Blogging the Grid - Sacramento David Watts Barton

Outside Lands announced

2009-04-13T12:39:00.001-07:00

Outside Lands acts were just announced this morning, for the Aug. 28-30 event in Golden Gate Park.

Headliners are:

Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band and the Beastie Boys!

The under card is just as impressive:

M.I.A., Blackeyed Peas, The Mars Volta, Band of Horses, TV On the Radio, Ween, Jason Mraz, Incubus, Thievery Corporation, Modest Mouse, Atmosphere, Brett Dennen, Silversun Pickups, The National, Lila Downs...the list goes on, and is available complete at www.sfoutsidelands.com.

There's a new kid in town

2009-03-23T11:55:00.001-07:00

Well, I found out that the man behind tonight's surprising Michelle Shocked show at Marilyn's TONIGHT is Scott Brill-Lehn, and he's got quite a line up of shows coming. Two that I'm particularly jazzed about - OK, three - no, four - are rippin' guitarist Junior Brown at Marilyn's on April 9, live techno band BLVD at Beatnik Studios (very cool place if you've not been there, and even if you have) on April 29, Skinny SIngers at Marilyn's on May 2, and Mike (M) Doughty, formerly of fabulous Soul Coughing, at Marilyn's on May 10.

For more details, visit www.sblentertainment.com

Right ON, Scott. I'll do what I can to help.

Here's the line-up.

Monday, March 23, 2009 7:00 pm

Michelle Shocked

Marilyn's on K, 908 K St., Sacramento, CA, 95814 (MAP)

Tickets: $20 in advance, $25 DOS (click Tickets)
Artist Website: www.michelleshocked.com

Wednesday, April 1, 2009 8:00 pm

The Waybacks

Marilyn's on K, 908 K St., Sacramento, CA, US (MAP)

Tickets: $15 Advanced $18 DOS
Buy now @ "Tickets" page
Artist Website: www.thewaybacks.com

Monday, April 6, 2009 7:00 pm

Papa Grows Funk

Marilyn's on K, 908 K St., Sacramento, CA, 95814 (MAP)

Tickets: $12 Advanced $15 Day of Show (Buy @ "Tickets" page)
21+
www.papagrowsfunk.com

Thursday, April 9, 2009 7:00 pm

Junior Brown

Marilyn's on K, 908 K St., Sacramento, CA, 95814 (MAP)

Tickets: $17 in advance, $20 Day of Show (click tickets)
Artist Website: myspace.com/juniorbrown

Friday, April 10, 2009 8:00 pm

Hockey

Beatnik Studios, 2421 17th St., Sacramento, CA, 95818 (MAP)

www.myspace.com/hockey

Saturday, April 11, 2009 8:00 pm

Izabella

Marilyn's on K, 908 K St., Sacramento, CA, 95814 (MAP)

Tickets: $12 Advanced $15 DOS (Click "Tickets")
Artist Website: www.izabellaband.com

Wednesday, April 29, 2009 7:00 pm

BLVD

Beatnik Studios, 2421 17th St., Sacramento, CA, 95818 (MAP)

www.blvdsource.com
Tickets: $10 advanced $12 Day of Show
Buy tickets @ "Tickets" page

Saturday, May 2, 2009 8:00 pm

Skinny Singers (featuring Jackie Greene and Tim Bluhm)

Marilyn's on K, 908 K St., Sacramento, CA, US (MAP)

Tickets: $25
Buy now @ "Tickets" Page
Artist Website: www.myspace.com/skinnysingers

Sunday, May 10, 2009 7:00 pm

Mike Doughty

Marilyn's on K, 908 K St., Sacramento, CA, 95814 (MAP)

Tickets: $18 Advanced $20 DOS
Buy now @ "Tickets" page - Tix on sale 3/2/09
Artist Website: www.mikedoughty.com

Wednesday, May 13, 2009 7:00 pm

That 1 Guy

Beatnik Studios, 2421 17th St., Sacramento, CA, 95818 (MAP)

Tickets: $13 Advanced $15 DOS
Buy now @ "Tickets" page
Artist Website: www.that1guy.com

Tuesday, May 19, 2009 7:00 pm

Cowboy Mouth

Marilyn's on K, 908 K St., Sacramento, CA, 95814 (MAP)

Tickets: $15
Buy now @ "Tickets" page
Artist Website: www.cowboymouth.com

Friday, May 22, 2009 8:00 pm

Jackopierce

Marilyn's on K, 908 K St., Sacramento, CA, 95814 (MAP)

Tickets: $20 Advanced $25 DOS
Buy now @ "Tickets" page
Artist Website: www.jackopierce.com

Sunday, May 31, 2009 7:00 pm

Melvin Seals and JGB

Marilyn's on K, 908 K St., Sacramento, CA, 95814
(MAP)www.jgbband.comTickets: $20 Advance $25 Day of Show: Buy @ "Tickets" page

Friday, June 5, 2009 7:00 pm

Freakbass

Marilyn's on K, 908 K St., Sacramento, CA, 95814 (MAP)

Tickets: $10 in advance, $12 Day of show
Artist website: www.myspace.com/freakbass

Friday, June 12, 2009 8:00 pm

Moonalice

Marilyn's on K, 908 K St., Sacramento, CA, 95814 (MAP)

www.moonalice.com

Saturday, June 20, 2009 7:00 pm

Charlie Musselwhite

Marilyn's on K, 908 K St., Sacramento, CA, 95814 (MAP)

Tickets: $17 in advance, $20 DOS (click Tickets)
Artist Website: charliemusselwhite.com

How the HELL did I miss this?

2009-03-22T22:54:00.001-07:00

Michelle Shocked is apparently playing Marilyn's on K Monday night, March 22.

Even my best friend didn't tell me. WTF?

Better to know now than later, however...

Cool!

Worldfest acts: Indigo Girls, Los Lobos, Jackie and Tim

2009-03-22T22:14:00.000-07:00

So, people keep telling me, "I read your blog," and my answer is always, "WHAT, exactly are you reading?" Because I am so lame - and so all over the place, I'm a tad scattershot. I write stuff for SacramentoPress.com, where I am managing editor, and for other publications.

And Facebook has really usurped the blog, to a degree, though you can't write LONG on Facebook. Not even close. But is writing long really still of any value in the era of Twitter? I'd say yes. But not as long as we used to get away with in Features at The Bee. Let alone the New Yorker. But that's not my level.

So, Worldfest. California Worldfest. I've been the last three years, and at this point, would not miss it. Terrific setting, great food and people, and the bands are ALL OVER the place - seriously a more diverse festival of live musicians is not available in this area. I'm a big fan of High Sierra, but it's more a particular realm - "jam band" stuff, with newjazz around the edges - but California Worldfest really does bring in musicians from all over the world, and from all realms of music.

Two artists who stick out from my three years are Eileen Ivers, a remarkable fiddler (with a great band) from Ireland (but with African rhythms) and Fiama Fumana of Italy, who play techno music with "natural" instruments, live. Brilliant concept, great execution.

Now, from Worldfest HQ in Chico, some news: This year's festival runs July 16-19, and there are some interesting acts, most of whom I've never heard of, which I like.

Just added: The Indigo Girls. Other you-know-'em acts on the schedule: Los Lobos, Tommy Emmanuel (great Australian acoustic virtuoso in the Kottke realm, guy plays the guitar so hard it's got holes in it!), Sacramento homeboy Jackie Greene in his collaboration with Tim Bluhm from Mother Hips (The Skinny Singers), and Wailing Souls.

Others:
Lura (Cape Verde Afro-pop)
Old Blind Dogs (Scottish Celts)
Issa Bagayogo (Malian Roots & Dance)
Ledward Kaapana (Hawaiian Slack Key)
Gokh Bi System (Senegalese Hip Hop)
Bearfoot (Alaskan Americana)
Bluehouse (Australian Folk/pop)
Abalone Dots (Swedish Softgrass)
Fishtank Ensemble (Gypsy & Flamenco)
John Cruz (Hawaii’s Singer/songwriter)
Del Castillo (Flamenco & Latin Rock)
Joe Craven (Rhythm Mania) - LOVE JOE!!!
On Ensemble (Taiko Drum)
Cuban Cowboys (Cuban Surf Rock)
Banana Slug String Band (Eco Family Music)
Markus James & the Wassonrai (Blues Connection-Africa to America)
Done Gone String Band (Yukon Old Timey)
MaMuse (Singer/Songwriters)
Handful of Luvin’ (Jam ‘n Dance)

More artists will be added as the contracts are signed. Go to www.worldfest.net to listen to the artists and for a continual line-up updates. Information at 530-891-4098. The Early Bird Ticket Special deadline is March 30 - you'll save $20 off of each adult 4-Day or 3-Day camping ticket.

US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse talks Truth Commission

2009-03-04T19:49:00.000-08:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Back in The Bee, sorta

2009-03-01T16:32:00.000-08:00

Rainy, rainy day. Naked Lounge as crowded as I've ever seen it, ditto the Apple Store - WHAT recession?

I was asked by Daniel Weintraub at The Bee to write an editorial for the paper. It ended up not on paper, but on The Bee's website, here.

And here's the actual text...

Paper is passe, but the need for news lives on

By David Watts Barton

Published: Sunday, Mar. 1, 2009 - 12:00 am

I was in San Francisco recently, sleeping above a quiet residential street. At sunrise, I heard a sound like nail guns: "POW!" "Pow, pow, pow, pow, pow!" It echoed up the street, and as a vehicle drove past, I realized that it was the free daily Examiner being delivered to every house.

It was so industrial, it reminded me that what is changing most these days is not journalism itself, but its means of delivery. The resources required to create and deliver the paper are getting scarcer and more expensive.

But the human need to tell stories, and to hear them told, is not gone. Nor is the need for accurate, dependable information in a free society. With the Internet, the information and the stories are more easily available than ever before. This is good.

But the nature of journalism, like its delivery, is also changing. These days, the Internet has made "broadcasting," in all its forms, passé. The model that traditional journalists take for granted, whether in print or on radio or TV, is morphing. The Internet allows for a "narrowcasting" of the news, which appeals to readers interested in specific topics and advertisers interested in reaching specific groups of people.

But more crucially, the Internet provides two-way communication. I'd like to see more direct input from the public. Readers responding to news stories, readers writing news stories, and all of it delivered via the Web. The Internet has turned the model of large newspapers being the "gatekeepers" of information on its head. Large newspapers are still diligently minding the "gates," but the fences are down. The information is flowing around those gates.

Although the Sacramento Press is largely reader-written, I continue to encourage the age-old principles of newspapers - accuracy, fairness, timeliness - for the simple reason that newspapers evolved over a long time in a very competitive and flexible market, and those principles work. But we are all gatekeepers now.

David Watts Barton is the managing editor of the Sacramento Press at www.sacramentopress.com

Here comes the weekend!

2009-02-25T15:15:00.001-08:00

Sacramento's music scene looks to be pretty busy this next week, from club shows to ticket on-sales for some of the biggest names in the world.

Tickets on sale include those for Coldplay's summer tour, which is scheduled for the Sleep Train Amphitheatre on July 14. Tickets go on sale Saturday morning at 10 a.m.

Another is Bloc Party's April 21 show at Freeborn Hall in Davis, going on sale this Friday morning at 10 a.m.

Another big name tour going on sale will not hit Sacramento - at least it hasn't been announced - but it is a show that will please Sacramento's classic rock-hungry concert-going audience: Eric Clapton's duo tour with Steve Winwood. The two were band mates in the 1969 "supergroup," Blind Faith, and songs from that band's one album, including Winwood's stoner classic, "Can't Find My Way Home" and Clapton's prayer-like "Presence of the Lord," will be highlights of the show.Tickets for the June 29 show at Oakland's Oracle Arena, will go on sale Monday, March 2.

Also on sale this Saturday, tickets to see the biggest-selling artist of 2008, Lil Wayne, who will play the HP Pavilion in San Jose on March 27.

Speaking of best-selling artists, U2's last album sold almost 10 million copies worldwide. The quartet's first album in nearly five years, No Line on the Horizon, drops on Tuesday.

More down to earth, a couple of hip-hop classics will be playing Sacramento this week. First up is Kool Keith, once of the Ultramagnetic MCs in the late '80s, will be playing Harlow’s tonight (Wednesday, Feb. 25), but if you're up for someone more contemporary, you can't do better than the lyrical flow and deep wit of Lyrics Born, who will play Harlow's on Saturday, headlining a five-hour show of hip hop and rock acts, mostly from around this area.

Alt.rock fans will want to catch Portugal. The Man. at Harlow's Thursday night, while lovers of old school country blues rock stalwarts Little Feat will probably enjoy the stripped down acoustic duo of the current Feat's main guitarists, Paul Barrare and Fred Tackett. The duo will be playing Harlow's on Sunday night.

Throw in last night's A.C. Newman show and it's clear that Harlow's is having quite a week, as one look at their sign (above) will confirm.

Other shows: Jon McLaughlin and the Rocket 88 will play the Hard Rock Café in downtown Sacramento on Sunday, and Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir will raise their voices on Friday at the Guild Theatre in Oak Park.

Elsewhere, a Smiths cover band called This Charming Band will play the Blue Lamp on Friday and a band called Everest will play Old Ironsides on Monday evening.

And if you're just looking for a laugh, there are two options: The Smothers Brothers are playing the Cache Creek Casino on Saturday, and Dave Attell will bring his barbed wit to the Punch Line, also Saturday night.

Catching up...

2009-02-17T09:32:00.000-08:00

Jeez. a month since I last posted. I'm most on Facebook now, and SacramentoPress.com, but I felt the need to post here...it is, after all, my original online home.

I'm posting because I want to note what Julie said this morning: I'm on fire. I have eight different gigs this week - I am part of what I just heard called "the Gig Economy" the other day, love that - and I wanted to note them, just get 'em all down.

My main gig, of course, is Managing Editor of SacramentoPress.com, and I'm writing and editing daily for that (like, seven days a week). Beyond that, this week I just finished a promotional piece for the Mondavi Center, and will have a long-ago-written piece I did for SMUD's website finally come on line (I think).

More importantly, I'll be hosting Insight on 90.9 FM today at 2 p.m. Still just love that gig, it's the MOST fun.

Well, the MOST fun is playing music (I think), which I'll be doing twice this week: Wednesday night at Luna's with Jackson Griffith, doing the round-robin singer/songwriter thing that got me the Insight gig in the first place. Thanks for having me, Jackson. I'll be playing mostly my songs, which I've not done in some time. But since I'm thinking that I'm ready to record my second (once-a-decade) album, I need to get my chops back.

And on Saturday, even though it's not my show, I'm VERY jazzed to be a part of the "Songs about Presidents" show at Marilyn's on K, with a bunch of local songwriters, including Christian Kiefer and Matty Gerkin, who wrote many of the songs for the epic "Of Great and Mortal Men" CD that came out last fall. I'm singing Presidents Grant and Buchanan, and MCing the show. Richard Marsh and Kate Gaffney will also be playing. It's going to be as big as its subjects.

What else? KFBK tomorrow night before the show (ah, cross-promotion, I love it) doing my weekly thing that I've been pretty slack about. Also, Dan Weintraub of the Bee asked me to write a bit about SacramentoPress.com for this Sunday's "Conversation" in Forum.

And I am doing my regular reporting for Bloomberg Financial News in New York, though sadly - OH, SO SADLY - I am losing that gig at the end of the month, a victim (like many others, even at Bloomberg) of the sucking economy. But that gig kept me afloat and I am very grateful to have had it. And Bloomberg wants me to keep freelancing, I'm just losing my retainer. Whatever. ONWARD!

OK, that's it. For anyone still reading - WHY? - thank you very much. And come down to Luna's and Marilyn's, they're going to be good shows!

Just remembered another thing: I'm speaking to Steve Maviglio's class at Sac state tomorrow morning. This is ridiculous.

Here comes the weekend...

2009-01-21T17:29:00.000-08:00

Stuff you can hear:

Pepper tomorrow night (Thursday) at Empire at 15th and R. Also on the bill, Supervillians and Passafire. Sounds cool.

And Friday night, some very cool acoustic music from the fast-rising alt.bluegrass group Devil Makes Three, at the Blue Lamp at Alhambra and N Street.

They need no introduction, but Cheech and Chong have been gone long enough that you might need a refresher. They'll be at the Memorial Auditorium in Sactown on Saturday night. (And please, no "Dave's not here" references...I grew up on that sh*t.)

And finally, Disturbed headlines a headbanger's bill that also includes Avenged Sevenfold and Skindred, Sunday at Arco Arena.

Here's Disturbed doing a cover of Metallica's "Fade to Black," with Avenged Sevenfold following...

Never could get with the hypermetal beats, but what the heck...there you have it.

And Springsteen opening the whole thing

2009-01-19T14:41:00.001-08:00

And this is what Springsteen doing "The Rising" looked like from the crowd. Nice perspective...

U2, "Pride" and Obama

2009-01-19T14:30:00.000-08:00

Who better to remind us of the context for this wonderful Inauguration?

Onward

2009-01-08T16:59:00.000-08:00

This blog is slowly - ok, not so slowly - being eclipsed by other forms of media. But jeez, isn't that the norm these days?

Twitter, Facebook and now SacramentoPress.com are proving much more dynamic, and accessible, than this blog has been. In any case, I never much warmed to it. I may find that I go to it more for personal posts, but I may just let it die.

