The Sacramento Beat: The Shins’ ‘Oh, Inverted World’ birthday tour highlights July shows

Yep, we’re positively giddy over James Mercer and the Shins descending on Memorial Auditorium later this month to celebrate “Oh, Inverted World.” We’re guessing more than a few other artists discussed in this space took a cue or two from that particular record? Let’s dive in!

Local artists, message me on Instagram if you have upcoming shows, @adavis_threetosee.

There do still remain a few remote corners of San Francisco where you can actually forget you’re in a city, where the hustle-bustle and ‘Gramable moments fade to barely a whisper, if only for a short while. Such is where The Quilters seem to dwell, with an emotive, autumnal brand of day-drinking indie Americana that harnesses the beauty from miles in any direction and delivers it right to that rocking chair that you’re now fused to. Similarly captivating and whimsical folk act Dellow & the Modern Mystics lend support (8 p.m. Friday, July 1 at the Russ Room, 730 K St. $10. www.solomons.co).

NineFingers (the project of gruff-sweet voiced local songwriter David Tetz) drops a new album “XLove” on Friday, July 1. It’s a record zigzagging as seamlessly between the highs and lows of love and heartache as it does between honey-dipped folk and gritty stonecut rock, with undercurrents of hip-hop. He’ll celebrate the release with a listening party and open mic performances at Self Designs Art Gallery in midtown (8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, July 1, 1117 18th St. $10 suggestion donation. selfdesignsartgallery.com). Tetz hosts a songwriters’ open mic (eschewing the covers for original material) at Self Design on the first Friday of each month, as well as a similar open mic on second Fridays at The Library of Musiclandria (1219 S St. www.musiclandria.com). He also helms a weekly songwriter showcase with featured local artists (likewise original songs) on Thursdays at Stage 76 in Carmichael (7600 Fair Oaks Blvd. stage76kb.com).

Give us all the live music at Drake’s The Barn, West Sacramento’s hallowed ground of lounging by the river with pizza and beer(s). The city of West Sacramento obliges throughout the summer with their free monthly Thursday night West Sac Rhythm On The River series, serving up “Rock Night” with Red Voodoo and Bad Mother Nature on June 30, “Country Night” with Crossman Connection and Cash Prophets on July 28, and “Latin & Funk’‘ night with veteran scorchers Ideateam and Sol Peligro. (All shows 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., 985 Riverfront St. www.cityofwestsacramento.org)

The City of Davis Fourth of July Celebration in Community Park (203 East 14th St.) always has a way of sneaking in some tasty musical acts (and not charging to see them!) with an assist from the Davis Live Music Collective, this year snaring highway-tumbling roots rock workhorse The Coffis Brothers and stirring bluegrass/folk upstart A.J. Lee & Blue Summit for a patently Americana bill (6:30 p.m. music, 9:30 p.m. fireworks. www.cityofdavis.org).

For an event called “The Happy Together Tour,” you’ve probably already guessed that your headliner is, of course, the Turtles, joined in the flower-pop, love-dreaming ‘60s hitmaking by Gary Puckett & the Union Gap (“Young Girl”), The Association (“Never My Love,” “Cherish”), the Buckinghams (“Kind of a Drag”), the Vogues (“You’re the One”) and the Cowsills (“The Rain, the Park & Other Things”). Admit it, you know these songs (7 p.m. Mon. July 11 at the Crest Theatre, 1013 K St. $45-$79. crestsacramento.com/events).

