This year's Sacramento Music Festival was expected to draw more than 60,000 spectators for the four-day Memorial Day weekend event. The festival has made a concentrated effort to draw more people. It has also widened the spectrum of musical acts that perform annually. With over 300 scheduled performances on 18 stages, there was something for every music fan. Many musicians provided multiple performances throughout the weekend, giving fans more opportunities to enjoy new and favorite acts. Although not highly publicized, there were quite a few free events on the streets of Old Sacramento. Looking at the crowd, it appeared to me that as the festival has aged, so has its audience. Th

Friends of Fremont Park in Midtown have teamed up with Hot Italian again to present the Hot Lunch Concert Series, Thursdays from 11:30 a – 1:00 p for... Hot Italian’s Hot Lunch Concert Series continues until August 30 at Fremont Park. The lunch time weekly concert series on August 2 featured the talents of Gabriella Ruiz and Survival Guide. The Jerry Perry production feature continues to present gifted local artists in concert every Thursday from 11:30 – 1 p.m. Because of the heat a canopy covered the performers providing much needed shade. Gabriella Ruiz was performing when I arrived at the concert and noticed right away that her lovely melodies enchanted guests and friends in att

True, there "ain't no free lunch" but it was free and relaxing to sit on shaded grass, watch the kids burn off energy and listen to free music presented by HOT ITALIAN at Fremont Park. And mobile food vendors to staunch food cravings. I had just made a donation at BLOOD SOURCE and had to check it out. It wasn't a big strain to walk across the street with my camera. Here's some shots: Catch details in David Alvarez recent article

Hot Italian along with Friends of Fremont Park  teamed up once again for the 2012 Hot Lunch Concert Series. The free concerts are held every Thursday from May 31 – August 30, 2012. The lunch time series is held from 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Promoter Jerry Perry has put together a great package for the 2012 Hot Lunch concerts. This year’s opening line up started off with the Leonardo da Vinci Blues Band. The band is made up by 7th and 8th graders from the Leonardo da Vinci School, The da Vinci School players were joined on stage by Ned Hammad who is the school’s artist-in-residence. “I have been doing this with the school going on 10 years now and the organization is called I Can do T

The Friday night summer concerts series returned to Cesar Chavez Plaza. Concerts in the Park returned for the first time without promoter Jerry Perry hosting the event. The music played on Friday, May 4 continues to be as entertaining as ever. Just like Fiesta en la Calle did last year this year’s CIP includes a DJ on site. DJ Shaun Slaughter supplied great music for those in attendance. Slaughter, writes and produces music under D.A.M.B., and also performed at the Sacramento Electronic Music Festival Saturday night. Concerts in the Park began on May 4 and runs every Friday until July 27. Many of last year’s bands return to the venue. Another noticeable difference this year is that

Music promoters in Sacramento gathered Sunday evening to discuss the need to create more local venues and how this would help the local music culture thrive. Time Tested Books hosted the Living Library discussion, called, “The State of Live Music in Sacramento.” Many panelists said that creating more venues in Sacramento is vital and find the city’s regulations to be a huge obstacle. No chairs were empty, and a crowd stood for the whole two hours of the event. When the moderator, local writer/music fan Dennis Yudt, asked if anyone present was a musician, more than half of the attendants raised their hands. Yudt spent the first hour and a half prompting the five panelists with questions –

Having had a grandfather who was a nightclub owner as well as a record distributer in the 40’s and 50’s had its benefits. One of which was the wonderful collection of music left to some of his children and grandchildren upon his passing. Some of my fondest memories were listening to the tunes from the juke boxes filled with the old 45’s  and later on the turntable from such great’s as Little Richard, Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, The Big Bopper and, of course, Buddy Holly. As a young child, I’d dance and sing to them all! Then in 1971 a friend and I were sitting in her room listening to the radio when a DJ from the now defunct Sacramento radio station, KNDE announced, a song by Don Mclean, “

