space page, or click here to visit the Fete de la Musique's sacwiki page and to sign up for a corner. And pass the word!

Police tickets for the well-heeled; Robin Trower for the common man

Some old guys news: The Police at the Big Shed, and Robin Trower's band at the little Boardwalk Friday. Got video on both.

First, The Police (with Elvis Costello and the Imposters opening) will be at Marysville's Sleep Train Amphitheatre July 17. Tickets go on sale in a "pre-sale" tomorrow (Monday, President's Day, Feb. 18) at 10 a.m. at www.privatepass.citi.com. This is total hype of course - tickets don't go on sale to "the general public" until Feb. 23, but just for friends - and anyone who has a Citibank credit card - there's the presale. But you have to use The Card. Ah, shameless marketing, where is thy Sting?

No, there aren't any deals - the best seats are a whopping $225.50 (by comparison, Springsteen and the E Street at Arco on April 4 tops out at $96.75) But if you want to see The Police mess with each other as they mess with the old hits - word on the tour was that there were a lot of rearrangements - check out this video made on Feb. 12 last year. This is how they announced the tour, for the cameras, warts and all. It's one of their first live rehearsals for the tour, a ballsy, creative move - Sting and Andy Summers barely remember the changes or the words - and more interesting than the Stones or U2 on a flatbed truck.

Drummer Stewart Copeland is shouting out the changes to "Can't Stand Losing You" - F#minor! - and Sting muses at one point during the breakdown, "Oh yeah, I know where we are now, it's all comin' back to me: I'm 24 and I'm mad!" This is from their "live rehearsal" to announce the tour, a sorta ballsy move that reveals their process (and their characters), Copeland being officious and bossy, but totally on it with his parts. It was, after all, his band initially.



Another classic rock band on tour right now operates on a whole other level - the Boardwalk in Orangevale on Friday night - but Robin Trower's band was pretty damned good, tearing through some terrific versions of classics like "Day of the Eagle," "Too Rolling Stoned" and the gorgeous "Bridge of Sighs," Trower's tone and control as wonderful as ever. Here's a video of the band, with drummer Pete Thompson joined by singer Davey Pattison and bassist Glenn Letsch (both formerly of Gamma) replacing the late singing bassist Jim Dewar. Yeah, a bunch of old guys, but wow...



And here's "Too Rolling Stoned." Again, these are both recent videos, but not from the Boardwalk. But this is basically what you missed. Those guitar tones! That soft dynamic collapse on the chorus on "Bridge of Sighs"...wow.




Ah, the Trower-Hendrix controversy - Trower made his name imitating Hendrix's style - has a firm basis in timing and proximity: Hendrix and Trower both had their debut albums released in 1967. While The Jimi Hendrix Experience released the epochal Are You Experienced, Trower's band Procol Harum released their debut the same year, featuring the enormous hit, "A Whiter Shade of Pale." Despite some revisionist claims of some of his fans, Trower didn't used to sound like Hendrix till he went solo, but on his second solo album, 1974's album magnificient Bridge of Sighs, he managed to transcend the workman-like vocals and middling songwriting with such sonic beauties that he has to be given credit where it is due: His was and still is the best homage to Hendrix as has been recorded.

Finally, here's another Police video, from the band's headlining gig at Bonnarroo last summer. "Synchronicity 2" - sounds pretty good to me. But $225?? That's between you and your Citibank card...

Weekend raving...

OK, my weekly excuse about why I'm not blogging much - money money money...MONEY! Paying gigs trump the blogosphere for this mortgage holder, but with the weather INSTANTLY better, I took the furry bike out for her first ride in a couple of months, and she LOVED it. And so did I. So, better times coming. Promise?

The weekends come relentlessly, and here's yet another. In fact, most days are the weekend these days, so boo-hoo, eh? In any case, here's a little catching up.

I will avoid obsessing about Kinky, but seriously, BUY TICKETS! The March 19th visit to Harlow's by this amazing band from Monterey, Mexico, is going to be SMOKIN'. Seriously. And tickets are only $15! Buy 'em now, or you'll be sorry! You've been warned. Save even more money by buying them at The Beat.

Meanwhile, how about some more trips WAY back...like, back to the '60s and '70s - because this is that kind of town, right? I mean, we DO get some new bands - Kinky for one, Blue Turtle Seduction (reportedly rockin' the Blue Lamp last week) for another. But it's still pretty old timey around here, isn't it? It could be worse, though. It could be Frankie Valli or something...

Anyway. Every night of the coming weekend will feature way-back visits, first by what may be the great lost hippie band, with a song that, while it's virtually gone now, was absolutely ubiquitous back in the day: "White Bird." It has a certain cheese element, I have to admit, but on the other hand, it's utterly unique. Sure, the David and Linda LaFlamme vocals are just so...tie-dyed...but they're also beautiful, and the melody is terrific. And David's plucked violin accents and solo are unlike anything else recorded before or since. So how can they be cliched?