In any case, I have GREAT news to report: I just accepted (duh!) a job as Managing Editor of SacramentoPress.com. The site, only up two months, is doing what I wanted to do when I left The Bee - actually, before I left The Bee, but the Bee had other ideas (thanks, RickRod!) - and much, much more. And the two guys running this know the Web far, far better than I. But I'm learning a lot.

So, bloggingthegrid has done its duty to my career, if not exactly to Sacramento (though I like to think it contributed). If you haven't checked out SacramentoPress.com, please do, I think you'll find it interesting, in potential if not in fact. In fact ain't bad - I got a great interview with a guy at The Bee who is training the people from India who are taking his job back to Jaipur - but in potential, it's simply astonishing. And with the crew we are assembling there, it can only get better.

So, thanks very much for paying attention to BloggingtheGrid, and no, this is not goodbye = but my attentions will be even more on SacramentoPress.com, and I'm still covering state courts for Bloomberg News, and then there will be Insight again (soon, I hope) and who knows what's next? A new album?

Good grief, what am I thinking?

A slow start to a great year!

2009-01-07T09:48:00.000-08:00

It's a pretty quiet week coming up, with most nightlife activity based on the first Second Saturday of the year. There are some cool art shows coming up, and the new outlet of the Sacramento Bike Kitchen will open at 19th and I Streets. Get more info at SacramentoPress.com.

For music that night, my for-sure pick is the EP release party by Nice Monster, featuring singer/songwriter J. Matthew Gerken, one of the three men responsible for the brilliant three-CD concept album "Of Great and Mortal Men," a.k.a. The Presidents Album. They'll be playing the Fox and Goose on Saturday.

Other shows of note are all local bands, including a great double bill at Luna's on Friday featuring singer songwriters Ricky Berger and Chelsea Wolfe. Here's Ricky...

The local act named 20,000 will celebrate the release of its new CD at Java Lounge, also on on Friday night.

In San Francisco on Friday and Saturday nights, the Wailers will celebrate the anniversary of the release of the great album Exodus, by playing the whole thing live at the Independent. Minus Bob Marley, of course...

The big "name" event of the weekend is the three-day run of the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar, which is now almost 40 years old. That'll be playing at the Community Center Theatre Friday through Sunday.

And the first "battle" of the the Jammies series of "battles of the bands" will take place Friday night at Club Retro, the all-ages venue in Orangevale. That leads up to the big Jammies show at the Crest on Feb. 28. For a listing of the Jammies showcases, go here.

And that's just about it.

A new year's feint at posting...

2008-12-29T18:13:00.001-08:00

A week since I posted, and now with SacramentoPress.com, Facebook - did everyone get Facebook for Xmas or something? - and Twitter, the role of the archaic old BLOG is ever more fuzzy in my 20th century mind.

A great Xmas week, heading into new years with a renewed sense of purpose and an increasing income. And new plans for 2009. Like what?

Well, continuing to make a living is a good. Continuing to be a good partner and dad-like fixture. And son to parents who are more and more like children.

Oh, and on the anniversary of my first album - 1999's Straight - a follow up? I've got the songs, and a potential bookend title: Bent. But that's a gimme. Surely, I can be more creative than that? We'll see. Finding the TIME is going to be the trick.

So, back to work. Life is good. Carry on! See you next year.

Christmas Eve thoughts

2008-12-24T14:33:00.000-08:00

So, now that I'm managing editor of SacramentoPress.com, and have a number of writing outlets, and the much-desired "multiple income streams," I may go a bit more personal with the blog. That's what they are, right? (And for you tired of my Hamlet routine regarding content, well...you're not reading anymore anyway...)

This has been SUCH an intense year, macro and micro, and not just for me. Christmas Even has me thinking about how it's affected me, and everyone around me.

For me, navigating the currents of no regular job has been a remarkable series of lessons, and I'm glad I'm learning them, though I'm not such a fan of the process. And I'm one of the lucky ones. I've got time and money to be able to sit at my favorite coffee place and drink and surf and chat and yes, write. My confusion about what to write notwithstanding, I'm a writer, always have been, always will be. And that in itself is a blessing beyond measure. Really. I never, ever forget how lucky I am. (And that's not even counting a great family, friends who ARE family, and a soulmate who gets me even when I don't, and who is a model of calm and groundedness.)

But no steady income - or not ONE steady income - has been a frightening thing at times, and the temptation to find a port in the storm is exceptionally appealing. But at the same time, I find myself resisting what I once thought I couldn't live without: Security. I've gotten THIS far, who's to say I can't go further? I've already been through the fire - now it's just a matter of continuing to dance well on the coals.

Still, security beckons. But that's another story...

I'm thinking beyond myself right now. I just visited a local merchant, an old favorite, and she intoned, at some point, in words to the effect of, "You know, it's all going down next year. Total collapse." Coming just hours after I posted a comment on McClatchy's stock price dipping below a dollar (down from $70 four years ago) on SacramentoPress.com, a few days after I wrote a piece for Bloomberg News about the lawsuits flying between state workers unions and the Governor, The Bee on the table in front of me warning of funding cuts for this and that, my friends' comment was jarring.

Sure, it comes through her prism of the ongoing struggle of any small business, but this is a notion I'm familiar with from the past year, and probably longer: It could all just fall apart. And I've got no real protection, everything could be taken away just like that. And then I'm just...done.

Done? What does that mean? For a generation that grew up in the shadow of the nuclear bomb and the population bomb, with AIDS and global warming following on, the notion of everything just going to hell is overly familiar. We're the apocalypse generation.

And while we've been through previous financial crises, this time feels different. This feels like a disaster. The actual forecasts aren't THAT bad - even 10 percent unemployment is still only one in 10 - but you hear about enough things being the worst "in a generation" or "since World War II," and the mind...goes with it.

And then there are all the friends I have who are leaving jobs - The Bee, specifically, but that's hardly the only place - and they're looking for some security, some encouragement, some hope. They don't k now what's next. They're not sleeping well. Their 401k is way down (forget for a minute that a lot of people don't HAVE 401ks - losing is worse than never having, sometimes.) Things feel desperate.

But despite everything that is happening, I find that I can offer hope. Because despite the sleepless nights, the bill-juggling, and the ongoing glimpses-over-the-precipice, I'm still here, and thriving. I'm managing editor of a promising new venture, I'm a regular stringer for Bloomberg News, and I'm even writing for The Bee occasionally. I do my gig hosting Insight on KXJZ whenever I can - a pleasure that I never saw coming when I left The Bee - and I've got a number of freelance clients. I'm even playing a show with Jackson Griffith on Feb. 18 at Luna's.

And I have a hell of a lot of fun. And I'm being a good son. And a good partner. And I'm even paying down my credit card debt.

So, this meander is, at bottom, to say this: Merry Christmas, everything's going to be alright. Everything is NOT going to collapse, even though it may feel that way. Life will go on, there will be ups and downs and challenges and set backs and amazing, amazing victories. And they will pass, too. And through it all, one can moan and worry and fret, or one can still notice the colors of the trees, the glorious noise that is music, and enjoy, yes, the old cliche: the smile of a child.

And that's what Christmas is to me, a certified ex-Christian: the season of hope. We just passed the darkest night of the year on Sunday, and we partied right through it - happy birthday Jon! Congratulations on getting tenure, Hugh! - and our celebration managed, just like the dances of primitive history, to satisfy the gods and start the days lengthening again.

Soon, the rain - which is gloomy, yes, but remember our drought worries? - will stop, trees will bud, the legislature and governor will get a clue, the market will bottom, and mortgage rates of 5.1% will lure buyers back to houses, and things won't seem so dire. Until next time.

And it is my holiday wish to you, that next time this happens, you remember how bad it was in December 2008, how scary it was, and note that it really wasn't all that bad after all.

It's just life. Live it

Rising to the Top Ten challenge (thanks Spooner)

2008-12-17T16:27:00.000-08:00

My Top Ten albums of 2008. Yes, all (but one) white, all sorta classic rock, but all good. And that's what I needed.

Of Great and Mortal Men - Christian Kiefer, J. Matthew Gerkin and Jefferson Pitcher
Consolers of the Lonely - The Raconteurs
Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings - Counting Crows
Warpaint - The Black Crowes
Evil Urges - My Morning Jacket
Stay Positive - The Hold Steady
Dear Science - TV on the Radio
Accelerate - R.E.M.
Viva la Vida - Coldplay
Detours - Sheryl Crow

Honorable mention Top 10:
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Gossip in the Grain - Ray LaMontaigne
Giving Up the Ghost - Jackie Greene
House of Bluhm - Tim Bluhm
The Slip - Nine Inch Nails
Sugar Mountain (Live 1968) - Neil Young
Little Honey - Lucinda Williams
Funplex - The B-52's
The Coachman - Kate Gaffney
Born Broken - Christopher Fairman

Didn't hear, but intend to:
Black Ice - AC/DC
Only By the Night - Kings of Leon
The new one by The Killers
Narrow Stairs - Death Cab for Cutie (LOVED "I Will Possess Your Heart," however)

(Seriously, I wasn't kidding about it being nearly all-white, all-guys....)

Journalism workshop tomorrow night!

2008-12-17T12:42:00.001-08:00

Today is the last day to sign up for the journalism workshop being presented tomorrow (Thursday) night at the SacramentoPress.com's offices. It's going to be a great basic introduction to writing for the site, which you should definitely be doing. Wait, which I should definitely be doing!

Here's what Editor in Chief Geoff Samek posted about it:

Sign up for our site and come on down to our office for free food and a great interactive workshop taught by Holly Heyser, Sacramento State Professional Journalist in Residence. The workshop will be from 6:30pm - 8:00pm Thursday, December 18th at The Sacramento Press office. We will start with food and refreshments, move on to quick introductions and then the interactive workshop. Please R.S.V.P. by Wednesday, December 17th, and do so by emailing journalism@sacramentopress.com.

News (and olds)

2008-12-12T11:05:00.001-08:00

OK, now that I'm on Facebook more, AND SacramentoPress.com, bloggingthegrid has less pull for me. If that was possible. I just don't find myself posting much. Then again, my life is moving much more online. Like everyone's.

Case in point: I was hired last week as managing editor of SacramentoPress.com, a terrific new reader-generated website dedicated to news of...The Grid! Yes, this is basically a much-expanded and much better version of the idea I had a year ago that kinda sorta (but not really) became bloggingthegrid.blogspot.com.

WAY better.

And it's already getting attention: The Sacramento Business Journal's new edition features a great story by Melanie Turner about the site. Read it here.

So what does it mean for Blogging the Grid? Frankly, I don't know. As managing editor of SacramentoPress.com, I will have my hands full, and I want to keep that beast growing. On the other hand, this is ME. Perhaps I'll focus more on me and less journalistic stuff. I don't know. It's not like (I am always aware of this) anyone really needs MORE to read, right?

Which reminds me. I've come perilously close to cancelling my Bee subscription, for the simple fact that I spend more time hauling the thing around - its supposed advantage - than actually reading it. Get the paper off the porch, pull out the ads and Sports and toss 'em in the recycling (which then needs to be taken out, twice), then half-reading what's left, mostly Our Region because I've already heard most of the news in the A section and can rarely find much to read in whatever they're calling Scene now (Outbound excepted) and...what's left, I can read online.

And it's money out of my pocket besides.

On the other hand...it's The Bee. Obviously, it has been in my life forever (though I actually delivered The Union), and there are stories worth reading in there. But again, there's online.

Online is it, basically. Right? Which brings me to SacramentoPress.com. It is NOT The Bee, it's a different beast. As I said in the Biz Journal story, we're not entirely sure what it is, or will be.

But what's amazing about it - what absolutely suffused the Xmas party Ben and Geoff and Nicholas put on at Tuli on Wednesday night - is the energy. The enthusiasm. First of all, imagine The Bee treating its writers and editors to a night like that. Never happen. But far more importantly, people around the very long table were EXCITED, idealistic, full of ideas and enthusiasm for the project. Compare that to the Bee's newsroom, which a friend recently compared to a "death watch."

As I've said before, I'm not gloating, and if The Bee goes down, we lose what little center is left to our news and information culture in this town. But perhaps that's what is causing the angst: The inclination to hold onto a center. And perhaps Yeats isn't right, in his classic poem: perhaps "mere ancharcy" will NOT be "loosed upon the world." Perhaps we're just moving into a whole new phase - certainly, we are - and it could actually be BETTER than what we've had.

Just different. And trying to keep things the way they've been, or rearrange the deck chairs on a sinking ship, simply isn't going to work, and causes more angst than it creates positive energy.

And that's one reason I signed on with SacramentoPress.com. The energy is there, and more is flowing into it every day. And I've always liked to be where the energy is flowing FORWARD.

Yes, I still write for The Bee on occasion, and I hope that voicing this won't endanger that. There's still a lot in the paper, and the staff, at least what remains of it, is still the best news "team" (as the TV folk say) in our area. Ben and Geoff at the SacPress are BIG fans of the Bee, daily readers. But they do it online, and that's where I do it, too. Which poses big problems for The Bee, in terms of cash flow. But canceling The Bee is going to make my day quite a bit less cluttered.

And sometimes big changes boil down to simple things like that.

A gray Santacon

2008-12-06T13:11:00.000-08:00

Damn, it's cold! And grey. This is my least favorite time of year here. Ugh.

Just stopped by my old place to repaint the steps, and it's like it rained or something! Later in the day, perhaps. While I was there, my former neighbor and fellow Burner DJ Erik said hello and reminded me - or his crew of five Grid-bound, twisted Santas reminded me - that today is SANTACON!

I wrote about it last year, and shot photos, but this year it's all about housekeeping, and tonight, my big party of the year at the Canby Vortex. But YOU can go check out the Santas Selebrating on the Grid. The party starts, fittingly, somewhere near the City Jail.

More later. If anyone has any photos, I'd love to post 'em, or link to 'em.

Stay warm!

After the storm...

2008-12-01T10:48:00.000-08:00

Did you ever have so much to write about, you didn't write a THING?

Feel me.

So much changes for me in the course of a week, a four day holiday weekend just ups the ante. And again, never sure how personal to make this blog. Especially now that I'm going to be doing a community website professionally. Think "managing editor." The imaginings of last fall, in post-Bee free-fall, have largely come true. Wow.

More on that later.

There's also: I have left The Grid. Love and life have taken me back, once again, to Land Park. So, am I still blogging the Grid? Or is it time to kill it and start over? I write this from Nekkid Lounge, so I'm still here.

When I left my home at 17th and V, Richmond Grove, Mohan the convenience store owner said, "Good people leave, the bad people stay." The young gangsta (wannabe?) kid at the counter said to me, "He's talking about me."

Quite a moment.

My little neighborhood's have trouble - drugs can be fun, but drugs (and drug sellers) can kill, a person, a neighborhood - and I feel MORE responsible for it now that I've left it for the leafy, ultra-quiet Land Park (and people here resent the term "suburban" - please!).

OK, sentences like that last one might make me writing seem like less than a good thing. Still...

Also, at the end of the year, I think rock critic thoughts. Like, what was good? Or, now that I'm not a pro-crit, what did I like (no need to sheath it in objectivity or historical accuracy)?

Musically, I had a very conservative year, which is very much counter to how I live. But hey, we're somewhat subject to our conditioning, and my conditioning was Beatles/CSNY/Creedence/Stones/Who/Zeppelin: Thus, in some sort of less-enthused return to a long-ago adolescence, nearly every band I liked in 2008 was young (or not-so) white guys (mostly) playing retro classic rock: My Morning Jacket, The Raconteurs, Fleet Foxes, Counting Crows, Nine Inch Nails, The Black Crowes, Jackie Green, Tim Bluhm, The Hold Steady, R.E.M....and Sheryl Crow.

And perhaps above all, the three-CD set "Of Great and Mortal Men," the locally-produced celebration of our 43 presidents by Christian Kiefer, Jefferson Pitcher, and Matthew Gerkin, all of whom I interviewed on Insight and the last of whom I had the pleasure of sharing Thanksgiving dinner with. A remarkable set worthy of its epic subject, this album of 43 songs (and accompanying artwork booklet) should last many years. I'd love to do a documentary about it. This is world-class art, created right here in Sacramento. Hallelujah.

So, I will write about all of these things, but there's more living (and writing, and unpacking, and imagining) to do. Soon.

How was your Thanksgiving?

E Costello on Sundance

2008-11-23T09:46:00.000-08:00

Here's something to look forward to for those with premium cable: Elvis Costello's new talk show, Spectacle, airs Dec. 3 on the Sundance Channel.

Blogging for fun and profit

2008-11-20T22:24:00.000-08:00

So, here's how cool the internet, and a blog, can be:

The editor of the Sacramento News and Review saw my posting about the depressing headlines of late, and my vague addiction to them, even though I know they're doing me NO good - even, perhaps, as a journalist. Or whatever I am now.

And she wants to buy it, and run it. Which is great.

But as I started to go to bed tonight, I thought, the thing about journalism is, it only gets a small part of the story. That is, The Story. It's the whole man-bites-dog thing: News is only news when there is a difference. News is about whatever doesn't work, because if it DOES work, well, what's to say? The sun came up today, the fall colors were brilliant against the blue autumn sky, the soy lattes at Naked Lounge are the best (they use Ambiance soy milk), bikes are amazing ways to get around, people are fascinating, music is comforting, radio is magic, the crows gather every day at sunset, book stores are distractingly amusing, and cooking a meal for someone you love fills your house with all sorts of good things. And Jon Stewart makes me laugh out loud and cold sheets are wonderful to slip in between.

