Submerge Magazine: Issue 146 (September 30-October14, 2013)

Dive into Sacramento & its Surrounding Areas

September 30 – october 14, 2013

#146

Norcal Noisefest

The Return of

Phono Select

17 Years of Sweet Cacophany

Jose Di Gregorio

Sacramento Horror Film Fest

The Marriage of Light and Dark

Go Behind the Mask with Leslie Vernon

Dave Attell

River City Brewing Company

Sleepless in Sacramento

20 Years and Counting

Ace of Spades takes over Assembly

Go Their Own Way

free

1000 K Street | Sacramento (916) 341-0176 assemblysacramento.com

Leon RusseLL october 13

october 16

october 17

october 20

october 26

November 1

November 6

November 9

vienna teng

November 12 2

November 15

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

November 22

November 30 Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

MIDTOWN ARTS FESTIVAL

exploremidtown.org/midtownartsfestival SubmergeMag.com

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

3

VOTED BEST COMEDY CLUB

BY THE SACRAMENTO NEWS & REVIEW!

146

RESTAURANT •• BAR CLUB •• RESTAURANT COMEDY COMEDY CLUB BAR

DAT PHAN

Submerge: an independently owned entertainment/lifestyle publication available for free biweekly throughout the greater Sacramento area.

walter HOng, Jimmy earll FRIDAY 10/11 - SUNDAY 10/13 frOm COmedy Central’s insOmniaC!

DAVE ATTELL matt davis, JOHnny taylOr

THURSDAY 10/17 - SATURDAY 10/19 as seen On COnan!

ROB DELANEY

10

Caitlin gill

THURSDAY 10/24 - SUNDAY 10/27 frOm e!’s CHelsea lately and autHOr Of KasHer in tHe rye!

MOSHE KASHER

14

aleX KOll, Kevin O’sHea FRIDAY 11/1 - SUNDAY 11/3 frOm CHelsea lately and are yOu tHere, CHelsea?

ALI WONG dC ervin

CALL CLUB FOR SHOWTIMES: (916) 925-5500

2100 ARDEN WAY • IN THE HOWE ‘BOUT ARDEN SHOPPING CENTER

2 DRINK MINIMUM. 18 & OVER. I.D. REQUIRED.

TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE CLUB BOX OFFICE WITH NO SERVICE CHARGE. TWITTER.COM/PUNCHLINESAC • FACEBOOK.COM/PLSAC

WWW.PUNCHLINESAC.COM

26

YOURAD 03 8 3 ERE H916) 441 (

spaper: h Date: rt Due: oNteNt: size: uCtioN: Notes:

er

bm o@su

inf

.com g a m ge

SUBMERGE MAG 9/30/13 9/25 PUNCHLINE SAC 3.9” X 5.67” SACHA PfEIfER (720) 239-3411

12 cofounder/ Editor in Chief/Art Director

Melissa Welliver melissa@submergemag.com cofounder/ Advertising Director

Jonathan Carabba jonathan@submergemag.com senior editor

James Barone Assistant Editor

Mandy Pearson

Contributing Writers

Zach Ahern, Joe Atkins, Robin Bacior, Andrew Bell, Corey Bloom, Bocephus Chigger, Brooke Dreyer, Josh Fernandez, Anthony Giannotti, Lovelle Harris, Niki Kangas, Nur Kausar, John Phillips, Ryan J. Prado, Amy Serna, Jacob Sprecher, Jennifer Snyder, Jenn Walker Contributing photographers

Heather Loewe, Phill Mamula, Liz Simpson, Nicholas Wray

Submergemag.com Follow us on Twitter! @SubmergeMag

4

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

contents

THURSDAY 10/3 - SUNDAY 10/6 Original winner Of last COmiC standing!

2013

september 30 – october 14

05 06 08 09 10 12 14 18 20 26 28 30

Submerge

2308 J Street, Suite F Sacramento, Calif. 95816

916.441.3803 info@submergemag.com

printed on recycled paper

front Cover Photo of conducting from the grave

by Marco Malek

Dive in Submerge your senses The Stream The Optimistic Pessimist conducting from the grave Jose Di Gregorio river city brewery norcal noise fest CALENDAR live << rewind

Olly Murs & Bonnie McKee the grindhouse Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon & “Girl at the Door” (short)

the shallow end All content is property of Submerge and may not be reproduced without permission. Submerge is both owned and published by Submerge Media.

All opinions expressed throughout Submerge are those of the author and do not necessarily mean we all share those opinions. Feel free to take a copy or two for free, but please don’t remove our papers or throw them away. Submerge welcomes letters of all kinds, whether they are full of love or hate. We want to know what is on your mind, so feel free to contact us via snail mail at 2308 J Street, Suite F Sacramento, Calif. 95816. Or you can e-mail us at info@submergemag.com. back Cover Photo courtesy of jose di gregorio

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

dive in

$3New OFF

for

Customers

with MeNtioN of subMerge

*oNe per custoMer *exp. 11/11/13 **Not coMbiNable w/other offers

THE HONEYMOON ISSUE

Melissa welliver melissa@submergemag.com

SubmergeMag.com

charter MeMber of r.y.o. Nevada, a chuMash owl claN Native aMericaN group

big tobacco to MyKiss ash!! our smokes are tell

only

$28

a cartoN

iNcludiNg tax MeMbership required Must be 18+ to purchase

1115 21 st Street • Sac (Next to lucKy cafe)

KissMyAsh.net

9 1 6 . 4 6 9.93 0 0

tueS-Sat 11am-7pm • Sun 12-6pm

This publication would not be possible without the support of our wonderful advertisers.

advertisers!

Please visit them and tell ‘em Submerge sent you.

Support Submerge

I normally love using this column to tell you what we have featured in the issue. I promise to get back to that next time, because once again I’m going to use this space to talk about myself. What’s funny is I usually have trouble doing that. No, really, I hate talking about myself.

But in this case, I can’t help it because these past few weeks have been some of the most stressful, yet meaningful and definitely the most fun weeks of my life.

Were you in town last weekend? Um, remember that one day where the darkest clouds ever rolled through Sacramento? How about the massive downpour that took place, so much so that the water couldn’t even go down the gutters fast enough and the streets were flooding?

If you were in town, there’s no way you don’t remember that day, because it was your Saturday! Maybe you were like me, wondering what the hell happened to the perfect, sunny, low-80-degree temperatures. Maybe you were like me, thinking, isn’t the last day of summer always supposed to have perfect weather? I thought that too. Hence the reason Jonathan Carabba, the co-founder of this lovely publication, and I chose Saturday, Sept. 21 as our wedding day.

Pro tip: In these raining, scratch that, pouring wedding-day situations, never feel free to tell the bride, “It’s good luck!” And definitely don’t sing that godawful Alanis Morissette song. Just bring her a glass of champagne (thanks, Monica).

At 4 p.m., about one hour before our outdoor wedding ceremony was to begin, some would say a miracle took place: The rain stopped as I was driving to the venue and even a patch of blue sky was seen! It was a beautiful sight.

Weeks before the wedding, some good friends gave me words of wisdom that stuck in my head that whole day. Eric Rushing, of Ace of Spades and now Assembly (see page 8), said something to the effect of, “Whatever happens that day, just roll with it. When something isn’t exactly how you wanted it to be, it’s okay.” Even the guy who delivers our papers from our printer, Tom, chimed in with some wisdom that stuck with me. He said something like, “Don’t wait to have fun at the end, have fun the whole time.” These things applied to me that day, but when you think about it, they are useful words even in nonwedding situations.

We had some of our best friends and closest family around to witness our special day, some coming from as far as San Diego, Seattle, even New York! Wedding budgets, man, I only wish we could have afforded to invite even more friends.

We rolled through the ceremony like a confident, easy-breezy couple. No tears! Now that’s what I call a miracle! We (and I might be biased, though it was pretty much confirmed by everyone who attended) had some of the best vows to date. To sum it up, let’s just say our vows to each other addressed topics of love (for obvious reasons), cooking, snowboarding, kayaking and hiking in our “oldpeople gear,” our favorite sports team (go San Jose Sharks!) and our shared 4th grade level of humor.

Trust me, I could go on and on why Saturday, Sept. 21, 2013 turned out to be the best day ever, despite the random one-day rain storm.

Long story short, I love my friends and family. I love my HUSBAND. Yes! It feels so great saying that. Not boyfriend, not fiancé (isn’t that the worst word ever?), but husband!

I also love making Submerge, which should be obvious, because while most couples go on their honeymoon right after they get married, these two lovebirds are slaving away and making the issue that you’re holding in your hands. Eventually we’ll go on a honeymoon, but for now we’ve got a few more jam-packed issues of Submerge to put out before the end of the year! Then, just maybe, we’ll take a break.

Finally, some well-deserved shout outs: First, to our family for helping make the wedding possible, we couldn’t have done it without all of you Wellivers and Carabbas; to Scott Meyer for agreeing to be our last-minute officiant and for doing an amazing job during the ceremony; to Anthony Paganelli at Spanish Fly Hair Garage for giving me some luscious curly hair; to Erika Pinon at the MAC counter for doing makeup that I could never have done myself; to Bloem Decor Florist for designing the most beautiful flower arrangements I’ve ever seen (and I’ve been to a lot of weddings); to DJ Larry Rodriguez, AKA The Flower Vato, for playing awesome jams all night; to Brianna Carabba and Shad Khadem for helping hang market lights at the venue two nights early, bringing the champagne and staying after hours to help clean up after the wedding; to Rosalynn Schneider for running around to Target the day before, cleaning them out of matching umbrellas that we ended up not even needing; to Nicholas Wray and his assistant, Mike, for working their asses off to take what are sure to be amazing photos all day and night; and to everyone else that I don’t have room to list.

Thank you all! It was the best night of our lives.

Enjoy issue #146, the “honeymoon issue,” Melissa-Dubs

still payiNg $40-$60 for a cartoN of sMoKes?!?

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

5

Your Senses Words Brooke Dreyer

SEE HEAR TASTE Touch

Hear

Dave Attell vs. Sacramento Oct. 11–13

After listening to Dave Attell’s standup, I couldn’t help but wonder, what is it about him that makes him so damn hilarious? And when I say hilarious, I’m not talking about a few giggles... I’m talking full-blown, tears-to-your-eyes, holy-shit-my-stomach-hurts hysterical; the kind of hilarious that gives audiences ripped abdominals after performances; the kind of hilarious that snags a spot on Top 25 Funniest in America; the kind of hilarious you don’t want to miss when it comes to your city. His dark, politically incorrect, swiftwitted deliverance is most commonly recognizable from his late-night show, Insomniac, but it’s time to check him out for yourself. Ladies and Gentlemen, grab your adult diapers and get ready for Dave Attell at Punchline from Oct. 11 through 13. You should probably buy your tickets right now at Punchlinesac. com. He will most likely sell out all five of the shows he’s packing into three days. And rightfully so: his is the kind of humor that helps you take the world less seriously. It’s the kind of humor that’s worth your hard-earned money.

Photo by Nicholas Wray

See

Words and Walls Project Unveiling • Oct. 12 Art is the metaphysical version of culture; it gives birth to character and makes inanimate objects extraordinarily personable. When’s the last time you related to a brick wall? Most likely never, but that is about to change. The Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission partnered with the Del Paso Design District and produced the love child of the year: The Del Paso Words and Walls Project. The project has chosen five poets and five graphic designers to team up and create works of art for and about Del Paso Boulevard. Each team will display their results on buildings along the boulevard, which will premiere on Oct. 12 with walking tours. Their Facebook event page (“Words and Walls Project Unveiling”) has all of the artists’ names and more background information on the project. Go and support the hard work of these artists working to help define Sacramento’s character.

Taste

Sactoberfest • Oct. 19

Touch

Sac State’s Ski Swap Saves Our Wallets Once More Oct. 20

The snow is fun. Snow gear prices are not. But quality is important, so when it comes to safety, comfort and durability, you’re getting what you pay for. ¿Donde esta la middle ground? Sacramento State’s Ski and Snowboard Club has answered our prayers. Thousands (yes, thousands) of discounted new and used gear, clothing and equipment will fill Sacramento State’s Union Ballroom on Oct. 20. It’s the largest college fundraiser in Northern California.

Organized by students of the Ski and Snowboard Club, the ski swap offers 30 to 50 percent off quality items. The doors open at 9 a.m. and close at 3:30 p.m. and all tickets are bought the day of the event.

Snowballs are fun, frostbite is not, so put away those circa 1980 snow suits and check out Sacstatesnow.com for more details.

6

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

It all started in 1810... The citizens of Munich were invited to gather at the royal gates to celebrate the marriage of Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese. The party’s success turned the one-time celebration into an annual festival, raising the initial guest list from 400,000 to a current 6 million in attendance. People from all over the world attend Germany’s festival, but now it’s being brought to you. Don’t think of Sactoberfest as a modest version of the original festival; located in West Sacramento’s Bridge District, it’s delivering 100 percent German authenticity all in a single day. Come in your best German duds and expect German beer, polka DJs, yodeling, German beer, dance halls, German beer, contests and much more. With catering from Sienna and LowBrau, we expect the turnout to be pretty close to its namesake. Tickets, news and more information can be found at Sactoberfest.com.

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

AUDIO EXPRESS! Lowest Installed Price In Town! Every Time!

Fully installed new product from a local authorized dealer

END-OF-SEASON SAVINGS! OUR LOWEST PRICE EVER! f mix o stop Non- usic with m your ffects!

DJ e

SAVE $ 50

BUILT IN

SAVE $ 120

all It† We Inst When st A Dollar!

For Ju

Off MSRP

App Mode!

OUR LOWEST PRICE EVER!

west At The Lo n!† w Rate In To

Navi-Ready!

STEP UP TO 7” MONITOR, $100 MORE!

SAVE $200!

Built-In Navigation!

99

BUILT IN!

899

BUILT IN

FREE

3 Months Service!(1)

BUILT IN

TUNEIT & SHARE IT Tune Your System On Your Smartphone!

Share Settings On Facebook!

: LUI SAYS

12! $1 Save Ins tall It At te When We

: LUI SAYS

Save $99!

At The Install It !† When We te In Town Lowest Ra

HD Radio!

