“Now some of us are weak, and some endure And some people live their lives, with a violence that’s pure and clean But I saw a man cry once, down on his knees, in the corner of a darkened cell And his pain meant nothing to me. But I was younger then, and young men […]
Makenu
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Music Tonight: Friday, March 28
Speaking of cumbia music and Latin grooves, if you really want to dance your ass down to a nub with some of the finest beat chugging sound blasters in the country, swing over to Humbrews at 9 p.m. for a hefty dose of Makenu, who have set the marker many times over for the county […]
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The Merry Minuet
Today’s column is named after a Sheldon Harnick song, as performed by The Kingston Trio. It’s a satirical piece about unrest and violence in the world being solved by the modest proposal of unleashing the atomic bomb on the whole of humanity because “What nature doesn’t do to us, will be done by our fellow […]
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Music Tonight: Monday, May 6
Can’t complain about a cumbia night on a Monday, especially in May, when Humboldt starts to unfurl its evening petals in deference to the nicer weather. The Miniplex is the place to be, and this ticket is HOT. Too-good-to-be-real local masters Makenu are bringing their deliriously joyful party sound to the stage, along with punk/cumbia […]
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Music Tonight: Monday. Feb. 26
Bolero! from San Francisco is a group dedicated to remembering the psychedelic rock sounds and Latin vibes that briefly made that city a beacon of youth culture in the 1960s and 1970s. A memory stone from an age before four decades of Reaganomics and venture capital turned that once-beautiful peninsula into a shittier version of […]
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Music Tonight: Saturday, Dec. 16
Two shows tonight because things thin out a bit later on in the column, so I’m packing more options on the weekend. However, these are a toss up, happening at roughly the same time in two different cities, so you gotta pick one. At 6:30 p.m. at the Arcata Theatre Lounge, it’s Humboldt Surfrider’s fifth […]
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New Moon Fever
I don’t attribute much of human behavior to the far-out celestial bodies in our solar system. Credit that to a rebellious streak I’m employing against my now-deceased parents who met in the 1970s in a transcendental “community” that was somewhat active in that archetyping. I don’t worry about which planet is in retrograde. I do, […]
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Music Today: Saturday, July 29
The Mattole Grange in Petrolia is hosting the 30-plus annual Roll on the Mattole festival starting at high noon today. This fundraiser for the Honeydew Volunteer Fire Department is full of local talent, including Makenu, Alex Kent, Horse Mountain Band, Checkered Past, SoHum Girls and Elderberry Rust String Band. Entrance is free for kids 12 […]
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Roll Call!
It’s time for Roll on the Mattole, Saturday, July 29, from noon to midnight at Mattole Grange ($30, $25 seniors/students, free for kids 12 and under w/adult). The annual benefit for the Honeydew Volunteer Fire Department is a hot affair with dancing, drinks, food and craft vendors, a wildland firefighter challenge and a full day […]
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Nuclear Summer
I watched Oppenheimer this weekend and, as current movies aren’t my beat, I’m not going to comment on the film itself, except to say that “Property is theft” is a Proudhon quote, not from Marx. I felt a lot of things about the movie and, ultimately, left thinking about how depressed George Orwell was by […]
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Music Today: Sunday. June 18
Fernstock, Fernstock, Fernstock! Fernstock 2023 is coming to the Humboldt County Fairgrounds today. Starting at noon, there will be two stages with 15 bands competing for $5,000 and a chance to play at the Humboldt County Fair. In addition to the music, there will be oodles of food and local vendors, tasty local beverages, family […]
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Songs for Summer
As a music-obsessed teen in the late-1990s, I often found myself at odds with prevailing sensibilities, an alienating experience that has actually helped me over the years. How? Well, to paraphrase my cousin Jet, the secret of eternal relevance is a withering distrust of most current popular culture. So while some of my peers were […]