The Week in Preview

Time, time, time....where does it go?

OK, enough philosophy. No time for it.

This week: Well, has there EVER been a week in which there were so many bands you couldn't pay me to go see?? And I can say that more authoritatively than most, since I have for many years been paid to go to see bands I didn't want to see. But this week is ridiculous.

Just Friday night alone is enough to make me...well, if someone was paying me NOT to see bands, this would be the night I'd be rollin' in cash. To wit:

Neil Diamond at Arco Arena - uh, no.
Kenny G. at the Community Center Theatre - uh, HELL no.
...and Journey, Heart and Cheap Trick together at Sleep Train Amphitheatre? I would rather watch politicians debate foreign policy on TV. So, I am in luck.

Note well, please, that I have seen all these bands, that I like the early Neil Diamond singles (and a bit of the new, Rick Rubin-produced album) and that the first Cheap Trick album was great, and a couple more had one or two good songs. And "Baracuda" was a decent song until I started having nightmares about Sarah Palin.

But time hasn't been kind to any of them.

Sunday at Sleep Train, there's a big Christian-ish music festival with Jars of Clay, Switchfoot and Robert Randolph and the Family Band, who I saw in New Orleans a few years ago and who were just OK. The rest? Not interested. But God bless you if you want to go. You are not right, just forgiven.

What else? Well, I saw portions of the Forever Plaid run-through last Saturday night while getting a tour of the new Cosmopolitan at 10th and K, and I will blog about it. But it looked like good, clean, cabaret fun, skillfully done, etc. That's worthy of more. Later.

As for Horrorpops, they're a bit punk, a bit B-52's, a bit No Doubt. A bit. And they're playing Sunday at Empire, with local faves Secretions opening. Here's a clip of Horrorpops:



Finally, tickets go on sale Sunday for this year's Bridge School Benefit at Shoreline Amphitheatre on Oct. 25/26, featuring, as always, Neil Young, plus: Jack Johnson, Norah Jones, Wilco, Smashing Pumpkins, ZZ Top and Josh Groban.

Josh Groban???

OK, I'm back to work. Hosting Insight again today, my 10th day in a row. Will post links soon.

A quick update...

I've been so freakin' busy I've not been able to post about all the stuff I've been doing...and I still can't. But I will. A teaser: I got into the new Cosmopolitan at 10th and K on Saturday night, and also saw the Raconteurs on Sunday at the Treasure Island Music Festival. Blog posts coming.

But most of my week, this and last, has been taken up with hosting Insight while Jeffrey Callison is away. Today is my eighth (and probably last) day, and it should be an interesting one: One of my guests is Bee Executive Editor Melanie Sill, as well as the Dean of McGeorge School of Law, Elizabeth Rindskopf Palmer, on national security. Last week I had State Senators Darrell Steinberg and Tom McClintock, three Bee employees and a BUNCH of local musicians. I will be posting links to the archives soon. But in the meantime...

Tune in at 2 p.m. today at 90.9 FM (streaming at Capradio.org/Insight) to hear what Ms. Sill has to say about the current state of The Bee. Judging from the traffic spike when I posted the list of Bee leavers a week ago, there's a lot of interest there.

Onward.

Week in Preview

Whew! Whirlwind week - hosting Insight on KXJZ all week, lots of good stuff. Love it! Meanwhile, back in Funland...in brief:

This weekend's big deal is the Treasure Island Music Festival. We went last year and it was beautiful - right in the middle of SF Bay - and the music was great. Saturday features the groove bands, with Justice headlining and TV on the Radio second on the bill. Also on Saturday: Goldfrapp, Hot Chip, CSS, Antibalas, Aesop Fable and more.

Sunday is the day we're going, for one reason: The Raconteurs, Jack White and Brendan Benson's band. Classic rock for the new millennium. Also on the bill: Tegan and Sarah, Spiritualized, Vampire Weekend, Okkervil River, The Kills, more.

Closer to home, the big X reunion show at Harlow's Thursday night is sold out: ditto the Friday Atmosphere show at Empire. Good on Brian McKenna for filling these rooms - it hasn't been happening a lot lately.

