It was a rough weekend for anybody who has a negative opinion about mass gun violence in America. I’d like to address this issue but I don’t want to do so broadly, so I will only speak to those who want to see change in the current trajectory of our country, and by the time […]
The Setlist
Our picks for the week’s best live music plus interviews and music news.
Posted inMusic
Reggae? Maybe …
The first big concert that I remember going to without an accompanying adult was Toots and the Maytals at the old Arcata Theater — when it was still mostly just a movie theater — sometime in my early teens. I can’t remember the date or my exact age because more than 20 years of life […]
Posted inMusic
Hot Summer Nights
Oops, I did it again. Another late night with one of my friends has led into a morning deadline panic and bleary-eyed struggle session with the English language. It’s OK, it was probably worth it. While I wasn’t in a Paris salon or a New York City coffee klatch, I would like to think I […]
Posted inMusic
Midsommar Blues
I started out this week’s column by just underlining in my notebook a bunch of punk shows happening around the bay. But my notebook, full of fliers and Cy Twombly-esque scribbles that pass as notes, tends to take on a stochastic process once the week gets fat and my deadline ripens, so I just let […]
Posted inMusic
Summer Camp Splendor
OK campers, pick a perch and cop a squat. I’ve got the 411 for you but this is not a recording and I will not be repeating myself. This week’s checklist of activities will include: the reunion of a local honky-tonk institution, visitors from Canada and England, booty shaking (no laughing, Johnson, or dammit, I […]
Posted inMusic
An Eye to the Sky
It’s the Fourth of July on Thursday and I’ll be skipping that day here this week. After all, what could I really suggest for you that would outshine this evening’s celebration of bellicosity and fireworks? Nothing. Which is exactly how I feel about this holiday in the age of Mitch McConnell. No push toward a […]
Posted inMusic
Tango and Experimental Jet Set
In spite of the notorious Humboldt summer entertainment slump, this week actually has some pretty nice offerings. There are many shows happening that are unusual enough to merit attention: Soundscapes and dance parties await your participation like mysterious invitations slipped under the door. There’s all kinds of good energy in the air. And if nothing […]
Posted inMusic
Summer Farewells and Metal as Hell
It’s been an interesting local news cycle as far as the local music scene is concerned. The Mateel Community Center can’t seem to catch a break, with back-to-back cancellations of Reggae on the River and the Andre Nickatina show in July. This doesn’t augur well for the state of SoHum or the rest of the […]
Posted inMusic
Oysters and Outlaws
It’s too damn hot by half and I have stubbornly avoided the river this week, instead choosing to sweat it out at home. The reason has mostly to do with a leaky brake line on my old truck, which I hope to have fixed with a friend by press time, because I don’t know how […]
Posted inMusic
Ascending
Well, I made it home. And after 1,700 miles on a circuitous route from here to Escondido and back, I can now say with some authority that anyone who lives south of Willits is completely out of their mind. I did manage to enjoy myself a bit, however. Sleeping in the band room of the […]
Posted inMusic
Wanderlust
There’s a lot going on this week. Summer Arts and Music Festival is happening in Benbow, and although I don’t know what the post-legalization attendance numbers have been looking like, it’s probably still going to be a pretty banging event for those of you rolling through. I myself will not be doing so, having decided […]
Posted inMusic
Moving Pictures
It’s that time of year again where the bright and colorful statues ride around the plaza and across the land and into the sea — sort of — to find their terminal point on Main Street in Ferndale on Memorial Day. It’s a unique local event we locals tend to take for granted but is […]