So what else is new? Uh, news?

The stock market is CRAZY right now. I mean, it's dropped by virtually 50 percent in a year. Can it go down 75 percent? Can everything lose ALL value? What is going to HAPPEN???

Will I, you, your partner, your kids, even BE in six months?

Why do we - I - get so wound up about these terrible, scary days? Especially when - and this is what made me get up out of bed to write - when our lives are so GOOD? I mean, I'm living on the edge more than I have in years, and I feel it, but moment to moment, life is so rich and happy. I ache in places I never did before, my bank account is shrunken, and watching the news it's like the Four Talk Shows of the Apocalypse.

But life is good.

So, what do you focus on? The bad news or the good that suffuses every breath, every moment. When you stop and breathe and take it all in, the sheer freakin' magic of being alive...what's more important?

Some say you get what you focus on, and it's true. But the bad is just so riveting. It's the car wreck theory: Who can drive past an accident and not look? Now, via the media, we have access to accidents (or when it's Britney Spears or Larry Craig, "train wrecks") 24/7.

Does that mean we have to keep looking?

And if we don't, how do I make a living?

Appetites ready? But where??

2008-11-20T17:02:00.000-08:00

OK, I got some trouble from some hipster readers that I divulged the location of last year's Appetite Enhancement Bike Ride, a midtown institution (this'll be the 21st year) on Thanksgiving. Picture drunken hipsters (and I say that lovingly) careening down Capitol Mall or trying to see who can ride their bike (naked) into the river. Good times.

And it raises money for charity, via the drunken but caring raffle. In that respect, the more the merrier. But it's something that is best discovered through word of mouth, so I'll "be cool."

So I'll just say that according to my sources, the ride will start the same place it started last year.

Be there. (Where?)

Insight today and tomorrow...

2008-11-20T16:33:00.000-08:00

I had local singer/songwriter Autumn Sky on today's Insight (90.9), which was great fun. She's cool. We are a lucky town to have so many charming, talented young female singer/songwriters. Here's the link to the show.

Meanwhile, tomorrow I'm going to have a couple of the local musicians who are playing on Jerry Perry's upcoming anniversary celebration for The Beatles, also known as "The White Album," Sunday night at Harlow's. Local musicians will be playing every one of the three dozen or so songs on the 1968 double album.

1968. Dude, it's been 40 years.

And I remember when it came out! I old.

I remember that one of the local AM stations, KROY or KXOA, actually played the entire album - even "Revolution No. 9" - in sequence, on the air. A double album, on a top 40 station! I remember writing down all the titles, or what I thought were the titles, and drawing a cover for the album, which heard was going to have no art at all...completely white. This was very different from the covers of Revolver through Magical Mystery Tour.

So, tune into Insight tomorrow at 2 - I'll also have the dynamite guitar tag team of David Shapireau and Steve Randall playing some stuff from Shapireau's new CD with his band West of Next, What Is Your Destiny? And Ross Hammond, guitarist, will attack the least-playable song The Beatles ever recorded! And David Houston, who has produced half the musicians to appear on Insight - including me - will make his first appearance on Insight.

Should be a good one. And don't forget Autumn Sky at Luigi's tonight, and Anton Barbeau at the same venue (20th by SNR) on Saturday night.

I adore Charlie Kaufman

2008-11-19T21:28:00.000-08:00

There's complicated, and there's complex. Life is both, but while many films get complicated, with twists and shifts and surprises and weird juxtapositions, very few capture the essential complexity of life. Charlie Kaufman's movies do. And how!

Being John Malkovich was the first. Adaptation was the second. The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was third. Each was better than the one before at conveying the bizarre, multi-layered (no, multi-dimensional) nature of reality beyond what we see and feel and think, but including all of those.

If you've never seen any of those, or didn't "get" them, then don't bother with his new film, Synecdoche, N.Y., because it goes even further than the others, further and deeper and longer and for that reason, it's even harder to understand. And accept.

I love magical realism in movies, movies that add a magical twist to "reality." At its best, you get films like Groundhog's Day, Defending Your Life and dozens of others. On another level, you get The French Lieutennant's Woman, which only seems magical but is in fact entirely realistic (the actors and the characters they are playing shift back and forth, shifting the frame of reference).

Kaufman is more in the nature of The French Lieutennant's Woman, but goes way beyond that, and you have to go with him. It isn't shtick, it isn't conceit, it is an attempt to really express the unexpressible complexity of reality. If this sounds unappealing, or just badly expressed on my part, it's because it's a BIG subject, an impossible task. Words sorta fail me right now.

But that Kaufman tackles those intertwined subjects so boldly and beautifully, and with so much heart is so very encouraging for me. In fact, it brought me to tears several times. Like all great art, art that is about loneliness and death and love and loss and what can feel like the sheer futility of being alive - Synecdoche, N.Y. aims high. And it made me, for one, feel a connectedness with Kaufman and - this is so hard to do without cliches - the human condition.

This is a blog, so I won't go long, but honestly, I can't recommend this movie highly enough. It is NOT a light night at the movies, it doesn't just have the crazy wit of Malkovich or the off-kilter romance of Spotless Mind. It is a more mature work, a sadder work, a slower-paced work. I did miss Spike Jones' relentless forward motion, which he brought to the first three movies as director; Kaufman himself directed this one. But it is a glorious, profound work. I will be cruising the web to find out more about this film, because it's that kind of art - you want to know more about it. If I find more of interest, I'll post it.

But let me just say that this is a film that anyone who saw the first three Kaufman films listed above should at least check out. It's deeper and more complex than the other three, and I wouldn't say it was my favorite of his four (I'd have to go with Spotless Mind there), but anyone with a sophisticated taste in art (it's ok to say "sophisticated" again now, under Obama? It's not too "French"?) should make every effort to see this remarkable film.

Just sharin'.

Week in Preview

2008-11-19T16:50:00.000-08:00

OK, it would have escaped my notice, despite being on the cover of Explore in The Bee, but I had dinner last night at Lucca with a quartet of former Bee colleagues - Marcus Crowder, Chris Macias, Rick Kushman and Edward Ortiz - and Eddie told me about The Pirates of Penzance, and recommended it for kids, as a great introduction to opera. So, note well that The Pirates of Penzance plays at the Community Center Theatre on Friday, Sunday and Tuesday. Check it out.

On my more usual tip:

Los Lonely Boys play Sac State's University Ballroom tomorrow (Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008) night. Here they are at their brief commercial peak:

Saturday, Alan Jackson plays Arco Arena.

Prodigal freak Anton Barbeau and his current musical crew will play Luigi's Fungarden on Saturday night. Anton doesn't play out much these days in his ol' hometown, so this could be a nice old home week for the grooverati.

And that's about it! Still not the most exciting town, is it...

Also, tomorrow on Insight, I'll have local singer/songwriter Autumn Sky on the show, and Friday I'll have Dave Shapireau and Steve Randall, two of this town's most rippin'ist fret gods. They'll be playing acoustic stuff from Shapireau's new album.

One ninety-nine, are you outta your mind???

2008-11-19T16:42:00.000-08:00

The Grid is alive...with the sound of...crows.

I love how those black, black birds congregate around my area of town (the south side) and caw wildly over the sun's disappearing over the horizon, into the vague grey of another valley winter.

OK, enough poetry.

I also just came past the AM/PM at 16th and W, the grand entrance to midtown Sacramento, which appears to have finally opened. It's alright, I don't mind it too much. I like how low the lights are at night. It's very low-key, for a dastardly, neighborhood-scarring, planet-warming commercial monstrosity.

But what really caught my eye was the price sign: Unledded, $1.99.

$1.99??????

A dollar ninety-nine. Wow. That's less than half of what it was in August. Incredible. And, weirdly enough, scary. Prices shouldn't be fluctuating that much. It's unstable, and what little conservative I have in me - very, very little - doesn't like that lack of stability.

I mean, honestly, do we have ANY idea where we're going to be, economically, in six months? It could be just fine, or it could be...well, how many times do you have to hear the phrase "since the Great Depression" before you start wondering if this time, we played a little too hard, too close to the bone. I know I did.

Still, $1.99 is worth celebrating. Car rally, anyone? Road trip?! Burn it while it's cheap. Will we even remember $4.44 gas - until it hits that again, which it surely will. Is everyone who regretted their SUVs at one point now in deep denial again? (I cast no stones: I've got a '89 van that gets well under 20 MPG and STILL can't go up a mountain any faster than about 39 MPH.)

OK, to other things - the weekly weekend-plus post. Up next...

Insight today through Friday

2008-11-19T10:18:00.001-08:00

I almost forgot: I'm hosting Insight at Capital Public Radio (90.9 FM) today at 2 p.m. And, of course, streaming at capradio.org/insight.

My main guest today will be former Senator George Mitchell, one of the most important figures I've talked to in my life. Should be very, very interesting. Please tune in.

New McCartney album...

2008-11-18T17:45:00.001-08:00

Click here to hear the new McCartney (as The Fireman) album streaming at NPR...

News blues

2008-11-18T10:52:00.001-08:00

Honestly, though I still have my subscription to The Bee, sometimes I wonder why. I mean, look at some headlines in today's edition:

Gas decline fails to rev up economy
Deadly peril poised over Yosemite cabins
Vets' health complaints supported in new study
Wildfires highlight lack of mobile home insurance
Budget crisis forcing CSU system to cut enrollment
Al-Malaki fires corruption fighters
Bold pirates bag big prize - supertanker
Taliban reject offer of peace talks

and etc.

There's a good one - "Retired brass urge end to 'Don't ask, don't tell'" and, just for fun, "Some folks can't stand new urinal" - but by and large, am I too sensitive, or does reading the morning paper make you want to go back to bed?

It's not just The Bee, it's "the news." The news is bad. And a steady diet of it is getting me down. And yet I keep on reading, watching the web, first thing in the morning, last thing at night. What's up with that? Is it an addiction?

Or is it just the price of being a part of a community, local and global? I didn't know that Steve Rex, an old friend and important midtown fixture, had been in a bad bike crash. I'm glad to know that, even though it's bad news.

The election sorta burned me out. I couldn't stop reading, watching, surfing - and yet the result was what it was. It was glorious, don't get me wrong - but I coulda just waited until Election Day and then enjoyed it, instead of freaking myself out with worry about which way it was going to go. And someone, please, get Chris Matthews out of my head!

Beyond that, my overwhelm, combined with the accumulated anger of eight years of living in a country where torture and war and greed are the "new normal" - I exploded at a friend who didn't really deserve it, and thus, lost a friend. I could justify it, but not really.

So, what good comes out of following the news? I ask this as someone who still purveys it, one of the few who've left The Bee and still can call himself a journalist. What good is it doing?

Honestly, the main thing I read the Bee for these days - and I know I'm not alone - is Bob Shallit's column. Today's column featured news about the Citizen Hotel, which opens Nov. 30, and always gives me a sense of what's going on on the ground. It doesn't matter a whole lot more, on a day to day basis, than my growing knowledge of Somali pirates, but I suppose I'm better off for knowing about it. Right?

Right??

I don't know, really. Do you? What do YOU get from following the news these days? Is it freaking you out, too? Is it adding anything good to your life? I'd really like to know.

Minus the Bear, what's left?

2008-11-17T14:56:00.000-08:00

Minus the Bear will be playing Empire tomorrow (Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008) evening. I don't know the band, but fished out a couple of videos of them. Still can't say I know them, and describing them on short acquaintance seems foolish. So I'll just share a couple of vids, the first of their song "Pachuca Sunrise"...

And here's another, of the song "Throwing Shapes."

Mitch Mitchell, RIP

2008-11-12T14:38:00.001-08:00

Mitch Mitchell died this week while on tour with the Experience Hendrix Project...but it was 40 years ago that he made his mark, performing with the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Cream's Ginger Baker got more attention, Zeppelin's John Bonham will forever be classic rock's exemplar, but Mitchell basically invented modern rock drumming, a loose interplay with a guitarist who could rock a stadium all by himself...but had incredibly good help. Together, Hendrix and Mitchell, with help from bassist Noel Redding, created (alongside Cream) the power trio that fully blossomed in Led Zeppelin, and which we now equate with hard rock in general.

Here he is, from the film, "Hendrix," talking about his craft.

And here he is with The Dirty Mac, with Lennon, Richards and Clapton...

Mitch Mitchell, RIP.

No No No on Prop. 8 - WHY?

2008-11-10T20:01:00.000-08:00

Keith Olberman can be a tad overbearing, but sometimes he really shows great heart, as well as insight:

This week...

2008-11-05T16:28:00.000-08:00

The best first: The show I care about features the best funk band around, Galactic, which will be at Harlow's next Tuesday. I've seen these guys a half dozen times, and with drummer Stanton Moore at the helm, they are funkier (in a good way) than a dozen other funky bands. Check 'em out, with homeboy rapper Lyrics Born on Jimmy Kimmel:

LGS - aka Little Guilt Shrine, back in the day - will be playing Harlow's tomorrow (Thursday, 11/6) with Far singer Jonah Matranga and Two Sheds opening the show. Here's some decent Two Sheds stuff...

The Summit is the new "supergroup" built by three solo artists: Johnny Gill, Bobby Brown and Ralph Tresvant. They were in a group before: New Edition. They're back together, at the Memorial Auditorium Friday night.

Ingrid Michaelson will play Harlow's Saturday night.

And members of Korn and Coheed and Cambria have a project called APX that will perform at Harlow's on Sunday.

And the worst last: Much love and support to Chi Cheng and his family, who are not celebrating yesterday's Great Transformation today. Cheng is the bass player for Deftones, one of Sacramento's top bands for nearly 20 years, and he is in a coma after an automobile accident on Monday. (The Bee said "coma" - the band's website says "serious but stable condition"). Visit the band's website for updates.

Halloweekend...

2008-10-29T15:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm still here. Just a bit distracted...

Some tips for Halloweekend:

Thursday night, be sure to hit Old Ironsides to see Samba Da, a terrific Brazilian funk fusion band that I last caught at High Sierra - with great musicians and dazzling dancers, Samba Da is a great live band. Sure to be the best dance party of the week.

Also at Old I, on Halloween itself, Jerry Perry's Dead Rock Stars party should be worth the price of admission. This is local bands - none listed on the sites I visited - doing songs by, yes, dead rock stars.

Also getting into the seasonal spirit, dRAW PINKY's Pink Toupee Collective plays its Dios de Los Muertos show Saturday night at the new Ooley Theatre at 28th and T downtown. For details visit the band's website. Here's a clip of the collective...

In case you didn't know, Madonna will be coming as Herself at Oracle Arena on Saturday and Sunday.

One other show of more than local interest: singer/songwriter Jason Mraz will be playing Freeborn Hall on the UC Davis Campus on Monday night.

On sale Sunday is the SF version of the same sort of Xmas show, with Death Cab for Cutie, The Killers, Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party at Dec. 11 at Oracle Arena.

And here's the latest Death Cab for Cutie, in case you've heard of the band but never tuned in. It's called "I Will Possess Your Heart," and I loves it.

Toubab Krewe, scheduled for Thursday night at Harlow's, has been canceled.

And don't forget to vote!

Go Deep

2008-10-23T17:17:00.000-07:00

I just couldn't get too excited about Tina Turner. You all knew about it anyway. Ditto Kristofferson, right?

But here's something you may not know about: A kirtan at Deep Yoga on Saturday night. Ms. Ultra recommends this event for a musical journey that might take you somewhere you've not been before. And I NEVER ignore what Ms. Ultra tells me.

Kirtan is a chanting concert, which is not a tradition in this country, but chanting is a worldwide, age-old tradition that is nearly as common as it is potentially transcendent. It is participatory as well as worth hearing.

OK, I don't really know what I'm talking about. But if you are someone who meditates, or does yoga, or has explored non-Western traditions, you might find a kirtan something to explore. Saturday night's concert starts at 7 p.m. at Deep Art and Yoga, at the corner of 21st and H in downtown Sacramento. For information, visit Deep's website.

OK, now back to campaign coverage....

And now for something completely different...

2008-10-19T12:24:00.000-07:00

Well said.

Cake news...

2008-10-17T12:37:00.000-07:00

Ask and ye shall receive - information.

Drummer friend Tom Monson told me last night at Kate Gaffney's CD release party at Harlow's (good show with her excellent newly-expanded band featuring Steve Randall on guitar) that Cake will indeed be playing an area show this weekend, and in an unlikely place: Oroville!

The band will play a benefit for firefighters tomorrow night (Sat., Oct. 18) at the Oroville Municipal Auditorium at 8 p.m. Tickets are $28, but are not available through ticketweb.com, which usually handles the OMA. And the band's website is no help, either. Don't know if that means it's sold out or not.

You're on your own from here on out.

More on the Cosmopolitan

2008-10-13T11:57:00.000-07:00

So, I spoke a bit soon on the look of Randy Paragary's new Cosmo Cafe at 10th and K...my visit was a bit early on, and I have to say I was much more impressed when I stopped by the other night, spurred by a note in Sactown that the upstairs club Social would be open (not yet, more below).

The shot above is the lounge, with that cool vintage shot of downtown Sac, and some nice furniture filling up what was a wide-open space when I first visited.

