Submerge Magazine: Issue 157 (March 10 - March 24, 2014)

Dive into Sacramento & its Surrounding Areas

march 10 – 24, 2014

#157

Sherman Baker Impossible to Ignore Rock Out with Olympic Golden Girls at

Sierra-at-Tahoe

New Live Music Venue

48 Hour Comedy

Marathon Laughs. All Day, All Night

hot italian 5 Years of Quality over Quantity

Witch Room

Beats Antique The Hero With a Thousand Faces

Concerts in the Park

2014 Full Lineup!

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Toad the Wet Sprocket Asleep at the Wheel Tycho Skid row / black Star riders Tab benoit The Cave Singers William Fitzsimmons / ben sollee Wayne hancock

Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

SubmergeMag.com

Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

3

157 14 2014 contents

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

20 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

Joe Atkins, Robin Bacior, Corey Bloom, Bocephus Chigger, Alia Cruz, Brooke Dreyer, Josh Fernandez, Lovelle Harris, Niki Kangas, Nur Kausar, Rob Lund, Ryan J. Prado, Steph Rodriguez, Andrew C. Russell, Andrew Scoggins, Amy Serna, Jacob Sprecher, Daniel Taylor, Jenn Walker Contributing photographers

Wesley Davis, Phill Mamula, Liz Simpson, Nicholas Wray

Submergemag.com Follow us on Twitter! @SubmergeMag

4

26

04 06 10 11 12 14

Dive in Submerge your senses The Stream The Optimistic Pessimist sherman baker beats antique

18

48 hour Comedy Marathon

20 22 26 29 30

the grindhouse

Submerge

2308 J Street, Suite F Sacramento, Calif. 95816

916.441.3803 info@submergemag.com

printed on recycled paper

Original front Cover Photo of hot italian by nicholas wray

Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

March 10 – 24

300: rise of an empire calendar hot italian live<<rewind

thermals,

COLLEEN GREEN

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.

dive in life changer(s) Melissa welliver melissa@submergemag.com Hot Italian changed my life. Yeah, I just said that. I know it seems like a dramatic statement and all considering we’re talking about pizza, but it’s true.

I grew up in a small town near Mt. Shasta called Weed.

For the first 18 years of my life, when it came to pizza, I had Pizza Factory and/or Round Table. Then when I moved to Chico to go to college my pizza experience didn’t get much better. I lived on (gasp) Domino’s because they were cheap but mostly because they still delivered at 1 a.m. I also got down with Woodstock’s Pizza, because I always had a friend or two who worked there, and Mountain Mike’s because back then my never-gain-a-poundmetabolism loved nothing more than their “All You Can Eat Wednesdays.” And not to sound like a snob or anything— because when I’m lazy (or more like hungover) I can still get down with that style of pizza—but hands down, I had never really had a “quality” pizza until Hot Italian opened its doors five years ago this month!

When I say Hot Italian has the best quality pizza, I mean one whose ingredients are fresh, locally sourced and a pie that is consistently great. A key to their success, I believe, is that they are not concerned with overloading their pizza with a ton of toppings and cheese. Quality over quantity. Hot Italian truly made me appreciate thin crust, wood-fired, real Italian-style pizza. On page 26 you can read our interview with co-owners Andrea Lepore and Fabrizio Cercatore as they discuss their restaurant’s modernist decor, recent REAL certification as well as their reflections on the last five years.

Another thing that changed/continues to change my life is music. Clearly if music didn’t mean to me as much as it does I wouldn’t be making this paper you hold in your hands (or are clicking through if you’re a digital reader). I love discovering new music. I love learning about artists and what they are all about, whether it be a national act or a local one. Though one thing that I rarely ever stumble on is music that is whole-heartedly unique. I’ve been working in music publishing for something like 14 years now, so take into consideration that “unique” is a word that is tattooed in my head as one to never use when describing bands. It’s the truth, thank you past editors.

I had heard of the band Beats Antique (who are on our back cover) but until recently, I didn’t know much about them. In short, they are this awesome fusion of electronic, hip-hop and world music with a heavy dose of performance art. So fuck it, to me (and I’m sure a lot of people would agree) this Bay Area band is truly unique, especially in this day in age when most music on the radio is so “cookie cuter.”

Anyways, one of our writers interviewed all three members of Beats Antique this past week and wrote the feature that you can find on page 14. If you don’t know much about them or their most recent two-part album A Thousand Faces, you can surely learn more about their take on the “hero’s journey” and get a glimpse into the band members’ history before their tour lands in Sacramento on April 2 at Ace of Spades.

Now that I’m unfortunately left with little room in this column, let me just say that our other features in this issue are nothing short of amazing as well, and our columns always provide news and/or interesting outlooks on life.

Please enjoy them and I hope that you, our readers, can perhaps say the same thing about Submerge as I said about music and pizza. I hope our li’l ol’ publication over the past six-plus years has changed your life for the better, giving you the satisfaction of reading about all sorts of creative and inspiring things happening right here in our community.

Reading can, in fact, change your life.

At least I like to think so.

Enjoy issue 157, Melissa

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

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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 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

5

Your Senses Words Brooke Dreyer

SEE HEAR TASTE Touch

SEE

Plaza Grand Opening & Gold Medal Party at Sierra-at-Tahoe

Taste

Irish Cuisine and Drinking Discounts at the St. Patrick’s Day Block Party March 17

What bad is there to say about the holidays?

Especially those that promote drinking (St. Patrick’s Day? Hint, hint…)? Very little, actually. Especially if you like a little variety in your festivities; bars, clubs and restaurants provide a plethora of options for your partying pleasure. The only downside is worrying about how to get around from one celebration to the next. That worry will be far away from those attending the St. Patrick’s Day Block Party on L Street. De Vere’s, Firestone and MIX Downtown will be celebrating the luck of the Irish in unison on March 17. Get an early start with de Vere’s 9 a.m. opening, then head over to Firestone at 11 a.m. for lunch and a 3 p.m. happy hour featuring the live music of Nunchuck Taylor at 6 p.m. MIX, located directly above Firestone and de Vere’s, will be opening at 3 p.m. and will be featuring a dance party with DJ Peeti Vi at 7 p.m. Three events all with proximity to each other? That’s right, save the cab for the ride home (which will be around 2 a.m. after the locations close).

The best part of the block party? Without question, the food and drink specials.

Beef and pork kielbasa, Reuben sandwiches and corned beef and cabbage followed by specials on Tullamore Dew, Guinness draughts and Irish car bombs. Don’t we all wish we were Irish? Grab your green clothes and head over to the corner of 16th and L.

March 15

On Saturday, March 15, join Sierra-at-Tahoe at what is sure to be an epic party celebrating the opening of their new base area plaza including the Solstice Eatery, a massive project that the resort dropped $5 million on “transforming the current skier services area into a Mecca for gathering and services.” But wait, there’s more! The party will also be celebrating the success and homecoming of three Sierra-at-Tahoe athletes who competed at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia (Jamie Anderson won gold in Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle; Maddie Bowman won gold in Women’s Ski Halfpipe; and Hannah Teter just missed the podium in Women’s Snowboard Halfpipe, finishing fourth). As if all of that wasn’t enough, the event will also mark the kick-off the Equinox Spring Festival and Live at Grandview Music Series with music by none other than Sacramento’s own funk/soul band The Nibblers.

The party goes all day, from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. The Nibblers will go on at 3 p.m. It’s a free event, which saves you some bucks to pick up a lift ticket so you can take some turns in between hanging at the party. Trust us, the snow is awesome up there right now, especially after that last storm system brought feet of the fresh white stuff.

For more information, visit Sierraattahoe.com. Congrats to our local gold medal gals!

Photo by Nicholas Wray

Support Submerge advertisers!

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

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Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

Submerge Magazine March 6-Press ready.pdf

1

3/4/14

9:52 AM

Touch

Arcade Games, Ping Pong Tables and Adult Punch at Liger Club’s Huge Dance Party

March 15

In honor of D.A.M.B’s (Shaun Slaughter) new EP Party Clothes, Liger Club, LowBrau, Launch Events, This Midtown, Lipstick and many others are joining together on Saturday, March 15 to bring you an incredibly awesome dance party. Arcade games, ping pong tables, adult punch bowl and Good Cult t-shirt giveaways will take over LowBrau to accompany the list of DJs and live performers. Head down to 1050 20 Street around 9 p.m. to hear D.A.M.B, Deejay MyKill, Melee and Adam Jay. If you want more information, you can check out the Facebook event page titled: Liger Club Presents: A Renegade Pop Up Party 4 D.A.M.B.’s “Party Clothes” w/ Mykill & Melee.

LIV E A T GRA N D V I E W MU SI C SE RI E S A T SIER RA ' S NE W P L A Z A THE SOFT WHITE SIXTIES

Hear

The Story So Far at Sac State • March 20 Based upon a melodic hardcore foundation, the five-piece pop-punk band The Story So Far has been under the radar controlling the alternative music scene (currently meaning, anything besides the Top 40) since their first album in 2000. Their instrumentals harmonize with identifiable lyrics and fast-paced tempos, compiled into an overall withstand-the-disadvantages feeling. Their music videos on YouTube are flooded with comments from fans, who are happy this “Amazing band is finally getting the recognition it deserves.” If you haven’t heard of The Story So Far yet, don’t waste your time on YouTube when you can attend their show at Sacramento State on Thursday, March 20. The show starts at 7 p.m. in the University Union Ballroom. Elder Brother and Forever Came Calling will open up the show.

Tickets can be purchased at Thestorysofarca.com/ tour, Eventbrite.com or at the ASI Student Shop for $13 with a Sacramento State student ID and $18 for general.

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SIERRAATTAHOE.COM 530.659.7453 Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

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1000 K Street • Sacramento (916) 341-0176 • assemblymusichall.com

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Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

1000 K Street • Sacramento (916) 341-0176 • assemblymusichall.com Barcelona With special guest

maKintosh braun

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5/2 Fortunate youth 5/5 gZa 5/8 Will hoge 5/9 tig notaro 5/11 stephen marley 5/16 upon this daWning

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Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

9

The stream NEW LIVE MUSIC VENUE, WITCH ROOM, OPENS MARCH 25

THE 2014 CONCERTS IN THE PARK LINEUP IS OUT Jonathan Carabba

Send regional news tips to info@submergemag.com

!!! (Chk Chk Chk)

SaiNT patrick’s day 2O14 monday march 17

IrIsh Whiskey + Beer SpecialS

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10

It wasn’t long ago that we were bumming out on Bows and Arrows closing, but now we’ve got some really good news to pass along about the building space and the people involved. Not only will one of its co-founders, Trisha Rhomberg, be re-opening Bows and Arrows in a new location later this summer along the R Street corridor (more on that in a later issue of Submerge), but the other founder, Olivia Coelho, is partnering with some longtime friends of hers to open an entertainment venue in the space formerly occupied by Bows (1815 19th Street) that will be called Witch Room. Witch Room will feature local, national and international bands. All shows will be 18-plus, they will offer a selection of beer/wine/bar food and it will only be open on event nights. Coelho and her Witch Room co-founders, which include Liz Liles (who plays in the rad band G. Green), Liz Mahoney (who plays in the equally rad band Screature) and Mark Kaiser (also a musician and founder of record labels Omnibus and Mt.St. Mtn), have been feverishly working on the space with help from family members to build a new stage, paint, rearrange stuff, and generally give the place a whole new identity.

