Forget what I was on about last week; that was just rope burn from all of the tension of 2025. It’s a new year and nothing quite helps grease the mystery chute to the future like a conversation with an old friend. I was lucky enough to have one of those on Christmas, and you are lucky as well because he’s bringing his band up here on Sunday (see below). Allow me to introduce you to Mike Dillon, one of the finest vibraphone players on the planet and an old comrade from my music days in the holy city of New Orleans. Apart from his own band, you may have seen him on the stage as a member of Primus or Les Claypool’s Flying Frog Brigade. Or perhaps with groups he founded like The Dead Kenny Gs and Garage a Trois. Or as an elegant sideman for Ricky Lee Jones and Ani DiFranco. His CV is way too long for this space, so I’d just suggest you let your fingers do the walking and your ears do the talking and check out his music. Vibes are everything, as the kids say, so check out this dude who has mastered that most eloquent of chromatic percussion instruments.
We talked about the state of touring and surviving on it. Much like everything else these days, the margins are thin and the love of the game is filling up a lot more of the tank than ever before. New Orleans is changing, too; like everywhere else it’s more expensive and getting sold off in chunks with no regard for the long-timers.
Dillon confirmed something I learned years ago when I started describing my band as “punk jazz.” “Johnny Vidacovich told me the word “jazz” is poison to ticket sales — it immediately turns people off,” he said. That Vidacovich is a top-tier jazz drummer from the heart of New Orleans gives that statement more weight than a hull-busting iceberg.
We talked about ships, too, in a way. He had mentioned that he’d just finished James Joyce’s Ulysses — a book I have not read — and in talking about the power of the great books, I mentioned Moby Dick, a favorite of mine. “That’s next on the list,” he replied. “Claypool turned me onto In the Heart of the Sea, the book about the whaling ship shipwreck that inspired Moby Dick.”
This led to a conversation about his experience a couple of years back touring in Claypool’s Flying Frog Brigade, playing their interpretation of my favorite Pink Floyd album Animals. To my ears, the coldness of the sound reaches into the fascist despair of the lyrics that creates a proto post-punk sound never matched or attempted by the band again. I don’t know the thrill of bringing that dark vision to life in front of thousands of people, but I have lived vicariously through it now. Thanks, man.
I haven’t read Ulysses yet but I am very familiar with Homer’s source material, and the lost mariner from antiquity at the prow of that work. He’s the archetype of the marooned hero who returns to the flux of the tide to brave the sea’s capriciousness and forge new adventures on the sideways journey to Home at Last. If that isn’t the life of a constantly working and touring musician, then nothing else is, and if Mike Dillon isn’t the very model of that musician, then no one is. Check out his song, from your speakers to the stage.
Happy New Year, welcome home and to strange waters alike.
New Year’s Day
It’s the inaugural day for the new calendar, and while we must move forward through those pages due to the ineluctable pull of time in this dimension of reality, we are nonetheless drawn to the past by our nature, a mini-paradox of the human experience and sensibilities. Exactly 29 years ago was the day we lost the brilliant songwriter Townes Van Zandt, so it’s appropriate that there’s going to be a celebration of his music at the Outer Space tonight at 6 p.m. Local heroes like Ruby Ruth George, Katie Belknap, Turtle Goodwater, John Ray and a few more will be picking and pickin’ the master’s tunes ($10).
Friday
There’s another birthday celebration at the Arcata Playhouse tonight at 7 p.m. This time it’s honoring the 70th run around the sun of Latin musician David Peñalosa with music from Palante, Tropiqueño and Timbata.Latin dance and food in the cold of winter sounds just about right. Go to the Playhouse’s website for more information and to snap up a $10 ticket.
Across the bay an hour later at the Kaptain’s Quarters, you will find Daniel Nickerson and Friends playing covers and originals for free-ninety-free to all-ages.
Saturday
Russian Soviet inventor Leon Theremin didn’t just invent the touchless, singing electronic wave machine that bears his last name and which briefly made Clara Rockmore a household name in the mid-20th century while also dominating the sonic landscape of sci-fi and horror films, he is also known for his spycraft. Just look up the Thing — not the films, but the actual Thing — an early masterpiece of passive electronic transmission that let the Reds keep an ear on those damn Yankees in the immediate years after World War II. In short, he was a genius, and while his titular analog device might be largely gone, it is certainly not forgotten. You can hear it in operation tonight at 5 p.m. at the Void, when EtherAir takes over the live airwaves, along with a much more ancient instrument of similar renown, the didgeridoo. It’s free and all-ages, so bring the kiddos.
If you want to bring something else tonight, like the funk, head over to Humbrews at 8:30 p.m. for a session with New Orleans’ own Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Local supergroup HotFoot opens, and tickets are going for $35 at the door, $5 less if purchased in advance.
Sunday
Speaking of Humbrews and New Orleans, the mighty Mike Dillon Band brings some fine talent to town. You might remember Bay Area saxophonist Chris Boa from his previous jams in these parts with Pink Floyd tribute act Money, and anyone who knows about the good bespoke modern jam iterations of another important “J” word (jazz) will be familiar with Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, whose founding pianist Brian Haas will be torching the keys in the band tonight as well. Humbrews has been really good at putting on surprise heavy-hitting shows, and this is not one to sleep on. Tickets are $18 in advance, $20 at the door. Viva 2026.
Collin Yeo (he/him) probably has a few trips left in him before he finds his way home. He lives in Arcata.
This article appears in Top 10 Stories of 2025.