Sunshine and blue skies, bare feet on green grass, picnics—and a brand-new season’s worth of fashion. This show transforms Santana Row Park into a runway, as models sport the latest summer styles and colors, and inspire onlookers to find their own unique looks in one Santana Row’s many shops, such as Everything But Water, Anthropologie and Scotch & Soda. Tickets include seats beside the runway, entry to a style boutique that hosts names like Lash Binder and Sephora, champagne and snacks. The event serves as a benefit for the Princess Project, which aims to provide prom dresses and accessories to teens who cannot afford them.

Santana Row Fashion Show
Sat, 2pm, $50
Santana Row, San Jose

Raise a glass to the end of summer and a good cause. This week’s Endless Summer Wine Stroll benefits the Bill Wilson Center, a local nonprofit organization that provides support to homeless and runaway children and young adults. Proceeds from the sale of tickets will go to the center, as will money raised by the silent auction. Taste wines from Santa Cruz Mountains-based vintners, nosh on light bites and try your hand at arranging a succulent terrarium. All this, plus exclusive discounts, live music and more.

Endless Summer Wine Stroll
Thu, 6pm, $40
Santana Row, San Jose

Judging solely by the music, one doesn’t immediately get the impression that Casey Wickstrom has just found his way through a long, dark night of the soul. Wickstrom’s bouncy guitar work and light, breathy vocals recall the work of other acoustic noodlers, like Dave Matthews and Ben Harper. However, as his fingers leap quickly from jazzy chords to trilling arpeggios, Wickstrom’s lyrics paint a darker picture. On his new album, Bleed Out, the San Jose native grapples with getting sober in the wake of several years of depression, drugs and alcohol. The balance of bright notes and cautious optimism evokes sunshine at the end of a pitch-black tunnel. (NV)

Casey Wickstrom
Sat, 5pm, Free
Santana Row, San Jose

If Olympic snowboarders have proven anything, it’s that humans truly can fly—and also that a few tokes never prevented anyone from shredding the gnar. The point is, marijuana use and physical exercise are not mutually exclusive. In that vein, organizers of the seventh annual 408k, “Race to the Row,” are partnering with San Jose marijuana dispensary Airfield Supply Co. for this year’s 8 kilometer walk and run from the SAP Center to Santana Row. Runners are not encouraged to burn one before or during the event. However, Airfield employees will be on hand to help educate the community about the benefits of responsible cannabis consumption. (NV)

Run With Weed
Sun, 8am, $59+
SAP Center, San Jose

There was a little extra star power this week at Santana Row’s fourth annual summer fashion show as 49ers tight end Vernon Davis hit the catwalk along with dozens of model showing off the latest summer trends.

Metro photographer Tyler Ngo went poolside to catch the action.

And now, time for a warm and fuzzy photo break. Santana Row had a day for the dogs last weekend, pampering poodles and other breeds while they strutted their stuff on the red carpet.

Metro photographer Jennifer Anderson was on hand to catch the action.

Sometimes it’s difficult for a band to find their target audience. Rich Ajlouny and Anthony Gullicksen of San Jose’s Stock Foto found it in the place they least expected: Santana Row.

“There were these 16 and 17-year-old girls from a prom or something, and they loved it. We were surprised by that, because we played two sets and they came back later, dancing on the lawn. So, we knew then what the demographic could be,” Ajlouny says.

Stock Foto’s music is an amalgamation of stripped-down rock sensibility, with roots in post-punk.

“We want something fun, something people can dance to,” Ajlouny says. “Something that’s nostalgic, retro and yet forward thinking. Something that will remind people of the best post-punk new wave era of the ’80s, and something that will not only rejuvenate them, but inspire the young kids who wish they were alive then.”

The local group has been playing the downtown area’s venues lately, but with the enlightenment from the Santana Row show, has been shifting their focus.

“It seems like the younger crowd does like it and that’s the crowd that really gets addicted to a band,” Gullicksen says.
This, however, doesn’t mean they’re going to change their style of music.

“We’re doing a rock and roll thing,” Ajlouny says. “I want it to be pure rock and roll. It’s guitar, bass and drums. I think the lyrics are funny. The melodies are catchy. The tempo is fast.”

“The volume is loud,” Gullicksen jokes.

“There’s something retro and familiar about us–meat and potatoes rock and roll, ala Replacements,” Ajlouny says.
Stock Foto has recorded a couple demos, but they still have yet to make an album.

“We’re thinking about upgrading to some better equipment to record, maybe go into a studio. I’ve been using this old Roland 1680 digital recorder from ’98, and it’s starting to crap out on me,” Ajlouny says.

But their live set is what keeps them going. They feed off the audience and get inspired by the people who come see them.
“We want people to walk away thinking, ‘Wow, you don’t hear that every day anymore.’ I base the success of a show by how many people were dancing. Luckily, at every single show, people are dancing,” Gullicksen says.

“I want people to feel exhilaration and be impressed by the melodies,” Ajlouny says. “A lot of people go to shows and don’t expect it to be good. They’re just politely standing by. I want people to come up to us and express exactly how they were feeling.”