THE FRESNAN

Music In Fresno Tonight: Bilal @ Fulton 55 and Some Punk's Birthday @ Audie's

This is one of those shows that we're glad Fresno has Fulton 55 around to make happen: Bilal. He is a soulful Grammy nominated artist from Philly with a single ("Soul Sista") that stayed on the Billboards Top 20 R&B singles charts for 23 weeks.

Bilal Oliver's "Little One Summer Tour" is a collaborative effort with Autism Speaks (Bilal has a son with Autism). Beisdes showing off Bilal's talents, the tour is also an effort to raise awareness for Autism.

Also playing tonight is Fresno's own Epiphany Tones. Tickets. Bilal:

Bilal - Levels (Live) from Plug Research on Vimeo.

 

AUDIE'S OLYMPIC

It's some person named Ubie, Birthday. Playing is Iwanaga, The Velisha, Drunk in Public, Born Loser, It'll Grow Back and Deadbeats.
[8pm, $3, 21+]

Focused On Fresno: What In Hell Is Going On Here?

As many of you have seen, Celebration Church has taken over the old Levitz building on West Shaw (their sign is a big as the old Levitz sign, you can't miss it). If you've seen that, then you've probably seen the big ass dominoes they put on the front facade. What the shit is that about?

Was Jesus a big dominoes player? Is it some sorta sick inside joke that only Celebration Church people get? You twisted sickos.

Music In Fresno Tonight: HEY! Don't You Know It's A School Night? You're Right, Fuck It.

Three shows going on tonight. CYC and Bel-Tower are active even though school is back. Nice.

THE BEL-TOWER:

Second time back to Fresno for Olympia, WA hardcore punks: Outlook. They apparently put on a hell of a show last time through so don't miss this one.

THE CYC:

Lions! Tigers! Bears! Besides an awesome name they are a experimental rock band from Los Angeles and nice following. They also had some van trouble and missed a Stockton show over the weekend, hopefully they got one, if not all, of the Pep Boys on that shit for tonight.

FULTON 55:

Touring singer-songwriters: Ian Axel, Allie Moss, and Bess Rogers. Tickets.

Bandgeek!: Dude. Wouldn't It Be Kick Ass If You Could Convince Kopi To Go Out Bandhopping With You WITH His Greek Dress On? Yes. Yes It Would.

Come on now, Fresno. Too many choices on Saturday. You got Greek Fest, NoTown Roller Girls, Billy Crystal filming a movie during the Grizzlies game (he'll be doing play-by-play in a booth), Beehive's Tweetup at the Fresno Zoo, BBQ thingy downtown, we could go on.

In fact we will. We'll go on telling you all the coolass music stuff happening this weekend. Ohhh shitballs, it's BANDGEEK!:

FRIDAY

FULTON 55: Melodic R&B from Charlottesville, VA with Parachute.  Plus, Fresno's GhostTown (Andrew Thornton from Flight 409). Info:

BABYLON: Bug It'll Grow Back about their Portland trip last weekend and then watch Sawtooth, The Remedy and Chris Elkins:

CYC: NO BULLSHIT, guys. No. You can flex your head though.

KUPPAJOES: LA rock with Culprit. Fresno rock with Mercy Fists. Dinuba pop with Anthony Polanco. Fresno experimental rock with Captain We're Losing Speed. Info:

 

AUDIE'S OLYMPIC: Southern California roots and rockabilly band, Moonlight Trio. Info:

THE BEL-TOWER: Reggae rock with Fresnans The White Glove Service, plus the Red Coats, Morgan Hill's Just Chill and more. [7pm, $2, All Ages]

STARLINE: Mix of hip-hop (like BruNo dA uNo) and rock type stuff (like Valley Of The Kings). Event page. Info:

SATURDAY

FRESNO CHAFFEE ZOO: Fresno favorite indie kids, Fierce Creatures, playing IN THE ZOO for the Beehive's Tweetup. Ya just got to have $5 and know somebody with a Twitter account to RSVP for you.

Frebbys 2011: Deadline for Nominations Is Tonight!

Who has been doing cool junk with Fresno's internets over the past year? That's what the Frebby folks are wondering. They would like you to tell them. Like, maybe go so far as to nominate folks for whatever cool thing it is they're doing. So go here and do that.

Tonight (Friday) at midnight is when nominations end so... get drunk and start nominating some crazy ass stuff.

Watch the videos for more info:

Frebby Nomination Week! from James Collier on Vimeo.