“It wasn’t pre-meditated,” Coelho told Submerge of the plan to open Witch Room. “I know it probably seems like it was, but this came together so fast. I ran into Liz Liles at a house party in Davis and we just started talking and I was like, ‘Lets meet with Liz Mahoney tomorrow.’ Then once we met with Mark he was like, ‘Alright so tomorrow we’re building at the site, and you’re doing this, and you’re doing that...’ Those three have been booking shows and playing in bands their entire lives. It just seemed like we would be stupid not to try.”

Submerge was lucky enough to see the work in progress last week and we are very excited about what the future holds for Witch Room. With the new stage, new layout, new crew booking shows (plus some old faces like Drew Walker, who will be handling sound), we think it’s going to be a really awesome place to see live music.

Speaking of, they already have four solid shows listed on their website (Witchroomsac.com), the first of which is Tuesday, March 25, and features five sick bands.

Hit up their website or Facebook.com/ witchroom to learn more and view upcoming shows.

Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

Young Aundee

Keri Carr Band

Burn Halo

Andy Allo

Dance Gavin Dance

J-Ras

It’s that time again, folks! The 2014 Concerts in the Park lineup has been revealed and we’re here to tell you that you’re in for one helluva fun concert series. Block off your Fridays from May 2 to July 25, and we’ll see you in the beer line!

May 2

May 30

June 27

ZuhG The Nickel Slots IdeaTeam Rock and Rhyme

James Cavern and the Council Joy and Madness Survival Guide Once an Empire DJ Billy Lane

Chris Gardner Band Island of Black and White Keri Carr Band The Three Way DJ Elliot Estes

May 9 The Nibblers Autumn Sky Eli & The Sound Cult EGG DJ Epik

May 16 Burn Halo Some Fear None Alex Vincent Band FUDI Sleep Rockers

May 23 The Snobs Phil and the Blanx Massive Delicious Simple Creation J-Ras

June 6

July 11

Dance Gavin Dance Life in 24 Frames City of Vain Cemetery Sun DJ set from Pag (of Horseneck)

Arden Park Roots Young Aundee The Denver J Band Blaquelisted DJ Zephyr

June 13

!!! (Chk Chk Chk) Saint Solitaire Sea Legs DJ Shaun Slaughter

7 Seconds The Secretions Lonely Kings Col. Jimmy and the Blackfish DJ Roger Carpio

June 20 Andy Allo Contra The Harbor Delta City Ramblers DJ Sam I Jam

July 18

July 25 The Brodys Jeremy Briggs The Kimberly Trip PointDexter Chaotic Fusion (DJ Oasis & InkdUp)

All shows are at Cesar Chavez Plaza in Downtown Sacramento.

They are free, all ages and get underway at 5 p.m. For more information, visit Downtownsac.org.

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

The Optimistic Pessimist Sunday. Some think of it as the beginning of the week, but I like to think of it as the end.

It makes more sense calling the whole thing “the weekend” that way. Besides, people tend to not like the beginning of the week because that means the start of work or school, and those things suck. Sunday shouldn’t be about sucking, and it’s not there for stress. Sunday is a day of healing, reflection, meditation and perhaps a few mimosas.

Who doesn’t like the sun (besides albinos, vampires and nocturnal animals)? Well, throw on your bikinis and banana hammocks, because Sunday is literally named after our closest and most favorite star, Alpha Centauri the Sun! The Sun likes to party so much that it’s barely rained this whole winter, and, judging by what’s left in my liquor cabinet, he’s been on a real bender. It’s cool though, because the Sun is huge and can metabolize alcohol really quickly. In fact, the Sun pretty much burns off everything he ingests. That is probably why we named a great dessert, the ice cream sundae, after him.

Even if I am wrong, I can still say with surety that good food is the key to a successful Sunday. Sunday is the traditional day for brunch, our greatest meal. Brunch is like breakfast, but it’s also like lunch and there may be cocktails which normally aren’t served with either! On Sunday (and maybe Saturday), society recognizes and forgives you for getting too fucked up the night before. We understand that you needed to sleep it off for a bit and that you woke up dying for something with eggs in it. Sunday brunch is there for you, bro.

You are going to have to wash all that hollandaise sauce down with something, why not unlimited mimosas? Still feeling too shitty from last night? Try a Bloody Mary (make it spicy!) or mix a beer with Clamato if you are some kind of lunatic. For all of you sportos out there, you can, and most likely will, have a few beers while you watch “the game” on Sunday. Just don’t have too many; you’ve got to work tomorrow!

Sorry, I didn’t mean to stress you. Sunday is not about that at all. It’s not here to harsh

Sunday Fun Day Bocephus Chigger bocephus@submergemag.com your buzz. The government won’t be on your back on Sunday. You aren’t getting any mail or packages, which can suck, but you also aren’t getting any bills. If you do start to feel stressed, you might be able to find the Sunday edition of these things we used to call “newspapers.” The news part is terrifying, but the Sunday paper always has an extended, full-color comics section that I found amusing as I child and might guffaw at, were I to see them today.

Whatever you decide to get into, remember that Sunday is a day for rest, so keep it simple.

The work week begins tomorrow and you want to enter it with the right state of mind. That means you should spend the day decompressing from the previous week. You should be choosing relaxation over getting shitcanned at Benny’s. Don’t get me wrong; it’s cool to get a little buzz going, but don’t end up praying to the Porcelain God on Sunday.

There are other gods to choose from.

Most of the Christian faiths mark Sunday as their Sabbath. This day is set aside to celebrate and learn about God (usually the white, bearded one). For some Catholics, like I used to be, it

is the day you get up earlier than you want to sit through a lecture on an uncomfortable wooden pew so that someone can feed you a dry wafer and maybe give you a sip of wine to wash it down with. You go because, if you don’t, Jesus will be pissed and you will go to hell, and because your mom keeps waking you up every five minutes to tell you to get dressed. You also go because there will be brunch afterward, and biscuits and gravy always helps digest the word of the Lord.

As awe-inspiring as God and sausage gravy may be, both are just a part of this wonderful day we call Sunday. If you don’t like doing any of this shit I talked about, that’s OK. Sunday is really a day that you can do whatever you want. I guess I just like to spend mine sleeping in, skipping church, eating eggs Benedict, and sipping on a Bloody in the Sun before I cap the day off with an ice cream sundae. That’s my perfect way to close out a week; you’ve got to decide how you want to end yours.

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Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

11

Sure Man Sherman

Sherman Baker Knows What He Means To Say And Sing Words Robin Bacior photo Amy Scott

L

ast winter I saw Sherman Baker play a set at Naked Lounge.

That’s the short version. The longer one is I was at the end of a West Coast tour, sharing a bill with Baker, and my band mate and I were exhausted and scheduled to play late on a Wednesday. The crowd seemed tense for no particular reason, and that combined with the Naked Lounge’s cavernous space created a fairly dark mood that emanated throughout the venue. But just as the energy was tipping into grim, Baker took the stage and launched into a song about his signature cats, and the room took a palpable shift.

He tilted his mic high, closed his eyes and sang song after song, full of plot and detail, and the audience followed. He seemed confident, his vocals smooth with long, nearly dramatically pronounced vowels (similar to strong artists of the early ‘90s indie era), gliding over fluid chord changes with positive bounce.

That’s how I saw it, but oddly it doesn’t seem that Baker always feels that way about his music.

12

Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

“This is turning into an interview with a Russian novelist,” Baker said. “I’m old…

I’m in my late 30s now, I still have some youthfulness about me, but even when I was 20 I was a really depressed type of person, I just couldn’t write a song like ‘when you have a bad day’… the kind of song that’s popular nowadays.”

Baker’s been making music for a long while. He’s developed a nice community within Sacramento, sharing bills with other artists such as Autumn Sky, Barry Paul Crider and Ricky Berger (who’s since relocated to Los Angeles).

But a few years back in the midst of that development, he began to feel disenchanted with his material and the grind of trying to get those songs heard outside of a hometown setting. Around the same time he started to pull away from his older songs, Baker acquired a computer with GarageBand. The program opened up his capabilities for home recording, allowing him to make drum loops. As a result, Baker wrote his newest album, self-titled.

“I’d never done a self-titled and I felt like if I’m going to put my stamp on something, this is one I’d want people to listen to first,” Baker said.

Baker handled a majority of the instrumentation himself, but brought in multi-instrumentalist Joseph Davancens and drummer Sam Coe, and worked with producer/engineer Robert Cheek as well.

The result is a larger audience’s introduction to Baker. The collection is guitar-heavy, cleanly picked intros with simple grooves and minimal frills. The songs are strongly structured with clean production. But the heart of what makes Baker’s music lies in his lyrical talent.

There’s no intended theme or single message tying this album together, but there are some broad, colorful strokes that create a fairly seriously toned piece (unfortunately Baker’s infamous cat songs were cut from this collection). The songs’ focus range from lack of personal identity (“Ducks in a Row”), a friend passing away (“Sean”), aging enough to laugh off the heaviness and mistakes of the past (“We Grow Old”) and hometown rivalry (“Hometown Trash”).

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

“A lot of these songs are about being alone, how I feel a lot of the time,” Baker said. “Not that sexy of a theme.”

One of the last songs, “Oregon to Washington,” is about Baker traveling up to Washington to play in Tacoma, and coming back down along I-5, taking breaks from driving to pull over and reflect. The instrumentation has a balladlike quality, with a gentle fingerpicking moving under Baker’s lilting vocals.

“Being still, metaphorically not actually. I’m not sure how to say it without sounding like a yoga teacher, but not trying to figure everything out,” Baker said. “Giving up the ghost.”

A huge strength of Baker’s songwriting is that his songs are at times scenic, not in a landscape sense, but situationally. He can take a character or small scenario and flush it out to tell a story through another pair of eyes.

The album’s starter, “The Knave,” was inspired by Game of Thrones, from a scene where a certain character loses his tongue after playing a wrong note on his flute. Baker related to that moment and wrote through the eyes of who his own character might be in that world. “Born to Ride” was influenced by watching racing during the Summer Olympics, and the song itself is supposed to be told from the perspective of a person in a mental institution who used to race.

“There’s so much experience out there that I think we’re sort of trained to ignore for our own good; I look out my windows and there’s someone constantly digging through the dumpster in order to eat, constantly I see that, all day and night, and it’s not just one person, it’s a stream of people. We kind of get by in life by ignoring everyone, except the few people you don’t, and that’s usually some sort of family. I think it’s interesting to write about the people that get ignored.”

– Sherman Baker

SubmergeMag.com

“I always did love expressing through someone else’s life,” Baker said. “There’s so much experience out there that I think we’re sort of trained to ignore for our own good; I look out my windows and there’s someone constantly digging through the dumpster in order to eat, constantly I see that, all day and night, and it’s not just one person, it’s a stream of people. We kind of get by in life by ignoring everyone, except the few people you don’t, and that’s usually some sort of family. I think it’s interesting to write about the people that get ignored.”

