
The Scene: Almost Spring
By Joy
Michiel
With spring just
around the corner, it is any guess how the weather will behave. Regardless,
this week begins SnowFest!, the annual winter carnival associated with
events galore and lots of fun to be had. The entertainment scene takes
the cue to offer up its own display of goodies.
FEB.
25 — Mike Schwartz kicks off the week at Cottonwood. This
local Truckee business owner (The Backcountry) has played in numerous local
acoustic bands, and now strikes out on his own. Expect folksy original
music and covers from every decade, played with a little original twist.
Rail
Jam Thursdays continues at the Crystal Bay Club with New Monsoon.
This band has distilled their original sound with top-flight musicianship,
tireless live performing and a thoroughly open-minded musical perspective.
NM’s unique style blends free-flying rock with acoustic stylings,
tight vocal harmonies and lyrical songcraft.
The
Chris Berry Trio heads in to MontBleu featuring Steve
Kimock alongside the rhythm section of the Brazilian Girls.
This explosive cross-cultural musical experience melds African grooves
with San Francisco guitar work and combines it with New York City’s
urban electronica.
Travis
Tritt brings bluesy Southern rock to The Knitting Factory, the
new Reno hotspot. Tritt’s gutsy, outlaw image distinguishes him from
the pack. His music often borders on rock ‘n’ roll, yet it
is still simultaneously firmly steeped in country.
FEB.
26 — Kip Yager brings the rock into Jake’s, acoustic
style. Yager enjoys playing acoustically on his six- and 12-string guitars
with a repertoire that includes Beatles, James Taylor, Cat Stevens, Moody
Blues and CSNY, plus a little bit of country, blues and originals.
Hellbound
Glory rides in for a night at the Crystal Bay Club. The band’s
sound builds on the roots of honky tonk, bluegrass, rockabilly and outlaw
country.
Patrick
Major lends his sounds to the Tahoe Biltmore. Major is one who
plays his own mix of original guitar and vocal songs mixed with rock classics
from the last four decades. He is known for a strong rhythmic style that
is completely his own.
San Francisco’s
ambassadors of gypsy rock, Diego’s Umbrella head
in for a night at the FiftyFifty Brewing Company. Influenced heavily by
flamenco, klezmer and Latin percussion, this group has introduced the world
to a new kind of popular music.
“Avenue
Q,” the smash-hit Broadway musical about real life in New
York City, as told by a cast of people and puppets through a hilariously
irreverent, Tony-winning book and score makes its Reno debut at the Pioneer
Center. The show plays through Feb. 28.
The
Blind Boys of Alabama bring their gospel to The Knitting Factory.
This group has spread the spirit and energy of pure soul gospel music for
more than 60 years, and is on a mission to expand the audience for traditional
soul-gospel singing while incorporating contemporary songs and innovative
arrangements into their hallowed style.
FEB.
27 — Auld Dubliner gets in the action with a night of Subjektochange.
Yearning to take the funk and modern elements of bands the individual members
have played with even further, they started this project to crank out a
combination of hard funk and blissed-out jams which is mostly original
material.
It’s
a triple treat of beat at the Cal Neva starting with The Glitch
Mob, a three-man musical collaboration of futuristic dance oor
hip-hop. They are joined on the bill by El Papa Chango,
who showcases hip hop-driven Latin beats and DJ Laura,
whose specialty is bass-heavy psychedelic hip hop.
Akiko
returns to Cottonwood for the night. Smooth piano lines weave around her
expressive voice as she sings original ballads and songs from artists ranging
from Bonnie Raitt to Enya, The Beatles to Sarah McLaughlin.
Modern
meets Mozart as virtuoso violinist, David Garrett graces
the stage of the Silver Legacy. Dubbed “the fastest violinist in
the world,” the incredible artist creates innovative and imaginative
covers of music from a wide variety of genres and displays his own deft
writing skills with notable originals.