2011 Frebby Awards - It's Nomination Time! from James Collier on Vimeo.>

 

Do This Tonight: Eat Tacos. Watch Baseball. Drink.

Pretty genius event going on at Chukchansi Park tonight. During the Grizzlies game against the River Cats (Go A's!) will be the Taco Truck Throwdown. Local taco trucks competing for your tastebuds' affection. All the info on the event can be found over at our friendly rivials the Fresno Beehive or Fresno Tacos. Tacos AND Thirsty Thursdays? Look. Out.

Wonder if the Pedal Junkie's will be a taco dashing to it:

Music In Fresno Tonight: Big Sandy Flying His 'Boys', Motel Drive, Buster Blue, David Dondero and RC

They are no strangers to Audie's Olympic stage; Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys. They've played on Conan O'Brien and the Grand Ole Opry stage too but, hey, do those places have ice-cold tubs of beer like Audie's? Well... maybe the Opry does. Anyways, check their American roots swing rock tonight along with Fresno's own Motel Drive. By the way, they are vying for a spot at this year's Fresno Fair and they could use your vote.

And hey, Motel Drive just clued us in to a new song they got. It's a little different, more stripped down than we're used to with Motel. But it's good. Click below and have a listen:

Motel Drive "One More Shot"

>>>Also tonight in Fresno, at Fulton 55, it's Reno American roots rock band: Buster Blue. Plus folk rock from Duluth with David Dondero. And local talent: Awahnichi - you may know him better as RC from Rademacher and El Olio Wolof. [9pm, $8, 21+]

FUSE Fest 2011: Reid Gives. You Give. Now Where The Hell Is The FUSE Lineup?

Last year Reid May's band, Trumpet Solo, played F.U.S.E. Fest and they had a good time. But you won't see a return to the lineup for Trumpet Solo because Reid moved out of state. So not metal.

Maybe it's a little bit of homesickness or he just plain likes giving back to Fresno's music community, because Reid created a EP specifically to raise money for this year's Fresno Urban Sound Experience. The Downtown Fresno music local music festival is happening Friday September 30th - Saturday October 1st.

If you download his $4 EP "Back To The Garage" off of Bandcamp, all the proceeds go to F.U.S.E. Now THAT is pretty damn metal. Listen and buy:

In other money-raising-for-FUSE-fest news, the Kickstarter Campaign is up and going. There are many days left but no reason to wait for the last minute to be a backer. You being a backer is how F.U.S.E. stays an authentic/indie/DIY style local music festival. We want to keep highlighting Downtown Fresno venues and local music talent, without having to get the corporate sponsor - Personally, we've been to enough shows with a Coors/Bud Light stage.

More F.U.S.E. news, the lineup announcement is coming soon. It'll be over 30 acts this year. No pre-party night because it's a full two day event. Should be fun to figure out which night has the best lineup and which night has the best venues. We say both.

Focused On Fresno: You Should Totally Go Golfing Today, Running Horse Is Wide Open

We hear Running Horse is giving a discount on green fees today and you don't even need some shitty online coupon:

There are no fees. Just hop on.

Summer rules are in play though. You get a free drop away from any dirt patches or discarded televisions. Greens are pretty fast, fyi.

Tonight @ Fulton 55: Surfer Joe & His Boss Combo

There just can't be many Italian surf rock bands running around. That's one reason why tonight is a special one at Fulton 55 with Surfer Joe & his Boss Combo, all the way from Livorno, Italy. Locals the Neptunes will teach Surfer Joe what Fresno surf music is all about as they will be opening up. [8pm $6, 21+]

Surfer Joe:

Tonight @ Audie's Olympic: Aldea, Poor Man's Poison and I Do Not Exist ... still existing

A couple of weeks ago, before a show at C.A.F.E. Infoshop, I Do Not Exist was all like "You better not miss this show because it's totally our last one forever, guys." And we were all sadface. Another Fresno band with great potential broken up before their time.

Well tonight their playing their second show SINCE that announcement. Whatabunchaliars. It's cool, we need more bands like IDNX to stay around. They're playing Audie's Olympic with Hanford's Poor Man's Poison which, if you haven't seen them, are very good. So good that we now claim them to be Fresnans. Sorry Hanford. We're bigger.