It might help a listener’s understanding even more to know Baker’s background a bit. He was accepted into the Master of Fine Arts program at the American Conservatory Theater, where he spent three years of his life devoted to an acting intensive environment. But through this experience he realized acting wasn’t his path, music was.

Baker’s range of song content is wide, but one thing it isn’t is straightforward.

“Specifically when I write, I try to avoid songwriter clichés,” Baker said. “I don’t want a ‘poor me’ kind of thing…not saying there’s anything wrong with that approach, I just don’t do it.”

The one thing that remains true of all Baker’s music. It’s always him coming through the story.

“You can’t really write anything— even if you’re writing someone else’s autobiography—you can’t really not expose yourself somehow, if people are paying attention,” Baker said. “But I don’t think people are paying attention.”

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friday, april 18 Go to Old Ironsides in Sacramento on March 22 at 9 p.m. to celebrate the release of Sherman Baker’s new self-titled album. Admission is $5 at the door. The Bye Bye Blackbirds and Desario will also perform.

Everyone who attends will receive a wristband with a download code for a digital copy of the album. A vinyl release will be forthcoming. Check out Shermanbakermusic.com for more info.

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Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

13

A o Thousand Faces,

Musically Unraveled

Beats Antique plunges into a hero’s journey during their spring tour Words Jenn Walker

T

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

14

Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

o anyone who has a soft spot for mythology, Joseph Campbell’s monomyth (aka hero’s journey), belly dancing, electronic music, vaudeville or extravagant performance art—check out Beats Antique’s latest album. Better yet, go see them when they perform at Ace of Spades in April for their spring tour.

For those unfamiliar, Beats Antique is a sort of electro, experimental, tribal dance act founded within the creative core of the Bay Area. For the last seven years, the band has continued to birth explosive, beat-heavy albums, each intended to musically accompany the dance performances of Zoe Jakes, the band’s arresting frontwoman. If you’ve ever watched tribal fusion belly dancing, you might have watched it performed to the sounds of Beats Antique.

Now, Beats Antique is bringing Campbell’s epic monomyth to life via two albums. A Thousand Faces, Act I, was just released in fall 2013. A Thousand Faces, Act II will be available by the time their tour starts in late March.

The band used Campbell’s myth map as their guide. As far as conceptualizing the albums goes, “things just made sense,” Jakes says.

And, believe it or not, creating and producing a two-album interpretation of the hero’s journey—and choreographing an entire live performance to go with it— took the band just eight months.

Perhaps that isn’t all that surprising.

David Satori, who plays anything from guitar and violin to the saz (a Turkish instrument), graduated from the California Institute of the Arts with a degree in music performance and composition. Tommy Cappel, who plays keys, bass and drums in the band, graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston with a degree in studio drumming. Jakes has been dancing since her mom forced her to take ballet at age 3, and picked up tribal fusion belly dancing in 2000. In addition to dancing, she plays the drums and is heavily involved in producing and arranging the band’s music. Performing is what these three know.

The band also pulled several musicians to collaborate with them on the first act, like Indian musician Alam Khan; Bay Area singer/songwriter Lynx; SORNE, of Austin, Texas; Micha and Leighton, of the Yard Dogs Roadshow; and Les Claypool of the Bay Area rock band Primus.

It was a collaborative effort with friends, really.

“We wanted to tip our hat to all those bands,” Satori says.

The band created each song to represent various parts of the hero’s journey.

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

For instance, “The underworld was very Balinese; it was the perfect thing for bringing a character into the underworld,” Jakes says.

She is referring to the track “Charon’s Crossing,” based on the Greek mythological character Charon. If you ever take a look at Michelangelo’s depiction of Charon in his fresco (mural) at the Sistine Chapel, you will see an intimidating character with a body builder’s physique, bulging eyes, clawed toes, pointy ears and a tuft of gray hair on his head. He is the boatman who ferries souls from the living world to the underworld, for the price of a coin.

“The imagery, and where we were going with it, is: ‘Charon’s Crossing’ is about the shamans asking the gods to take the character to the underworld,” Jakes explains. “This is what ‘Charon’s Crossing’ represents, for us, in the show.”

Though you wouldn’t expect it from a boat ride to Hades, this is arguably the most magical and uplifting song on the record. The song was composed using MIDI, and digitally recreating a gamelan—a set of inseparable Indonesian musical instruments (usually Balinese or Javanese) like xylophones, drums, gongs, chimes, bamboo flutes, metallophones and bowed instruments. It would have been impossible to acquire all these instruments, so the band downloaded samples of each instrument from a sample bank.

“We were fortunate enough to download really good samples,” Satori explains. “In order to get those instruments, it’s a really big production, and they’re really hard to find.”

“We used the traditional orchestra ensemble and the instrumentation of the orchestra, which is up to 40 people,” he adds.

Satori was first introduced to the gamelan-style while he was studying at the arts institute.

Just a song after “Charon’s Crossing” is “Doors of Destiny,” which feels a lot like walking into a nightmarish game show on acid, with a Vaudeville flavor.

Of course, the effect is intentional. The game show element represents the multiple tests of the hero’s journey. It’s meant to feel chaotic, Satori says. Think Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum.

“I look at that as sort of where realities are all upside down,” he explains. “Everything’s sort of a game.”

“For the game show, we decided we wanted something that was really hook-y, that had that sort of cheesy circus quality to it,” Jakes adds, “so it made sense that we would bring in some of the elements of that Vaudeville sound.”

For this song, Jakes came up with the choreography before the music was ever made.

Look up the “Doors of Destiny” on YouTube, and you can get an idea of how this song might be executed live. After some theatrics, a young girl gets pulled onto the stage from the front of the crowd, where she remains, side-by-side with Jakes. A massive blow-up creature appears from behind, enveloping the two into chaos.

Live performances are always a unique experience, Jakes says. Ninety percent of the time, the band pulls someone onstage.

“Once in a while, someone is not happy about it,” she adds.

Act I is 10 songs that span just under 50 minutes. It ends right at the middle of the hero’s journey, in the abyss. Here the hero faces his or her darkest fear and greatest challenge.

Their spring tour will cover the entire journey: both acts one and two.

Beats Antique started out as a recording project in 2007. They had no intentions of becoming a full-fledged touring band. Fate, however, had another plan.

The three met in the Bay Area.

Jakes and Satori became a couple, and eventually married. Jakes and Cappel were both in the Extra Action Marching Band, which Jakes sums up as crazy performance art, and Yard Dogs Road Show, a troupe of Vaudeville performers.

Meanwhile, Cappel had spent years messing around with electronic and hiphop music.

“I was just into making beats and having fun,” Cappel recalls. “I didn’t have a goal.”

Eventually, the three had it in their minds to create a belly-dancing album meshing electronic and tribal music.

Everything spiraled from there.

“It’s turned into a crazy, wild beast no one can tame,” Satori says.

Catch the spectacle that is Beats Antique live at Ace of Spades in Sacramento on April 2. The show starts at 6:30 p.m., and tickets are $22. You can purchase them in advance through Aceofspadessac.com.

SubmergeMag.com

Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

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Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

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Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

17

Most Likely to Make You Laugh Sacramento Comedy Spot has a jam-packed lineup in store for the second annual 48 Hour Comedy Marathon Words Amy Serna

T

he stand-up comics are practicing timed jokes, the improvisers are stretching their minds and the sketch writers are carbloading (with beer)… Sacramento’s comedy athletes are training for the one of the biggest comedy marathons of the year. The second annual 48 Hour Comedy Marathon will be taking on the challenge to make Sacramento laugh for two days straight at the Comedy Spot.

Comedy Spot owner and comedian, Brian Crall, will make comedy seem more like an endurance sport from March 21 to 23. More than 100 local comedians will perform stand up, improv, podcasts and sketch comedy. Throughout the day, you can expect the Comedy Spot classic shows such as High Improv, Anti-Cooperation League and The Fresh Five. But as the sun sets, you can expect things to get awkwardly funny with shows like Strip-prov, Comedic Chairs, BroTube, Of Wolves and Lazers and Totally Awesome Radical Morning Aerobics. Prices range from donations to $12, or $30 for a weekend pass.

“We are going to see some very good quality comedy,” said Brian Crall, while petting his scruffy dog, Coach, in his lap. “Not that the other stuff is going to be quality, it’s going to be weirder…. It is just a bunch of comedians that are very funny doing a lot of weird shit over a 48 hour time period.”

To truly express the weirdness of the 48 Hour Comedy Marathoners and with a little bit of inspiration from The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Submerge Magazine brings you: The Comedy Spot’s 2014 Yearbook Superlatives.

Most Likely to Have a Heart Attack as a Venue Owner: Brian Crall

Most Likely to Agree to a Last Minute Show with No Preparation and Knock it Out of the Park: Sam Bruno

Originally inspired by The Upright Citizen’s Brigade’s comedy marathon, Crall decided to make a solely Sacramento based comedy marathon at The Comedy Spot. And even though Brian didn’t think that the 2013 comedy marathon would actually work, it turned out better than expected. Surprisingly, last year 60 audience members showed up to watch Strip-prov at 2 a.m. “Last year we did a really good job of coming up with shows but this year we went to Sacramento comedians to pitch a show,” Crall explained. And no matter what time slot you choose to sit back in the Comedy Spot you will not be disappointed. “You are spending a dollar to maybe watch a train wreck at 4 o’clock in the morning, so it will be a lot of fun.”

Even though Sam Bruno agrees to last minute shows, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t like to plan ahead and save time. He has been performing music for the past 20 years and comedy for the past five, so he decided why not save time and combine the two? For the past year, instead of running between two different gigs in one weekend, he has combined them together to create a musical comedy show. He will be bringing his musically talented funny friends to star in Acoustic Comedy, a show that will feature all musical comedians making you laugh with their lyrics and notes. “I think it’s a show that everyone should try and go see, even if they aren’t a fan of musical comedy,” said Bruno. “This would be the first time we ever done a group of comedians like this in Sacramento.”

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18

Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

Most Likely to Sync Their Periods: Most Likely to Get Drunk Before the Show:

Heather Damon, Teresa Schumacher and Molly Doan

Most Likely to Die Broke:

After spending a summer of drinking boxed wine, Edgar Granados and his comedy partner Bill Wallis became inspired. “It was this really cool time of creativity where we were just coming up with jokes," explained Granados. What started off as an idea for a local public access TV show has turned into the “brain child” of Wallis and Granados called The Calm Eddy Show. But since airing on Public Access Sacramento didn’t work out, the 21-year-old Granados is ready to unveil his show during the 48 Hour Comedy Marathon.

The Calm Eddy Show will be an interview-style talk show featuring comics and improvisers in different characters. “Most of it is going to be improvised, banter between Bill and I,” said Granados. “I don’t know… We are going to be really drunk.”

Catch The Calm Eddy Show on March 23 at 2 a.m., and donations will be accepted as your entrance fee.

Living in the male-dominated world of comedy can be tough, but these three women seem to have it figured out. Bringing a combination of live performances and video sketches with an incorporation of music, character comedy and psychical humor, they are ready to bring you The Ritz and Triscuit Show.

“There will be a unicycle, there will be kittens, there will be aliens and there will be dancing,” said Damon. But don’t let the adorable kittens keep you distracted from their overall feminist message.

