Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "jackpot"

Sactown Rundown - Nov. 18-24

2010-11-19T01:50:39Z

Happy Holidays, indeed! It's not even Turkey Day yet and the local calendar is locked and loaded with sonic happenings to keep you distracted from shopping for pumpkin pies.

By the way, there's plenty in here for the No-Work Club next week...but even if you are strapped to the cubicle, it's only for three days, right? Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving, Sactown.

Keller Williams - Jamgrassreggaefolk or Jazzfunkreggaetechnograss? You decide. Check out more on tonight's Keller Williams show (his first in Sactucky in a decade) in this killer Q&A with Williams and Sac Press' Lindol French. If you end up looking at real estate listings after searching him, your Google skills need as much work as your musical aptitude. 9 p.m. Thursday. Harlow's, 2708 J St. $22.50. 21+. www.harlows.com.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Here at the Rundown, we usually don't spend much time on shows at the Big Gas Pump, but this one always bears mentioning - because the best way to understand what's so captivatingly great about Trans-Siberian Orchestra is to know about the people that make up this symphonic holiday rock extravaganza that has infiltrated Holiday-time pop culture and creative home lighting eruptions like a tidal wave of violins, laser lights and Les Pauls. Way back in 2003, this young bootlick reporter wrote his third career article about TSO's show at ARCO in early December. Group founder and producer Paul O'Neill thanked me personally with a RIAA-certified commemorative platinum record bearing my name on the center plaque (this drew the ire of my editor, who'd been in the biz nearly 20 years with nary such a thank you gift to his name). After their show the following year, I watched the same O'Neill fish a $100 bill out of his pocket and hand it to a young boy whom he'd never met, instructing him to give it to his father and tell him to buy the boy whatever he wanted for Christmas. I scheduled a pair of 20-minute phone interviews with O'Neil and music director Al Pitrelli (who had a one-time stint with Megadeth) in 2004 - both lasted over an hour, with only a fraction of the conversations dealing with issues related to the group. Despite their hot-blooded rock and roll re-vamping of classic yuletide anthems and their own folkloric original works, what truly gives this outfit the "spirit of Christmas" is the sort of truly genuine, selfless and giving souls they all are. Critics (and I have been one at times) will say that their annual shows become noticably repetetive over time, since they always do a full rendition of their album "Christmas Eve and Other Stories." But isn't the same true of star-shaped sugar cookies and fireside readings of the The Night Before Christmas? And neither of those require a boatload of Fenders. 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday. Arco Arena, 1 Sports Pkwy. $57.50-$29.50. All ages. www.arcoarena.com.

Darksun Skypilot - Ah, pre-Turkey Day jams at Old Ironsides; the reason why nursing a hangover with grandma's sweet potatoes at the Thanksgiving table has become as much of a tradition as the gigs themselves. Most of Sacramento's locally inclined were probably holding their collective breath this year, waiting to see if Jackpot would reappear out of oblivion to carry out their heralded headlining slots at these annual Wednesday night hootenanies. But alas, R.Miller and company appear to have other plans; this will make it officially a year since the beloved narco-Americana troupe has played a gig, and your Sactown Rundown reporter is having massive withdraws. OK, enough 14 year old girling about who won't be there, because the bands that will represent the top tier of local breakneck rock and roll. Guitar diety Mike Farrell returns from last year with his sinewey and twistedly crafty Darksun Skypilot, bringing Lite Brite and the Kelps along with him. It's going to get seriously rowdy in there folks, it always does at these shindigs, so bring your drinking hats and earplus. 9 p.m. Wednesday. The Old Ironsides, 1901 10th St. $6. 21+. www.theoldironsides.com.

Kenny G - Sigh...

Filter - You know those songs that just piss you off to no end because you really like them – the kind you can’t help but spin once every few months when no one else is within earshot (but you’ve constantly got your finger on the pause button anyway)? The acid-washed late ‘90s alt pop anthem “Take a Picture” just has to fit smack in the middle of that category. It certainly follows the formula of a power-ballad type tune following a heavy breakout hit, as it was the group’s second hit behind the thump of “Hey Man, Nice Shot.” Although they did skew the formula a bit; the two tunes were four years apart and on different albums. That impressive scrappiness has carried this group all the way to this year’s “The Trouble with Angels,” as they’ve dipped into some heavier industrial techno beats sprinkled into their snappy alt rock sensibilities. And here’s a little trivia for you: Lead singer Richard Patrick just happens to be the brother of this guy. I wonder if you can play guitar with swords on your hands? With ACIDIC. 7 p.m. Monday. Harlow’s, 2708 J St. $22.50. www.harlows.com.

The Stilts - Well, we know they pretty much owned Neil Young’s “Cortez the Killer” at the Neil tribute show at Harlow’s last weekend – now it’s their turn to play a few songs that they wrote. If you like ‘em quirky and loud, it’s hard to go wrong with Christopher Fairman’s playfully exuberant outfit. 9 p.m. Monday. Press Club, 2030 P St. $3. 21+.