Also playing tonight is Seattle rockbluesfolky band, Aldea. They are good too and we'd claim them as Fresnans but then Seattle might get pissed and things would get all weird. You should have a listen to them. We really like the song "Dreams". We'd like to give it a music-blog-quote-worthy review but we don't have the capabilities. Listen:

Fresno Bee Fail: A Story About The City Turning On Some Fountains At Fulton Mall Becomes 'Homeless Dude Bathing In A Fountain'

If you get the ink version of the Fresno Bee (like us), then you saw it on Saturday morning. Right below the fold. A homeless dude taking a bath in a Fulton Mall fountain. No, it wasn't a story about how Fresno's homeless are the most hygiene conscious in the country. It was a story about the City Of Fresno turning on some of the Fulton Mall fountains.

Nice. Finally the city is doing something positive with the Fulton Mall. Things are looking up a little bit. Maybe I'll go check those fountains out...THEN BOOM: homeless dude in fountain.

Those backwardsass Fresnans that are scared of downtown just got their fodder for the next time they call Ray Appleton or Chris Daniels Daniel (or for comments on the Bee's website).

One picture. Two steps back for downtown.

[Photo stolen from here]

BANDGEEK!: There's A Little Something To Offend And Please Every Fresnan

[Insert opening rant here. Setup the weekend music options for Fresno. Write funny lines. If unable to come up with funny lines just cuss a few times because people like seeing words like "shitballs". Then make sure to end rant with "It's time to BANDGEEEEEK!]

FRIDAY

CYC: Southern California hardcore thrash outfit: Creatures. If you're a fan of Slayer or Hatebreed you'll probably like these dudes. Also playing is Fatal Birth, Rise!, Running Scared and more. Show by Religious Appeal:

KUPPAJOES: Interesting band for Kupppa, this feels like a Audie's show. Fort Smith, Arkansas band White Collar Sideshow is playing and they are as into the theatrics as much as the music. Also, Levi The Poet, Drag Me 2 Shore and Operazoo.

AUDIE'S OLYMPIC: First Glen Delpit will do his Friday night thing from 7-9. Then, a birthday party you don't have to buy a present for. Plus there's beer. Hells yes. Performing is Death Alley Motor Cult, Hammer Down Sindrum, Low Crawl and From The Fallen. Details:

FULTON 55: They say that the imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so Creative Fresno should be flattered as hell that the Soulflower Group has taken their Blender idea and pushed it up a notch. Music community types getting together for drinks and music. Details:

THE BEL-TOWER: If you're not offended by the any of the following band names, then you may have no soul. Black Fag - The "Absolutely Fabulous" Tribute to Black Flag! The Misshits (featuring members of the Midnight Howlers, Giddy Ups and Sci Fi Nightmares). Plus Donkey Punch, Dead Beats, Cousin Fister, and the Thirtyfuckingtwos. Really:

Music In Fresno Tonight: 1776, Westerns, Mallard, Niilo, Revelators and Seeds

AUDIE'S OLYMPIC

Portland rock band (with a 60s vibe) making a return trip to Fresno: 1776. Fresno is represented soundly with Westerns and Style Like Revelators. Some fine examples of the Westerns work can be found on their new EP here, check it:

TOKYO GARDEN

Maybe the Greatest Bearded Fresnan around: Niilo Smeds (you may know him from Wheels Of Fortune) and Mallard (the Bay Area/Fresno band with Greer McGettrick, formally from Rademacher) are playing at Tokyo Garden tonight. Listen to some Mallard here. Starts around 9:00. It may be $5 or free or something.

EUREKA BURGER

Southern Cali reggae rock group: Dub Seeds. There will be good beer and underwhelming burgers (Who says this isn't a food blog!?) too. Show goes from 9:30 to Midnight and there is no cover.

Vote For This: Dusty Buns Being On Season Three Of The Great Food Truck Race

UPDATE: Just reminding readers that you can vote every date (use all 10 to Dusty) and text- FT044 to '66789'. Currently they are ranked #5.

OG post:
In case you didn't see this on The Beehive or on the walls of Facebook or hear about it while standing in line in front of Cafe Corazon: Fresno's own Dusty Buns Bistro Bus has entered into a competition to get on season three of the Food Network's Great Food Truck Race.

How they can win is by getting more online votes than any other food truck in the running. So go vote now. You can vote once a day and give as many as 10 votes to Dusty Buns.

If we were Dusty Buns, secretly, we'd hope we didn't win. Really, after watching some of the episodes, the whole food truck race thing looks like a big pain in the ass. But vote because Dusty Buns doesn't seem to mind working their ass off. Their stellar food and bus is proof of it.