A year ago this week, I was standing over the corpse of my dad on a bright morning, trying to manage my shock while working out the correct order of people and professional agencies to call. I was surprised by this shock for a couple of reasons. His death was expected — he had an […]
Arcata Playhouse
Posted inArts + Scene
Music Today: Sunday, July 7
Humboldt Hot Air, our region’s free internet radio station and a beacon of the off-beat and pulse for the proper goods since KHSU was assassinated, is holding a fundraising fest today at the Arcata Playhouse and adjacent areas. This free, all-ages “fun-raising” event will feature two stages for live music, vendors, food trucks, a vinyl […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Music Tonight: Friday, April 12
I really don’t want to write about the pandemic, so I’ll just say that 2021 was a heavy time for this beat, and the only real moment of grace came when the fever broke a bit in November and I was able to slink out of hiding to catch and review my first live show […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Music Tonight: Saturday, March 9
There are two world-class, world music ensembles available at your pleasure tonight at 8 p.m. but, due to the nature of time and space in our particular reality, you will have to decide which one fits your tastes better. Over at the Arcata Playhouse, as a part of the tail-end of the Zero to Fierce […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Music Tonight: Friday, March 1
It’s the first night of the eighth annual Zero to Fierce Festival, with events generally centered around the Arcata Playhouse and the Exit Theatre. Tonight’s soiree sees an art gallery pop-up in the front of the Playhouse called the Womxn’s Art Show, and features an all-ages and multimedia format. DJ Dastbunny provides the sonic ambience […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Music Tonight: Wednesday, Feb.7
Multi-instrumentalist Tony Furtado is a perfect fit for the catch-all water basin genre of Americana music, as he plays just about every stringed instrument in the American roots songbook, and he plays them very well. He also possesses a voice capable of carrying the tune for the blue hills and far into the dappled valley […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Music Tonight: Saturday, Feb. 3
David Ambrosio is a New York City bassist at the helm of a group called Civil Disobedience, which is a quintet dedicated to playing the politically charged music of the 1960s from noted jazz label Blue Note Records. These pieces are steeped in the battles and political incursions of its tumultuous birth decade, with the […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Blue Lake Celebrates Joan Schirle Day
The city of Blue Lake celebrates the late Joan Schirle, award-winning and beloved theater pioneer and founding artistic director of Dell’Arte International, on Sunday, Feb. 4. Events for Joan Schirle Day (as proclaimed by the city in November of 2023) include breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m. at Mad River Grange, Joan Schirle videos from […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Music Tonight: Monday, Jan. 15
Band of Brothers is a jazz quartet composed of two sets of very incredible musical siblings. Tony Levin is likely the most familiar of the crew, because beyond his bass and chapman stick work with everyone from King Crimson to Peter Gabriel, he is often found in this very venue with one of his impressive […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Match Girl Strikes a Chord at the Playhouse
The Little Match Girl: A Warm Tale on a Cold Night, written and directed by James Peck and Sarah Peters Gonzalez, is the annual holiday show at Arcata Playhouse. It is a re-imagination of Hans Christian Andersen’s famous short story “The Little Match Girl,” with more plot, contemporary comment and a twist on the ending. […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Music Tonight: Friday, Nov. 17
As we wind up to next Thursday’s holiday, the gigs get sparse. To correct for this rocky landing, I’m going to double up on shows, starting today and through every day of the weekend, so you can get your kicks one way or another. Tonight’s very different events start at 8 p.m. Over at the […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Music Tonight: Saturday, Nov. 11
A jazz night tonight sounds just about right, especially considering the dramatic weather we’ve had pouring down on our hat brims and pooling around our gumshoes recently. Let’s start with the double bill at the Basement, where from 6 to 8 p.m. you can listen to Gil Cline’s Midnight Jazz-Tet do it right. Afterward, sax […]