Here are some of the music events happening on New Years Eve and the first weekend of 2010 in the Sacramento area. For more detailed information on these events and more Sacramento regional area music event listings go to the www.eMusiConnect.com homepage. Get out and enjoy!! Special Events This Week: FRI 11/27 – SUN 1/3: St Rose of Lima Park Holiday Carnival includes daily carnival games, rides, food, and live music & entertainment. Admission is $7Gen/$6 Under12. More information on www.downtownsac.org/carnival. WED 12/30 – 1/10 Broadway Sacramento will present Xanadu at The Community Center Theatre. TIX: $20-$57. Evening and Matinees. Sacramento New Years Eve Sky Spectacular will fea

New Year's Eve is fast approaching, and Sacramento is full of places to eat and celebrate the coming of 2010 in a romantic setting or among friends. Several restaurants in the area have specials to entice your palate on New Year's Eve. Brew It Up, 801 14th St., is offering a four-course pre-fixed menu for only $30. This includes your choice of appetizer, soup or salad, entree and dessert. The menu includes some regular favorites as well as new items to satisfy your hunger. Mulligatawny is an excellent soup that warms you from the inside. A live band, Dane Drewis, will perform at 9 p.m. There is a $10 cover past 9 p.m., so be sure to be there early. 58 Degrees and Holding Company, 1217 18

New Year's Eve isn't all about adults. Besides the New Year's Eve dancing and live music options, there are some family-friendly events to choose from. Sacramento Press community contributor Julia Beckner created a guide to family activities, which is a great resource, but here are a few more opportunities to share quality time with your family. Noon Year's Eve at the Y What: Carnival games, swimming, family relays, food, music and dancing for kids ages 2-12 and their adult chaperones. Where: Sacramento Area YMCA, 2021 W St. When: 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Cost: $5 for YMCA members, $7 for non-members. Pre-registration is required by visiting sacymca.org or calling 916-452-9622. Blue Mo

There is so much to choose from this New Year's Eve in Sacramento. New Year's dancing venues are detailed in this article. Sacramento Press community contributor Barbara Ambler-Thomas wrote about the Empress Hornblower Cruise in Old Sacramento and Julia Beckner previewed several family activities. The following is a guide to several of Sacramento's New Year's Eve concerts featuring (mostly) local bands. Twitch Angry, White Minorities, Prylosis, Nekrosylum, Chernobog and Lycanthrope What: "New Year's Cancer's Evel" will feature metal and punk bands, hosted by music video and MySpace star Metal Sanaz. The event is also a cancer research fundraiser for the Derek's Wish Foundation. All age

Midtown's Lucky Lefty’s recently celebrated its one-year anniversary. Despite the skepticism of nay-saying college career counselors, who called the venture a "stupid idea," and the uncertainty of Californian economic prospects, the clothing shop is thriving. Co-owner Brennan Williams says, growing up, he and his friends’ interest in clothing brands stemmed from a fascination with the subcultures they represented. Williams noticed that other young people who shared his interest tended to resort to travel or the Internet to explore emergent brands, instead of investing in Sacramento’s own scene.  Inspired by skate stores like FTC Sacramento and PLA Folsom, Williams and his friends -now pa

  Seems whenever I spend time at McKinley Park in East Sacramento I leave feeling in a lighter spirit. The geese seem to catch my attention first, with their noises and posturing.   Folks love to feed them!   Squirrels are active in trees and on the ground. Dogs love to chase them.   And some hand feed the little things.   Or watch them scamper away from them.   This duck did a hard landing.   And this dude stood its ground and scared a dog away.    

This four-part series features very different itineraries to celebrate 2010 downtown. Whether your idea of a perfect New Year’s Eve involves funky beats, bottles of bubbly, a caravan of kids, or haute cuisine, the Central City is the place to be! Downtown is home to some of Sacramento’s coolest bars and clubs, with many venues offering VIP services that can take your night ‘to the next level.’ Part two showcases these hotspots and their VIP amenities like private booths, bottle service, dedicated staff and complimentary champagne.  Part Two: Party like a rock star! Over at 10th and K, Cosmo Café, Cosmopolitan Cabaret and Social Nightclub are partnering to offer something for all ages th

Abstract Rude's name tells a lot about the L.A. emcee. He picked up "Abstract" when interpretive dance duo Tribe Unique witnessed his crazy dance style and put a name to it. The second half of the name was added when Abstract Rude began growing dreadlocks in 1991. Older Rastas told him his locks were going to be "rude." Saturday at The Blue Lamp, Rude will bring his poetic style to live performance, incorporating everything from reggae to soul to interpretive dance. Local emcees C-Plus, Matt Cali, Illicism and Random Abiladeze will open the show, along with DJ Nocturnal. Rude became interested in hip hop at age 9, when he was inspired to break dance after seeing b-boys perform in the 19

So, you survived Christmas. Now the big question isn’t whether or not you’ve finished your holiday shopping, it’s all about what to do this New Year’s Eve. This four-part series aims to take the mystery and anxiety out of what to do in Sacrmento to ring in the New Year. Each day, we’ll feature very different downtown ways to celebrate 2010. Whether your idea of a perfect New Year’s Eve involves funky beats, bottles of bubbly, a caravan of kids, or haute cuisine, the Central City is the place to be! Part One: Family style Got kids? Start your evening early with a visit to the California Museum’s Out of this World exhibit, an exhibition of famous television and movie costumes sure to deligh