Satellite Ready!

STEP UP TO THE GOOD STUFF!

12999

$

: LUI SAYS

Save $50!

Step Up to 12”

14999

$

12” Sub And 450 Watt Amp LUI Says: yaway Is! a L r u O YS FREE A W L A

All in a compact ported box! : LUI SAYS

10! $1 Save Ins tall It At te When We st Ra The Lowewn!† In To

FOR GIFTS OR FOR YOURSELF! Complete details at store

24999

$

st Ra The Lowewn!† In To

Big 10” Subs! th At Install Bo When We st Rate The Lowe !† In Town

FREE

3 Months Service!(1)

west † At The Lo wn!

Rate In To

3 Months Service!(1)

BUILT IN

99

99

: LUI SAYS

e $9tall9It! SWav hen We Ins

FREE

OFF MSRP

99

App Mode!

Three Preouts!

BUILT IN

Free NAVTEQ traffic for life on a big 6.1” monitor

$

299 $14999

$

99

$

Variable color illumination, 11-digit display.

!

SWahevneWe In$st5al5 l It

Big 6.1’ monitor plus App Mode

299

9!

Save $6

LUI SAYS:

Off MSRP

$

YS: LUI SA

Responder Two-Way Security System

Responder Alarm & Remote Start!

Includes two restyled keychain remotes.

259

$

99

S: LUI SAY

UP $24al9l ! avheenTO SW We InstFor e

ic Your Cho$1!† Just

Complete system!

One LED and one 5-button remote.

39999

$

QUALITY ALARMS FROM $9999, REMOTE START FROM $12999 Some vehicles require modules at added cost. Keyless entry installed at added cost.

† Savings off typical full-price installation. Install is per component, in factory-ready locations. Custom install additional. Kits, plugs, wire and shop supplies additional. Complete details at your nearest store. SiriusXM incentive program info at www.siriusxm.com.

Sacramento 2003 Arden Way 916-920-4262

SubmergeMag.com

Point West Plaza

Ethan Way

*

Arden Way

GET YOUR DREAM SYSTEM TODAY!

PPP Means 50% Off Installation!

HOURS Mon. - Sat. 9 AM - 7 PM Sunday Noon - 5 PM

FREE LAYAWAY

* Proof of qualifying employment and local banking history required. Transaction amount limited. Other conditions and restrictions apply. Details at store.

Unless otherwise limited, prices are good through Tuesday following publication date. $1 INSTALLATION IS PER COMPONENT, for CD players and alarms priced over $9999, purchased from Audio Express installed in factory-ready locations. PPP indicates product installed at half off our posted rates. Custom work at added cost. Kits, antennas and cables additional. Added charges for shop supplies and environmental disposal where mandated. Illustrations similar. Video pictures may be simulated. Not responsible for typographic errors. M.S.R.P. refers to published suggested retail price. Price match applies to new, non-promotional items from authorized sellers; excludes “shopping cart” or other hidden specials. © 2013, Audio Express.

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

7

Audio Express — Sacramento Submerge — 9/30/2013

SHOWS AT SAC STATE

SPONSORED BY UNIQUE PROGRAMS FOR MORE INFO VISIT OUR WEBSITE OR CALL 278–6997

WWW.SACSTATEUNIQUE.COM DOCUMENTARY

NOONER

The stream ACE OF SPADES IS TAKING OVER ASSEMBLY

PHONO SELECT RECORD STORE IS BACK

17 REGIONAL BANDS SET TO PERFORM AT V103 ROCK’S “BANDCAMP” Jonathan Carabba

Send regional news tips to info@submergemag.com

POINTDEXTER WED • OCT 2 • 12P • UNIVERSITY UNION SERNA PLAZA

THUR • OCT 3 • 7:30P • UNIVERSITY UNION BALLROOM

FREE: alternative funk rock concert

FREE: documentary film that tells the story of Indian tribes, farmers, and fisherman defending their way of life while in conflict over the resources of California and Oregon’s Klamath Basin

NOONER

NOONER

STEEL TOED SLIPPERS

MUSICAL CHARIS

WED • OCT 9 • 12P • UNIVERSITY UNION SERNA PLAZA

WED • OCT 16 • 12P • UNIVERSITY UNION SERNA PLAZA

FREE: funk rock concert

FREE: funk folk rock and roll concert

Photo by Sean Hill

CONCERT

MICHAEL FRANTI AND SPEARHEAD THUR • OCT 10 • 7:30P • UNIVERSITY UNION BALLROOM concert, plus special opening guest Ethan Tucker, in support of the All People Fall Tour, University Union Ballroom, 7 pm. Tickets are $12 for Sac State students / $22.50 for General. Tickets available at Eventbrite.com

LECTURE

NOONER

DAVID COLEMAN: THE DATING DOCTOR

ADRIAN BELLUE

THUR • OCT 17 • 7P • UNIVERSITY UNION BALLROOM

WED • OCT 23 • 12P • UNIVERSITY UNION REDWOOD ROOM

FREE: author of trend-setting relationship books, lecture on dating-related issues that face today’s students and staff

FREE: fingerstyle guitarist

CONCERT

WATSKY THUR • DEC 5 • 7:30P • UNIVERSITY UNION BALLROOM Hip hop concert. Tickets will be available at Eventbrite.com (on-sale TBA) and are $10 for Sac State students and $15 for general.

8

We had been hearing rumors about it for months, but now it’s official: K Street’s newest venue, the Paragary-owned Assembly (1000 K Street), is being taken over by the Ace of Spades team.

Co-owners Eric Rushing and Bret Bair had been scouring the region nonstop for a medium-sized room since Ace of Spades, located at 1417 R Street, first opened (Ace’s capacity is around 1,000 and Assembly’s is around 600). The goal is for the new locale to host their smaller shows and to complement what they are doing at the very successful Ace of Spades. Attendance at Assembly’s recent shows has been inconsistent; some have done very well (Chance The Rapper sold out), and some have completely flopped (Submerge has been in there watching local bands play to maybe 20 people). If there’s anyone who can turn Assembly around and pack it out consistently, it’s the guys behind Ace of Spades.

Rushing, Bair and crew have turned Ace (once known as Empire and then very briefly as Venue) into a world-class venue. No, really, Ace of Spades is continuously climbing the ranks each year in Pollstar’s “Top 100 Club Venues” list. After just their first year, Ace was ranked No. 52 and the last we heard they were all the way up to No. 18! That’s the No. 18 “club venue” in the world, people!

They are technically No. 2 in California behind Nokia Theatre L.A. Live. According to Rushing and Bair, much like Ace, Assembly will host a mashup of rock, metal, hip-hop, electronic music and more, both local and touring national acts. Plus, comedy shows and other events that fit and make sense in the space will be booked, too. They will cater to local promoters at Assembly, just like at Ace, which always adds a nice sense of differentiation. Look for local promotion companies like SBL Entertainment and Ent Legends to continue to throw killer concerts at Assembly, despite the Ace guys taking over. Submerge is excited to see what the Ace crew can do to help turn around K Street! Congrats, Rushing and Bair, you guys deserve all the success, here’s to many more sold-out shows! To learn more about Assembly and see a list of upcoming concerts and events, visit Assemblysacramento.com. To learn more about Ace of Spades, visit Aceofspadessac.com.

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

Beloved independent Sacramento record store Phono Select is back! Well, sort of. After moving from their K Street spot in February of this year, the good dudes behind Phono are settling into their huge new warehouse location near Sacramento City College (4370 24th Street, Unit “O”) and they plan on being open to the public one Saturday every month (Saturday, Sept. 28 was their official re-launch, the next public sale date is Saturday, Oct 26) as well as for private appointments and special events. “The racks are full and ready for you!” wrote Phono on their blog, Phonoselect. com, before the re-launch. “We’ve got most of the new location built out and are putting on the finishing touches to welcome you in a couple weeks.” We’re crossing our fingers that they start hosting live music in the new space, ‘cause Submerge is down with warehouse shows! To learn more about their new space, schedule a time to stop in and peruse through records, or to just nerd out with some of the most knowledgeable vinyl heads in town, call (916) 400-3164 or visit them online at their official website or at Facebook.com/phonoselect.

Are you looking for one last summer bash to attend? Are you also on a tight budget and looking for the most bang for your buck?

Do you love local music? Well, look no further than V103 Rock’s BandCamp on Saturday, Oct. 5 at Rio Ramaza Event Park. For just $15 in advance and $20 at the door (kids 12 and under are free), you can spend all day in the sun near the river taking in live tunes from 17 regional rock artists like Fallrise, Some Fear None, For All I’ve Done, Chernobog, Prylosis, The Three Way, Element of Soul, The Kimberly Trip, The Adam Roth Project, Overwatch, Sovern and many more. There will be a main stage as well as an acoustic stage and there are also camp spots available for just $35 each if you want to make a weekend out of it. There will be games and activities for kids as well as adults; raffles, food, vendors, sponsors, beer and all sorts of other shenanigans. To purchase tickets in advance and see all of the performing artists, visit V103.net/bandcamp.

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

Last Cut wasn’t so super?

Get it fixed at anthony’s barbershop

The Optimistic Pessimist Bizarro Safeway Bocephus Chigger bocephus@submergemag.com

We must eat to survive. For our ancestors that meant hunting and gathering from the lands around them, and Mother Nature provided all they needed to grow and populate the globe.

Cities were eventually built. Empires and countries were established, demolished and established again. Those who stuck to the old ways were eventually overrun and pushed to the periphery. Then the land was covered with black asphalt, and the streets bathed in the sun’s rays instead.

Much of the earth could no longer grow food because of this concrete menace. We may have perished had it not been for the supermarket. Up until recently, I’ve considered myself a Safeway man. The stores are usually clean, the prices are reasonable and they carry enough random shit to keep you from having to go somewhere else for collard greens or rice noodles. Or, at least that’s how it was with my old Safeway.

I waved a fond goodbye to the silver horse Safeway about six months ago, and I have regretted it ever since. Having shopped there for what felt like a lifetime, I knew where everything was. That store was my bitch from produce to breads and booze. When they moved the eggs to the produce section it threw me off for a couple of weeks, but I managed to get back in sync eventually. Dairy hijinks aside, I was normally in and out in 20 minutes with a week’s worth of food, and that included time to flirt with the cute manager at the cash register.

Those days are no more. I go to a new Safeway now; only, it’s different from the old Safeway. I call it Bizarro Safeway, and it is slowly killing me (or at least my lunch). My favorite 100 percent grape cranberry juice and delicious sourdough bread are nowhere to be found. Old Safeway had celery sticks for my lazy ass but Bizarro Safeway wants me to buy an entire head of celery to make one tuna sandwich. Both stores have a shit-ton of space devoted to yogurt, but Bizarro Safeway is only selling plain yogurt in gallon-sized buckets. Who the hell wants a bucket of plain yogurt?

Maybe the problem isn’t that Bizarro Safeway doesn’t have what I need. The problem could be that I just can’t find anything. At first glance, Bizarro Safeway appears to be a mirror image of its silver-

SubmergeMag.com

horsed cousin, but upon further inspection, the place is a total mess. Tortillas can be found in no less than three locations and the selection at each is different than the next. The items located on aisle 3 this week might be located on aisle 12 next week. Salad dressings are on a rolling cart between the chicken cooler and cracker aisle for now, but who knows where they will be next time. And if that wasn’t confusing enough, the actual configuration of the booze section changes each week, leaving you to ponder whether you might have been drunk the last time you shopped there.

If the food and drink maze doesn’t get you, the crazy lady at the deli counter probably will.

Unlike at the old Safeway, this deli lady has no small-talk skills. While making a sandwich for me once, she spontaneously announced that she had a day of knitting ahead of her before asking what I had planned. After that, she told me how she would have preferred to make the sandwich I ordered if it had been hers. One time she announced to the entire deli that the meat I was buying could only be eaten in the next four days or it would make me sick. When she is already helping another customer, she will keep telling me over and over that she will be right there, which makes me feel guilty for rushing her, even though I’m not.

With few sane employees around that aren’t already finding shit for people or running one of the two checkout lines open at any given time, it doesn’t take much to cause Bizarro Safeway to grind to a screeching halt. Unfortunately, this happens often, as the patrons of Bizarro Safeway are some of most helpless alive. They still can’t figure out how to pay with their debit card in 2013! Swipe your club card, press debit, swipe your debit card, enter your code and hit OK to approve the total. Whatthefuckistheproblem?!?

Grocery shopping used to be so easy. I never liked doing it, but at least it was quick and relatively painless. Those were the days! Nothing is simple in Bizarro Safeway, where left is right, crazy people run meat slicers, soups are in an half-empty aisle next to the toothpaste (because they both go in your mouth?) and your shopping cart was last seen being swallowed up by a wall of liquor. Happy shopping!

2408 21st st • Sac • sacramentobarbershop.com (916) 457-1120 • Tues-Fri 9am-6pm • saT 10am-4pm

Tuesday

Wednesday

10pm No Cover!

9pm No Cover!

Open Mic trivia!

Thursday, Friday and saTurday 9pm No Cover!

karaOke

lasT Tuesday oF every monTh

Open Mic cOMedy Battle 9pm No Cover!

15-17 Oct 6 Oct 13 nov KaraoKe sunday

sunday

live musiC! live musiC! CompetitioN HeNNessy savaNt 8pm No Cover!

8pm No Cover!

sigN-up! Call booKiNg ageNt matt remeNar for details (505) 350-2322

60tHaNNiversary party!

th &E St sac (916) 446-3624 29 Facebook.com/PinecoveTavern • TwiTTer - @PinecoveTavern

ERE YOUR H AD Call Us (916) 441-3803 or email Us info@submergemag.com Today!

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

9

Out of the Rabbit Hole

Conducting from the Grave Exhumed from Label Nightmare, Set to Self-Release LP Words Ryan J. Prado | photo Marco Malek

F

or Jeff Morgan and the assembled members of Sacramento metal crew Conducting from the Grave, the last few years have been transitional to say the least. On the heels of a veritable meltdown with the record label that released their first two full-length albums—Sumerian Records put out CFTG’s When Legends Become Dust (2009) and Revenants (2011)—the band choked up and decided to swing away on their own for the next record. Utilizing funds from an enormously successful Kickstarter campaign, through which the band raised a cool $19,000, CFTG were able to consolidate a nearly two-year hiatus following the release of Revenants into one explosive, sharp-edged snapshot of their turmoils and triumphs as a band.

