What's on this weekend? Lots. Tonight, Silverlake in Pomona happens at the Glass House-and we admit, it would have been great if a band just called themselves 'Silverlake in Pomona' because it's either completely amazing or utterly ridiculous, probably depending on how drunk you are.
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But the name refers to an event rather than a group-White Arrows, the Superhumanoids and others are the ones appearing on stage that night, for all we know to help scope out possible friendly spots to land in once Spaceland changes its identity in March.
Also this evening, Raul Malo will be putting on a set at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, so don't be surprised if you find a slew of country fans of a certain age beating down the door to see that show. Check out our interview with him here. Malo's impact isn't just that, of course-if it's a stretch to say the Mavericks were Miami's equivalent of the mix-and-match approach of Los Lobos, then like East LA's finest both Malo's old group and solo career are most clearly dedicated to following pan-American muses wherever they might lead him.
Saturday finds Too $hort raising a little hell once more, this time around at the Grove of Anaheim. The Bay Area MC has long since moved into living legend status for his blizzard of releases and collaborations over the years, and if he seems to trendhop as much as make his own mark, it's because it's impossible to imagine a lot of hip-hop without him. (Just to pick one example, would he have done a hyphy album if nearly everyone in hyphy hadn't grown up listening to him to start with?) His most recent album Still Blowin' hasn't made much of a commercial mark but that's not going to stop him any:
Saturday is another Glass House show of note, with No Age playing a show following on from their recent European tour. Be sure to show up early for one of the openers, though: OFF!, the brusquely but appropriately so titled band that puts together, among others, Black Flag/Circle Jerks veteran Keith Morris, Redd Kross's Steve Macdonald and Mario Rubalcaba, San Diego's drumming god who really should be at least as well known now as Josh Freese is. They're featured in our music section this week and doubtless will make a very good case as to why catching them all is not merely desired but necessary:
That Saturday features a fair amount of contemporaries of OFF! doing their own thing over at Alex's Bar in Long Beach – but then again, the Adolescents will never grow old. (Though there is something funny about them playing a 21-and-over show.) With openers including the Crowd and White Flag it's another celebration of punk rock refusing to die, or at least not doing so without a good loud fight and plenty of singalongs. (Because “Kids of the Black Hole” alone should have been at least as famous as “Amoeba,” if not more so.) Plenty of new material from the forthcoming The Fastest Kid Alive will be on offer, so head on out:
Sunday has Inspector over at the Detroit Bar, and rarely has one band so clearly and proudly from a distant city – Monterrey, Mexico in this case – seemed like they belonged so specifically in OC or SoCal in general. But that's because their pepped-up and full-on embrace of ska in all its forms, starting with their founding in 1995, is part and parcel with their love of Mexican music and punk and much more besides. Plus, when you get members of Maldita Vecindad and Café Tacuba singing on a song like “Amnesia,” you've got something good going.