“We really want to get our message out there. We have a social message while making you laugh,” explained Damon.

Roommates and grad students, Schumacher (Ritz) and Damon (Triscuit) are ready to bring their sketch comedy shows from YouTube to the front stage at the Comedy Spot with their most recent member Doan (Cheese Nips).

“I think the audience should be nervous because we are going to knock them all dead,” said Damon.

The Ritz and Triscuit Show happens on March 22 at 3 p.m., also for a donation.

Most Likely to Deliver a Baby on Stage:

Most likely to Piss Off People:

Most Likely to Give a Good Face:

Within the past year Charlie Lemcke has been thinking a lot about babes. Not the miniskirt-wearing babes but the dirty diaper-wearing babes. Balancing the life of being a full-time dad of a 2-month-old baby and being a comedian is not an easy task…or is it? Lemcke has found a way to put his two passions together live with his show, Kangaroo Pack Improv. While most comedians would leave their newborn babies at home, this improv team will perform comedy with their babies strapped to them in front-strap baby carriers. “You kind of pretend that they are not there, but if they start talking or crying or anything they could maybe change the mood of the improviser,” Lemcke said. “They could be like the voice that the improviser hears. It will be interesting.”

Lemcke wants to bring back the Zach Galifianakis baby look (from The Hangover) and dress it up with some improv comedy. But no matter how this comedy show will turn out it will definitely be a story for the grandkids.

Kangaroo Pack Improv will hop on stage March 22 at 4 p.m. for $5.

It’s hard to make friends after a comedy show, especially if your set didn’t sit well with people in the audience, but Nick Coleman is trying to look past that. After getting the green light for three months in a row during Test Kitchen, an idea showcase for a regular slot at the Comedy Spot, Coleman finally got his show, Let’s Get Weird, on the schedule. It will showcase video sketches in-between live comedy sketches but with the attempt to try and make it as weird as possible. But as weird as things might get, Coleman treats the Comedy Spot like his second home.

“The comedy spot performers are pretty much like my second family and I spend most of my time with them,” he said. “We have almost a whole weekend to support each other’s ideas and see a bunch of different shows.”

Let’s Get Weird takes the stage on March 22 at 1 a.m. for a donation.

Southern, ditzy, quirky and stalkers are a few of the characters that Micaela Pettigrew likes to fall back on during an improv show. She likes to think of characters on the spot that are fun and a “heightened version of herself.” So it is no surprise that after a show she will get numerous comments from audience members that they enjoyed her silly faces. Smith has been making silly faces on stage for three years now as a member of the longest running improv troupe at the Comedy spot, The Anti-Cooperation League.

The league bases all of their improv ideas from an interview with a special guest for each night.

“From their answers, anything interesting that comes up or even a weird reaction from the audience can inspire a great scene,” Pettigrew Want a full rundown of the 48 Hour explained.

Comedy Marathon? OF You’ll have two chances to see The COURSE YOU DO. Go to Anti-Cooperation League in action. First Saccomedyspot.com on March 22 at 9 p.m. for $12, and on for all the details!

March 23 at 7 p.m. for free.

Edgar Granados

Charlie Lemcke

SubmergeMag.com

Nick Coleman

Carlos Rodriguez

“…Because I live it to the last dollar.” But don’t call Rodriguez penniless just yet. In 2013 he was named Best Comedian in Sacramento by News and Review and has more than 15 years of comedy under his belt. And this year he will be testing his very own show idea at the Comedy Spot called What’s Going On Here?

It will be an unscripted show featuring comics making fun of and analyzing commercials, web videos, and numerous pop culture clips.

“Commercials that I want to get into are just ridiculous,” Rodriguez said. “People really sit down in conference and meeting rooms and think these are really good ideas.”

Poking fun and talking about commercials is something that Carlos and his younger brother have always done at home but now he is ready to entertain you in the wee hours of the morning.

Experience What’s Going On Here? March 23 at 3 a.m. for a donation.

Micaela Pettigrew

Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

19

The grindhouse

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This Movie Is Better Than Braveheart, Which Sucks 300: Rise of an Empire Rated r Words Jacob Sprecher

HUMBLE WOLF

THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE

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

THUR • APR 10 • 7P • UNIVERSITY UNION BALLROOM

FREE:indie rock concert

FREE: special action adventure sci-fi screening

ROLLER DERBY

ULTIMATE DERBY RADNESS THUR • MAR 13 • 7:30P • UNIVERSITY UNION BALLROOM FREE: a hard-hitting roller derby bout with Sacramento’s first all-female flat track team, the SAC CITY ROLLERS.

CONCERT

THE STORY SO FAR THUR • MAR 20 • 7P • UNIVERSITY UNION BALLROOM THE STORY SO FAR, pop punk concert also featuring ELDER BROTHER and FOREVER CAME CALLING, Tickets are $10 for the first 100 Sac State students, $13 for Sac State students and $18 for general public. Tickets available at Eventbrite.com and at the ASI Student Shop.

20

Braveheart is the worst movie I ever once liked. It is positively unwatchable—an embarrassing spectacle of unconditional absurdity. In fact, here are three things I’d rather do right now than ever again watch Mel Gibson’s portrayal of William Wallace: 1. Drink Mongolian fire sauce on top of a burning anthill.

2. Buy a one-way ticket to the Crimea.

3. Wrap my mouth around an exhaust pipe and floor it.

Braveheart and the first 300 are third cousins; the latter seeming to me a waste of potential rather than a ludicrously acted and outright phony hagiography. 300 is beautifully crafted Frank Miller ultra-violence amid the backdrop of a Sin Cityaffected Spartan Greece, which unfortunately morphs into a toga party at the local Alpha Beta house. Granted nobody goes to an effects-driven Gerard Butler flick looking for Marlon Brando and the meaning of life, but acting and content have got to count for something. Needless to say my expectations weren’t sky-high going into 300: Rise of an Empire. But expectations are like assholes insofar as everybody’s got ‘em and they usually stink.

Directed by heretofore unknown Noam Murro, Rise of an Empire picks up where its predecessor left off: King Leonidas and his horde of 300 lay dead on the battlefield at the feet of Xerxes and the Persian army. Emboldened by his victory, Xerxes marches his throng toward Athens, which he is intent upon razing to the ground. Through the narration of Spartan Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey, Game of Thrones), we learn of Xerxes’ mystical transformation from ordinary man to God King. Revealed is how Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton), one of Greece’s greatest warriors and admiral of the Athenian fleet, played an unforeseen role in Xerxes’ rise to power while defending the country from Persian invasion in a prior conflict. It is now the responsibility of Themistokles and his out-numbered navy to stave off Persia’s superior force while the cry for a united Greece rings out to each city-state.

If you look at the nuts and bolts of that synopsis, it’s more

Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

or less the framework for any movie attempting to tell the tale of an epic Greek or Roman struggle, in that it’s sprawling and leaves much license for storytelling. The problem with movies like 300 is that they aren’t really trying to tell a story so much as they are looking for a vehicle to showcase action. Ultimately they get in their own way. But Rise of an Empire manages to avoid archetypal flaws, at least in the most sufferable ways, essentially clearing its own path. For example, Eva Green (Casino Royale, The Dreamers) plays Artemisia, ruthless queen of the Persian military and Xerxes’ closest personal ally. Greek-born but Persian-bred after being raped and pillaged by territorial Greek forces as a child, Green is convincing as a damaged, pitiless killer and adds a consistent female presence to a movie otherwise dominated by men. What’s more is Rise of an Empire’s slight dialing back on the William Wallace meter. Yeah, there’s some definite “but they will never take, OUR FREEDOM!” moments, but they’re a little less frequent, and when they do pop up, are somehow less abrasive and bro’d out.

This overall state of tolerability allows the viewer to focus on the one reason they came in the first place: Orchestral violence and gore. Say what you will about the merits of cinematic ultraviolence and its inevitable misuse, but Rise of an Empire is the Mozart of the genre. Set largely at sea aboard Greek triremes and the Persian equivalent, the famed slow-motion mayhem of the first film is only enhanced this go-round by the crashing black waves of the Aegean Sea and the mirror straits of Salamis.

A visual delight of Greco morbidity replete with decapitations, severed limbs, slashed jugulars and everything else that can possibly be sliced, Rise of an Empire is immensely fulfilling as a purveyor of high camp brutality. Remember, though: This is not Hostel. This is something more parallel to an elegant vaudevillian riot, if one can imagine such a thing.

But all moderate praise aside, if you don’t like over-the-top senseless violence, you’re not going to like Rise of an Empire.

Even if you do, you still might hate it. But if you liked 300, or even thought it had latent potential, you’ll probably really dig it. I hope that’s a reasonable conclusion. Because all I can think about right now is that scene in Braveheart where Mel Gibson shows everyone his taint.

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Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

21

m u s i c , c o m e d y & m i sc . C a l e n da r

March 10 – 24 submergemag.com/calendar

Shine Open Jazz Jam hosted by Jason Galbraith, 8 p.m.

Toby Keith’s Open Mic Night, 7 p.m.

Torch Club Bill Mylar, 5:30 p.m.; Debut Tuesdays Music Showcase feat. Jenn Rogar, Infinite Vastness, Roy Thorpe Jr., 8 p.m.

3.10 3.12 Monday

The Blue Lamp Acoustic & Spoken Open Mic, 8 p.m.

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

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

The Colony Lo Cash Ninjas, Moans, Tomfool, 7 p.m.

Distillery Karaoke, 9 p.m.

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

Harlow’s Larry and His Flask, Scott H. Biram, Whiskey Shivers, 7 p.m.

Luna’s Cafe Nebraska Mondays hosted by Ross Hammond, 7:30 p.m.

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

Press Club Marriage + Cancer, Dad Punch, Pockets, Kaz Mirblouk, 9 p.m.

Shine Classical Revolution hosted

by Skye Bergen, 8 p.m.

3.11 Tuesday

Assembly We Are The In Crowd, William Beckett, Set It Off, State Champs, Candy Hearts, 6:30 p.m.

Distillery Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Dive Bar Todd Morgan, 9 p.m.

LowBrau Le Twist Tuesdays w/ Survival Guide, Sam I Jam, Roderick Carpio, Adam J, Taylor Cho, 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 Rock On Live Band Karaoke, 8 p.m.

Wednesday

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

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

The Colony Nervosas, Valiant Steed, Harmless People, SSA, 8 p.m.

Distillery Karaoke, 9 p.m.

El Dorado Saloon Open Mic Showcase, 7 p.m.

Fox & Goose Northern Soul, 8 p.m.

Harlow’s Dumpstaphunk, 7 p.m.

Laughs Unlimited Karaoke w/ KJ Ryan, 8 p.m.

Marilyn’s Synrgy, Dewey & The Peoples, 9 p.m.

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

Old Ironsides Open Mic, 9 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub The Good Samaritans, Moon Mantis, Stellar (Incubus tribute), 8 p.m.

Torch Club Acoustic Open Mic, 5:30 p.m.; Keri Carr Band, 9 p.m.

University Union Redwood Room, CSUS Nooner feat. Groovincible, 12 p.m.

3.13 thursday

Ace of Spades Umphrey’s McGee, 7 p.m.