The new self-titled album will be self-released and comes bristling with riffs, bulging with morbid growls and buoyed by a somewhat newfound restraint from the super-shredding guitar tandem of Jeff Morgan and primary songwriter/ guitarist John Abernathy. The core trio of Morgan, Abernathy and drummer Greg Donnelly continue to showcase an intuitive ear for punishing breakdowns and apocalyptic verses, helped incrementally by bassist Jackson Jordan, with vocalist Mikey Powell’s guttural bellows providing a brutal vehicle for the band’s hybrid of abrasive death metal and its more melodic metalcore roots.

That this is achieved by way of songs inspired by video games (“Honor Guide Me!,” the album’s opening track, is about a fictional war as seen through the eyes of Protoss Zealot, a character in Starcraft) and other non-sequitur lyrical fantasy is important. After nearly a decade together, weathering the ebbs and flows of the music industry machine, having fun seems to be the band’s number one priority.

Conducting from the Grave is celebrating the release of their third LP, fittingly, with a trio of record release shows, including a sweaty spectacle at The Boardwalk Oct. 5. Submerge caught up with Morgan to discuss the evolution of the band, their label woes and the light at the end of the tunnel.

10

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

For this album, what discussions were happening internally regarding the future of the band and leaving Sumerian?

How it went was we wrote the album, the first-draft version of it. We sent demos to the record label almost two years ago now. They were like, “We think you can do more with your sound…” We kept going back and revising the songs, and that turned out for the best because we kept revising. But they kept giving us really vague feedback. One time one of the guys said, “That one needs more culturally relevant anthems.” What the hell does that mean? Did he want us to play what was hot right now? That’s not really us. We’re the type of band that we like to think our sound will stand the test of time rather than be a hotselling sound at the moment. It was a really frustrating experience. It took a little over a year of doing that, then finally we had a phone conversation with the label and they were like, “We’ve been holding off on this release and not approving budgets because we had some

In what ways were you hoping to evolve in a conscious sense from what you’d been doing before?

When we put out Revenants, we didn’t want the album to be too crazy. The record label had been saying stuff like, “We get it; you can play guitar. You don’t have to prove it several times in one song.” Stuff like that. Because of our label experiences, we want them to actually care about us and pay attention to us.

So we were like, OK, what can we do so that we can still be happy with our writing, and they can be happy with the direction we’re going? We kind of tried to do that, and a lot of our older fans weren’t as into the second album. It ended up not being something that made any difference with the label whatsoever; we were still bottom priority for them. So we decided with this new album to expand in a new direction and to rediscover our old sound a little bit, because that’s us.

Just kind of incorporate the whole evolution of our sound and do something new with it.

That’s what we did in writing this new album.

SubmergeMag.com

“We sent demos to the record label almost two years ago now. They were like, ‘We think you can do more with your sound…’ We kept going back and revising the songs, and that turned out for the best because we kept revising. But they kept giving us really vague feedback. One time one of the guys said, ‘That one needs more culturally relevant anthems.’ What the hell does that mean? Did he want us to play what was hot right now? That’s not really us.” – Jeff Morgan, Conducting from the Grave, on the band’s split with Sumerian Records

bigger signings getting ready to come through, and now these signings are coming through.

We’re gonna leave it up to you. Do you want to continue with us? We’re not gonna hold you to the third release option.” So it was a mutual decision; we were like, “You know what? We’re tired of the BS, so yeah we’ll cut our losses and go our own way.”

So we took it upon ourselves at that point to just go ahead and record the album, with all the revised versions we did. We did it as cheaply as possible since we were fronting some of the expenses ourselves and building debt and we weren’t sure how we were gonna pay for it. We weren’t sure what we were gonna do with the release yet.

We did a lot of the tracking at home, which saved money. We’d seen a few bands doing the Kickstarter thing, and we decided that was the best option.

There are lots of progressive ins and outs to a lot of the songs, and there are sidetracks into more melodic territory as well. I’m thinking specifically of the vocal run on “Into the Rabbit Hole.” Was there a concerted effort for the band to push boundaries with this album in ways you hadn’t before? Or was it more of the rediscovering your older influences?

Some of the more melodic or mellow parts with clean-toned guitar and stuff, that’s something we’ve always tried to have at least a little bit of. Revenants was a little heavier. We’re trying to go back to more catchy melodies. At the same time, we’re trying to go a little heavier with the death metal vibe as

opposed to metalcore. As far as the vocals— the actual singing that Mikey [Powell, vocals] does—we have one very short part at the end of the previous album where he did that. It seemed to go over pretty well, and he did a lot of singing in a couple previous bands he was in. We like his voice, and we figured why not let him take a couple spots on this album and expand more in that direction without getting overbearing with it or changing our sound to incorporate it.

Is it possible for you to pick a song on the new album that you feel embodies the spirit of the band, and sort of overcoming what you’ve gone through?

I would say that the two songs that we’ve officially leaked—“Honor Guide Me!” and “Into the Rabbit Hole”—I think those both embody that. Those are my two favorite songs on the album. “Honor Guide Me!” I think is musically representative of the band’s sound as a whole, fully representative of our whole career as a band. It encompasses the core of our sound. I don’t know if the way I’m saying it makes a lot of sense, but when I hear that song, it sounds like us. That’s our sound. I could have heard that song before we wrote it and said, “Hey, that sounds like something we’d write!” “Into the Rabbit Hole” I think more embodies where we’ve ended up, where we’ve come, where the journey has gotten us. It’s musically where we’re at as a result of our experiences through the years as a band.

Conducting from the Grave releases their new self-titled album Saturday, Oct. 5 at the Boardwalk (9426 Greenback Lane, Orangevale). Opening the show is Fallujah, Lifeforms, Soma Ras, Gary Busey Amber Alert and Awaiting the Apocalypse. Doors at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets are $10 in advance, and $12 day of show. For more information on Conducting the Grave, visit the band on Facebook.

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

11

Into the Night

Jose Di Gregorio’s celestial shapes foretell Sacramento’s bright artistic future Words Joe Atkins

I

n 2011, I walked into Bows and Arrows to browse some clothes and ingest either a coffee or a beer. I probably had some paperwork to do, but instead of doing anything that day, I just looked at a series of paintings exhibited on the wall. Those paintings—these large black backgrounds painted on wood with blue spray-paint accents that felt like something simultaneously underwater and atmospheric supported these large, brilliant white bodies or figures that were grounded between a few rudimentary geometric patterns and curling, waving tails that loped toward the bottom of the work—those paintings were composed by Jose Di Gregorio.

Now, I don’t know much about art, but occasionally I read some people who do. From what I can gather, the only thing a good artwork should do is negate reality in some fashion. This is not to mistake the desire of artworks to be considered realistic, or to be part of the material world that we exist in, but rather that they should act as mediators.

All of that is to say, in general, art that seeks to represent in a mimetic or realist fashion bores me. Our conditions today are so much more complicated and full of possibility than some bowl of fruit or a landscape. When I first came across Di Gregorio’s work, this

12

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

is what it was clearly critiquing. This, for me, was its appeal. And I can only think of about two other Sacramento artists that I have remembered in similar fashion—but I’m not writing about them here.

Di Gregorio’s works are cosmic. They chose as their subject the infinite possibilities of our universe, and they hypothesize that these coordinates and celestial bodies might offer one of two things: either hope, of the sort that only post-apocalyptic genres can allude to, or humility, of the sort that alien encounter narratives tend to provide. Maybe they do both. What’s great about Di Gregorio’s works is that they are also questions in themselves, riddles of sorts. They offer each viewer her own Rorschach test, a reflection of her inner beliefs and ideologies.

They suggest that each viewer can be validated externally, and because of this, Di Gregorio has patrons from physics professors to fanatics of the everyday divine.

His new show, Night, will be displayed at Bows and Arrows, some two years after his previous exhibit. It’s a shift from his larger works previously available at Bows, and at the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, where he just had an installation. In an effort to make his works more obtainable for enthusiasts, the sizes have been decreased, but the attention

to detail is evident. The cosmic influence is still apparent, but these works are essentially circles or mandalas—a term Di Gregorio uses himself, though he’s quick to separate it from any spiritual association. Each of these mandalas holds a geometric figure, some series of white lines on a nebulous background composed by specific measurements within the frame, and they offer a continuation of the thoughts I was first attracted to in his earlier work.

“There’s some sort of meditative quality to them,” says Di Gregorio. “And I’m not a spiritual guy at all.”

Each of these pieces has a different geometric rhythm, a different figure or shape that holds the frame together. The white lines are crafted, composed with detail and attention.

Their initial appearance seems simple, yet the specific shapes and lines reveal a concentration, a repetitious series of paint and articulation. It is because of these recursive structures, shapes, figures and the cosmic image set, that the spiritual qualities are easy to identify.

“The spiritual nature of these pieces comes up a lot,” says Di Gregorio. “I used to be a pretty outspoken atheist. [Yet,] I feel like these works are my ways of seeing the spiritual.” This seeing the spiritual, I’d associate with the sort of focus that artists must possess, not only to Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

Alternate & Scaled Icons

(InsertNight, Gold Wienerof that an exhibition new looks work by Jose Di Gregorio like our heart from last and Jared Tharp, will be on ad) display at Bows and Arrows in Sacramento Oct. 4 through Oct. 31. An opening reception will take place on Oct. 4 from 6 to 9 p.m. For more info, visit Bowscollective.com.

1815 19th st. sacramento

OPEN TUES-SAT 11-11 • SUN 11-3

bowscollective.com TUES OCT 1 (7pm) BEEr and BEEthoVEn

SUN OCT 6 (12-4pm) LIVE MUSIC and BrUnCh

FRI OCT 11 (8pm) LIVE MUSIC

NOISEFEST

J. Good, J.Lately, Chuuwee

FRI OCT 4 (6-9pm) art opEnIng

TUES OCT 8 (8pm) opEn MIC

SAT OCT 12 (7pm) LIVE MUSIC

with Stewart Goodyear

NIGHT: New work

by Jose Di Gregorio and Jared Tharp

SAT OCT 5 (8pm) LIVE MUSIC

The Lost Cherries, Dancing & Crying

Creative Confluence

WED OCT 9 (8pm) LIVE MUSIC

Claudia Quintet

THUR OCT 10 (8pm) LIVE MUSIC

Classical Revolution

WED OCT 16 (8pm)

The Generals, Scissors for Lefty, Deer Park Avenue, Okapi Sun

TUES OCT 15 (6pm) LIVE MUSIC CAVE, The Cairo Gang, Donald Beaman

AwAreness Month

Local Artists exhibit to Benefit Albie Aware Foundation

show run

october 2-26 Kick-off thursday

october 10

6-9pm

2nd saturday

october 12 9am to 9pm

show Grand Finale

october 26

% of sales Donated to Albie

6-9pm

LittLe ReLics Boutique & Galleria 916.716.2319 www.littlerelics.com

908 21st Street (between I & J) Midtown, Sacramento 95811

Closed Sunday

lunch at lowBrau

t h e Wu r

st!

slide back out the door. He laughs, recalling a question one patron asked another Verge staff member: “Do the artists here show their works anywhere?” These well meaning sponsors of the arts, I might offer, are overwhelmed by Di Gregorio’s works as well—just in a slightly different way.

This incident stands out for Di Gregorio, having just completed an exhibition at the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art. This might be the highlight of his artistic career. “It was the best show I’ve ever had,” he says.

“It was all flat black, the walls, the ceiling, everything. We used red and blue light, and the works really popped. It was like a heavy-metal planetarium. I had just gone to the Lawrence Hall of Science Planetarium [in Berkeley] with my daughters. It was such a profound experience; I just wanted to mimic that. I got a budget. They flew me out. I did a mural. It was great.”

“I wish I could be an installation artist all the time,” he adds. “That is it. I got that taste.”

To go along with his recent accomplishments, Di Gregorio has recently shown at Sol Collective, designed a limited edition bottle for Ruhstaller Beer, designed and crafted a huge artwork for the recent Launch Music Festival in collaboration with others, and provided some aesthetic touches to the McKinley Park playground rebuild.

“That was over 100 hours in just one week,” elaborates Di Gregorio, “14-hour days, leaving at 6:30 AM and getting home at 9:30. Most of the work was in the mosaic, and I’m not a mosaic artist. I created this lunar/solar mosaic, and another one in the entryway. That took a lot of time, cutting the tiles and getting the right colors.

People who go there always notice the lionfish.

Actually, the climbing wall and the lionfish were an afterthought. It’s funny how things work. I live in the area, so it’s a humbling thing.”

Having grown up in Woodland, Jose Di Gregorio is excited to be included in the community of Sacramento. He sees a lot of possibility here: “I think that there’s going to be positive change in what happens in Sacramento art. I want to think we’re getting beyond a sculpture of a bowl, or a cowboy, like Old Sac stuff, the Wild West.”

With works from artists like Di Gregorio, here’s hoping that we might soon be recognized as stellar or even universal.

is

create works, but to continue to create them in our chaotic, distracting contemporary. It’s a sort of satisfaction that I’ve often thought of as addiction.

One could say Di Gregorio is addicted to simple figures and infinite depth. “There’s something about drawing a white line on a black surface,” he says, and then pauses to consider it further. It’s clear at this moment that his craft has a visceral effect on Di Gregorio, that the reason he pursues art has something to do with the metaphysical experience of drawing a line. This inversion of black and white, the associations of figure and background, is part of how Di Gregorio turns the subject of his works on its head. He never finishes this thought during our time together, to tell me what that “something” is.

Instead, I might offer that space is infinite, dark, unclear. An artwork is fixed, illuminated, specific. Traditionally the canvas is light, the marks dark. An opaque background asks for figures that register as shadows, bodies, inversions of light. A pitch dark background asks for figures that register as bodies of light themselves. This is part of that negation I mentioned above. However, it’s likely not how Di Gregorio would describe his work: “I don’t have a deep philosophical notion of what I do. It’s celestial, of course.”

