Second Saturday rocks the Grid

Not so fast, Kev Jo - if it's true that our would-be celebrity mayor thinks Second Saturday is Sacramento's best-kept secret, I wouldn't be trusting our town with any of mine. Second Saturday was GRIDLOCK! The best kind of gridlock, pedestrian!

Seriously, I don't know how many thousands of people were out Saturday, but there were streets you could barely walk down, and near 20th and J - the new de facto epicenter of midtown - you would barely walk down the MIDDLE of the street, not just the sidewalk (which was impassable). 20th Street got so full that two bicycle cops used their bikes to block off the street, while black-and-whites blocked other ways so that the crush of people wasn't crushed by the jam of cars.

And it went that way all the way down J towards Harlow's, and down I towards the Barton Gallery and toward Jack's and The Waterboy and up K and down 19th...it was Sacramento as Real City, and once again, you could see the future, now. The MARRS Building, with the Solomon Dubnick Gallery as one of its anchors - and with Peet's and fabulous Newsbeat and Azul as well - was ground zero, and should prove some sort of model for future dense infill in the area. Especially if they keep putting cool-ass DJs out on the deck...

Old Soul Alley had a virtual block party, as folks stood out in the warm - VERY WARM - summer night and looked up at the blue sky and figured, "I'm sure glad I didn't get out of town THIS weekend." Because honestly, a lot of weekends, this town is absolutely dead, but on that second weekend...wow.

Then there were the jug bands playing on the sidewalk at 19th and Capitol, near L Wine bar and some of the new hoity-toity shops (Ginger Elizabeth chocolates and some new "purveyor" who had closed doors and stiff-looking employees who looked like they were expecting Rodeo Drive customers and were a bit flummoxed by our loveable hoi polloi that is mid-town's default population.




Open the doors, hand out samples, makes some friends, people! And say hello to the Jugg Sisters, one of our newest jug bands!

There were other street performers, including our pal, columnist/songwriter Jackson Griffith, looking all art-directed against the green-gray wall of the lovely (and crowded) yoga spot Deep), though we missed the belly dancing and fire-spinning we were aiming for. Oh well: Next month!

The best of big city vibe extended into Sunday, too. We did a picnic with some friends in McKinley Park, and it was fantastic, people of all varieties enjoying the beautiful weather, watching the seasonal bump in ducks and geese (they're everywhere these days, I saw a huge flock over the levee by Miller Park last night on a bike ride) and enjoying atmospheric conditions that would have had the French Impressionists coming here for a whole different kind of Gold Rush.

In the depths of winter, when the town goes quiet, folks stay home and watch the video or head out of town for somewhere more interesting - and I count myself among the latter - this place can get a bit dull. But Second Saturday is no secret, and this summer it is going to blow up! The future is here. I like it.

Second Saturday morning...

Cruising around town on the furry bike for a little exercise - after some sweet late-season skiing yesterday at Northstar - and getting geared up for tonight's Art Walk (and a check-in with Music Circus' auditions). Ran into a couple of friends, both of whom are in the process of transforming midtown - or, in the case of one, being transformed OUT...

Entrepreneur Andrea Lepore was out in front of the northeast corner of 16th and Q Streets, supervising a work crew who were hanging a new vinyl banner along the cyclone fence that now closes the sidewalk while her construction crews begin the serious cosmetic work that is going to transform what was Young's Fireside store for as long as I can remember, into Hot Italian, whose logo features a motorscooter and whose motto is "Pizza and panini bar - motors and gear."

Would you like a little axle grease on that panini, bella mia? (Forgive the Pidgen Italian.)

As Lepore told me, there are a lot of mid-century buildings around town that haven't had much done with them, and she's aiming to turn this corner into a showcase. She's certainly got the location - and the chutzpah. Now, bring on the pizza! That should happen by the end of June, says Lepore, with fingers verbally crossed.

A few blocks away, at 20th and Capitol, another businessman who has long defined midtown - bicycle manufacturer and all-around repair guy Steve Rex - is being booted out of his all-too-central location to make room for a new Mike Heller development. Rex, who has been at the location seemingly forever, will be moving over to 18th and E Street, near the New Roma Bakery at the end of May.