The biggest change is the addition of new furniture in a nice VW green at the bar and in the dining room, things look considerably warmer than they did a couple of weeks ago. And Paragary told me that the ceiling light, now with some fairly office-like light-diffusing tiles, will change when he replaces the plastic tiles with opaque panels that will block the light from shining down and instead light the ceiling, and the thus, the room more softly. Should soften things up further.

Still to come: Social. Sactown did a nice piece on it in their new issue, even though the date ended up being wrong because of construction delays. But this should be a great anchor to what is fast (and finally!) becoming a new center of Sactown's highlife, with Parlare, Ella, Three Monkeys, Temple and especially the new Citizen Hotel either open or soon-to-open. Not to forget the Crest Theatre, which was there before anyone, and Marylin's On K. One could easily spend an evening in this area, and the parking lot is half a block away.

Paragary says that Social will be open and serving food until THREE A.M. on Thursday through Saturday nights. As he joked to me, he remembers (as do I) that the only place in town for food that late was Carrow's on J (conveniently located near some of his OTHER places). Carrow's is gone, but now there's Ink and soon, Social. This town IS changing.

Both of Social's openings have been moved back a week. The first opening night of Social will now be Oct. 23, when you can come down and check out the place. A better bet is the Bite Club party Paragary will be hosting on Oct. 26, with an open bar from 9 p.m. to midnight - but you have to be a member of Paragary's Bite Club (an entertainment industry networking site) - to do that, visit www.biteclub.com to join, and note that everyone who wants to come on th 26th must be a member).

Shame and procrastination...

2008-10-09T15:25:00.000-07:00

OK, Nothingburger (great name, where'd you get it?), you busted me. I'm slack.

But where to begin? With the economic drama, the campaign drama, work, love, and life, who's got time for BLOGS? Writing, or reading 'em?

OK, I guess I'll just post a few items, see what flies. K?

First off, is it a good time to buy stock? Sure. Anyone got cash?

OK, more reasonable, a question: Cake is playing The Independent in SF tomorrow night. Any idea when they'll be playing Sactown? Come home, boys! This is still the best band to ever come out of Sacramento, and I would dearly love to see them play here again. Bring it!

And if you missed it, on Tuesday night, the city council approved paying off "developer" Moe Mohanna $18.6 million to wrest control of those crucial two blocks of K Street between 7th and 9th Streets, for future development. This is great news, given the relatively recent openings of Three Monkeys, of Parlare, of Temple Coffee and Tea, of Ella, and Crepe Danielle, as well as the upcoming opening of the Citizen Hotel, with its Grange restaurant (both opening next month). And Westfield is also ready to start remodeling parts of the Downtown Plaza. So there is finally some critical mass happening at 10th and K, and having the blocks between 7th and 9th street cleared to be developed is the missing piece of this puzzle. This is very good news.

And...speaking of K Street, a couple of weeks ago - damn, time flies - I and Mine took an invite by my pal Kitty O'Neal to see her hubby Kurt Spataro's new collaboration, the Cosmopolitan, at 10th and K. Beautiful from the outside - and an enormous improvement from the vacant shell of the old Woolworth's building - I was curious how the place looked inside, and I was even more curious about the new dinner theatre/cabaret it shares space with.

In short, I was impressed, but not bowled over. I'm more curious about Social, the indoor/outdoor bar upstairs that will open soon. The Cosmopolitan itself has very clean, "classic" lines, almost to the point of austerity. The dark wooden booths are nice, ditto the tiled floors and the high ceilings give the place a very spacious feel. Not exactly warm, though.

But man, those little prosciutto-wrapped prawns were tasty. When I have money, I'll spend some here.

Still, since I'm not a diner-out - give me a burrito, or some sushi, or to my girl's dismay, a handful of nuts, and I'm happy - I was more interested in the state of the new cabaret at the Cosmopolitan, the Cosmopolitan Cabaret. Put together by Richard Lewis and Scott Eckern of California Musical Theatre, who are perhaps the consummate entertainment professionals in Sacramento, the place holds 210 people for dinner, drinks and, until well into next year, Forever Plaid, a cabaret piece from New York that features four-part harmonies and comedy tonight.

I haven't seen any performances yet, but there was a run-through the night of the opening party, and it sounded good. These guys, directed by Guy Stroman, of the original Broadway cast, sounded great, and the theatre is a wonderful addition to Sacramento's entertainment scene.

It wasn't dazzling, really, but it looked very functional, and there isn't, as they say, a bad seat in the house. As I write this, I realize that I am not telling you much, but I was encouraged by what I saw. Here are a couple of photos from that evening. I love that you can see the Crest Theatre across the street, though I was struck by the degree to how much the lobby looked like a gym locker room...

But it's not about the lobby, it's about the show. Tickets are available here. Looking forward to seeing it in action...

By the way, tickets go on sale Monday for two new California Musical Theatre shows, including Frost/Nixon and the fantastic Avenue Q, which I finally saw on Broadway a couple of years ago, and loved. Get tickets here.

Another week in paradise...

2008-10-08T16:27:00.001-07:00

The biggest news of this weekend, for rock fans, is that tickets will go on sale Saturday for the Dec. 12 Arco Arena show by Nine Inch Nails. Join the Prince of Darkness and his band for some blistering, alienated, and insanely CATCHY angst....

Otherwise, there are several big name concerts this weekend, none of which I'm at all excited about. But that's life in the medium-sized city. But before getting to those, I'd like to give a pitch for a couple of smaller-time bands that are more human scale and musically interesting - if you're into that sort of thing (and most people are not):

One is Scott Amendola, a terrific jazz drummer who will be playing with guitarist Jeff Parker of the wonderfully indescribable instrumental ensemble Tortoise, from Chicago. They'll be at The Palms Playhouse in Winters Friday night. Here's a rather rough clip of Amendola's band...skip ahead a minute or two to get into the meat of it...

The other is a band I'd never heard of before - Clutch, a great name - but they're playing Harlow's tomorrow (Thursday) night. Judging from this video, their blues-metal might be well worth checking out.

OK, so the same night features one of those big ol' names, Old Boys on the Block, a reunion tour of the New Kids from way back when. That's Thursday at Arco. Do YOU care? Really? OK, fair enough.

The other big name is old Skinny Boots herself, Celine Dion, who will be at Arco on Tuesday. MUST her heart go on? Oh, alright...

Of more interest to me is the Rockband Live Tour, which comes to Arco on Sunday. It's headlined by Panic! at the Disco, Plain White Ts and Dashboard Confessional - three of the bigger names in current alterna-pop.

Here's Panic! at the Disco:

And here's Dashboard Confessional, all acoustic:

For the old folks like me, there's In the Spirit of Lennon at The Palms Playhouse on Friday - it's an all-John Lennon covers show featuring Drew Harrison from the SF-based Beatles cover band The Sun Kings - because tomorrow (Thursday) would have been Lennon's 68th birthday. Here are the Sun Kings doing a Lennon song we've only heard played live by Bourgeois Tagg...

Elsewhere, reggae group Zion I is playing at Sac State on Monday.

And don't forget that this is Second Saturday, and this month will have a CLOWN PARADE (Halloween comes a bit early), a celebration of A-Gay Tina Reynold's 60th birthday. The parade is open to all and begins at 6 p.m. at the intersection of 17th and Capitol Avenue in downtown Sacramento. Proceeds benefit local children's charities. Visit www.sactownclownparade.org for details.

Speaking of Halloween, Burners will try to recapture a bit of the wild spirit of the Black Rock playa on Sunday, with this year's Decompression, in San Francisco. Visit www.burningman.com for details...

The Week in Preview

2008-10-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

If you've wondered what the performers at Burning Man are like, here's an example: Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping will be bringing the anti-consumerist gospel to R5 Records, 16th and Broadway, Thursday evening at 7. This hasn't been widely promoted, but it might be worth missing Sarah Palin's performance at the Vice debate to see. There are a number of clips on YouTube of Billy, but I didn't find one that summed his gig up quite as well as the promo trailer for the recent film about him, What Would Jesus Buy?

Thursday night, you can get your blues on big time with the veteran picker Guitar Shorty, who will play Vegas Nightclub on Second Street in Old Sac. This guy is the serious business...check out this clip of him down with da peeps.

But the big musical event of this week is once again in San Francisco, where the FREE three-day festival Hardly Strictly Bluegrass will run from Friday through Sunday. Honestly, there is no other festival where you can see this many great acts for free. Nowhere. Doubt me? Friday night's headliners are no less than Robert Plant and Alison Krauss! Who else? Well, also on Friday, the brilliant bluegrass veteran Jerry Douglas! But it really gets going on Saturday, with sets by Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Steve Earle and the Bluegrass Dukes, Peter Rowan, Laurie Lewis, Mickey Hart's Global Drum Project, Richard Thompson, Desert Rose Band, Dave Alvin, Nick Lowe, Robert Earl Keen, Odetta...you think I'm kidding, right? Not!

And that's just Saturday! Sunday, there's Ralph Stanley, Earl Scruggs, Ricky Scaggs, Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello, Gogol Bordello, Kevin Welch, Greg Brown, Iron and Wine, Loudon Wainwright III, Iris Dement...anyone who's into acoustic music will go off their minds on this one. And again, it's free, in Golden Gate Park. For info, go to www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com.

Who to play? How about some vintage Emmylou?

Back in Sac (zzz), the Dark Star Orchestra will bring its reversions of Grateful Dead classics to The Crest on Tuesday night. They are, essentially, a Dead tribute band - and the singers can be every bit as "pitchy" as the Dead at their most mediocre, but that's alright...if you love the Dead, this is for you.

Also on Monday night, the retro pop group Mates of State will play Harlow's.

Goldfinger will play the University Union Ballroom on Thursday night, perhaps to wash that debate nonsense outta your ears. Here's Goldfinger, giving you a classic pop punk fix:

Back in San Francisco after the HSB weekend, David Byrne will be bringing a show of his collaborations with Brian Eno, from Talking Heads to the recent Byrne/Eno reunion album, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, to Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco on Monday and Tuesday nights.

And finally, for the sophistos in the crowd, classic saxophonist Wayne Shorter will play Yoshi's in Oakland tonight through Sunday - damn, his sound and melodic phrasing is so completely unique. Amazing...

Oh, and there's that "So You Think You Can Dance" Thursday night at Arco. Whatever...
I'm out...

The Week in Preview

2008-09-24T15:55:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-09-23T12:26:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-17T16:04:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-03T13:38:00.000-07:00

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.

If you're going to San Francisco...

2008-08-23T09:23:00.000-07:00

Forget the flowers in your hair. Bring a sweater and some good walking shoes. And a good wad of cash. And some patience: The Outside Lands Festival is BIG. I haven't been a festival this big since Radiohead played Coachella in what, 2004? And even that seems small compared to the polo field in Golden Gate Park.

The Another Planet people are the best in the business, and Outside Lands got off to a great start last night with performances by Black Keys, Beck and Radiohead. Our drive down was perfect, and we found parking up on the edge of the Presidio, about a mile away from the park, and walked. Smooth as pudding.

But the box office was quite a distance from the entrance to the polo field, and people were waiting in line for over an hour to pick up their tickets. Again, walking shoes. Once we got to the polo field itself, we were amazed by the sheer scale, and given that, by how well it was all laid out - Another Planet really went all-out on decorations, with huge tents surrounding the green, all the eucalyptus and other trees around the perimeter lit different colors from below, the fog swirling into this first night time concert in the park's history.

My first time in a GGP concert was Led Zeppelin in the now-destroyed Kezar Stadium, in a smaller-scale time. Zeppelin was much bigger than Radiohead at the time (heck, they still are), and it was a magical event. But this was even bigger, and as much as I LOVE Radiohead and GGP - and a well-produced show - this was too big for my taste. There is something in an event of this scale that saps a lot of live bands, even the really big ones. There is a disconnect between the audience and the band.

In the photo to the right, you can see how tight people are packed - nothing new there. But note that this shot was really pretty close to the stage - most people got the view above, which was perhaps only half-way back. We're talking BIG.

When the band is that far away - think about how big a polo/soccer field is - and everyone is standing on the lawn, there is a lot of chat, and really, to see the band, you have to look over a lot of heads (and I'm 6'1") and really focus on taking the band in. We were perhaps 4/5s of the way to the front, that is, relatively close. And it STILL felt like the band was far away. We couldn't really see the five members, and the Jumbotrons (or whatever) were broken up into four quarters so that you couldn't even see much on them.

The disconnect: When the band went off stage after "Bodysnatchers," practically no one around us applauded. And again, we were CLOSE. It was just...there was so little energy. People had already expended their energy. I imagine this could be different when Petty plays tonight, with all those songs that everyone knows and singing along, and dancing - and Radiohead isn't that kind of show, for the most part. But still: It's weird to have a band that big finish a set, and to have such little response. I'm sure it sounded bigger WAY down in front. But again, we were close.

On the other hand, while sightlines were tough, the sound was great - except for the TWO times the PA went out completely, right in the middle of songs (including "Airbag"!), something I've hardly ever seen in more than 30 years of concert going. It pissed the band off, too, especially the second time, but mistakes happen. In general, sound wasn't a problem, even with the wind blowing it every which way. And this is a band that deserves and uses great sound.

I just realized that I'm focusing more on the event than the music, but that's because that's what happens in an event like this. Which is why it's so good that AP Entertainment went to such lengths to provide a special environment. And we didn't see any of the smaller stages, which as I said were in much nicer settings, but we did see massage therapists and batting cages - batting cages? - which are all part of Another Planet's effort to mitigate the hassles of a big show and make it someplace where you'd want to spend the whole day. And we wished we could have. (Did I mention that the temperature was nearly 40 degrees lower than Sactown?)

The food was good, too, better than what you'd expect at such a huge event, MUCH better in fact. But remember: Bring a lot of cash. French fries, a tiny little grilled cheese sandwich and one bottle of water: $16. Tasty, though.

OK, Radiohead. They opened with "15 Step" from the new album, and in the next 95 minutes, they played most of In Rainbows, with shouts back to nearly every album, including The Bends, which gave us "Just" and "Fake Plastic Trees." OK Computer yielded "Karma Police" and "Paranoid Android," and there were songs from most of the other albums, including "Everything in Its Right Place," "You and Whose Army?" and "Pyramid Song" and "There, There" and "The National Anthem"...all played very well, though I felt that after five times of seeing the band, it's time for me to give it a rest - the shows have all been fairly similar, even the visuals.

But when you (and nearly everyone else) is so far from the stage, the disconnect makes it, to me, a much less interesting thing than seeing the band you want to see in a smaller venue. I don't know how many people were there, but it was 60,000 at least. That's a lot of people, and they all wanted to see the headliner. And "seeing" was a lot harder than hearing. I've posted a couple of pictures just to give the idea of the scale - those are with a 15x telephoto...and you STILL can't really see the band!

So, I'm glad I went, but I think that trying to catch one band out of all of this is counter to the nature of such a big show. It's about the event. And it was sold-out, so there will likely be another one, which is good. But if you're going, be prepared for some waits, some walks and some serious neck-craning to hear the headliner (tonight, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers; tomorrow, Jack Johnson).

The other stages, such as where Beck and Black Keys played, were in other little glens nearby, and looked like where we'd want to spend most of our time if we were going for today or tomorrow. Very sweet.

Now, we finish packing, get the house sitter situated, and we're OFF TO BURNING MAN!!!

Mondavi Center single tickets onsale Monday

2008-08-22T09:56:00.000-07:00

The Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts just announced that individual tickets for their 2008-2009 season will on on sale Monday at 12:01 a.m. online at www.MondaviArts.org (that's just after midnight on Monday morning) and at 12 noon the same day at the Mondavi box office.

These are for shows that include performers such as Laurie Anderson (Oct. 22), Linda Rondstadt (Oct. 30), Cassandra Wilson (Nov. 1), Mavis Staples (Jan. 14), Philip Glass (Feb. 18), Ladysmith Black Mambazo (March 16), and Ravi Shankar and Anoushka Shankar (May 13).

Go here for more information.

Outside Lands starts in hours!

2008-08-22T09:16:00.000-07:00

We're still packing (and blogging), but after I'm on Insight, we'll be heading down to Outside Lands to see Beck and Radiohead. If you're not going to the event, you can still see it, live on the web.

Burning Man Again!!! Art, art, art...

2008-08-21T16:29:00.000-07:00

One of the most amazing things about Burning Man - or Black Rock City, its temporary home - is that it's so incredibly well-organized. Despite its reputation for chaos and license - both of which are earned - it all takes place inside of a structure, or array of structures that work.

A picture - from a satellite - is worth 1,000 words. Which may not save you from them, but...

Here is Black Rock City from above, close to it's peak, in 2006. (We found our CAMP on this thing.)

Now, the 1,000 words. I'm doing this in part in prep for being a guest on Insight, at 90.9 FM tomorrow at 2 p.m. Not sure when I'm on.

So many things strike me about this photo. First of all, if you skipped the link, go back. For those who haven't googlearthed, all you do is click the plus sign to go close in and see more and more detail, which is just frighteningly, amazingly accurate. Again, we could find four vans and some tarps. From space. OK.

Just click the plus sign. First of all, the two images of the concentric circles (the city) are not matched up. I'm pretty sure (correct me) the years are 2005 (faint) and 2006 (in box) - it was moved about a mile out in 2006, further NE. Now I hear that it has been moved another mile east, because (I'm told by a good source) that the lack of rain has made the playa (dust plateau) even looser than last year. And windy plus flour-fine dust equals...not good. Last year, I went through six dust storms in 9 days. So, we know what we're getting into.