“When I was an undergrad,” Di Gregorio continues, “I was researching the works of Caspar David Friedrich. He was a romantic painter during the Enlightenment. He was sort of countering the Enlightenment philosophy with the idea of the sublime, how small we are. That idea of the whole.”

This influence is clear once one sees the vast landscapes and seascapes of Friedrich, the horizons that loom over the lower third of the works, the immense skies with all of their impossibilities dominating the space of the canvas. Change the subject to space, swap out the human bodies for geometric figures, add a touch of improvisation and post-expressionist impulse: this is Di Gregorio.

The subject of his works is complicated, but his continual return marks Di Gregorio’s works with a specific focus. As he explains, “Maybe I’m just fascinated with something that is hard to explain. The feeling of being overwhelmed.

We want to describe it, and maybe I’m describing it visually.”

That feeling of being overwhelmed isn’t lost on the community of Sacramento. Di Gregorio recalls the recent Capital Artists’ Studio Tour at Verge Center for the Arts, where many local art enthusiasts would peek into his workroom, glance at the untraditional works, and quickly

20% oFF *

your entire lunch order!

SubmergeMag.com

Bring in this ad from 11am-3pm, Mon-Fri

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

13

Loyalty & Community

River City Brewing Company celebrates 20 years of supplying the Sacramento area with quality suds Words Nur Kausar photos courtesy of RCBC

C

hantalle Malneck started as a server at River City Brewing Company (RCBC) inside Sacramento’s downtown plaza when it first opened 20 years ago.

The beer flowed and so did short-lived additions to RCBC, says Malneck, as the brewpub tried multiple in-house business ventures like a bakery and espresso before finally sticking with brewing and more upscale, innovative food, like a towering, pillow-y eggplant napoleon.

Quietly ambitious, Malneck stayed at RCBC but wanted to move up. Having a comfortable, close-knit staff and management team helped, and she soon made her way into the kitchen, first as a prep cook and eventually as head chef and part owner, her current position.

“It hasn’t felt like 20 years,” she says, adding that three other staff members have also been there just as long. “We have a lot of the same regulars. One is Perry. I remember when I was a server I would serve him and his business partners, and I would be so nervous around him. Now our regulars get their own seats.”

General Manager and another part owner, Beth Ayres-Biro, says the loyal employees and

14

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

“I am a big believer in karma. If you are good to people and your community they will be good back to you. That’s the great part of having a local business, the closeness with your community. Of course good food and good beer are always important too.” – Beth Ayers-Biro, River City Brewing Company customers are what keep RCBC successful.

“I have never known a restaurant that has such loyal old and new employees,” AyresBiro says, who herself has been with RCBC for 12 years.“ I still to this day see a handful of [past] employees at least once a week just to say hi or coming in to drink and eat.”

She adds that the restaurant, like many others, has struggled, but regulars have kept it afloat.

“As many know, the mall has had some major downers in the past years and it has been rough to do business in a dying mall and with previous landlords who did not care what was going on,” she says. “Add on the extremely bad economy in the Sacramento area, but somehow our regulars would still make it in and support us. I am a big believer in karma. If you are good to people and your community they will be good back to you. That’s the great part of having a local business, the closeness with your community.

Of course good food and good beer are always important too.”

As a mainstay in the downtown mall and a frequenter of Sacramento events for catering and alcohol, RCBC has also made it part of its mission to give back to its community. For example, the restaurant has been hosting SubmergeMag.com

farm-to-fork dinners throughout the year, blending Malneck’s love for local, sustainable food with charity, as a percentage of the dinner proceeds are donated. An added benefit is the beer pairing with each course that comes with the dinner, giving both departments of the brewpub a chance to show off skills beyond the daily grind.

Change in leadership has also kept the place innovating. Malneck, Ayres-Biro and two others partnered to buy the restaurant in 2006, and spend day in and day out on location.

Just five months ago, they also hired a new head brewer, Brennan Holmes. He already has a few ideas fermenting—though, admittedly, they’re still just ideas while he settles into the established recipes of the brewery.

Holmes doesn’t have the same career trajectory as Malneck and Ayres-Biro; instead, it’s been a steady plane of beer-related jobs, including brewing, sales and bartending. After completing the Master Brewers program at UC Davis in 2011, he worked at Lagunitas Brewery in Petaluma, Calif.; shadowed South American beer makers in Patagonia; and had stints at the Davis Beer Shoppe, Berryessa Brewing Company and Brewmeisters in Folsom.

The experiences have taught him that even though he has his own tastes, the tastes of

his clientele come first.

“I have visions of what I want to do but it’s something I’m easing into,” Holmes says.

“I’m trying to figure out what the palates of my customers are and working with my own palate to see what we both like.”

That philosophy has worked at RCBC as well, as brewers have made 22 different kinds of beer but have stayed with a handful of successful staples. Holmes mentioned one recent change to the usual lineup: a Belgian wit that was once a seasonal is now a regular tap, taking the place of the brewery’s hefeweizen.

“The previous brewer handed down all the recipes, and I’ve pretty much kept them exact, but some I altered slightly and so far there’s been a pretty positive response,” Holmes says. He also just completed this season’s Oktoberfest beer that should be on tap now.

“All my jobs have revolved around beer and I definitely know this is the industry I want to be in. What drew me here was the position…

There is a lot more responsibility but also a lot more freedom and creativity.”

Logistically, Holmes says distribution beyond the restaurant will be difficult, but that may change with time.

Ayres-Biro says brewery expansion is a

definite possibility as long as RCBC’s future stays secure.

“Future plans are to hopefully stay an anchor on the west end of downtown for another 20,” she says. “Hopefully with the new arena there will be new, exciting life down here and we can start doing some new, exciting stuff as well.”

Not surprisingly, there are still plenty of Sacramentans who walk by the downtown plaza and never make it to River City.

A good time to try might be for the 20 th anniversary party Oct. 12. It will be held in the piazza right in front of the restaurant.

Tickets are $25, which includes beer, appetizers, live music and raffle prizes like Kings tickets and gift certificates. Proceeds benefit the Kings Foundation for education.

The wristband will also get patrons discounts inside the restaurant if they decide to stick around for dinner. The party in the piazza goes from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information, visit Rivercitybrewing. net. If you’d like to know more about the Kings Foundation, go to NBA. com/kings/community/ foundation.

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

15

October 4

f R i dAy

SAT u R dAy

October 19

1417 R STREET SACRAMENTO w E d N E S dAy

October 16

iwresTledaBearonCe MerChanTs

SAT u R dAy

October 5

S u N dAy

October 20

T u E S dAy

October 22

liKe MoThs To FlaMes hawThorne heighTs

CapTure The Crown • seT iT oFF • i aM King

T u E S dAy

October 1

T h u R S dAy

October 17

BaBniT • Charlie MusCle • K-hawK

f R i dAy

BruTha sMiTh

T h u R S dAy

16

October 3

October 11

one drop • sTreeT urChinz

MaTT w. gage • save & ConTinue

rioTMaKer • Kayasun • Brodi niCholas

SAT u R dAy

October 12

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

f R i dAy

October 18

f R i dAy

October 25

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

October 26

SAT u R dAy

w E d N E S dAy

November 6

November 16

SAT u R dAy

S u N dAy

december 8

Farewell My love • The relapse syMphony haley rose • oh, The horror

T h u R S dAy

f R i dAy

October 31

November 1

M O N dAy

November 11

S u N dAy

T u E S dAy

November 12

SAT u R dAy

November 17

November 23

w E d N E S dAy

f R i dAy

december 11

december 13

All Shows All Ages The aTTaCK • Kill The preCedenT The seCreTions • avenue sainTs

T u E S dAy

November 5

SubmergeMag.com

T h u R S dAy

November 14

SAT u R dAy

december 7

Tickets Available @ dimple Records, Armadillo Online: AceOfSpadesSac.com

By Phone: 1.877.GNd.CTRL OR 916.443.9202

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

17

Exploring Sound

The Virgin’s Guide to NorCal NoiseFest 2013 Written by a NoiseFest virgin Words Jenn Walker

F

or the 17th year in a row, Sacramento is hosting NorCal NoiseFest.

One of the oldest and most established “noise” festivals out there, it is a yearly gathering of performing artists from around the country who base their entire acts around creating noise. There is no false advertising here; we are talking about noise, as in sound intentionally void of rhythm, melody and structure. Dissonance and chaos are sought.

This year’s festival will feature 40 artists, spanning three days and four locations.

Let me just get this out of the way now. I’ve lived in Sacramento for 25 years straight, and I have never been to a NoiseFest. For shame!

Anyway, to gain a better understanding of NoiseFest, I not only reviewed countless videos and tracks by the artists performing in this year’s lineup, but I also spoke with the only two people in town who have performed NoiseFest every year since its birth in 1995, Lob of Instagon and William Burg of Uberkunst. They have also been highly involved members of the Secret Masters of Noise (those who make NoiseFest happen each year) since the early ‘00s.

In sum, think of NorCal NoiseFest as the “outsider experience,” Lob explains. The presentation is meant to be unique, abrasive and unpleasant.

This embrace of noise is not a new idea. Here is a snippet of history to

prove it: in 1913 the Italian artist Luigi Russolo wrote the Futurist manifesto “L’arte dei Rumori” or “The Art of Noises.” In it, he argued that because humans’ lives were becoming inundated with machinery, music should incorporate such sounds into composition. You might consider Russolo the founding father of noise music, 100 years ahead of his time. Apropos, this year’s NoiseFest is marking the celebration of a “century of noise.”

Rest assured, NoiseFest doesn’t cater to any one crowd. Sure, noise doesn’t have mass appeal—lots of people haven’t trained their ears for it. Yet there are pockets of noise enthusiasts out there, young and old, Burg confirms.

Compare noise to eating pancreas, he suggests. The masses will gag at the mere thought, opting for a McDonald’s cheeseburger, just as they will choose to listen to “music” instead of “noise.” Yet there are some who will gladly dig into a plateful of pancreas over a fistful of fries any day.

As he so poetically elaborates, like a mountain man leads the way into the wilderness, the noisemaker blazes a path for other musicians to follow, sometimes decades later.

“Somebody had to go there first, and they generally had to go alone,” he adds.

Consider NorCal NoiseFest the once-a-year gathering of those mountain men and women.

Name Game Music festivals are hard.

W00DY

Beast Nest

Female-Led Performances

W00DY is a solo performer hailing from Boston, Mass. She excels at vocal manipulation, particularly stretching and contorting her voice, layering and looping fragments over subtle tones. Her performance may leave you feeling airy, and at other times feeling like you are swallowed in a spiral or a maze. You may be tempted to think she is channeling Bjork at times, minus the music.

This will be her first time playing NorCal NoiseFest. Catch her performance on Friday at 10:30 p.m. at Luna’s Cafe.

Beast Nest is the solo project of Sharmi Basu, a Mills College student who is pursuing her master’s in electronic music. Her sound will creep up on you, gently guiding you to another dimension through a blanket of feedback. Fluttering R2D2-like beeps, whizzes, zaps and dial tones will simultaneously emerge, crossed by ethereal notes tracing scratchy hums. According to Lob, “Basu has delivered some of the most psychedelic ambient performances that NoiseFest has had in the past.” Beast Nest performs Thursday at 10 p.m. at Naked Lounge.

18

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

When you have a lineup of 40 to choose from, how are you possibly supposed to narrow down your options?

For those who just can’t make up their minds, try this: just check out the bands with the, uh, most unusual names. Never mind that several of these names suggest pain.

1. Amphibious Gestures 2. Stress Orphan 3. Randy McKean’s Wild Horsey Ride 4. Dental Work 5. Pulsating Cyst 6. Endometrium Cuntplow

Instagon

Uberkunst

17 Years and Counting

As mentioned before, there are only two acts that have performed NorCal NoiseFest every year since inception: Instagon and Uberkunst, both local.

Uberkunst is Burg’s project, and “always a spectacle sacrifice to NIAD (noise instrument analog device),” Lob says. Uberkunst’s crew typically consists of 10plus bodies. Previous performances have included power tools, masks, screaming, destruction, torture machines and spiky outfits with a Road Warrior aesthetic. Instagon, on the other hand, performs with a different ensemble for every single show, with Lob leading the way. When it comes to NoiseFest, Lob typically assembles a handful of performers who each feed their sounds into a mixer set while he selects which sounds to amplify and overlap. One year that meant nine people making noise with jewel cases and contact mics. Odd, provocative, conceptual noise guaranteed. Uberkunst performs at Sol Collective at 10:30 p.m. Saturday, and Instagon plays at Bows and Arrows at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

Crank Ensemble

Sights to Behold

Coat hanger hooks, rubber bands, wires, chop sticks, popsicle sticks, broom straws... What more do you need? Not much, if you are making handmade cranks to play in the Crank Ensemble. These instruments are literally works of art that are then used to create noise music. Mastermind Larnie Fox orchestrates the rigid clicks and pops simultaneously into a steady progression—think clock music. You will want to see these guys up close on Sunday at Bows and Arrows, starting at 2:30 p.m. Meanwhile, Michael Amason is known for his ongoing “Noise Tattoo” project, where he tattoos himself through an amp stack. According to Lob, “You will hear every needle mark!” Catch him at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Sol Collective.

Acts You Will NOT Want to Stand As Close As Possible To

Acts You Will Want to Stand As Close As Possible To

1. Uberkunst 1. Endometrium 2. Overdose Cuntplow the Katatonic 2. Michael Amason 3. +DOG+ 3. Dental Work 4. Striations 5. Pulsating 4. Eurostache Cyst 5. Jeff Boynton 6. Nux Vomica

The Locals List

Overdose The Katatonic

Amphibious Gestures

1. Faults: A local Sacramento noise/ jazz trio featuring L.H.Shimanek, Kevin Corcoran and Chad Stockdale reunited, they have not played live in more than five years. They may not play out again. Do not miss it.

