Plenty of live Thanksgiving music ahead
Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Whether you’re snug at home with your pets, family, friends, guitar or whatever, or out and enjoying great food at our fabulous restaurants, walking about our scenic natural environment, or getting out to hear live music, they are all things to be grateful for. Cheers! And let’s begin the season of giving with a song in our hearts!
The heartfelt enthusiasm the crowd showed for The Temptations’ performance at last Saturday’s sold-out show at the Golden State Theatre contributed to the enjoyment of hearing all the Motown classics from the current group’s lineup, albeit one of them was out because of feeling under the weather. Still, the music, in all its familiarity, sounded great, at least from where I sat at the back of the orchestra section. Seriously, people were so happy and singing along and generally having a great time. So glad I went.
The Golden State Theatre this week offers another classic group that arose in the late 1960s out of the fertile San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area at a time when rock and roll was blossoming with new directions and styles. Tower of Power broke ground with old school funk and R&B turned on its head with driving rock rhythms and energetic singing, not to mention a powerhouse horn section that has in itself become legendary.
Songs the band is well known for in its repertoire of East Bay Grease include “What Is Hip?,” “Down to the Nightclub,” “So Very Hard to Go,” “Bump City” and the soulful “You’re Still A Young Man.” In an interview a few years ago on the band’s 50th Anniversary, band founder/ leader Emilio Castillo declared the obvious. “What, you think we’d be less tight after playing 50 years together?”
The concert Saturday begins at 8 p.m., doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $39 -$79 available at www.goldenstatetheatre.com. Seats are scarce at this writing. Solo seats are scattered in the orchestra section downstairs and the front balcony, while there are still some blocks of seats in the upper balcony.
Tower of Power happened to be the last live concert I and many of my music-loving friends attended just before the COVID lockdown started in mid-March 2020.
Now we’re in healing mode, making our way out of this unfortunate turn of events, although it’s still a time we continue to be cautious. To come to any show at the Golden State, you must show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test performed within 72 hours of the concert date. I think most who attend trust that those who are there are safe and that the vaccines work to protect. Pretty much everyone does not keep their masks on inside. No mandates require it, so let the smiling commence!
Thursday, Dec. 2, Irish eyes will be smiling at An Irish Christmas at the Golden State. A cast of Riverdance principals and world champion dancers will perform in a celebration of the traditions of Christmas in Ireland: butter-making, chasing the wren on St. Stephen’s Day, drawing down the half door and more. Traditional
Christmas carols will be sung by the Kerry Voice Squad, with music from the Kerry Traditional Orchestra. Showtime is 8 p.m., doors at 7 p.m. Tickets are $35-$55, with seating available in all areas at this time.
Sunday is the beginning of the Hanukkah holiday season, and to mark the Jewish holiday tradition there will be a performance by the San Francisco Yiddish Combo (SFYC) at the Sand Box in Sand City Sunday at 3 p.m. The Yiddish Combo was formed accidentally when a love of Klezmer music collided with their collective backgrounds in every genre except
Klezmer. Now the Yiddish Combo is embarked on a journey around the world to present their unique blend of everything that is Klezmer, mixed with years of experience in jazz, blues, folk, and even hip hop. Made up of classically trained musicians who enjoy stretching musical boundaries, the Yiddish Combo is led by cellist Rebecca Roudman, who has fronted groups all over the world bringing her virtuosic and fiery playing to stages from China to Iceland and beyond. Check out the Yiddish Combo for a fresh spin on Klezmer with plenty of recognizable nods to an eclectic mix of genres. Oh yeah, and it’s great for dancing. Tickets are $35 at www.sandboxsandcity. com. COVID protocol enforced.
Local musicians aren’t going to just sit around all holiday weekend. There’s plenty of action on the local scene this weekend. Vocalist Pamela Forman and guitarist Bruce Forman are performing with pianist Bob Phillips at Wild Fish Restaurant in Pacific Grove Thanksgiving at 5 p.m. So Pamela says, “If you’re tired of turkey or bereft of a family get-together maybe you’ll want to come to hang out and listen to some great jazzy music while enjoying a fish dinner.” Bruce is one heck of a guitarist and Bobby is a real gem of a pianist, and Pamela sings like a lark. Your move.
Rocking blues band The Eldorados play at
Sly’s on Cannery Row Thanksgiving at 9 p.m. if you’re wanting to begin working off the big holiday meal right away. Johnny Tsunami and the Shoulder Hoppers bring their eclectic mix of rock’n’roll music to the Salty Seal on Cannery Row Saturday at 8 p.m. and Lucy’s in Pacific Grove Sunday afternoon at 1:30. Another great guitarist, Brad Wilson, performs his power blues music Saturday night at the Sportsman in Seaside from 8-11:30 and Sunday at Big Sur Vineyards, Carmel Valley, 3-5 p.m. And the blues-based players in the Chuck Brewer Band deliver another tasty set or so at the Salty Seal, Friday, at 8 p.m. All local shows appear to be no cover. Party on!