It's that time of year again!                                  The time has come again!!!!! The Active 20-30 Club of Sacramento #1 is proud to announce its 44th annual Spring Party, Sactopalooza 2012. This years party is being held at a Sacramento landmark, The Sacramento Zoo, on June 16 from 5pm - 10pm. With a capacity of 2,500 party goers (21+ years old), Sactopalooza is promising to entertain with TWO top tribute bands to No Doubt and The Red Hot Chili Peppers, six bars, terrific food, mechanical bull riding, jousting, and DJ Rigatony performing on a separate dance area. - This is a Rain or Shine event and all attendee's must be 21 and over ( MUST have valid ID ) - Check in @ WILL CAL

Have you seen the line-up for this year’s Sacramento Electronic Festival? It’s chock full of electronic artists of all varieties, well known and upcoming, spanning three days--May 3-May 5--taking over both Harlow’s and the Momo Lounge. Founded in 2010, SEMF’s third year promises to be bigger and better than ever. Sacramento365.com sat down with SEMF co-collaborators Adam Saake and Clay Nutting to find out the behind-the scenes scoop. How did the Sacramento Electronic Musical Festival get started? Adam: It’s a grassroots festival and even though we’re approaching year three we are in no way, shape, or form even done building the foundation of this thing. We try to keep that in mind, try to

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Active 20-30 donates to local children charities Evan’s Kitchen – 855 57th Street, Sacramento, CA 95819 Thursday, April 26th 5:30pm Active 20-30 Club #1 Sacramento will be presenting checks to local charities who have benefited from donations made by the Active 20-30 club. While raising money, and participating in hands on events the members of Active 20-30 are given the opportunity to develop friendships, leadership skills, and optimize their personal growth. For over 90 years this international service organization, which started in Sacramento, has helped numerous charities. While making monetary donations to organizations such as United Cerebral Palsy, Junior

Sacramento is coming alive this weekend for St. Patrick's Day! To build upon the great round-up of events included in this article, here are a few more to consider for this Saturday. Block Parties & Pub Parties: -St. Paddy's R Street Pub Crawl: R Street Corridor (14th-15th Streets), Sat Noon-1am Come celebrate St. Paddy's Day at your favorite R District bars: R15 Bar, Ace of Spades, Burgers & Brew, and the Shady Lady. Enjoy a performance by The Cheeseballs, drink specials, and Irish grub at all locations. -St. Paddy's in The Sutter District: The Sutter District, Sat Noon-1am Come celebrate St. Patrick's Day at your favorite Sutter District bars: Ink Eats & Drinks, Blue Cue, BarWest, Mon

Sacramento's ever popular dance band HIP SERVICE returns to Harlows for a night of dancing and soulful surprises. Nationally recognized as "Best Dance Band in America," the 14 piece HIP SERVICE collective promises to deliver a memorable night of funky dance grooves. "There ain't no party like a Hip Service party!" We couldn't have said it better ourselves. Guest host for the evening is the beloved Sacramento radio personality Lee Perkins, hosting a benefit show for Soles 4 Souls. Bring an extra pair of shoes for donation, wear your most comfortable dancing pair and we'll see you on the dance floor. Usually a sell out, so buy yours in advance. Saturday, March 31 10 pm Ages 21+ Harlow's

Not only does this weekend hold the majority of Sacramento's Mardi Gras events (Mardi Gras is officially Tuesday, February 21 this year), it is also a three-day-er for many, given Monday's Presidents' Day Holiday. If your weekend's not already action-packed, or if you're looking to add a little bit more to your plate, here are a few viable options. If you're the type to get up and dance, head to The Park Ultra Lounge for their Mardi Gras Weekend Celebration, featuring two nights of decorations, masks, and beads galore. Friday night features DJ Scene and Saturday celebrates the 150th Anniversary of Bacardi Rum. If you prefer to hop around from spot to spot, there are two great pub crawls