SubmergeMag.com

+DOG+

Bring Earplugs

Pedestrian Deposit

1. Xome 2. Uberkunst 3. Instagon 4. Chopstick 5. Faults 6. Master Morya 7. San(s) Kasagascar 8. Collude 9. Cut 10. Noisepsalm 11. /The Nothing\ 12. Randy McKean’s Wild 6 Bands Not To Miss And Why (Lob’s Picks) Horsey Ride

Who Will Burn the Most Miles To Get Here

1. Thirteen Hurts from Pleasant View, Colo.

2. Dental Work from Traverse City, Mich.

3. Stress Orphan from Washington, D.C. 4. Blipvert from New York, N.Y. 5. W00DY from Boston, Mass.

Faults

If you plan to watch Los Angeles act +DOG+, the last performance at Luna’s Café on Friday starting at 11:30 p.m., keep these things in mind. Static noise. You may feel like your head is under a nail gun, beneath the blade of a chopper or pressed against the blare of a dial-up connection. Your eye might start to twitch.

Or maybe that’s just the caffeine. Likewise, if you check out /The Nothing\ at 5 p.m. at Sol Collective on Saturday, know what you’re getting into. You will feel like you stepped into an insane asylum, or someone’s nightmare. It will sound tortuous. You might think it’s a perfect way to scare away every child for Halloween this year. Thought I can’t confirm it, Lob also suggests earplugs for Blue Sabbath Black Cheer (11 p.m. Saturday at Sol Collective) Thirteen Hurts (7:30 p.m. Saturday at Sol Collective), and M22 (9:30 p.m. on Friday at Luna’s Café). I’d take his word for it.

2. Overdose The Katatonic: In Lob’s words, “There is only one Jim Trash, and we have him for the weekend.

Sonic brutality unleashed in a coffee house; sometimes he throws out toys!”

3. Amphibious Gestures: Lob says it best: “Space aliens from the sea with super sonic audio waves to invade your ears and mind. You think I’m kidding, but...”

Blue Sabbath Black Cheer

Randy McKean’s Wild Horsey Ride

5. Blue Sabbath Black Cheer: Lob calls them a “tribal rush of power and madness” consisting of percussion and electronics. They don’t get out here much, but when they do, they are said to leave a massive impression.

6. Randy McKean’s Wild Horsey Ride: This is a duo featuring saxophonist Randy McKean and electronics artist Wes Steed. McKean produces sound and Steed captures it via live analog processing, and they play together with the sounds generated.

Supposedly it is nothing short of amazing.

4. Pedestrian Deposit: These guys have been on a U.S. tour recently and “SLAYING crowds everywhere,” according to Lob. Need proof? Check out the social media trails.

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

Norcal Noisefest takes place Oct. 3 through Oct. 6. For a complete list of events, go to Norcalnoisefest.com.

19

music, comedy & misc. Calendar

Sept. 30 – Oct. 14

submergemag.com/calendar use a qr scanner on your smart phone to view calendar online

9.30 Monday

The Boxing Donkey Open Mic Variety Night, 8 p.m.

Distillery Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Fox & Goose Open Mic Night, 7:30 p.m.

Luna’s Cafe Nebraska Mondays feat. Doug Pauly & Alicyn Yaffee Duo, Steve Adams & John Hanes, 7:30 p.m.

Marilyn’s Karaoke, 8 p.m.

Old Ironsides Heath Williamson & Friends, 5 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Press Club Instagon, Monk Warrior, Ghostnote, 8 p.m.

Sol Collective Microphone Mondays, 8 p.m.

10.01 Tuesday

Coming Soon an urban beer garden in midtown at 24 th & K 25

Beers On Draft

Lite German Fare

dbmidtown.com 20

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

Ace of Spades Between The Buried and Me, The Faceless, Contortionist, Safety Fire, 6:30 p.m.

Bows and Arrows Beer & Beethoven w/ Stewart Goodyear, 7 p.m.

Cafe Colonial Rat Damage, Nudes, Gurth, Atom Bomb, 7 p.m.

Distillery Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Marilyn’s GSET: Classic Rock and Blues Review, 8 p.m.

Old Ironsides Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Pine Cove Open Mic Night, 9 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub College Night w/ DJ Rigatony, DJ Alazzawi, 10:30 p.m.

Press Club FFFreak! w/ DJs CrookOne, Ben Johnson, Boogalicious, 9:30 p.m.

Shine Jazz Jam w/ Jason Galbraith & Guests, 8 p.m.

Sleep Train Amphitheatre Maroon 5, 7 p.m.

Sol Collective The Evens, 7:30 p.m.

T2 Nightclub & Lounge Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Torch Club Emmie Jones, 5:30 p.m.; Lew Fratis, 8 p.m.

Toby Keith’s Open Mic Night, 7 p.m.

10.02 Wednesday

Badlands DJ Blake Charlton, IMF. Dred, TAMEsta, 10 p.m.

Bar 101 Open Mic, 7:30 p.m.

Club Car The Double Shots, 7:30 p.m.

Crest Theatre Gordon Lightfoot, 8 p.m.

Distillery Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Fox & Goose Northern Soul, 8 p.m.

G Street WunderBar Funk Night w/ DJ Larry, 10 p.m.

Harlow’s Everton Blender, The Yard Squad Band, TRINITI, 9 p.m.

Marilyn’s Red Rose, Levi Moseas, Adika, 8 p.m.

Mix DJ Gabe Xavier, DJ Peeti-V, 9 p.m.

Old Ironsides Open Mic, 9 p.m.

Press Club GDP, Nervous, Call Me Snake, DJ Whores, 8 p.m.

Sophia’s Thai Kitchen Open Mic, 8 p.m.

Torch Club Acoustic Open Mic, 5:30 p.m.; Howell Devine Band, 9 p.m.

UC Davis: TCS Open Mic, DJ Chango, 7 p.m.

University Union Serna Plaza, CSUS Nooner feat. Pointdexter, 12 p.m.

10.03 thursday

Ace of Spades Twiztid, Madchild, Blaze Ya Dead Homie, Aqualeo, Brutha Smith, 6 p.m.

Bar 101 Karaoke, 7:30 p.m.

The Blue Lamp The Session, 9 p.m.

Center for the Arts Kelley Stoltz, Golden Shoulders, MakeMake, 8 p.m.

Club Car Songwriters Showcase, 8 p.m.

The Coffee Garden Open Mic Night, 8 p.m.

District 30 DJ Dan, 9 p.m.

Dive Bar Dueling Pianos, 9 p.m.

Fox & Goose Jay Shaner, Makenzie Mizell, 8 p.m.

Harlow’s Iconoclast Robot, Blaquelisted, Big Sticky Mess, 8 p.m.

Level Up Lounge Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Marilyn’s Get Lei’d feat. Brodi Nicholas, IrieFuse, Lumanation, This Hiatus, 7:30 p.m.

Naked Lounge Downtown NorCal NoiseFest: Chopstick, Faults, Beast Nest, Blood Into Water, Collude, Master Morya, 8 p.m.

Pine Cove Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub 2 Steps Down, 10 p.m.

Press Club No Diggity 90’s Night w/ DJ Meek Da Kat, 9 p.m.

R15 Z Rokk, 9 p.m.

The Stoney Inn Ali Dee, The Chad Bushnell Band, 9 p.m.

Torch Club Pailer & Fratis, 5:30 p.m.; Jessee Dee, 9 p.m.

10.04 Friday

Ace of Spades Senses Fail, For The Fallen Dreams, Expire, Being As An Ocean, 6:30 p.m.

Bisla’s Pointdexter, Stellar, S.W.I.M., 9 p.m.

The Blue Lamp In the Silence, Ape Machine, Secrets of The Sky, Murderlicious, 9 p.m.

The Boardwalk Dennis Jones Band, 7 p.m.

Capitol Garage Dub Culture w/ DK Wokstar, DJ Jaytwo, 10 p.m.

The Colony Razorblade Monalisa, In Letter Form, Elizabeth Merlot, The Art of Master Nick, Dead Regal, DJ Dire Deparra, 8 p.m.

Famous Mo’s Todd Morgan & the Emblems, 8 p.m.

Fox & Goose Infinite Vastness, Guero, Hart Bothwell, 9 p.m.

Golden Bear DJ Crook, 10 p.m.

Harlow’s Nicki Bluhm and The Gramblers, Easy Leaves, 8 p.m.

Level Up Lounge Hot Pants w/ DJ Rock Bottom, 9 p.m.

Little Prague Big Sticky Mess, 10 p.m.

Luna’s Cafe NorCal NoiseFest: +DOG+, Amphibious Gestures, W00dy,, Noisepsalm, Overdose The Katatonic, M22, Cut, Blipvert, Stress Orphan, Holy Filamen, 7 p.m.

Marilyn’s Jukebox Johnny All Request Cover Show, 8 p.m.

Midtown BarFly Get Down to the Champion Sound w/ DJ Esef and guests, 10 p.m.

Mix DJ Gabe Xavier, 9 p.m.

Old Ironsides Malcom Bliss, Sour Diesel, Decipher, 8 p.m.

On The Y Killgasm, Chronaexus, Gravehill, Goreshack, Algolagnic Rites, 8:30 p.m.

The Park Ultra Lounge DJ Five, 9 p.m.

Pine Cove Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub Hip Service, 10 p.m.

Press Club DJ Rue, 9 p.m.

Red Hawk Casino Clean Slate, 10 p.m.

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

Sacramento Comedy Spot Dare to be Stupid: A Tribute to “Weird Al” Yankovic feat. The FreeBadge Serenaders, Musical Robot, Kimberlina, The Auxiliary, The New Stickie Minstrels, 8 p.m.

Shenanigans Big Joe Daddy, Funk Advisor, J-Dubz, Freakshow, 9 p.m.

Shine Clark Reese, Erik Spencer, Joe Kaplow, 8 p.m.

Sophia’s Thai Kitchen Miss Lonely Hearts, Jenny Lynn & Her Real Gone Daddies, 9 p.m.

Swabbies on the River 4th Annual Blues By the River w/ Pinkie Rideau & Blind Resistance, 6 p.m.

Third Space Cuntz, Crude Studs, Alarms, Rat Damage, 8 p.m.

Torch Club Pailer & Fratis, 5:30 p.m.; Maxx Cabello, 9 p.m.

10.05 Saturday

Ace of Spades Joshua Radin, 7 p.m.

Assembly JoJo, Leah LaBelle, 6:30 p.m.; Rocktober Zombie Fest w/ White Minorities, Children of the Grave, Risk Everything Crew, Destructikonz, Chase Moore, Clyde Moore, 9 p.m.

Bar 101 Rock 2K, 9:30 p.m.

The Blue Lamp Radio Radio 80’s Dance Club w/ Roger Carpio, Brian Hawk, 9 p.m.

The Boardwalk Conducting From The Grave (Album Release), Fallujah, Lifeforms, Soma Ras, Gary Busey Amber Alert, Awaiting The Apocalypse, 6:30 p.m.

Bows and Arrows The Lost Cherries, Dancing & Crying, 8 p.m.

Cache Creek Casino Brandy, 8 p.m.

Cafe Colonial Bitch Fest 3: Resurrection of Ruin, Fudi, Astral Cult, The Crunchees Fanpage, Mad Judy, Jesus Christ Mister, System Assault, 6:30 p.m.

Capitol Garage Feel Good Saturday’s w/ DJ Epik, 10 p.m.

Center for the Arts Leftover Cuties, 8 p.m.

District 30 DJ Oasis, 9 p.m.

Fox & Goose Big Iron, Desert Rat, Crossing the River, 9 p.m.

Harlow’s Lee DeWyze, 5:30 p.m.; Bob Schneider, Gabriel Kelley, 8 p.m.

Harrah’s Lake Tahoe DJ Rick Gee, 10:30 p.m.

KBAR Z Rokk, 9 p.m.

Level Up Lounge Guest DJs, 9 p.m.

Marilyn’s Who Dunnit (The Who tribute), 9 p.m.

Mix DJ Eddie Edul, DJ Peeti V, 9 p.m.

MontBleu Resort Casino Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers, Edie Brickell, 8 p.m.

Old Ironsides Whoopie Qat, 9 p.m.

Pine Cove Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Plainfield Station One Voice Fest w/ CroMags, 7Seconds, Crown of Thornz, Pressure Point, Tim Timebomb and Friends, Zero Progress, Rat City Riot and more, 11 a.m.

Powerhouse Pub Spazmatics, 10 p.m.

Press Club DJ Larry Rodriguez, 9 p.m.

Red Hawk Casino Clean Slate, 10 p.m.

Rio Ramaza Event Park V103 Rock’s BandCamp w/ Some Fear None, Fallrise, Chernobog, The Three Way, Defyant Circle, Fair Struggle, Prylosis, Element of Soul and more, 1 p.m.

Shine Snakeboy Shiner, 8 p.m.

Sol Collective NorCal NoiseFest: Blue Sabbath Black Cheer, Actuary, Uberkunst, Xome, Pedestrian Deposit, Thirteen Hurts, Pulsating Cyst, Conscious Summary, Thomas DiMuzio, Dental Work and more, 2 p.m.

Sophia’s Thai Kitchen Spirits of the Red City, Robin Bacior, 9 p.m.

The Stoney Inn Vintage Vandals, 8 p.m.

Swabbies on the River 4th Annual Blues By the River w/ Mick Martin and the Blues Rockers, Marshal Wilkerson, The Big Little Rowland Rowland Band, 4 p.m.

Torch Club Sac Groove Fest w/ Mind X, Funk-de-fied, Keri Carr, Harlis Sweetwater, Dippin’ Sauce, Quinn Deveaux, The Blue Beat, 4 p.m.

10.06 Sunday

Bows and Arrows NorCal NoiseFest: Instagon, Nux Vomica, Crank Ensemble, San Kazagascar, Jeff Boynton, Juice Machine, Randy McKean’s Wild Horsey Ride, 12 p.m.

Cache Creek Casino Mr. Ha Yu & Ms. Long Piao Piao, 2 & 5 p.m.

Capitol Garage Karaoke w/ Jeff Jenkins, 9 p.m.

Distillery Karaoke, 8 p.m.

Marilyn’s Open Mic Talent Showcase, 7 p.m.

Mix DJ Gabe Xavier, 9 p.m.

Plainfield Station One Voice Fest w/ Strife, No!se, Old Firm Casuals, Take Offense, Out Crowd, Plead the Fifth, Death March and more, 11 a.m.

