Alt-rock godfathers and Lollapalooza festival founders Jane's Addiction brought  their "Theatre of the Escapists" Tour to the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts at UC Davis Saturday night. Thenewno2 ("the new number two") opened. The band played a mix of songs ranging from three off of their most recent album, 2011's The Great Escape Artist, to their classic back catalog that prompted many full-throated audience sing-alongs. Their first studio album, 1988's Nothing's Shocking, was well-represented with "Mountain Song, "Ted, Just Admit It...," "Ocean Size," "Up The Beach," and with "Jane Says" played with Dave Navarro (on acoustic guitar) and bassist Chris Chaney sitting in comforta

photographs by Barry Wisdom / The Pamela Hayes Classical Ballet company offered a preview of its 2012 production of "The Nutcracker," as well as several featured dances from its eclectic repertoire, at Saturday's Midtown Arts Festival, which Midtown Business Association representatives said drew some 4,000 to a variety of performance stages and vendor tables and booths on 20th Street (between J and K streets). Pamela Hayes Classical Ballet will present three performances of "The Nutcracker" on Folsom Lake College's Stage 1 at the Harris Center for the Performing Arts (formerly Three Stages): 7:30 p.m. Dec. 21 and 22; and 2 p.m. Dec. 23. Guest artist Michael Onstad will reprise his role

Swedish singer and songwriter Sofia Talvik will be spending the week in the Sacramento area. Talvik’s string of live performances began Tuesday night with a performance at the Coffee Garden in Curtis Park and will continue Friday with a stop at KDVS radio in Davis and another at ZuhG Life Store for a concert Friday night. "What defines you as an artist is that you never give up." This piece of advice was given to Talvik by her father, and she has clearly taken it fully to heart. Achieving success as an artist signifies a life of constantly working to be seen, heard and hopefully remembered. For many, this is a lifelong effort. It takes energy and courage to step out of your shell and in

The annual alternative culture phenomenon known as Burning Man has become highly popular since its inception in 1986; thousands of "burners" flock to Nevada's Black Rock Desert every year to participate in the festival. It's not surprising, then, that Sacramento has created its own smaller version of Burning Man. "Burn the River," set to take place Saturday, is in its second year and growing fast. Burn the River was created last year when a group of local artists returned from Burning Man and created a nonprofit organization called Sacramento Valley Spark as an effort to bring the philosophy of Burning Man to the Sacramento area. Their first main goal was to throw a large community arts f

Townhouse Lounge, the bar and nightclub located at 1517 21st St., is expected to close early next year, according to owner/operator Desi David. “We’ve been there so long – it’s been 15 years – and the landlord is going to raise the lease,” he said. “We don’t blame them, and we don’t know what’s going to happen in the future.” David said the business won’t close immediately, and will likely stay open through the holidays, and possibly into next year. “We’re being completely positive about it right now,” he said. “We’ve got a nice community, and we will see what happens.” The business is open from 9 p.m. - 1:30 a.m. every day and features multiple levels of dancing, a bar and live music

Saturday night Power Balance Pavilion hosted country superstar Carrie Underwood and “The Blown Away Tour,” complete with singer and songwriter, Hunter Hayes. The tour is based around Underwood’s fourth album, “Blown Away,” released earlier this year. The mostly-female crowd was dressed and ready for a country night out in Nashville - cowboy hats and boots and all. “Is that the line to the women’s!?” I overheard one woman exclaim, “Mother of pearl!” The merrymaking and revelry was pure entertainment for all involved. Underwood won the hearts of many, waving and chatting throughout the show despite her slightly hoarse-sounding voice. She gave a shout out to “American Idol,” saying that s

The Sacramento Horror Film Festival (SHFF) presents a weekend full of live and film entertainment. SHFF runs from Friday, Oct. 12 – 14 at the Colonial Theater. Zombee Channel and Cinema Insomnia kicks off the Friday event with The Zombie Beauty Pageant. The event is scheduled to be hosted by Mr. Lobo and will feature over 30 short and long films showcasing horror on the big screen. Opening night features a showing of 1988's "Night of the Demons," with director Kevin Tenney in attendance.  "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," will also be showing on Friday with live performers also taking the stage. The.1975 film will bring many fans to the event and is sure to make fans sing along as the f