Think Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and Willie Nelson rolled into one, and yet you can only begin to imagine the sensation of a Lukas Nelson performance. Hitting the stage at the Powerhouse Pub in Folsom, with his talented band Promise of the Real, Nelson immediately captured the respect of his audience with his opening poetic dirge, “Let Me Smoke My Pipe.” He spent the evening rolling them into his powerful, soulful, rockin’ blues concert that left all satisfied with a truly smokin’ hot afternoon, indeed. At 23, showing off his recent clean-shaven face and shorter locks, the strikingly handsome yet still boyishly charming son of music legend Willi

A little knowledge is good, a lot of knowledge, well, if you are a fan of “Old –Time” Rock and Roll as well as other closely related musical genres as the 200+ fans who packed Harlow’s recently can attest, “The Kollege of Musical Knowledge” as taught by Dan Hicks is an essential requirement for all who have ever turned on a radio, or applied needle to vinyl, or most recently, downloaded a song or two. “The Kollege,”according to Hicks, was inspired by a 1930s to 40s radio program with the same title, a popular quiz show with music hosted by the swing-era bandleader Kay Kyser. But instead of asking questions, "Professor Hicks” shares songs and offers tuneful history lessons reaching back

Having had a grandfather who was a nightclub owner as well as a record distributer in the 40’s and 50’s had its benefits. One of which was the wonderful collection of music left to some of his children and grandchildren upon his passing. Some of my fondest memories were listening to the tunes from the juke boxes filled with the old 45’s  and later on the turntable from such great’s as Little Richard, Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, The Big Bopper and, of course, Buddy Holly. As a young child, I’d dance and sing to them all! Then in 1971 a friend and I were sitting in her room listening to the radio when a DJ from the now defunct Sacramento radio station, KNDE announced, a song by Don Mclean, “

The Palm's Playhouse in Winters once again proved that you don’t have to travel to a big city to get top quality entertainment. Starting out Sunday evening in front of a packed house was the devilishly fun surf revival group, Los Straitjackets. The group shocked me into submission with their succinct musical arrangements and a stage show that included the players wearing colorful Mexican wrestling masks, black clothing and a purposely disturbing choreographic routine with “Pulp Fiction” coolness. Los Straitjackets’ lead guitarist is Eddie Angel, a noted rockabilly from Nashville. The group also included Pete Curry on bass; Danny Amis, aka "Daddy-O Grande," Greg Townsen, aka "El Gregori

The Palm’s Playhouse in Winters always has a great list of performers. I remember the original Palm’s back when they were in Davis.  I must confess, however, I have never made the effort to drive from wherever I happen to be in California to check out a show at their “new” location until recently, when I saw that Marshall Crenshaw was on the bill. Many of my friends and family who either live nearby or have visited the small town of Winters had recommended, if ever I happen to pass thru the area (geographically speaking, like Mendocino or Timbuktu, nobody just happens to “pass thru” Winters), besides the Palm’s, I should also check out the famous Buckhorn Restaurant located across the str

As the sun set and the warm Delta breezes swept up the banks of the Sacramento River just 18 miles south of Downtown Sacramento and only a few miles off Highway 5 in the tiny farming community of Clarksburg, Whisky Dawn took the stage at the “Old Sugar Mill.” Breaking out songs from their first original album, Dear Nashville, as well as some covers, Dawn, brought line dancing fans to their feet and non-believers to their knees. From their smooth as honey self- titled song, Whisky Dawn, to their dirge to nearby Elk Grove’s, “Grant Line Road,” this band is not afraid to admit they are California Country, and a hell of a lot of fun! Although Whiskey Dawn is just in their third year of per

Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics from the musical “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to The Forum”  Something familiar, Something peculiar, Something for everyone …… Something appealing, Something appalling, Something for everyone … Nothing with kings, nothing with crowns; Bring on the lovers, liars and clowns! Old situations, New complications, Nothing portentous or polite Perfectly describes not only the music, but also the personalities, food and atmosphere of last Friday Nights’ Concert in the Park at Cesar Chavez in downtown Sacramento. What I observed and was really impressed with is how much everyone seemed to embrace and even praise each other’s differences. The crowd of young and “not