Powerhouse Pub Guitar Shorty, 3 p.m.

Press Club Sunday Night Soul Party w/ DJ Larry & DJ Hailey, 9 p.m.

Sleep Train Arena Josh Groban, 7:30 p.m.

Swabbies on the River Contraband, 3 p.m.

Torch Club Sac Groove Fest w/ Mr. December, Kyle Rowland Band, Indian From Pluto, Peter Petty, Maxx Cabello, Tessie Marie, Walking Spanish, Dennis Jones Band, Joy & Madness, KB & the Slingtones, Mercy Me!, 2 p.m.

10.05 CroMags One Voice Fest 7Seconds, Crown of Thornz, Pressure Point, Tim Timebomb and Friends, Zero Progress, Rat City Riot and more Plainfield Station 11 a.m.

10.06 artletter NOV/DEC 2007

Shorty C R O C K E R A R T M U S E U M M EGuitar MBERS MA GAZINE

Powerhouse Pub 3 p.m.

ArchiTecTure FesTivAl lAunch Thursday, October 10 5 — 9 PM Art Mix and the American institute of Architects central valley chapter team up to kick off this year’s Architecture Festival with an unstructured celebration of structures • Keys on Plastic, ft. DJ rated r and Jonathan Bengo • cardborigami with the Art Mix Featured Artist Tina hovsepian • sacDigiFab’s interactive installation Pixel city • PechaKucha • Film screenings presented by AIA film curator ian Merker • Architectural models by local designers • Mingle with Sacramento’s most innovative architects and designers on architecture tours of the Crocker

#artmix

crockerartmuseum.org SubmergeMag.com

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

21

10.10

Michael Franti and Spearhead Ethan Tucker University Union Ballroom, CSUS 7 p.m.

Level Up Lounge Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Marilyn’s Red Union Blue, Midnight Transport, Katie Knipp, 8 p.m.

Mix DJ Eddie Edul, DJ Peeti V, 9 p.m.

Pine Cove Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub Chad Bushnell, 10 p.m.

Press Club Behold the Arctopus, Botanist, Plague Widow, Practice, 8 p.m.

R15 Z Rokk, 9 p.m.

Shine Orange Morning, Soul Shine, Old Grove, 8 p.m.

The Stoney Inn Neon Circus (Brooks & Dunn tribute), 9 p.m.

Torch Club X Trio, 5 p.m.; Reds Blues feat. Steve Freund, 9 p.m.

University Union Ballroom, CSUS Michael Franti and Spearhead, Ethan Tucker, 7 p.m.

10.07 10.09 10.11 Monday

The Boxing Donkey Open Mic Variety Night, 8 p.m.

Cafe Colonial The Babies, Alex Bleeker & The Freaks, Dog Party, Sneeze Attack, 8 p.m.

Center for the Arts Community Music Jam, 6:30 p.m.

Distillery Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Fox & Goose Open Mic Night, 7:30 p.m.

Harlow’s Exile Parade, The Novocaines, The Copper Gamins, 7 p.m.

Luna’s Cafe Nebraska Mondays feat. Catherine Sikora, Byron Colborn Trio, Jason Levis Trio, 7:30 p.m.

Marilyn’s Karaoke, 8 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Press Club Work Your Soul w/ Andy Garcia, Matt Mora, 9 p.m.

Sol Collective Microphone Mondays, 8 p.m.

10.08 Tuesday

Bows and Arrows Creative Confluence Open Mic, 8 p.m.

Distillery Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Harlow’s The Winery Dogs, The SixxiS, 7 p.m.

Marilyn’s GSET: Classic Rock and Blues Review, 8 p.m.

Old Ironsides Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Pine Cove Open Mic Night, 9 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub College Night w/ DJ Rigatony, DJ Alazzawi, 10:30 p.m.

Shine Jazz Jam w/ Jason Galbraith & Guests, 8 p.m.

T2 Nightclub & Lounge Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Torch Club Bill Mylar, 5:30 p.m.; Debut Tuesdays Music Showcase w/ Clark Reese, Kitten Grenade, Stellar, 8 p.m.

Toby Keith’s Open Mic Night, 7 p.m.

22

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

wednesday

Bar 101 Open Mic, 7:30 p.m.

Bows and Arrows Claudia Quintet, 8 p.m.

Center for the Arts Cheyenne Marie Mize, Aaron Ross, Adam Arcuragi, 8 p.m.

Club Car The Double Shots, 7:30 p.m.

Distillery Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Fox & Goose Northern Soul, 8 p.m.

Harlow’s Red Fang, Helms Alee, Dog Shredder, 7 p.m.

LowBrau South of France, Contra, DJ Roger Carpio, 9 p.m.

Mix DJ Gabe Xavier, DJ Peeti-V, 9 p.m.

Old Ironsides Open Mic, 9 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub Lonely Kings (CD Release), Number Station, Horseneck, James Cavern, The Secretions, 8 p.m.

Press Club Revolver (Rage Against the Machine tribute), Plush (Stone Temple Pilots tribute), 8 p.m.

Third Space Eleanor Murray, Donald Beaman, Brian Jackson, Lauren Lavin, 8:30 p.m.

Torch Club Acoustic Open Mic, 5:30 p.m.; Reds Blues feat. Mark Hummel, 9 p.m.

University Union Serna Plaza, CSUS Nooner feat. Steel Toed Slippers, 12 p.m.

10.10

FRIDAY

Ace of Spades Andre Nickatina, Krayzie Bone (from Bone ThugsN-Harmony), Babnit, Charlie Muscle, K-Hawk, 7 p.m.

Assembly Rocca Varnado (Album Release), The Bell Boys, Lady Remedy, Bad Nuze, iDream Music Group, Koincidents X Young Eli, F.H.O.D., DJ Epik, hosted by James Cavern, 9 p.m.

Bar 101 FM 80’s, 9 p.m.

Bisla’s Zeroclient, Olympus Mons, 9 p.m.

The Blue Lamp First Dirt, 9 p.m.

The Boardwalk Icon For Hire, 6:30 p.m.

Bows and Arrows J. Good, J. Lately, Chuuwee, 8 p.m.

Cache Creek Casino Three Dog Night, 9 p.m.

Capitol Garage Dub Culture w/ DK Wokstar, DJ Jaytwo, 10 p.m.

Center for the Arts Earles of Newtown, Mojo Green, 8 p.m.

Club Car Dennis Johnson and the Ramblers, 9 p.m.

Club Retro Four Days Out, Taylor Cullen, Connor and Karlee, War Paint, 6:30 p.m.

The Colony Dysmorfic, Repulsione, Skrunt, 8 p.m.

District 30 DJ Elements, 9 p.m.

Fox & Goose Nacho Business, Monster Treasure, 9 p.m.

Golden Bear DJ Crook, 10 p.m.

Harlow’s Wonderbread 5, 10 p.m.

Level Up Lounge Hot Pants w/ DJ Rock Bottom, 9 p.m.

Luigi’s Fungarden The Strange Party, Number Station, The Harbor, M Section, 8 p.m.

Marilyn’s Stoneberry, Athena, Capo Stew, Taylor Chicks, Brittany McKinney, 8 p.m.

Midtown BarFly Get Down to the Champion Sound w/ DJ Esef and guests, 10 p.m.

Mix DJ Gabe Xavier, 9 p.m.

Old Ironsides William MylarHippie Hour, 5 p.m.; West Coast Fury, Sans Sobriety, Summit, 9 p.m.

The Park Ultra Lounge DJ Shift, DJ Eddie Edul, 9 p.m.

Pine Cove Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub Decades, 10 p.m.

Press Club DJ Rue, 9 p.m.

Red Hawk Casino Chili Sauce, 10 p.m.

Shine Narwahl, 4th World, Chad E. WIlliams, 8 p.m.

Sleep Train Amphitheatre Jason Aldean, 7:30 p.m.

Sophia’s Thai Kitchen El Radio Fantastique, 9 p.m.

Third Space Bill Tucker, 8 p.m.

Torch Club Pailer & Fratis, 5:30 p.m.; Con Brio, 9 p.m.

10.12 Saturday

Ace of Spades Arden Park Roots, One Drop, Street Urchinz, Riotmaker, Kayasun, Brodi Nicholas, 6:30 p.m.

Bar 101 Block Party, 9:30 p.m.

The Blue Lamp The Hormones (All Girl Ramones tribute), The Sheets, California Riot Act, 9 p.m.

The Boardwalk Baby Bash, Reign, Status Goes, J Roc Mgmt, K-Hawk, Javis, TLK, Hard Knox, Yoshi, 8 p.m.

Bows and Arrows The Generals, Scissors for Lefty, Deer Park Avenue, Okapi Sun, 7 p.m.

Cache Creek Casino Ricky Nelson Remembered, 8 p.m.

Capitol Garage Feel Good Saturday’s w/ DJ Epik, 10 p.m.

Center for the Arts Leroy Bell, 8 p.m.

Thursday

Bar 101 Karaoke, 7:30 p.m.

The Boardwalk T. Hill, April Foolzz, Joe Tyler, 8 p.m.

Bows and Arrows Classical Revolution, 8 p.m.

Club Car Songwriters Showcase, 8 p.m.

The Coffee Garden Open Mic Night, 8 p.m.

Crest Theatre Jake Shimabukuro, 7 p.m. (Sold Out) District 30 Nick G, 9 p.m.

Dive Bar Dueling Pianos, 9 p.m.

Fox & Goose Steve McLane, 8 p.m.

10.11

Stoneberry Athena, Capo Stew, Taylor Chicks, Brittany McKinney Marilyn’s 8 p.m.

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

Bring in Any competitor’s coupon and we’ll beat it by $5 *must present competitor’s ad. Some restrictions apply.

Sacramento

420 Doc meDical marijUana evalUationS

fall comPassion sPecials

34 $ 44

$

Renewals *must bring in this ad. limit one per patient.

Voted 2 bes physict 420 in sacian ! nd

new Patients *must bring in this ad. limit one per patient.

visit our weBsite to Book your Appointment online 24/7

www.Sac420doc.com

916.480.9000 2 convenient locAtions to serve you

2 1 0 0 Wa t t av e U n i t 1 9 0 • S a c r a m e n t o , c a 9 5 8 2 5 loc ated in the bac k of building M o n - S a t 11 - 7 p M 2633 telegraph ave, #109 | oaKlanD, ca 94612 (510) 832-5000 | Mon-Sat 10aM-5pM

recommendations are valid for 1 Year • Walk-ins Welcome all day everyday

yoUr information iS 100% private anD confiDential SubmergeMag.com

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

23

Central Park (Davis) Festival on the Green feat. Be Calm Honcho, Cherry Royale, Extra Classic, Kingfisher/Sea Train, Midi Matilda, Radiation City, Rita Hosking & Cousin Jack, West Nile Ramblers, 2 p.m.

Crest Theatre John Hiatt & The Combo, Drew Holcomb, 6:30 p.m.

District 30 Dirt Nasty, 9 p.m.

Fox & Goose Sacto Soul Rebels, Keyser Soze, The Storytellers, 9 p.m.

Harlow’s Steelin’ Dan (Steely Dan tribute), 5:30 p.m.

Harrah’s Lake Tahoe Blue Öyster Cult, 7:30 p.m.

KBAR Z Rokk, 9 p.m.

Level Up Lounge Guest DJs, 9 p.m.

Mix DJ Eddie Edul, 9 p.m.

Old Ironsides Walrus, Horseneck, Los Frugales, 9 p.m.

Pine Cove Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub Superlicious, 10 p.m.

Press Club DJ Larry Rodriguez, 9 p.m.

Red Hawk Casino Chili Sauce, 10 p.m.

Shine The Pandels, SRO, The So Whatevers, Travis Latrine, Justin Purtill and more, 3 p.m.

Sophia’s Thai Kitchen Boca Do Rio, 9 p.m.

Swabbies on the River Eric Martin, Larisa Bryski, 3 p.m.

Torch Club Delta City Ramblers, 5:30 p.m.; Terry Hanck, 9 p.m.

1050 20TH ST,

447-1255 OPEN LATE NIGHT !!!

EVERYDAY SPECIALS!

MIDTOWN SACRAMENTO

(916)

$1 MON: $1-OFF ALL SLICES $2 TUE: $2 CHEESE OR PEP $3 WED: $3 ANY SLICE $4 THUR: $4 ANY SANDWICH $5 FRI: $5-OFF ANY LARGE PIE

HAPPY HOUR 7 DAYS A WEEK: 3pm-6pm $2 cheese or pepperoni slice & $2 pints

10.13 Sunday

Assembly Capleton, African Foundation, DJ Nice Up, 7 p.m.

Cache Creek Casino Gabby Luna, Los Norteñisimos Dinamicos, 5 p.m.

Capitol Garage Karaoke w/ Jeff Jenkins, 9 p.m.

Distillery Karaoke, 8 p.m.

District 30 Benzi, 9 p.m.

Harlow’s Nicholas David, 7 p.m.

Marilyn’s Open Mic Talent Showcase, 7 p.m.

Mix DJ Gabe Xavier, 9 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub Jimmy James, 3 p.m.

Press Club Sunday Night Soul Party w/ DJ Larry & DJ Hailey, 9 p.m.

Shine Larisa Bryski’s Vocalist Showcase, 4 p.m.

Torch Club Blues Jam, 4 p.m.; Austin Lucas & Lee Bains, 8 p.m.

10.14 Monday

EAT. DRINK. LISTEN. 24

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

The Boxing Donkey Open Mic Variety Night, 8 p.m.

Center for the Arts Community Music Jam, 6:30 p.m.

Distillery Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Fox & Goose Open Mic Night, 7:30 p.m.

Luna’s Cafe Nebraska Mondays feat. Instagon, The Afterlife, 7:30 p.m.

Marilyn’s Karaoke, 8 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Sol Collective Microphone Mondays, 8 p.m.

Comedy Assembly B Street: Live! Sketch and Improv Comedy, Thursday’s, Friday’s and Saturday’s, 7 p.m.

Jazz and Jokers (ex-Tommy T’s) Steve Hytner (Kenny Bania from Seinfeld), Oct. 4 - 6, 7:30 p.m.

