I’m writing this around the 90th anniversary of the murder of the Spanish poet Federico Lorca during the Spanish Civil War by the brutal Nationalist forces under the command of eventual dictator Francisco Franco. I say “around” because the actual timeline of his abduction and assassination is still uncertain, as are the whereabouts of his remains, but it’s fairly agreed-upon who shot him, if not exactly why. The Spanish Civil War had a lot of different factions, and Lorca was friendly with quite a few of them. His death stands for many things, and among them is a reminder that there is nothing neat and clean or “civil” about a time of violent skirmishes and vendetta power-grabs inside of a nation, united or otherwise.
Lorca was a favorite poet of Leonard Cohen — Cohen being a favorite poet of mine whose final album provides the title for this week’s column — who named his only daughter after the Spaniard and who died of old age 10 years ago come November, on the eve of our current president’s first electoral victory. A reminder that the past is both near and far, like sunlight or the cold breath from the winds on a distant mountaintop. I have mentioned this before, but let me re-up the pitch: If you are interested in learning more about the Spanish Civil War from the words of the writers and artists who lived through it, a friend lent me a superb compilation of writings — including the words of folks like Langston Hughes, John Dos Passos and Arthur Koestler — edited by the author Pete Ayrton titled ¡No Pasaran!: Writings from the Spanish Civil War. Thanks Jonny, I’ll give it back soon after a quick reread, I promise.
Speaking of history overlapping with the present and book recommendations from friends, I recently learned from an investigative piece I read that Amazon is purchasing rare books to train its AI models before destroying those books. Yes, you read that correctly. And while I have some very clear and simple thoughts on how to fix this evil problem permanently, I have decided to keep those to myself at the moment for what I hope are obvious reasons. However, in a feat of synchronicity, one of my friends recommended a book to me by the Czech author Bohumil Hrabal that deals with an eerily similar concept before I had even learned about that horror. It’s called Too Loud a Solitude and, without giving too much away, its protagonist is a fellow whose job it is to run an incinerator for paper trash, including many banned books, which he chooses to do something else with in defiance of his vocation. Read it while you can.
Have a week that defies something and/or someone.
Thursday
Robert Henry and the Repeaters are a country act from Portland, Oregon, that incorporates all the best parts of swing and honkytonk to kick up a good time like a pack of dust devils. Not only are they rolling through town, but they’re playing at the Logger Bar, one of the best venues for this type of commotion. The fun starts around 9 p.m., and the door is a mere $5.
Friday
The Arcata Playhouse is presenting a Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett Tribute Concert tonight at 8 p.m. The music will be provided by local jazzbos RLA along with Gary Lewis on saxophone and flute, while the voice will come courtesy of veteran singer Brad Curtis. At $20 a ticket, this gig is a bargain for anyone who loves the velvet pipes and heartwork phrasing of these two departed masters.
Saturday
If you have ever wondered what kind of magic lurks in our local electro music scene, you could hardly hope for a better showcase than tonight’s shindig in the Swan Room at the Shanty at 8 p.m. Elegant Humanoid, Hudson Glover and Shiny Eyes all represent both the best and most diverse examples of that magic place where human expression meets sine waves and amplified sound to create new color wheels for the ears of the soul. Seriously, this is a fantastic lineup and it don’t cost nothing but your time, for which you will be paid back and then some.
Sunday
Every so often a group of gentlefolk get together to put on a sweet little acoustic concert in the Arcata Community Forest and it goes a little something like this: Meet up in the field by the playground at Redwood Park at 5:30 p.m. for a wee stroll into the forest at 6 p.m. where the concert will commence. Today’s players are Nigella Baur, Lxs Perdidxs, The Comforters and Jackalope Jill. The flyer I saw made no mention of a cost, but perhaps bring an amount of currency to donate to the musicians.
Monday
The Siren’s Song Tavern is hosting a rad and rancid metal show at 8 p.m. tonight, when Bay Area symphonic black metal act Vesseles will pump dark ichor out of their claws and into their amps to infest your ears with the with the chthonic language of the dungeon-born. I got a preview of the stuff and I liked it, and the cauldron is sweetened with the addition of local master blasters Psyop Victim and Strider.The $10-$20 sliding scale cost is worth it to hear the Gorgons howl in lament for the frozen stones of their exiled home.
Tuesday
“Eternal Tapestry” sounds like a description of the sky from a lost canto by Ezra Pound continuing the poet’s obsession with The Odyssey, but it’s actually a pretty neat psych-rock band from Portland that had an impressive run in the sun for a while. One of its members is Dewey Mahood, who has maintained another fine project called Plankton Wat for a timespan that would impress Homer’s titular lost mariner (I haven’t had a chance to see the movie yet and it’s been bugging me). This act will be coming ashore at the Miniplex for an early show tonight at 7 p.m. Also on the bill is Western Extra,one of the best acts our coast has to offer and one which you will be hearing about more in this space in the future ($10).
Wednesday
As it happens in the summertime, there are going to be quiet nights during the week. So even if you feel like checking out the regular Jazz Bros jam at the Logger Bar at 4:30 p.m., it will wrap up as the evening begins, leaving the night up to you.
Collin Yeo (he/him) would like to send out an adios from deep in his ticker to Frank Beard, the human metronome for ZZ Top, the greatest boogie band Texas ever produced. Jesus just left Chicago and the beat just left the Lone Star State.
This article appears in Reports from the Grand Jury.