Yep. Launch just went “next level.” Does it really surprise anyone? It shouldn’t, if you’ve followed the progression of the Launch Festival over the last couple of years, as it moved from a one day fashion, music and art shindig at the Greens Hotel on Del Paso in 2011, to a weeklong series of individual events around town, culminating in a blowout festival at Cesar Chavez Plaza in 2012. And now, this. Launch and Radio 94.7 dished up the lineup for the 2013 installment of the Launch Festival on Facebook earlier today, and it is a doozie! Those top two spots are going to get the most attention when Launch fires up on September 7 and 8, again at Cesar Chavez Plaza, with hot-charting arena

I heard about it a few weeks ago, but it's one of those things that starts to really suck now that the show is only a couple days away and reality sets in. While I'm sure the collective Sactown music community wishes nothing but the best to Caitlin and Jon Gutenberger on their imminent relocation to L.A., the absence of their band Two Sheds is sure to make that same community shed (zing!) a few tears. Two Sheds' farewell show goes down Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. at Luigi's Fungarden, 1050 K St. (MARRS Building), with a $7 door charge. San Francisco electro-country act Birds and Batteries and Dana Gumbier open the show. This one is sure to draw a huge crop of local music fans, so get the

Well played, Sacramento. Was it the great weather? Was it the fact that it was Tuesday? Was it just that Sac just doesn't really know Delta Spirit (yet)? Was it that trainwreck of a botched tribute/preview combo that this reporter attempted to pen last week? Whatever the factors, Ace of Spades was feeling pretty sparse in the early goings of Tuesday night's Delta Spirit gig, even as opening act Waters was wrapping up their set. It had that vacuous "should have been at Harlow's" venue feeling, like you were for some reason using a punch bowl to scramble two eggs. Folks were out all about town basking in one of our first legit summer evenings, but it didn't seem like anyone was paying min

Three words: Just. Plain. Filthy. Gritty, guttural, bluesy, primal, loud, and sleazily beautiful, the Black Keys are a bullet train straight backward to the roots of rock and roll – but it’s hard to contend that they are in any way a benchmark of where rock and roll is right now. To examine some of the top grossing arena rock acts of the day (Foo Fighters, Springsteen, DMB, U2, Coldplay, and I must begrudgingly include Nickelback), rock and roll played the way the Keys play it just isn’t the type of blissful sludge that you would expect could usher in such a large and raucous crowd to a venue the size of Power Balance Pavilion. What Dan Auerbach, Patrick Carney and friends proved on Cin

Love 'em, hate 'em, or if they were just "the party jam" at some point in your life, it's impossible to imagine anyone born after 1975 (or earlier?) that didn't have at least some personal connection to the Beastie Boys. That is why Friday's news of the passing of founding member Adam "MCA" Yauch after a three year battle with cancer seemed to cast a cloud on May the Fourth for so many with memories devoted to the boys from Brooklyn. Just a few local Sactown names to Facebook their morning mourning included comedian Keith Lowell Jensen (who also noted that 93.7 was thumping "Brass Monkey" around 11:30 a.m.), Abstract Entertainment's Brian McKenna (who reminisced about a show with the Bea

With Bay Area promotions juggernaut Another Planet Entertainment having already brought Wilco to the Sacramento area, and with the Shins, Florence + the Machine and the Black Keys on the books in the coming weeks, it seemed that the powers-that-be were finally giving some much deserved love to the Sacramento concert market. But we never could have imagined (or hoped for) anything like this. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source familiar with APE has informed the Sacramento Press that the promotions firm, which handles all the booking for San Francisco's nationally renowned Outside Lands Festival, is considering launching a similar music festival in Sacramento in the summer of 2013

Thank you, Joel Nathaniel Cummins, for hitting the nail on the head. “Thanks for making us feel like it’s South Bend back in about 2000,” Umphrey’s McGee’s keyboard player proclaimed when the band stepped back on stage for the evening’s encore, a funky take on “A Fifth of Beethoven.” In a room filled with predominantly devout followers of the road raging jam band, there was a palpable buzz throughout Harlow’s on Sunday evening not only about the band’s first ever visit to Sacramento, but about seeing them in such a small joint. Like this reporter, many folks had caught their show the night before at Oakland’s sprawling Fox Theatre. Both shows were stellar examples of this band’s unique