D.L. Hughley, Oct. 11 - 13, 7:30 p.m.

Laughs Unlimited Comedy Open Mic Showcase hosted by Shane Murphy, Oct. 1, 8 p.m.

Laughs & Love: A Comedy Benefit for Reagan Sinkiewicz, Oct. 3, 7 p.m.

Butch Escobar, Chris Storin, Oct. 4 - 6, Fri. & Sat., 8 p.m. & 10:30 p.m.; Sunday, 7 p.m.

Sacramento LGBT Community Center Fundraiser feat. Lance Woods, Mike Osborn, Stephen Furey, DJ Sandhu, hosted by Troy Nelson, Oct. 10, 8 p.m.

Suli McCullough (aka Crazy Legs from Don’t Be A Menace), Chad Heft, hosted by Kristen Frisk, Oct. 11 - 12, Fri. & Sat., 8 p.m. & 10:30 p.m.

Lester Speight & Friends Comedy Show, Oct. 14, 8 p.m.

Luna’s Cafe Keith Lowell Jensen’s Comedy Night, Wednesdays, 8 p.m.

Po’Boyz Bar & Grill (Folsom) Comedy Open Mic, every Monday, 9 p.m.

Punchline Comedy Club New Faces Showcase, Oct. 2, 8 p.m.

Dat Phan, Walter Hong, Jimmy Earll, Oct. 3 - 6, Thurs., 8 p.m.; Fri. & Sat., 8 p.m. & 10:30 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.

Sam Bam’s Comedy Jam, Oct. 10, 8 p.m.

Dave Attell, Matt Davis, Johnny Taylor, Oct. 11 - 13, Fri. & Sat., 8 p.m. & 10:30 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.

Sammy’s Rockin’ Island Bar and Grill Comedy Showcase, every Wednesday, 8:30 p.m.

Sacramento Comedy Spot Open Mic Scramble, Sundays and Mondays, 8 p.m.

Spot-On Trivia, Tuesdays, 8 p.m.

Harold Night, Wednesdays, 8 p.m.

Improv Jam, Thursdays, 9 p.m.

Top Ten List Podcast, Saturdays, 7 p.m.

Anti-Cooperation League, Saturdays, 9 p.m.

The Stoney Inn Nutty Monday’s Comedy Showcase and Open Mic, Mondays, 9 p.m.

Tobacco Road Cigar Lounge Smokin’ & Jokin’ Comedy Show feat. Johnny Taylor, Daniel Humbarger, Matt Raymond, Sam Bruno, Michael O’Connell, Oct. 4, 8 p.m.

Misc.

1409 Del Paso Blvd. GOOD: Street Food & Design Market, Oct. 6, 1 p.m.

2020 J Street Midtown Farmers Market, every Saturday, 8 a.m.

Assembly Fringe!: A Non-Stop Night of Comedy & Sideshow hosted by Jay Siren, Oct. 4, 9:30 p.m.

Bar 101 Trivia Night, Monday’s, 6:30 p.m.

Blue Cue Trivia Night, every Wednesday, 6:30 p.m.

Bows & Arrows Night: New Work

by Jose Di Gregorio and Jared Tharp, Opening Reception Oct. 4, 6 p.m.

The Boxing Donkey Trivia Night, every Tuesday, 8 p.m.

Cal Expo Sacramento Aloha Festival, Oct. 5, 10 a.m.

Colonial Theatre Sacramento Horror Film Festival, Oct. 11 - 13 Crest Theatre 17th Annual North American All Youth Film & Education Day, Oct. 4, 8:30 a.m.

A Place Called Sacramento Film Festival, Oct. 6, 1 p.m.

Sacramento International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Oct. 10 - 12 Crocker Art Museum Art Mix: Architecture Festival Launch feat. Keys on Plastic (DJ Rated R and Jonathan Bengo), Cardborigami w/ artist Tina Hovsepian, SacDigiFab’s Interactive Installation Pixel City, film screenings and more, Oct. 10, 5 p.m.

Fox & Goose Pub Quiz, Tuesday’s, 7 p.m.

John Natsoulas Gallery 7th Annual Davis Jazz and Beat Festival, Oct. 4 - 5 Little Relics Boutique & Galleria Awareness Month: Local Artists Exhibit to Benefit Albie Aware Foundation, Oct. 2 - 26 Luigi’s A Slice of Trivia w/ the Bruce Twins, Monday’s, 8 p.m.

Luna’s Cafe Poetry Unplugged, Thursday’s, 8 p.m.

Mather Airport 8th Annual California Capital Airshow, Oct. 5-6 Midtown BarFly Salsa Lessons, every Wednesday, 8 p.m.

Old Sacramento 6th Annual SacWorldFest, Oct. 5 - 6 Old Sugar Mill Delta Wine & Art Faire, Oct. 6, 1 p.m.

Pine Cove Trivia Night, Wednesday’s, 9 p.m.

Press Club Flex Your Head Trivia, Tuesday’s, 8 p.m.

Rio Ramaza Event Park Burn The River - Sacramento Decompression: DJs, Live Music, Artists, Dancers and Fire Performers, Oct. 12, 4 p.m.

Sacramento Convention Center A Taste of Sacramento, Oct. 4, 5:30 p.m.

Sacramento Turn Verein 46th Annual Oktoberfest, Oct. 11 - 12 Shine Poetry with Legs hosted by Bill Gainer, Oct. 9, 7:30 p.m.

University Union Ballroom, CSUS Free Documentary Screening: River of Renewal, Oct. 3, 7:30 p.m.

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

Ace of spAdes concerts p r e s e n t s At

the BoArdwAlk

ALL SHOWS ALL AGES The TickeTs AvAilAble @ Dimple RecoRDs, ARmADillo(DAvis), TickeTs.com, musicToDAy.com, boARDwAlkRocks.com, boARDwAlk box office, AceofspADessAc.com, 1.877.GND.cTRl oR 916.443.9202

T h e b o A R D wA l k

T h e b o A R D wA l k

T h e b o A R D wA l k

9 4 2 6 G r e e n bac k • O r a n G e va l e

cD release show

Fallujah • liFeForms • soma ras Gary Busey amBer alert awaitinG the apocalypse

liFeForms

friday, oct 11 SubmergeMag.com

wednesday, oct 30

T h e b o A R D wA l k

friday, oct 18

T h e b o A R D wA l k

T h e b o A R D wA l k

saturday, oct 5

saturday, oct 19

friday, nov 22

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

25

Live<< rewind

Second Cities and Big Time Acts Olly Murs and Bonnie McKee Assembly, Sacramento • Friday, Sept. 27, 2013 Words & Photos Joe Atkins

Cab ride or DUI. You choose.

444-2222 26

There are two paths to pop stardom: one is to work your ass off until you bottom out or break out; the other is to miraculously land that fat, major label contract and let the industry do its work from there.

These possibilities are represented by the trajectories of Bonnie McKee and Olly Murs, respectively, both of whom just blew the minds of a few hundred pop fans and/or tweens Friday night at Assembly—suddenly, under new management.

Likely, you’ve never heard of either of them. Olly Murs has a soulful voice and, according to Wikipedia, a signature “Olly wiggle.” He killed the competition in season six of The X-Factor in the United Kingdom.

He’s white, handsome and wholesome; he speaks with an accent, sings without it. He’s everything that a program centered around monetizing the lugubrious task of talent scouting, (i.e. getting advertisers to fund through branding, product placement and commercials what was previously an expensive and labor-intensive part of the music industry) would want. His top hit stateside, “Troublemaker” featuring Flo Rida, is getting regular Top 40 play, but we love him because Chiddy Bang appears on “Heart Skips a Beat.” Murs has three albums, is a double-platinum selling artist in the United Kingdom, and for our purposes here, he’s the dude who suddenly hit the big time and, “ba da ba da bum,” he’s loving it (see what I did there?).

Then there’s the pop-protestant work aesthetic, as represented by Bonnie McKee. Yet initially, her story is one of those jackpot, major label narratives. She hit Los Angeles and had a contract with Reprise Records at the ripe young age of 16. She released her first full-length, Trouble, in 2004, and was dropped after she stabbed her CD to a tree in a label exec’s front yard. For that, she got

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

the wrong kind of attention. This was her bust point.

But McKee stuck around, did some paid songwriting gigs, and by 2013, she’d accumulated a series of awards and hit singles. Her songwriting helped define 2010 with a combination of Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite” and, far more importantly, Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” featuring Snoop Dogg (or Snoop Lion?). She was a part of the three best tracks on Perry’s Teenage Dream (I know! They’re all so good! How could we judge them?), the other two being “Teenage Dream” and “Last Friday Night.” Since then, McKee’s worked with, among others, Nicole Scherzinger, Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears, Miranda Cosgrove, Christina Aguilera, Carly Rae Jepsen, Ke$ha, Rita Ora, Ellie Goulding and fucking Cher!

All of this is to say, McKee has made it, whether she becomes a successful solo artist or not. She’s put the work in, she’s got her name on the liner notes, she’s got the awards in her closet.

But isn’t this a concert review?

Yes, but there’s a reason this review sounds more like a press release. That’s because this wasn’t a concert exactly. It was more of a trial run, a practice lap, a full dress rehearsal. Actually, it felt like watching a guest appearance on The X Factor. “Here’s what they’ve done; now see them live!”

So, we showed up to catch the set up for Bonnie McKee. Then there she was, red hair shining in the stage lighting, clips of her music video playing in the background, her fingers gracing the keyboard. The only other person on stage was a guitarist for accompaniment.

However, her opening number was something I expected to hear from Super Mash Brothers, not this reformed singer/songwriter turned pop-star-to-be. She performed charismatically a collage of her best charting singles, starting

with “Teenage Dream,” then “Dynamite”; “Last Friday Night,” then “Part of Me”; Ke$ha’s “C’Mon,” then “California Gurls”; “Wide Awake,” and then “Roar”—all the hooks subtly arranged so that every FM-radio-head could sing or scream aloud as our collective hearts desired. It was a strange thing to begin with, had it not been for what followed.

McKee began another song that I can’t recall as I was attempting, and failing, to be a photographer. Then I ran up front as she began her current radio single, “American Girl” (you’ll note that California Girl is sort of already taken). I shouldered past the tweens crowding the stage, who literally pushed me when I tried to leave, and got some mediocre photos of McKee dancing. It was rehearsed and simple, but it worked. There weren’t any fireworks or glitter, but the kids liked it, instinctively. And then she was done.

That was it. Three and out. I was heartbroken.

They set up the stage for Olly Murs, he performed his abbreviated set, made some jokes about being back in America, mentioned that he loved touring with One Direction, and it was over. His accent was cute, his voice was in key, his two backup singers harmonized.

Yet this was the weird thing about this concert. It just seemed like a quick exhibition.

There were no musicians on stage, McKee’s opening “song” aside, and everything was tracked on a disc or hard drive somewhere off stage. One large LED screen constantly told us who was playing, as though we might confuse the performers with themselves in this austere setting. The young girls screamed at Murs, and my friend said to me, “I’ve never been to a Beatles show before.” Sadly, that was the highlight. So if this reads like a press release, that’s because this show felt like one.

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

Take RADIO 94.7 with you!

Check out our new app available on Android and iPhone

Support Submerge advertisers!

This publication would not be possible without the support of our wonderful advertisers.

Please visit them and tell ‘em Submerge sent you.

SubmergeMag.com

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

27

The grindhouse

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

“Girl at the Door”

“Girl at the Door”

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

“Girl at the Door”

“Girl at the Door”

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

Fear for the Meta Generation Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

“Girl at the Door” (short) Unrated

Rated R

Don’t you just love that crispness in the air? That comforting chill of autumn? Isn't it awe-inspiring when the leaves start to change to all those beautiful colors? You know why they do that, right? Because they’re dying. Autumn is basically just a beautiful diversion to distract us from the frigid death of winter. Maybe that’s why fall is such a great time for horror movies—it’s the season that reminds us of our impending doom.

You can get a serious dose of scary movies at this year’s Sacramento Horror Film Festival (SHFF), which takes place from Oct. 11 through 13, and for this issue’s “The Grindhouse,” we decided to highlight a couple of selections you won’t want to miss.

The Sacramento Horror Film Festival is a varied event that celebrates many aspects of horror. Other than films, you’ll also get live entertainment such as a performance by the Shadow Circus Creature Theatre and the seventh annual Zombie Beauty Pageant (starting at 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 11). Also, you can expect a diverse cinematic experience with music videos, the family-friendly Paranorman (screened at 12 p.m. on Oct. 13) and a viewing of the alwaysinteractive cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show (10 p.m. on Oct. 12).

But it’s not a good fright-fest without the fright…right? The SHFF will feature shorts in addition to full-length films, with four solely short-subject programs spread throughout the three-day festival. “Girl at the Door” from

28

director Colin Campbell is a slick mix of sex and shock. After a cocaine-fueled night at the club, Jake (Jeffrey Vincent Parise) takes Sofia (Kristen Renton) back to his lavish apartment for a night of wild sex. He wakes up in a daze to find Sofia missing. What follows is a sort of supernatural haunting with a Groundhog Day twist. This roughly 12-minute film benefits from wonderful camera work, and though some of the visual effects lack punch, “Girl at the Door” has a wonderfully palpable feeling of suspense. You can catch this short along with a full slate as part of Short Program 2 on Oct. 12, starting at 7 p.m.

Scott Glosserman’s Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon will close out the opening night of the festival. This feature-length film originally debuted at the Fantasia Festival in Canada in 2006 (according to IMDB.com), but it feels very current. Behind the Mask takes what has become a well-worn premise—the mockumentary—but thanks to a series of twists and turns, creates something fresh and, at times, quite frightening.

We open with a film crew, led by on-screen personality Taylor Gentry (Angela Goethals), as they delve into the method behind burgeoning supernatural psycho-killer Leslie Vernon’s (Nathan Baesel) madness. Vernon plans to terrorize the town of Glen Echo in the same manner that Jason Voorhees sent shivers down the spines of Camp Crystal Lake’s residents.

The apple of Vernon’s eye is Kelly (Kate Lang Johnson), a hot, young diner waitress. Kelly is

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

Vernon’s “Survivor Girl,” the virginal archetype who is able to stand up to the likes of Voorhees, Michael Myers or Freddy Krueger and actually make it alive to the end of the film.