“Take ‘em to a pub,” from the English Beat song “Doors of Your Heart,” is what both old and new fans did at the Powerhouse Pub in Folsom to watch ‘80s sensation Dave Wakeling perform with the latest version of his short-lived but highly successful band Saturday night. More than 300 fans packed the pub, including Romeo Void lead singer Debora Iyall, who shared stories of Wakeling and her past performances with The Beat. Now a Northern California-transplant, Wakeling originally hailed from working-class Birmingham, England. He rushed onto the music scene in 1979 with The Beat — known in North America as The English Beat. Their simple lessons of love and unity fused all of their musical inf

In the past several years, social media has played an ever growing role in calling for, organizing, and executing social uprisings and upheaval around the globe. Increasingly, these uprisings are bringing about significant social change in not only their country of origin but amongst those involved via social media channels.  In contrast, some countries are dealing with unrest and the threat of uprisings by locking down Internet access and jailing citizens for sharing certain information online. The Social Media Club of Sacramento (SMCSac) makes a monthly habit of examining the various ways social media is impacting our everyday interactions, culture, and society at large. The club has pa

From a press release issued by the band: Sacramento stalwart punks The Secretions are celebrating their 20th anniversary as a band by hitting the road for northern Italy on an eight day tour, from April 15 to 22. The tour wraps up with a show featuring CJ Ramone's new band with Daniel Rey on guitar, and Italy’s own legends The Manges. For the stateside celebration in Sacramento, CA, The Secretions have planned a three-night festival show for Memorial Day Weekend dubbed "Suck-Fest", a nod to the band’s motto “We Secrete, You Suck.” The Suck-Fest will be held at Citrus Heights bar The Fire Escape, and the Saturday and Sunday shows of the weekend will be all-ages. The Secretions will share

Social media enthusiasts from around the city gathered Tuesday night at The Urban Hive for the Sacramento Social Media Club Relationships and Social Media presentation. With Valentine's Day just behind us and the ever-increasing role of social networking in our day-to-day lives, relationships via the online frontier was a timely topic for discussion. Four speakers headlined the evening, and the audience was filled with some of Sacramento's most active facebookers and tweeps. Up first at the podium was independent marketing consultant Paul Ardoin, who discussed facebook privacy settings and how to manage them. "facebook is a for-profit entity; every decision facebook makes on your privacy

For some time now, K Street has been wavering between its past life as a Sacramento hot spot and its future as a wilting has-been. The busy street is clearly an institution from 9 to 5, but despite the Crest and the constant stream of events, city planners have been struggling to pull in a real evening crowd. The news is out that a team of fairytale Bay Area developers has joined forces and created Dive Bar, Pizza Rock and District 30. This nightclub-pizza-bar trio hopes to entice the masses for some good old K Street entertainment and after-hours. But is this Bay Area vibe a bit of a stretch in grabbing the attention of the average Midtown resident? Even worse is the grueling task of con

“Tony Silva rides the bus to see the punk rock bands    He rides out from BFN and no one understands   He doesn’t have a car and he’s not old enough to drive    But seeing punk rock concerts is what keeps Tony alive.” --“Tony Silva Rides the Bus”, by The Secretions   Despite a bad economy and multiple venue closures this year, punk rock is alive and well among the under-18 crowd. “There will be times when things get closed down, and it’ll affect the scene negatively, but in the long run, there’s a resilience in Sacramento,” said Craig Usher, who has been going to punk shows since his freshman year of high school. Usher, now 42 with children, runs a Facebook page cataloguing shows. He sa

There are not many restaurants in Sacramento where bicycle wheels spin above the bartenders and the menus are printed on the back of old record covers. Spin Burger offers this and more at its new location at K and 16th streets. Replacing Bistro 33, Spin Burger has been open since Nov. 26, and General Manager Brian Spence said business is doing well. “Lunch is picking up, which is what we wanted, and the night life is about the same,” he said. The menu features customizable hamburgers as well as garden, buffalo, ostrich or poultry burgers. Other options include such items as shrimp cocktail, Caesar salad, chili, fries and macaroni and cheese. For dessert, there is a Nutella milkshake, r