Mark Your Calendars - Truth & Salvage Co. - Originally, Harlow's had it scheduled as December 7, but I have it on good authority (and by authority, I mean the band themselves - huzzah!) that the show is actually December 4. Hmmm, Saturday vs. Tuesday for one of the whiskey-slugging, beautifully rowdy Americana troupes you'll ever see? Thank you, Hangover Gods! 7 p.m. Dec. 4. Harlow's, 2708 J St. $12. www.harlows.com

For a complete listing of Sacramento area music happenings, check out Ann Freeman-Clement’s Concerts, Music Events and the Local Music Scene every Friday on Sacramento Press.

'End of Summer Fest' canceled

2009-09-03T21:52:50Z

Promoter Jerry Perry confirmed with The Sacramento Press Wednesday that the remaining three shows scheduled for End of Summer Fest have been canceled. According to Perry, the first two shows did not draw nearly enough people, resulting in a loss of money.

In fact, the shows were about 2000 people short for the event to even break even, Perry said. "Attendance was about half of what I call 'break even,'" he said. "[During Concerts in the Park] there were times when we had over three times as many people."

As a last ditch effort, Perry tried to relocate Friday's show featuring The Secretions to Old Ironsides, but the band declined the offer. The Secretions, a Sammie Lifetime Achievement Award-winning punk band who have been together since 1991, were to headline the show.

Secretions' fans, also known as "Secretins," can still catch the band this Saturday night when they will be premiering their music video for "Back in the Day Punk." Click here for information on the all-ages show at the Shire Road Club (5525 Auburn Blvd.), which also includes Aroarah, Flip the Switch, The Phantom Jets and DJ Rob Fatal.

"I can't continue to lose money [because] attendance is down," Perry said. He noted that the California State Fair is going on at the same time, but the State Fair has also been suffering from low weekday attendance.

Perry originally thought the low attendance on the first End of Summer Fest show was due to the show being held on a Furlough Friday. But last week's show lost money due to a low turnout as well, he explained.

"I'm surprised that even a free event wouldn't draw a crowd," he said. "I don't know what it was -- the State Fair, furloughs, hot Fridays [or if] people thought the event was over."

Perry confirmed that he will definitely continue Concerts in the Park and End of Summer Fest next year, but he plans to make some changes. Though he did not specify changes, he explained that Furlough Fridays are supposed to end by June 2010, and that may drive up attendance.

The Nickel Slots, who were scheduled to headline next week's show (Sept. 11), are still scheduled to be playing next week at Old Ironsides as part of a CD release party for their self-titled debut album. Fans can celebrate the album release and view opening bands King Cab and Golden Shoulders for $7 (click for details).

Jackpot, scheduled to headline the Sept. 18 show, currently has no shows or other upcoming performances scheduled.

The Sacramento Press was an official media partner with End of Summer Fest.

Photographs credit Sonny Mayugba. Photographs: Kai Kln headline the inaugural End of Summer Fest show.

Concerts in the Park season extended five weeks

2009-07-23T05:13:53Z

The season of free Friday evening concerts in Cesar Chavez Plaza at 10th and J streets in downtown Sacramento, a summer tradition, just got a bit longer.

Promoter Jerry Perry, who has been arranging the multi-act shows, all featuring local musicians, since 1997, just got permission from the city to extend the concerts another five weeks.

And this time, Perry will be in charge of the whole event, over the five-week series. Called “End of Summer Fest,” it will begin when the current series of concerts ends on Aug. 14.

“I’ve always felt that the season ends too soon,” he said by phone Tuesday. “But I was never completely in charge before.”

The shows are generally sponsored by the Downtown Partnership, with Perry in charge of booking the acts. Other sponsors chip in, and a popular beer garden underwrites the remainder of the cost.

The new series of five concerts, which begins on Aug. 21 and runs through Sept. 18, will be sponsored by The Sacramento Press. Other sponsors will be coming on board during the next few weeks, Perry said.

Artists already signed by Perry to perform during those five weeks are artists he couldn’t book during the original 15-week season, including Jackpot, Agent Ribbons, Shannon Curtis, Mike Farrell and a reunited Kai Kln. More artists will be announced shortly.

The concerts have proven popular, but producing them is still a huge effort, and a risky one at that. Perry says that the cost of putting on the show, with beer garden, food vendors, police, fire and health department inspectors and other costs total roughly $20,000 per week.

And although the shows are free, audiences wax and wane week to week, depending on weather, competing events, the timing of holidays, Furlough Fridays, and even last year’s wildfires, which led headliner Mumbo Gumbo to cancel.

This year, says Perry, “We got rained out one day and rained on two days. If it’s too cold, you don’t sell enough beer, if it’s too hot, people don’t come out. Last week was our lowest beer garden in a few years, I don’t know why. We got hit harder with the heat than anything. When it’s 105 degrees, people don’t want to come down to the park.”

Still, Perry says, being more in charge, while daunting, is allowing him to make a few changes he’s been wanting to make. One is to create a separate food court with tables, accessible only to those who buy food and want to sit down to eat it. He also says that problems with the beer lines have been eliminated.

With the enthusiastic support of the city – Perry says Tuesday’s approval of permits came in a mere seven minutes – the new End of Summer Fest seems likely to continue a tradition that is one of downtown Sacramento’s most popular.

But that doesn’t stop him from worrying.

“I think about the days getting shorter, is that going to affect turnout?” he says. “But I want to take it further, see where we can go with this. It is one of the things that defines downtown Sacramento in summer.”