Three(ish) to Stream: ShelterFest out to save Sacramento music venues this weekend

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.

ShelterFest (5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday October 10): There is no way to sugarcoat it: The return of indoor live music is still a long way off, and Sacramento’s local music venues are in trouble. Shine, a hub for local music acts, shuttered earlier in the year, while other venues (and our local musicians) grasp at straws to hang on as the pandemic persists.

Enter ShelterFest, a creatively curated online streaming music, dance, comedy and art festival which will raise funds for local staples Press Club, Old Ironsides, Torch Club, Cafe Colonial and Luna’s Cafe. Funds are also being sent to Sac Safe Space for Unhoused Youth; donations of socks, tents and sleeping bags are also being sought.

Tickets for the stream run only $25. A sample playlist, video preview, festival and artist merchandise, an online art gallery and crafts from local vendors can be found at www.shelterfest2020.com. Follow them at www.instagram.com/shelterfest or www.facebook.com/ShelterFest.

If you are reading this online before midnight on Wednesday, October 7, you can pre-order an array of food and drink from local vendors (delivery available). This includes home drink mixin’ kits from Burly Beverages, whose head honcho Gabriel Aiello is also the man behind the ShelterFest curtain, with assists from Artists of Sacramento, Ira Skinner and Meg Myers.

This crafty stream is uniquely Sacramentan, designed to digitally (and safely) mimic a night out on the town while the venues remain closed to live music. The lineup is meticulously broken down into four “stops” at Colonial, Torch, Old I and the Press, with music and comedy (plus poetry curated by Luna’s) performances happening from the venues’ stages. It will be very much a time capsule for the beloved Press Club’s longtime space; they recently announced plans to relocate, and are graciously donating their take of the night’s proceeds to Luna’s Cafe.

If you’re thinking the idea of actually reveling at each of those haunts all in one night sounds like a formula for the most vicious hangover in recorded history, I’m definitely with you. Good thing this one stays at home, so the only heavy-wristed barkeep to blame is yourself — but with this lineup, things still figure to get crazy in our living rooms:

First stop: Cafe Colonial: Comedian Becky Lynn gets things kicked off, with poetry from the duo of Jenny Lynn and Emcee Sho’Nuff (“Keeping up with the Davisons”) a DJ set from Pains Grey and sets from and sets from indie rockers Mallard and wistful singer-songwriter Autumn Sky Hall, a fixture of Sacramento’s music scene.

Stop 2: Torch Club: Comedian and co-host of Netflix’s “Cooking on High” Ngaio Bealum is firing up the stage, with poetry from Marvin Xia and a DJ set from Hopkins. Obviously, you’re not leaving the Torch without blues: gritty roots rockers Said the Shotgun and enigmatic blues-soul darlings the Gold Souls round it out.

Stop 3: Old Ironsides: You know the night is in full swing by the time Old I’s is in play. Comedian Johnny Taylor and spoken word kingpin AndYes are on deck, while Shaun Slaughter reminds us why his “Lipstick” dance parties have been going strong for two decades. Psych rockers Vinnie Guidera & the Dead Birds and rowdy Americana-blues-soul-rock staple Drop Dead Red (of which Aiello is a member) have the honor of performing bathed in the familiar neon green light.

Last stop: The Press Club: You know, for when that late-night tallboy of PBR seems like a good idea! On board for what are likely the last performances at 21st and P are veteran comedian Keith Lowell Jensen, poet J.Rowe and DJ Larry Rodriguez, recreating his fabled Press Club “Church” party one last time. ShelterFest climaxes with sets from Jmsey (a.k.a. James Cavern) and standout funk- and soul-charged emcee the Philharmonik.

This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 8:23 AM.