the hum / By Bob Doran

420?

(April 19, 2007)  If you’re in the know you can imagine why four-twenty is such a big deal here in Humboldt - and it has nothing to do with blackbirds baked in a pie. For the uninitiated, 420 (or 4:20, or 4/20) is code for getting baked, as in the consumption of marijuana. Exactly why is lost somewhere in a smoky mist of lost memory cells.

The urban legend website Snopes.com debunks the theory that 420 comes from the California penal code section relating to marijuana use and pooh poohs the notion that there are 420 active chemical compounds in pot (for what it’s worth, High Times says there are 315). The folks at Snopes guess that the term came from a group of Marin County teen stoners who gathered every afternoon at 20 after 4 to share a smoke. (Was it pure chance that the legislative deal implementing California’s medical marijuana initiative Prop. 215 was Senate Bill 420?)

Yonder Mountain String Band

GALLERY >

Whatever the source, the time and associated date have become synonymous with herb culture, which means it is an auspicious day to put on a concert that stony types might want to attend. The Passion Presents crew settled on the Colorado jam/bluegrass band Yonder Mountain String Band as appropriate for Friday’s holiday and chose a fine venue for their 4/20 concert. Here’s where it gets tricky. The show is at the brand-spanking-new Arkley Center for the Performing Arts, which does not strike me as the sort of place you’d expect to see a crowd of stoners grooving to string jams. It goes without saying that smoking is not allowed inside the A-Center — how that rule will be enforced remains to be seen.

I first heard YMSB around the turn of the century when they were on tour as an opener for fellow Coloradicals Leftover Salmon. I’d have to say I was not exactly impressed. They were a raggedy bunch of pickers who were described as a bluegrass band. My guess was they’d learned about bluegrass from the Grateful Dead, which turned out to be true. Of course that was a long time ago and they’ve honed their chops living on that mountain (they’re from Nederland, over a couple of ridges from Boulder). They are now at the top of their game and have managed to become one of the hottest jambands still standing. Like the Dead, they meld songs into each other creating endless jams, and fans trade tapes of the live shows. Last year the band made the leap to a major, recording an eponymous album for Vanguard with former Humboldt local Tom Rothrock at the helm. But in the jamband world the show’s the thing, and YMSB has its act down tight.

Concerts end relatively early at the A-Center, which leaves several hundred concertgoers potentially wanting somewhere else to go. Passion-P has its official YMSB after party at the Red Fox with the Steve Watts Band (led by a Passion partner). Your YMSB ticket stub gets you your first beer or well drink. Meanwhile, next door to the A-C at Indigo, it’s the (unofficial) “420 Downtown After Party,” with dollar microbrews and DJ Ray spinning dancehall reggae.

Around the time the Eureka show ends, over in Arcata Subliminal Sabotage should be into their second set or so at Humboldt Brews, throwing down hip hop and celebrating 420 Humboldt style.

Down the way at Muddy’s Hot Cup, Portland’s self-proclaimed “seismic gypsy hypno-jazz” band Taarka will be on the second night of a two-day run. Fleet-fingered mandolinist/multi-instrumentalist David Tiller and his fiddling wife Enion Pelta-Tiller are whirling dervishes who draw on Middle Eastern and Balkan folk forms and intricate rhythms as they lead a quartet with a standup bassist and a djembe player. BTW, you can catch a taste of Taarka on your radio Friday when they play in the KHUM studio on Larry’s show at around 4 p.m. Hmmm, that would mean they’ll be live on the air at 4:20 on 4/20.

Another 4/20 option: Blue Lake Casino’s Steelhead Lounge has the Neil Diamond tribute Diamond Eyes on Friday and Saturday. Haven’t caught the act yet, but it makes me think of that movie Saving Silverman — you know, the one where Jack Black and Steve Zahn try to save their Neil Diamond tribute bandmate (Jason Biggs) from the fiancé from hell (Amanda Peet). Fair warning: do not take your 420 break in the parking lot; there are surveillance cameras, as one local band discovered. (They were not invited back.)

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