SacPress Photos | Kati Garner

Looking for a place to go for New Year's Eve? The Sacramento Press would like to break down the most appealing dance parties for those who like to get their groove on. Paragary Restaurant Group, who put on the ball drop last year, will be hosting what they bill as the "largest party of 2010." What: Dinner at Cosmo Café. The Spazzmatics playing 1980s hits at the Cosmopolitan Cabaret and DJ Pat Allen spinning dance hits at Social Nightclub. The cafe and cabaret are all-ages and Social Nightclub is 21-and-over. Where: The Cosmopolitan Building, 1000 K St. When: Dinner from 5 - 11 p.m., dancing from 8 p.m. - 1 a.m. Cost: $50 for access to Social Nightclub and the Cosmopolitan Cabaret. Pu

The Origin and Evolution of Death Metal Death metal began in the mid-'80s with Florida band Death, led by the guitarist/vocalist generally credited as the creator of the genre, Chuck Schuldiner. In its beginning, the style incorporated simple, down-tuned riffing, fast drumming that alternated between the snare and bass drum (known as the “blast beat”) and deep growls about gore and generally violent topics. From its primitive early sound, death metal soon developed into a thriving scene in its home state, with bands such as Morbid Angel and Obituary evolving the primitive topics to lyrics influenced by H.P. Lovecraft and the occult. Lyrics weren’t the only aspect of the genre that matur

A Delicate Balance Though they tour fairly regularly and received positive reviews for their 2008 debut, the five members of Conducting From the Grave know that playing their type of music rarely becomes a lucrative endeavor. To make a living, Abernathy and his bandmates work day jobs and play music at night or take breaks from work to tour. “I’m like the one unlucky guy who doesn’t have a job that lets him go on tour and still have the job when he comes back," said Abernathy. So we toured for, like, six months at the beginning of this year for the album, and I came home and had no job. So I just said, ‘Damn, we’re leaving on tour in a few more months again so I won’t even try to find on

Sacramento has occupied space within the large world of heavy music with just two names: Deftones and Tesla. The former, an alternative rock band with metal influence, was a major player in the same mid/late '90s scene that consisted of Korn, Limp Bizkit and, to a lesser extent, Tool. Tesla is arguably the first mainstream band out of Sacramento to be branded “heavy metal," releasing albums throughout the late '80s and '90s and making a comeback in recent years with a three-album streak in 2007. But what about the bands in Sacramento's underground music scene? The one who ply their trade in the underground -- playing to a devoted local following of kids interested in complex, modern heavy

Photos taken on 53rd from T to S Streets       Jay Canter Photography

Mother Ruby Muhammad is proof that it's never too late to do anything. An orphan who met her father when she was a teenager, Muhammad joined the Nation of Islam at age 49 and learned to read at 60. Sacramento's oldest supercentenarian at age 112, Muhammad will perform songs and tell stories about her life March 7 at the Imani Community Church. The first-time performer will be joined for the one-night-only performance by her friend, playwright and vocalist Suzanne Brooks, and Brooks' band, The Jazz Generation. The show is tentatively called "I Believe I Can Fly," after Muhammad's favorite song, written by R. Kelly. It also aligns with her positive outlook and her belief that if she had wi

Looking to dance to the beat of a different drummer? Sacramento's DJ Rock Bottom strives to enable you to do just that. The first and third Friday of every month, Rock Bottom spins a dance party called "Hot Pants" at Level Up Lounge. Whether it's Prince, Black Star or remixes of old-school Motown, Rock Bottom said his goal is to "challenge people to push the envelope, get outside of their box and let go musically." Rock Bottom, born John Word, grew up in Gary, Ind., about 25 miles from downtown Chicago. He recalls as a child listening religiously to Common Sense (now Common), perhaps Chicago's most innovative emcee. He also emulated a cousin's musical taste by listening to Afrika Bambaat

Following your dreams doesn’t necessarily mean following your checkbook -- a life lesson local painter Jeff Musser can relate to. Musser was born and raised in Sacramento and began sketching comics and actions figures when he was 5. He didn’t get serious about his work until he got placed into an advanced art class his freshmen year at Sacramento High School. "(I) was around 15 when I decided this is what I want to do with my life,” Musser said.  “I wasn’t sure in what capacity -- whether I would be a sculptor or a graphic designer or (do) paint installation, but I just knew being creative and being an artist was what I was supposed to do.” At the time, his work was mainly with pencil a

Arden Fair Mall sported well-behaved crowds today. Last night a midnight sale for the new Air Jordan athletic was cancelled when potential shoe buyers rushed mall doors and started pushing others. That sale was cancelled. This afternoon the scene seemed like a normal, bustling shopping day right before Christmas: Parents and kids endured lines waiting for Santa pictures to be taken, shoppers traversed escalators and stores,lovers sneaked kisses, clerks and delivery persons carried on. Here are some scenes:                           SacPress Photos | Kati Garner          

I don't claim to be a math genius of any kind. I'm terrible at math. So, when my editor handed me the story of a math rock show, I was understandably apprehensive. Not knowing what to expect, I slipped my calculator in my back pocket, grabbed my notepad and headed out the door to The Lion's Den on Wednesday. Math rock is characterized as erratic and unpredictable. According to Wright, several genres are merged to create math rock: punk, blues, jazz, funk and heavy metal to name a few. The traditional rock rhythm of 4/4 is thrown out the window. Imagine hearing what is traditionally only the guitar solo, all the time. Guitarists work the fret board with insane finger dexterity to create co