Friday finds DJ Ron Sleezy holding court at the Commonwealth Lounge and Grill in Newport Beach–which is an understandable thing, given that he works there. Even more understandable is that he's out to help continue what has been a thriving–and not always appreciated–continuum of DJs and venues throughout OC. Besides, if you want to go listen to David Guetta repeat himself over and over again, there are plenty of venues happy to accommodate you. DJ Bobby Soul will also be spinning.
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Friday also finds The Just Desserts at the Gypsy Den in Santa Ana, one of many performances this Austin-based duo will be carrying out throughout the state this month. What they do is a little harder to summarize–there aren't many cello/accordion duos out there–but in a world where great bands such as Gogol Bordello and Dead Can Dance and Los Amigos Invisibles exist, imagine a happy fusion of everything from klezmer to classical Indian styles, shot through with goals about musical education and artistic collaboration. Beats the heck out of the campfire sing-alongs passing for most indie rock these days.
Saturday cranks up the metal, U.K.-style, with the return of Cradle of Filth to the Fox Theatre Pomona. Led by the ever-entertaining Dani Filth, who clearly has a sense of humor about the whole thing, the band were tagged as England's answer to black metal early on. There's definitely plenty of pomp and noise, but there's also something so gleeful about them–and their over-the-top song and album titles (such as Nymphetamine)—that makes them more Hammer Horror than church burners. They're one of our feature stories this week, and tales will be told.
Saturday also finds the Reverend Horton Heat swinging through the House of Blues in Anaheim–an appropriate balancing of U.K. visitors with a band so American they might as well bleed red, white and blue. Not in a stupid way, though; it's a 20-plus-year run of amazing songs, incredible performances, brilliant senses of humor and rockabilly chops to make most of the pretenders weep. All that, and the man has a wine sideline going, too. It makes sense: You need a good red if you're going to have something like steak for dinner.
Monday means a new Detroit Bar residency: James Fletcher kicks off a month-long stand at the Costa Mesa venue. The latest in a line of SoCal drummers who seem to pop up everywhere but also have something going on their own, Fletcher released his solo debut album, The Booze & Clocks, last year. We gotta say that's one of the more enjoyable album names around. If he ever wants to live up to his English heritage and open a pub, the man's got the name ready to go. Alejandro's Awesome Surf Band and Dave Fetter of Venus Infers fill out the bill.
On Tuesday, the next OC Music Awards showcase takes place at the Gypsy Den in Santa Ana. This time around, the performers include Micah Brown, Parker Macy Blues, Foxxhound, Danny Maika and our Locals Only feature act for this week, Justin Soileau. Soileau's a fairly new local, having moved here from Texas last year. Fortunately, he brought some enjoyable songs in the classic peppy-musically/melancholy-lyrically vein with him to share from his soon-to-be rereleased debut EP, The Heat. His performance may be more low-key in comparison to the full arrangements on that effort, but it should be good nonetheless.
Wednesday means a lot more metal with Barren Earth, Finntroll, Ensiferum and Rotten Sound all playing at the Galaxy Concert Theatre in Santa Ana. Barren Earth are one of our featured acts in the music section this week and for good reason: Bassist Olli-Pekka “Oppu” Laine, veteran of metal acts such as Amorphis and Chaosbreed, recruited a slew of fellow players from his home country to create something like a Finnish metal supergroup. That may sound like a Metalocalypse joke, but they've got something.
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