Three to Stream: NorCal NoiseFest draws global talent for virtual festival
We’re devoting our usual “Three to See” concert space to rounding up some info on what local and out-of-town artists are up to as we continue to fight COVID-19. Hosting a show online or releasing new music? Message us on Instagram with details: @adavis_threetosee.
NorCal NoiseFest (Friday, October 2 to Sunday, October 4): The virus can’t stop the noise, it will merely push this year’s installment of NorCal NoiseFest out of the usual friendly confines of Cafe Colonial and other local haunts and into the streamverse. Going strong since 1995 as, per a news release, the longest-running experimental music fest in the country, the locally-centered event has always been held in fond regard among the most daring of experimental sonic architects and audacious musical madmen. This year’s wizardry is stunningly global, coming from as far as the U.K., Berlin, Athens, Italy, Ecuador, Japan and Canada, and from all across these United States. Wild-eyed rockers Instagon are assembling at Cafe Luna for a broadcast to kick off the festivities at 6 p.m. Friday, with 70 (!) acts slated to follow; Northern California festival stalwarts Uberkunst, Chopstick and Big City Orchestra are all on deck. Did we mention it’s free? www.norcalnoisefest.com.
New album, debut of Capital Jazz Project Live-Stream Concert Series from Jacam Manricks (5:30 p.m. Saturday October 10): We’re jumping ahead a week to tell you about the premiere next Saturday (Oct. 10) of the new Capital Jazz Project Live-Stream Concert Series, aimed at providing jazz artists a platform as the dearth of live events persists. Australian-born Sacramento transplant, composer and savvy saxophonist Jacam Manricks has the honor of kicking off the series, showing off tunes from his stirring latest record “Samadhi,” and discussing the songs that comprise it. www.eventbrite.com.
Fire Relief Benefit Livestream with Rodeo Flat (7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday October 3): The Rodeo Flat Electric Band (anchored by the duo of Daniel Roholt and J.T. Lawrence) provides your entertainment for this livestream benefit concert for those impacted by the devastating North Complex Fire, in partnership with the North Valley Community Foundation. www.nvcf.org; www.facebook.com/events/335855447663985.
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass “Let the Music Play On …” (2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday October 3): An unfathomable 750,000 or so revelers are known to pack San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park each year for the free utopia of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. We’re doubting there will be quite as much pressure on their computer servers for folks tuning in to “Let the Music Play On …” but as always, they’ve assembled a stirling lineup of Americana and roots music titans. The list includes Emmylou Harris, Buddy Miller, Bonnie Raitt, Boz Scaggs, Robert Earl Keen and Steve Earle. It also includes those they’ve inspired, such as Shakey Graves, Birds of Chicago, Chuck Prophet, Fantastic Negrito and Sacramento’s own Tré Burt. Select archival moments and interviews highlighting the festival’s history are peppered in, all raising funds via Artist Relief for musicians affected by COVID-19. www.hardlystrictlybluegrass.com.
New double album “Nobody Lives Here Anymore” from Cut Worms: We couldn’t get outta here without telling you about the pending October 9 release of “Nobody Lives Here Anymore,” 17 tracks of pure high-desert psych rock bliss from Max Clarke (a.k.a. Cut Worms). It’s the dust-speckled wanderlust soundtrack to the cross country roadtrip that COVID may be keeping you from taking, though its songs are still tinged with an air of danger, while fraught with solitude and teeming with wonder. cutworms.ffm.to/nobody-lives-here-anymore.
“Democracy Comes Alive” (10 a.m. Saturday October 3): Head on over to democracycomesalive.com to check your voter registration status ahead of the most consequential election of our lifetimes. While you’re there, take in performances from 50 jam festival circuit staples including Phil Lesh & Friends, Billy Strings, Dawes, G. Love, David Shaw of the Revivalists, Moon Taxi, Nicki Bluhm, Cris Jacobs, the Suffers, Umphrey’s McGee, Shawn Colvin, Warren Haynes, Hiss Golden Messenger, California Honeydrops, Fruition and scores more. Also, vote! democracycomesalive.com.
This story was originally published September 28, 2020 at 2:18 PM.