Mexican rockers Jaguares play Empire on Sunday night, spectacular acoustic guitarist Tommy Emmanuel plays the Crest on Sunday night, while local band MC Rut plays the Boardwalk in Orangevale on Friday night. And local band Baby Grand plays a CD release party Friday night at Old Ironsides.

Rhythm and Ribs at Raley Field Friday through Sunday, with more tribute bands than you knew existed: bands and artists to be aped include Sheryl Crow, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Eagles, The Doors, KISS and Johnny Cash. They know their audience...

Meanwhile, back in the 21st century: My Morning Jacket at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley on Friday; The Hives and the Eagles of Death Metal next Tuesday at the Warfield in San Francisco.

And tickets go on sale Sunday for the Dec. 2 comeback tour by AC/DC at Oracle Arena.

Brian Cuthbertson and the Funk Express plays what you might imagine at the Grove at the Radisson Hotel on Saturday night.

Black September at Big Brick

A Bee Business story on this week's buy-outs was long on numbers, but it didn't mention a single name of the very real people who are leaving The Bee this fall. So I'm going to drop the commentary and just list those who are leaving.

Read the names, remember the people - and the stories. These are the people who made The Bee what it is...was. And the names say it all.

Wow. What a loss. (OK, a little editorializing...)

Mike Dunne
Janet Fullwood
Pat Rubin
Dorothy Korber
Deb Kollars
Bruce Dancis
Sarah Williams
Dan Vierria
David Favrot
Lori Richardson
Bob Sylva
Greg Endicott
Kevin McKenna
Gwen Schoen
Barbara Stubbs
Art Campos
Lakiesha McGhee
Milt Whaley
Ramon Coronado
Edgar Sanchez
Lisa Elizondo
Matt Carroll
Angie Pappas
Mark Billingsley
Matt Boudourian
Gerri Boutrarye
Janice Coleman

(NB: Though the last seven are from Special Sections, a separate editorial section, this focuses on the newsroom. Many other departments - in fact, whole departments - are disappearing. Please let me know of anyone I've forgotten, and if any of these people are NOT leaving - the news is just trickling out - please let me know ASAP. Also note: Mike Dunne is taking the buyout, but will be staying on for a couple of months.)

Those people join the following, who left in (roughly) the last few years, many under duress. Again, the cumulative talent - and community knowledge - lost is just phenomenal:

Fahizah Alim
Mareva Brown
Alison ApRoberts
Ralph Montano
Lisa Heyamoto
Dan Nguyen
Cameron Jahn
Christina Jewett
Edie Lau
Jon Williams
Kevin German
Thuy-Doan Le
Todd Milbourn
Erica Chavez
Steve Terry
Jay Mather
John Hughes
Dorsey Griffith
Elizabeth Hume
Crystal Carreon
Nancy Weaver Teichert
Jocelyn Weiner
Erhardt Krause
Laura Mecoy
Dick Schmidt
Walt Wiley
Steve Gibson
Herbert Sample
Claire Cooper
Pamela Martineau
Cynthia Craft
Judy Lin
Tom Philp
Gwendolyn Crump
Pauline Haynes
Mark Kreidler
Stuart Drown
R.E. Graswich
Becky Boyd
Patricia Beach Smith
Gary Delsohn
Amy Eckert
Jewel Reilly
Alexa Bluth
Clint Swett
Rick Rodriguez
...and yours truly.

Week in Preview

There's a bunch going on this weekend, and if you can't choose between these - or the economy's catching up with you - there's always the brilliant, hilarious "Tropic Thunder" down at the multiplex. Whatever you do, don't miss that.

The big word today is that the world's biggest hard rock band - and Bay area homeboys - Metallica has announced a show for December 20 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, and that tickets go on sale this Saturday at 10 a.m. And the word the hardcore fans want to know is "never," the password to get presale tickets starting now. Presale info is available at the click of a link. Again, the password is "never." Tickets bought on presale will include a download of the band's new album AND a download of the actual performance.