Assembly Infected Mushroom, 8 p.m.

Bar 101 Karaoke, 7:30 p.m.

The Blue Lamp Blues Jam, 4 p.m.

The Boardwalk WarNRV, Calista Sky, Reclaim and Conquer, 7 p.m.

Center for the Arts The Claire Lynch Band, Kathy Barwick, Pete Siegfried, 7:30 p.m.

3.15

Overwatch No Sympathy, White Knuckle Riot, Vanishing Affair, Average League, Amour The Boardwalk 7 p.m.

22

Club Car Songwriters Showcase, 8 p.m.

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

District 30 TyDi, 9 p.m.

Dive Bar Dueling Pianos, 9 p.m.

Fox & Goose Steve McLane, 8 p.m.

Harlow’s Musical Charis, The Royal Jelly, Joseph in the Well, Duplex, 7 p.m.

Level Up Lounge Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Marilyn’s Flies In the Kitchen, Big Buff, King Never, 8 p.m.

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

Old Ironsides Damon Wycoff, Sarah Beth, 8:30 p.m.

Pine Cove Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub Alyssa Audrey and 6 Shooter Sunrise, 10 p.m.

Press Club Heckarap w/ MC Ham, DJ Gourmet, 9 p.m.

R15 Z Rokk, 9 p.m.

Shine Ice Age Jazztet, Sabor Jazz, 8 p.m.

The Stoney Inn Lace and Lead, Matthew William Hundley, Trysh Hill, Emily Tanke, 9 p.m.

Third Space Marriage + Cancer, 7 p.m.

Torch Club X Trio, 5 p.m.; Dippin Sauce, 9 p.m.

3.14 Friday

Assembly Rachel Barton Pine, 7 p.m. (Sold Out) Back 9 Bar & Grill They Went Ghost, Race to the Bottom, A Mile Till Dawn, 8 p.m.

Bar 101 Down the Hatch, 9:30 p.m.

The Blue Lamp Green Jelly, Horseneck, Murderlicious, Peace Killers, 8 p.m.

Café Colonial Chernobog, Solanum, Frailed Sanity, Bleed By Example, 8 p.m.

California Automobile Museum The Capitol Pops Concert Band, 7 p.m.

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

Club Car Crystal Image Band, 9 p.m.

Colusa Casino Lace and Lead, 9 p.m.

District 30 DJ Anthony Vincent, 9 p.m.

El Dorado Saloon Christian DeWild Band, 9 p.m.

Fox & Goose Delta City Ramblers, The Coffis Brothers, Matt Sertich, 9 p.m.

Golden Bear DJ Crook, 10 p.m.

Harlow’s Cayucas, Miner, 6 p.m.; Doey Rock, Mark Noxx, 10 p.m.

Harrah’s Lake Tahoe DJ Crisco Kidd, 10:30 p.m.

Luna’s Cafe Halfpence & Haypenny, The Crux, Billy Buchman, 8 p.m.

Marilyn’s Black Eyed Dempseys, One Eyed Reilly, Pikeys, 8 p.m.

Mix DJ SHIFT, DJ Gabe Xavier 9 p.m.

Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

3.17

One-Eyed Riley Sea Legs, Mike Farrell, Jeffrey Valentine, The Harbor The Blue Lamp 2 p.m.

Old Ironsides William Mylar, 5 p.m.; Dead Horses, Jem & Scout, Little Heart, Cigarette Machine, 9 p.m.

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

Pine Cove Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub 8 Track Massacre, 10 p.m.

Press Club DJ Rue, 9 p.m.

Red Hawk Casino Chris Gardner, 9:30 p.m.

Shine Lava Pups, Funicellos, 8 p.m.

Toby Keith’s Dave Russell, 9 p.m.

Torch Club Pailer & Fratis, 5:30 p.m.; Mofo Party Band, 9 p.m.

3.15 Saturday

Ace of Spades The Expendables, Stick Figure, Seedless, 6:30 p.m.

Back 9 Bar & Grill One A-Chord, Ancient Astronaut, The Silent Game, 8 p.m.

Bar 101 Simple Creation (CD Release), 9:30 p.m.

The Blue Lamp Marvaless, Young Gatlin, Rick KO, Mister Blap, 8 p.m.

The Boardwalk Overwatch, No Sympathy, White Knuckle Riot, Vanishing Affair, Average League, Amour, 7 p.m.

Cache Creek Casino The 5th Dimension, 5 p.m.

Café Colonial Black Eyed Dempseys, Avenue Saints, One Eyed Reilly and More, 3 p.m.

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

Center for the Arts Golden Shoulders, Casual Fog, 8:30 p.m.

Club Car Private Criminals, 9 p.m.

The Colony Barfly Effect, Keep It from the Cops, Herd Mindset, Global Affront, 7 p.m.

Colusa Casino Lace and Lead, 9 p.m.

District 30 DJ Romeo Rayes, 9 p.m.

El Dorado Saloon Sweet Revenge, 9 p.m.

Fox & Goose The Pikeys, Stepping Stone, 9 p.m.

Harlow’s Foreverland (Michael Jackson tribute), 9 p.m.

Harrah’s Lake Tahoe Pat Travers Band, 7:30 p.m.

KBAR Z Rokk, 9 p.m.

Level Up Lounge Guest DJs, 9 p.m.

LowBrau D.A.M.B. (Shaun Slaughter), Deejay MyKill, Melee, Adam Jay, 9 p.m.

Luna’s Cafe The Scarves, Marty Cohen & The Sidekicks, 8 p.m.

Marilyn’s DJ Katz & Drummer Flash, 9 p.m.

Mix DJ Eddie Edul, 9 p.m.

Old Ironsides Fascination: ‘80s New Wave Dance Club, 9:30 p.m.

Pine Cove Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub Frank Hannon, 10 p.m.

Press Club DJ Larry Rodriguez, 9 p.m.

Red Hawk Casino Chris Gardner, 10 p.m.

Shine Sly Park, Blue Oaks, Tajlyn, 8 p.m.

Starlite Lounge Long Beach Rehab, Blaquelisted, Advent Statim, 9 p.m.

Toby Keith’s Branded, 9 p.m.

Torch Club Campfire Crooners, 5:30 p.m.; Mind X, 9 p.m.

3.16 Sunday

Bar 101 Vagabond Brothers Unplugged 2 p.m.

The Blue Lamp Get Down to the Champion Sound w/ DJ ESEF, Juan Love, Ras Matthew and Guests, 9 p.m.

The Boardwalk Live Band Karaoke, 5 & 9 p.m.

Broderick Roadhouse Karaoke w/ DJ Jazcat, 9 p.m.

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

Club Car The June Williams Duo, 6 p.m.

The Colony Watchers and Hunters, Dennis Is Dead, Before We Breathe, Taking Fox Hollow, My Final Days, The Eschatologist, Vestara, 7 p.m.

Distillery Karaoke, 8 p.m.

District 30 Trill Sundays w/ Jurts & Billy Lane, 9 p.m.

Dive Bar Sol Seed, 9 p.m.

Harlow’s Majickat (Cat Stevens Tribute), 5:30 p.m.

Midtown Barfly Weirdo Fest 2k14 feat. Conducting from the Grave, Lionheart, Havenside, Hoods, Sworn Vengeance, With Wolves, Worst Intentions, Black Sails and More, 5 p.m.

Mix DJ Gabe Xavier, 8:30 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub Gumbo Stew, 3 p.m.

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

Red Hawk Casino Jack Michelson, 1 p.m.

Torch Club Torch Goes Irish feat.

Delta City Ramblers, Big Sticky Mess, Golden Cadillacs, Peter Petty, Miss Maddy & The F St. Stompers and More, 4 p.m.

UC Davis: Jackson Hall UC Davis Concert Band, 3 p.m.

UC Davis: Vanderhoef Studio Theatre Alexander String Quartet, 2 & 7 p.m.

3.17 Monday

Assembly Protest The Hero, Battlecross, Safety Fire, Intervals, Night Verses, 6 p.m.

Back 9 Bar & Grill SurReal Abyss, The Losing Kind, 8 p.m.

Bar 101 Adrian Bellue, Rubbidy Buppidy, Sean Fleming, 2 p.m.

The Blue Lamp One-Eyed Riley, Sea Legs, Mike Farrell, Jeffrey Valentine, The Harbor, 2 p.m.

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

The Colony The Cryptics, Sciatica, Fearection, 8 p.m.

Distillery Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Fox & Goose The Pikeys, Bobby & The Kennedys, 5:30 p.m.

Luigi’s Fungarden Daylight, Mixtapes, Second to Last, Foxhound, 7 p.m.

Luna’s Cafe Nebraska Mondays hosted by Ross Hammond, 7:30 p.m.

MontBleu Resort Casino The Young Dubliners, 8 p.m.

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

Press Club Sac Storytellers, Scratch Outs, DJ Larry, 9 p.m.

Sacramento Community Center Theater Jason Mraz, 7:30 p.m.

Torch Club Campfire Crooners and More, 2 p.m.

UC Davis: Corin Courtyard Cahersiveen, 6:30 p.m.

UC Davis: Jackson Hall Standard Caladh Nua, 6:30 p.m.

3.18 Tuesday

The Blue Lamp Jazz Night w/ Tyson Graf Trio, Hot City, 8 p.m.

Distillery Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Dive Bar Musical Charis, 9 p.m.

Harlow’s Galactic, 9 p.m.

LowBrau Le Twist Tuesdays w/ Pale Blue Dot, Sam I Jam, Roderick Carpio, Adam J, Taylor Cho, 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.

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Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

23

3.18

The Lolos Skunk Funk, Back Alley Buzzards Torch Club 8 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub Rock On Live Band Karaoke, 8 p.m.

Press Club The Ballantynes, Celestions, Mondo Deco, Andy Garcia, Matt Mora, 8 p.m.

Shine Open Jazz Jam hosted by Jason Galbraith, 8 p.m.

Sol Collective Global Hood Music Series w/ Kumbia Queers, Sancha, 8 p.m.

Third Space Watch Out, Magic Bullets, Craig Salt Peters, K.A.L.E., 8 p.m.

Toby Keith’s Open Mic Night, 7 p.m.

Torch Club The J’s, 5 p.m.; Debut Tuesday Music Showcase feat.

The Lolos, Skunk Funk, Back Alley Buzzards, 8 p.m.

UC Davis: Jackson Hall Scharoun Ensemble, 8 p.m.

UC Davis: Vanderhoef Studio Theatre Jonathan Batiste and Stay Human Band, 8 p.m.

3.19 wednesday

Ace of Spades Break Science, Paul Basic, 6:30 p.m.

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

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

Distillery Karaoke, 9 p.m.

El Dorado Saloon Open Mic Showcase, 7 p.m.

Fox & Goose Northern Soul, 8 p.m.

Harlow’s The Sword, Big Business, O’Brother, 7 p.m.

Laughs Unlimited Karaoke w/ KJ Ryan, 8 p.m.

Marilyn’s Timothy H., The Soul Shine Band, 9 p.m.

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

Old Ironsides Open Mic, 9 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub The Beatknocks, Dylan Phillip, Penny, The Kingdom, Burn, 8 p.m.

