If you love live music, there’s something for you this weekend
After walking nearly nine miles back and forth from one stage to another, indulging in my inner 1980s nostalgia at the Cruel World festival at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena last weekend, then embracing my inner 1990s nostalgia at the Pearl Jam concert at the Save Mart Center in Fresno on Monday, three observations became quite clear to me.
The first is that to this particular 48year old, the difference between 1980s and 1990s nostalgia is markedly different. One is sweetly sentimental, an echo of an illusionary halcyon youth, while the other has the melancholic gravity that comes along with memories of stumbling into one’s traumatic 20s. One is “I remember those Frankie Goes to Hollywood T-shirts!” and the other is “Oh, this song reminds me of my divorce.”
The second is that between Don Felder performing “Heavy Metal (Taking a Ride)” at the Fox Theater and Devo performing “Working in the Coal Mine” at Cruel World, two songs from the 1981 “Heavy Metal” soundtrack were performed live this weekend.
The third is that audiences are exhibiting a newfound appreciation and desire for live music again. We seem to have entered into this sweet spot where our attention spans have acclimated between prioritizing real life and balancing social media in a way that there’s genuine enthusiasm by people going to and watching a performance. I’ve seen it happen with local shows as well. Folks are happy to be out and have rediscovered the power and joy in watching people play songs in front of them.
This weekend we have some noteworthy shows that run the gamut of styles and genres, as well as a reflection on what makes intangibles like nostalgia so powerful: an awareness of time passing and our place in it.
Musician David Tetz was my 2019 artist of the year and, under his rap nom de guerre NineFingers, has been releasing music
of astounding depth and power with an almost sadistic intention on inflicting as much trauma that he’s been through onto the listener. In doing so, he achieves a sense of purifying catharsis for both. He’s since relocated to Sacramento and has been slowly converting audiences there to his own particular brand of brilliant misery.
Tetz has been making the trek from Sacramento to Bakersfield to work on his upcoming multigenre EP, “XLove,” with producer and engineer Kyle Appleton at Appleton’s home studio (Appleton also helmed NineFingers’ previous release “LOOP”), inspired by his upcoming 40th birthday on Wednesday.
Of the EP, he said, “XL is the roman numeral for 40, so it’ll be about old loves but it’s also a birthday present to myself.”
He will be performing two shows for his birthday, one formally and one informally. The formal one will be on Wednesday at Self Designs Gallery and the informal one will be this Sunday at the Flight Night all-ages event at The Backstage Bakersfield.
“I’m really excited because I’m bringing Jehdiah out for this (his birthday show in Sacramento) and I’m bringing Beatnik Scum, who’s an amazing rapper from Sacramento, for his
first out-of-town show in Bakersfield,” Tetz said. “I really want to start getting that highway going.”
The rest of the lineup is a doozy and I recommend you make it to the show early to catch all the artists performing. Besides Beatnik Scum and NineFingers (who will perform earlier on the bill), make sure to catch ModernDayRome and Lokust Luciano. Both are formidable talents and have the potential for breaking through to greater heights in recognition and artistry.
Headliner T-Davis will be on NineFingers’ upcoming EP on one track.
The Backstage Bakersfield will also host another returning Bakersfield native: Elle Archer from Portland, Ore., who performs with her band under the name Shaylee.
Her latest album, “ShortSighted Security,” continues her penchant for complex, wild, fiery swings between the vulnerable and the seething, backed by some killer music. The ending to “Please Talk to Me” is simply sublime.
And while her direct self-awareness can be at times confrontational (“I want you to know, you
can be free/ Just like me,” from the track “Ophelia”) or defiant (“I cannot abide by any rules/ No matter how logical/ I think that I am going to discover why there’s rules in the first place” on the catchy “Danger Divides”), it’s fearless. “Short-Sighted Security” is a bold, impressive, gorgeous — and sometimes exhausting — album.
Also on the bill are Caleb Nichols from San Luis Obispo and local acts Indigo Hush (highly recommended) and Big Stretch.
Shaylee, with Caleb
Nichols, Indigo Hush, and Big Stretch, 8 p.m. Friday, The Backstage Bakersfield, 4609 New Horizon Blvd. #7. $10 presale, $15 at the door; eventbrite.com.
Flight Night, featuring T-Davis & the Flight Boyz, Locust Luciano, ModerDayRome, Tray Moox, Mr. Penguin, NineFingers, Beatnik Scum, Chuck, and Jaymeson, 4 to 11 p.m. Sunday, The Backstage, 4609 New Horizon Blvd. #7. $15.
Also this Sunday, intense post-hardcore act Hail the Sun will perform at Temblor Brewing Co. The relentless
sound of the band should bring listeners back to Jerry’s Pizza’s sweaty 2000-2005 post-hardcore era when these kinds of shows were happening just about every other day. The band’s latest release is an instrumental version of its 2021 album “New Age Filth.”
But the greatest appeal to this show for me is
opening act Andrés, aka Andres Aparicio, who is making a local stop before his upcoming national tour, which includes a performance at the So What Music Festival in Arlington, Texas, later this month.
If one revisit to those dank, dark days isn’t enough for you, Escape the Fate and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus will perform at the
Speakeasy Lounge at 1933 on Wednesday.
Hail the Sun, with Strawberry Girls, Andrés and Amarionette, 6 p.m. Sunday, Temblor Brewing Co., 3200 Buck Owens Suite. 200. $18;18 and over; ticketweb.com
The Dead Masquerade Tour, with Escape the Fate, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and Violent New Breed, 6 p.m. Wednesday at the 1933 Event Center, 7900 Downing Ave. $23; all ages; ticketweb.com
Other options for those seeking live music this week include Lee Rocker, bassist for the Stray Cats, who will be at World Records this Saturday, and Josh Turner, with that fantastic golden baritone voice of his, who is playing the Fox Theater Thursday in support of his latest EP, “God, Family, Country” with local blues-and-twang act The Appletons opening the show.
Lee Rocker, 8:30 p.m. Friday, World Records, 2815 F St. $45 to $55; shopworldrecords.com; 325-1982.
Josh Turner, with The Appletons, 7:30 p.m. today, Fox Theater, 2001 H St. $46 to $107; axs.com.
Contributing columnist Cesareo Garasa brings you The Lowdown on local music and entertainment every other Thursday.