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Jay Edgar on September 8, 2021
Every several years, Saturn and Mars conjunct in just the right way to make music astrologers descend from the mountains with tears in their eyes and proclaim: “ska is back, baby.” 2021 has been one of those years. Whether through the formation of hot new bands like Catbite, or the recognition of…
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Grace Stetson on September 1, 2021
Led by vocalist Dick Valentine, Electric Six is perhaps best known for their 2003 singles “Danger! High Voltage” and “Gay Bar”—but those songs are just the tip of the iceberg in a discography that includes more than a dozen studio albums, two rarities collections and a live album. This week, the Ritz…
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Grace Stetson on August 18, 2021
The ‘90s really started over 30 years ago—now, take a chill pill and get ready to get jiggy with it. This Thursday, the guys behind the Emo Night Tour bring the best of the ‘90s back, and with jams from the Beastie Boys to TLC, Green Day and Fatboy Slim, people will…
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Mike Huguenor on August 11, 2021
Us millennials have endured a lot in our lifetime: 9/11, Columbine, endless war, the financial collapse, Fred Durst. Long before the pandemic, we were already in need of some healthy nostalgia to set our hearts at ease. After 2020, let’s just say we need it more than ever. Luckily, the Emo Night…
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Jay Edgar on August 4, 2021
Twenty-five years ago on Eastside Drive in San Jose, Anthony Trevino and his friend Jose Portillo began memorizing and copying the moves of “Hitman” Bret Hart and “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels from their 60-minute Iron Man match at Wrestlemania XII.
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Mike Huguenor on June 23, 2021
Like the unstoppable bass drum of D-Beat, The Ritz’s long-running Punk Rock Flea Market returns to downtown right on time. Though this year’s event takes place on the patio space at the nearby LVL Up, it still comes with merch, music, clothing, and plenty more for today’s discerning punk. To ring in…
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Metro Staff on March 4, 2020
South Bay denizens who occasionally scan the FM dial will be familiar with the region’s many Spanish- and Spanglish-speaking radio stations. These broadcasters typically trade in traditional Mexican folk—like banda, ranchera and mariachi—or various iterations of pop-inflected reggaeton and tropical house. Mexican indie rock is less commonly heard by Anglo ears. Mexico…
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Wallace Baine on February 26, 2020
Mariachi may be a male-dominated genre, but that won’t be the case for long if Flor de Toloache has anything to say about it. Hailing from New York City, Flor bills itself as the world’s “first and only” all-female mariachi (“maria-she?”) band, performing in every configuration from a trio to a 10-piece.…
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Metro Staff on February 18, 2020
When he’s not with his brother Lukas backing up Neil Young as part of The Promise of the Real, Micah Nelson—son of the inimitable Willie Nelson—spends much of his time composing dusty, lo-fi rock & roll in his own band, Particle Kid. It would seem his father passed on the songwriting bug…
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Metro Staff on February 18, 2020
In the annals of San Jose skate-punk history, one band looms larger than all the rest. Featuring South Bay skateboarding legend Steve Caballero on guitar and Gavin O’Brien—brother to Corey O’Brien, another San Jose pro and owner of The Ritz—fronting the group, The Faction helped launch a subgenre of fast, aggressive punk-rock…
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