Sacramento musicians and their followers are waiting to see whether this summer brings an end to an era of live music at Old Ironsides. Countless local bands broke into the music business at the bar/restaurant known as "Old I" over the last two decades. But there's currently only one weekend show booked for July. Two shows that had been set for next month have been moved to another location, one has been canceled and future bookings have been postponed for now. The family that has owned the bar at 1901 10th St. for 76 years is working to replace a rented sound system that was removed Sunday. The Kanelos family rented the system for about 17 years and was unable to negotiate a lower fee

What’s better than a summer afternoon filled with sunshine, great music, and tons of Italian food? Mama mia, it’s Hot Lunch Concert Series in the park. The Hot Lunch Concert Series is back for its third year serving Tuscan-inspired pizzas every Thursday from 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. from now until Sept. 1 at Fremont Park, 16th and P streets. A brilliant collaboration of free music and lunch, which includes a pizza and drink for just $10 (including tax) from Hot Italian, located on 16th and Q streets in Midtown. “Hot Lunch is a standout event because it showcases musicians in the city that really have a presence,” said Roshaun Davis, spokesman for Unseen Heroes, a promotion company working wi

On Thursday, June 2, Sacramento saw the start of another year of the Hot Lunch Concert Series and a new free music event playing at Cesar Chavez Plaza; “Fiesta en la Calle” (Street Party). The Hot Lunch Concert Series is a collaboration between Hot Italian, Sacramento News and Review and Friends of Fremont Park. Musical guests perform on Thursdays from June 2 to September 1 during the lunch hour (11:30 to 1p.m). Promoter Jerry Perry has put together a great lineup. Fremont Park, located on the corner of 16th and P Streets hosts the event. Musical Charis was the first band scheduled to perform this year. The weather cooperated and made for a delightful lunch concert. People from around t

Three bands usually play at the Concerts in the Park series. The scheduled line-up for the Jerry Perry production of the Friday night concerts included the Kings of Sacramento (last minute change), the Freebadge Serenaders and Rick Estrin and the Nightcats headlined the show. The all-ages show, as always, is free to the public and starts at 5 p.m., at Cesar Chavez Plaza. The beer garden was about a third full when the first band was preparing to take the stage. On this evening the Kings of Sacramento were the first band scheduled to perform. I liked the fact that a brass section was on-stage. Accompanying them was a guitar, a keyboard, drummer and a stand up bass. The Kings of Sacramen

Local indie bands offered up a hearty dose of energy and a touch of theatrics to the 1,000-plus-person crowd at Cesar Chavez Park Friday night for the latest installation of the Concerts in the Park series. On the sidewalk leading up to the stage area, vendors were selling gyros, drinks, necklaces and earrings. The CHP had a tented booth, as did radio station Radio 94.7 FM and The Sacramento Press. The night’s diverse crowd included families, neon-haired teens and seniors, all basking in the glow of live music and sunshine. Friends spread out islands of blankets on the grass, and children ran around with balloons attached to their wrists. Siblings Juli and Tyler Lydell of The Dreaded Di

The 2011 Jammies, Night of Contemporary Music, completion took place at the Crest Theatre on Friday the 13th. Danny Secretion hosted the Sacramento News and Review event and Jerry Perry was the director/producer of the Contemporary show. Finalists at the 9th annual Jammies for the evening were; Smack Jupiter, Jaxx, Into the Open, The Hungry, Southpaw Kings, Zach MacLachlan, Exhale, Conquest and Uncle Tony. A special performance by last year’s winner One Eyed Rhyno was also scheduled that evening. As guests entered the Crest Theatre they were given ballots with all the nominees on it and they were asked to vote for 3 bands. The show was scheduled to start at 8 and when I got to the theat

Harlow’s hosted an outstanding evening of music Tuesday night with Exquisite Corps, Musical Charis and Agent Ribbons performing. Jerry Perry put on another great promotion for the many guests that attended the show. Exquisite Corps started the show; actually they did an extended sound check so those who were there got to enjoy some great pre-show music. I’ve seen Exquisite Corps play a couple of times and was intrigued the first time I saw and heard them play. I thoroughly enjoy the mix of the orchestral strings in their music. It makes them unique not only for that but for their overall sound. Their mixture of violins and the deep cello sounds gives their music a rich dramatic sound

