Things to count your blessings for in Sacramento: 1. The best that the local music scene has to offer, all played free. 2. A giant beer garden that features the best people watching to be found anywhere in town. 3. The fact that we have now finally gotten to the point where, when people say "we're going to the park tonight," no one asks "you mean the Park Ultra Lounge?" anymore. Downtown Sacramento Partnership has unveiled the lineup for what is and has always been "the park" in this town, the Friday Night Concerts in the Park series, which has been packing thousands into Cesar Chavez Plaza every Friday summer evening for the last 20 seasons. The series begins Friday, May 6 and runs th

Here it is, folks. Your very last chance to catch Friday Night Concerts in the Park at Cesar Chavez Plaza! This finale, outdoor, all-ages concert features The Phantom Jets and This Luxury and Headliners The Brodys. The music and festivities begin at 5 p.m. and run till 8 p.m. The concert features local rock and punk bands. In its 19th year, Friday Night Concerts in the Park still attracts huge crowds from all walks of life. Interesting vendors, delicious food stands, great live music and the ever-popular beer garden make for a fun and inexpensive summer evening for the whole family. Stop by The Sacramento Press booth and pick up a free balloon for the kids, enter a raffle, and sign up f

Consider this the weekend guide for anyone not heading out to San Francisco for Outside Lands. For those of you who are descending on Golden Gate Park on Saturday and/or Sunday, these are the bands you simply cannot miss: Beats Antique, Langhorne Slim, Dawes, the Whigs, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, and the Devil Makes Three. Don’t think, just do it. For everyone staying in town, it’s Second Saturday and the streets are sure to be packed. A couple of 2nd Sat music highlights include Radio Orangevale at the Bike Kitchen (7 p.m., 1915 I St.) and Ricky Berger at Sugar Plum Café (8 p.m., 2315 K St.). Both shows are $Free.99. Here’s what else is on deck for the week. Cheers! The Brod

You may have heard about Billy Joe Shaver in recent news as this 70 year old songwriting legend was acquitted on aggravated assault charges resulting from a bar room brew ha ha that ended with Billy shooting a man in the face! Outlaw legend is an understatement when it comes to Billy Joe Shaver, who is widely credited with starting the whole “outlaw country” thing in the first place. Rumor has it, at least according to itunes, Outlaw Country was born when Waylon Jennings showed up at a studio with a fist full of Billy Joe Shaver songs & recorded the classic “Honky Tonk Heroes” Album. Billy most likely would be as well known as Waylon, Willie, Johnny or Merle had the wind blew a little diff

Friday night, a couple beers, and some music.  The crowd is a mix of young and old, gay and straight, bikers and bankers; one guy who looked like Punkenstein.  Me and my girl kicked up some dust and had some fun.  Ya know I'm talking about the Concert In The Park, every Friday night 5-9 PM. This series has been happening for 10+ years, and I have been a regular for most of them.  Seen a lot of bands and people.  The crowds are always diverse and have been mostly trouble free.  This Friday I saw Rick Estrin and The Nightcats.  Mr. Estrin has been the front man with the Nightcats since the Little Charlie days.  I love his Swing Pachuco look, and the cool juice harp sounds. In the crowd, I

 The Sacramento Press is excited to be using live, streaming video as a new media tool. We hope that by streaming the events we go to live, it will enhance the connection we have with our current readership, engage the community at these events and encourage new readership not just in downtown and Midtown, but all neighborhoods in the Sacramento area. Our first live streaming video experiment at the de Vere's Irish Pub's St. Patrick's Day block party was a big hit with The Sacramento Press' readers. St. Patrick's Day allowed us to realize that live video really helps us to showcase the great events happening in our neighborhoods and entice Sacramentans to get out and explore our communit

The Wall Street Journal featured a story recently that held some tremendous promise for Sacramento Area small businesses.  The article titled “Three Best Ways to Win Community Support” outlines the some opportunities that small businesses can create or take advantage of.  I think these are particularly ripe for those businesses around the Sacramento community.   First off, a recent trend in small business marketing has been to develop community around your products and services.  Community is where loyalty comes from.  It is why we have newsletters, a social networking presence, and why we all wish there was a bar where everybody knew our name.  These tips will help you further to engage

"People are probably going to give me [s***] about this," said Sol Peligro lead singer Sam Miranda. "Watching John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever [at] eight years old, I thought, 'This guy is cool.'" Though his band Sol Peligro plays reggae-influenced cumbia music -- not disco -- Miranda points to this moment as the first time he knew he wanted to be in a band. Friday night, Sol Peligro will be headlining a Concert in the Park that includes Retrograde Revolution and La Noche Oskura (click links for MySpace). Retrograde Revolution sounds like a Yellowman-influenced reggae/hip hop outfit, while La Noche Oskura combines punk and ska to sound like a Mexican Sublime. Miranda formed Sol Pel