Orange County Music Blog

​Happy Halloween folks in Intranets land! We all know this is by far the best time of year and you know who agrees? Alex's Bar. The famed Long Beach venue has two shows this weekend that will absolutely rule.

Tonight is the Night Marchers. Fronted by former Rocket from the Crypt singer/guitarist John "Speedo" Reis, the San Diego quartet rocks, rolls, pops and shuffles for a killer sound that could come only from Reis.

For some reason, the bar is closed Saturday, but Sunday more than makes up for that. Sean Wheeler and Zander Schloss are returning with their acoustic folk/bluegrass/soul hybrid that is pretty much the best shit I've heard in years. Seriously folks, they rule. Also on the bill is Jace Everett, who apparently sings the theme song to True Blood, which just so happens to be filmed at Alex's. But I wouldn't know: I don't watch soap operas.

So Halloween is my favorite day of the year and my two favorite bands are playing walking distance to my house. Needless to say, this is gonna be a good one for me. I hope it'll be a good one for you, too. Sorry kiddies, both shows are 21+.

​Just one day before a newly reunited Sublime is scheduled to play its first announced reunion gig at the Cypress Hill Smoke Out Festival, the estate of late singer Bradley Nowell has issued a statement explaining their position on the matter.

Basically, they ain't happy. Nowell's wife Troy, son Jakob and father Jim explain that they are very supportive of bassist Eric Wilson and drummer Bud Gaugh performing Sublime music, but not under the Sublime name. And with Nowell gone and new singer/guitarist Rome Ramirez in the mix, you can see how calling the new act Sublime might cause a problem.  Furthermore, they plan to take legal action to "protect Brad's legacy."

In case you've been living under a rock for the past 15 years, Sublime was a Long Beach ska/punk/reggae/dub trio on the verge of becoming one of the most popular bands in recent memory until Nowell passed away on tour due to a heroin overdose. Immediately following his death, Wilson and Gaugh formed the Long Beach Dub All Stars with members of the extended Sublime family to carry on the Sublime legacy by playing the hits and writing new material. LBDAS broke up in 2002.

Keep reading for the estate's statement.

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There's no getting around it: the coolest show in town this weekend is clearly Kid Sister and Flosstradamus, this Friday (that's tomorrow!) at Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. Kid Sister is a long-blogged about rapper named after an '80s doll; Flosstradamus is a DJ duo that includes Kid Sister's younger brother, J2K. (Sort of disorienting, sure.) Both are from Chicago, which is pretty cool. The show also represents the triumphant return of BusyWork resident DJ Dan Sena to Detroit (the Wednesday night dance par-tays have been replaced by "Pistol" in recent weeks), and features opening act Totally Michael. While it's hard to call the considerably self-awarely geeky Totally Michael "cool," but he does have a song ("Casual Satisfaction") where the chorus is "Damn girl, you make my dick erect, my dick erect" followed by a female singing "Ooh ooh boy, you make my pussy wet, my pussy wet," so that's something.

So how can this alright too-cool-for-school night possibly get even a shred cooler? Why, by adding the coolest element of all: value! Those that RSVP (read: send an e-mail) to lbf@detroitbar.com will get $10 admission before 10 p.m. (doors open at 8); a savings of $10 off the normal ticket price. Yes, that's 50% off a show that's easily twice as cool as anything else going on that night. (OK, I think we've exhausted our daily allotment of any and all derivations of the word "cool." Sorry about that.) Yeah, getting to a place before 10 p.m. may not be very cool hip, but given how much is going on with this show, you'll be doing yourself a service in the long-run.

If you need any more tempting, relevant tracks including Kid Sister's current hit "Right Hand Hi," are after the jump.

Chris Sansenbach

U2 in Anaheim, April 2005.

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U2, YouTube. It just makes too much sense.

