I only have 10 fingers but I’m pretty sure I count 11 bands over six nights at Vina Robles Amphitheatre this week. Let’s jump ahead to Wednesday, Oct. 11, when alt-rock juggernauts The Used headline a three-band show with Sleeping with Sirens and Dead American. If you’re wracked with teen angst or you want to revisit your teen angst past, this is the show.
The Used are touring in support of their ninth album, 2023’s Toxic Positivity, which in press materials vocalist Bert McCracken described as a “day-in-the-life journey of a depressed, anxiety-ridden person.”
“This record is quite tough for me to listen to,” he added, “because it’s a reflection of times in my life that have been some of my lowest ever.”
Take the album’s first single, “Numb,” for instance, on which McCracken sings, “Wake up and I’m underground/ I can’t see no sign of life around/ I can’t seem to find a pulse/ The reality is I’m a ghost// Me and my head are enemies/ I’m tired of fighting everything/ Lately, I’ve found it tough to give a fuck about anything// I feel numb, numb/ Does anybody else feel numb?/ I feel numb, numb/ Does anybody else feel numb?”
Other tracks include “Worst I’ve Ever Been,” “I Hate Everybody,” “Headspace,” “Dopamine,” “Dancing with a Brick Wall,” “Giving Up” … you get the idea.
“I think we have no choice but to write and write and write,” McCracken said of him and his bandmates. “It has always just been in us, and we’ve had to get it out. I read a quote once that said you either work your entire lifetime on four great pieces, or you write thousands of pieces and become great that way. Everything that we feel, I think it always makes for a good song.”
Live the angst Wednesday, Oct. 11 (7:30 p.m.; $45 to $60 at vinaroblesamphitheatre.com).
Don’t forget, Nederlander Concerts also has Shakey Graves on his Movie of the Week Tour playing the Vina Robles Amphitheatre on Thursday, Oct. 5 (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $39.50 to $69.50 at vinaroblesamphitheatre.com). Flipturn opens the show.
Fleetwood Mac fans can indulge their passion for the British-American rock act when Rumours of Fleetwood Mac performs on Friday, Oct. 6 (8 p.m.; all ages; $35 to $155 at vinaroblesamphitheatre.com), delivering hits like “Big Love,” “Warm Ways,” “Dreams,” “Caroline,” “Hold Me,” “The Chain,” “Seven Wonders,” and “Say You Love Me.” The tribute band is personally endorsed by Fleetwood Mac founding member Mick Fleetwood.
Seminal grunge rock act Alice in Chains returns to Vina Robles on Saturday, Oct. 7 (8 p.m.; all ages; $59.50 to $75 at vinaroblesamphitheatre.com). Their most recent album, Rainier Fog (2018), reached No. 1 across Billboard’s Rock, Alternative, and Hard Music Charts and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album. That was their 11th nomination, though they’ve never won. With more than 30 million albums sold worldwide, they seem to be doing just fine without a Grammy. Royal Thunder opens.
Banda MS plays on Sunday, Oct. 8 (8 p.m.; all ages; $75 to $160 at vinaroblesamphitheatre.com). Hailing from Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico, the band has won 18 Billboard Latin Music Awards, and took top honors at the 2020 Latin Billboard Music Awards in the Top Latin Album and Regional Mexican Artist of the Year awards. A recent single, “¿Cuáles Fronteras?” features rapper Ice Cube.
Next Thursday, Oct. 12, two post-punk icons share the bill: Psychedelic Furs and Squeeze (7 p.m.; all ages; $50 to $70 at vinaroblesamphitheatre.com). Both of these bands were a big part of the soundtrack of my life in the ’80s, with Psych Fur hits such as “Love My Way,” “Pretty In Pink,” “Heaven,” “The Ghost In You,” and “Heartbreak Beat”; and Squeeze hits such as “Cool for Cats,” “Up the Junction,” “Pulling Mussels From A Shell,” “Black Coffee in Bed,” and “Labeled With Love.” Classic!
Fremont Theater
SLO’s historic Fremont Theater kicks off its week with Australian psychedelic rock act Psychedelic Porn Crumpets on Thursday, Oct. 5 (8 p.m.; all ages; $23 at seetickets.us). Fans of King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard and Tame Impala will dig them. Orion’s Belte and Pancho & The Wizards open.
South Sacramento rapper DB.Boutabag takes the stage on Saturday, Oct. 7 (9 p.m.; all ages; $25 at prekindle.com) with opening acts Kai Bandz and Lou Deezi. If you know, you know.
Avatar: Chimp Mosh Pit Tour arrives on Sunday, Oct. 8 (9 p.m.; all ages; $34 at prekindle.com), so prepare to dance, devil, dance, with a band that bills itself as “the greatest metal circus on the planet.” Orbit Culture and The Native Howl open.
Finally, Morflo Records and Offbeat present EDM act Mersiv with Minnesota, Stooki Sound, and Molokai on Thursday, Oct. 12 (7 p.m.; all ages; $25 at prekindle.com). Get your dose of dance, electronica, and U.K. rap.
Numbskull
and Good Medicine
Thanks to Good Medicine Presents and Numbskull, amazing string band AJ Lee & Blue Summit plays The Siren on Sunday, Oct. 8 (8 p.m.; 21-and-older; $18 at goodmedicinepresents.com). Great folk and bluegrass musicianship and arresting harmony singing is the earmark of this Santa Cruz band that first played in 2015 and now has two albums under its belt: the 2019 eclectic debut Like I Used To and the more traditional bluegrass 2021 follow-up I’ll Come Back.
