Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "the secretions"

2nd Annual Sac Shows Local Music Awards

2010-10-12T09:20:29Z

The music scene was alive and kicking in Sacramento this past weekend. Saturday’s Sammies Block Party presented by the Sacramento News and Review was held at the R Street Corridor. Adam Saake and Tais were masters of ceremony and did an excellent job for this venue that has been hosted by the Crest Theatre the last few years.

On Sunday another awards event was held at the Tropicana across from the Arden Fair Mall. Various awards were given in different categories. Several bands took the stage with Dance Gavin Dance closing out the show.

A packed house rocked for several hours on Sunday night as favorite Sacramento area bands played to the delight of the packed house at the Tropicana during the 2010 Sac Shows Local Music Awards. The event started off as a red carpet gala as nominees and guest musicians entered the Tropicana.

This was an all ages show and the Tropicana was split into 2 rooms. One side was for the under 21 age group and the other side, the Awards room, was for those over 21. The stage was in front of both sides of house. The under 21 side looked like it was standing room only and bouncing energetic waves of people moved from one side of the room to another.

One performer was also an award recipient and that honor went to Arden Park Roots. They played an incredible show and got both sides of the Tropicana on their feet. Their energy remained in the club for the rest of the evening.

The 2nd Annual Sac Shows Local Music Awards winners were announced in between live music sets. Several groups took the stage during the event including Green Audio, Jonny Craig, Arden Park Roots and Dance Gavin Dance with Jonny Craig joining them. The Dance Gavin Dance set ended the evening with a very energetic performance.

Some of the award winners were:
Screamo/Post Hardcore - Batten Down Your Heart
Metal/Hardcore - Carcerys Vale
Indie/Acoustic - Autumn Sky
DJ - DJ Eddie Edul
Roots/Reggae/Funk - Arden Park Roots
Punk - The Secretions
Pop - Hero's Last Mission
Rock - Track Fighter
Special Hall of Fame Award to the Deftone's Chi Cheng
People's Choice Award - Above the City

Long thank you speeches were not the norm and a couple of the more memorable ones were given by Autumn Sky who excitedly jumped on stage to accept her award and in the excitement of the moment almost forgot her purse on stage. Danny Secretion’s advice to those who love music and have the passion to share it with the world was quite appropriate in saying “If you’re going to play music play it from the heart don’t play it for the dollar”. Finally, it was great to see Dave Buckner from Papa Roach come on stage to present an award.

The last act of the evening was the ever popular Dance Gavin Dance with their former lead singer, Jonny Craig, joining the band on stage. The Sacramento music scene continues to grow and inviting local bands to play at shows of this caliber it will, I believe, eventually explode on to the national scene. The bands that played on Sunday night were inspired when the audience showed their appreciation. The audience’s energy inspired the artists performing to dig deeper into their musical souls and bring out their best. The live music at this show was fantastic and it will be interesting to see what local area performers will play next year.

Concerts in the Park

2010-06-19T15:51:11Z

The capitol mall area was filled with activity Friday Night. A cool breeze was a nice relief after the hot weather from earlier in the week. At Cesar Chavez Park the Concerts in the Park crowd began to gather for an evening of energetic music. The headliner for the night was The Secretions, one of the area’s best punk groups, and a favorite of many who gathered at the park.

The Enlows was the first band we saw tonight and they warmed up the audience pretty quick. They seemed to have had a much too quick performance. After The Enlows played their set it was time for the first mandatory beer of the evening. Right after I got my drink (remembered to patronize the vendors at the park) I heard some drumming and noticed a bunch of soccer players kicking a ball around a Budweiser logo mat. It turns out that the Budweiser Fútbol Kings were putting on a soccer skills performance show while the Samba drumming kept a steady pace in the background. The Budweiser Fútbol Kings are a bunch of international soccer players who are out promoting the South African World Cup. It turns out that Budweiser is the official beer of the FIFA World Cup. Players on the Kings are from Brazil, Chile, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, and Cuba. Their tour manager Jeff Davis, Cynthia Harding (a Budweiser Community Outreach Manager), and a couple of pretty models were there to help promote the exhibition.

The Four Eyes, another great band, took the stage. Their act is a little hard to describe but it included a dancing Transformer and white gorilla looking thing. I forgot what they called it. Needless to say their act was great mostly though because of their punkish sound. A couple, Alicia Whetstone and Robert Faison, sat by the side of the stage as the Four eyes played their set. After the Four Eyes closed their set, another Fútbol Kings exhibition followed.