We talked earlier this week about how massively packed the Rose Bowl in Pasadena will be for the U2 show this Sunday, with 100,000 cross-generational music fans coming from across Southern California--really, just think about that drive there, and the parking, and the leaving the parking lot, and the drive home. It took me a half hour to leave the parking garage of the Bren Events Center at UCI on Sunday, for goodness sake, and this is what's expected to be the largest attended in the Rose Bowl's history.

None of that will keep people home--the show has been sold out for a while. Which makes it all the sweeter that for those of us stuck at home, we'll be able to squeal with delight over Joshua Tree songs and make a snack during tracks from new album No Line on the Horizon, thanks to YouTube, who will be live streaming the show starting at 8:30 p.m. this Sunday. We're covered in America, of course, and also in the UK, France, Canada, Italy, Spain, Japan, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Mexico, India, Israel, South Korea, and Netherlands. Good work, other countries!

YouTube's promotional video--yeah, a video about a video presentation from the most famous video site, pretty trippy--on the broadcast after the jump.

Chris Sansenbach via Flickr.

U2 in Anaheim, April 2005.

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There are going to be about 100,000 fans, from all around Southern California, this Sunday at the U2 show at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. 100,000 people driving in from across SoCal, converging at one public place--can't imagine any problems with traffic, right?

The fine people at the Rose Bowl and Live Nation are so concerned (rightly so) about what could be a clusterfuck rivaling the size of Bono's ego that they've released a series of recommendations to help ease the crunch. Here are the basic guidelines: arrive early (before 4 p.m.); if you have to park buy in advance (the last day to do so is tomorrow at 10 a.m.); take shuttle buses/public transportation if possible; carpool as much as you can. There's even something called "Picnic in the Park" with several area restaurants partcipating, if you're worried that getting there early means you won't be able to eat before the show; they've got you covered. Thanks, dudes!

Surely lots of OC peeps are headed up north for the show--are you? Let us know in the comments. More details are here. The full text of Live Nation's press release is after the jump.

​Rick Berry's a lot of things. Some of these things include jazz trumpeter (currently in the Hollywood Canteen Swing Band), political candidate (he ran for Long Beach city council) and gardener (he's got a killer backyard garden). But to the rest of the world, he's got a new title that is pretty darn spiffy--marketing manager for the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra.

If you're like me, you're wondering why a jazzman is getting in bed with classical music. I just had to ask.

1. Tell the people a little bit about yourself.

I was born in Washington, DC, but my family moved to Long Beach in 1962 when I was just a baby. I've been in Long Beach my whole life, living in Alamitos Heights, the Peninsula, Belmont Shore and now downtown. I have an Electrical Engineering degree from CSULB, an MBA from Pepperdine, and a certificate in Nonprofit Arts Management from CSULB. Most of my career has been marketing electronic components for local manufacturers.

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When we asked Ed Bridgeford, the president of the Orange County Theater Organ Society what type of audience one could expect at one of his organization's events, he showed the kind of diplomacy that must have gotten him elected in the first place.

​Long Beach has a lot of bands, but none of them exemplify pure rock 'n' roll as well as D-Strutters. The group--singer/guitarist Joe Roads, guitarist George Velvet, bassist Tony and drummer Heath--leave all pretense behind for a straight-ahead bombastic blast like the Stones would be writing if they weren't 90 years old. 

If you don't know them, now you do, because here's an interview with Roads.

If you can't catch D-Strutters Friday at the Slide Bar, you're in luck because they're also playing Oct. 17 at the House of Blues, Oct. 18 at Alex's Bar and Halloween at Fern's. 

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Shuli Egar is a hard-working man. When he's not covering breaking news stories such as the Craptacular (two guys competing to see who could shit the most over a 24-hour period) for the Howard 100 News team on Sirius Satellite Radio, he's hosting the Miserable Men show every Sunday, contributing to the team on The Jay Thomas Show or traveling across the country nearly every weekend to perform stand-up comedy. Oh yeah, he's also having his first child--a daughter--in March.

The 35-year-old is performing Friday at the Grove of Anaheim as part of the Killers of Comedy with Howard Stern show regulars including the barely literate stand-up Rev. Bob Levy, insult comic Yucko the Clown, microcephalic dwarf Beetlejuice and fellow comedian John Tole.

