THE FRESNAN

In Fresno Tonight: A Rogue-y Beginning

It's the time of year in Fresno when the Creative Community goes balls out. Besides the standard awesome Fresno stuff, the next 10 days has the added bonus of the Rogue Festival (hope you've been saving your Rogue Dollars).

Tonight has many choices. First there's Art Hop, plenty of stuff to do. Like a can't miss Jazz Hop show at the new CMAC with Poor Man's Poison, or Art Hop stuff like this:

There's the beginning of Rogue with stuff like this and this and this:

Then there's the typical Thursday night music stuff with AC Myles at the Lamp Post and a tour kick off show from Bully The Kid and I Do Not Exist:

The next 10 days in Fresno shall be interesting:

Bandgeek!: More Music Than We Deserve This Weekend

The Rogue Festival. It continues. That's awesome. For the music fan, you must check out the Rhoda Penmarks show (Friday and Saturday at 8 at Audie's) and Big Show Or Bust at Starline (5:30 Fri - 2:30 Sat). So there.

Moving on to Fresno's regular music scene. As usual there's a full slate of talented Fresno bands mixed in with some nice touring acts. We just need to filter down some things so we can figure out where to go exactly. That's what Bandgeek is here for:

CLUB RETRO: It may seem a little funny that Fresno punk band It'll Grow Back is playing with all this faith music stuff like Mind Away and Mercy Fists. But really, what is more punk rock than playing in that kinda mix!? [7:00 - $12 - All Ages]

THE BABYLON: Metal up with Fresno's HateFX, Death Alley Motor Cult, Hands That Kill, Merced's Cursed and more. [7pm - $10 - 21+]

FULTON 55: Fresno's Fierce Creatures are just about ready to hit SXSW. They just need to get this awesome as hell local shot out of the way. Fellow highly talented locals, Achievement House and Strange Vine are playing tonight too. Along with the ever-rising-nationally the Silent Comedy. Not sure that it will, but this better sell-out. After party at the Treasury. Details:

KUPPAJOES: EP release show for Siren Singing. First ever NorCal (it's Central Cal, boys) for The Harm. Plus A Current Affair and My Beautiful Surrender! Nice stuff. Details:

THE BEL-TOWER: Xibalba - it's Mexican black metal. Not to be fucked with. Flier is wonderful:

AUDIE'S OLYMPIC: Lookie, it's Big John Bates, Merle Jagger and the Naughty Angel Dancers:

20 Seconds With A Fresnan: Joshua Tehee

It's Rogue Festival time ... still. Lots of shows to see. Most ever maybe. Joshua Tehee is in two of them. So we thought we'd give him a chance to plug 'em. Let's listen in and see if he can do that in under 20 seconds.

20 Seconds With Josh Tehee

Or Click: 20withJoshua.mp3

[Pic stolen from Ed Stewart]

 

Rogue 2011: Recommendations For Shows With Fresnans That Are Awesome

BIG SHOW OR BUST
This one has has Joshua Tehee, Jamie Holt and Blake Jones. About: "Police entanglements, Fresno city permits, hellhounds on their trail, pitiless club owners, wives and girlfriends on the brink of losing patience.  Will the band ever fulfill their dream and make it to the Big Show?"
Showings: 8:30 tonight, 5:30 Sun (next week too) Location: Starline.

BIRDS & BEES ... A COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS
Tehee and Holt are in this one as well. About: "Keeping score. Checking in. Calculating the chances. Negotiating your time. Critiquing your performance…That’s love and sex, for you."
Showings: 10 tonight. 8:30 Wed, (more next weekend) Location: Broken Leg Stage.

ROGUE FILM
This year the film component spotlights the locally produced feature length film: Stricken. About: "As hope seems lost, Detective Scott Aro and Sarah Black must face an evil that has been unleashed and battle to stay alive as they discover that some things won’t stay dead. It waits in the dark."
Showings: 7 tonight (more next week). Location: Mike Briggs Building.

DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE WITH LIVE SOUNDTRACK
Specially assembled Fresno band the Rhoda Penmarks playing their own live soundtrack to the silent film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Showings: 8 tonight! (door 7:30) (plus two shows next weekend) Location: Audie's Olympic.

Make sure to click the show titles for more info. Have a look at the Rogue website for more show ideas! If you have your own, leave some in this post's comments section!