If you’re really bored (or a total setlist nerd who likes to look for cheeky cover songs), take a moment to peruse the meticulously curated archives of Umphrey’s McGee touring history. With a catalog of shows that numbers in the triple digits each year since 2000, you’ll find one California city that’s noticeably absent from any year in their history. Any guesses? Well, you’re not reading a news site called the Stockton Press right now, are you? They’ve tap danced around us before (San Francisco, Truckee, Tahoe, Chico, Santa Cruz), but Sunday’s show at Harlow’s will indeed be the increasingly popular jam jockeys’ first show in Sactown. Not only that, but if you look even closer at that t

In many ways, it can be tough to reconcile the very institution of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band itself with the individual talents of the men who play in it. It's a collective that has been the ambassador of New Orleans jazz for a half century - an indelible fixture of the city, and indeed, of jazz itself. It's easy to get caught up in the idea of the band and the mystique that surrounds it, and not recognize each individual (many of whom are part of an unbroken bloodline of 'Nawlins musicians) for their personal talents and accolades. Even walking into the beautifully intimate and acoustically flawless Three Stages theatre on Friday evening and seeing the "Preservation Hall Jazz Band

Just moments after Wilco’s enigmatic guitarist Nels Cline had peeled the paint off the walls inside UC Davis' Mondavi Center with a little psychedelic freakout on "Impossible Germany," front man Jeff Tweedy pulled out the line of the night: "You know, something just occurred to me - the guy yelling 'Free Bird!' might help explain the pepper spray incident." Ohhh, too soon? Tweedy asked that too, amidst the smattering of "ohhh's" and groans that were peppered (zing!) in with the laughter and the applause - although there seemed to be a resounding agreement that a little aerosol Tabasco to the face would be an appropriate response for a guy who apparently still thinks it's cool or funny t

Ben Jaffe couldn’t quite remember the name of “that big record store” he visited the last time Preservation Hall Jazz Band visited Sacramento, rehearsing for the jazz ballet suite “Ma Maison,” performed at the Mondavi Center back in November. He did remember that it was “right downtown,” and it occupied a large corner. Not hard to determine that we were discussing The Beat. “When you walk into places like that, its like, ‘thank you, Lord!’” Jaffe emphatically proclaimed. “You need human interaction - in society we’ve become more and more isolated,” he said, ruminating on the eternal feud between the comforting smell of a house of vinyl and the ever-increasing prominence of MP3s. “Even t

Rock journs dream about interviewing guys that have the mystique of Jeff Tweedy. So why not try and steal a few hundred seconds on the phone with one of rock's most intriguing (living) front men? Because it would have been met with about the same response I repeatedly got in my pre-teen years when sending those letters with requests for a dinner date to Jennifer Love Hewitt, c/o Producers of "Party of Five." Crickets. In principle, Jeff Tweedy wouldn't be the kind of guy to scoff or turn his nose up at anyone who wanted an interview - that's not his style. There is no visible penthouse or caviar in his songwriting, his performance persona, or in the man himself - it's pretty much all ba

Call it "15 for '12." Since Sac Press announced 12 can't miss concerts for 2012, the calendar has gone slightly bonkers with a trio of exciting announcements for the coming months, and there's no way we can leave them off the list. As many of you may have heard already in this morning's announcement, the haymaker of this list is The Black Keys, bucking the perceived trend of "big name acts passing over Sacramento." Their rise over the last couple of year has been meteoric, circumventing pop trends by injecting blood-in-the-mud blues rock into the mainstream in a way that has arguably never been done before - you'd probably have to go back to the heyday of Zeppelin. Songs like the beer-swi

Here are some of the many music events happening in the Sacramento area this week. For more detailed information on these events and many more go to www.eMusiConnect.com. Sacramento Area Concerts & Music Events Running through January 2012: Bingo The Winning Musical at Cosmopolitan Cabaret at 10th & K street in Sacramento. Show at 7:30 PM.. Tickets are $32.00 - $48.00. Friday, December 9th - Friday, December 23rd: Sacramento Bellet presents The Nutcracker at Sacramento Community Center Theatre. Tickets are $15.00 - $69.00 Friday, December 9th: Cage The Elephant at Ace of Spades is Sold Out! Friday, December 9th - Sunday, December 11th: Capital Christian Center presents The Singin

