... and the lineup includes Five Finger Death Punch again!!! AWESOME!!!!!

Aftershock 2014 lineup is published:  http://aftershockconcert.com 

Looks like there are still a couple of to-be-announced bands--keep watching!

Tickets go on sale June 3rd at 10 a.m. Pacific time. 

Be there!!!

Chris Kael of Five Finger Death Punch, Aftershock 2013

Aftershock 2014 lineup coming tomorrow! Let's rock!

This time tomorrow, we'll know the lineup for this year's Aftershock festival in Sacramento. Who do you want to see? Everyone, right?

Will we have as much fun as last year? Absolutely!!!



See you there!

Joy and Madness, Sacramento Music Festival (sacmusicfest) 2014

Another Sacramento band, well worth seeing live, is Joy and Madness. Old-school funk, soul, R&B driven by high-energy, and they'll have you dancing.

They are lined up for this week's Concert in the Park in Sacramento, 30th May.

They have an EP available through their website and you can find it on iTunes, too.

More photos from yesterday's show: http://alisontoon.com/joyandmadness

Up the kazoo!! It's the Ophir Prison crew in action.

No, I don't listen to kazoo bands. No, I've never had the occasion to listen to a prison band. Temperence society? Isn't that the Salvation Army? Oh! I've seen and enjoyed Sally-Anny bands many a time but... no, this was not the Salvation Army, it didn't march much, nor were there too many kazoos in evidence, but there were a lot of funny hats, oompah-oompah brass-band instruments, and, for a temperance society, an awful lot of mentions of beer.

Beer? Yes please. Playing trombones and suzaphones in 100 degrees farenheit? Of course we need beer!

Funniest show of the day, the Ophir Prison Marching Kazoo Band and Temperance Society at Sacramento Music Festival, Old Sacramento.

You can find out more about their Most Wanted and apply to become an inmate on the Ophir Prison website. Sorry ladies, it's a men-only prison.

More photos:  http://www.alisontoon.com/ophirprison

Collective Soul, on stage at Sacramento Music Festival (sacmusicfest)

Collective Soul took the stage at Sacramento Music Festival last night, Sunday's headliners, bringing rock to the still-mostly-jazz-but-changing-yeaer-by-year festival, and with their rock music, an influx of new festival attendees. There certainly seemed to be more people in Old Sacramento this weekend than for the festival last year; I have no idea of the attendance numbers, but the streets were busy, busy, there were lines for ice-cream and food, and the seating and standing areas for Collective Soul were packed.

Collective Soul performed on the Turntable on the Green stage, and as well as the packed audience, there were people hanging out of the windows of the close-by buildings to see and hear the show.

Ed Roland said he was under-the-weather and wouldn't talk much, just sing... and he did just that. Not only the old favourites, but new songs too. Good to see (and hear) they are still creating and progressing.



Very enjoyable show.

For more photos from last night's performance, go to http://alisontoon.com/collectivesoul

Catch Collective Soul at a show near you soon: upcoming shows!

Sacramento Music Festival (SacMusicFest), Jimmy Pailer and the Prophets

One thing I love about jazz festivals is that they always, without fail, introduce me to something, someone new. OK, so SacMusicFest is no longer postitioning itself as a purist, Dixieland jazz festival -- and the jury is still out on whether that's a good idea or not -- but it's still essentially a jazz and blues fest, with a few rock teasers thrown in (this year: Collective Soul).

Sunday this year, and Old Sacramento was scorching. 100F. Mid-afternoon, I'd been there all day, going from stage to stage to stage and back again, and I was thinking about going home, uploading photos-so-far, having a cup of tea and a quiet time before returning for the headliners. Wandering back to the parking lot near Tower Bridge (the main parking garage having been already full, very early in the day), I heard the sounds of Jimmy Pailer and the Prophets, playing at the Riverfront Refuge stage.

Jimmy Pailer

Very glad I did. One of my "new band" collection from this year's festival, and another Sacramento-local band to watch out for.

Really, really nice blues/rock. Loved the guitar solos. Nice brass work.

Based in Sacramento, Jimmy Pailer plays regularly at The Torch Club and other local venues. They have an album on sale: The Prophets of Freedom. I bought a copy at the festival, but can't find it on sale online. So you'll just have to go to a show, won't you.

More photos:  http://alisontoon.com/jimmypailer 

Sacramento Music Festival continues today, 26th May.

Sacramento Music Festival: jazz and blues and all that good stuff, this weekend!

Don't forget--this weekend the streets of Sacramento, especially Old Sac, will be filled with music! From trad jazz to Hendrix covers, it's out to be heard.

Check out Trombone Shorty tonight!

For full details of the festival, schedules, locations and tickets, see: http://sacmusicfest.com/

For some photos from last year's festival, see:

http://www.alisontoon.com/sacramentomusicfestival2013 

Sacramento's first Colonial Music Festival: punk and rock, all weekend on Stockton Boulevard

The Colonial must have been a beautiful movie theatre in her day: nice big screen, tiered seating, murals decorating the walls. No movies showing there today; it was the start of the three-day Colonial Music Festival, with more than sixty bands playing. It's an all-ages event, food and drink are available, there's parking too.

The Devil's Train

The festival got off to a rousing start tonight, with Iconoclast Robot, The Devil's Train and Avenue Saints playing early in the evening.

Avenue Saints

All Sacramento's bigger-name punk and hardcore bands will be there. Tickets are available at the door and... it's very affordable! More information on the festival's Facebook page!

