THE FRESNAN

Arthop: Post No Bills, Soul Kitchens and Quiet Americans

It's Art Hop day, Fresnans. A lot going on as always. The Post No Bills exibitl sounds good as it features gig poster artwork. There is always the DCAC too:

>>>But what about after? Yes, Tokyo Garden will be doing their usual post-hop show. This one with the Quiet Americans, the Porch Yellers and Los Angeles band, George Glass. [9:30, $5]

And don't forget, if you're a North Fresnan that's too afraid to go South of Shaw to listen to live music but still want to check something out. First off: You're stupid. Second: You're in luck. Eureka Burger will have Achievement House and Fierce Creatures playing and helping raise some awareness of the Fresno Filmworks screening of Soul Kitchen:

Art Hop Night: A Variety Of Boobies

You're going to go see some boobs tonight, right? Hell yeah, it wouldn't be Art Hop without boobs. There's some other stuff too, like a "Farewell To Robert Amador" at Brodway Studios - that seems like it's important.

After the art hoping, whattya gonna do? Maybe this:

Yes, Audie's Olympic has much variety tonight. Personal favorite's, the Fay Wrays, plus Chuck Dimes, Goat, The Giddy Ups, Stummies and The Blip. 9pm - 2am and it's 5 bucks.

>>>Also, we hear that Dylan, from Wheels Of Fortune, will be playing at Tokyo Garden with some other musicians, but we're not for suresies on that.

Spanspek: The Drive To Orosi Is Totally Worth It, Fresno!

OROSI MEMORIAL HALL: No, it's technically not Fresno... or even Fresno County. But it's too cool not to post about. It's called: Spanspek. Ya see, these folks out in Orosi decided to throw an art and music festival back in 2006, something Orosi had never seen before on this level. And now, four years later, it's still going strong.

Seven music acts this year with Blacq Shampoo, Populus, Fall Of Atlas, The Trees, Zinema, Vile and our boys: Tokyo Death March. They've been posting about the bands on their website so check it out. Then take the nice little drive out to Orosi on Friday, explore a little part of the Valley you may have never seen before, and support something nice and awesome.

Oh! Hey, there's art and stuff too!

[UPDATED!] Art Hop Night: Galleries, Folk Singing and the Worst Band Name Every Created

There's always a lot of gallery action to check out at Arthop. Like, the City Arts + Gallery where they have Stephanie Pearl. There's a ton more, we recommend seeing what Donald Monroe has for recomdations - he knows of what he speaks.

Post Arthop though. There's a little bit of something. Downtown's Tokyo Garden has bit of an indie mix with Fresno's Luke Freeman (Brother Luke), folk singing Kara Harris (from Burbank via Kingsburg) and The Fling (you know, the flat tire dudes from Long Beach).

LINEUP UPDATE: It looks like The Fling is being moved to the "gametime decision" roster and Portland indie-folk-pop band, Archeology, has been moved to the starting roster. Check 'em out:

 

>>>There's something going on at Crossroads that's not post Arthop related but still music related. Playing tonight is HateFX, Hymn Of Rlyeh and probably THE worst name this blog has ever run across: Rape Tree. Seriously. Just think about that one. Wow. Well, you can go question them about it tonight:

Incoming!: 'One Night At Tokyo' This Saturday

The Creative Fresno mural fundraising event, One Night At Tokyo, is back this Saturday. This version has quality local music from Bicicleta, Almost Winter and Love Pollution. That's not your everyday Fresno mix of bands, should prove interesting. And its late start time gives you somewhere to go after you're done seeing Mayer Asshead.

Let's get geeked up for the show and check out some Love Pollution at the now defunct venue, The Captive:

*Sweet flier done by Antilabs.

Spanspek 2010: All Ages Enjoy Tokyo Death March

With less public places for all ages fun in Fresno, you know what that means: More house parties! That's not such a bad thing when you have Tokyo Death March playing at your place though:

Oh and hey, total coincidence we just posted that because, lookie here, TDM is playing this year's Spanspek Festival:

Before you say anything, yeah, we know Orosi is in Tulare County so maybe it's not right for a Fresno blog to post about it. But, we have a Conditional Use Permit that allows us one non-Fresno post every quarter - so there. Anyway, real glad Spanspek Music and Arts Festival is returning to Orosi Memorial Hall.

This year's lineup:

• Zinema
• Populus
• Blacq Sampoo
• Tokyo Death March
• Fall Of Atlas
• The Trees
• Vile

Oh hey: all ages too. Perfect because Orosi is totally out of Mirsnitchian's jurisdiction.

Fresgeek Weekend: What To Do Post, Post Arthop

Alright, so you've probably figured our where to go for Arthop at this point (and post-hop for sure). The MyCow Solo Show, CYC, the Iron Bird Cafe and the Everything Fresno store, among others, look good. But have you seen some of the cool little things going on this weekend?