Press Club Iron Chic, Bastards of Young, Cold Feelings, Strange Party, 9 p.m.

Torch Club Acoustic Open Mic, 5:30 p.m.; Peter Petty & His Double P Revue, 9 p.m.

UC Davis: Vanderhoef Studio Theatre Jonathan Batiste and Stay Human Band, 8 p.m.

3.20 Thursday

Ace of Spades The Wailers, 6:30 p.m.

Bar 101 Karaoke, 7:30 p.m.

The Blue Lamp Blues Jam, 4 p.m.; The Fontaine Classic, Matmog, RGB, 8 p.m.

Club Car Songwriters Showcase, 8 p.m.

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

The Colony Fiasco Sideshow, Julie the Bruce, Darby Crash Bluegrass Band, 8 p.m.

District 30 Will Sparks, 9 p.m.

Dive Bar Dueling Pianos, 9 p.m.

Fox & Goose The Mike Justis Band, 8 p.m.

Harlow’s Tommy Castro and the Painkillers, 7 p.m.

Level Up Lounge Karaoke, 9 p.m.

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Marilyn’s DJ Oasis, InkDup, O’Mally, 9 p.m.

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

Old Ironsides Bluegrass Open Jam, 7:30 p.m.

Pine Cove Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub Joshua Page, 10 p.m.

Press Club An Ignorant Night of Rap w/ Travis and Raftr, 9 p.m.

R15 Z Rokk, 9 p.m.

Shine Instagon, Tao Jiriki, Cat & Mouse, 8 p.m.

The Stoney Inn The Buck Ford Pure Country Band, 10 p.m.

Torch Club X Trio, 5 p.m.; Red’s Blues feat. Jim Monroe, 9 p.m.

UC Davis: Vanderhoef Studio Theatre Jonathan Batiste and Stay Human Band, 8 p.m.

University Union Ballroom, CSUS The Story So Far, Elder Brother, Forever Came Calling, 7 p.m.

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

Pine Cove Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub Joy of Repetition, 10 p.m.

Press Club DJ Rue, 9 p.m.

Red Hawk Casino Big Bad Boogie, 9:30 p.m.

Shine The Baddest Beams, Will Shamberger, 8 p.m.

Toby Keith’s Frankie Ballard, Brodie Stewart, 9 p.m.

Torch Club Pailer & Fratis, 5:30 p.m.; Joy & Madness, 9 p.m.

UC Davis: Vanderhoef Studio Theatre Jonathan Batiste and Stay Human Band, 8 p.m.

Center for the Arts Bill Magee Blues Band, Jamal Walker Band, 8:30 p.m.

Club Car Thirdstar West, 9 p.m.

Colusa Casino DJ One, 9 p.m.

District 30 DJ Billy Lane, 9 p.m.

El Dorado Saloon Hired Guns, 9 p.m.

Fox & Goose Mike Blanchard & The Californios, West Nile Ramblers, Natural Drift, 9 p.m.

Golden Bear DJ Crook, 10 p.m.

Harrah’s Lake Tahoe DJ Los, 10 p.m.

Luna’s Cafe Azul, Space Walker, Martin Purtill, 8 p.m.

Marilyn’s You Front the Live Band Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Mix DJ Gabe Xavier, 9 p.m.

Old Ironsides William Mylar, 5 p.m.; Iron Hearts, Tipsy Hustlers, Southlot, 9 p.m.

3.21 FRIDAY

Ace of Spades Memphis May Fire, The Word Alive, A Skylit Drive, Hands Like Houses, Beartooth, 5:30 p.m.

Assembly The Kin, Finish Ticket, Oh Honey, Stand Out State, 7 p.m.

Back 9 Bar & Grill The Melodramatics, Adonis DNA, 8 p.m.

Bar 101 The Soul Shine Band, 9:30 p.m.

The Blue Lamp Live Wire Hip Hop Showcase, 8 p.m.

The Boardwalk Lil Debbie, 7 p.m.

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

3.24 Bun B Kirko Bangz Ace of Spades 7 p.m.

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24

Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

EAT. DRINK. LISTEN. Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

3.22 Saturday

Ace of Spades EOTO, 7:30 p.m.

Assembly Kumandae, Mouth Peace, DJ Gino, 9 p.m.

Back 9 Bar & Grill Kayasun, Riotmaker, Josh Fischel, 8 p.m.

Bar 101 Delta City Ramblers, 9:30 p.m.

The Blue Lamp Ned & the Dirt, Wingnut Adams, 8 p.m.

The Boardwalk D-Lo, 7 p.m.

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

Center for the Arts Future Twin, Weird Silence, Sasha Sylvanaut, 8:30 p.m.

Club Car Island of Black and White, 8:30 p.m.

Colusa Casino Element Of Soul, 9 p.m.

District 30 DJ Elements, 9 p.m.

El Dorado Saloon Two 20 Band, 9 p.m.

Fox & Goose Item 9, Relion, Lost Roots, 9 p.m.

Harlow’s Sandra Dolores, Gianna Biagi, Odame, Justin Farren, 5:30 p.m.; Mustache Harbor, 9 p.m.

Harrah’s Lake Tahoe Bruce in the USA (Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band tribute), 7:30 p.m.

Harris Center for the Arts Zakir Hussain and Masters of Percussion, 8 p.m.

KBAR Z Rokk, 9 p.m.

Level Up Lounge Guest DJs, 9 p.m.

Luigi’s Fungarden Cruel Summer, Moonbeams, Sad Numbers, 8 p.m.

Luna’s Cafe David Lynch Jazz Trio, Alicyn Yaffee, Ross Hammond, 8 p.m.

Marilyn’s Gator Nation, The Family Bandits, 9 p.m.

Mix DJ Eddie Edul, 9 p.m.

Old Ironsides Sherman Baker (CD Release), The Bye Bye Blackbirds, Desario, 9 p.m.

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

Pine Cove Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub Super Huey, 10 p.m.

Press Club DJ Larry Rodriguez, 9 p.m.

Red Hawk Casino Big Bad Boogie, 10 p.m.

Rounders Sports Bar & Grill Local Licks Acoustic Series w/ Hero’s Last Mission, Sac Open Mic All-Stars, 8 p.m.

Shine Broken Voice Club, Buffalo Buffalo, Wiving, 8 p.m.

Toby Keith’s Josh Budro Band, 9 p.m.

Torch Club The Count, 4 p.m.; Sioux City Kid, Stephen Roth Band, 9 p.m.

UC Davis: Jackson Hall The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, 8 p.m.

UC Davis: Vanderhoef Studio Theatre Jonathan Batiste and Stay Human Band, 8 p.m.

3.23 Sunday

Ace of Spades Lacuna Coil, Kyng, Eve to Adam, Nothing More, 6:30 p.m.

Assembly Alesana, Get Scared, Farewell My Love, Hearts & Hands, Megosh, Mercedes Ave, 6:30 p.m.

Bar 101 Vagabond Brothers Unplugged 2 p.m.

SubmergeMag.com

The Blue Lamp Get Down to the Champion Sound w/ DJ ESEF, Juan Love, Ras Matthew and Guests, 9 p.m.

Broderick Roadhouse Karaoke w/ DJ Jazcat, 9 p.m.

Cache Creek Casino Steven Ma & Shiny Liu, 1 & 4 p.m.

Café Colonial The Crappys, Squareholes, Carbomb Commies, 7 p.m.

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

Center for the Arts Jackie Greene Band, 7:30 p.m.

Club Car The June Williams Duo, 6 p.m.

The Colony Negative Hole, 30.06, (waning), Galactavore, 8 p.m.

Distillery Karaoke, 8 p.m.

District 30 Trill Sundays w/ Jurts & Billy Lane, 9 p.m.

Dive Bar Vokab Kompany, 9 p.m.

Harlow’s Weekend, Cities Aviv, 10 p.m.

Mix DJ Gabe Xavier, 8:30 p.m.

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

Red Hawk Casino Buck Ford, 1 p.m.

Third Space Lie, Screature, 8 p.m.

Torch Club Blues Jam, 4 p.m.; Failure Machine, 3 Way, 8 p.m.

UC Davis: Vanderhoef Studio Theatre Curtis On Tour Wind Ensemble, 2 p.m.

3.24 Monday

Ace of Spades Bun B & Kirko Bangz, 7 p.m.

Assembly Being As An Ocean, A Lot Like Birds, My Iron Lung, Idle Hands, This Wild Life, 6:30 p.m.

The Blue Lamp Acoustic & Spoken Open Mic, 8 p.m.

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

The Colony Braveyoung, Mercy Ties, Battle Hag, Black Majik Acid, 7 p.m.

Distillery Karaoke, 9 p.m.

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

Luigi’s Fungarden PETS, Daydream Machine, Drive Thru Mystics, 7 p.m.

Luna’s Cafe Nebraska Mondays hosted by Ross Hammond, 7:30 p.m.

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

Press Club Kevin Seconds, John Moreland, Brent Loveday, Joseph Kojima Gray, 8 p.m.

Comedy Laughs Unlimited Jokes for Jenny: A Comedy FUNdraiser for Jenny Beard feat.

Cheryl the Soccer Mom, Stephen Furey, Emma Haney, hosted by Steph Garcia, March 12, 7 p.m.

Kermet Apio, Tristan Johnson, March 14 - 16, Fri. & Sat., 8 p.m. & 10:30 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.

Say It Loud Comedy feat. Janelle Murphey, Shaun Grady, Rodger Lizaola, Ato Walker, Pete Munoz, hosted by Michael Calvin, Jr., March 20, 8 p.m.

Todd Johnson featuring Tony Baker, March 21 - 23, Fri. & Sat., 8 p.m. & 10:30 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.

Luna’s Cafe Open Mic Comedy, every Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.

Keith Lowell Jensen’s Comedy Night, every Wednesday, 8 p.m.

Punchline Comedy Club Mike E. Winfield, March 12, 8 p.m.

JHP Showcase, March 13, 8 p.m.

Jeff Garcia, Chris Garcia, Keon Polee, March 14 - 15, Fri. & Sat., 8 p.m. & 10 p.m.

The Hangout Comedy Show, March 16, 7 p.m.

Ralphie May, March 19, 7:30 & 9:45 p.m.

Brent Morin, Dave Thomason, Nick Aragon, March 20 - 23, Thurs., 8 p.m.; Fri. & Sat., 8 p.m. & 10 p.m.; Sun., 7 p.m.

Sacramento Comedy Spot Open Mic, Sunday’s and Monday’s, 7:30 p.m.

Spot-On Trivia: The Comedy Pub Quiz, Tuesday’s, 8 p.m.

Gag Order, Thursday’s, 8 p.m.

Improv Jam, Thursday’s, 9 p.m.

Anti-Cooperation League, Saturday’s, 9 p.m.

Test Kitchen, Saturday’s, 10:30 p.m.

The 48 Hour Comedy Marathon, March 21 - 23

OPEN 4PM • 7 DAYS A WEEK • HAPPY HOUR 4 7PM

Misc.

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

Benvenuti Performing Arts Center CORE Contemporary Dance Presents: Barebones, March 13 - 15, 7:30 p.m.

Blue Cue Bar Bingo, Wednesday’s, 9 p.m.

