If you want to return to MRB this evening, some funky blues is on the bill courtesy of Jenni & David and the Sweet Soul Band, who will also be on at 6 p.m. and for free. Bring the kids along and get them something from the half-pint menu. Left Coast blues musician and guitar slinger Brad Wilson returns to town with his Rollin' Blues Thunder Band and is playing two sets at the Redwood Acres Fair starting at 6 p.m. in Eureka. Brad's been gigging and on the road for a while now and has stopped by the Eureka Concert Series in the past. He and the band will get their second set in closer to 8 p.m. and $12 gets adults into the fair ($5 for the kiddos). More in the Celtic vein, Fingal returns to Cafe Mokka tonight at 8 p.m. for a free show that you can also bring the kids to. I've heard nothing but good things about Portland's outlaw country band Jenny Don't & the Spurs from Ian of the Alibi. He must have had a hand in booking them at the Logger Bar in Blue Lake tonight and they'll be joined by Blue Lakers Gabe & Turtle who will be opening up the show as a guitar and mandolin duo around 9 p.m. It's a free show but feel free to leave a tip for the bands.
Hot town, Summer in the Triangle ... it's Eel River Brewing Co.'s all-day summer kick-off party Saturday, June 24 with live music by Lone Star Junction, Kindred Spirits and the Kent Stephenson Band starting at 1 p.m., plus local artisan vendors, games and activities for all ages, and cold beer for 21 and up (free admission).
Not that you ever need an excuse to catch some sunshine and sea air up at the Mad River Brewery Tap Room in Blue Lake, but you've got plenty of good options this weekend. Start off by catching locals Blase Bonpane and the Stellar Jays who'll be starting around 6 p.m. and playing for free. Help 'em out if their pint glasses are looking dry.
What better time than summer to watch a horror movie about invading ants? They're here. You're already pissed at them. You want to see them wiped off the face of the earth. We go to the movies for entertainment and catharsis, so get ready to feel good. Grab your bug spray and march to the Eureka Theater on Friday, June 23 to catch the Sci-Fi classic THEM! (1954) playing at 7:30 p.m. for a mere $5.
The theater's Fourth Friday Flix series brings the first of the 1950s "nuclear monster" films to its big screen. Get ready to shrink in terror at the gigantic, marauding ants looming large in what was the first (and considered best) of the 'big bug' subgenre, and then cheer as flame-throwing militia wipe them out. Yass, queen.
In a picked-over nutshell, a nest of irradiated ants is discovered in the New Mexico desert after state troopers encounter a catatonic girl and her torn apart trailer ... with an ominous sack of sugar that's been ripped into. Things get sticky when the responsible parties, a gargantuan queen ant and her cunning consorts, escape the desert to establish a nest in the dark, dripping storm drains under the city of Los Angeles. A nationwide hunt to kill the man-eating beasts ensues, complete with wonderful non-CGI, mechanical ant special effects. The film ends with a warning (as many of the atomic Sci-Fi films did):
"When man entered the atomic age, he opened the door to a new world. What we may eventually find in that new world, no one can predict."
Bonus, Sci-Fi fans: Catch a young Leonard Nimoy in a small (uncredited) role as an Army sergeant in the communications room poking fun at Texas and the state's propensity for exalting the "bigness" of things. Illogical.
Check out mo' dough risin' at Brio Breadworks' Bakery Open House Saturday, June 24 from 1 to 3 p.m. (free). Stop by for production demonstrations and bread tasting as the makers of everybody's favorite companion to butter and balsamic vinegar take part in the Bread Bakers Guild of America's Guild-Wide Bakery Open House.
The Best of Humboldt Fair is back June 22-25 at Redwood Acres Fairgrounds ($12, $5 senior and youth admission, free for military and kids under 6; carnival tickets sold separately).
Enjoy the "best of" local local arts, crafts, food and more at the fairgrounds in four buildings and on the racetrack. This year's fair includes all your favorites: the carnival, livestock shows, Nature Joe, a wild animal exhibit, truck pulls, the Kidz Science Safari, A & L Feed's Petting Zoo, the variety stage with all kinds of performances including live music from Jeffery Smoller, Kendra Cook and Brad Wilson and the Rollin' Thunder Blues Thunder Band, plus cowgirl tricks with Karen Quest and magic shows with Steve, the Pretty Good Magician. And, of course, all the delicious fair food you've come to know, love and regret: curly fries, corn dogs, cotton candy, kettle corn, funnel cakes, fried bread, nachos and just about anything deep fried they can throw in the pot: asparagus, Oreos and Snickers.
New this year is the Haai Shark Encounter where you can see live sharks swimmin' and grinnin'. Also, the Pirate's Parrot Ship with a pirate and his gorgeous, colorful birds.
Gates open at 8 a.m. for the livestock shows (piggies, goats, cows and chickens and other barnyard friends) and the buildings on the fairgrounds with flower and art shows, Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ride the Ferris wheel and try your luck at winning your date a stuffed poop emoji at the carnival from noon to midnight, Thursday through Saturday and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday ($35 all ride pass). Take advantage of free admission all day Thursday, June 22; seniors 60+ get in free on Friday, June 23.
New York Jazz is on tap tonight at the Palm Lounge in the Eureka Inn starting at 7 p.m. and for free. I'm told that Brian Post & Friends are playing standards and "Blue Note" which I'm assuming has something to do with Blue Note records. This talented quartet is made up of HSU professor Brian Post on the piano, Val Leone on guitar, Tom Lopes on bass and Don Baraka on woodwind instruments.