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Nick Veronin on January 3, 2019
Known for his over-the-top party-starting persona, Lil Jon is a DJ, producer, emcee and hype man all in one. The Atlanta rapper got his start as the frontman for Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz—pioneering and popularizing a loud, brash, club-oriented style of hip-hop known as crunk. Lil Jon secured his place in pop culture history in the mid-’00s through iconic collaborations with Usher (“Yeah!”) and LMFAO (“Shots”), but the King of Crunk is still at it. He closed out 2018 by teaming up with the Kool-Aid Man for a totally bananas viral marketing clip, “All I Really Want for Christmas.” Continue reading »
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Nick Veronin on January 3, 2019
If you call the South Bay home, your life has been enriched by Latinx culture. It can be seen in the architecture, general fashion aesthetic and in works of public art; it can be tasted and smelled at the local taquerias; and it can be heard—not just in the form of mariachi and banda—but in the popular music blaring from speakers in nightclubs all over San Jose. Enso pays homage to the South Bay’s Latin American heritage with Dura, a night dedicated to the intersection of pop and Latin sounds. Come dance to Top 40, reggaeton, cumbia bass and old school jams. Continue reading »
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Nick Veronin on January 3, 2019
There are a number of compelling threads to follow in the narrative arc of local singer and songwriter Tess Dunn. There’s her age (she’s just turned 23), the amount of music she’s made (four EPs and counting), and her tenacity (she’s done all this while battling cystic fibrosis). But all that misses the most critical point: She makes great music, and she’s only getting better. On her latest collection of tunes, which she recorded as T3TRA, Dunn takes a sharp left turn from her punky past, dialing down the guitars and live drums and replacing them with moody synths and computerized beats. Continue reading »
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Wallace Baine on January 3, 2019
San Jose dreampop band Frantic Romantic lived another lifetime as Skyway View. Now, with a new name, they’ve refashioned their sound, embracing a more ’90s, achingly romantic alt-pop aesthetic. The band has already drawn attention with its lush, full-throated song “Celestina,” thanks to its trippy animated visuals and the muscular “Among the Stars,” presented in a video that features Day of the Dead imagery and neon face paint. Fronted by the charismatic Mr. Kerosene, Frantic Romantic is shooting for something grand and expansive. Levi J and Exophonics share the bill. Continue reading »
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Wallace Baine on January 3, 2019
British mope rockers The Smiths lasted only about five years (which, if you think about it, is a heroically long time to have to tolerate the ridiculously glorious lead singer Morrissey). San Francisco’s This Charming Band has been paying loving tribute to The Smiths for about three times as long, albeit with a rotating cast of characters. Smiths obsessives are wonderful, if a bit weird. If you’re the kind of person who danced to “Girlfriend in a Coma” at your wedding, then this is probably the best chance you’ll ever get to experience Smiths-mania live. Continue reading »
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Wallace Baine on January 3, 2019
Yes, the songs of Neil Diamond have been blaring from radios and overhead grocery store speakers since the days of Shakespeare (or so it seems). But Super Diamond, the Bay Area-based Neil Diamond tribute band, has been around almost as long. With frontman Randy Cordeiro, SD was part of the first big tribute-band wave way back in the early 1990s (talk about “Forever in Blue Jeans”) and has been instrumental in guiding Neil’s music through the desert of lameness back into the garden of cool. They count, among their many fans, Neil himself, so they have to be doing something right. Continue reading »
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Nick Veronin on January 3, 2019
Discovery Meadow comes alive with music this weekend with three free concerts—all part of the larger citywide celebration surrounding the College Football Playoff National Championship. Continue reading »
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Wallace Baine on January 2, 2019
If you grew up loving Jimmy Eat World, Weezer and Foo Fighters, this party is for you. San Jose-based The Last Decade is turning the clock, and the radio dial, back to the late ’90s and early ’00s. Back then, Tom DeLonge was still in Blink-182, Panic! At the Disco had yet to metastasize into the Brian Urie show, and Live 105 was still Live 105. From “Semi-Charmed LIfe” to “Flagpole Sitta,” TLD breathes new life into the songs you listened to on the way to school. So welcome 2019 by remembering the good old days—you know, when bands still put live drums on tape. Continue reading »
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Wallace Baine on January 2, 2019
Nope, not that Mr. Rogers. Tennessee-born stand-up comedian Olan Rogers has staked his claim to pop-culture relevance on YouTube with his comedic sketches, as well as his creation of the animated show Final Space on TBS. As 2019 opens, Rogers jumps into a mini-tour, beginning in San Jose, with all new material wrestling with some scary things that have happened to him recently—not Halloween scary exactly, but more like real-life scary, with laughs. Continue reading »
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Mike Huguenor on January 2, 2019
San Jose has a loud and proud history of hardcore, and a particularly ethnically diverse one at that. But for almost two decades the city has gone without a reliable all-ages venue. Thankfully, over the last two years, Playback Studios has emerged as the go-to spot for SJHC—finally reconnecting local musicians with national touring bands. Infirmary are young and promising four-piece, boasting a blistering Bandcamp demo. Infirmary rocks Playback Studios this Saturday with Full Color Dream and Downward from Oklahoma. Bring gas money for the touring bands! Continue reading »