Egar, born in Israel and raised in Los Angeles, now lives in New York City. We caught up with him for a Q&A.

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The Psychedelic Furs, in concert Saturday at the House of Blues in Anaheim, have been together for more than 30 years (albeit with a nine year hiatus between 1991 and 2000), and produced seven studio albums. But let's face it, what they're still most known for is their 1981 song "Pretty in Pink," which inspired the title of the iconic 1986 John Hughes-penned, Molly Ringwald-starred movie of the same name (and featured a re-recorded version of the song on the soundtrack).

And as it often goes with beloved tunes, "Pretty in Pink" has inspired a variety of cover versions, from some very different acts. Luckily enough, some of the covers are actually even good!

17 Hippies mashes up the torrent of sounds that flooded West Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

​If Gogol Bordello is the Rolling Stones of gypsy punk, 17 Hippies must be their more literate Beatles counterpart. Berlin's "orchester spezial" plays a dizzying, high-energy mixture of French songs, English ballads and Eastern European rhythms that will you have you wondering what exactly you're listening to--as you tap your feet to it.

But before proceeding any further, we must confront the name. There are only 13 musicians in 17 Hippies and none are hippies in the peace, love and flowers in their hair sense. One is called a hippie in Germany for half succeeding at any idealistic pursuit--like forming an acoustic folk outfit six years after the Berlin Wall fell and setting out to change the world armed only with a banjo, ukulele, accordion, trombone, trumpet, violin, cello, woodwinds, mandolin, Irish bouzouki, guitar, double bass, Indian harmonium and, from the sounds of it, kitchen sink.

Courtesy of Pacific Symphony

​Who doesn't love a good sale--especially in these dreary economic times? Here's one: the Pacific Symphony is celebrating its upcoming season--their 20th year with musical director/conductor Carl St.Clair, pictured--with a chance to score some half-price tickets.

This Sunday and Monday only (August 30 and 31), head to the Pacific Symphony website, for a 50% discount on each single ticket bought online. The sale ends 11:50 p.m. Monday, August 31st.

The next event on Pacific Symphony's calendar is the "Tchaikovsky Spectacular - Music for the Cure" at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine on September 12. Following that is three nights of "Midori Plays Tchaikovsky" from September 24-26 at Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. This season's pops series kicks off with Patty LuPone at Segerstrom Concert Hall, October 8-10.

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It's not much, but consider this meager post the first preemptive stitch to our coverage of the Street Scene '09 festival happening in Sand Diego this weekend, Aug. 28-29. Before you say anything, we know that San Diego is not in Orange County. Though it could be argued that some cities at the ass end of the OC seem just a far away in the middle of rush hour traffic.

But geographical questions aside, our music editor Albert Ching will be giving you some up close iPhone coverage of the whole shebang, along with help from photographer Beth Stirnaman and...myself (I'm just going for the party). But yeah, it appears that the 25th anniversary of ths SD music fest has brought out a swell of indie star power and even some mainstream radio star power (thanks, Black Eyed Peas). And for those who missed out on Coachella and can't make the drive to the Outsidelands Festival in San Fran, this is the perfect opportunity to see almost the exact same line up. Literally, check it out HERE. See any familiar names?

Well for those of you who are fortunate enough to go down south this weekend, we were wondering who you're interested in seeing the most? I know, we're soooo nosy. But seriously, is it the chance to see Chuck D and Flavor Flav of Public Enemy that floats your boat (though I can't believe how low they are on the festival flier YET AGAIN). Or maybe you're looking forward to some Holy Fuck and Busta Rhymes. C'mon....tell us. We won't judge you, that much.

Chris Victorio

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It's that sad time of the year, when fair season is just about over. (Insert joke about saying goodbye to bizarre fried foods here.) The OC Super Fair ends on Sunday, but there's a show each night until then to help you bid farewell to the magical land of ferris wheels and zucchini dogs.

