The 7,000-seat main arena at the Monterey Fairgrounds will host Bob Dylan on August 21 (tix on sale July 8 for $60). Visit Another Planet Entertainment at 10am, JULY 8 to get TIX!
This won't be Dylan's first visit to Monterey County; the prophetic folkster played Laguna Seca Daze back in June of 1995.
My buddy's reaction, after his first time witnessing master banjoist Béla Fleck play live (with bassist Edgar Meyer and tabla player Zakir Hussain) in Carmel, said it all: At the intermission, he went on a tangent about Herman Hesse's Siddhartha before sneaking off with the uncontrollable urge to write. Fleck has a knack for inspiring his audiences to do creative things and after 30 years touring the globe and recording more than 75 albums, the genius musician appears to just be getting started. Over this past year, Fleck has been touring with longtime collaborator Edgar Meyer and tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain, playing pieces from their recent release, The Melody of Rhythm: Triple Concerto & Music for Trio. Learn more about Fleck in my interview with him, HERE.
The sold out crowd at the Sunset Center hung on every note as the trio played tightly wound improvisational jams textured in undeniable musical theory. The audience even dug the in-between-song banter.
After two, hour-long sets, the trio garnered a well-deserved standing ovation and returned to play one of Fleck's classic Flecktones' tunes as its encore.
Monterey County's Esik Melland, of the hip-hop outfit Realization, has a lot on his plate. Along with a new solo LP Better Days and his side venture Projekt S.E.E.R., Melland can put together one hell of a hip-hop showcase in the not-so-hip-hop-friendly Monterey.
Saturday, June 19's five-group lineup at the Blue Fin, culminated in a mesmerizing performance by Scarub of Los Angeles-based The Living Legends. See a preview of the show in theMonterey County Weekly. The Joint Venture—featuring J. Scrawls and DJ Mike J—started things off with high-energy nuggets from their debut album, The Defacing the Currency EP.
One of Projekt S.E.E.R.'s MCs delivered some lyrical cocktails that were evocative of the slam poet great, Saul Williams.
And headliner Scarub, masterfully spouted a 45-minute set that included tunes from his The Classic EP like “Live From Los Angeles Pt. 1.” Following his performance, the member of The Living Legends indulged fans with photos, autographs and conversation.
This wasn't the first time a member of the Living Legends appeared in Monterey County: A few years ago, Grouch performed at CSUMB and last year, MURS came to the Fox Theater in Salinas. Check out the Weekly's Walter Ryce's story on last year's Salinas hip-hop show.
Nine bands played 40-minute sets on Saturday at the Woodsist Festival, present by(((folkYEAH!))), at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur. The weather was perfect and the vibe was pleasant. Festival curator, creator of the Woodsist record label and singer-guitarist of the Brooklyn-based Woods, said "It's a no-brainer," whenever he's asked if he wants to play in Big Sur. See story in Monterey County Weekly, HERE.
The event included a heartfelt solo set from Philly-folkster Kurt Vile, who called the audience "sweet," in between his tunes with matter-of-fact lyrics.
Another standout was the heavy trance and face-melting guitar from San Francisco's Moon Duo, made up of Wooden Shjips' Ripley Johnson on guitar and Sanae Yamada on keys and effects. The duo's set included the hypnotic, "Motorcycle, I Love You."
New York's Woods only played three songs, but each was magically flooded with jamming improve in the Grateful Dead tradition.
After selling out two straight San Francisco shows, the rising trio the xx, played to a crowd of about 250 on Thursday (6-3-10) night at the Henry Miller Library. "It's a pretty magical place," bassist-singer Oliver Sim said of his first visit to Big Sur, before taking the stage. The all-black stage glowed with a purple hue as the young musicians dazzled the audience with a tight, 1-hour set featuring favorites like "Intro," "VCR" and the international hit, "Crystalised."