Iconoclast Robot

The Colonial Theater is at 3520 Stockton Boulevard, not far south of highway 50,.

The Devil's Train

More photos:

- Avenue Saints:  http://alisontoon.com/avenuesaints 
- Devil's Train:  http://www.alisontoon.com/devils-train

RIP, Giger. We'll miss you.

H. R. Giger passed away, aged 74, after falling.

Not only did he create amazing, surreal, sci-fi, beautiful, bio-technical, highly-technical and futuristic art, monsters like Alien, album covers and so much more, he also designed  Jonathan Davis' mic stand.

Rock on, Giger. You'll always be with us.

Photo from the 2013 Aftershock Festival in Sacramento.

More from Saturday night... and Saturday night rocked!

The other bands that I saw last night as part of Wayne Static's tour:

St Cello's Fall, I really enjoyed, and am going to track down more of their music: more photos at http://alisontoon.com/stcellosfall

St Cello's Fall

Thira, interesting stage look: more photos at http://alisontoon.com/thira

Thira

Smile Empty Soul, three-piece, subtle: more photos at http://alisontoon.com/smileemptysoul

Smile Empty Soul

And the inimitable, unforgettable Dope. More photos: http://alisontoon.com/dope

Dope

For more information about the Ace of Spades music venue, see http://aceofspadessac.com

Otep returns; fans want more! Sacramento, Ace of Spades, 10th May

Almost double-billed with Wayne Static, leading support act Otep really rocked the Ace of Spades last night. She has an adoring crowd of fans in Sacramento, and she is a performer who knows how to hold a crowd.

Spooky-eyed, strong, inked and blond; whether on stage or calling fans on after the show for photo ops and signatures, Otep Shamaya has a great relationship with her fans. At the end of her set, the fans were yelling for more. Otep! Otep! Otep! But there was a tight schedule and a midnight curfew, and it was time for Wayne Static. Between the sets, fans lined around the floor for a quick meet-and-greet with Otep.

I love taking photos of Otep. Last year, this year.

Of the women-in-rock around today, I'd much rather see and hear Otep than say Halestorm (too much screaming, not enough singing), or In This Moment (too much show, too much vamp, too much yelling, and nowhere near enough music).

Maybe Otep will play Aftershock this year? Wouldn't that be cool...  Aftershock team? What do you think?

Otep continues on tour with Wayne Static as part of his Civil Unrest tour. See the tour page on Otep's Facebook for all dates.

For all the photos from last night's show, see the Toon's Tunes gallery.

Disco is evil. And evil disco it is. Wayne Static, Civil Unrest Tour stops over in Sacramento

Wayne Static live Sacramento May 2014

Headlining a night when eight (yes, eight) rock bands played at the Ace of Spades, Wayne Static, his hairdo, and Evil Disco took over.

Grungy, industrial, rocking: cool and fun and danceable, and the large crowd loved it. Wayne's hair is a character of it's own and deserves star placement. Along with his beard. They are part of the persona of the music

Wayne Static live Sacramento May 2014

And Evil Disco it is; a genre with one true member, Mr. Static. Very aptly named.

The house had been well warmed up by seven (yes, seven) support and accompanying acts. (The support acts were great, especially Otep and Dope... I'm just not convinced by the need to have so-many on one night; at least three of the support bands have enough musical material for full shows in their own right; it seems to be a common practice these days for so-many bands in one show... I'd rather see two or three, with extended sets, and at a reasonable time of the evening.)

Wayne Static, Ace of Spades Sacramento

By the time Wayne and his band arrived on stage, I think I had been awake for 28 hours straight. I'd been woken by my alarm in a hotel in the south of France at 4 a.m. and been sleepless on three planes all day, arriving back just in time to drive to the Ace of Spades for this show. I was determined to do it, and yes, it was very much worth it.

"Wayne Static live Sacramento May 2014

The Civil Unrest Tour continues:  Chico, CA tonight, then Seattle, Portland, and many other dates. Check the tour page for more details and catch Wayne if you can!

More photos from last night's Wayne Static show in the Toon's Tunes's gallery.

Wayne Static live Sacramento May 2014

Saturday night at the Boardwalk. The one in Orangevale, no beach involved.

Despite having lived in this area, apart from a three-year dalliance on Long Island, since the summer of 2000, somehow I'd missed going to a show at the Boardwalk in Orangevale. I really don't know why. I have no good excuse: there have, several times, been performers there who I've wanted to see, but on days when I was covering another band somewhere else. So this was the first visit, but it won't be the last. (Next time, I'll take a couple of pullovers with me, because the A/C was on very, very cold and I wasn't prepared for that.)

The Boardwalk an interesting place: there are signed electric guitars stuck to the ceiling, there are shows several times a week (including lots of local band shows),and it's just what I imagined an American pub-roadhouse-venue to be like. They serve snack food as well as drinks; burgers, fries, that sort of thing.

Pushing The Sun

Last night, I went along, planning to see Girl on Fire, who were in town from Seattle. But there was a long, very long, list of performers last night; far too long, it proved, for me to stay awake enough to see Girl on Fire (and at least one other band, if I'm not mistaken). I'm just not made for midnight start times... Maybe I'll see them next time they're in town!

I did see Average League, Gipsy Flight, State Line Empire and Pushing The Sun. All local-ish, either from Sacramento or from the Bay area. Great to see these bands out there and getting better and better all the time!

State Line Empire

More photos on http://alisontoon.com/music

More about these bands on their websites and/or Facebook:

• Average League
• Gipsy Flight
• State Line Empire
• Pushing The Sun