 

WINNING!: Fresno's 'Rogue Festival' Begins TONIGHT! ... oh and there's Arthop too

Fresno will be HOP-ing tonight *groan* as two major Fresno culture events hop at the same time: Arthop and Rogue Festival.

March's Arthop is filled with cool stuff like Uriel J. Tekunoff at DCAC:

(Always check with Donald Munro for more Arthop picks.)

Also tonight, it's that one special day of year for Fresno when Rogue and Arthop mix. Tonight it all begins. It's the 10th year of Rogue!

Rogue things to watch tonight, during Arthop the Rogue Gallery Exhibit will be in effect. Plus the big Rogue Festival kick off party at Full Circle Brew.

At the party, Rogue performers will mix with the general public and also give folks a small preview of what they'll be doing in the festival. If you like collecting handbills and drinking microbrews, this is the place to be.

Also tonight, kicking off the regular performance schedule is something we (along with other bloggers) have been looking forward too: Rhoda Penmarks play the live soundtrack to Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde:

There are several showings so don't worry if you can't make it tonight. For some good info on this, you can hear Rhoda Penmarks band member, Benji McEntee, talking about their Rogue show and more on the latest TVLGFHF and I Don't Get It, podcasts AND on Great Day, with Steve Loveless, talking Rogue.

Make sure to check out the schedule to see what Rogue thing might get you out of the house.

Check in here during the next couple weeks as we'll have some Rogue inspired posts. If you've got something Rogue you want to plug or whatever, leave it for us in the comments!

[UPDATED] INCOMING!: The Rhoda Penmarks at Rogue Festival

Rogue Festival is almost upon us (March 4th-12th). Check the schedule, lots of interesting stuff as always. The thing that looks most interesting to us at the moment is the Rhoda Penmarks playing a live soundtrack to "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". Live music mixing with a little bit of theater (but without all that live ... "acting") all while having a few beers. Should be good:

Related: Ben McEntee, from the Fay Wrays and Rhoda Penmarks, was recently on the local podcast "I Don't Get It". It's a good listen as Ben talks about the Rogue Festival and Fresno's music scene and this awesome local music site. Check it.

UPDATE:
>>>Edward Stewart also happen to put up a post today related to Rogue. He noticed how this year's festival hype doesn't seem to be matching the importance of this being year 10 of Rogue. Looks like next week will be the week of the Hype Machine.

>>>KFSR's Jefferson Beavers (check this posts comments) is interviewing the aforementioned Ben McEntee about ... Rogue Festival and stuff. Tune into 90.7 FM at 7pm Thursday or listen online!

>>>Still time to be a volunteer at this year's Rogue. Saturday is the last day to sign up. Go here and find out more.

Rogue Festival 2010: Five Days Of Rogue-ing Left

The 2010 Rogue Festival is back from a couple days off with a full slate of fring-y things happening tonight and continuing through the weekend. Our favorite thing thus far is The Underground Garden... alright, maybe it's only we've caught at the moment - we suck. But we made sure to catch it because we love local music and Fresno history and that's what Underground Garden has been all about.

Some good reviews of Sunday's show are up by Mike Oz and Famous Whitewater, be sure to read up on those. We have a sun drenched video clip up of a small portion of Sunday's Underground Garden show, below. Keep and eye out because there will be a future Flowing With Famous featuring most of Sunday's performance.

In the clip, Joshua Tehee (flanked by Freddie Martinez [Club Fred owner] and Gary Edwards [original Raggin Records owner and music newspaper publisher]) is asked by Blake Jones how Fresno Famous got started:

The final performance of The Underground Garden is Saturday at 5 at VVV's with Dale Stewart from Capital Punishment and Jim Connely an original KFSR DJ.

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.

Rogue Festival Extending Local Artist's Options

We know next to nothing about art but we've noticed, locally, it seems easy for you, the artist type, to get your work out there. There are plenty of galleries to work your way into (aren't there?) and then there is ArtHop to expose your stuff to the roaming Fresno masses. And yes, don't forget there's the occasional building to make a name for yourself with.

Plus, there's the annual Rogue Festival offering another option to display your goodness... or suckness. Like, right now, if you're a visual artist, you can submit to have your work involved in the 2010 festival. Hit the folks up, it's first come, first displayed.

