Ky-Mani Marley also plays that Friday night at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, with Irieside and Jaam Kwest also on the bill. No surprise that Marley is one of Bob's children, but unlike the loose axis around Ziggy Marley and his immediate siblings, Ky-Mani has taken his own indirect path over the past 15 years and several albums, as well as a slew of acting roles, social projects and a recent autobiography. Somewhere in between all that, he presumably finds time to eat, breathe and sleep, as well as collaborate with other second-generation performers.
Jeremiah and the Red Eyes are another Friday performer, appearing at the Gypsy Den in Santa Ana along with Brandon Decker. To clear up a point–this is not Jeramiah Red, our own local group of roots rockers, but Jeremiah and the Red Eyes, based out of Los Angeles and centered on the man the band's named for, Jeremiah Sammartano, who loves his mashup of older rock styles but gives his own spin on it thanks to his contemplative singing. So we hope that's clear now. Maybe they'll tour together at some point. . . .
Saturday is another busy day–two words: Snoop Dogg. His performance at the Fox Theater Pomona might as well be a collation of greatest hits of the past two decades–not merely personal, but in general, regional and commercial terms. Still, if you had told anybody when “Deep Cover” was first released as a single in 1992 that Snoop would end up being something like a benevolent, raunchy uncle almost 20 years down the line, almost nobody would have agreed. He's happily having the last laugh:
Saturday also features Fatlip at the Tiki Bar in Costa Mesa, making it a good weekend in general for SoCal hip-hop veterans of the '90s. If Fatlip's profile isn't as high as Snoop's, then that's just a shame–his original crew, The Pharcyde, had some brilliant singles and releases and could get a crowd going at the drop of a hat, as any veterans of Lollapalooza 1994 might remember. The Tiki Bar's turning into a spot to catch a variety of shows by interesting characters, making it even more of a good reason to see what he'll be up to on that night:
That evening also has Smith Westerns a few blocks away at the Detroit Bar. The Chicago trio have been kicking around for a couple of years, but last month's release of Dye It Blonde, their second album, has resulted in a sudden blast of hype and attention. If you took our advice about catching Mott the Hoople's Ian Hunter the other week, then you might want to see what these guys do with that sound, not to mention any number of British or Anglophilic rockers from the late '60s/early '70s. (We've heard comparisons to Wizzard to T. Rex to . . .Oasis? Makes sense, really.)
Tuesday, meanwhile, will be the last of the OC Music Awards showcase performances before the finals, with the Slidebar in Fullerton hosting a pretty killer lineup of Echo Echo, Stereofix, Fiction Reform, We Are the Arsenal and Blok. Fiction Reform are our Locals Only featured performers this week; singer/guitarist Brenna Red and company are quite happily dedicated to the idea that there's not one wrong thing with black T-shirts, tattoos and shoutalong anthems. Hey, we're not going to say otherwise to that either.
