Santa Cruz County live entertainment picks for the week of Aug. 14
WEDNESDAY 8/14
COUNTRY
PHIL MARSH
Cats may have nine lives, but Phil Marsh has 10. A founding member of freaky Berkeley folk outfit the Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band, Marsh spent the ’60s at the bleeding edge of the hippie movement. At the end of the decade, he took part in one of the music industry’s most infamous pranks, when CGSB recorded and released The Masked Marauders, a hoax Dylan/Jagger/Beatles collab album based on a joke review in Rolling Stone. Since then, the Bay native has been a guitarist for Country Joe McDonald and a documentary soundtrack composer. MIKE HUGUENOR
7:30 p.m. Michael’s On Main, 2591 Main St., Soquel. $10. 479-9777
THURSDAY 8/15
FUNK
DIGGIN DIRT
Is polyester the funkiest kind of clothing on Earth? If you answered yes, then Humboldt County seven-piece Diggin’ Dirt is precisely the kind of funk band you’ve been waiting for. Not a single member is wearing the exact same wacky, ’70s-pattern shirts at any given show. We’re talking about a revolution in color! Oh, and they also play pretty spectacular psych-infused, high-energy, deep-funk jams, punctuated with horns and Zach Alder’s squealing, soulful voice as the band’s charismatic front man. AC
8:30 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $10 adv/$15 door. 479-1854.
COMEDY
CAITLIN GILL
Caitlin Gill wants you to know she thinks you’re beautiful. Don’t believe us? Check out the preview single from her latest album release, Major, which dropped on Aug. 2. “We Are Beautiful” was recorded at the iconic Punch Line in San Francisco, and is packed with raw, outrageous, self-affirming fun. On Aug. 15, she kicks off a six-date West Coast CD release tour starting at DNA’s Comedy Lab. MAT WEIR
8 p.m. DNA’s Comedy Lab, 155 River St., Santa Cruz. $20 adv/$25 door. 900-5123.
FRIDAY 8/16
ELECTRO-FUNK
PLANET BOOTY
Dance music should have a sense of humor. You’re on the dance floor, getting sweaty and making a fool of yourself—why not laugh, too? Oakland trio Planet Booty gets this. The group has some seriously booty-shaking electro-funk grooves, but also some funny lyrics about booty shaking. “Your booty is evidence of a higher power,” goes one line in “Junk in The Trunk.” In the song’s video, the band turns a funeral into a sermon on the power of booty, which transforms into a twerking dance party. AC
9 p.m. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $10 adv/$15 door. 429-6994.
SATURDAY 8/17
GARAGE-ROCK
THE NUDE PARTY
The Nude Party is a band of six lovable dudes who spent their college years in North Carolina playing ’60s-drenched rock at frat parties, often butt-naked. They grew up and put on some clothes but still bust out catchy, twangy garage-rock for crowds—infectious and fun, with some serious chops, and an undeniable affinity for the time when brown-leather-fringe vests were a thing. It’s classy party music: rowdy callbacks, tambourines and spooky organ riffs, but so well polished you’d think they’d never rolled into a frat party nude. AMY BEE
9 p.m. Felton Music Hall, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $10. 704-7113.
SUNDAY 8/18
CABARET
DEVOTCHKA
There was a time when everyone’s Winamp playlist included soundtrack items like “Requiem for a Dream Song” and “Theme from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” In those days, DeVotchKa often snuck in, Trojan-horse style, infiltrating playlists via pivotal songs on heartstring-tugging soundtracks, like the delicate harmonium-and-piano anthem “How It Ends” from Everything is Illuminated. Known for writing tunes with wordly flair and a bit of sass (it started as a backing band for burlesque shows), singer Nick Urata is known to break out a Greek bouzouki now and again. MH
8 p.m. Felton Music Hall, 6275 Hwy. 9, Felton. $20 adv/$24 door. 335-2800.
MONDAY 8/19
JOHN PIZZARELLI TRIO
John Pizzarelli didn’t wait until Nat “King” Cole’s 100th birthday to celebrate the hugely influential jazz pianist and supremely suave pop star. A dexterously swinging guitarist and accomplished rhythm singer with a light, pleasing tone, Pizzarelli has spent much of his career exploring the Cole songbook, starting with his breakthrough 1994 album Dear Mr. Cole. His latest release, 100 Year Salute to Nat King Cole, is a beautifully measured take on a set of songs indelibly associated with the peerless Cole. He’s joined by bassist Mike Karnon and the brilliant Australian pianist Konrad Paszkudzki. ANDREW GILBERT
7 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $42 adv/$47.25 door. 427-2227.
TUESDAY 8/20
INDIE
THE PALMS
Nights are balmy in L.A., and the air thrums with unmistakable energy. That could be the sheer number of cars rumbling along the mazes of asphalt, or maybe it’s the result of throngs of people ready for anything to happen at any moment. L.A. has a touch of dreamscape magic, like a good pop song that comes alive with the windows open, even if you have to smell the dump truck in front of you. The Palms has a similar flavor in its indie-pop tunes; the joy of drifting along, full of potential, weightless above the refuse, briefly oblivious to the encroaching blight. AB
