Rock Picks: Pacha Massive, Calexico, Juliana Hatfield
Also, We the People Festival, Temple Bar farewell, Mad Juana and more
We the People Festival at L.A. State Historic Park
The organizers of this ambitious daylong, all-ages festival are hoping to rally local music fans around the slogan “We the People” and the concept that citizens actually have a say in how this country is run — a rather quaint notion that probably became officially extinct sometime before the first George Bush’s presidential term. Among the army of performers hoping to import democracy to this freedom-starved nation are wacked-out Primus mastermind Les Claypool, the earnestly leftist (if terminally preachy and perhaps a bit smug) Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, and an intriguing pairing of the Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA with System of a Down’s Shavo Odadjian for some “cosmic rap.” The lineup is deeply rooted in rap and hip-hop (including Dilated Peoples and the brainy Roadkill chef Busdriver), with uplifting digressions into reggae (Eek-a-Mouse, Barrington Levy, Quinto Sol), and funk and soul (Fishbone, B-Side Players). Even the once-misanthropic punk-metal survivors Suicidal Tendencies are showing they’re down with the cause. However, a distressing oversight is the scarcity of women on this testosterone-heavy bill — as with many of the “liberated” protest-rallies of the ’60s, it seems that “We the People” means “We Dudes.” Starts at 2 p.m. 1245 N. Spring St., dwntwn. www.wethepeoplefestival.com. (Falling James)
Also playing Saturday:
BLONDIE, DEVO, PSYCHEDELIC FURS at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre; AMY KUNEY at Virgina Avenue Park, 11:45 a.m.; WAILING SOULS at Blue Cafe; THAILAND at Echo Curio; THE STUDIOFIX at Fais Do-Do; DAN DRYERS, BACKBITER at Mr. T’s Bowl; THEE MIDNITERS at Safari Sam’s; JOE BAIZA, ATOMIC SHERPAS at Taix; MEDUSA, WEAPON OF CHOICE at Temple Bar; MORMONS, THINGZ at American Legion Post 206; AZTLAN UNDERGROUND at 18th Street Arts Center; SUKI EWERS at the Cocaine.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
Lowrider Band at Temple Bar
Drummer Harold Brown and guitarist Howard Scott first met as teenagers at a Long Beach tavern — each wearing fake moustaches and their father’s clothes to pass as grown-ups — and immediately formed a band. After toiling in R&B clubs (and as the first all-black band on the Strip), they found themselves working for Eric Burdon as War. When Burdon bailed, they went on to become one of the best (and biggest-selling) acts of the 1970s, crafting a series of stunning soul-funk jams (“Slippin’ Into Darkness,” “Lowrider,” “Cisco Kid”) that remain inescapable today. Trouble is, they burned out on the road, drifted apart and soon found that their nefarious management had hijacked their name and songs (in fact, a nasty litigious, er, war yet rages), compelling them to now perform as the Lowrider Band (the current touring unit War has but one original member). Tonight, forget the backstabbing and simply gas on the music because, with fellow War founders B.B. Dickerson and Lee Oskar, Brown and Scott will conjure the genuine, magnificently funkenized goods. (Jonny Whiteside)
Cheap Trick at the Greek Theatre
Whither Cheap Trick? The longtime rockers from Rockford can be quite confounding. On the one hand, they seem perfectly content to endlessly play their early hits on the oldies and county-fair circuit at shows like this, where they’re reduced to opening for Heart (who are at least undergoing somewhat of a resurgence after two decades of making sterile, anonymous music) and, worse, Journey (a mediocre band even in their heyday, now limping along with yet another faceless singer). On the other hand, Cheap Trick are still creatively thriving, even if you wouldn’t necessarily know it from their recent set lists. Their aptly titled 2003 CD, Special One, was their most consistently wonderful album since 1979’s Dream Police, and their 2006 follow-up, Rockford, has some mighty fine moments, such as the grandly uncoiling psychedelia of “If It Takes a Lifetime” and the delicately lovely pop jangle “Oh Claire.” Just a few years ago, these Tricksters were mixing up their set lists with rare obscurities, but nowadays they don’t seem to trust that their aging audience can handle exhilarating tunes like the swarming guitars of “Sorry Boy” and the glam-tastically spacy “Hummer” instead of yet another bellow through the bombastically hollow clichés of “The Flame.” C’mon, Cheap Trick: Take a chance on your own rock & roll. Also Tues. (Falling James)
Also playing Sunday:
SUGAR RAY, SMASHMOUTH, LIT, EVERCLEAR at Paramount Studios; GAVIN ROSSDALE at Fairplex, Pomona; PRIMA DONNA at Alex’s Bar; COUSIN LOVERS, HELLO DARLIN’S at the Echo, 5 p.m.; NEIL HAMBURGER, HARVEY SID FISHER at Spaceland; SARA LOV at Tangier; CARLOS GUITARLOS at Liquid Kitty.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29
Calexico, The Cave Singers at the Henry Fonda Theater
Calexico’s cinematic Southwestern hymns have historically been just a tad too perfect — as though Joey Burns and John Convertino were in a Madison Avenue boardroom brainstorming the most effective way to score every kitschy context from spaghetti Westerns to Airstream diners along Route 66. On the new Carried to Dust, the Tucson duo have shaken off the “desert noir” languor for what are easily the most concise and catchy songs of their career. Assists from sundry indie-rock royalty might be partially responsible, such as the Jairo Zavala–penned opener, “Victor Hara’s Hands,” while you’ll swear “Writer’s Minor Holiday” is a long-lost Pixies track. Amazingly, the trumpet stabs, lapsteel, accordion, surf-guitar jangle, strings, vibraphone and assorted Ennio Morricone–isms never overwhelm the basic Calexico template: Convertino’s brushed shuffle beats and the breathy, distant croon of Burns. Seattle’s Cave Singers freak the folk with acoustic-guitar curlicues, spare percussion and Pete Quirk’s vocals, pinched in a creepy-cool sort of way. (Andrew Lentz)
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