The Shins’ seminal record “Oh, Inverted World” turns 21 this year; What sort of drink do we buy for it in celebration? It was born when Sierra Nevada Pale Ale was king of the craft beer world, seltzer was just a clear soda and “artisanal cocktail” probably meant a splash of triple sec. In booze and in indie rock, tastes and trends swell and condense a lot over that amount of time. New flavors, methods and trickery have wantonly careened in and out of the mode since 2001, but “Inverted World” is one of precious few with immunity to the fickleness. Packing etched-in-stone favorites like “New Slang” and “Caring is Creepy,” it’s the hooch equivalent of the drink every bartender knows how to make blindfolded, whether your saloon’s motif is “boho chic” or “water damage,” and the one any patron can default to when daunted by a menu of ingredients they can’t pronounce. As you’d expect, Mercer & Co. will play the album start to finish, flanked by other selections from their sprawling repertoire, following an opening set by Joseph. (8 p.m. Friday, July 15 at Memorial Auditorium. $38-$48. www.ticketmaster.com)

The Folsom Americana Festival is a series of eight separate country/bluegrass/folk/rockabilly etc. events running through October and held at the Zittel Family Amphitheater in old Folsom and at the Dan Russell Arena, hosted by and benefiting the Wildwood Performing Arts Foundation. Headliners include a July 16 appearance from Ben and Noel Haggard & the Strangers (sons to Merle and members of his longtime backing band, now having taken the reins since his passing), and John Carter Cash (do we see a theme here?) headlining Oct. 21 and also joining Texas Hill and several others at the capstone hootenanny on Oct. 22 (www.folsomfest.org).

Veteran sludge rockers Melvins (one of very few bands that can actually claim to be pioneers of grunge) dished up two new records in 2021 in “Working with God” and “Five Legged Dog,” the latter an acoustic record with a sprawling 36 (!) tracks. The brooding legends roll back into town to Goldfield, this time at the Roseville location, with Helms Alee, and Harsh Mellow (7:30 p.m. Tues. July 19, 238 Vernon St. $27.50. goldfieldtradingpost.com).

If the soundtrack to “Dazed and Confused” magically opened itself up to acts that didn’t actually exist in the ‘70s, we’re guessing there’d be prime real estate for a cut from Ape Machine (whose founding members boast Sacramento roots), probably nestled between the Sabbath and the Foghat. Their tube-amped, wild-eyed homages to pre-stadium rock are thick, loud, rich and loud (did we say loud twice?). They’re setting up shop with Spirit Mother and others TBD at Cafe Colonial (7 p.m. Thurs. July 28, 3520 Stockton Blvd. $12 adv./$15 door), one of the city’s last standing all-age venues which recently launched a GoFundMe on their Facebook page seeking help to keep the doors open amid the post-pandemic storm (www.facebook.com/CafeColonial916).

Wrapping up the month, the Sac Waterfront Festival in Old Sacramento is headlined by country breakout fireballer Jimmie Allen, who boasts an increasingly heavy trophy case over last couple of years, including a 2021 win for New Male Artist of the Year from the Academy of Country Music, the first Black artist ever to garner that accolade. Neon Union, Jonny Houlihan, and Moonshine Crazy join the party (3:30 p.m. Sun. July 31. $49-$140. www.oldsacramento.com)

Finally, we’re flipping the calendar a couple pages to let you know that the Farm to Fork Festival (Sept. 23 & 24 on Capitol Mall. www.farmtofork.com) has snagged indie pop juggernaut Japanese Breakfast as their Saturday headliner, which we’re putting squarely in the official “oh hell yes!” category. Gregory Porter, the National Parks, Southern Avenue and others also perform.

Grab bag: Rapidly-ascending country singer-songwriter Paul Cauthen comes to Goldfield Roseville (7 p..m. Tues. July 12. $44.50. goldfieldtradingpost.com); Indie queen Cat Power lands at Ace of Spades (7 p.m. Mon., July 18. $37. www.livenation.com); Indie rock veterans Clap Your Hands Say Yeah stroll into Harlow’s (8 p.m. Wed. July 20. $20/$22. www.harlows.com); Activist and world-music titans Michael Franti & Spearhead visit the Crest Theatre (7:30 p.m. Wed, July 27. $73.50-$103.50. www.crestsacramento.com).

This story was originally published June 23, 2022 at 5:16 AM.