The Schruggs took the stage and I caught a couple of their songs but had to leave and go to the West Steps of the State Capitol to catch Aurora playing at the Dyke Nite event. This, I believe, was the start for Saturday’s Pride Parade. I met my fried Melissa and her friends and enjoyed Aurora’s show. They had a Kittie like sound. This was the first time I’ve heard them play but after listening to them they’ve made another fan.

We all rushed back to catch The Secretions at Cesar Chavez Park which was only a couple of blocks away. The park was packed by now and the mosh pit in front of the stage started and stopped several times. At one point Mickie came down to play his bass in the mosh pit for a little while. The Secretions’ set was great, as usual, and am looking forward to their next show.

Photos:

London Calling gets the tribute treatment at Old Ironsides

2009-12-08T04:12:26Z

One could make the argument that The Clash's "London Calling" is one of the riskiest moves in rock history. After two well-received and straightforward punk albums, the quartet from London threw fans, critics and the entire rock world a curveball in 1979.

Spanning at least three genres in 65 minutes, the double LP was not only twice as long as anything the band had recorded prior, but also about the last thing anybody expected from one of the founders of the British punk movement.

It could be considered just as risky, then, that a concert promoter would find it feasible to actually put together a bill of bands of equally varying styles to cover the classic album in its entirety. However, Jerry Perry, concert promoter extraordinaire, took a huge gamble anyway and collected 11 of the area's finest bands to cover all 19 tracks in sequence. Judging by the sardines-in-a-can feel of Old Ironsides on Saturday night, the payoff was huge for both Perry and every pint-swinging rock fan in the venue.

The Secretions opened things on an appropriately raucous scale with the title track and "Brand New Cadillac," with guitarist/vocalist Paul Filth hoisting his axe in the air, striking the now classic pose on the cover of the album at the end of their two-song set.

Such conciseness and organization was a welcome and unexpected trend throughout an evening stuffed with more bands than the bar's backstage can likely hold. Changeovers were quick and painless, aided by the wise decision to leave the drums and amps onstage, so each act only had to bring their stringed (and, in some cases, brass and key) instruments for each set.

Both Bastards of Young and Stars and Garters brought their own individual sounds to the more offbeat tracks. The former nailed the meandering halftime shuffle of "Jimmy Jazz" while the latter's glittery silver guitar and all-American looks brought out the rockabilly undertones in "Rudie Can't Fail" and "Spanish Bombs."

Underage emo act The Kelps brought the punk back to the crowd, with everyone singing along to the chorus of "The Right Profile" -- "And everybody say, 'Is he alright?'" The young band was entrusted with one of the toughest and most loved songs of the night in "Lost in the Supermarket." They bravely added an explosion of punk energy at the end that brought their set to a satisfying close.

"Funny story about The Kelps: None of them are 21 so they have to get the hell out now," said Perry before The No Goodnicks took the stage to finish off the first disc with the call and response of "Clampdown" and "The Guns of Brixton."

Armed Forces Radio started the second half of the record with "Wrong 'Em Boyo" and "Death or Glory," while The Broken Poet brought an analog Moog keyboard to the urgent "Koka Kola" and the piano driven "The Card Cheat."

To finish off the last side, The Various Artists took "Lover's Rock" and "Four Horseman," and Tom H and Jessi played a rendition of "I'm Not Down" with only guitar and vocals.

Local ska quintet Storytellers squeezed onto the stage for the appropriately laid back "Revolutionary Rock." Trombonist Marcus Faccini throttled his instrument as he leaned into the crowd while the rest of the band maintained the reggae vibe of the track.

Final Summation ended the main show by playing "the song that wasn't supposed to be on the album," "Train in Vain." It was a sufficiently energetic finale that led into a string of miscellaneous songs from the Clash discography. Armed Forces Radio and Bastards of Young both came back to run through a few more songs, while Broken Poets closed the medley with "I Fought the Law," itself a punk-infused cover of a song originally recorded by The Crickets.

Perry took the stage as the band took down the set behind him, not only thanking everyone for coming, but also acknowledging the night's success by adding there may be another similar show in the near future at an all-ages venue so kids like The Kelps could play and stay. The crowd's cries for "one more!" after the last song are certainly an indication of a much larger audience for this musical chairs of local bands.

'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.