Broadacre Coffee hosted their first live music night this past Friday night, featuring the musical talents of Exquisite Corps and Garrett Pierce, along with dj sets by Nico Turner and Sister Crayon's Terra Lopez and Dani Fernandez. Over 100 people turned out for the all ages show, making it a huge success. The next show at Broadacre will be February 24, so mark it on your calendars!

I’ve missed you too, Sactown! All of the letters and emails encouraging and pleading for the return of the Rundown have all been very comforting – as has my own laughter at the sheer ridiculousness of that statement. Ego-tripping aside, it’s good to be back with the "redheaded cello" version of the Rundown (wait for it…). This is definitely the time of year when we start to lament the pending end of summer and the compression of the local concert calendar. We ain’t there yet… Toad the Wet Sprocket –Parents weren’t sure if the band name was inappropriate or just plain weird when their kids started going nuts over songs like “All I Want” in the early ‘90s. Twenty years later, they still

A great evening was had by all who attended Launch 2011 at the Greens Hotel. Dozens of artists, vendors, musicians, architects, designers, photographers and fashionistas contributed to this grand event. Launch 2011 began at 5 o’clock on Saturday, July 23 and continued well into the early morning.  As guests entered the hotel, the pool area was used as the main entrance. DJs Mike Diamond, My Cousin Vinny and Jon Droll provided some great sounds for pool party guests. Architectural and furniture designers showcased their products and many of the hotel rooms exhibited their work. Other rooms were occupied by fashion, photography, art, music and Launch guests. Other DJs played on stage i

I got my first taste of electronic music, like most of you, in the mid-'90s underground San Francisco rave scene. You remember the ones. They didn't announce the location (usually a warehouse) until an hour before the party started, or about an hour after the time I now usually go to bed. You'd get there at like 1 a.m. and get loose to some house and trance and German techno (so efficient!) and unz unz unz unz unz unz and not get home ‘til about the time I now usually wake up. You remember, don't you? After college I took a long hiatus from the scene, broken up only by occasional (and usually accidental or coerced, or accidentally coerced. Or in Nevada.) forays into the club scene. I w

Electronic music artists from all over the globe will fill the Townhouse Lounge for three nights this weekend. In its second year, the Sacramento Electronic Music Festival (SEMF) will host 28 live acts, with bands playing simultaneously on two floors. Doors open for the Festival at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. Each artist will bring something different, said Adam Saake, the festival’s organizer. Some will incorporate synthesizers, visual projectors and laptop programs, but all of the performers will still fit under the umbrella of the electronic music scene. Saake said his motivation for starting SEMF was to give something back to Sacramento. Being a supporter of musi

If you cruise on over to Daedelus’ website and check out his list of upcoming shows, the Sacramento Electronic Music Festival is not listed. No cause for panic - he will indeed be there. Plus, the absence of events like an SEMF in the world of “formal” event lists is actually pretty common. What is worth taking notice of is the events that are listed. A trio of gigs in New York and Washington D.C. alongside Lotus, followed by a buffet of shindigs across the pond at various clubs and festivals. Oh yeah, there’s one other gig on the Daedelus page that isn’t listed – it’s some little gathering down in the desert we keep hearing about? While he would have to be considered the most widely k

When San Francisco’s Birds & Batteries offered up their bouncy five song EP “Up to No Good” in 2009, it came off like a snap-hook deviation from the electro indie country sound they’d introduced in 2007 with “I’ll Never Sleep Again.” It seemed that, while both releases had their own flavorful yet dissociated appeal, the group may have been experiencing a bit of an identity crisis, cold-shouldering their uniquely synth-tinged Americana and indie rock ways for a backwoods romp through some shady electric funk and beat-heavy digital doozeys. What we were seeing was merely two different facets of the band’s multi-layered persona, and “Panorama” is the intriguing and alluring sonic reconciliat

It wasn't your mama's "Nutcracker" at the Crest Theatre Friday evening, when Pamela Hayes Classical Ballet Theatre collaborated with a quartet of contemporary Northern California bands for "Ballet + Live Local Music," a Concerts 4 Charity-produced event designed to "showcase Sacramento's diverse arts community while raising money to keep children involved in the performing arts." Sequestered stage left on floor level, bands DoomBird, Exquisite Corps, Drifting Shapes and Sister Crayon offered a moody, rhythmic mix of indie, electronica, world music (think big, big drums)  and trance-flavored numbers that provided the inspiration for the amazing, mind-bending work by choreographer Zara Haye

The first Concerts in the Park venue for July included four bands for the evening. The Sea of Bees, Chelsea Wolfe, Sister Crayon and the New Humans made up the line up for the evening. This was the first time I’ve seen or heard the Sea of Bees and I don’t remember seeing their name in the line-up for Friday’s show. The four member group played a very impressive set. Some members of the audience took to the dance floor and this continued through all sets. Chelsea Wolfe is another band I had not heard and their presence on stage was quite dramatic. Chelsea was dressed in mourning including a black veil that prevented the audience, or at least me, from getting a glimpse of her face. Their mu

The Downtown Sacramento Partnership (DSP) has released the 2010 schedule for the Friday Night Concerts in the Park. The free, outdoor concert series will rock Cesar Chavez Plaza (10th and J streets) every Friday night from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. starting May 7 though August 13. For the latest concert news, visit www.downtownsac.org/concerts. 2010 CONCERT SCHEDULE* May 7 - Kepi Ghoulie The Kelps, Dog Party, Simpl3jack May 14 - Rick Estrin & The Nightcats Low Down Dirty Dogs May 21 - Dance Gavin Dance Phallucy, Con of Man, Desario May 28 - Mike Farrell Aaron King & The Imperials, One Eyed Rhyno June 4 - Method Echo The Nibblers, Live Manikin June 11 - The Nickel Slots Los Blazing Hangovers

Beats, beards and booze filled the Townhouse Lounge Saturday as the Sacramento Electronica Music Festival wrapped up its third and final night. The Sacramento Electronica Music Festival ran Thursday, Jan. 28 to Saturday, Jan. 30 offering a chance to check out Sacramento's vibrant electronica scene as well as experience something unique. Adam Saake, the event's organizer, said the event was born out of a desire to bring Sacramento's electronica musicians together. Saake knew many of the electronica artists in the area, but none of them ever played together. "The dots weren't connected, and there was never any electronica bill," Saake said. "We could do a really dope electronica festival.

The Sacramento News & Review Music Fest and SAMMIES (Sacramento Area Music Awards) Ceremony made its outdoor debut Saturday at Cesar Chavez Park in the sweltering heat but kept music lovers cool with the help of a dunk tank, beer and wine garden and the park's fountain. In the past, the annual event has been held at the Crest Theatre, but this year, organizers of the 19th annual fest chose to celebrate in the sun, with art and fashion vendors and a huge inflatable slide. The mood was celebratory throughout the festival. Children and adults alike splashed in the park’s central fountain as the 14 bands performed on two stages. The beer garden offered shaded areas for the 21 and over to lou