The Sacramento Beat: New music releases, a weekend for The Beatles and May’s best shows
My goodness, I missed your beautiful faces, Sacramento. After a little pandemic-related hiatus, we’re bringing back the weekly section formerly dubbed “Three to See” (or “Three to Stream,” in lockdown and livestream times) as a monthly rundown of music in the region. Here’s what’s coming in May; most venues list their health and safety requirements, if any, on their websites.
Local artists, if you have concerts or events upcoming, please message me with the details on Instagram, @adavis_threetosee.
Widowspeak (indie/rock/dream pop), touring behind plush new record “The Jacket,” kicks off the month with the kind of open-meadow lyrical sashays and dust-devil guitars that will have a vice grip on your lungs before you even realize you’re having trouble breathing. It’s like Cat Power and Crazy Horse about to tussle outside a saloon before deciding instead to just split a pitcher and pine over simpler times (8 p.m. Monday, May 2 at Starlet Room, with Sylvie. $16 adv/$20 door .www.harlows.com).
Katie Rose, Betty Masenqo, Coyote Creates and Blooming Heads – a quartet curated by Girls Rock Sacramento, an organization helping girls and those who identify as girls build self-esteem through music education and performance – are setting up shop for some free lunchtime tunes on the patio at Solomon’s on K Street from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, May 5. That also happens to be Sacramento’s Big Day of Giving (wink-wink, nudge-nudge).
Magic Giant (pop/indie), also veterans of California WorldFest, continues a little love affair with the Nevada County foothills, making another stop at Center for the Arts behind their newest color-splashed pop record “The Valley” (8 p.m. Friday, May 6, with Hembree, $32-$37. thecenterforthearts.org).
Out of nowhere, legendary “Kick Out the Jams” hard rock act MC5 recently teased their first new record in more than 50 years (you read that right) is coming in October. Original axeman Wayne Cramer helms a new lineup on the “Heavy Lifting Tour,” consisting of vocalist Brad Brookswell with members of Jane’s Addiction and Mavis Staples and David Bowie’s bands. (8 p.m. Thurs. May 12 at Harlow’s. $40. www.harlows.com).
Blues maven Katie Knipp hosts what figures to be a zesty release party for her first live record “Live at the Green Room Social Club” at (wait for it) the Green Room Social Club. The venue was born through some crackerjack livestream work during the pandemic and has grown into one of the best brick-and-mortar additions to the region in recent years. (They still stream their shows, and a hefty archive of past gigs is available for members on their site). Knipp’s live album, officially due June 10, serves up a radiant platter of her patented NOLA-steeped brand of slidin’ blues rock — smokey, syrupy and ever-genuine (9 p.m. Sat. May 14. www.clubgreenroom.com).
Sacramento Bike Kitchen in midtown kicks off cozy Second Saturday concerts with post-punk trio the Clevers, plus the Me Gustas and Adam Allas — look for monthly installments of these events throughout the summer (6 p.m. Sat. May 14. Free. www.facebook.com/SacBikeKitchen).
Consider us gobsmacked that tickets for !!! (Chk Chk Chk) remain available as of this writing, as the Sacramento-bred electro-rock pulsar jets into town behind their throbbing new record “Let It Be Blue,” out May 6. Get on this one while you can! (8 p.m. Mon. May 16 at Harlows, with Dante Elephante. $22. www.harlows.com).
Saturday, May 21 is a huge day downtown. We’ll start you out with Best Fest!, an “outdoor mini-fest” at indie music mecca the Red Museum. Park the Van Records offers up a sextet from their roster headlined by Best Move, the newest project from the tandem of local stalwarts Kris Anaya (also former frontman of An Angle) and Joseph Davancens. The pair is eschewing the circuitry of their former electronic act Doombird for for a sparse, spacious and organically sensuous brand of full-band folk pop. Experimental act So Much Light (a.k.a. local mad scientist Damien Verrett) joins Americana troubadour Spencer Hoffman atop the bill, flanked by Caregiver, Tino Drima and Shady Cove. (4 p.m. Sat. May 21. $15 adv/$20 door. www.eventbrite.com)
On the same day, local electronic events series THIS! is going into hyperdrive, having snagged DJ megastar Diplo (arguably their biggest get yet) for what figures to be a wild one out at the Railyards (6 p.m. $33. www.this916.com).
Far be it for us to overlook the crucially important core mission of the first annual No Stigma No Shame festival (also Sat. May 21), hosted by MH First Sacramento and dedicated to destigmatizing and bringing awareness to mental health. However, we’d be remiss not to let you know that hip-hop legends Hieroglyphics are headlining the free music slate (billed as “Hieroglyphics Presents: Souls of Mischief, Causal, Domino & DJ Toure”), joined by Sol Development, Roots & Tings (featuring Lateef Da Truth Speaker & Jah Yhzer), Bang Data, Justin’s Case and more, along with featured poets, live art and more. (12 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Cesar Chavez Plaza. www.facebook.com/MHFirstSac)
Indie folk deity Weyes Blood (pronounced “Wise”), AKA Natalie Mering, gifts us with the most eye-opening booking thus far at the already bustling second location for Goldfield Trading Post in downtown Roseville (7:30 p.m. Thurs. May 26, with Sam Burton. $22.50. www.goldfieldtradingpost.com). Bordering on the transcendental, Mering’s jarringly effortless, harrowing and pristine vocals create a luminescent cathedral devoted to rumination exploration. It’s about all which ails this particular planet, yet is somehow located in an entirely different galaxy.
Owlfest, the cozy off-the-beaten-path DIY festival in the Calaveras County foothills, is back for its 10th year with nearly 30 bands featuring tons of Sacramento area rock/Americana etc. staples such as MAU, Watt Avenue Soul Giants, Campfire Crooners, Loose Engines, Forever Goldrush, Jon Emery and the Unconventionals, Mike Blanchard and the Californios, Sol Peligro and Instagon. And we hear talk of a “full weekend tribute to The Beatles?” Yes, please! (May 27-30. owlfestmusic.weebly.com).
Grab Bag: Workhorse Americana rockers Blitzen Trapper stop at Harlow’s (Fri., May 6, $22); Sac-bred pop punk duo Dog Party joins Jenny Don’t & the Spurs at Folsom Hotel (Sat., May 7, $13); longtime John Prine sideman Todd Snider visits the Sofia (Sat. May 14, $38.50-$48.50); local rock veterans Th’ Losin Streaks link up with the Snares and Minor Fiasco for a killer triple rock ‘n’ roll bill at the Russ Room (Sat. May 14, $10); Moody Blues crooner Justin Hayward comes to the Crest Theatre (Thurs. May 26, $39.50-$59.50).