​If you're looking for something to do Saturday and have a thing for show-tunes, then drop by the Samueli Theater at OCPAC, for their annual Summer at the Center concert. Every year, OCPAC holds the Summer at the Center program from July 20 to August 1 to benefit at-risk and under-privileged kids in Orange County by engaging them in the performing arts through singing, dancing, and acting lessons. This is its 18th year. 

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In this recession-plagued economy, the most enticing word has to be free. Free is good, free is seductive. It usually doesn't really matter what that free is (within reason). As long as you don't have to pay for it then why in the world are you complaining?

To capitalize on that theme, here are a series of classical concerts coming up this month that are family friendly, fun, and--did I mention--free? Just remember to bring some beach chairs, blankets and munchies. After that, sit back and relax as you take in relaxing music underneath the California sky. 

The perfect way to spend a summer evening is just after the jump. 

It's not often that Pearl Jam, the Rolling Stones, No Doubt, U2, the Cure, the Dave Matthews Band and Bruce Springsteen perform a free concert in Long Beach. In fact, it's never happened. Unfortunately, you can add tomorrow as just another one of those days when that dream bill won't come to fruition.

But what do you do when you can't see the real deal? Tribute bands. Yes, that's right, a bunch of groups with names that have something to do with the artists they cover are playing a free show in Long Beach as part of the Summer and Music concert series. Scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. (sharp people!), the lineup includes Vitalogy, Satisfaction (come on fellas, you couldn't have found a less obvious name than that?), No Duh (winner of the best cover band name), Stepping Feet, the Rising, the Cured (runner-up for best cover band name) and Hollywood U2.

The bands that sound and look like other way more popular bands are playing near the intersection of Pine Avenue and Shoreline Drive, which is a pretty neat spot to waste a summer Saturday.

By now, 2008 just seems like a distant memory doesn't it? Sure you may be saddled with the same debt, the same crappy economy (though I believe it's been taking pride in getting progressively worse lately), but so much else has changed. Maybe it's the feeling of a semi-fresh new year that inspired the Hermosa-based punk legends of Circle Jerks come back to take care of some unfinished business at the House of Blues.

The last show they were scheduled to play at the Anaheim HOB on Aug. 15, 2008 got was canceled. Luckily when the band rescheduled for 2009, there was at least the assurance that OC fans were not going to miss out on a chance to watch Keith Morris, Greg Hetson, Zander Schloss and Kevin Fitzgerald do their thing at the House of Mouse.

Tomorrow, June 20, that day will finally come. The band is also performing with Channel 3 and Disguster two bands from OC's own backyard.And for those who are ready to not just watch the band thrash around on six albums worth of material, including the stuff between the ellipses of multiple hiatuses, this show will provide one of the best mosh pits of the summer. The show is presented by Punk Rockers.com. If any last-minute laggers still need tickets, check HERE. 

Nine bands, two DJs, 31 artists and YOU. For over 10 years Long Beach has celebrated their Tour de Artistes event hoping to drag some well-deserved spotlight on the arts and music scene thriving in the various parts of the city. Harvested together in several locations downtown on Long Beach Blvd. and Broadway, the tour continues to evolve every year as new bands, more artists and a bigger budget come into play.

Taking place from 4-10 p.m., this FREE event is a full evening of walk-by exhibitions at the Promenade Phantom Gallery, 505 Broadway Gallery and others as well as live music by plenty of our favorite Long Beach bands (i.e. most of the one's we've written about) located on the main Music stage and the Beer Garden Stage. Specifically, it includes names like Blank Blue, Deep Sea Diver, Eugene and the 1914 and many more.

In a busy weekend packed with great shows, this one should definitely be on your list. Stay tuned for a full report and maybe even some pics (gasp!) as I hop on my ultra-hip fixie (actually, that was a lie, I'll be driving my car there) and set out for my first ever experience at this Long Beach culture fest. Should be epic.

For more details on everything going on with this event check out their website HERE!

