To mark the late Selena’s 46th birthday, Sonido Clash is throwing a party at BackBar SoFa, headlined by San Jose cumbia band Corazon Salvaje. The third annual Selena-themed bash Also this week: Vector Hold, a locally based synthwave duo who deploy heavy metal guitars and a Commodore Amiga 500 to craft the kind of blippy chiptune that might have soundtracked early-’90s Sega titles like “Road Rash” come to The Caravan.

Dinners @ Wax Wednesday
Wed, 8pm, Free
Cafe Stritch, San Jose
The guys in Dinners don’t like to make a fuss. Over the course of two excellent releases—their 2013 full-length debut, Black Rabbits, and the 2014 EP, Who is Lee B?—the San Jose indie rock quartet have kept it real by focusing on the music. Their Cafe Stritch shows are always a good time: just as much about booze and brotherhood as they are about the band’s fuzzy tangles of lo-fi riffs and slacker melodies. They take the Stritch stage for this week’s installment of Wax Wednesday. (NV)

Casey Donahew
Wed, 7pm, $10-$15
Rodeo Club, San Jose
Born in the Fort Worth suburb of Burleson, country singer and band-leader Casey Donahew is proud of his Lone Star State heritage—that much is clear in his ode to Texas, “One Star Flag.” The song’s accompanying video features scenes of bull riding, cattle wrangling and good-old country living. All that and one hell of a fiddle solo. Donahew got his start playing local bars in his hometown, building a following with his blend of roadhouse riffs and outlaw country swagger. His most recent record, 2016’s All Night Party, claimed the No. 3 spot on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart when it debuted last fall. (BS)

BackWords
Fri, 7pm, Free
Cukui, San Jose
San Jose lettering artist Alissa Rosete is flipping her world around—or at least her art. The illustrator-turned-graphic designer is taking words of admiration and some of silliness, and inverting them so they read as if you were viewing them from the other side of the glass. She creates her bold and finely detailed type by hand with ink, though her calligraphy game is so on point, it could pass as computer-generated. You can find Rosete’s typography emblazoned on the menus, signs and even the tip jars at Iguana’s, where she works on the marketing team. (VS)

Erik Griffin
Fri, 7:30pm, $20
The Improv, San Jose
Eric Griffin—a.k.a. Montez, the gruff, fun-loving cubicle jockey in Comedy Central’s Workaholics—is currently on tour, headlining clubs and college campuses across the country in support of his multiple comedic endeavors. In addition to putting up with Adam, Anders and Blake’s tomfoolery, he has a full-length comedy album, Technical Foul: Volume One, and will play the character of Ralph on Showtime’s upcoming dramedy, I’m Dying Up Here. Griffin has also appeared in NBC’s Comics Without Borders, Showtime’s Comics Unleashed and TNT’s Franklin & Bash. (BS)

Out of Slumber Party
Fri, 6pm, Free
Seeing Things Gallery, San Jose
Hosted by Drew Roulette and Billy Barnes, this one-night benefit for local pediatric research will feature work by the organizing artists, as well as many more South Bay illustrators and painters. Metro contributors and masters of pen and ink Tad Malone and Jeremiah Harada will be showing—along with Carlos Agrillo, Sarah Collins, Megan Curry, Ben Henderson, Josh Bays, Myca Tran and more. Proceeds from sales of original art go to Stanford Children’s Health. The show will also feature live music and drinks. (NV)

Overwatch Tourney + Silent Disco
Sat, 12pm, $5+
AFK Gamer Lounge
Spend the day blasting your enemies with the squad, noshing on snacks and throwing back beers—then dance the night away as you revel in sweet, sweet victory. That could be you, if you and yours have what it takes to go all the way in AFK Gamer Lounge’s Overwatch tournament this Saturday. The day begins at noon, with check-in, and the tourney is slated to run until at least 8pm. That’s when the silent disco begins, with DJ Patrix, DJ Smoov and J.Slay all spinning all the jams. (NV)

Irina Kulikova
Sat, Apr 15, 7:30pm, $25+
Trianon Theater, San Jose
Consistently ranked as one of the best living classical guitarists in the world, Irina Kulikova comes to San Jose for the final concert of the South Bay Guitar Society’s 2016-17 concert season. She is known for her deft touch and ability to blend clarity with fluidity—striking out well-defined melodic and rhythmic lines without ever losing the flow of a composition. Over the course of her 22-year career, Kulikova has performed at some of the world’s most renowned concert halls, including Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow and the Oriental Arts Centre in Shanghai. (BS)