The David LaFlamme Band, which is essentially It's a Beautiful Day, will be playing Marylin's on K on Thursday - yeah, Valentine's Day - and tickets are $18 and $20 at the door. If you're over 40 (or 50) this would seem to be a slam dunk. Check swellproductions.com for more info.

Next up, Friday at the Boardwalk in Orangevale, is guitarist Robin Trower of "Too Rolling Stoned," "Day of the Eagle" and other great FM classics that proved him the first and most original Hendrix imitator. He had his own sound, sorta, but mostly he had some pretty good songs and a terrific singer in the late James Dewar. Bridge of Sighs still sounds pretty good to me. I once sat next to Trower at the restaurant at Bearsville in upstate New York, and he was having dinner with Bryan Ferry. I was too cool to say hello. Months later, the two produced an album I never bought. But dude, Bridge of Sighs!

And if you like your classic rock guitarists a little more, I don't know, DEAD, there's Alain Iglesias and Crossfire's tribute to the late Stevie Ray Vaughan, also Friday night, at Constable Jack's in beautiful downtown Newcastle. The guy is supposed to be quite a great mimick, that is, player, and Vaughan was an even better Hendrix disciple than Trower. Not as good songs as Trower OR Hendrix, though...that's at the Boardwalk.

Saturday, the way back machine takes us the furthest back and the furthest afield, to the Palms Playhouse in Winters, with Sal Valentino, the voice of the Beau Brummels - the first American group to regain the charts after the ascendence of the Beatles in 1964 - who made a big, if not enduring, impression with "Laugh, Laugh." Sal's still around, an eminence gris of the local scene, but hardly retired: His first new album in many years, Every Now and Then, was just released by Marty DeAnda's Dig Music label. It's a gorgeous package, done with a LOT of love for Sal, with contributions from some of Sacramento's favorite sons and daughters - songs by Kevin Seconds, Charlie Peacock, and of course, Sal's adopted musical son, Jackie Greene. My favorite, though, is a remake of a Phil Everly song I'd never heard: "You." This is great songwriting, and Sal does the song justice. And Sal's own "Every Blue Day" is a great closer.

Throw in a Friday night show at Harlow's by the fantastic Grupo Fantasma - a Latin band from Austin that SMOKES - because SURELY someone wants to hear something recorded after 1972? That's going to be a serious party, with dancing and Latin girls and well...check out the band's website for more info.

Election night!

OK, so this ain't exactly covering the election, but...



Thanks, Kat!

Tough Choice Monday

A couple of interesting young songwriters, one with local connections, are going to be playing unheralded but promising shows tonight in Sactown.

The less-familiar is a guy named Steve Poltz, who local drummer Tom Monson recommended via email today. He's been around awhile, first with a band called the Rug Burns, and now solo, which is working out pretty well for him - he's got a song in a Jeep commercial. Here's the track, called "You Remind Me."



He'll be at Old Ironsides at 10th and S tonight. Check out his website, poltz.com.

Another good young singer-songwriter is Matt Costa, a friend of Jack Johnson's and a one-time Sacramentan. He's got quite a way with a chord change, this one - he reminds me of Pete Yorn. And most of his new album, Unfamiliar Faces, was written in Sacramento. Most of his videos have been taken off the table by his label (Johnson's Brushfire Records), but this one was still embeddable. Check out "Sweet Thursday" on YouTube as well as "Mr. Pitiful." Or watch his other videos at his official website. He's at Sac State, in the Student Union, tonight at 7:30. He'll also be singing at Dimple Records, 2433 Arden Way, at 6:30 tonight.

Ticket tips...

If you're a fan of acts as diverse as Frankie Valli and Katt Williams - the septugenarian oldies act Valli and the young and pimpin' comedian - I've got some ticket tips for you, especially if you were shut out of getting tickets for these shows on your first try.

It is an open secret, but often forgotten, that tickets often are "released" by the promoter on the day of the show. Even the biggest sell-outs can see a last-minute release as the artists' road crew find they don't need to hold particular seats because the sight lines aren't blocked after all, or the artist's mother decides not to bring her poker club this time. And they can be great seats.

And so here we go: I got a call from an insider at the Valli show promoter's office today, letting me know that there are a number of great seats to Valli's second and third shows tonight and Saturday at the Community Center Theater. They're going up on sale today at the Community Center Box Office. They won't last long, so get on it. Your grandmother will be thrilled.

Also, comedian Williams' first show at the Memorial Auditorium on Feb. 15 sold out the day it went up, so a second show has been added on the same date, at 11 p.m. This is a very unusual move for the Auditorium, but it shows how much demand there is for Williams' appearance. Tickets for the second show go on sale tomorrow (Saturday) at 10 a.m.

And who, you might ask, is this ticket-selling monster? Here's a video of him in action, so you can decide whether or not to get in line tomorrow morning...