The Blue Lamp Naughty Trivia!, every Wednesday, 8 p.m.

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

Crocker Art Museum ArtMix: Funk Springs Eternal feat. Groovincible, Idea Team, The Outsiders Bboy Crew, Pop-up Record Shop, Funk Inspired Art and More, March 13, 5 p.m.

Sam Francis: Five Decades of Abstract Expressionism from California Collections, through Apr. 20 Fox & Goose Pub Quiz, Tuesday’s, 7 p.m.

Fruitridge Community Center Fashion Rummage Extravaganza, March 15, 10 a.m.

Little Relics Boutique & Galleria Priscilla Ameneyro (Mixed Media Collage) and Kyle Lawson (Ceramics), through March 29 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.

Midtown BarFly Salsa Lessons, every Wednesday, 8 p.m.

Old Sacramento 18th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, March 15, 1 p.m.

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

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

Sacramento Ballet Studios Inside the Directors Studio: Where the Hands Go, The Invisible Strength of Male Partnering, March 14, 6 p.m.

Sacramento Fine Arts Center Art, Poetry, and Fazz feat. the Dave Brubeck Institute Quintet, March 22, 7 p.m.

Shine Red Alice’s Poetry Emporium hosted

by Bill Gainer, March 12, 7:30 p.m.

Midtown Out Loud, March 19, 8 p.m.

Sterling Hotel Sacramento Food Film Festival: Beer Wars, March 22, 4 p.m.

Ten22 Sacramento Food Film Festival Premiere: Spinning Plates, March 20, 6 p.m.

University Union Ballroom, CSUS Ultimate Derby Radness w/ Sac City Rollers, March 13, 7:30 p.m.

University Union Redwood Room, CSUS Free Film Screening: Girl Rising, March 19, 12 p.m.

$5 validation @1Oth & L

908 K Street, Sacramento • 21 & Over 916-446-4361 Show Info->MarilynsOnK.com • Find 'Marilyn's on K' on Facebook!

Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

25

Simple, Local, Wood-Fired

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Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

904 15th Street 443.2797 Between I & J • Downtown Sacramento

March 11 - 23 TUES

11

WED

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Bill Mylar 5:30PM

DeBut tuesDays Music showcase

jenn rogar, roy thorPe jr , infinite vastness 8PM

acoustic oPen Mic 5:30PM

Keri carr BanD 9PM

ThUrS

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caMPfire crooners 5:30PM

MinD X 9PM

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O

n their fifth anniversary, Hot Italian owners Fabrizio Cercatore and Andrea Lepore celebrated simultaneously with Sacramento Beer Week. Hot Italian, as many who have frequented its immense, black and white dining room must by this point know, is the combination of modernist, Italian aesthetic and locally sourced, Californian quality. It is the Old World delicacy made modern in the best state of the West.

It is fitting, therefore, that for Beer Week, Hot Italian brought in Birra Peroni from Italy and Sierra Nevada Brewing Company from Northern California, and showcased their pizza-centric acumen with local cheeses and The Center for Land Based Learning, a non-profit that focuses on educating and growing the next generation of farmers here in the Sacramento Valley.

Hot Italian wants to pay homage to its longstanding love affair with the two Mediterranean climates, one seaside, one landlocked. Cercatore learned the restaurant trade in La Spezia, a small province on the west side of the Italian peninsula. As the owner of a restaurant and bed and breakfast, he came to realize his love of cooking all things Italian, but most importantly pizza.

In the early aughts, Cercatore met Andrea Lepore, a second-generation Italian-American ready to make a leap from sports business into the restaurant industry, and together they decided to give Sacramento something it had largely been missing—straight, simple, Italian pizza.

In building their new restaurant, Cercatore and Lepore caught the rising wave of green construction and design.

They fused this together with the renovation of a longstanding retail and warehouse space. The building was gutted, and the new pieces were fitted together with a conscious decision to minimize the restaurant’s carbon footprint. At the time, Hot Italian was celebrated as one of the first LEED businesses in Sacramento.

While the New York Times has since canceled its Green Business blog, and the ambitions of a green business revolution have been checked by economic turbulence and the “realities” of international trade, the owners of Hot Italian continue to think green. Their tradition of thinking locally first is evident in their recent Responsible Epicurean and Agricultural Leadership (REAL) certification, a national initiative that looks to promote quality ingredients that are locally sourced, fair trade and non-GMO. The idea is, if the stuff we put into our food is healthy, we should be healthy too. This premise, as Cercatore and Lepore highlight, is the basis for the quality of Hot Italian’s eats, and had been long before national certifications started encouraging food businesses to consider their customers’ well beings before the bottom line.

In short, Hot Italian has been filling the bellies of its patrons, in both Sacramento and Emeryville, Calif., for the last few years. The pizza, salads, and calzones are as simple as the business plan itself: Do something consistently and well while utilizing the plethora of local ingredients available to our region. If the crowds over the weekend are any indicator—the lunch service was still packed at 2 p.m.—Cercatore and Lepore are doing simple, and doing it quite well.

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Mofo Party BanD 9PM

SUn

Words Joe Atkins • photos nicholas wray

continued on page 28

DiPPin sauce 9PM Pailer & fratis 5:30PM

14 15

Hot Italian co-owners Andrea Lepore and Fabrizio Cercatore reflect on five years in business

X trio 5PM

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st. Patty’s Day Party 17 caMPfire crooners + More 2PM

Mon

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https://ww thetorchcl 14735483 811/?type

the j’s 5PM

DeBut tuesDays Music showcase

the lolos, sKunK funK, BacK alley BuzzarDs 8PM

acoustic oPen Mic 5:30PM

Peter Petty & his DouBle P revue! 9PM X trio 5PM

reD’s Blues

feat jiM Monroe 9PM

Pailer & fratis 5:30PM

21 joy & MaDness 9PM SaT

the count 4PM

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Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

27

Tell me about your first experience here in Sacramento. What did you think of the city?

Fabrizio Cercatore: I was stuck for six days in Elk Grove, in August, and I tried to walk. I almost died.

Andrea Lepore: I took him to Midtown immediately. There’s things to do here!

Tell us about the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certificate. Why did you decide to go green when you were building the restaurant?

AL: We were the first LEED restaurant. There were other buildings, but they were government buildings. It was the first public building that was LEED certified, that you could just walk into…This was a cold shell. It was retail and a warehouse. Basically everything was new: new storefront, new roof, new plumbing, new electrical, new sidewalks. When you have to do that much work, you might as well build it green if you’re going to rebuild something.

Why did you decide on a modernist design?

AL: When we designed this place in 2007, even when we traveled, there weren’t many Italian places that were modern. A few in LA, a handful in New York. We want to celebrate Italian design. We’ve paired that with local Californian design. Mike Wilson, who’s a local furniture maker, has built a lot of the furniture pieces here.

I think it’s an intelligent way to design. It’s very functional. It’s not ornate like French Country. Good modern design is designed to be functional. We wanted this place to be warm. A lot of people think of modern as steel and hard edges. We wanted to combine elements.

FC: I like modern design for its simplicity. I like when modern is combined with the natural elements: wood, iron, stone, marble.

Tell me about the REAL certification.

FC: Technically, we didn’t do anything. They showed up, and said, “You need to do that.” And we said, “We already have that, have that, have that.” It was really simple. It helps that we have a lot of combinations with vegetables and pizza. It’s one of their points: eat more vegetables. It helps that we’re in California.

28

AL: They send a nutritionist and a certification person to the restaurant and check how you source your ingredients. They make sure that things aren’t processed, that the ingredients are local, sustainable, that there aren’t GMOs…If people aren’t buying local here, then where are they buying from? I was in Boston; I went to the market, and it was all stuff from California. We are, I guess, the farm-to-fork capital.

Why has Hot Italian been so successful? How have you made it to your five-year anniversary?

AL: It’s a simple concept. The quality has been there since day one.

We’re not gonna do pasta, or osso buco, or have a huge menu. If you want pizza, we want you to come here.

FC: I think people really like the consistency and the quality.

The quality is in the food and in the brand. In the beginning the quality might look expensive, but it’s in the meal. We had a new kind of pizza here, in Sacramento. People were used to really thick crust and a lot of cheese. It was more about quantity and not about quality. People responded well [to our pizza]. We have a smart customer.

What we do is real Italian style. There’s a lot of pizza around, but we keep the Italian way. Not a lot of chicken or pineapple. If you want to experience real Italian pizza, you can come here [to Hot Italian] or you can buy a plane flight and go 11 hours that way [pointing east].

AL: It’s a lot cheaper, eating here.

Some restaurants only care about good food, others care about ambiance. What’s the focus for Hot Italian?

FC: We want to give an experience to the customer. The experience is not just in the food but it’s also in the environment. That’s why we have the modern look. When you talk about an Italian restaurant it’s the old Tuscany style, with the red and white table cloths.

AL: We really wanted it to be just like in Italy, a community gathering place, where people come and have an espresso, or stay and meet friends. We wanted to have that same feel. With pizza being such a communal food, it’s the sort of perfect platform for this concept.

What’s your best memory from the last five years?

FC: Before we opened there was a lot of work we did to raise money, when Hot Italian was just an idea. I remember I was putting together events and making everything at Andrea’s house, preparing all the ingredients. Then going to investors’ houses and making pizza in their own ovens. It was crazy. They were like, “How did you make that in my house?” The moment we opened, people understood it, Hot Italian and the concept.

One time we did this big event at the airport. Our first big event as Hot Italian. We made 100 pizzas. We didn’t have enough refrigeration. I was trying to figure out where to store the dough. We had to ask our friends, neighbors.

AL: Bella Bru actually stored the dough for us in their large walk-in.

What’s the big difference between Italy and the United States?

FC: Weeks ago, two of my good friends came to visit me from Italy. I hadn’t seen them in so long, and they stayed for three weeks. They reminded me how my life was in Italy. We were laughing all day, sometimes about stupid things, but we were laughing all day. We were happy, you know. Enjoying the little things of daily life, and I’ve kind of lost that. It’s a different way, easy to get lost in. You forget about that. They reminded me that I’m Italian.

We have a lot of defects in Italy; we are a mess, a beautiful mess. We have nothing. But we have food, we have the family, we have each other and then there’s the next day.

“It’s a simple concept. The quality has been there since day one. We’re not gonna do pasta, or osso buco, or have a huge menu. If you want pizza, we want you to come here.” – Andrea Lepore, Hot Italian

Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

If you haven’t visited Hot Italian in the past five years, where the heck have you been?

It’s located at 1627 16th Street in Sacramento.

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

Live<< rewind

Colleen Green

The Thermals

Razor-Sharp Pop THE THERMALS, COLLEEN GREEN Harlow’s, Sacramento • Monday, Feb. 24, 2014

Words & Photos Andrew C. Russell Midtown on a Monday night in February: The populace is off work, up for perhaps a few drinks and a quick bite at a local gastropub, but mostly craving the soft embrace of their couches and the soporific allure of their full Netflix queues. Let’s face it—the average Sacramentan just wants to be sedated; but Colleen Green, a Los Angelean by way of Boston and emergent stoner-punk extraordinaire, has other plans; she wants to be degraded.

