Category: Arts

The Circus is in town!

fight back!
That’s it, fight back, kids!

The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus takes to the rings at Arco Arena Thursday. Tickets are actually pretty cheap, lower level tickets are going for $11.50 and kids under 2 are free.

Though the real circus did away with the freak show long ago, this weekend midtown will also be home to the “2nd Annual Circus Show & Other Atrocities,” an art show “juxtaposing the dark, painful lives of performing animals with the fun, amusing atmosphere of a carnival.” Here are some photos from last year’s event. (Is that Hellboy himself Ron Perlman? I know it’s not, but that would be a sweet get, bigger than Dan Piraro, creator of comic strip Bizarro, who’ll be headlining this year. Although that is a pretty neat get.)

Continue reading “The Circus is in town!”

Best Band in Sacto?

I went to the Chalk It Up festival on Saturday to meet up with an old friend and to enjoy the nice weather and chalk art. But I also was going to check out some of the bands that were playing. 

That’s a change from this festival in the past. Before, the music was kinda hippy-dippy, singer-songwritery, lightweight poppy stuff. I have nothing against that kind of music, but it just don’t float my boat.

Continue reading “Best Band in Sacto?”

The Ancient Sons CD release party tonight at Old Ironsides

the ancient sonsThe release party for the Sammies winners The Ancient Sons’ debut album “The Dark Gospel” is tonight at Old Ironsides. Also on the bill are Pets, Them Hills, and Phantom Floats. That’s a pretty solid lineup, at least judging by the songs I have listened to. I don’t go out much. Read on to download a solid track from “The Dark Gospel”…

Continue reading “The Ancient Sons CD release party tonight at Old Ironsides”

“Breakfast At Tiffany’s” invades, thousands flee

Mickey Rooney as Mr Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's

Russia caught a break this weekend in its quest to start World War Three (Four?) when it was eclipsed by the most important news story to hit Sacramento in decades: Breakfast at Tiffany’s — Racist?

The Bee’s Stephen Magagnini sure made the most of having to work the weekend.

Continue reading ““Breakfast At Tiffany’s” invades, thousands flee”

Weekend events – SF Outside Lands Festival

Jeff Tweedy
Jeff Tweedy of Wilco

Also known as the most rockinest way to blow $700. The lineup is totally insane… Radiohead, Beck, Wilco, Tom Petty, Jack Johnson for the big names. Broken Social Scene, Cold War Kids, Drive-By Truckers, M. Ward, The Walkmen. Norcal will be represented too, with Cake, Mother Hips and Jackie Greene. Looks like Sean Hayes is going to be there too, I wonder if he’s going to do “Just Jack!”*

No artist has ever played at night in Golden Gate Park before. Radiohead will be the first!

Crazy. Thom and the boys will be playing a 2 hour show on Friday at 8 at the Polo Fields, after Beck rocks the house at Lindley Meadow.

*This joke provided by Stickie

“Big Love” sightings

The internets were all abuzz with rumors of a Chloe Sevigny sighting at midtown vintage boutique Bows & Arrows on Saturday. Word from the Woodland Daily Democrat is that miss Sevigny was in the area filming “Big Love” for HBO:

[C]ast and crew arrived in Woodland Thursday night as part of a plot line that involves a family road trip retracing the steps of Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of Mormonism. …

Additional scenes will be shot over the coming week in Grasslands Regional Park in Davis, and in various parts of Old Sacramento, he said.

So the bigger story is that this is your week to get a Bill Paxton or a Jeanne Tripplehorn sighting in Old Sacramento! I’m clearing my schedule as we speak.

Note to “Big Love” writers: Please, please, write a scene in which one of the younger wives is bossy and Bill Paxton says to the first wife, “Why don’tcha put HER in charge!!?”

JACKPOT @ Blue Lamp Sunday, early show, $5

Having just returned from a massive road trip, I’ve got my favorite local band Jackpot on the brain. For some reason whenever I hit the road in Norcal it makes sense to have Jackpot on the stereo. Something about the mishmash of sounds–on “Shiny Things” and “F+” at least–and Rusty Miller’s creaky voice and memorable lyrics is quintessentially Sacramento to me. So Jackpot was in frequent rotation up through Glenn, Tehama, Siskiyou Counties and into Oregon. (Also: “The House at Pooh Corner” read by British actor Peter Dennis. Melancholy but hilarious.)

Continue reading “JACKPOT @ Blue Lamp Sunday, early show, $5”

Comedy Tonight!…and Tomrrow!…and the Next Night!

Looking for a weekend of comedy? Of course you are.

Tonight at 9pm, come check out long-form improvisation at the Sacramento Comedy Spot. 1716 Broadway, tickets are $8. It’s hilarious, it’s educational, it’s reasonably priced.

Saturday at 9pm, ComedySportz at the Geery theater. 22nd and L. Tix are $12. Discounted to $10 if you use the coupon code “grape.” See improv comedy played as a competitive sport. Funny, fast-paced and clean enough for all ages (we hope, it is improv after all, you never know what could happen).

Sunday at 8:30pm, check out Gabriel Iglesias at the Punchline (Howe & Arden). What happens when you morph Ralphie May and John Leguizamo? This guy. Tix are $25.

Someone Stole My Dream

Yes, you read that correctly. Two gentlemen from the East Coast have stolen my dream of having the world’s most popular banjo duo. They’ve even sunk as low as using my favorite topics to craft witty, erudite songs from, such as the Hindenburg and William Howard Taft. This was no spoken dream about which I told everyone I ran into and they happened to overhear. No, their devilry is much more sinister. This is a subconscious dream, an unspoken dream, a dream that I didn’t even know I had. Basically, as soon as I heard their music, I knew that it was my music, being sung by others.

Who are these no-goodnick ne’er-do-wells you ask? They are none other than the Two Man Gentleman Band, and they will be right here in our neck of the woods tonight, in Davis. I suggest you all come down and help me give them a piece of mind, or crumple at the feet of their brilliance.

Two Man Gentleman Band-TONIGHT, Sophia’s Davis
10PM- Cover is only $5 (Kazoos not included)
Bitchin’ music video below the fold Continue reading “Someone Stole My Dream”