On a related note, as we wait for somebody to somehow organize a "BlogHop" (How not awesome would that be!?), we have a friendly reminder that ArtHop is Thursday night. We have a couple recommendations for those interested:

Travis Sheridan has a great post that relates to this:

 

And at DCAC, Ashleigh Sumner will be displaying her LA-ness. Also going on at DCAC is a chance to win a piece of art from Stephanie Pearl - awesome, free art!

More on Ashleigh Sumner after the jump:

Rogue Festival 2009: Wednesday Restart and Suggestions

So, the Rogue Festival is back from taking a couple days off. There are a lot of reviews at the Beehive and the Rogue site you can check out and educate yourself on what to see and what not to. One show is making its debut tonight: Bipolarity of Life: How To Enjoy Life Without Medication. This one is pretty highly anticipated among the Creative Peeps so hopefully you'll get into Veni's before it sells out (and starts raining on the patio).

If ya can't or don't want to get into Bipolarity, might we suggest Cupid is a Bitch. It's just plain fun... even if it is a kinda musical. Also worthy is the Meet The Artist run at Ashtree Studios. If you've ever wondered why an artist paints the crazy stuff they do, this is for you - it's a kinda Storytellers for Fresno artists. It's short, sweet and worth the four bucks.

Hey, if you have some Wednesday Rogue suggestions or reviews, please feel free to leave a comment.

Bloggiest Moment Of The Week: Bloggers Love To Go Rogue

The blogoshpere loves the Rogue Festival. Why? It's perfect fodder for posting. It has Fresnoness, out-of-town creativeness, the Tower District, blogger involvement and the promise of possible nudity.

Fresno's Internet Box Writing Nerds have been all over the festival this week with all kinds of posting from:

• FresnoBeehive
• Marcel Nunis
• Edward Stewart
• Fresno Famous
• MsSolitaire

Rogue continues Sunday [5:30 showing of Cupid is a Bitch] and starts up again Wednesday night. Highly advise you check something out, if you haven't already - even if you're a normal person and don't blog.

Rogue Festival 2009: Is It Blogger Day Or Something?

The first Saturday of Rogue has all kinds of Fresno blogfluence. Frequent commenter and F-Famous poster, Blake Jones, begins his 2009 Rogue by teaming up with Baba dance at 1 and 10 today at Diana's North.

Indie Blogger King and podcaster, Ed Stewart, will be showing and talking about his artwork during his Looks Good, Fresno at Ashtree Studios. Aileen Imperatrice will be there too with her Fun With Pop. That's happening at 2:30 and it's only 4 bucks.

The idiots that are Josh [Famous Hotshot] and Will [Beehive's Goatee] will be informing Rogue that Cupid is, in fact, a Bitch. It's going down at 5:30 at Diana's South.

Fresnan favorite and local blogger/artist, Teresa Flores, is part of Rogue Film with "Homeless Dog" and that is at 5, 7 and 9 at Mike Briggs.

FresnoCentric blogger, Joy, will be in the Suicide Lounge at Starline. Two different shows at 2:30 and 8:30 and is 7 bones.

Rogue Festival 2009: Friday Night [High] Lights

The Rogueness has begun and maybe the heaviest hitter in the festival will be leading things off: Barry Smith and his baby book. That's going down tonight at Starline and will very likely be packed, so get there early if you're dead set on seeing the first showing.

Another interesting option is the film component. That's happening at 7 and again at 9 at Mike Briggs. And one more event that I hear some other bloggers will be at: The Valley Burlesque Society at Full Circle. Will there be some ass shown? Maybe... but more than likely from some drunkass blogger and not a burlesque dancer.

If you're still unclear about the Rogue Festival, The Beehive has a nice turorial for ya. Check back here later for some Saturday recomendations.

Rogue Festival 2009: A Cluster Fuggle of a beginning

Tonight, Rogue Festival '09 will have a soft-opening with some artwork at Veni Vidi Vici's and Ashtree. Then a kickoff party [starting at 8:30] at Full Circle Brewery - home of the most awesomely named beer: Cluster Fuggle.

So, here we go Fresno. Let the nerds of music, theater, comedy, art, film, weirdness, poetry, dance, Fresno and drinking, unite for the next two weeks. See ya out there.

Almost forgot: Milano's is having a Rogue inspired show tonight as well:

Bloggers Bulging For Rogue Festival 2009

So like, um, a lot of bloggers are getting Rogue Boners about the upcoming Festival. Yeah yeah, we're all horned-up about it too. We'll see ya Thursday night, with maps in hand.