Sacramento's music scene has gotten its fair share of criticism lately, but every year, when The Sacramento News & Review's Sacramento Area Music Awards (SAMMIES) rolls around, there seems to be an endless supply of local talent to showcase. This year marks the 21st year the News & Review has hosted the SAMMIES awards, which are given out to local bands and artists after a public voting period. There are 38 SAMMIES categories, ranging from Best Indie to Best Latin to Best Emcee. Artists who have received three awards are retired into the SAMMIES Hall of Fame (among the Hall of Famers this year are DJ  emcee Random Abiladeze, reggae/punk band Arden Park Roots, and jazz musician Ross Hammon

Catwalk on K Street, a much anticipated event brought close to 200 attendees to the Vibe Urban Lounge fashion show. The event was held at St. Rose of Lima Park in front of the Antigua Ultra Lounge. The event on the corner of 7th and K Street took place on Sunday, Sept. 23. One of Vibe Urban Lounge’s goal is to provide its members ways to acquire academic and vocational skills. That goal was clearly met, in part, during the Catwalk on K Street event as community members were able to witness Vibe’s teens come together to not only work on a fashion show but work on other life learning concepts. With the help of several mentors associated with Sacramento’s fashion industry Vibe teens learn

photographs by Barry Wisdom /   Sixty-three-year-old singer-songwriter Nick Lowe, a seminal figure in the "pub rock, punk rock and new wave" music scenes whose early work on the Stiff Records label as a solo artist and collaborator with such artists as Elvis Costello secured his reputation as a producer who got things done. Though his biggest U.S. success came in 1979 with "Cruel to Be Kind" – what has sometimes been referred to as the perfect pop song – he has enjoyed a consistently brilliant career. As rock critic Jim Farber wrote: "Lowe's recent albums ... moved him out of the realms of ironic pop and animated rock and into the role of a worldly balladeer, specializing in grave voc

!!! (Chk Chk Chk) is back in California for a few days, and they put on a banger of a show last night at Harlow's. I was hoping frontman Nic Offer would be wearing tiny little shorts and I was not disappointed. His pair on Thursday featured The Rolling Stones' “Some Girls” album artwork. Guitarist Mario Andreoni and the rest of the band sounded great. The skinny and lithe Offer thrust his pelvis all over the stage, and came down into the crowd a couple of times to get sweaty with the audience. He smelled awful, and freely admitted as much himself when he got back on stage. If you're wondering about the next !!! album, Offer said they were working on it and it'll be released next y

Music critics greeted The Lumineer’s self-titled debut album with adjectives like “gritty,” “rustic,” and “nostalgic,” so it seems fitting that lead-singer Wesley Schultz’s used the word “primal” to describe their live shows: The songs, minimal as they already are, are trimmed of studio fat  when performed live. “I think one of the things that we try to do live is to let it all hang out...” Wesley told The Observer’s Kitty Empire. “We don’t try to be perfect at all.” That “primal” quality, along with Bing-commercial-popularized “Hey, Ho,” will make their Sacramento debut Oct. 9th and 10th in Midtown’s Harlow’s when the Lumineers stake their claim as the next banjo pop/folk rock/acoustic

Days of Terror brought horror, renowned guests and artists, movies and music to the Scottish Rite Center. Miss Misery hosted the Days of Terror convention, a new event in Sacramento, on Friday and Saturday this past weekend. The convention was the brain child of its producer, Reyna Young, aka Miss Misery, and others. Actors, writers, artists and vendors filled the hallways and main floor while horror fans walked the hallways and talked to artists, actors and vendors, often standing in line to get autographs from their favorite horror movie stars. The Sacramento Ghostbusters were on hand to collect costumes for a kids’ costume drive. The Ghostbusters had their vehicle parked in front o