Reggae
legends, The Wailers, head in for a night at the Grand
Sierra. As the greatest living exponents of Jamaica’s reggae tradition,
the Wailers pioneered roots rock reggae and continue to branch out into
all areas of contemporary music.
The Knitting
Factory hosts psychedelic rock band Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
The band is known for their garage rock, blues, folk revival, neo-psychedelia
sound often religiously inspired lyrics.
FEB.
28 — Bob Alper serves up humor at the North Tahoe Hebrew
Congregation. This Rabbi/stand-up comic has had a 23-year comedy career
with wonderfully unique material presented in a way that’s intelligent,
sophisticated and 100 percent clean.
New Orleans
outfit Galactic does a one-night stint at the Crystal
Bay Club. Intertwining New Orleans sounds from jazz to brass band to funk
and far beyond. They
are the quintessential modern day New Orleans band and one of the funkiest
outfits around.
The
Carson City Symphony offers up a concert featuring percussion
soloist Terry Longshore, who also composes and teaches
percussion. The Symphony, conducted by David Bugli, also
will play the “Magic Flute Overture” by Mozart, “Buckaroo
Holiday” by Aaron Copland and “Symphony in D Minor” by
Cesar Franck.
MARCH
1 — Guitar Shorty cranks out bluesy rock at the Crystal
Bay Club for the night. With his charismatic stage presence he continues
to capture audiences with his sincerity, energy and rockin’ blues
style.
MARCH
4 — The Crystal Bay Club follows up with EOTO
featuring Jason Hann and Michael Travis
(percussionist and drummer from the band The String Cheese Incident). This
new, 100 percent improvised live breakbeat, trip-hop, house and drum n’
bass project uses cutting edge technology to create original and melodic
dance with the undeniable power of live drums.
MARCH
5 — Cottonwood is full of Blarney for the
evening. Keith Shannon and his leprechaun friends have
a talent for all things Irish, be it singing mournful ballads, belting
out a shanty song or tipping the obligatory pint of Guinness. Their reputation
for playing quality, authentic Irish music is unmatched, and that is no
Blarney.
Crystal
Bay Club welcomes Sol’Jibe in for the night. The
group blends American roots, world beat and Latin rhythms into an inspired
sound that has been dubbed world pop. Their eclectic sound draws from extensive
travels to Spain, Cuba and Central America where they studied folkloric
rhythms and culture.
MARCH
6 — Auld Dubliner goes full bore with Momentum.
Their sound puts a modern twist on a vintage rock with influences ranging
from blues roots and traditional rock, to serious funk and jazz sounds.
Be prepared for deep soulful grooves while dipping into long melodic rock
guitar solos and punching out upbeat and mind-bending rhythms.
The
After Eights, the dynamic duo of Ben “Jammin’”
Martin and Crystal Kelly, are the entertainment du jour at The Village
at Squaw Valley. Combining their smooth vocals and acoustic guitar, the
duo cover a wide variety of music from KT Tunstall and Alison Kraus to
the Grateful Dead and Gershwin.
San Francisco
hip-hop/rap sensation Andre Nickatina starts the party
at The Knitting Factory. Nickatina (formerly known as Dre Dog) is S.F.’s
quintessential rapper, delivering rhymes that are dark, thought provoking
and party rockin’.
MARCH
9 — Award-winning poets will join The Mile High
Jazz Band and vocalist Sheryl Adams for a lively
evening of big-band jazz music and poetry. The topic, “Coming and
Going,” will be presented at Comma Coffee and the show will alternate
poetry readings and music. Rita Geil and several other
award-winning poets will be featured.
Enjoy
the festivities of SnowFest! and don’t forget to look up.
Joy
Michiel, a.k.a. Big Joy, is a local singer and comedienne. For more information
and to see her current performing schedule, visit her Web site at www.bigjoy.com.
Got an entertainment listing? E-mail it to entertainment@tahoethisweek.com.
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