It didn’t take long after the Avalon closed for independent promoter Mike Beard to find a new home for his south bay bookings—the Rodeo Club in San Jose.

The venue isn’t new to live music, but up until recently, it’s catered primarily to country-western bands. Beard, on the other hands, specializes in hard rock and heavy metal.

Beard’s first show at the Rodeo Club is on August 24th with Winger, AC DZ and Madman’s Lullaby. Beard already has several more shows booked through September and October, including:

-Static X, Prong and Angerhead on September 7th
-Dokken on September 9th
-John Waite on September 13th
-Quiet Riot on September 16th
-Otep on September 18th
-Faster Pussycat on September 23rd
-HED P.E. on October 7th
-Death Angel on October 21st
-The Misfits on November 16th
-Fixx on November 23rd.

Winger plays the Rodeo Club on August 24th at 7:30. The show is all ages. Tickets are $25. More info.

After canceling two shows at Avalon last month, Salmon have finally decided to play their first show in five years on Saturday, July 28 at 9 Lives in Gilroy, which is appropriate considering that the band started out in Gilroy.

Back in the mid-90s, Salmon were one of just a handful of local bands that could play the Cactus Club once a month and pack the venue every time. As their popularity grew, everyone in the scene pinned all their hopes on them as San Jose’s big breakout band. They scored a record deal with the major label, Red Ant, but the album Paco, Drop the Chicken never made an impact outside of San Jose.

Salmon’s rise came right in the midst of the rap-metal era, right before nu-metal took over. Unlike some of the bigger acts—Korn, Rage Against the Machine, 311—Salmon were a much goofier more eclectic group which was due to rapper Lawrence Martinez, whose biggest influence was Les Claypool from Primus, and guitarist Aaron Goodwin, who had a background in jazz and experimental music.

Though their metal-fueled rap songs didn’t show it, Salmon’s roots went back to the bay area funk scene from the early 90s—bands like Fungo Mungo, Limbomaniacs and Psychefunkapus.

Before Salmon formed, Martinez and drummer Pat Ruiz played together in a short-lived goofball funk-rap group called Dutch Courage. After Dutch Courage split, they formed “Groovalistic Salmon” with Goodwin and bass player Tom Walker and stuck firmly to the spastic funk format. They dropped “Groovalistic” and wrote a rap-metal song about the Flintstones. The song became a favorite at shows. Fans asked them to write more songs like the Flintstones song, which they were happy to do. Next thing, Salmon was the hottest act in San Jose, except that they were really from Gilroy.

Salmon play at the 9 Lives in Gilroy on Saturday July 28. The show starts at 8pm. Tickets are $10.