She shreds along to the old tune by the Ramones, lyrics rearranged to reflect her favored brand of self-effacing irony. She stands completely alone onstage behind a pair of dark sunglasses, factory-setting drum machine loop and guitar painted with “Happy Birthday Jeff” in colorful letters. Even with the pared-down aesthetic, she manages to exude an effortless cool, the same cool to be found in abundance on her various independent releases, most notably her latest full-length, 2013’s Sock It to Me. From the outset of her performance, Green

strikes a split figure, indebted to both her East Coast origins and adopted West Coast home. The former Green is old school street punk, a thin coat of ennui stretched over a nervy, raw energy befitting the Kim Gordons and Patti Smiths of the New York scene. The latter is pure pop, a one-woman girl band destined to lilt well-crafted melodies beneath the perpetually sunny skies of Southern California. The sound is timeless, and has seen a lot of good usage in the lo-fi-revivalist climate of recent years, most notably by Bethany Consentino of Best Coast. But Colleen Green is another step down the rabbit hole. You can sense a gray cloud over her Venice Beach, and feel a razor beneath the pristine sand.

The sizeable audience at Harlow’s seems to appreciate both sides of Green; unlike some oddly paired opening acts, it’s easy to understand how she fits into tonight’s affair. Her songs are a perfect build-up to the main event, with mid-tempo ballads like “Every Boy Wants a Normal Girl” and minimalist numbers like “Sock it

read often. your brain will thank you.

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to Me” priming the audience’s appetite for tight hooks, and acting as a slow-burning fuse for the punk explosion we expect from The Thermals.

And who, to the uninitiated, are The Thermals? How about three generations of punk condensed into one insuppressible trio, who, now one decade and six albums into their career, have encompassed every flavor and concern of the genre—death, optimism, religion, politics, fear, self-reflexivity, self-release—and show no signs of exhausting their seemingly unlimited reserves of energy and abandon.

Lead Hutch Harris, bassist Kathy Foster and drummer Westin Glass power through 20 tracks altogether, rarely catching a breath before launching into another tuneful attack. It appears they can chug through a set list faster than The Ramones, glide along with more romantic pop sensibility than The Killers, and still pack in more chord changes and lyrical themes than your average concept song by The Decemberists. The crowd presses in closer—we can’t get enough.

From the victory cry of “You Will Be Free”; the sing-along groove of “Now We Can See”; and the electric, always crowd-pleasing set-closer “A Pillar of Salt,” not a chord or beat is missed. Harris’ voice is a commanding yet anxious tremolo, punctuating the endless stream of chords, repeating lines twice to add intensity. At these moments, his eyes open in a crazed flare, we feel as if we’re being personally addressed, becoming co-conspirators in his battle cry: “We built too many walls…yeah we built too many walls!”

Standing opposite onstage, Foster is cool as a bullet, her signature updo keeping the beat as she nods along. Harris is making the bold claims, and Foster is backing up each one. Together they produce an outrageous yet credible reaction to the onslaughts and insults of the world.

Earlier in the set, a small-statured young lady approaches the proscenium to make a modest request: “Could you play ‘Everything Thermals?’”

Maybe I catch an eye-roll from Harris here. This is a joke-song the group bashed out early in their career, a song that will always follow them, near or far, wanted or not. Every band has one. But, miraculously, they return with it as an encore.

The girl is ecstatic. They shred it with the same enthusiasm as their last 20 songs. The world is at peace. How good can a Monday night get?

Pretty good, I answer to myself, but can’t help but wish there were more to join us in the exuberance. When will the unrealized potential of the Sacramento audience wake up to the treasure we have on our hands? Sure, It’s not like I’d enjoy being pressed into an unwashed mass packed way beyond fire capacity, but come on; the scene wants you, every day of the week. The thrills I have described above constituted a $12 fee. When I walked in, Colleen Green was manning the sales table and Kathy Foster was having a casual chat with a few audience members in the middle of the dance floor. “In a world…” the movie trailer might begin. But that world is here.

A truly Artful shAve At Anthony’s BArBershop

2408 21st st • Sac • sacramentobarbershop.com (916) 457-1120 • Tues-Fri 9am-6pm • saT 10am-4pm Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

29

the shallow end With seemingly a new mass shooting every month or so, guns have become a very hot topic. Everyone has an opinion on guns ranging from they’re the cause of all evil to it’s our God-given right to own a whole garage full of them. I’m probably one of 10 Americans to have never fired or even held a gun. I don’t really have a desire to, either. I mean, if you want to, that’s great. Just don’t try to get me to drink beers with you and drive out to a shooting range—because I won’t—and point it the fuck away from me. I’m not sure if that makes me a namby-pamby liberal or not, but I do have to say that it seems as if making tighter gun restrictions is unfortunately pointless. They’re everywhere. In most cases, they’re easier to get than a pack of cigarettes (and it’s definitely easier to find a place to start popping caps in things than it is to find some place you can light up a Camel). You can buy guns in department stores and through catalogs, and now if you’re really hard up for finding something to shoot things with, you can just go to church.

Well, not all churches, just one in particular.

Pastor John Koletas of the Grace Baptist Church in Troy, N.Y., has decided it would be a good

God-a Get Your Gun

idea to raffle off a gun in the house of the Lord.

On March 23, the good pastor will give one lucky member of his flock a shiny new, legally modified AR-15 assault rifle.

I don’t play Call of Duty online, so I had to look up what an AR-15 assault rifle is.

According to the opening line of the AR-15’s Wikipedia entry says the rifle “is a lightweight, 5.56 mm/.223-caliber, magazine-fed, air cooled rifle with a rotating-lock bolt, actuated by direct impingement gas operation or long/ short stroke piston operation.” (Feel free to insert any sexual innuendo you’d like here.)

I haven’t the slightest clue what any of that really means, but the entry includes a picture of this thing, and it looks like something you’d find a jacked-up juicehead toting around in a Predator movie.

Koletas said giving away a rifle is instep with the teachings of the Bible, which he said is “replete with defending yourself and arming yourself and being capable of defending yourself,” according to an article on CBS6albany.com. Sure, you could say that there weren’t any weapons on par with an AR-15 when the Bible was written, but I guess if Jesus was packing serious heat like this, the

James Barone jb@submergemag.com whole crucifixion scene may have gone down quite differently.

But not only is it the Christian thing to do, Koletas was quoted in the same article that it was his patriotic duty to start doling out firearms.

“I sort of feel obligated to be a blessing and a help to gun owners and hunters who have been viciously attacked these last few years. It’s their Second Amendment right.”

A Republican senator, Steve McLaughlin, whose scheduled to speak at the church on the special day said he doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about: “I don’t see where there’s a controversy. There are churches that give away cars, there are churches that give away money, there are churches that have Vegas nights. So I don’t see how this is, in any way, a controversial thing to do.”

Well, I guess he does have a point. I used to go to “feasts,” which were kind of the most fun you could have as an Italian-American child growing up in a predominantly catholic neighborhood in New York. Churches would run them and there’d be rides and zeppoles and carnival games outside, and inside the church’s basement there’d be games of chance where you could win money, like roulette and this game

with a ball that a barker would bounce and you’d bet on which colored cup it would land in. Even though I was just a kid in elementary school, I was never shooed away from playing along with the adults. I’d ask my mother, “Isn’t this gambling?

Isn’t gambling wrong?” and she’d say, “Well, it’s OK, because we’re in a church.”

But winning a few bucks because the ball landed on blue doesn’t seem to equate, as Mr. McLaughlin would have us believe, with winning an assault rifle. With the money I’d won from church gambling, I’d just buy a slice of pizza or a greasy bag of zeppoles. I’m not sure what I could do with an assault rifle other than assault things.

To be fair, they’re not giving away the actual AR-15 at the church. The lucky winner will receive a voucher to pick up the rifle at a local gun shop, and he or she will have to be an “eligible adult” and go through all the proper background checks. So that’s good, right? And let’s face it, the rifle will eventually find itself in a good Christian home, in the hands of a God-fearing, church-going, upstanding citizen. And no religious person has ever committed a senseless act of violence that has resulted in the deaths of innocent people before…

Oh wait, that’s not right…

Think of us as your get out of jail free card.

444-2222 30

Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

\

Larry & His FLask / scott H. Biram WHiskey sHivers

H a r l o w ’ s • 2 7 0 8 J s t r e e t • s a c r a m e n t o • 21 & o v e r • 8 : 0 0 p m

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Miner • Shady elderS

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saturday

march 25

sacramento memoriaL auDitorium 1515 J Street • SaCraMentO all ageS • 8:00pM

tickets avaiL at community center Box oFFice & tickets.com

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mar 13 friday

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yonDer mountain string BanD tHe BrotHers comatose

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thursday

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grammy nominated comedian from tHe Sarah silverman program

mar 11

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(singer oF suBLime WitH rome)

tuesday

mar 18

CitieS aviv • Surf CluB

april 11

mar 10

H a r l o w ’ s • 2 7 0 8 J s t r e e t • s a c r a m e n t o • 21 & o v e r • 8 : 0 0 p m

WeekenD

friday

monday

H a r lo w ’ s • 2708 J str ee t • s acr a mento • a ll ag es • 6:30 pm

friday

apr 4 tuesday

apr 8 monday

apr 14

WHite Lies

thursday

tHe DanDy WarHoLs

thursday

H a r lo w ’ s • 2708 J str ee t • s acr a mento • a ll ag es • 6:30 pm

tHe WarLocks

ace of spades • 1417 r street • sacramento • all ages • 7:30pm

Drive-By truckers sHoveLs & rope

a c e o f s p a d e s • 1417 r s t r e e t • s a c r a m e n t o • a l l a g e s • 8 : 0 0 p m

tycHo

H a r l o w ’ s • 2 7 0 8 J s t r e e t • s a c r a m e n t o • 21 & o v e r • 8 : 0 0 p m

DustBoWL revivaL pert near sanDstone

H a r l o w ’ s • 2 7 0 8 J s t r e e t • s a c r a m e n t o • 21 & o v e r • 9 : 0 0 p m

pimps oF Joytime H a r l o w ’ s • 2 7 0 8 J s t r e e t • s a c r a m e n t o • 21 & o v e r • 9 : 0 0 p m

apr 17 apr 24 friday

apr 25 saturday

may 10 friday

may 16 friday

may 30

tiCketS availaBle at: tiCketfly.COM

tickets For HarLoW’s sHoWs aLso avaiLaBLe at HarLoWs.com tickets For assemBLy music HaLL avaiLaBLe at assemBLysacramento.com tiCketS fOr aCe Of SpadeS alSO availaBle at aCeOfSpadeS.COM and 916.443.9202 memoriaL auDitorium tickets at WWW.tickets.com anD comm. tHeater Box oFFice.

Issue 157 • March 10 – March 24, 2014

31

Dive into Sacramento & its Surrounding Areas

march 10 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 24, 2014

#157

Sherman Baker Impossible to Ignore Rock Out with Olympic Golden Girls at

Sierra-at-Tahoe

48 Hour Comedy

Marathon Laughs. All Day, All Night

New Live Music Venue

Witch Room

Hot Italian 5 Years of Quality over Quantity

Concerts in the Park

2014 Full Lineup!

Beats Antique The Hero With a Thousand Faces

free