Singer-songwriter and mandolinist AJ Lee has some amazing pipes and writes arresting songs. On the new record, tracks like “Put Your Head Down” and “Faithful” are more classic bluegrass while others like “Lemons and Tangerines” and “I’ll Come Back” sound like Americana influenced by country, soul, swing, rock, and jam music. Mother Jones magazine asked of Lee, “Could this kid be the next Alison Krauss?” She very well might be.
The Siren
Also at The Siren, see country traditionalist Jesse Daniel on Friday, Oct. 6 (8 p.m.; 21-and-older; $18 at tixr.com). According to press materials, “It is no secret that Jesse Daniel puts on one hell of a live show. With his top-notch band, he’s been touring the country for years and earning fans the old-fashioned way: with honest songs played well. The California native is blazing the trail for a new wave of traditional artists, bringing his hard-core country music to stages all over the U.S.” Victoria Bailey opens.
Mellowdown Productions presents The Pink Spiders on Tuesday, Oct. 10 (7:30 p.m.; 21-and-older; $15 at tixr.com). Rising out of Nashville, they fuse “power pop hooks with raucous punk spirit and a freewheeling attitude that earned them a reputation for chaos, especially on the road.” Sounds like a party.
Rock/rap act Rehab with special guests 2HK plays The Siren on Thursday, Oct. 12 (7:30 p.m.; 21-and-older; $22 at tixr.com). Formed in the late 1990s in Georgia, Rehab has two albums and charted two singles on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks charts, one of which—”Bartender Song”—became a Hot 100 and country hit.
SLO Brew Rock
Don’t forget about Dirtwire, which brings its “blend of ethnomusicology and the psychedelic trance state, gut-bucket delta blues” to SLO Brew Rock on Thursday, Oct. 5 (doors at 7 p.m.; 18-and-older; $23 at ticketweb.com).
Rebels & Renegades presents the always entertaining Mike and the Moonpies on Saturday, Oct. 7 (doors at 7 p.m.; 18-and-older; $19 at ticketweb.com). The Austin-based neo-traditionalist and Americana act was formed in 2007 by singer-songwriter Mike Harmeier. They’re now touring in support of their eighth album, One to Grow On. Country singer Taylor Hunnicutt opens.
SLO Brew Live and (((folkYEAH!))) present Jalen Ngonda on Wednesday, Oct. 11 (doors at 7 p.m.; 18-and-older; $20 at ticketweb.com). The soul singer cut his teeth playing organ and singing in church, and he now plays guitar and sings in a sweet old-school falsetto—think Smokey Robinson or Curtis Mayfield. He’s opened for Laura Mvula and Lauryn Hill at the Montreal Jazz Festival, as well as Thee Sacred Souls’ U.S. tour. Semi-local soul and R&B act The Charities opens.
More soul and funk await when Diggin Dirt with opener Mininova plays Thursday, Oct. 12 (doors at 7 p.m.; 18-and-older; $17 at ticketweb.com). The septet hails from the redwood curtain in Humboldt County and is known for an “intoxicating and infectious sound fueled by a blazing horn section, pulsating rhythms, and searing guitars,” according to their bio. They’ve “been known to entice even the shyest of wallflowers to start movin’ and groovin’.”
The Clark Center
Prince fans, brace yourselves because Rock.It Boy Entertainment of America and James Elliott Entertainment present Prince Again: A Tribute to Prince on Friday, Oct. 6 (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $40 to $50 at clarkcenter.org). They pay homage by delivering all his top hits with deft dance moves and stagecraft. Hear “Little Red Corvette,” “1999,” “Kiss,” “Cream,” “Diamonds & Pearls,” “I Wanna Be Your Lover,” “Purple Rain,” and more.
Cal Poly Arts
Nordic acoustic act Dreamers’ Circus plays Cal Poly’s Spanos Theatre on Tuesday, Oct. 10 (7:30 p.m.; all ages; tickets start at $42 at calpolyarts.org). They formed more than 10 years ago, the result of a live jam session in Copenhagen.
The trio plays a range of instruments that includes fiddle, accordion, piano, and cittern, mining their backgrounds in traditional and roots music and mixing in a “genre-bending amalgam of folk sensitivity, jazz improvisation, and classical complexity distilled through an openness to popular music influences,” according to press materials.
The trio—piano and accordion player Nikolaj Busk, violinist Rune Tonsgaard Sorensen, and cittern player Ale Carr—have won five Danish Music Awards and international acclaim. Amazing musicianship!
More music …
Don’t forget about the old-time country barn dance at the historic Octagon Barn Center this Thursday, Oct. 5 (6 p.m.; all ages; $25 presale at eventbrite.com or $30 at the door), hosted by the Seven Sisters Folklore Society. Enjoy an evening of square dancing and two-stepping during this fundraising concert for The SLO Land Conservancy with music by local string band the SLO County Stumblers and North Carolina country and honky-tonk band Hearts Gone South.
The SLO Symphony presents Rachmaninov Rocks this Saturday, Oct. 7 (7:30 p.m.; all ages; $12 to $82 at pacslo.org), in Cal Poly’s Performing Arts Center. The concert features pianist Ilya Yakushev performing Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2, and flanking this work, the symphony under the baton of Maestro Andrew Sewell will feature two American works—Fanfare for an Uncommon Man by John Stevens and Symphony No. 1 in E minor by Florence Price. Δ
Contact Senior Staff Writer Glen Starkey at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Oct 5-12, 2023.