The Downtown Sacramento Partnership (DSP) conducts several walking Tours in the downtown area. The walking tours introduce visitors to people, places and events that have created California history. DSP’s mission is to establish downtown Sacramento as a vibrant business, cultural and entertainment destination in Sacramento via private and public partnerships consisting of residents, visitors and investors. This Friday they conducted a Rock & Roll History Tour and Pub Crawl. The tour began at the corner of 9th and J Streets at one of the entrances to the Concerts in the Park held at Cesar Chavez Plaza. The walk began at 6 in the evening. By this time, Wahnder Lust had begun their set at t

Sac Press Reporter #1: “Coachella is overrated” Sac Press Reporter #2: “Never having been, I cannot speak intelligently to that contention, but definitely doesn't stir my fancy.” Sac Press Reporter #1: “Since when has that stopped you?” Touche! Drool seems to be filling the gutters from Sacramento all the way down to SoCal over the unveiling of the Coachella lineup, which features the usual diet of indie rock, electro tweak jocks, and a couple jam bands just for fun. And for some reason, Kanye West is a main headliner. Do you like fishsticks? Not that we specifically care about the Coachella lineup here at Sac Press – but the impact on our local calendar from some bands who may throw

Truth & Salvage Co. plus Monophonics at two different venues in one night equals the most unproductive Sunday in history. There’s your Sactown Rundown math lesson for the week. It was a heck of a Saturday evening, with Truth & Salvage Co. throwing down an Americana rock wallop of a set last weekend at Harlow’s. It seems like these six guys from North Carolina have officially earmarked Sacramento as a “must stop” when they head out West on tour, so if you haven’t caught them yet, we’ll be sure to let you know next time they come through. And yes, they did indeed dedicate a song to Sac Press’ Lindol French. Wow. Soulive – There’s no denying that an album full of instrumental jazz Beatles

Neil Young is on borrowed time. He’s had brushes with death ranging from childhood diabetes to epilepsy to a major brain aneurism that nearly killed him in 2005. Instead of killing him, it gave us all “Prairie Wind.” Not to mention that the ol’ rock and roll lifestyle isn’t exactly marketing material for your average life insurance firm – and Neil has been a part of it for the better part of a half-century. Such is the continuing cycle of one of the true legends of rock and roll as he celebrates his 65th birthday, which was on Friday. In commemorating “Shakey's” birthday, Jerry Perry did what he does best on Saturday night at Harlow’s and arranged a troupe of local acts (with a little h

This Halloween night I did not buy candy for the little trick or treaters. Actually I was not even home to hand out treats instead I went over to Old Ironsides on 10th and S Streets for an evening of music. Old Ironsides hosted their annual Dead Rock Stars Show. It was billed as an evening where musical guests played selections from their favorite musicians, the dead ones. Jerry Perry, the master of ceremonies for the show, started off by attempting to perform a standup comic routine. Dressed up in Halloween costume he was assisted by his wife dressed up as Poison Ivy. Jerry was dressed up as D. Weed. In regards to his comic routine, one guest put it in perspective by saying “I hope he do

Things that make you go “Hmmm…”: Next year will be the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Has it really been that long? But, no need to dwell on negative memories as September 11 falls on Saturday, which also happens to be the date of one of the more jovial afternoon events in Sactown, the California Brewer’s Festival at Discovery Park. (Here’s an insider’s tip for the brew fest. Get buddy-buddy with the beer pourers, and they might not take one of those wooden tokens that are designed to regulate everyone’s hooch intake). If you’re still alive after sampling a few (dozen?) tasty NorCal ales, here’s what’s happening on your concert calendar. Side by Side Benefit Blues Show – OK, so we can prob