Trust me, fellow Sactowners…in about six or seven weeks, we’re going to be yearning for this. It’s June 5, and in what should have been our first full official weekend of summer, everyone seems to be deadlocked in collective melancholy over the “WTF!” of late season rains (for these purposes, “WTF” will be officially dubbed as “weather that fails”). We will get our sun. We will get our heat. And it’s summer, which means, we will get our shows. Here’s a look at some of the summer’s can’t miss shows in Sacramento. Cheers! Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt – You can say whatever you want about Lyle Lovett, like his ballyhooed relationship with Julia Roberts or the fact that he bears a slight rese

As my good friends in Dr. Dog would say, “Where’d All the Time Go?” Like most concert junkies out there, it’s easy to look back on 2010 and think about the concerts that I should have gone to but didn’t, for whatever reason popped up that kept me on the couch with my blankie and watching “Friends” reruns. Tight budget? Hangover? General lameness? They all showed up at one point or another. But New Year’s is always a time for reflection on the year past, for looking ahead at what’s to come, and making stupid “go to the gym more” promises that will fizzle out in a cloud of whiskey and Häagen-Dazs by mid-January. With that in mind, let’s take a look back at some of the best concerts of 201

Neil Young is on borrowed time. He’s had brushes with death ranging from childhood diabetes to epilepsy to a major brain aneurism that nearly killed him in 2005. Instead of killing him, it gave us all “Prairie Wind.” Not to mention that the ol’ rock and roll lifestyle isn’t exactly marketing material for your average life insurance firm – and Neil has been a part of it for the better part of a half-century. Such is the continuing cycle of one of the true legends of rock and roll as he celebrates his 65th birthday, which was on Friday. In commemorating “Shakey's” birthday, Jerry Perry did what he does best on Saturday night at Harlow’s and arranged a troupe of local acts (with a little h

With no disrespect to the noble task of honoring our veterans, why is Wednesday the biggest drinking day of the week? Save your livers, No-Work Club, there's business to be taken care of this weekend - and by business, we mean sonic awesomeness. Neil Young 65th Birthday Show – OK, seriously, how much does this suck? What a thing to have happen to “Shakey” (as he is frequently called) on the week of his 65th birthday and in the wake of the reunion of Buffalo Springfield at this year’s Bridge School concert – and what a concert it was! The good news is that this week’s fire destroyed only an estimated 30% of the memorabilia that Neil Young kept in his non-descript San Carlos warehouse, but

Sacramento usually sees large crowds on Second Saturday. But Wednesday, it looked more like Dublin as thousands of green-clad Sacramentans attended block parties, drank green beer and celebrated everything even remotely Irish. The following is a photo essay, depicting some of the Wednesday evening festivities. The first seven photos are from the de Vere's St. Patrick's Day Block Party. Outside the de Vere's St. Patrick's Day Block Party on L Street, this dog dressed for the occasion in a green sweater. The party drew thousands of people to the 1500s block of L Street. Kings mascot Slamson showed up to the block party on stilts and showed off his shamrock-covered blazer. He was a crowd p