FRIDAY
 >>>Tower Theatre hosts legendary dude of punk rock, print, screen and spoken word: Henry Rollins. He's returned to Fresno with another talking tour and it should be an interesting night. Famous Whitewater did a great full fanboy writeup about the show and Henry on Famous and even got to talk to him. It's a must read. Tickets can be found here or at the Tower Theatre box office.

>>>Returning this year is Movies In The Park. Every Friday throughout the Summer, the city will be showing a free movie at Eaton Plaza. Just bring a blanket to sit on or whatever and show up around sundown (you know, like we used to do at Woodward Park Drive In). This Friday's movie is the awesome (and partially filmed around Bakersfield) movie Star Trek.

>>>The first Friday of every month Creative Fresno finds a locally run place around town to meet-up with everyone to hang and talk about creative Fresno junk, usually over a cocktail or beer. This month it's at the still kinda new Mad Duck Grill and Tap Room. You can drop in anytime between 5 and 8 pm.

SATURDAY
>>>More alternative movie watching, this one is at the Tower Theatre and is hosted by Reel Pride. It's a film called Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay! Trailer it up for more info:

SUNDAY
>>>Remember when this blog was so lucky to have the talented Ms. Devoya Mayo aka Ms. Sunflower, doing some guest posting? Her biggest post was the one about Fresno needing a cooler breakfast spot. Well it looks like Devoya went and made that happen herself. She, along with Sonic Foundation, is hosting brunches at VVV's called Soulful Sundays. Check the details (clickable for better reading):

That's just a taste of what Fresno has to offer this weekend. We'll have a full rundown of what bands to see this weekend in our Bandgeek post on Friday morning. If you have something to add, please be a good Fresnan and leave a comment.

Arthop is Tonight And Yes Rademacher Will Be There

So just your monthly bloggy reminder that tonight is ArtHop. The Bee's Donald Munro is already out in front of things with the lowdown on what downtown and Tower District places you should hit up (if you have a recommendation, feel free to leave a comment).

And with ArtHop usually comes the post hop shows. And really, it's not a full showing if Rademacher isn't at Tokyo Garden. Thankfully they will be there, along with Blake Jones and the Trike Shop with a special appearance by LA's Wrong Way Driver. What's so special about it? It just is, dammit!

Hey! Check this freakyass no budget video from Wrong Way Driver:

The Tokyo G show starts at 9 or so and is likely to be $5.

Bandgeek: Cash Tributes, Underground Gardens, Indian Lakes, Watt Hype and Zoo Music,

Maybe you don't give a damn about live music in Fresno. So you might think the following post is of no use to you. Wait, not so fast... well, okay, this is of no use. But for the rest of us, let's get on our bikes and find out what bands are doing this weekend:

FRIDAY

AUDIE'S OLYMPIC: Maybe the most respected Johnny Cash tribute band around, Cash'D Out, will be at Audie's. We say maybe because we really have no idea. They sound good though. In fact they were flawless in previous visits. [9:00 $10]

ECHO STREET CAFE: Going sorta solo is Luke Freeman from Brother Luke. Joining Luke is Mike Morris from Sing The Body. [7-9 Free]

STARLINE: The singer/guitarist from Days Of The New, Travis Meeks, will be bringing a little bit of starpower to the StarLINE tonight. Gutterfish and more, will be playing too. [8:00? $15 All Ages]

CLUB RETRO: It's a shot of the hard stuff, kids, with touring NorCal band The Great Commission, with Silence The Oppressors, Amongst Giants, Forever Rising, Dressed In White [7:00 $10 All Ages]

KUPPAJOE'S: Taking on the role of headliner tonight is foothills band From Indian Lakes. But touring Sacramento indie pop band, Hazel & Vine might battle for that role. K'Sera and Lybecker are just willing participants. [7:30 $?] 

SATURDAY

FRESNO CHAFFEE ZOO: Yeah, that's right, there is music going on at the Zoo Saturday night - the camel is going to be pissed... or more likely, indifferent. It's all just for the Twitter Nerds and their friends and it's special and kinda awesome. The Beehive has all the tweety details. Bands roaming the zoo will be Senerza, Ballad: The Memory, Down Word, Jose DeLoza, Super Lucky Catz and Kellie Lee. [$5 5-8]

AUDIE'S OLYMPIC: Super cool Fresno event as Blake Jones and the Trike Shop have their CD release party. But it's not just any CD release. It relates to the Fresno Underground Gardens and there is not just music. There is also a related art piece involving many local artists, it's underground awesome. Check it:

TOWER THEATRE: Another ambitious local band show at the Tower. Looks pretty sweet with 40 Watt Hype celebrating their new album "Push" and cool new video. More details:

GAZEBO GARDENS: Yeah it doesn't make much sense to us either but rock/acoustic/pop artist JJ Brown is going to be playing at a nursery after hours (as if during normal business hours would somehow make more sense). [7:30 $?]

Art Hop Night! Pretty Sure There's Some Art and Stuff, Very Sure There's Some Kickass Music

Just an educated guess but we doubt you come here for art updates. Why would you? There's this nifty link to a Fresno Bee article telling you all the hot spots to hit. Then there's the ArtHop site. So there. Done.

