Live music highlights for the week of April 18, 2018.
WEDNESDAY 4/18
ROCK
LOS LONELY BOYS
Purveyors of “Texican rock ’n’ roll,” three brothers from San Angelo, Texas—Henry, Jojo and Ringo Garza—emerged on the local music scene in the 1990s. Since then, they’ve slowly but steadily established their band Los Lonely Boys as one of the premier American Chicano rock outfits. Blending rock, country, blues, Tejano and brown-eyed soul, the group has carved a unique place for itself in pop music and gone from a small Texas family band to a Grammy-winning international sensation. CAT JOHNSON
INFO: 8 p.m. Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $28/gen, $43/gold. 423-8209.
WEDNESDAY 4/18
FUNK & SOUL
DIRTY REVIVAL
With cool grooves, impeccable instrumentation, and soul for days, Dirty Revival is a rising star of the underground funk and roots scene. Hailing from Portland, Oregon, the seven-piece has gone from a basement party band to one of the city’s standout acts. Led by vocalist and frontwoman extraordinaire Sarah Clark, Dirty Revival reworks classics and drops irresistibly funky originals driven by horns, tight percussion and Clark’s powerful, engaging voice. Also on the bill: Post Street Rhythm Peddlers. CJ
INFO: 8:30 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $7/adv, $10/door. 479-1854.
THURSDAY 4/19
PSYCH ROCK
DEAD MEADOW
Although their brand-spanking-new album is called The Nothing They Need, Dead Meadow’s two-decade-spanning career testifies to the fact that they are definitely something. Formed in the indie rock scene of D.C. in 1998, the psych-rock trio (sometimes quartet) has rocketed listeners into twistedly dizzying dimensions of sight and sound. No strangers to Santa Cruz, Dead Meadow requires you to be prepared for a mind-melting show that will leave you wondering just exactly what that bartender put in your drink. MAT WEIR
INFO: 9 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $12/adv, $15/door. 429-4135.
THURSDAY 4/19
ALT-LATIN
TROPA MAGICA
The members of Tropa Magica describe the band’s recent single, “LSD Roma,” as “psychedelic Norteño.” It’s not hard to see how this description fits with what the East L.A. group is pulling off in their music. It’s got the authentic Norteño rhythms driving the songs, but also sounds like they’ve been beamed straight from outer space. The group is new, but the members have been messing with traditional forms of Mexican music for a while, most notably with their band Thee Commons, which can best be described as “punk cumbia.” With Tropa Magica, they seem to be stretching the limits even further. AARON CARNES
INFO: 9 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $7/adv, $10/door. 479-1854.
FRIDAY 4/20
NEW WAVE
GLOVE
Back in the early ’80s, the line between punk rock and New Wave could be a very thin one. But as New Wave bands veered toward pop, you could hear a heavier embracing of synthesizers and pop hooks. New Tampa, Florida quartet Glove seems to have traveled back in time to find that crack that barely distinguished the genres and planted themselves there. They pile ’80s synth onto punky guitars, then add poppy vocals and a punk rock sneer. AC
INFO: 9 p.m. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $8. 429-6994.
SATURDAY 4/21
BLUES
ROBERT CRAY BAND
A music journalist once described the Robert Cray Band as “blues-like,” and although this may seem like a dis, it really is one of the best ways to describe them. Cray has had an illustrious, 40-year career, and has played alongside blues greats like Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy and even Stevie Ray Vaughan the night of his tragic death. However, the RCB blends a cocktail that is equal parts blues, soul, gospel and jazz, shaken up and served chilled with a twist that’s all their own. MW
INFO: 7:30 p.m. Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $49. 423-8209.
SATURDAY 4/21
PSYCHEDELIC
WOODEN SHJIPS
For the past decade, San Francisco’s Wooden Shjips has been bringing experimental, droning sounds to the psych scene. But as out-there as the group can get, there’s always an easygoing, laid-back charm to its music that feels like cracking open a beer and watching the sun rise on a lonely, contemplative Sunday morning. The latest record, the aptly titled V (yes, their fifth album), goes for an even easier-feeling sound that’s almost folk-rock. The double meaning of the album title V. is that it’s a graphic rendering of the peace symbol, something the band feels is needed in today’s negativite environment—and the music fully embodies that philosophy. AC
INFO: 8 p.m. Michael’s on Main, 2591 S. Main, Soquel. $20. 479-9777.
MONDAY 4/23
JAZZ
WILLIE JONES III QUINTET
A drummer who combines impeccable taste with irrepressible joy, Willie Jones III has spent the past 25 years carving out a stellar career as a sideman with jazz greats (Milt Jackson, Horace Silver, Michael Brecker, and Sonny Rollins, for starters) and a bandleader in his own right. More than an all-star ensemble, Jones’ quintet brings together a cast of fellow bandleaders, including trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, a fellow Los Angeles native, pianist Eric Reed, bassist Gerald Cannon, and saxophonist Ralph Moore, one of the definitive players of the 1980s who’s been gaining visibility after 15 years in the band for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
INFO: 7 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $30/adv, $35/door. 427-2227.
TUESDAY 4/24
INTERNATIONAL
VIEUX FARKA TOURE
As the story goes, legendary Malian singer and multi-instrumentalist Ali Farka Touré didn’t want his son to follow his footsteps into the music business. But the elder Touré didn’t get his way. His son Vieux Farka Touré followed his father’s lead and has become the torchbearer of the family’s musical tradition. Nicknamed the “Hendrix of the Sahara,” Touré honors his father’s legacy and keeps Malian music alive while blending it with rock, Latin music, and other African influences to create something timely and relevant for today’s international music scene. CJ
INFO: 7 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $30/adv, $40/door. 427-2227.
IN THE QUEUE
JOE KAPLOW
Bay Area by-way-of New Jersey singer-songwriter. Wednesday at Crepe Place
BASTARD SONS OF JOHNNY CASH
Alt-country standout. Thursday at Michael’s on Main
HOUSE OF FLOYD
Mind-melting Pink Floyd tribute. Friday at Rio Theatre
URIAH HEEP
Pioneering prog-rock band out of the U.K.. Saturday at Catalyst
BLACK UHURU
Legendary reggae group. Tuesday at Flynn’s Cabaret