We get into it, as I began, because of this city. Wherever the city is laid out, it doesn't matter: With GPS coordinates followed by volunteers, who stake out a series of concentric circles that define city blocks, the city grows on a circle, with the "spoke" streets aligning with the half hours of a clock. The top of the circle, the NE (-ish), is open playa. So the streets start at 2 and go around to 10. The big circle you see at 6 o'clock is Center Camp, an enormous tent full of acrobats and musicians and some very engaged, smart, elaborately dressed, expressive, smiling people. And espresso drinks. And besides ice, that's ALL you can buy there.

OK, this is a little too Burning Man 101. Here's what's on the ground at Burning Man (besides all those people): art. It IS an arts festival, after all, and a great number of those 50,000 people will have created either amazing costumes, art cars or decorated bikes, small pieces of art they give away, or huge pieces of art that took literally dozens of people to design, build, haul hundreds (or thousands) of miles, and rebuild in the desert.

What kind of art? Well, just some random memories from years past: A pair of giant hands where people use rope to string a cat's cradle; a cluster of four gas jets suspended on a hook and remotely controlled to fire in different directions, moving the cluster back and forth, up and down; perpetual motion machines; a giant, lifesize reproduction of the Mousetrap board game, or "Operation"; A tree constructed entirely out of actual bones; a miniature planetarium projected inside a geodesic dome; and literally thousands of more pieces of art, many of which are too complex to describe in a single phrase.

And then there's the "gift" (not barter) economy. People do literal "random acts of kindness," just because it feels good. For instance, round about dinner time, two women dressed in provocative delivery outfits may bring your camp a hot, solar-cooked pizza, asking nothing in return. People set up massage tables by the side of a road and ask you if you want a massage. Or you can go to a "begging bar," where you can have a free drink - if you can creatively beg the hand puppet that is tending bar.

And then there's the playa itself, which is remarkable. Yeah, when the air is full of dust or it's hot as blazes, it can feel like one of the circles of hell, but it's also the great American west in its most extreme, breathtaking form. It FEELS incredible, out on your bike, the temperature (at 4000 feet, remember) just right, and the dusty softening everything it doesn't dry out or rust. And it feels like you can see for miles, because you can.

So, with that mind, here are a couple of the projects people are doing THIS year. Here's the page for the honoraria (art funded by the foundation that is funded in part by ticket sales), and I'm going to put up a couple of links to specific pieces, and video, when available.

The Flaming Lotus Girls create very large sculptures that breathe fire. Two years ago, an array of metal claws poking through the playa surface...the next was a serpent coiled around her egg. This year's creation is called Mutopia. Here's what they're doing this year on their blog.

Then there's another group of people who do the zoetrope, which last year was a 50-foot-tall carousel of monkeys and snakes who climb...well, you just have to see it to believe it. This year's theme (tied into the larger American Dream theme) is Tantalus.

So, this year, some interesting stuff. Did I mention the 35 foot tall ketchup bottle? Then there's Illusion, a light sculpture that will feature images projected on an arrangement of 64 weather balloons. Now, just stop and think about that for a second: 64 weather balloons. Think of the light, the movement...think of the SIZE (according to the artist's website, it will cover the size of a soccer field - take THAT, Beijing Olympics!). Where else could art that big be displayed? Then throw in the wind...

Some of it, like Swarm, a group remote controlled balls that roll around the playa in unison, was promised last year, but as far as I know, never materialized. Doing this stuff isn't easy. But just reading some of the descriptions is amazing.

Then there's this year's version of Shiva Vista, a cluster of 16 propane jets that fire in rhythmic sequences. Last year, they went in a long row that you could hear go off from a mile away. This year, they're trying something different. In the midst of a mandala of these jets will be a raised stage where other performers can do their thing.

Another project is the PyroCardium, by False Profit Laboratories. A double-helix structure that will also shoot flames (hey, it's BURNING man), the Cardium part of the name comes from the pulse that triggers the bursts of flame: the heartbeat of whoever happens by and allows a stethoscope to be placed on his or her chest.

Or how about The Hand of Man, a huge mechanical hand that you operate using an ergonomically correct glove?

Finally, there's Zsu Zsu, the Crybaby Queen, the video for which is great (but not embeddable). And the music! This whole project took some time, and skills, like many of them. And this doesn't even cover theme camps, or really even many of the honoraria. But it's a start. No description can convey the size and depth of this experience in this remarkable place. But I thought I'd try.

On the other side of the mic

2008-08-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, Friday Aug. 22, I'll be on the other side of the mic at Insight on KXJZ, 90.9 FM, at 2 p.m. Instead of hosting the show - as I'll be doing for seven days in September - I'll be one of the guests on the show discussing Burning Man. Which, I may not have mentioned, starts Sunday at midnight and runs through one heavenly, hellish week until Labor Day.

Not sure who else will be on, but it should be fun. Please tune in!

Also, the new Sacramento magazine just came in the mail, and it features a story by yours truly about a handful of bloggers in Sacramento. I can hear the howls about who was covered and who was left out, and consider yourself heard: It was a necessarily short list. My apologies to all who weren't included.

And what a week it is going to be...

2008-08-20T15:34:00.000-07:00

This week is going to be a BIG one, folks. There's a lot going on, most of it out of town of course, but still. If you can't find something world-class to do, you're not trying.

For me, it all starts and ends with Burning Man. If you're not prepped by now, you ain't going. And tickets are now more than $295, and they stop selling them on Friday. But if you've been and would like some vicarious fun, here's a link to some of the biggest "honoraria" art installations (because it's all about the art).

The other big-ticket event of the weekend - and the other really big, only in NorCal event of the week - is the massive Outside Lands Festival in Golden Gate Park on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I've written about this quite a bit, but this is a reminder that RADIOHEAD is playing on Friday evening, the first-ever nighttime concert held in Golden Gate Park. We will be there.

Yes, it's expensive as these things go, with daily tickets at $85 a day, and the whole shebang costing $225. But it's cheaper than Burning Man, and a band like Radiohead can command nearly $85 on their own (and tickets for the Dave Matthews Band Monday at Raley Field are $70). And it's hardly about Radiohead alone (for videos of that epochal band, scroll down a ways). Playing just before Radiohead on Friday is Beck and his band, with other sets by Steel Pulse, Lyrics Born, The Black Keys and the Felice Brothers preceding them.

Things get really busy on Saturday, with headliners Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers preceded by local heroes Cake, Primus, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Cafe Tacvba, Two Gallants, Steve Winwood, Nellie McKay, M. Ward, Lupe Fiasco, Galactic and others. Among those others - to show that even if you've not heard of someone, they can be amazing - is Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet featuring Bela Fleck, which played High Sierra a few weeks ago and was absolutely breathtaking.

Then Sunday, there's headliner Jack Johnson with a whole raft of other acts, including current local hero Jackie Greene opening the show on the main stage at 1 p.m. Other acts include Widespread Panic, Wilco, Broken Social Scene, Toots and the Maytals, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings...the list goes on. Tickets are still available.

And you don't need a lot of money to have fun this week, either. First off, there's Mumbo Gumbo's gig at Cesar Chavez Plaza on Friday, with Ricky Berger opening. And it's free.

Less free, but well worth seeing, is the return Monday to Sacramento by the Dave Matthews Band, which plays Raley Field on Monday night. The band will be playing without saxophone player LeRoi Moore, who died yesterday of injuries sustained in June in an accident. Jones has been replaced for the summer by Jeff Coffin. Also not on the tour is keyboardist Butch Taylor. But in his stead, guitarist Tim Reynolds, an unofficial member of the band through much of its career, will be back with the band.

OK, I'm taking up too much space. What else?

Three grand ladies of the Bay area music scene will be together on the Crest Theatre's stage Friday night for a benefit concert for Francis House in Sacramento. Maria Muldaur, Holly Near and Tracy Nelson are all seasoned veterans who are sure to put on a good show. More information here.

And former local kids !!! (pronounced chik-chik-chik) will bring their fantastic blend of funk and electronica and something else altogether to Harlow's on Tuesday night. That's a show to see. Here they are in Europe somewhere.

And if you like your jazz smooth, then Dave Koz and Peabo Bryson's show at the Grove at the Radisson on Saturday will probably soothe you.

And if you want more FREE stuff, the next few days at the State Fair's free concert feature Natasha Bedingfield tonight, Air Supply (no comment) on Thursday, Vanessa Hudgens (who?) on Friday, Gary Allan on Saturday, Jessica Simpson on Monday, the Low Rider Band on Tuesday and Chicago on Wednesday. Al Jarreau plays next Thursday and Grand Funk Railroad plays Friday. Grand Funk Railroad. Wow.

Barton out...

New song: "Goodbye, Golden Child"

2008-08-13T16:55:00.000-07:00

Here's a better version of "Goodbye, Golden Child," my new song. Recorded in my kitchen, on the computer, and natural light, for better or worse.

Weekly weekend ideas...

2008-08-13T09:20:00.000-07:00

Hot enough for ya? Lots of action this weekend, especially regarding multi-act shows in the open air. And then there's the State Fair, which starts Friday.

First, a show just added: Singer/guitarist Frank Black is once again touring as Black Francis, his nom de guerre from The Pixies, since he started playing more Pixies songs live. The Black One will be playing at the Blue Lamp this coming Monday night. Tickets just went on sale. Check it.

The big multi-act show is the Van's Warped Tour at Sleep Train Saturday featuring Against Me!, Angels and Airwaves, Relient K, Rise Against and many, many others. Visit the website for more info. Meanwhile, here's Against Me!

Radio station The Zone's annual Day in the Zone Sunday will feature Daughtry this Sunday at Gibson Ranch in Elverta. Also appearing on the bill: Lifehouse, Tristan Pettyman and Nick Lachey, aka ex-Mr. Jessica Simpson.

Another big multi-act show is the Freestyle Old School Explosion at Arco Arena on Saturday, with a bunch of late '8os/early '90s hip-hop acts, including the inimitable Digital Underground ("The Humpty Dance"), Lisa Lisa, Montell Jordan, Klymaxx and local sensations (for a time) Club Nouveau, as well as new millennium has-been Coolio.

More compelling hip hop and R&B rocks Shoreline Amphitheatre in the Bay area on Saturday, when Rock the Bells opens with a line-up that includes original sons A Tribe Called Quest, Rakim and De La Soul, as well as great contemporary acts such as Nas, Mos Def, Method Man and Santogold.

For the old folks, the Steve Miller Band and opening act Joe Cocker play two shows in the area, one at the Sleep Train Pavilion in Concord on Saturday, and another at Ironstone Vineyards in Murphys on Sunday.

Also at Concord, the annual JVC Jazz Festival will feature the "smooth sounds" of George Benson, Boney James, Ramsey Lewis on Saturday.

For the local kids, as well as the poor ones, there's The Brodys and the Snobs at the free concert in the park at Cesar Chavez Plaza Friday night at 5:30. This is the penultimate concert in the series, the last show being next Friday featuring Mumbo Gumbo. Thanks for all the hard work, Jerry. You did it again!

In other local news, on Saturday at Old Ironsides, impressario Jerry Perry and some locals will be celebrating Madonna's 50th Birthday party. Madonna's 50?? She won't be there, but a host of local acts including Ricky Berger will play their versions of her songs. After Liani Moore and the Nibblers rocked the recent Prince Tribute, pity they won't be there to Express Themselves...

Finally, there's the State Fair. We're a long way from when important concerts happened there - remember Hendrix? Joplin? Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young? Dire Straits? The Police? Those days are gone. But there are still concerts at the fair, and they're free: Among them are the just-added Smash Mouth ("Walking on the Sun") on Friday, preschool kids' group Doodlebops on Saturday; Weird Al Yankovic on Monday and the Fab Four, a Beatles tribute band, on Tuesday - all for free!

Joe Craven interview: Listen up!

2008-08-12T18:32:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned a couple of times before, my interview with Joe Craven was broadcast today on KXJZ's Insight, and I have to say, I recommend it. You can listen to it here. Click on Aug. 12 on the left.

And really, it's not about me, though I did my job; it's Joe. He's a pro, AND a natural. Great entertainer. Check out the squeaky toys he manages to turn into battling chimps (or something). His gorgeous version of "Sittin' on Top of the World" from his forthcoming album is at the very end of the 14 minute clip.

SO happy to know this guy. Now I'm going to try posting audio for the first time. Thanks to Paul Conley for editing the piece.

That's Joe and his "gasolin," an old gas can bass guitar.

Two videos: First is his wrap-up of his "Fear No Art" workshop. The second features Joe and Sam Bevin doing "Corina" at Strawberry Music Festival last year. He'll be there this year, too...

Spanish Fly gets "Split Ends"

2008-08-12T15:37:00.000-07:00

So I cycle down to Spanish Fly to get a cut, and there's a film crew there, and they're not there for Tee Jae, my 'Do Master.

They're there from the show "Split Ends," which airs on the Style Network. No, I hadn't heard of either one.

But they've heard of Spanish Fly, the fashionable J Street salon, and they wanted to shoot the place in action.

They were particularly interested in stylist Jake Desrocher (pictured below), who is also known locally for his work in the band the Lonely Kings (a great name, in my opinion - don't know the band). Jake will be going to another salon in a radically different place - they don't know yet, or won't say - a fish-out-of-water or culture clash element. Haven't seen it, ain't interested, but thought I'd pass it along.

By the way, my 'do is great. Thanks, Tee Jae!

Craven speaks at 2!

2008-08-12T10:55:00.001-07:00

And one more reminder: My interview with Joe Craven, the dazzlingly talented multi-instrumentalist, will air today on KXJZ's Insight, at 2 p.m. It will likely air in the last third of the show. Thanks to Paul Conley for editing...

Outside Lands schedule announced

2008-08-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

Outside Lands, the big festival being held weekend after next (Aug. 22-24) in Golden Gate Park, has just posted its schedule for the weekend on its website. If you're going - we hope to make Friday night for Radiohead and Beck, passing on the two big days headlined by Jack Johnson and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - this will help you plan your attempt to see as many bands as possible of the several dozen appearing.

Here's the link.

On deleting posts...

2008-08-12T09:14:00.000-07:00

Yes, astute blog readers, you're right: I killed a blog entry.

Inspired by the departure of Lisa Heyamoto and Todd Milbourn, I went off on "Bee management" and critiqued the new format and generally held forth as bloggers are supposed to do - and I felt all DIRTY afterwards. So I killed the post.

And I feel much cleaner now. But I feel I owe an explanation.

Blogging, as I've said before, is not natural to me, because while on the one hand it allows me to say whatever I think, I have come to blogging at a time when what I think is considerably less interesting to me than it's ever been. Which, generally, I like. But there's some cognitive dissonance in it. Blogs don't work all that well if they're not personal, but personal is so MESSY, and so opinionated, and I'm not feeling that so much. Ah, if I were 25...

Lisa and Todd's departure from the Bee inspired something else from me, something I value far more: a song. "Goodbye, Golden Child" is the first new song I've written in some time, and when I woke up this morning and contemplated the two responses I had - the song and the blog entry - there was NO doubt in my mind which was more interesting, valuable and ennobling.

One reason it works better is that it is less exact about details, less tied to any particular situation. It's art, it's amorphous, flexible, free...just as I like things. And it made it clear to me that I've always wanted to make that choice: art over the obvious. Not that I always have. But giving people something that can live and breathe and grow with them, that they bring something to, that they get something beautiful from; THAT is what I care more about than just spouting off and having people react, positively or negatively. That's what I've done for most of my professional life, and I'm just over it.

And I'm over the Bee. That was the other thing. I've ended up being a bit of a chronicler of The Bee's ugly decline, but not really, and not well, and not to any good effect. Friends say that I've encouraged people by example, and that's fine, if it's true. I got an email from someone at The Bee this morning saying he/she may soon be leaving as well, as I often do these days. People are so HAPPY to leave....and so scared. And I am able - as are an ever-increasing number of other Beescapees - to provide some encouragement and reassurance in a rough time.

That's great, but I don't want to go back to MY leaving, and my justifications and resentments and critiques...sometimes, it just comes out, like the tears that one friend still gets when she contemplates her forced departure of a few years back. It's real, it's true, but it's just old, old news. It's like obsessing over an old lover when you're happily married. I love my life and work NOW, and while it's been difficult at times, learning to deal with it has been the best thing that I've done in years. Lots of people have made lots of mistakes, including me. Why go back over that?

So..."Goodbye Golden Child" is about loss of innocence, and the JOY as well as the terror of that, and there's even a line I stole from a favorite bumper sticker: "Don't believe everything you think." I think that's great advice, and it fits the song. But it also fits the moment I'm in, when I'm tempted to spout off about The Bee and its miseries, self-inflicted and otherwise. That's no longer my problem. Getting older and losing your innocence can be painful, or it can be a time when you find the old illusions, especially about yourself, don't hold any power anymore, and you're freed from all the restrictions you accumulated over the years - especially the internal ones.

So, I'm going with that. I'll keep working on the song, and one of these days, I'll play it somewhere. In the meantime, I've already gotten MUCH more pleasure out of it than I'll ever get out of a blog entry.