Locally, we've got our own rock stars, one or two at least, and one of the biggest is Jackie Greene, who will be headlining the Grove at the Radisson Hotel tonight! Opening the show is local songwriter Christopher Fairman and the excellent local ensemble An Angle. Starts at 6:30, so get over there!

Also tonight are "cool like dat" hip hoppers Digable Planets, who have reinvented themselves as a popular live act. They'll be hitting Harlow's tonight at 9.

If you're a bit mellower, or a lot older, crooner Johnny Mathis plays the Community Center Theatre tomorrow night; or you might be surprised to know that Janis Ian, who shocked 1967 audiences with her interracial dating anthem, "Society's Child," will be playing the Palms Playhouse in Winters on Friday.

And local powerhouse Harley White, Jr. - who started Papa's Culture in the early '90s and went on to do the Original Heads, Daisy Spot, Seventy, the Harley White Jazz Orchestra and about 50 0ther local bands - will be doing his own little mini-festival on Thursday. The White Noise Festival will feature Harley himself at Old Ironsides with his Jazz Orchestra (featuring saxophonist Larry Lanier of Little Richard's original Upsetters) at Old I, with other acts, including members of Papa's Culture, at the same venue. There will also be shows at Java Lounge (featuring the ubiquitous Ross Hammond) and a more hip-hop oriented show at the Distillery.

And I'll be interviewing Harley live on KXJZ's Insight tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. That's at 90.9 FM.

Out of town, there's Janet Jackson at Oracle Arena in Oakland on Saturday, and Counting Crows and Maroon 5 co-headline a show Tuesday at the old Concord Pavillion.

And singer/songwriter Willie Porter plays the Palms on Tuesday. There's also the Bomb's Latino Music Fest on Sunday at the Cove at Cal Expo, featuring reggaeton star Pitbull and a whole bunch of acts that I've never heard a thing about: M.C. Magic, Baby Bash, Nina Sky, Frankie J, Play N Skillz, La La, DJ Flex and others. Will most likely be BUMPIN'. Starts at noon.

Finally, tickets go on sale Saturday for the Trans-Siberia Orchestra's Nov. 15 show at Arco Arena, and on Monday for the Alan Jackson show on Nov. 22, also at Arco.

Whew.

And on top of all that, Saturday is SECOND Saturday, with the art walk downtown and around town. Info on that is all over the place.

I'm owt!

The Week in Preview

I'm back on the Grid after a week at Burning Man - more on that later. But for now, here's what's up for the coming week:

Tonight at the Memorial Auditorium, Stone Temple Pilots' reunion tour gets local, with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club opening. Should be a grindin' good show. Bring your plugs...and here's a cool Letterman appearance from 1993.



Tomorrow night, Lucinda Williams returns to the Crest Theatre, while the Kate Gaffney Band and Sal Valentino share the stage at Harlow's across town. Here's Lu from back in the day...



Dread Zeppelin's 20th anniversary tour - 20 years of reggae-styled versions of Led Zeppelin classics - will hit Harlow's on Saturday night. Here they are blending
"Heartbreaker," "Heartbreak Hotel" and a fat groove.



And Damien Jurado's compelling indie rock at Harlow's on Sunday.

And Saturday, a bunch of local bands - with a few familiars such as Th' Losin' Streaks, Kate Gaffney, Pets, The Secretions and Ross Hammond's Ni Project - will celebrate the one-year anniversary of Russ Solomon's R5 Records. That's at 16th and Broadway from 11-9:30 p.m. on Saturday and noon-7 on Sunday/ And they said it couldn't be done!

Beyond the Grid, Latin pop star Luis Miguel hits Arco Arena on Friday night, Willie Nelson and Family play Ironstone Vineyards the same night, and Nine Inch Nails rocks Oracle Arena in Oakland for the second of two nights, Thursday and Friday.

Also in the Bay area, Brian Wilson and his spectacularly good band returns to the Paramount in Oakland on Friday, and Paul Weller (The Jam) plays the Fillmore on Thursday.

Finally, Power to the Peaceful plays Golden Gate Park for FREE on Saturday from 11-5 p.m. Headliner, as last year, is Michael Franti and Spearhead, with Ziggy Marley and Warren Haynes in support.