October is here, which also means it’s the onset of ARTober—Sacramento’s celebration of National Arts & Humanities Month. Throughout the month the public can experience and participate in more than 150 art events, performances and free family activities, including exhibitions, poetry slams, art festivals, concerts, musicals and plays. This week features: Opera at the Crest: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 4, at the Crest Theatre “Opera at The Crest” will feature the "best of the best"—popular and favorite arias, duets and ensembles taken from the top 10 most popular operas voted on by Sacramento Opera patrons this summer. Selections will be performed by six acclaimed singers who will be appeari

The Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra presented an afternoon full of dance, music, entertainment, community informational stations and children’s hands-on activities. “Viva la música!” was performed at the Community Center Theater on Saturday, Sept. 29. The Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra, in association with La Raza Galería Posada, Festival de la Familia, the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the San Joaquin County Chamber of Commerce brought a festive event to the Sacramento Community Center Theatre. Concert sponsors included the Teichert Foundation and Univision.  The cultural event opened the Sacramento Philharmonic’s 16th season. “Viva la música!” was a philharmonic

The term "indie" has been around a long time and it certainly doesn't mean what it used to, kind of like the phone. The word  "cash" also used to mean something slightly different before the digital age, yet it still has the same general meaning. Most people know that indie is supposed to mean independent, but many people have their own independent definition for the word. My latest SacTV.com video explores the origin of the term.  If you ask a punk, indie strictly means underground punk and nothing else. If you ask someone who is into hip hop, indie means hip hop that doesn't conform to the same old school beats that still flood the pop charts. If you ask a rocker, indie means rock that

photographs by Barry Wisdom /   Man comes into this world alone and he exits it alone. So it is only fitting that Elvis Costello is celebrating an anticipated 100th anniversary on Earth sans Attractions, and free from Imposters with his wholly solo "Centenary Show 1954-2054." Costello, who turned 58 last month, acknowledged in remarks to a Mondavi Center audience Friday night that the tour's name could be confusing to some – especially to American audiences who are more familiar with the term "centennial" than the UK version, which might be mistakenly read as the "Cemetery" tour. There was no mistaking how freaking talented, funny, smart and downright personable Costello is as he too

This year’s Folsom Live event had 15 bands performing on five outdoor stages. The event took place in Folsom’s Historic District on Saturday, Sept. 22. Folsom locals could use shuttle service to get to Sutter Street, and out-of-towners could access free public transportation with their Folsom Live ticket. Extended rail service out of Folsom lasted until 11 p.m. Lines materialized early to purchase tickets and drink tokens, and to gather other information. Drink tokens were available at many parts of the venue in order to save some time and shorten lines. Each of the five stages had two or three bands playing, and each band had a lengthy amount of time to play in front of their fans.

I can't remember the last time there was an all-day music festival in the city limits with some big-name acts, so I was excited to check out the Monster Energy Aftershock 2012 festival at Discovery Park on Sunday. The bill was a mix of "hard rock" bands on two stages. Performers included FallRise, Stepchild, Oleander, Beware of Darkness, Gemini Syndrome, Hell or Highwater, Escape the Fate, Hollywood Undead, Theory of a Deadman, Chevelle, Bush, Deftones, and Stone Temple Pilots. I was especially excited to see Deftones, Bush and STP, since they remind me of being in high school, and they play songs I recognize. Sacramento bands were well-represented (FallRise, Stepchild, Oleander, and De

www.sactoberfest.com http://sactoberfest.eventbrite.com/ Cesar Chavez Park – 910 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 Saturday, October 6, 2012, 12:00pm – 5:00pm Active 20-30 Club #1 Sacramento presents their 31st Annual Oktoberfest. In past years Oktoberfest has been held at venues such as Fairytale Town, and Cal Expo. This year the fun returns to the Cesar Chavez Park, right in the heart of Downtown Sacramento. One of the year’s largest fundraising events for Active 20-30 Oktoberfest will provide a fun and exciting day for all attendees. Like other Oktoberfest events the beer will be flowing, but Active 20-30 raises the bar for their event. Along with multiple craft beer breweries there wi