Moving on, check this shit out that's going down at Tokyo Garden:

Now, Trumpet Solo, Rademacher, It'll Grow Back... Kickass! But who are these Spider Problem guys? Well they're a rock band from Los Angeles and they are influenced by 13th floor elevators and Karen Carpenter on drums.

But that's not all that's going on. There's boobies!

F On F: Finally A Mural For Tokyo Garden Edition

Work has begun on the long awaited mural for the back of Tokyo Garden in Fresno's Mural District. Unlikely there will be protesters on this one (mural is not yet complete):

You can find some more pics here (by Donavan Byrn). And you can be awesome and come out April 10th with your ten bucks and a readiness to have a kick ass time, all to benefit Creative Fresno's Mural Project:

Art Hop Night: It's All Just Too Much

There are too many damn things happening tonight! Doesn't Fresno know we have to work today and tomorrow? Besides cool stuff like the Rogue Festival starting and plenty of music options (post coming), there is also your first-Thursday-special that is, Arthop.

Some 'hop highlights include Teresa Flores showing at the Revue (her work is the latest cover of the Undercurrent), Veni Vidi Vici's has a cool looking photo exhibit, Broadway and DCAC are always good spots to hit, there is also Chinatown stuff with the Chinatown 'Youts' and their Center:

Ohh oh oh, and they are some newish places to hit up with the Iron Bird lofts and Twee and Iron Bird Cafe and the Brick Wall.

Tons of things, do some more event exploring on Arthop's new and improved website.

Fresno's Fringe Folks About To Go On A Two Week Creative Bender Of Weirdly Awesomeness

The blog buzz has been building. From posts by Rogue performers from all over the blogoshpere, to just plain fans of it. We're kinda partial to another Fresno festival, but the Rogue Festival, one of the country's biggest fringy-type performance festivals, is pretty damn awesome too and it all starts on Thursday night with some fest previews at Ashtree Studios and then at Full Circle Brew.

Like always, a lot of things look interesting and we're still trying to digest it all through the Rogue Map, but a few things have already popped out at us. Some of them appear very cool, others a little creepy - hey what's a good Rogue Festival without some creepiness?

THE UNDERGROUND GARDEN
This one has all the makings of being our favorite. Blake Jones will be hanging out and having a conversation with some historic Fresno music folks and we get to listen in. Can't wait to hear the stories.

ROGUE FILM
Really love film but at Rogue it can be sometimes rather weak (with some exceptions, for sure). This year looks to be one of those stronger ones, especially with an entry by those Dumb Drum boys.

BARRY SMITH
Always a hit with the Fresno ladies and Rogue goers in general (we've seen girls swoon around him. Yeah. Swoon.) This year he is recycling a previously shown act and it's already stirred up a bit of Rogue controversy. Nice. Barry's shows remind us of a good but long Pecha Kucha presentation. Just sayin'.

WHY DID YOU DO IT THAT WAY?
This one was is pretty mellow last year, but really enjoyable. Something quite neat hearing how artists come up with the stuff they do. Plus there are a couple of bloggers in this one. The stories really translate for all creative type things.

NUDE IT UP!
Rogue of the past is no stranger to it (although we've always seem to miss those shows) and this year appears to be no different. But there is one that's creeping us out a little with the feeling like this may be an older dude and, ummm... let's just hope he keeps his Rogue tucked away (that title is fucking awesome though).

There is a hell of a lot more Rogue 2010 to sift through, but we need more time. If you've got something to recommend or better yet, something we should stay away from, comment it up.

UPDATE: Famous Whitewater has some Rogue picks up and Kimburrrrly is apparently smoking some Rogue laced crack in order to stay up for 31 Hours Of Rogue.

Arthop Day: Erotica and Gun Powder

As always, many interesting looking things for Arthop tonight:. 

We love Teresa Flores, Patrick Contreras and Abigail Nolte, so that's a can't miss.

Now wait, Trumpet Solo is playing an Arthop gig? That's so fucking metal!:

It's an adults only kinda thing at Broadway Studios. Is ID really going to be checked at the door? Maybe they mean people that are mentally adults. Yeah, they ain't letting us in:

Then there's going to be a gun powder artist at KYNO. We don't know what that is really but it sounds like the best use of gun powder ever.

For more on Arthop tonight, Donald Munro has some stuff for ya. (post-arthop post coming soon)

More Fresno Culture Than You Can Throw A Museum At

Oh hell yeah, first ArtHop of the decade, bitches, is tonight! Lots of art, food and wine to help you forget about the whole Met thingy. Find out the places doing stuff at the Downtown Association's site, along with a map on where to go.

We heard that all of Caruthers Elementary's art students are showing at the CYC, pretty cool. Also we imagine Donald Munro has some suggestions for you. The DCAC has something going on, see the video proof yourself. Arhop has the awesome rundown of the 1968 Airstream Ambassador exhibit that's a part OF Arhop.

Now usually there are some solid post-Arthop shows happening with bands and all, but there doesn't seem to be much for this time around.

At least there are a couple things happening: