This one goes to a hard deadline and print on the first Election Day of 2026 for us Californicators, so bear that in mind while reading whatever comes next. Regarding the gubernatorial race, I am tempted to write “whoever wins, we lose,” but that’s not my exact sentiment. I’ll be cautiously optimistic if Tom Steyer turns out to be the class-traitor he’s running as and manages to defeat that British TV creep Hilton and the human wishing well for corporate PAC money Becerra. It’s a tough call, voters are nothing if not stupid, and I can absolutely understand the faux-intellectual allure of a cretin with a posh limey accent doing real numbers, just as I can imagine identity politics dead-enders thinking they are getting some kind of win for representation from a man who perfectly embodies the ability of the rich to smother progress by paving over every avenue of human yearning with truckloads of filthy money. This is my form of optimism and glasses half-full of silver linings in a country ruled by a party of corrupt, fascist pedophiles and a party too crooked, cowardly or collaborative to oppose them.
Anyway, good luck to the best in the field. I’m feeling oddly good about the complex character of my home state — political and otherwise — and it’s mostly because I just watched Sideways for the second time since it came out in 2004. The Alexander Payne hit about a staggering week of pre-wedding misadventures of two desperate shitheads through the wine country of Santa Barbara County. Our only Golden State president Richard Nixon — Reagan doesn’t count as he was an Illinois man — understood that politics are more orthogonal than direct, much like the human experience itself, and the tension between authenticity and ostentation can create the same sparks and disasters as two-phase wiring, another 90-degree concept. Just like the bottles of wine that flood and propel the narrative of the film. They look classy and sophisticated when stored properly in racks before decanting, but become trashy and tragic laying empty on the floor after the party, even though they are in the same sideways position as before. People do this, too, in fits and phases, and can as easily taste the sublime vintage of truth from a Styrofoam cup and paired with onion rings just as they can feel nothing at all in far richer venues. There’s a clumsy but apt metaphor here, one that applies to elections and live music in a way that balances optimism and realism just fine. It’s good enough for my entry this week into the Journal of politics, people & art. Sip or quaff, spit or swallow, there’s something out there for all of us.
Thursday
Philadelphia’s Cigarettes for Breakfast is currently on its first West Coast tour and making a stop at Outer Space tonight at 7 p.m. to share some loud and lovely shoegaze music. The genre, which, at nearly 40 must be older than any of the band’s members, is originally a mostly British phenomenon known for lush and noisy soundscapes full of melody and waves of distortion in near equal measures. The group’s recent EP Colour Wheel from back in March has scads of that business all over the place. If that sounds like a good time to you, bring $10-$20 for the suggested donation and enjoy the stylings of local acts Lady in Waiting and Public Diary as well.
Friday
How about another free rock show at the Shanty tonight? This one is full of local critters, all from the neighborhood of punk and metal, but represent some of the coolest cats on that block. So come through at 9 p.m. and check out the bangin’ and clangin’ of Berk and the Jerx, Ultramafic and Imperial Destructro.
Saturday
Guitarist Cole Berliner used to live in San Francisco and now hails from Los Angeles, just as he used to be in a band called Kamikaze Palm Tree, which became the duo Sharpie Smile and has downsized to just himself and his guitar for the purpose of his current tour. That guitar and its sounds are quite something though, as evidenced by his lovely album Black Door on Drag City Records from earlier this year, and will be a real treat for anyone who goes to Moss Oak Commons tonight around 7 p.m. The guitar master will be joined by local groups Pennies for Pluto and My Ex Wife, who have both garnered praise in Setlists past. The cost is a suggested $10-$20, but don’t let a lack of cash dissuade you from coming.
Sunday
The virtuosic sisters Natalie and Brittany (on cello and fiddle, respectively) form the duo HAAS, which is appropriately titled after their shared surname. They also share a love of all things string, weaving through the contemporary landscape of folk-to-classical genres with a supernatural grace. The ladies have been here before with different acts, but this is the first time they have played in our county as a duo. They are doing so at the Old Steeple, one of the best venues for this sort of affair. The show starts at 7:30 p.m., and tickets are $31.50.
Monday
June brings many wonders to Humboldt County, but live music Mondays are not always one of them.
Tuesday
The experimental jazz ensemble Strange Meeting has been having a regular practice meet up on Tuesdays at the Basement — when the joint is closed — for some time now. This has allowed the trumpeter Nicholas Talvola, sax player Russ Thallheimer, key-man Alex Espe and bassist/drummer rhythm section duo Ian Taylor and Shane Fox to build a flow state of after-jam, post-jazz perfection that has wowed more than a few people during a handful of shows around the area over the years. The group is trying out a new experiment along with the venue, which involves opening the joint up to the public for a chance to check out the creative process on the ground floor. Today is the first Tuesday of that sort, and for a suggested donation of $10, you can come hear the goods between 7 and 9 p.m.
Wednesday
I have mentioned the UFC once previously in this space because it caught my attention. I am of course referring to the local Ukulele Fight Club, which is not only having another workshop at Arcata’s D Street Community Center at 6 p.m. this evening, but also sponsoring a concert an hour later. The performing act in question is Maui’s Kanekoa String Trio, an abbreviated version of Kanekoa, known internationally for the last three decades as the premier ukulele-based jam band. The workshop and concert with this “island Grateful Dead” will run you $50, while it costs only $30 to enjoy the concert on its own.
Collin Yeo (he/him) doesn’t really like wine, but has enjoyed it with ice cubes on a hot day here and there.
This article appears in Cowbells and Crab Hands.