According to Rex, Heller and partner Paul Thiebaud (son of...) are going to build a "heritage building" in honor of their developer and painter fathers. According to Rex, Heller and Thiebaud plan to tear down the more than 100-year-old building that has long housed both Rex Cycles and A&A Auto Repair, a building that was originally built as a livery just as the "horseless carriage" era dawned.

Will the city building department that routinely makes life so difficult for some people to change the slightest thing on buildings half its age allow Heller to tear this one down? It's not a good-looking building right now - the place doesn't appear to have been repainted since it was built - but perhaps at least the facade could be combined, post-modern-style, into what ever Heller has planned? I say this will full recognition of the great work Heller has done around town, most notably his excellent transformation of an old storage facility into the dazzling MARRS Building further down 20th, at J. And the "heritage" hook is hearsay, admittedly. But what about our heritage? I'm not particularly versed in this, and I'm happy to be corrected by Messrs. Heller or Thiebaud. But this isn't looking great from street level, guys. At least, not yet.

Anyway, that's a casual look at life on the Grid this morning. It's a beautiful day - I think summer unofficially started yesterday, The Bee actually gave some substantial coverage to Second Saturday, and there will be THOUSANDS of people cruising the Grid tonight!

That's a lot to be grateful for, and then there's this: Those hideous, insidious fried-egg-shaped seed pods from (I think) English elm trees, which have been swirling and piling up in drifts in neighborhoods around town, are finally starting to stop falling. I hope. (Damn, some just blew past my window as I typed that.) Anyway, I'm optimistic.

Bring on Second Saturday!

Second Saturday weekend!

OK, here comes Second Saturday weekend (with picnic day in Davis to boot) and with the weather predicted to be in the low 80s, it is likely to be a BIG night out. Bring it!

Friends are recommending artist Julie Madden's work (see opposite), which will be displayed at good ol' Old Soul on Old Soul Alley between L and Capitol and 18th and 17th...our usual home away from home on SecSat, centrally located and serving fine caffeine treats and baked goods. And no, they don't advertise, I just like 'em!

And there's more: One always-intriguing option is fire poi spinning, probably out in front of McMartin Realty, at the corner of 21st and K, across from Lumens. Not sure on times. Another is a Bike Kitchen event at the Brick House Gallery on 36th Street at Broadway in Oak Park. The show's called Close to the Hub, and will feature bike art of various descriptions.

This is going to be one cool Second Saturday....

Shows for while you're out downtown on Saturday night include Kate Gaffney and her band, featuring guitarist Ross Hammond, at Marilyn's, and Charlie Peacock, one of Sactown's original break-out artists. Chuck is home from Nashville and playing True Love Coffeehouse on a bill that also includes local fixture David Houston and Adrian Bourgeois, son of Brent, co-leader of Peacock contemporaries Bourgeois Tagg. Also Saturday night, but well off the Grid, is Holly Near, who will be at the Palms in Winters.

Otherwise, the big touring shows of the week are country trio Rascal Flatts at Arco Thursday night and power pop guys Jimmy Eat World tonight at the Memorial Auditorium. Check out the latter...



HR, formerly of the legendary proto-hardcore group Bad Brains will bring his latest group, Dubb Agents, to the Blue Lamp tonight (Wednesday, 4.9).

Thursday, we've got local artists Scott Rodell playing the Artists You Should Know series of shows at Marilyn's, 5-7 p.m., and singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Gordon Groft and his band will be playing Harlow's.

And the Torch Club will have Aaron King and the Blues Imperials on Thursday.

And last, a second R.E.M. show has been added at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, which means they'll be playing there on May 31 and June 1 - definitely shows to see. More to come on this. Steely Dan is playing the Greek on July 26, and tickets go on sale this Sunday at 10 a.m. Also at the Greek, Feist will play on July 19, and tickets for that go on sale Sunday as well.

Here's R.E.M. doing a song from the new album, Accelerate:

Freeze!!

Could this happen here?