Selena Tribute
Sat, 9pm, $15+
Back Bar SoFa, San Jose
“Baila! Baila esta cumbia!” Since her passing, Latin pop superstar Selena Quintanilla—better known by her given name alone—remains one of the biggest influences in Latino music. To mark the late Selena’s 46th birthday, Sonido Clash is throwing a party at Back Bar SoFa, headlined by San Jose cumbia band Corazón Salvaje. The group’s contemporary-yet-traditional sound echoes the vibe that Selena so expertly captured in the early ’90s. Hosted by Andrea Garcia, Mex Tape and a Selena impersonator, the third annual Selena birthday bash is fast becoming a can’t-miss fiesta. (VS)

Vector Hold
Sat, 9pm, Free
Caravan Lounge, San Jose
“I played a lot of old school side-scrollers and button mashers back in the day,” says Pete Rice, the man behind Vector Hold. Rice is still punching plastic buttons, but now, instead of gunning for first place in Road Rash, Rice is using his Commodore Amiga 500 to craft the kind of blippy chiptune that might have soundtracked the early-’90s Sega Genesis motorcycle racing game—in an alternate and much more badass, heavy metal universe. His crunchy, nostalgia-heavy tracks are catching on in a major way, as he rides at the vanguard of a major synthwave revival, led by the likes of Carpenter Brut and S U R V I V E. (NV)

Most gringos know very little about Selena, other than what they may have picked up from the eponymous biopic on the Spanish- and English-language pop singer. However, among Latinos of a certain age, Selena Quintanilla-Perez is much more than the character that launched Jennifer Lopez’s career—she is a diva, on par with Madonna.

Keeping that in mind will make it easier for the uninitiated to understand why last year’s inaugural Selena Tribute Party was such a smashing success and why so many are anxiously awaiting the second installment of the Sonido Clash-hosted party.

Scheduled for April 16, Selena’s 45th birthday, the second annual Selena Tribute Party will celebrate the life and music of an artist whose flame burned brightly and far too briefly (she was shot and killed in 1995 at the age of 23). The event has already sold out and it’s Facebook page shows more than 2,000 people are “interested” in attending—far more than the capacity of BackBar SoFa where the party is to be held.

In an effort to live up to expectations, organizers with Sonido Clash are going bigger this year—recruiting local DJs and flying in artists in from Selena’s home state of Texas for the massive dance party.

“We felt the ripple effect,” says Roman Zepeda of Sonido Clash, adding that he sees the Selena party as an event for which San Jose might become known.

Sonido Clash’s signature fusion of cumbia, reggaeton, salsa, rap, electronic and hip-hop will be deployed in the service Selena’s music. But the tunes will not be the only draw. The intensely competitive Selena look-alike contest will also return, with a $100 dollar prize going to the winner. The organizers say the event will not only cross genre lines, but generational and racial lines as well.

“It will be multigenerational and beyond Latino,” Sonido Clash’s Fernando Perez promises, explaining that the idea is to make the event appealing for everyone, no matter their background.

Local Latina selector, DJ Mare. E. Fresh, of the all female San Jose art and music collective Casa Chikimalas, will kick off the celebration, and the NPR- approved DJ Teardrop, a.k.a. Claudia Saenz, will be spinning her signature combo of soul and oldies on wax.  “I’ve never kept anyone in my life as long as Selena,” Saenz says.

Thee Commons, an East L.A. band specializing in merging cumbia, psychedelic and punk, will perform an all-Selena set and will have a 10” vinyl pressing of their popular, punk cover of “Baila Esta Cumbia” for sale.

Selena Quintanilla-Pérez impacted each of the night’s scheduled artists and Sonido Clash profoundly. Her crossover and accomplishments inspired them all to create and dream. “We should admire Selena for her talents, but we should shine on our own,” says Gracie Chavez, a performing DJ and founder of Houston music collective Bombón. “It’s not being Selena. It’s permission to express yourself creatively. If she can do it, so can you. That’s the real message.”