So, for those of you innocents who come to this blog for INFORMATION about what's happening and....well, whatever you come here for...my apologies. And for those of you who still want to do battle with Bee management and mull the situation over there - and I DO appreciate your encouragement - it's time to let that go, at least for me. It's a new day, and figuring out the future is a lot better than rehashing the past.

Besides, I've got REAL work to do. And am grateful for it!

Beyond the Grid...

2008-08-11T20:48:00.000-07:00

Honestly, it's been some time since I lived through a weekend that felt as momentous as this past one. A commentator in NPR said this afternoon that the date 8/8/08 will be remembered as long as the date the Berlin Wall fell. Which I THINK was 11/9/89. Right?

Anyway, two big things happened, and they hit me like a ton of bricks. The first was the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. I've searched on YouTube, and there's nothing much of the opening ceremonies, but if you didn't see them, find a friend who TiVo'd them, you will be nothing short of astonished. Much has been made of the fact that the Chinese spent $300 million on the opening ceremonies, more than even the biggest blockbuster flick. But it wasn't the money. It was the people.

When we watched the opening ceremonies, we were amazed so many times - not just by the scale, but by the depth, the artfulness - that it became chilling. We got a glimpse, as China wanted us to, of that government's and people's WILL and determination and yes, sheer numbers. And organization. And imagination. And talent. And precision. And passion. In the new century, the new global marketplace, America is starting to look a little thin. And China is feeling its power, and flexing it, for the whole world to see.

And people in other countries, in "third world" countries, are seeing this and thinking, "They're doing this BETTER than the Americans. The British. The French. Everyone." Now, this was "just" a performance as one commentator dismissed it. And China is still much less "powerful" than the United States. But power is a funny thing, and it felt as though the balance of it shifted over the weekend, if only symbolically, toward China. It was an amazing thing to watch.

And seeing President Bush glad-handing Vladimir Putin in the VIP box was nauseating - how is that not "cozying up to dictators"? - even before we knew what Putin was orchestrating in Georgia. Russia's invasion of Georgia, on 8/8/08 - and which is still just unfolding, barely three days old - underlined America's relative impotence and even irrelevance in the region, even as our troops die to the south.

What are we going to do, invade Russia?

If the fires last month underlined our environmental vulnerability in Sacramento, last weekend's events struck even harder, at our cultural sizzle and raw geo-political muscle, which most Americans take for granted. This is a very personal response, and could well be wrong. But the events of this weekend felt like a harbinger of a future that is not going to look like it did on 11/9/1989.

10th and K rising!

2008-08-11T14:44:00.000-07:00

Just got an invite from Ms. Kitty to the first big event to be held at the new Cosmo Cafe, in the new Cosmopolitan building at 10th and K Street Mall. It's a fund-raiser for the California Museum but more importantly, to my mind, it's the first chance to see the inside of the Cosmopolitan, which is scheduled to have its grand opening on Sept. 28.

I've been watching the place go up from the outside, having posted photos of the building this spring, and having snapped some new ones a few days ago. What a difference!

I haven't seen the inside, but the outside is gorgeous. The Cosmo Cafe, created by Mr. Kitty (Kurt Spataro) and Randy Paragary, will have an outdoor dining area on the second floor. There's a big bar on the first floor, and then, of course, the main event, the 210-seat cabaret theatre owned and operated by California Musical Theatre, aka The Music Circus. They will be launching Forever Plaid there on the 28th, and tickets are already available.

This is a tremendously exciting opening to me, and it shows that private enterprise, when helped by the city, can really make things happen. In fact, it is questionable whether the city itself can make ANYTHING happen - nearly everything good has happened because of private investment, whether it's the Safeway complex at 19th and T, the MARRS building, the L Street Lofts, and now the intersection of 10th and K.

The city, meanwhile, has R Street, K Street Mall, the waterfront and the railyard on their agenda - and practically NOTHING to show for it. I'm simplifying, of course, and the city had a hand in every project that gets off the ground, because they can't HELP putting a hand in. But the city really just needs to get out of the way and let people who are willing to invest in this town do so. It's WORKING that way.

If you want to buy tickets for the California Museum fundraiser, which takes place Sept. 20, call (916) 651-0936 or email larmell@sos.ca.gov.

If you want to buy tickets for Forever Plaid, go to www.CosmopolitanCabaret.com. For more about the Cosmopolitan, go to www.SacCosmo.com. Check out the seating chart to make it a little more real.

And there's more action on that block. Just down 10th Street, at J, is the new Citizen Hotel, which is supposed to open sooner than it looks, as early as November, according to Dale at Parlare. Last week, some big steel I-beams went up to create the new atrium restaurant that will provide enclosed outdoor dining right on 10th Street. This should go SOME of the way to improving this unlucky neighborhood. What the city will do with the adjacent block of J, from 10th to 11th, is murky at best. But I remain optimistic.

Two weeks ago, left. This weekend, below...

Longer Joe Craven interview airs tomorrow (hack, hack)

2008-08-11T13:10:00.000-07:00

Jeez, what's burning now??

I just rode back from the gym via the levee, and the air is BAD. The smoke-out of July 2008 was a wake-up call about where we live, and how bad it could be. But while it's cleared up a bit now, it's still bad, and getting worse. We live in one of the most polluted areas in this country.

Anyway...

Here's a heads-up that a longer version of my interview with musician/music educator Joe Craven - a five-minute version ran twice on Friday's Morning Edition on KXJZ (90.9 FM) - will air tomorrow at 2 p.m. on Insight on the same station. But this time, it'll be about four times as long.

Kiefer returns!

2008-08-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

Like The Bee, The Sacramento News and Review has seen some recent turmoil in its staff, not least of which was the recent departure of Jonathan Kiefer, a terrific writer who served as arts editor until he resigned in protest over SNR management decisions. Sounds a bit familiar to Bee readers, eh?

Jonathan has resurfaced on the web, with a new blog of his movie reviews, which he calls Useless Jonk. Read it here.

Broadway Series tickets on sale at 10 a.m. today

2008-08-11T08:53:00.000-07:00

Individual tickets go on sale today at 10 a.m. for Broadway Sacramento's presentations of the touring shows The Drowsy Chaperone, The Color Purple and Stomp. Get 'em at tickets.com or the Wells Fargo Pavilion Box Office (Music Circus) at 14th and H. By phone, (916) 557-1999.

Here are a few minutes of Stomp:

New posts at NoisyArtifacts...

2008-08-10T14:16:00.000-07:00

Check out a couple of new music posts at my all-music blog, Noisy Artifacts.

Isaac Hayes died today at 65...

Dan reporting...

2008-08-08T17:44:00.001-07:00

My old pal Dan Adams, late of KXTV-10 in Sacramento, has moved with his partner to Puerto Vallarta, but he can't stop reporting...we get it...

Here's his blog, just started.

Listen to Joe Craven

2008-08-08T08:44:00.000-07:00

My Joe Craven piece ran this morning, here's a link to the Capital Public Radio website, where you can hear it (it's 5 minutes long) and dig Joe's amazing talent and ideas. He'll be teaching at the American River Acoustic Music Camp in Coloma this weekend. More info on that here.

A longer version of our conversation should air on Insight next week. I'll post that later. In the meantime, enjoy Joe!

Hovering over BRC...

2008-08-07T16:31:00.000-07:00

Here's a great aerial view of Black Rock City from last year, with a map of the new, expanded city from this year.

More on Burning Man

2008-08-07T10:31:00.001-07:00

It has been pointed out to me that my recent post on Burning Man, prompted as it was by the funny "If you're not going..." email that was sent by a friend who's not, focussed a bit too much on the party aspect, and NOT on the real reason many of us go: the community.

Burning Man is the most common name for the event. But for many of us, it's Black Rock City. That's because while the party on Saturday night, when the Man is burned, is what gets all the press, what's really spectacular, moving, involving and enlightening about the event is the city itself. That is to say, the people.

People build a city of 50,000 in little more than a week. And they do it with a degree of sophistication and creativity that is absolutely breathtaking. THAT is the real joy of Burning Man: Watching this city rise out of an absolutely barren dry lake bed. It is, really, nothing short of astonishing.

That's why I try to go early: because when I get there before the event, as I do nearly every year, I get to see (as well as help in) the effort to create something that will cease to exist only a week later: a "home" for a diverse tribe of folks who are working, sweating and paying for a city that is a work of art that will melt away (sometimes literally, in flames) in no time at all.

In that way, Black Rock City is an offering, a candle lit for inspiration and connection to something bigger than any of the participants. It reminds me of the offerings the Balinese make and leave at every doorway, intersection and stairs: beautiful, extravagant concoctions of flowers and fruit and palm fronds, which are consecrated and then trampled underfoot.

Black Rock City is an offering to the notion of community, a place where people look at each other - really LOOK at each other - and wonder: Who are YOU? What can you teach me? What do you need? How did you get here? How did WE get here, to this moment? What can I GIVE you?

People who don't know Black Rock City think that its a "barter" system. It is NOT. It is a "gift economy," where gifts are given, randomly, to strangers, because Black Rock City's citizens have learned, either there or elsewhere, that it really IS better to give than to receive. And that random, wanton giving is a way to celebrate the incredible gifts we have each been given just by being alive.

When we arrive in Black Rock City at the end of this month, the Greeters at the gate - of which I am one - will say "Welcome home." We'll say it to everyone, those who have been before and might literally get out of their auto and literally kiss the ground - and those who have never been, but knew they needed to come. Because when we enter Black Rock City, we are being given the greatest gift of all: the opportunity to express our gratitude, openly, profusely, for being alive. And to celebrate all of our fellow travelers in this great journey through a life that is, after all, nearly as transcient, and potentially trancendental and transforming, as Black Rock City is.

And we'll probably party a bit, too. It is, after all, a celebration.

KXJZ airing my Joe Craven feature Friday!

2008-08-07T10:05:00.000-07:00

I recently sat down with multi-instrumentalist/music educator Joe Craven at his home in Yolo County for a piece on his theories about teaching music to kids - and anyone else - and he demonstrated some very cool things with such "instruments" as a Mason jar filled with water. The segment will air twice on tomorrow's Morning Edition on KXJZ, 90.9 FM, at 6:33 and 8:33 a.m.

There will be a longer version airing sometime next week on Insight. I'll post when it is scheduled.

Meanwhile, I cover my first court hearing this afternoon at Superior Court in Sacramento in my new capacity as a stringer for Bloomberg News in New York. Not sure where that story will ultimately run.

And another thing...

2008-08-07T09:50:00.001-07:00

Actually, two. One is that tickets from one-time Sacramentan Jason Mraz's November 3 show at Freeborn Hall in Davis go on sale this weekend.

Another is that this weekend is the start of the 9th Annual Sacramento Film and Music Festival at the Crest Theatre, which runs from Friday the 8th through the following Sunday, Aug. 17.

The emphasis is on film, even regarding music: Saturday night's Sac Music Seen is a program of locally-made music videos featuring local bands, a few of whom are familiar names - The Secretions, Stunt Double and the Bennys among them.

More information is available at the festival's website, www.sacfilm.com.

Weekend in briefs (huh?)

2008-08-06T16:23:00.000-07:00

Not a lot of excitement this week, music wise, but it IS Second Saturday, so who needs music? Plus there are lots of bands playing here and there on the streets. Check it out.

This Friday is the third-from-last free concert in the park on Friday at 5:30 with Seventy (a rockin' good classic rock band), Shannon Curtis, the Bobby Zoppi Band and Brandon Tyler. Next week is The Brodys and the Snobs and the last Friday, Aug. 22, is Mumbo Gumbo, breathing easier.

For country fans, there's Martina McBride and Jack Ingram at Sleep Train in Marysville on Saturday. Outta town, Steely Dan - again - play Ironside Amphitheatre on Saturday, while Sammy Hagar plays Harveys Outdoor Amphitheatre the same day.

More interestingly, tickets go on sale Friday for the Rockband Live show at Arco Arena on Oct. 12 with Panic! At the Disco, Dashboard Confessional, Plain White T's, The Cab. Here are Panic! live on Jimmy Kimmel....

And the Plain White T's doing a cover of last year's BIG pop hit...

Other tickets of interest on sale are those for Stone Temple Pilots at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium on Sept. 3. Tickets go on sale Saturday morning.

And for the oldsters and hipster youngsters, here's a WILDLY rare clip I just found on YouTube of Jimi Hendrix playing Sacramento's Cal Expo on April 27, 1970...I was invited to go by the skank across the street, but me being 13 and she being, well, TOO interesting, my parents forbade it. I still resent it. Hendrix died five months later...

Burning Man starts in 3 weeks...

2008-08-04T10:54:00.001-07:00

If you've been to Burning Man, but for some bizzarre reason are not going back this year, you may find this amusing, even a relief. You won't be doing THAT again this year.

If you're going to Burning Man this year, especially for the first time, you may find it amusing AND daunting. Because Burning Man is a party AND a survival bootcamp.

For fun, here's a shot of our camp last year, after the first (of SIX) white-out dust storms...

If you don't give a @#*! about Burning Man, wait for the next post...

If you care desperately, going or not, here's a laugh or two...

--------------------------
Alternatives to Burning Man
---------------------------



Tear down your house. Put it in a truck. Drive 10 hours
in any direction. Put the house back together. Invite
everyone you meet to come over and party. When everyone
leaves, follow them back to their homes, drink all
their booze, and break things.

Paint your bike white. Stack all your fans in one corner
of your living room. Put on your most fabulous outfit.
Turn the fans on full blast. Dump a full vacuum cleaner
bag and a bag of flour in front of the fans. Hula-hoop &
spin yourself in circles for 6 hours. Then try to find
your bike.

Only use the toilet in a house that is at least 3 blocks
away. Drain all the water from the toilet. Only flush it
every 4 days. Hide all the toilet paper. Pitch your tent
next to the wall of speakers in a crowded, noisy club.
Go to sleep. Wake up 2 hours later in a 110+ degree tent.

Pay an escort of your affectional preference to not bathe
for five days, cover themselves in glitter, dust, and
sunscreen, wear a skanky neon wig; dance closely naked
with you, then say they have a lover back home at the
end of the night.

Visit a restaurant and pay them to let you alternate lying
in the walk-in freezer and sitting in the oven. Don't sleep
for 5 days. Take a wide variety of hallucinogenic/emotion
altering drugs. Pick a fight with your boyfriend/girlfriend.

Buy a new set of expensive camping gear. Break it. Buy a
new pair of favorite shoes. Throw one shoe away. Spend a
whole year rummaging through thrift stores for the
perfect,most outrageous costume. Forget where you put it.

Spend weeks preparing and freezing tasty, nutritious food
and then forget it in your trunk for a few days of 110
degree heat. Sprinkle dirty sand in all your food. Eat it
anyway - and like it. Snort baby powder & salt then pick
your boogers for a week.

Listen to music you hate for 168 hours straight, or until
you think you are going to scream. Scream. Realize you'll
love the music for the rest of your life.

Get so drunk you can't recognize your own house. Walk
slowly around the block for 5 hours wrapped in x-mas lights.
Cut, burn, electrocute, bruise, and sunburn various parts of
your body. Forget how you did it. Don't go to a doctor. And
tell everybody else how cool it was.

Rent an RV and trash it. Mail $200 (price of average BM
ticket) to the Reno casino of your choice. Then spend $100
on food and don't eat it.

Spend thousands of dollars creating a deeply personal art
work. Hide it in a funhouse on the edge of the city. Blow
it up. Set up a DJ system downwind of a three alarm fire.
Play a short loop of drum'n'bass until the embers are cold.
Have a 3 a.m., soul-baring conversation with a drag nun in
platforms, a crocodile, and Bugs Bunny. Be unable to tell
if you're hallucinating.

Drive for 10 hours straight with a car full of drunk circus
clowns. Ride your bike blindfolded in a casino for 5 days on
acid. Wake up in a random Chucke Cheeze with someone named
Dust Bunny. Sit in traffic for hours.

Go to a museum. Find one of Salvador Dali's more disturbing
but beautiful paintings. Climb inside it. Move to San
Francisco...

Pets rock Cesar Chavez Plaza NOW

2008-08-01T17:03:00.000-07:00

Pets in the park in an hour. Be there!

Cake to play Outside Lands on Saturday

2008-07-31T19:22:00.001-07:00

Cake has been added to the Saturday (Aug. 23) line-up at the massive Outside Lands Festival in Golden Gate Park on Friday-Sunday, Aug. 22-24. Sacramento's most original rock (and then some) export will be fourth on the bill (of two dozen acts just on Saturday) below Primus, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals and the headliners, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Cake comes right after Steve Winwood and on a bill that also includes the amazingly funky Galactic, the exquisite Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet featuring Bela Fleck, who we saw at High Sierra and was just remarkable.

(That's cool, I prefer live videos, always. But the promo clip is great, too.)

But Friday night is my dream: Radiohead. And Beck as the warm-up (along with 11 other acts). Seriously, Radiohead is THE modern band to see in this decade of great bands to see, and they'll be the first band ever to play Golden Gate Park at night. I saw Zeppelin there in 1973, outside in Kezar, and the park TOTALLY cooperated. This one is really worth the trip.

and one from the old days...(1994)

Weekend in brief

2008-07-30T16:15:00.000-07:00

Shows in a nutshell:

Fairy Tale Town tonight at 6 - Sal Valentino with Kate Gaffney Band opening.

Friday night's free concert in the park stars local bands Diciembre Gris, Pets, We Prick You and The Generals.

