It’s Wednesday (as I prepare your weekly Rundown), and all I can think about is some G. Love!
"I cherish the moment when I get the lucky chance/ To sing my song and let the funky people dance/ make it last. Sonic blasts move past fast fly/ Outta speaker’s sneakers stomp to the rhythm that will romp/ Let the wild rumpus start cause it just can’t stop."
I’ll have you covered with a recap of the show, but for now, let’s look ahead to a fine week of shows. Sactown’s got sauce!
Interpol – Loyal Rundown readers may remember a few weeks back when Lindol French and I were musing about the overrated hipster spectacle that is Coachella – but we agreed that the one benefit of having such a festival in the Golden State is the possibility of festival performers booking some Sactown gigs on the way in or out. Thanks, Interpol! This show has flown a bit under the radar on the local calendar, but they will indeed be holding a little pre-‘Chella party at the Crest. Interpol isn’t quite dry-humping the pop charts with their "it" factory the way there were back in the early ’00s, where they were living fat and happy on the popularity of post-punk revival, following the path of Joy Division and the Smiths, alongside groups like Franz Ferdinand and a burgeoning Arcade Fire. To boot, they are now officially a "trio," with only Paul Banks and Daniel Kessler remaining as founding members, flanked by a rotating cast of supporting players. But there’s a reason they achieved the rampant success that they did, and their fan base remains devoted as ever to their "look at me" guitar riffs, shakable grooves and biting energy. Fire up this video to the 3:00 mark and take a cue from the Avett Brothers, Interpol fans…it’s OK to get up and dance at the Crest, seats be damned. With School of Seven Bells. 7 p.m. doors, 8 p.m. show Thursday. Crest Theatre, 1013 K St. $32. All ages. www.thecrest.com.
Yonder Mountain String Band – In the ol’ jam band world, one of the quickest ways to judge a band’s street cred is by how often you’ll see its individual members pop up to play alongside other bands, and how many solo and side projects tend to be brewing. The four guys from Colorado’s YMSB are just these sort of characters – but let’s not forget that they form what is widely regarded as one of the top active bluegrass bands still active today. Throwing some rock and roll flavor into their roots-based brand of bluegrass (the kind that Del McCoury and Bill Monroe set the gold standard for), they have been at the forefront of a bluegrass revival that is often attributed to the likes of the Avetts and Mumford & Sons – they’ve been doing this for quite awhile now! 8 p.m. Sunday. Harlow’s, 2708 J St. $25. 21+. www.harlows.com.
Deke Dickerson and the Modern Sounds – Having had his birth certificate thoroughly checked for accuracy, it can be conclusively determined that Deke Dickerson was just flat out born in the wrong decade – in fact, we’ll call it several decades too late. His guitar ramblings and troubadour musings are immersed in a time when all band mates wore matching shirts, electric instruments were the new rage, and rock and roll was an itch in daddy’s britches – and daddy wore a cowboy hat. He’s a throwback to a time of pure country hoedowns, yet he still manages to find a translation to modern sounds, and get a little weird with it at the same time. He’s the freak front man that there’s no way the 1940’s could handle, and audiences today weren’t alive to form a frame of reference to. But let’s not split hairs over where he fits; if you’ve seen him with the Eccofonics, or his new band, the Modern Sounds, you know he’s one of the more unheralded performers on the California circuit. With Miss Lonely Hearts. 9 p.m. Saturday. Old Ironsides, 1901 10th St. $10. 21+. www.theoldironsides.com.
David Jacobs-Strain – While vacationing in Portland in February, a good friend of mine, one who heavily mirrors my tastes in music, and I got into a big fight over slide guitar when I played him some Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses. For some reason, he hates slide guitar – which is funny, because I know for a fact that he has a t-shirt that says “Martsch is God,” referring to Built to Spill lead singer Doug Martsch. Whatever his reasons are, it’s obvious that he would hate David Jacobs-Strain, who slides the neck of his six-stringer with playful abandon, a fitting compliment to his Delta blues wiles and diet-funky acoustic/electric rock. Certain to make fans from the Johnson/Butler/Jennings camps, Jacobs-Strain is an unheralded gem, sporting both supreme talent and a heart bigger than his chest. 8 p.m. Sunday. Torch Club, 904 15th St. $6. 21+. www.torchclub.net.
Mark Your Calendars – Chris Robinson Brotherhood – No, this is not a glitch in the Matrix; believe me, I checked. The Black Crowes/New Earth Mud front man’s new project is looping back through California, re-upping at several venues they just performed in the last month. May 3. Harlow’s, 2708 J St. $15. www.harlows.com.
If you are planning or promoting a concert in the Sacramento area, or just know of a show you’d like to see featured in the Rundown, shoot me an email.
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.
