This month has been, for me, a period of increasing despair and detachment from the news at large, both at home and globally. It’s all so bad. And while I enjoyed the spirit of Spain beating Argentina in the FIFA finals, the whole spectacle itself felt like a stupider version of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. It’s tough to know what to do in such times, everything feels like such a cop-out or engagement with willful ignorance. The last time I can remember feeling this bad was during the leadup to the Iraq War. There must have been something that helped me get through that slow horror; I can’t recall. Maybe being so much younger things were just easier to absorb or deflect. Something has to help, though. We all need some medicine here and there.
I don’t know if I can vouch for humanity, or if anything can save us in a tangible, grand sense. But I have listened to Jimi Hendrix’s music for over 40 years, and I have heard an unrealized possibility there that carries me beyond the range of description for every sense I know. In that unfamiliar place, I didn’t feel a fear of the unknown or the inescapable vacuum of death, but a love that might infiltrate every aspect of reality with the casual majesty of daybreak. Returning to his music, or the music of other rare geniuses from J.S. Bach to J. Coltrane, during dark times isn’t a retreat from reality, but a reminder of some of the many other colors out there beyond the black rainbow of our current bloody eclipse.
Have a bright week.
Thursday
In the interest of reporting on bands that have crossed my radar lately, might I suggest heading out to the Basement around 7:30 p.m. to check out funk and rock act Super Greens? The venue is always a delight, with a decently bounceable dance floor, and the door price is only $5, so all the ingredients have aligned for a nice midweek night.
Friday
How about a noisy hybrid show at the Siren’s Song to kick off your last weekend of July? Tacoma, Washington, psyche fuzz freaksters Serpentfoot are linking up with local metal monsters Psyop Victim and Weaverville prog-art trio Very Bold Rats for a chance for one and all to buzz and howl under the influence of heat, or whatever the Minutemen were on about. Doors are at 7:30 p.m., and the cost to stroll through is a very reasonable $5-$10 sliding scale.
Saturday
With the Humboldt Folklife Festival winding down, it’s a good time to celebrate the shows that are happening on the periphery of the main event. I don’t do this out of disrespect for the fest or the good people putting it on, but rather because it’s been a general policy of mine to assume that large, long-form events like this are more than adequately covered elsewhere, so my job is filling in the doodles in the margins, much like my hero, the cartoonist Sergio Aragonés.
In that spirit, here are a couple of options on the outside. Acoustic world music wizard Oryan Peterson-Jones is playing a free solo set at the Sea Goat Farmstand at 5 p.m.
If you are looking for an afterparty in Blue Lake after the big hoedown, head over to the Logger Bar at 9 p.m. for some country pickin’ courtesy of Turtle Goodwater and Co. This one’s free, too.
Sunday
Back to the Logger Bar today at 5 p.m. for a touring musician from the East Coast who relocated to Santa Barbara to work the left side of the country. The name is Lone Quail, and the sound is twilight Americana. I dig it, maybe you will, too. It’s a free show, so bring some bucks if you like what you hear.
Monday
Perhaps the late Tony Lewis of the Outfield said it best, “Stay the night but keep it undercover.”
Tuesday
I’m always happy to rep shows at RampArt Skate Park, it’s a cool venue and I saw one of my favorite bands, Napalm Death, tear it up there some years ago. There’s just something magical about hearing some proper shred and grind going down in an active skate zone for all ages to enjoy. It’s like underground freedom. Tonight, you can enjoy a decent punk show at 7 p.m. when Oakland femme punk act Fatale shares the bill with support from Something Wicked, Guffer, Executive Order and Far From Flaccid. Tickets are $15 at the door and $10 in advance.
Wednesday
How about a night of free reggae music courtesy local upsetters Irie Rockerz?Beat the hump day blues by heading over to the Wave Lounge at Blue Lake Casino at 7 p.m. for some syncopated fun. l
Collin Yeo (he/him) wants better days for everyone, in some sense or another.
This article appears in 20 Years at the Playhouse.