Saturday and Sunday local jazz guitarist and composer Ross Hammond launches his In the Flow Festival, which will feature 15 jazz/rock/experimental bands including the Vinny Golia Trio, the Harley White Jazz Orchestra and the Lovely Builders with Hammond and ace drummer Scott Amendola. That's noon-six at the True Love Coffeehouse on K Street Saturday and Sunday.

Big name shows this week in Sactown: Dolly Parton at Arco Arena on Monday, and
CrueFest - with Motley Crue, Buckcherry, Papa Roach - at Sleep Train Amphitheatre on Tuesday.

Tickets go on sale Saturday for So You Think You can Dance Tour at Arco on Oct. 2.

Saturday out of town is GOOD (always): Steely Dan at Harvey's Outdoor Amphitheatre at South Lake Tahoe, John Mellencamp and Lucinda Williams at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, and Chris Isaak and Boz Scaggs at Ironstone Winery near Murphy's. All three shows Saturday.

Back in Sac

2008-07-28T16:57:00.000-07:00

OK, Mr. Self-Described Grid finally spent a weekend in Sacramento. I'm not exactly sure, but I do believe it was my first full weekend here since early June - nice town, I must say.

But pretty quiet! Honestly, downtown Sacramento on the weekend, during a hot summer, is a ghost town, at least during the day. But I'm told the French Film Festival drew good crowds. Still, the Concert in the Park - my first of the summer, I am shocked to say - wasn't exactly hoppin', and I can't say that the bands were much to speak of. I did like Red Host, though...an arch sort of grungy post-pop that was ear-catching.

And I went to the premier of the new B Street show, "Jack Goes Boating," which was fun.

Otherwise, it was hanging around Land Park, at a party and under the GF's orange tree. Extremely lazy, and extremely rewarding. Ah, the simple things. Nice to know there are things to do when the money runs low.

I took photos of this building at 14th and R, which I've been riding past on my way to Naked Lounge on occasion, and have meant to blog about - always "meaning" to blog - so I took some pictures. But what is the plan for this? I'm hearing "retail," but that hardly narrows it down. What's going in here, anyone? They're doing a beautiful job, and more traffic, foot and otherwise, will be nice in the still-lonely R Street Corridor.

So, what's the word on this place?

My bad: The delayed weekend update!

2008-07-25T10:15:00.000-07:00

OK, I'm a lazy blogger. But here's the scoop on the weekend:

Tonight, John Mayer at Sleep Train with Colbie Caillat and Brett Dennen opening. A song by Mayer just came up on my iPod shuffle when I was raking the yard last night: "Stop This Train," a really great song about the passing of time and wanting to get off - standout lines:

So scared of getting older
I'm only good at being young
So I play the numbers game
To find a way to say that life has just begun

Here he is playing it on, well YouTube:

But there's a TON of other stuff, most of it out of town (natch'), but worth the trip. Or, now that you can breathe here again, perhaps stay? If you stay in town, here's what's up:

James McMurtry, Larry's son, is on my all-time list simply for the song "Candyland," which I can't find on line. But here's his song "We Can't Make It Here," which gives you an idea of the type of stuff he'll be playing when he plays the Palms Playhouse in Winters on Saturday night.

Meanwhile, a few local acts of note, especially Early Times playing TONIGHT with Lee Bootz and his band, Southside Shuffle, at the Blue Lamp. Mike Farrell and Early Times on twin leads is pretty amazing (saw them a couple of months ago at Blue Cue...worth seeing). That's tonight!

And Saturday is Marilyn's on K's 10 anniversary party, which is FREE and features a number of the people who've played there over recent years, including Richard March, Adam Donald, Hans Eberbach and others.

Elsewhere, Steely Dan begins its series of three Saturday shows in our area tonight at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, with shows NEXT Saturday at the Harveys Outdoor Amphitheatre, and then at Ironstone Amphitheatre in Murphy's the Saturday after that. (This Sunday, George Thorogood and Buddy Guy play Ironstone, while Toby Keith plays Harveys, also Sunday.)

The big shows in the Bay area are Coldplay at Oracle Arena in Oakland tonight, and Stone Temple Pilots reunion tour at the Greek in Berkeley tonight.

James Taylor plays Saturday at Harveys Outdoor Amphitheatre tomorrow night.

And Marcus Crowder at The Bee raved about the theatre's production of Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd," which plays through Sunday.

Barton out!

Here comes the weekend...

2008-07-17T11:46:00.001-07:00

OK, so what's up? Well, tonight is the big Police/Elvis Costello concert at Sleep Train, which I'll be missing. The weird thing is, I'm just FINE with that. Two of the most important acts of the last 40 years, and I'm fine to be skipping it. Not sure why, exactly. I've seen Elvis many times, and probably will again, but he's not my idea of an opening act. And the Police? Well...I'm happy just to watch this video from their first time together, announcing the tour last year...

Tickets are still available.

Me, I'll be at another music festival, California WorldFest in Grass Valley, starting tonight. The cool thing about festivals is that it's a total experience, and much less of a JOB...there's no one I like at this festival as much as I like the Police OR Elvis, but I feel much more like...well, like the old days, when it was fun, not business.

Who's playing? Oh, Ozomatli, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Strunz and Farah, David Bromberg, Mariee Sioux, David Lindley...a good lineup of good musicians. Mostly, though, it'll just be three days in a gorgeous setting with kids and musicians and sleeping in the woods. There are still tickets available here. Here's Big Bad Voodoo Daddy...

And if you haven't heard Mariee Sioux, here SHE is...

What else? Well, the SAMMIES concert is tonight, and I'm sorry to miss it. You gotta see Ricky Berger, and Th' Losin' Streaks and Butterscotch, at the very least. And you can catch 'em all at the Crest tonight. Here's Butterscotch...

There's also Izabella at Friday's free Concert in the Park, at 5:30 at 9th and J. And Midnight Star at McClatchy Park in Oak Park on Saturday afternoon. That's about it for this weekend.

Whiskey Wild ends

2008-07-17T11:35:00.000-07:00

Well, one door closes, and another opens. In this case, the door that closed is my gig at Whiskey Wild, which never drew enough people to justify the expense. I just wish they'd given me more than half an hour's notice!

But I've landed a paying gig that will allow me to continue to do all of this fun but not exactly high-paying stuff I've been doing. Thanks to Ralph for hooking me up, the keystone is in place. Onward to more INTERESTING stuff!

opening the windows...

2008-07-10T22:47:00.000-07:00

I just got home from Old Ironsides, where I went to say hi to my friend and successor Chris Macias, pop music critic at The Bee, and watch him do his Sunday Single Showcase at the club, featuring a couple of bands, including local kids The Evening Episode. He interviews the band, they play. It was OK, though honestly, I wasn't crazy about the band and the interview was hard to hear over the people in the bar, who talked through a lot of it. (Among those at the bar: former city council candidate Shawn Eldridge and developer Richard Rich.)

But there was this news: Chris told me he's moving on from pop music critic, moving over to write about food and wine alongside Mike Dunne. The change has already started, with Rachel Leibrock, another good writer with a different range of tastes is taking over. Not sure what that means for her media beat, or Coming Distractions, the column I launched and she so ably took over. The changes in that place are dizzying.

Chris is a good guy, a good writer, and most importantly, he knows music as both a player, a DJ and a listener. And he's got pretty good taste, which is to say, it matches mine on occasion. I'm sorry he's leaving the beat, though I totally get why.

Chris also encouraged me to blog more, which I appreciate, since I recently took at shot at The Bee (not him, technically) for not covering Plant and Krauss at Tahoe. He says just write. It's so weird, because it's like going back 30 years in some ways, and relearning the media. But I told him I would, so here's my entry.

By the way, on the way home, the air was so nice I opened my car windows without even thinking about it, something I've not done for a few days. And I turned on the whole house fan when I got home, and I can't smell any smoke coming in. The air's certainly not healthy, but AC only does it for so long, and I need fresh air.

So, I'm heading to LA tomorrow to see friends - and to enjoy the cleaner air of the Los Angeles basin. The world is upside down.

Grey patches...

2008-07-10T17:28:00.000-07:00

Am I the only one who finds it weird, and a bit dumb, that city workers tend to patch concrete sidewalks with whatever spare asphalt they happen to find?

It's a small thing, for sure, but if you're going to be out in the sun and heat patching sidewalks anyway, working with the idea that people will find them easier to walk and ride on, why use asphalt? It's consistency is very different from concrete, and the rocks that compose it tend to break lose over time - or from the start - and leave a patch I can only describe as dumb.

It's like mending a silk dress with denim.

Perhaps it's a budget thing. Mostly, it just seems kinda inexplicable.

Grey days...

2008-07-10T16:39:00.000-07:00

Well, this is pretty bad, isn't it? On the other hand, at least we don't live in Beijing...

Went down to Capitol Mall to get the scale of this, because it's hard to photograph - it's so...encompassing, ubiquitous, but so hard to see right in front of your face. Nevertheless, feeling closer than ever before.

Bad freakin' air. BAD. Which it is all the time - we're in the Top 10 worst in the country, in the WORST air basin this side of Mexico City - but it's never THIS bad.

While I was driving down the mall (get out of the car, you kidding?), I shot the new skyscraper that's going up at 500 N Street, with its bookend "peak" to match the US Bank building. The blue just added to the - what, granite? - panels on the side give it a vaguely Southwestern feel I'm not sure I like, but the building looks interesting, at least. Kinda. I will miss all the white lights on it during construction, though...

I've got a couple of other recent shots to show you: one is of the now-scraped-clean SW corner of 20th and Capitol, where once stood Rex Cycles and that body shop I can't remember the name of. Originally, it was an old livery, more than 100 years old. Not pretty, but still a livery of sorts - for mechanical horses.

But now it's gone. Mike Heller's development company bought the block, or a portion thereof, and scraped the sucker out of history. Bye-bye. Heller's MARRS Building across the street has been a great success, with six or seven terrific new businesses in it, including NewsBeat and great burritos and pizza and Peet's and Solomon Dubnick. And more of the same is FINE with me. But I do wish that old building could have been...acknowledged somehow. So, I will: Here it is, before and after...

Here comes the weekend...

2008-07-09T15:04:00.000-07:00

Big shows this week:

Tonight, American Idols 2008 tour comes to Arco Arena with David and David et al...me, I never caught the fever.

The big show for the old(er) folks is Lynyrd Skynyrd at Raley Field on Friday. I haven't seen this band since their debut tour opening for The Who at the Cow Palace in 1973 - that's 35 years ago, children - but damn, they were good then. They've been to hell and back since, losing several members in a plane crash, but the survivors have kept the band as the bearers of the flag of redneck Southern rock for years.

The FREE show is at Cesar Chavez, as always, and this one's exceptional: Headliner Richard Marsh is an authoritative old school country singer with a rippin' band, Kate Gaffney is a charming young singer songwriter who will appeal to Bonnie Raitt fans, indie pop duo Agent Ribbons, and the Juggs, an all female jug band with a wry sense of humor. Starts at 5:30 Friday afternoon at 9th and J downtown Sacramento. Pray for clear air and lower temperatures. (BTW, the Mumbo Gumbo gig that the band cancelled a couple of weeks back because of smoke has been rescheduled for Aug. 22.)

The big show for the youngsters is the Rockstar (the caffeine drink) Energy Mayhem Tour, hits Sleeptrain Amphitheatre on Friday. This younger sibling of Ozzfest features such head-banging favorites as Slipknot, Disturbed, Mastodon, and a half dozen other acts your mom and I have never heard of. Which is, of course, why you like them. Partly.

Here's Slipknot on Letterman - they make the pancaked KISS look positively quaint:

Tesla doing a DVD release party at the Hard Rock Cafe at 7th and K Street Mall...wondering how they're going to get all those people in there... DVD is called "Comin' Atcha Live," and will be released next Tuesday. But you can get a preview when the band screens the DVD at 7 p.m., followed by band members autographing copies.

Big bummer: The entire Yes 40th anniversary tour has been canceled, due to singer Jon Anderson's acute resperatory failure, requiring him to rest for six months. I saw these "dinosaurs" a couple of years ago at Concord, and they blew me away. Unfairly maligned for decades, they remain one of the originals in rock. Pity we won't be able to see them this time.

In the meantime, here's a jazzed-up version of the old chestnut "Roundabout" from TV during that tour...

Speaking of anniversaries, who'da thunk that original LA post-punks X would make three decades, and then some? But they have, and tickets go on sale this Saturday for X at Harlow's...the original lineup of Exene, John Doe, DJ Bonebreak, and Billy Zoom - for a Sept. 18 show. To get you revved...

If you can't get to the Sept. 26 Sleep Train show featuring Journey, Heart and Cheap Trick, the same bill will be at the Harvey's Amphitheatre at South Lake Tahoe. We saw Plant and Krauss there, and it's a decent little amphitheatre.

Finally, it is once again Second Saturday this week, and our pal Rick Kushman wrote a fine piece on the subject in today's Scene. He is apparently doing a column I suggested to the powers that Bee a couple of years ago, to no avail. But now THOSE powers have all been fired, demoted or humiliated (sniff), the column's a go! Go for it, Kush!

The Sound of Music is still running at Music Circus, and earned a great review from The Bee's Marcus Crowder, who knows what he's talking about.

Ooops..a simpler way to High Sierra..

2008-07-03T12:34:00.000-07:00

From Sacramento, take 80 to Truckee, then go north on 89...all the way to Quincy!!

See you there!

Fourth of July weekend ideas...

2008-07-02T16:38:00.000-07:00

Well, for me it's all about High Sierra Music Festival in Quincy - Bob Weir and RatDog, Charlie Hunter, James Hunter, etc - see the last couple of posts. But if you're not ready to make such a commitment, or you've gotta work or otherwise stay in town, there are other options. There isn't even a free concert in the park this Friday...and even Old Ironsides is closed on Friday.

The best area show is still a bit of a drive: The Tubes are still asking "What do you want from life?" and will repeat the question at Cache Creek Casino out west this Saturday. Tickets are only $20. Can't vouch for the show personally, but a friend saw them last year, and said they were great. And I saw them New Year's Eve at Winterland in 1976, and they were phenomenal.

But Monday, Old I has the Red Elvises, who describe themselves as "kickass rock 'n' roll from Siberia" who sound more loungy than anything. Check them out here.

But Music Circus opens this Saturday with the Sound of Music. 'Nuff said.

We Are Scientists, a Brooklyn duo who play a pretty cool sorta alt.rock (with titles like "Chick Lit"), and will be playing the Blue Lamp on Saturday. Check out their myspace page.

And then there's this FOAM party, with black lights, at Country Club Lanes. I went to a foam party during my wild years, and I can tell you...well, just watch out for those soap rashes! Go here to check it out.

Tickets went on sale while I was away last week for the Counting Crows/Maroon 5 tour stops at Shoreline and the Sleep Train Amphitheatre in Concord, aka the Concord Pavilion. I am LOVING the new Crows CD, Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings, it's really quite smokin', hearkening back to their terrific second album, Recovering the Satellites. Tickets are on sale.
Also on sale are tickets to the Flashback Friday show featuring Naughty By Nature, Slick Rick and others at the Memorial Auditorium on August 2, moved from June 27.

High Sierra update, etc...

2008-07-01T22:54:00.000-07:00

Getting to High Sierra Music Festival's going to be a bit more complicated this year, due to the fires, which have shut Highway 70. Here are the directions:

From Highway 70 in Oroville, take Exit 46 (Oro-Dam Blvd), head east. Go 1.7 miles - Turn right on Olive Highway (note -
last chance for gas until Quincy.) Go 56 miles to stop sign, turn right onto Bucks Lake
Rd. Go 8.7 miles to stop sign - go straight (turns into
Main St. in Quincy.) The road is curvy, smooth surfaced with many turn-outs.
Some uphill and downhill grades from 9% to 15%.Matchbook Romance..

Otherwise, it all looks good, though the air may be a bit smoky. But you're used to that, right?

Crazy busy life!

2008-06-30T22:37:00.000-07:00

I love my life. Let me just be REAL clear about that. I have great friends, a great family, and a town that is, as we always used to say, "close to everything."

I'm due to speak on a panel next week about Sacramento's cultural life, and here's my main regret: I miss a lot of it. Yeah, Mr. Blogging the Grid misses a lot of what goes on here. That's because "here" also includes Tahoe, San Francisco, mountain biking in the foothills, and this weekend, High Sierra Music Festival. I just can't stay put. Used to drive my editors crazy. I'm on the move, because there's so much to move TOWARDS.

Honestly, I know I should stick around more, but there's so much to do within easy striking distance of this place. I've even thought about blowing off the title Blogging the Grid, for the simple fact that life here extends WAY beyond the Grid, though not necessarily to Citrus Heights or Folsom. But go an hour or so, and you're in all kinds of paradise.

Saturday night: Krauss and Plant at Tahoe. Brilliant. The Harvey's Outdoor Amphitheatre ain't much - like a smaller version of Cal Expo Amphitheatre, one friend called it "a parking lot - but a nice parking lot" - but when you have people like Plant and Krauss (and T Bone Burnett leading a band that featured Buddy Miller and the EXTRAORDINARY drummer Jay Bellerose, who just floored me), the setting is secondary. Even the numbskulls shouting requests for "Stairway to Heaven" couldn't spoil it.) Check out this review from the Reno Gazette Journal (the Bee didn't bother to attend).

