Francis Vanek is a Pennsylvania-born but West Coast rambling ace saxophonist of the latter-day jazz genre. He is bringing his Quartet back to the Basement tonight at 7:30 p.m. for an evening of the good stuff that will heal what ails you for a mere $5.
Collin Yeo
Posted inThe Setlist
Land Speed Record
The title of this week’s edition comes from Minnesota punk pioneers Hüsker Dü’s intense 1981 concert album, after the group had — allegedly — discovered a performance-enhancing drug that sometimes goes by the second word in the said title, but before they essentially invented pop punk. It is a rough and wonderful crash course of […]
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Music Tonight: Friday, Sept. 4
Speaking of free, here are two fabulous gigs on two sides of Humboldt Bay which that won’t cost you anything other than the effort of showing up, which you can probably do for both depending on your energy levels. First up at 5:30 p.m., the Arcata Friday Night Market is ditching the pyrotechnics for some […]
Posted inArt Beat
Violet Crabtree on Making ‘Wildfur’
Local artist, musician and animator Violet Crabtree has been involved in the local underground scene since she moved to Humboldt County 20 years ago. She first caught my attention with her band The Comix Trip, which usually features Crabtree narrating a story featuring her own comics — with the aid of an overhead projector — […]
Posted inThe Setlist
The Summer Wind
We have certainly entered the part of the summer where our nostalgia for the bright and lazy days of late June is colored by the scent of wood smoke and over-ripened fruit. The kind of sensation that curls over our nostrils and into our brains like the tendrils of cigarette vapors from Rick Blaine’s ashtray […]
Posted inMusic
Music Tonight: Tuesday, Sept. 1
Taco Tuesday at Richards’ Goat is always a safe bet for a good time, but there’s really nothing finer than when the attached Miniplex has an early show to enjoy for after. Tonight has Norwegian-born, Berlin-based duo Soft as Snow, who take the format of DJ and MC and turn it into something else entirely […]
Posted inMusic
Music Tonight: Monday, Aug. 31
It’s not every day around here you get the chance to check out a retro punk and garage band from Paris, and almost never on a Monday. But this is the last Monday of August, and things get a little weird in these parts when the locals brace themselves into a phalanx to handle the […]
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Music Tonight: Sunday, Aug. 30
MaMuse is a folk and soul revival act that began as a collaboration between musicians Sarah Nutting and Karisha Longaker in the deep end of 20 years ago in the rambling corridors of our home state that are leafier than they are paved. The two have since grown to a quartet, and are currently touring […]
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Music Tonight: Saturday, Aug. 29
As I mentioned above, today is the day for Against All Odds at RampArt Skate Park from 3 to 10 p.m. Here’s the simple rundown: This is an all-ages event that only costs $10 and is free for kids 12 and under who are accompanied by an adult, and that adult or any other with […]
Posted inTheater
Music Tonight: Friday, Aug. 28
Being that this is the last full moon of the summer of 2026, I am going to suggest something put on by Playhouse Arts that has all the makings of a perfect Arcata experience. Come to Carlson Park at 8 p.m. and meet up with the good folks behind IllumiNature, a guided immersive adventure full […]
Posted inMusic
Music Tonight: Thursday, Aug. 27
The Rumba Madre may have started in Nashville, but the group is anything but another commercial country beerfart. The fellas play a hodge podge of punk, cumbia, reggaeton and dirty South trap bangers with a fluid beauty that must be heard to be understood. Returning to HumCo after not too long from their last show […]
Posted inThe Setlist
Read After Burning
Burnstitch Collective has been attached to many of the murmurs I hear about simple and great ideas around here, and I am going long this week to write about them because it’s both overdue and perfectly timely. They are putting on an all-ages DIY punk festival called Against All Odds at RampArt Skate Park this […]