  

There are certain things that we've just come to expect from Downtown Fullerton's Continental Room. Peeling back the heavy wooden door on a weekend might as well be the opening to some cinematic club shot where everything just seems to fit into place. Eclectic packs of twentysomethings bathe under flush bar lighting armed with half-melted spirits and loud conversations. Music blares from the back on the corner stage as people try desperately to maneuver past a packed dance floor as bouncer flash lights shoo them on. But apart from the Vegas lounge aesthetics, the one thing you can always count on is some legit soul music of every shade. This Sunday will be no different as L.A. reggae/dub outfit The Lions let out a relaxed roar of swirling brass and island bravado on a pack live music junkies.

Fronted by Alex Desert and Deston Barry of Hepcat, this collective of 13-some-odd musicians offer up an irie stew of sounds barely contained by the slim parameters of the stage. Pounding percussion and strutting bass lines are the skeleton that holds together gems like "Ethio Steppers" while the slow moving psychedelics of "Cumia Del Leon" is a perfect match to your well cultivated alcohol buzz. To top it off, the band is performing two sets, giving you no excuse to miss out on this one. Altogether these Ubiquity recording artists are one more reason why their label remains so, uh, ubiquitous inside the walls of Continental.

Look out for a cavalcade of crate diggers to warm up the dance floor leading up to the late night headliner. DJs Bobby Soul, Thee Conductor, DJ Hyder and HM Selectah will no doubt bombard you with their firm collection of exotic rhythms, break beats and old school flavor. I don't know why they choose to spoil you people like this, I really don't.

Here's a bit of what you can expect on Sunday:
   

It's not the De La Soul show originally planned for the venue's reopening--that was moved to Redondo Beach--but there will still be a show at the Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana this Saturday, the first show at the venue in over a year. It's sort of a soft opening, with performances from Franki Doll and the Broken Toys (pictured during a gig last month at Chain Reaction), Six, Kansas City Gunfight, the Heathens and Riotgun. That's right, tow bands with "gun" in their names. Sounds like a wild time.

Next Saturday is a VIP reception and concert with Neil Diamond and Bob Seeger tribute bands; the next scheduled show is Doors tribute band Wild Child on March 26. Steven Adler's new post-Celebrity Rehab project, Adler's Appetite, will be there on April 17. That should be a fun one.

In case my story in this week's print edition wasn't enough for you, I was kind enough to transcribe my interview with singer/songwriter Tim Barry for your reading pleasure.

Tim's a great person to talk to and I hope you have half as much fun reading this as I did conducting the interview.

Fathers, lock up your daughters: Alfunction's coming to town.

It seems as if a little band named (hed) PE has upcoming shows and needs a bass player. Something about their regular bassist having work visa programs. I don't know... Anyway, like every smart set of musicians in Orange County, when stuck with this predicament, you call Alfunction.

Best know as the guitarist in local rock band SiX, Mr. Function will be holding down the low end on this trip. He's got to learn something like 20 songs in a few days, but based on my experience with him, that's like asking Kobe Bryant if he can dunk over an eight grader. Al's done the hired gun thing before (Cypress Hill and OPM), so this sort of thing isn't new to him.

I've played in two bands with Alfunction and he never ceased to amaze me. Whether it's an endless supply of Gene Simmons impressions, more auto knowledge than your local mechanic, a collection of gear that rivals Guitar Center or his kick-ass facial hair, Al rules. Oh, and I forgot, he's one of the best guitar players in this county and it's 'bout time the rest of you recognized that.

This new version of (hed) PE plays Friday in Petaluma and some mega-festival called the Locofest on March 14. Someone film that shit. I always get a kick out of seeing my friend on a big stage.

Currently ongoing at the Barbara & Ray Alpert Jewish Community Center in Long Beach is the fifth annual Jewlicious Festival, a three-day cultural celebration
featuring music and more, including a performance from (get ready to be shocked!) Matisyahu, pictured. Also scheduled: Israeli artist Aharit Hayamim, Moshav, Y-Love, and more; check out their full list here. Starts today, goes through Sunday.