Then, I spent an afternoon and evening with my gang at a friend's house in the foothills, a passel of kids playing in the water (with yours truly and a bunch of other grown-ups who still play like kids), and it was just perfect. Damn, life is good.

And next: High Sierra. Seriously, this is my fifth year there, my gang doesn't miss it, and I met my true love, Ms. Ultra, camping in the grass three years ago. I've seen Kinky blow the roof off an outdoor concert (not easy to do), I've seen Richard Thompson, Bill Frisell, James Blood Ulmer, Skerik, Chris Robinson, Galactic (whoa!) and a half dozen guitarists tearing through "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)" as well as all sorts of bands I'd never heard of before, and this year looks to be more of the same. Honestly, this is music the way it's meant to be heard:

Five, six thousand people at about 4,000 feet (or higher, nudge), dancing and listening and being civil and CARING about music in a way that you just don't get at GasHog Arena or MattressSale Amphitheatre. Music is so much more than money and fame and cross-promotion, but when you go to most shows, you feel like a pawn, a target, a MARKET. But at High Sierra (and WorldFest, more on that to come) and other festivals, you feel like a PERSON, a person who loves music made by other PEOPLE. At shows put on by other people. People like Sherry Wasserman of Another Planet, who put on the Plant/Krauss show, and has revived the Greek Theatre tradition, and is hosting the Treasure Island Music Festival and the Outside Lands Festival (where BECK is opening for RADIOHEAD, fer cryin' out loud) and so many other shows. The spirit is still there, even with the world seemingly going to hell. Music has saved my life regularly, and it did so at Plant and Krauss, and it will at High Sierra and Outside Lands. Seriously.

But I digress: High Sierra. For $168 - less than one ticket for the Police show at Mattress Amphitheatre - you get FOUR days of dozens of bands and cool people and camping at altitude. It is a music lovers' paradise, and if you've not gone, and you love music, you're off your game. DO IT.

Why? OK, so...here are a few names: Gov't Mule, Bob Weir and RatDog, Michael Franti, Mother Hips, SambaDa, Built to Spill, Keller Williams, Mike Gordon, Critters Buggin', Railroad Earth, James Hunter, CHARLIE Hunter, the fabulous Bay area DJ Bassnectar (rocked my world last year) and a whole bunch of OTHER names you've never heard. Because the names aren't what does it. It's the place, it's the vibe, it's the freedom, it's the serendipity of happening upon a band - or a woman (or a man) - and falling in love.

We're in an era of big names, if you just float down the lukewarm mainstream. Fine, go see the Police. Great band, and SleepTrain's fine. But if you swim into the eddies, and up into the tributaries, you find out what it's all about, deep down. And it might be for the first time, or it might be AGAIN. And again is sweet. Damn, it's sweet.

Go buy a ticket to High Sierra. Yeah, it's a pitch, one you'd be nuts to ignore. This is one hell of a good time. Life is beautiful, and music is a big part of Why. The other part is...other people. And nature. And High Sierra has 'em all.

Music in the mountains...

2008-06-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

Heading out in a few minutes for a hike in the mountains, hopefully above the smoke, and then off to see Robert Plant and Alison Krauss at Harvey's outdoor amphitheatre at South Shore...this is THE show to see this summer (OK, as well as Radiohead), and if you're not familiar with this unlikely duo's Raising Sand album, here's a little promotional clip of the collaboration. If you can't make the show, check it out. If you're inspired, tickets are still available.

And a little surprise from the show...

Finally, a nice little interview from the BBC:

AND coming up, further north: High Sierra Music Festival, which I've written about several times. Will cover that more this week. It's going to be great, as always...

Gumbo cancels park concert; the air's better at Whiskey Wild...

2008-06-27T13:37:00.000-07:00

Jeez, I go away for a week, and come back to Dante's inferno...or at least, the antechamber. Here's what nice air looks like...strange to be using New York City in summer as the example of clean air, but for at least one day of our visit, it was sparkling. Then we come back here, and wow: reminds me of the bad old days when farmers burned off the rice fields and you could barely see across the street downtown. Actually, I guess things are better. But this kind of better I can do without.

Case in point: Mumbo Gumbo has just announced that they're not going to play this afternoon's concert in the park, partly for their own health's sake, and partly because they don't want to draw people outside to breathe bad air for four hours. That's a bummer, because they had Kate Gaffney AND Ricky Berger opening, AND singing with Gumbo. So no one's happy about this.

There is still a show, however: Brian Ballentine and Friends are headlining, with Jacob Golden and Synchro taking up the slack. But really, breathing this "air" can NOT be good for your health. So take it easy, come over to Whiskey Wild at 19th and Q instead, and watch me play from 5-8 p.m. It, too, is free, and the air is filtered...

Second Saturday!!!

2008-06-14T23:33:00.000-07:00

So, I'm back from five hours of cruising Second Saturday, and it just gets bigger and bigger. That's the story, and it's not all good, as issues of ALL those people in our traditionally sleep midtown are starting to come up for the police and there are those who are worrying that Second Saturday will go the way of the Thursday night market, ruined by its own success.

People drinking can get a little ugly as the night wears on, but the bottom line on Second Saturday remains this: It makes Sacramento feel like as interesting a place as you could be on Saturday night. And really, how often can you say that about Sactown?

I mean, I park the furry bike on the corner of 18th and L, and the first thing I see - other than a friend and a woman who I haven't seen for more than 20 years - is a samba drum group and dancers strutting and performing to delighted onlookers in front of Aioli (free advertising, Reda). People are digging it, stopping their bikes - have you ever seen so many bikes in Sacramento? - and even the folks inside the restaurant are enjoying the floorshow through the glass.

So then I wander up L, past the still-impressive L Street Lofts - really isn't that the finest new building in this town in forever? - and see that the gateway up into the lofts across the street, in the same building that houses the Buckhorn Grill, Ginger Elizbeth Chocolates, Diane Tempest's art gallery, and that new yogurt place, are open. So I wander up, through the gate that is usually closed, and there are people wandering this internal plaza, sitting at what looks like a back patio for L Bar, and just people people people, and it's COOL. I've been in there before, but no PEOPLE before. And people, not pork, make a party.

And then I wander over towards more loud music, katy-cornered, towards Mulvanney's, and there's a new space that the restaurant has acquired and turned into a funky little party, with a doorman inviting people in - under the industrial door that was, until recently, the front of an auto repair. This is an improvement. They've got cool chandeliers made out of collanders, and art on the walls, and barbeque and a full bar.

It's nice, and funky, and somehow upscale as well. And the people are...FINE. Honestly, Sacramento's not the prettiest town, day to day - ok, yes, I'm being shallow and judgmental, but who objects to pretty faces? - but tonight is different. Fine women, sexy girls, handsome, stylish guys - it's good for the eyes, and it makes Sacramento feel less frumpy, less suburban, and more, well, attractive.

At this point, it's probably worth noting that Second Saturday is suddenly a lot less about the "art walk" and a lot more about partying, and seeing and being seen, and those who object to it on those grounds have a point.

But really: As far as I'm concerned, very little art is as interesting or appealing as other people. I can't remember who said it - it might have been Degas - but whoever it was said, "We are here to look at each other," or something of that ilk, and it's TRUE. At least for me, and apart from nature itself, there's really noting quite as interesting as other people.

And there are waffles! Fresh off the waffle-maker, and while I didn't have one, I was all over the De Stijl-era White Stripes flava of the color scheme. More than that, the presence of street food vendors is a SIGNIFICANT improvement in Sacramento's street scape. There was a kettle corn place in front of Faces, too, and others - street food is a sign of civilization in my book, every bit as much as art.

And cheaper. And usually, tastier...

And there was also more street music than I've ever heard on a Second Saturday. There was a fine little combo playing something vaguely fusiony-proggy in front of Body Tribe, as usual, but it got a little hairy, sonically, at 20th and J, where three different electric bands vied for the attention of passers-by, while a crew of rappers caught the attention of a good crowd in front of the News and Review building.

Noise will be an issue with the city if this things keeps growing, which it shows every sign of doing, but it should be possible to deal with it to everyone's satisfaction. People make a party, and what's a party without music? As long as it all quiets down by 10 or so, what's the harm?

Businessess sure don't seem to be suffering, as the delightful Azul was cheek-by-jowl, front to back, and I ran into another old friend and caught up. And speaking of new businesses, the Lounge on 20 is now open, and it's gorgeous. I snapped a few photos through the windows, and will go back sometime soon - what a great space, and a terrific addition to what is the defacto center of Sacramento nightlife (once again, the gay guys got their first). What was once called Lavender Heights is now the epicenter.

As one passerby sniffed at me as I shot a snap or two through the window, "That's sorta voyeurism, you know," I could only respond, "Definitely." You Sacramentans and your interesting new places to socialize fascinate me.

Honestly, this is so exciting to me, to see this grow, to see people come out and come downtown to look at all this creative energy. I know there are those who feel this is all happening too soon, or is too bar-oriented, or too-upscale, or not funky enough, or only once a month, or draws - shades of the Thursday Night Market - "the wrong element." But to me, this is a sign of vitality, of the creation of an actual community, and draws the focus of this town from the endlessly sprawling suburbs - and from TV, the internet and other "virtual" realities - to a brightly lit, noisy, CROWDED cityscape. And I see NOTHING wrong with that.

One month till the next one! Be there!

My Secret Beach Getaway

2008-06-14T15:52:00.001-07:00

I wanted to give those looking for a break from valley heat a little tip that seems unfamiliar to most people I've talked to: Tennessee Valley Beach.

Drive down 80, take 37 to Marin, 101 south and get off on the heavily-traveled road that leads (eventually) to Stinson Beach. But instead of sitting in traffic for what could easily be an hour out there, take a left on the small road by the fruit stand (Tennessee Valley Road, who knew?) and drive less than 2 miles.

Walk another 1.5 miles on a fire road, and you're at Tennessee Valley Beach. Heaven. See? There's a gorgeous lagoon with hills sweeping up each side of the valley, and at the end of the hike there's a terrific, clean, car-and-cooler-free beach that is a great size for keeping an eye on energetic youngsters...

Ella goes global (or at least, Google)

2008-06-14T15:34:00.001-07:00

Hey, in the process of getting Ella's number last night - the restaurant, not Fitzgerald, she dead - I happened upon Google's FIRST (and only) "street view" feature on Sacramento, and thought I'd post it here for one of those gee-we're-famous moments we native Sacramentans seem to fuss over....Just zoom down from the satellite view and click on the little human icon, and then move the arrow until you see Ella itself. Then spin around in circles until you fall down and get run over by a light rail train...

Seriously, though: Ultra and I had drinks and appetizers in the bar/lounge at Ella (which was booked out - what recession?), and it was seriously delicious. The Elderberry Gimlet was excellent, ditto the cucumber martini, and the meatballs and sashimi were tasty...but the grilled asparagus with truffle oil (and shavings) were fantastic, and it was literally all I could do not to lick the plate. And I am, generally speaking, someone who does what he wants. But even I have my limits.

So who IS Jackson Road and why are they on a mural?

2008-06-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

If you've parked at Jack's Urban Eats in midtown lately, you've seen a huge mural advertising the album by local band Jackson Road. Now, these boys aren't playing a lot in midtown, but they're definitely doing some marketing. I went to their myspace page and checked out their songs, and they're pretty good. I particularly like "Gettin' Wise," which has a cool, bluesy, jamband-worth track with slide acoustic guitar.

Here's their "Hippi Chick" video, featuring the Tower Bridge...and a vocal oddly reminiscent of Julian Cope...

They're doing a CD release party at Harlow's on June 25 - may be well worth checking out if you're at all curious.

The Raconteurs live webcast at 3 p.m.!

2008-06-13T14:18:00.000-07:00

The Raconteurs are playing live at 3 p.m. at Bonnaroo - and you can actually WATCH it at home, via webcast. Go here.

That is, if you've got a PC. I've tried to get on via Mac/Firefox, and it's not working. I need a plug-in, but it won't tell me which ONE! Yet another reason to hate technology.

Well, forget the Raconteurs...come see me at Whiskey Wild, 19th and Q, between 5-8 today. I'll try to learn "Consolers of the Lonely" by then ( but I'm not promising anything).

Local music doesn't suck!

2008-06-13T12:11:00.000-07:00

So, I've been out to hear music several times in the last 10 days, and this is what I find: Sacramentans still don't find their homegrown musicians particularly compelling. And that's a drag, because there are some great players here.

This town does not support live music. Monday's show at Old I, for Prince's 50th birthday, drew a decent crowd, as was well-deserved by the Nibblers, making their debut with Liani Moore at the fore, doing "Housequake," "Sexy MF" and "7." They SMOKED. Moore is a riveting front woman, and not just because she's easy on the eyes. She's got presence...and a band that gave her VERY solid support - I'm looking forward to their next show, should they ever do one!

Kate Gaffney, perhaps Sacramento's most promising young singer-songwriter, debuted her new band at the Blue Lamp on Wednesday night, with a couple of the Nibblers in tow, and they sounded good, if a bit rough around the edges. Kate declared it her best night on stage, ever. You should hear this girl, she's GOOD. And those of us who stuck around for the Wilders, a tight four-piece old time music group from Kansas City, got double the pleasure. TO hear her, check her myspace page.

Makes me feel slightly better about drawing practically NO ONE to Whiskey Wild at 19th and Q (but I'm there tonight, 5-8, come and see me before I'm cut!) - but it's little consolation. That's because it's such a drag to see such great players playing for such small audiences. Last night, yet another case in point: Blues Thursday at the Blue Cue, upstairs at 28th and J, with Lee Bootz and the Southside Shuffle, featuring Mike Farrell on guitar. Now, if you've not seen Farrell, you are missing something special. Dude looks the part and can play anything, with flair and tremendous energy. And last night, Bootz had prodigal son Early Times in visiting from New York City to lay down the double leads (triple, with the estimable Bootz chipping in). It was smokin', and ...there were 10 people listening. And I think some were staff. (BTW, this is a nice venue - sofas, raised tables and chairs, and they even shut down the ever-present sports channel on the video screens on either side of the band, putting up a more conducive screen saver instead. Kudos to Justin on that.) BTW, Early will be back and playing with Lee Bootz in late July...

But few were there to appreciate it, and it was the same all over town. It's the economy, but only in part. It's worse out there than we would be led to believe, judging from my cruise last night around several Grid hot spots. Even 20th and Gay was relatively quiet, at 10, and again at 12:30. Ditto the Golden Bear, True Love Coffeehouse, Harlow's...and there was Peter Torza, out in front of his Gianni's, with Sal Valentino, getting his head around the fact that he's closing this, his latest baby, named for his son, this weekend. Nice place, too. And there was a band playing, but almost no one listening. Damn.

Sactown's indifference to its own native talent runs deep and long. I just ran into Gina Livingston at Naked Lounge, who still lives here but spends much more time in Germany, where she has her fan base. Can't seem to get much local media attention here, either. Doesn't even try to play out, though she can play decent sized venues in Europe. More frustration. But you can hear her here.

And last week's Bourgeois Tagg reunion concert at the Crest, which I'd meant to blog about in more detail, was about half full. Which is a shame, because it was full of the cream of Sacramento's journeyman musicians, from the BT members themselves to a returned Charlie Peacock, Mike Roe of the 77s, Uncle Rainbow, Roger Smith, and a crowd that featured a who's-who of Sacramento's '80s and 90's music scene. And it was a great night - Bourgeois Tagg sounded, if anything, better than back in the day. But it should have been sold out. 900 people out of 1.3 million shouldn't have been that hard to pull off. Musta been something good on TV.

Then there's the local promoter who told me he hasn't made money on a show since gas went over $4 a gallon. And the other promoter calling me, begging for anything I can do on radio for his weekend show, which is under-performing. And that's for a touring band.

The repercussions of this economic sea change have yet to really hit us, and I worry that it's going to be worse than we're expecting. But I'm pessimistic lately. Can you blame me?

Michael Zwahlen's latest Sactown photos...

2008-06-12T18:43:00.000-07:00

Michael Zwahlen's blog Living in Urban Sac is one of my local favorites for his views, often photographic, of Sacramento. The guy actually sees Sacramento as a PLACE, and his photos celebrate that beautifully. Dude's a little OBSESSED with the Tower Bridge, but we're all allowed our favorites here in Bloggalia, right? My current obsession is catching sight of the LED display on the top of the US Bank Tower, but it's been hit or miss. Zwahlen's got one shot, here to the right, that catches a bit of it, but I'm still not satisfied. And I love the shot of the newly-lit Elks Building above, which has a whole new life in color. Splendid.

He's got a whopping 97 new photos up at this site, and he has graciously allowed me to publish a few favorites here. But go to his blog or click this link, and see many more.

It's a wrap!

2008-06-12T17:28:00.000-07:00

I just found out that this blog was one of the first chosen to launch the new "blog aggregator" site, RiverWrap.com, which trolls the local blogsphere and posts links to the latest posts of area bloggers, including yours truly. 21Q is, of course, all over it, as is heckasac and sacrag, two of the area's more popular blogs, but it will soon get even more active. In fact, it just launched today, so you heard about it here first. The Bee will write something, I imagine.

In any case, check out the site. It's a great portal into the local bloggosphere, and is a great way to keep up on it. In fact, I'll probably include it in a piece I'm writing for Sacramento magazine.