Here are some of the many music events happening in the Sacramento area this week. For more detailed information on these events and many more go to www.eMusiConnect.com. Sacramento Area Concerts & Music Events Running through January 2012: Bingo The Winning Musical at Cosmopolitan Cabaret at 10th & K street in Sacramento. Show at 7:30 PM.. Tickets are $32.00 - $48.00. Friday, December 2nd: An Irish Christmas at Three Stahes Folsom Lake. Concert at 7:30PM. Tickets are $75.00-$100.00 Friday, Decmber 2nd - Saturday, December 3rd: Tesla's Twisted Wires Acoustic Tour at Ace of Spades. Doors open at 7PM. Tickets are $30.00. Friday, December 2nd - Sunday, December 4th: River City Chora

Here are some of the many music events happening in the Sacramento area this week. For more detailed information on these events and many more go to www.eMusiConnect.com. Sacramento Area Concerts & Music Events Running through January 2012: Bingo The Winning Musical at Cosmopolitan Cabaret at 10th & K street in Sacramento. Show at 7:30 PM.. Tickets are $32.00 - $48.00. Saturday, November 19th: Trans-Siberian Orchestra at Power Balance Pavilion. Two Shows at 3PM and 8PM. Tickets are $39.00 - $59.00. Saturday, November 19th - Sunday, November 20th: Sacramento Oepra presents Paglassi with guest The Sacramento Philharmonic at Sacramento Community Center Theatre. Tickets are $28.00 - $1

Here are some of the many music events happening in the Sacramento area this week. For more detailed information on these events and many more go to www.eMusiConnect.com. Sacramento Area Concerts & Music Events Running through January 2012: Bingo The Winning Musical at Cosmopolitan Cabaret at 10th & K street in Sacramento. Show at 7:30 PM.. Tickets are $32.00 - $48.00. Friday, November 11th: Hot 8 Brass Band at Mondavi Center, UC Davis. Concert ay 8PM. Tickets are $37.00. Sunday, November 13th: BB King at Sacramento Community Center Theatre. Concert at 8PM. Tickets are $39.00 - $99.00. Sunday, November 13th: Peter Noone at Thunder Valley Casino. Concert at 8PM. Tickets are $20.00

Here are some of the many music events happening in the Sacramento area this week. For more detailed information on these events and many more go to www.eMusiConnect.com. Have a  Happy Halloween!! Sacramento Area Concerts & Music Events Running through January 2012: Bingo The Winning Musical at Cosmopolitan Cabaret at 10th & K street in Sacramento. Show at 7:30 PM.. Tickets are $32.00 - $48.00. Friday, October 28th: Sacramento Ballet presents Dracula at Sacramento Community Center Theatre. Tickets are $17.00 - $68.00. Friday, October 28th: Midnight Star - A Taste of Honey at Thunder Valley Casino. Concert at 8PM. Tickets are $20.00 - $30.00. Saturday, October 29th: Exotic Hallowe

Here are some of the many music events happening in the Sacramento area this week. For more detailed information on these events and many more go to www.eMusiConnect.com. Sacramento Area Concerts & Music Events Running through January 2012: Bingo The Winning Musical at Cosmopolitan Cabaret at 10th & K street in Sacramento. Shows at various times. Tickets are $32.00$48.00. Friday, October 21st: English Beat - The Snobs - Avenue Saints - La Noche Oskura at Ace of Spades. Show at 6:30PM. Tickets are $21.95. Saturday, october 22nd, 23rd, 27th, 28th: Sacramento Ballet presents Dracula at Sacramento Community Center Theatre. Tickets are $17.00 - $68.00. Sunday, October 23rd: Lord of the R

Here are some of the many music events happening in the Sacramento area this week. For more detailed information on these events and many more go to www.eMusiConnect.com. Sacramento Area Concerts & Music Events Running through January 2012: Bingo The Winning Musical at Cosmopolitan Cabaret at 10th & K street in Sacramento. Shows at various times. Tickets are $32.00- $48.00. Friday, October 14th: Journey with Foreigner & Night Ranger at Sleeptrain Amphitehatre. Concert at 7PM. Tickets are $30.00 - $280.00. Saturday, october 15th & Sunday, October 16th: Sacramento Philharmonic presents Rachmaninoff featuring pianist Olga Kern. SAT at Sacramento Communit Center Theatre at 8PM. SUN at Thr