The Scene: When Irish Eyes Are Smiling

By Joy Michiel

It seems like it’s one big springtime party. I have just returned from a three-day extravaganza celebrating the big 5-0 of former Weekly columnist Ric Canfield up in Ocean Shores, Wash. With St. Patty’s Day on the horizon it shapes up to be a wild few weeks.

MARCH 11 — Richard Blair starts it all off at Cottonwood with night of new music. Playing handmade guitars that he built, Blair touches on what little he remembers about life in the late 60s and current anxieties. Throw this all together with songs about Truckee’s first sheriff and loggers cutting timber for the gold mines in the 1800s and you’ll find he paints a sonic mosaic about life in our mountain town.

MARCH 12 — Drop Theory fills the Friday night slot at Bar of America. This foursome plays a mix of choice covers and dynamic originals featuring tight arrangements, body-shakin’ grooves, and high-energy solos. Whether they’re covering groups ranging from old-school R&B artists to modern rock bands, 70s fusion ensembles to 90s acid jazz groups, these Tahoe locals make sure to put a bit of funk in it all.

The Casual Dogs bring the flavor of The Grateful Dead to the Auld Dubliner for the night. Everyone in the group shares a deep love for the Dead. This common bond and everyone’s natural talents allows the Dogs to have a fun time with the Dead’s music.

Kimba Madsen keeps the action going at Cottonwood. When Madsen plays guitar and sings it is a reflection of her love of music and a clear expression of what is in her heart and soul. She is influenced by artists like Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan, Ben Harper and Lucinda Williams.

San Francisco funk band, Mission Players, brings it to the Fat Cat Café. The funky fivesome blend a raw mix of funk, soul, jazz, blues and boogaloo that lends itself well for getting down on the dance floor.

The 80s are back with a vengeance when Tainted Love returns to the Crystal Bay Club. This seven-piece outfit from San Francisco takes you back to the days when keyboards ruled the airwaves, cascading hairdos were commonplace and outlandish fashions lit up the pioneering early days of MTV.

MontBleu holds up the scene on the South Shore with Izabella, a dance-inspired rock and soul band hailing from the Bay Area. Their unique blend delivers fist-pumping guitar, funked-out keys, poly-rhythmic beats and impassioned vocals.

Santa Cruz based quartet, Five Eyed Hand, rounds out the bill, embracing traditional roots of jazz, psychedelic rock, folk, funk and beyond.

MARCH 13 — Après-skiers can rock to the sounds of The Monophonics at Alpine Meadows. Their sound is a unique blend of old school soul/funk and rare groove and they are recognized for their retro sound, style and approach.

Groove Foundry, a five-piece funk band with a mission to make people dance is in the house at Bite. Utilizing a blend of styles, their freight train of funky, eclectic grooves the band pays masterful tribute to acts such as Greyboy Allstars and Tower of Power.

Acoustic double-neck guitarist Ian Ethan Case and his trio do a one-night stint at Baxter’s Bistro. His style simultaneously intertwines drumset-like percussive ideas and groovy bass lines with inventive melodies and counter-melodies, always supported by a rich, colorful, three-dimensional harmonic context.

Bar of America welcomes back The Bourgeois Gypsies. The group plays what they describe as urban barn dance. The Gypsies are a genre-bending acoustic band that pits slow-rocking, porch-setting music against poignant punk rock lullabies.

The Yardbirds, with original, founding members Chris Dreja and Jim McCarty lend their legend to Harrah’s Tahoe for a night. The Yardbirds made an indelible mark on the music and culture of the time and its experimental explorations provided the crucial link between British R&B, psychedelic rock and heavy metal, while pioneering the use of innovations like fuzz tone, feedback and distortion.

Bluegrass reigns supreme at John Ascuaga’s Nugget as the Del McCoury Band takes the stage. His band carefully bridges the gap between the interesting song choices and instrumentation of the best progressive bluegrass groups, while still retaining the high lonesome style of traditional bluegrass.

MARCH 15 — Tahoe Biltmore goes the extra musical mile with the Salvador Santana Band. Keyboardist and composer Santana’s vibrant music mixes hip-hop, funk, rock, Latin and other world idioms into a uniquely individual and totally contemporary style. He likes to call the richly textured grooves he creates a new blend, a sound reinvented.

MARCH 17 — Grease is the word at Incline High School through March 20 as the school rewinds 50 years to 1959 to bring the Broadway-favorite, “Grease,” to the high school theater. A gang of greasers and their groupies, the Pink Ladies, navigate T-birds, drive-ins, high school antics and teenage love during the 50s in this musical. The production at Incline High School is a tamer version of the rollicking play, but still features the songs that have made this musical a favorite.

MARCH 18 — The Mad Cow String Band makes a special appearance at Cottonwood. Their unique sound mixes bluegrass, old-time and country. The band’s tight instrumentation and soaring harmonies captivate the listener and conjure up images of a simpler time in acoustic music.

MARCH 19 — It’s Russia verses Reno at the Crystal Bay Club as The Red Elvises and The Saddle Tramps go head to head at the venue. The Elvises blend good old rock ‘n’ roll with ethnic music from their homeland while The Tramps dole out country rock. Both bands have a healthy sense of humor, which should make for an interesting evening.

The original Jersey boy, Frankie Valli, and The Four Seasons take the stage at the Silver Legacy. Thanks to the volcanic success of the Tony-winning musical “Jersey Boys,” which chronicles the life and times of Valli and his legendary group, such classic songs as “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Walk Like a Man,” “Rag Doll” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” are all the rage again.

MARCH 20 — The Jackie Greene Band returns for a stint at the Crystal Bay Club. Greene’s influences are diverse: from country, to jazz, to folk to rock. Whether it’s a soulful ballad or a ballsy rocker, you can count on breathtaking melody and poetic lyricism.

Legendary British blues rocker Eric Burdon & The Animals take the stage for a night at Harrah’s Tahoe. As a driving force behind the British invasion of the 60s, Burdon helped reintroduce Americans to their own musical roots. The band was soon known as England’s foremost exponents of blues and R&B music.

Ukulele master Jake Shimabukuro shows his stuff at John Ascuaga’s Nugget. Renowned for lightning-fast fingers and revolutionary playing techniques, Shimabukuro views the ukulele as an untapped source of music with unlimited potential. Playing jazz, blues, funk, classical, bluegrass, folk, flamenco and rock, his mission is to show everyone that the ukulele is capable of so much more than only the traditional Hawaiian music many associate it.

MARCH 23 — Comedy is in the house at the Crystal Bay Club with an R-rated version. Headlining the performance with passion and rapid-fire delivery is comedian Steve Brewer. Jon Ueberroth hosts the show and Incline’s own Mike “The Dry Cleaner” Trute will be filling in the guest spot and airing his dirty laundry.

May the luck of the Irish be with you over the next few weeks as you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Drink some green beer, get rowdy 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.