The documentary crew imbeds itself with Vernon, a charismatic and dedicated young man with a conventionally tragic, yet shady, past.

And they even begin to like him. But as the film progresses, the stakes become much higher and the tried-and-true clichés of slasher films begin to get tossed out the window.

Behind the Mask starts out remarkably funny. Any fan of the Friday the 13th, Halloween or Nightmare on Elm Street franchises (or their countless knock-offs) will no doubt enjoy the subtle digs at the formulaic structure of these films. Glosserman’s story mocks while still showing reverence to these horror movie titans. In so doing, Behind the Mask isn’t much different than, say, the Scream series; however, Glosserman takes a much more academic approach. His shrewd and educated dissection of the slasher film genre is entertaining but also refreshingly literate. Its examination of archetypes and the psychology behind them would probably make Joseph Campbell proud.

What’s best about Behind the Mask, though, it doesn’t simply rely on tongue-in-cheek jokes for horror nerds. Though there is some dose of that (i.e. Vernon’s excited explanation to Gentry of what an “Ahab” is), as the film progresses, Glosserman takes it further. The reality of what

Vernon is plotting to do—brutally murdering a group of young people—begins to set in, and suddenly all the winks and nods seem much more ominous.

Baesel and Goethals play wonderfully opposite one another. Both are up to the task of handling the film’s transition from light to darker tone. Early in the film, Vernon seems as almost a goofy rogue with Gentry sort of infatuated with his boyish eagerness to succeed. But as she starts to dig deeper into Vernon’s past, and begins crossing lines, he shows flashes of being the monster he truly is.

Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger himself) and Zelda Rubinstein (the creepy lady from Poltergeist) also make appearances as well as a newer horror icon Scott Wilson (better known as Hershel from AMC’s The Walking Dead). Throw in a few well-placed, gory kills, and you have a movie that should appeal to horror fans and those who would normally turn up their noses at such foolishness. Brains and gore are a deadly combination.

As an added treat, those who attend the SHFF screening of Behind the Mask will also get a chance to meet Nathan Baesel (Leslie All SHFF events will take place at the Vernon himself), who Colonial Theatre will be in attendance in Sacramento. For more info, go to for a Q&A. Sachorrorfilmfest.com.

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

10/1

Between the Buried and Me The Faceless • conTorTionisT Safety fire

10/3 twiztid

Madchild Blaze Ya DeaD homie aqualeo • BruTha smiTh

10/4 SenSeS fail For The Fallen Dreams expire Being as an ocean

10/5 Josh raDin 10/11 andre nickatina / Krazie Bone (From Bone Thugs ‘n harmonY)

BaBniT • charlie muscle • K-hawK

10/12 arden park rooTs one Drop • sTreeT urchinz rioTmaKer • KaYasun BroDi nicholas

10/16 the uSed

10/26 JonnY craig KYle lucas • hearTs & hanDs Bleach BlonDe • secreTs

The aTTacK • Kill The preceDenT The secreTions • avenue sainTs

10/17 sTorY oF the year

10/31 Stick figure

11/16 e-40

william conTrol

liKe moThs To Flames hawThorne heighTs capTure The crown • seT iT oFF i aM king

10/18 roach gigz

husalah • BoBBY BracKins DJ KimasK • marlow Young remeDY • pac B • plaYah K lil BiT • marK snipes

10/19 gwar

whiTechapel • iron reagan a BanD oF orcs

10/20 attila

upon a Burning BoDY iwresTleDaBearonce The ploT in You • FiT For a King MerchantS

10/22 Streetlight maniFesTo 10/25 parMalee

maTT w. gage • save & conTinue

11/1

Ground Zero snowboard Movie party niKe’s never noT & Tw’s naTion dJ JurtS

11/14 MiSfitS

cam • cali Bear gang marK snipes • spYDa Da Boss Biseel • plaYah K • reign • Jroc

11/17 TromBone shorTY &

orleans avenue

11/5 11/23 aB-soul & JoeY BaDass mellowhigh chevY wooDs The unDergrounDachievers cashius green w/ phoe June • minTY Burns • pro era ala sole • DJ FlY • DessY hinDs KirK KnighT • nYcK cauTion supa slacKas • 47

11/6 soulFlY 11/11 clutch

The sworD • american sharKs

11/12 Mayday parade

man overBoarD • carTel sTages & sTereos

hoDgY BeaTs, Domo genesis anD leFT Brain (From oDD FuTure)

12/7 frank hannon & John caraBi 12/8 taliB kweli 12/11 BlooD on The Dance Floor Farewell mY love The relapse sYmphonY haleY rose oh, The horror

12/13 great white rue The nighT • Force oF haBiT souTh oF saniTY

1417 R STREET • SACRAMENTO ACEOFSPADESSAC.COM

All Shows All Ages SubmergeMag.com

Tickets Available @ Dimple Records, The Beat, Armadillo (Davis) Online: AceOfSpadesSac.com By Phone: 1.877.GND.CTRL OR 916.443.9202 Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

29

p a t eovers

tak

the shallow end

Only in America James Barone jb@submergemag.com

s l a i c e p s weekly MondayS 5pm-12am M o n d ay R h u M d ay featuring unique rum cocktail specials

thuRSdayS 10pm-12am Clown ShoeS (service industry night)

half off everything from the bar

SundayS 10am-3pm S u n d ay B R u n C h special food and drink menu!

On Sunday, we said goodbye to another great television series, Breaking Bad. It’s funny how we mourn the passing of our favorite TV shows the way we do our most beloved people. We do so with heavy hearts: There’s sadness, confusion and, eventually, acceptance.

Sometimes people fall into denial, you know, like, “OH! I’VE HEARD THEY’RE GOING TO MAKE A MOVIE!” As if the brief two hours or so of a feature-length film could somehow recapture the same feeling of all that time you spent with the multi-season span of your favorite TV show. As Jud Crandall intoned in Pet Sematary, “Sometimes dead is better.” I know, it’s time to move on and find something else to Facebook about, but I’m going to have a difficult time with this one.

For the binge-watchers out there, don’t worry. I’m not going to post any spoilers (mainly because I’m writing this before the final episode airs). But through the magic of print media, we’re just going to imagine we’re in the post-Breaking Bad world. We’re left to wonder why this show without any hot-looking stars was so successful.

Maybe it’s because Breaking Bad is such an American story.

You have Walter White, a talented, brilliant man who can’t catch a break—perhaps like so many students currently facing college graduation. He was never able to realize his potential. He works as a chemistry teacher, a job that may have easily supported a family just a decade or two ago, but now forces him to work a shitty parttime job at a car wash. Then he gets sick. Lung cancer. Not only is the diagnosis terrible, but what’s worse, how is he expected to pay the exorbitant medical costs? Out of desperation, he uses his chemical know-how to start cooking meth. It’s not the smartest idea, but it sure is lucrative. Unfortunately, once he strays from the straight and narrow path, White is unable to turn back. A small lie begets a bigger lie, a small criminal enterprise becomes an elaborate cartel and White himself begins changing from an earnest family man to a completely ruthless monster.

There’s a lot of things that make this an American story. First, of course, in light of the recent battle between congressional Republicans and Democrats over the Affordable Care Act, Breaking Bad could be seen as a cautionary tale. What could go wrong when we as a society deny our citizens easy and affordable access to a basic human need? Well, I’d imagine most of them wouldn’t turn to cooking meth in their tighty-whities, but they might end up doing other bad things like stealing cable or pirating movies and music on

SeCond SatuRdayS S e C o n d S at u R d ay SelloutS!

back bar open and highlighting a featured brand GueSt BaRtendeR tRaviS KavanauGh

amento r c a s t e e 2718 J str theredrabbit.net 75 916.706.22

30

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

the Internet. These things might not be awful, but they do harm the economy, which really harms all of us, right?

Also, it’s about meth, and there’s nothing more American than meth. It’s a drug that combines a whole host of unnatural chemicals to produce a feeling of euphoria—sort of like a Big Mac. It’s cheaper than healthcare, too, and probably a lot more immediately satisfying.

I haven’t tried meth, but I’ve been to a hospital, and anything’s gotta be better than going to a hospital. The first time I heard about meth, I was riding the Greyhound from Oklahoma City to Napa, Calif.

Some dude I’d become friendly with on the trip told me about it. I was outside having a cigarette at a stop in Flagstaff, Ariz., and he bummed one from me. He’d asked me if I knew where in the city he could buy some good “crystal.” I’d never heard of crystal before, but I figured he was talking about drugs. I told him that I was from New York and had never been to Flagstaff before, so I didn’t have a good hook-up that I could pass on to him. He asked me again if I knew where to buy good crystal in Flagstaff and I reiterated that it was my first time in the city. This went on a few more times, like we were stuck in a time loop. Eventually, I think he figured out that I wasn’t able to help him, and he acquiesced with, “I heard they had good crystal in Flagstaff.” Apparently, the crystal wherever he was from wasn’t so bad either.

Finally, Breaking Bad is really a version of the American Dream.

White, a small-time businessman, begins cooking meth in an RV somewhere on the outskirts of an American Indian reservation in New Mexico with his flunky assistant Jesse. He makes an artisinal niche product of very high quality. As he expands his business, collateral damage occurs. People die, sure, but the product is getting out there and gaining a real strong following. To keep up with demand, bigger players have to get involved to step up production and distribution. These people are way more evil than White, and though he’s at first turned off by their methods, the results are there.

His little-meth-that-could is now a huge player on the market. So, OK, some more people die, but it’s for the greater good. Eventually, White makes more money than he could ever dream of, so he passes his business off to someone else. The quality’s not as good, but, hey, he’s already rich, and really, isn’t that all that matters?

In other news: I swear I’m not a cynic.

Support Submerge

advertisers!

This publication would not be possible without the support of our wonderful advertisers.

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

\

SACRAMENTO’s PREMIER bANd REHEARSAL FACILITIES

nicki bluHm and THe Gramblers THe easy leaves

Harlow’s • 2708 J st.

• saCto •

21 & over • 9:00pm

red fanG • saCto •

21 & over • 8:00pm

joe puG

ACOuSTICALLy DESIGnED

Harlow’s • 2708 J st.

150 Square Feet To 500 Square Feet

• Long Term Or Monthly Rentals • Air Conditioned

• 12 Foot Ceilings • 24 Hour Access • On Site Management

• Cctv Security System • Free Wi-Fi / Dsl • Huge Gated Parking Lot

• saCto •

21 & over • 8:00pm

• saCto •

21 & over • 7:30pm

wrinGs [ep release] • saCto •

21 & over • 9:00pm

Brian mCKenna’s BirtHday sHow

earTHless • saCto •

oct 17 friday

oct 18

BruBAker • JoY

Harlow’s • 2708 J st.

oct 16 thursday

musicAl cHAris • colD eskimo

Harlow’s • 2708 J st.

oct 14 wednesday

PinkisH BlAck • sierrA

Harlow’s • 2708 J st.

oct 9 monday

kylesa

Private Music Rehearsal Studios From

vandaveer

oct 4 wednesday

Helms Alee • Dog sHreDDer

Harlow’s • 2708 J st.

friday

21 & over • 7:30pm

soul speCtaCular tour

karl denson’s Tiny universe present a ray CHarles Boogaloo danCe party witH

speCial guest ZacH depuTy

SACRAMENTO REHERSAL STudIOS

HOuSE OF HITS

2751 Academy Way • Sac 5749 88th Street • Sac (916) 923-2525 (916) 381-4500 Rehearse.com LIKE us on Facebook

Harlow’s • 2708 J st.

Call Us

(916) 441-3803

or email Us

info@submergemag.com

Today!

SubmergeMag.com

tuesday

miss Tess & THe Talkbacks

Harlow’s • 2708 J st.

Harlow’s •

• saCto •

21 & over • 7:30pm

maZZy sTar J st. • saCto • 21

& over • 8:00pm over • 8:00pm

deaTH valley HiGH [late sHow] • saCto •

21 & over • 10:30pm

cluTcH r

st. • saCto • all ages • 8:00pm

alejandro escovedo & THe sensiTive boys Harlow’s • 2708 J st.

amy cook

• saCto •

21 & over • 7:30pm

meaT puppeTs

THe world Takes [feat. dJ BoneBraKe from X / tHe Knitters] Harlow’s • 2708 J st.

• saCto •

21 & over • 8:00pm

jello biafra

& THe GuanTanamo scHool of medicine Harlow’s • 2708 J st.

Harlow’s •

pins of liGHT • saCto •

nov 6 friday

nov 8 friday

nov 8 monday

tHe sworD • AmericAn sHArks

aCe of spades • 1417

nov 1 wednesday

[early sHow] THe black lillies Harlow’s • 2708 J st.

• saCto • all ages • 6:30pm Harlow’s • 2708 J st.

oct 29 friday

rubblebuckeT 2708 J st. • saCto • 21 & bipolar

oct 20

21 & over • 8:00pm

lake sTreeT dive Harlow’s • 2708

YOUR AD HERE

• saCto •

sunday

nov 11 tuesday

nov 12 wednesday

nov 13 saturday

nov 16

21 & over • 9:00pm

mason jenninGs 2708 J st. • saCto • 21 & over

sunday

• 8:00pm

Zappa Kplays Zappa Crest tHeatre • 1013 st. • saCto • all ages • 7:30pm

nov 17 tuesday

feb 4

abstract entertainment TickeTs available aT: TickeTfly.com

TickeTs for Harlow’s sHows also available aT Harlows.com TickeTs for cresT sHow also available aT cresT THeaTre box office TickeTs for ace of spades also available aT aceofspades.com and 916.443.9202

Issue 146 • September 30 – October 14, 2013

31

Dive into Sacramento & its Surrounding Areas

September 30 – october 14, 2013

#146

The Marriage of Light and Dark

River City Brewing Company 20 Years and Counting

conducting from Gothe grave Their Own Way

Norcal Noisefest 17 Years of Sweet Cacophany

free Sacramento Horror Film Fest Go Behind the Mask with Leslie Vernon • The Return of Phono Select • Ace of Spades takes over Assembly