I had plans to write about some other things in the intro this week but have instead found myself washed up on another surprise holiday, this one being inconsequential and pretty annoying, President’s Day. I’ll call it Lundi Gras instead out of deference to my former New Orleans home, and like that in-between holiday, I feel unmoored. Bad news from last week has put a pry-bar to my perch, two items in particular, the first stupid and obnoxious, and the second tragic. I’m not going to write much about the proposed Amazon Distribution Warehouse in McKinleyville right now, other than to say at least one member of the planning department was exactly as sleazily sophistic as I expected. Treating the press and public as though they are carnival rubes to be rooked by obfuscatory wordplay is a common tactic for too many bureaucrats who think they are a lot cleverer than the record suggests. Well, enough of that.
The tragedy that came to my attention after last week’s deadline was the loss of Makenu bassist Lyza Padilla, who was swept away by a wave in her native Puerto Rico and is presumed dead by the U.S. Coast Guard, which suspended operations last Tuesday after an extensive search and rescue mission. I only knew her professionally, having both done sound for Makenu a handful of times and written about that excellent band as often as I could. Both experiences were a rare privilege and a genuine honor. Much like her bandmates, Lyza was a treat to work with, and like everyone involved in that group, she was immensely talented, which was belied by an easy-going nature behind the scenes. My most heartfelt condolences go out to her bandmates and loved ones, and from one bassist to another, she really fucking held it down heavy.
Losing someone so completely to the sea is something too many of us are familiar with in these parts. I lost a neighbor that way as a kid, and his disappearance never quite felt resolved, instead drifting between the past and present tense like a cloud from yesterday that comes across the sun from time to time. My hope is for that lost feeling to find its home in the music of her surviving bandmates as they carry on building their wonderful and immense sound into a safe harbor for those present and departed alike. Music is like the ocean, it belongs to all of us, at once primal and ancient but always in motion while so many of our loved ones float through it forever.
Thursday
The Neville Brothers are about as close as it comes to true royalty in New Orleans, containing in their ranks a founding member of funk masters The Meters and, of course, the eponymous band featuring soul superstar Aaron Neville. The youngest member of that family and a noted percussionist for The Meters is landing at Humbrews with his Mardi Gras tour tonight at 8:30 p.m. We’re talking about Cyril Neville backed up by his son’s band Omari Neville and the Fuel. Along for support is Seattle’s engaging and youthful group King Youngblood. It might be two days into Lent, but don’t let that stop you from having some fun ($30, $25 advance tickets).
Friday
Cooper Crain is busy, both as a member of noted Chicago drone band Cave and as one third of Bitchin Bajas, with a more explosive and fancy-free approach to their experimental jaunts through the airwaves. I think of track ‘Skylarking’ as a good example of the group’s sound, which unfolds like a synthetic barn swallow migrating through the transcontinental radio dial from Ethiopia to England. The Bajas are currently on tour with Geologist from Animal Collective — more on him later — but for scheduling reasons are providing the opening salvo to that invasion tonight at the Miniplex at 8:30 p.m. ($20). Local knob and tube wizz Hudson Glover is a fine opening match for this show.
Saturday
There are two rock shows happening on either side of the bay tonight, so I’ll spit it out quickly. Jacki & the Jollies are playing a free, all-ages gig with Dragged by Horses at the Historic Eagle House at 7:30 p.m.
An hour and a half later at the Wild Hare, you will find local shoegaze acts Petiole and Glacier Dorm (featuring members of Sugar Boys and Western Extra) teaming up with New York City’s indie rock trio Ditch, featuring returning local hero Ellis Wallace. Not free and not all-ages, this one costs $10.
Sunday
It’s the final showtime for this year’s Fiesta Folklórica at the Van Duzer Theatre at 2 p.m. Tickets will run you $10-$15 for a whole lot of music and dancing in celebration of Mexican culture through the ages. This is the fourth iteration of this offering from Cal Poly Humboldt’s Dance, Music and Theatre department, and, if previous years are any indication, this ain’t slowing down and it’s a fine, fine time for all comers.
Monday
Scottish folk singer and songwriter Jim Malcolm is playing a house show at 7 p.m. tonight for a suggested donation of $20. For more information about the performer as well as the whereabouts of this enigmatic gig, send a message to malcolm.flint@gmail.com with “Jim Malcolm concert reservation” as the subject line. We love a good mystery, don’t we folks?
Tuesday
We all love a bit of controversy from time to time, eh? It adds a little frisson to the week, so long as it’s harmless and done in small doses. This one seems to fit all descriptions above. While researching the Nani Vazana show at the Arcata Playhouse tonight at 7:30 p.m., I came across an open letter from the American Ladino League, a group of academics and ethnologists dedicated to preserving Ladino, an endangered language with its roots in the Sephardic Jewish diaspora after their expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula and into North Africa, Morocco and the Ottoman Empire. The group takes exception to Ms. Vazana representing some of her lyrics as authentically Ladino, particularly her award-winning tune “Una Segunda Piel.” I don’t have a side in this dispute, and I’m not suggesting you need have one either, I’m just reporting on my research and engaging some of the behavior my late grandmother used to scold me for as a child when she told me, “You’re always stirring the shit but you never have to lick the spoon.” Do what you want; I’m sure this is a fun show regardless, and the Playhouse is always a good time ($20 for general admission, $18 for fans of the Playhouse).
Wednesday
As hinted at in the beginning of the weekend, Brian Weitz, better known as Geologist to fans of his much-loved main band Animal Collective, is bringing his solo act to town tonight at the Miniplex at 8:30 p.m. Expect a lot of loops and sounds undergirding a shocking amount of hurdy gurdy playing from the man himself. Seems like fun, and with advance tickets going for $15 and $20 at the door, don’t let this one sell out before you commit. Complex Crown opens the night, featuring, I believe, my good buddy Max Brotman from Black Plate, unless memory fails me (as it has, more times than I can now remember, oh bitter irony).
Collin Yeo knows for whom the spoon licks. It licks for thee.
This article appears in 2026 Pet Photo Contest.