Sacramento residents likely need no introduction to Anton Barbeau, who is enjoying somewhat of a renaissance with the release of his appropriately dubbed new album, Magic Act. One would be hard-pressed to think of another ’90s-era indie artist who still plays the area and has retained so many fans. Fans of XTC, quirky indie fare and even the Beatles’ or Bowie’s catalog will find great reward in Barbeau’s latest and, more importantly, they’ll be impressed with his live show and updated interpretations. A prime example of Sacramento staying power. 1400 E Street, www.antonbarbeau.com.
It’s no great secret that Mayor Kevin Johnson spent more time during the last couple of years rallying and wooing investors than paying attention to the area’s most pressing concern: homelessness. Rather than dwell on the ridiculous amount of extracurricular activities he undertook well outside of his official job description, it’s only proper to honor those organizations and people that do actually make a difference. River City Food Bank are hosting a special lunch and dinner event over two days that serves as a benefit for the area’s unfortunate and, more importantly, raises a curtain on an increasingly larger problem. Their upcoming event is appropriately dubbed Empty Bowls and will feature offerings from major area restaurateurs. On the menu is a delicious soup meal accompanied by wine, hors d’oeuvres, and dessert fare. Expect to taste concoctions by Mother, Petra Greek, Scott’s Seafood Grill & Bar, Vizcaya, Zocalo, Grange Restaurant & Bar, and more. Lunch tickets are only $30 and are not accompanied by alcoholic fare. The night’s festivities are $70 and are certainly more enticing with local and area wines also provided. Come get some at Rivercityfoodbank.org/empty-bowls
While most know Tim Bluhm as the frontman of Chico, California’s greatest export since the beer bong, The Mother Hips, the singer/songwriter has also dabbled in many other projects with great effect. For the uninitiated, Bluhm also played in the Skinny Singers (with Jackie Greene), Brokedown In Bakersfield, Ball-Point Birds, The Rhythm Devils (featuring The Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann) and more. His upcoming show at Grass Valley’s Center For The Arts pairs him up with friend and musician Scott Law in what is sure to be a heady evening of music. Submerge caught up with him in between sets at a recent Mother Hips show to hear more. “The set up will be me on an acoustic guitar and Scott on an acoustic guitar and an acoustic baritone guitar. When you play in this configuration it emphasizes the playing itself and, of course, the songs themselves,” said Bluhm. “We are going to be playing songs that we have been writing together over the past year or so. We will sprinkle in a few of our respective songs from the past, maybe a brand new Mother Hips tune, and maybe one or two covers. In October we will go to Italy for a month and play some shows with some Italian and American musicians. Scott is a musical resident at Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael and he will often invite me to come and play an impromptu show there.” Tickets for the 8 p.m. show are $17 for members, $20 for non-members. Find out more and secure your tickets online at Thecenterforthearts.org/tim-bluhm
Since Cannibal Corpse relocated to the warmer regions of Tampa, Florida and joined up with vocalist George Fisher in the mid ‘90s, the trajectory for the death metal quintet has been nothing but upward. Arguably the most successful and longest-running band in the now-crowded genre, this gore-obsessed group have garnered the kind of following and reputation that any other act would kill for (let’s hope figuratively, not literally).
Since starting their self-imposed obsession with all things bloodied, defiled, smashed, or violently coerced, the group — Alex Webster bass guitar), Paul Mazurkiewicz (drums), Rob Barrett (rhythm guitar), George Fisher (lead vocals), Patrick O’Brien (lead guitar) — have helped countless other smaller, like-minded death metal acts by either endorsing them publicly or bringing some on tour as support. Unlike the many bands now embracing the death metal aesthetic, their sound was created in 1988 and continues to be fresh and vital, in addition to nauseating and thoroughly disgusting.
[jump] For those who’ve never heard of the band, the group gained notoriety after a brush with Senator Bob Dole in 1995 who accused them, in addition to artists like Geto Boys and 2 Live Crew, of undermining the national character of the United States.
After intensive touring and hammering the United States’ club scene, the quintet have achieved well over 2 million sales of their entire catalog and now draw one of the biggest death metal crowds in the United States.
SF Weekly caught up with a quite cheerful George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher just before the band’s show in Salt Lake City, Utah. The stocky singer, best described as the equivalent to Nathan Explosion’s character on the Adult Swim show, Metalocalypse, was unexpectedly garrulous.
Everyone must be exhausted. The band’s road regimen is in full-swing and you’re still touring to support A Skeletal Domain (2014) release. How are things?
Pretty damn good. We’ve done about 18 or so shows so far. The crowds have been crazy and so have our fans. We’re really looking forward to playing San Francisco again, as well. You know, we’ve been around so long, we know how to get along on the road and stay there. It’s like we always know when we’ve gone too far. Of course, we still like to break each others’ balls now and then, and love to push buttons once in awhile, but we always stop before shit happens.
You replaced Chris Barnes (the original lead singer) in 1995 and delivered a slam-dunk album called Vile in 1996. Fans were instantly on-board even with a new singer. Were you expecting that?
Not really. It was pretty cool to see the reaction, though. When Vile came out, nobody really knew who I was. Of course, my former band Monstrosity was known in the underground, but the rest had no idea who I was. We had to come out punching our listeners in the head. From the moment the album launched into the first song (“Devoured By Vermin”) with four drum hits, the album really just took off.
The band has released 13 records to date. You could practically play just these records and extended plays from here to eternity and never hear the same set twice. Why do you feel a new album is important every couple of years?
Honestly, we like to record and put out records. We’re not one of those bands who sits down and says, ‘We don’t need to do anything else.’ That’s not our style. We do tour a lot more than other bands, so it ends up taking longer, but that’s what our fans expect, as well. We don’t have a working title for a new album and have anything special planned yet, but we will get to it. We’re gonna take some time off soon, but we don’t really have a time table for this stuff.
Corpse’s lyrical content has spawned thousands of imitators, but it seems like you’ve got a great bunch of twisted minds helping you with your lyrics.
I’ve written a few here and there myself. It doesn’t really interest me to write lyrics anymore, though. Alex, Paul and even Rob now do all the writing and it works out great. When they send me stuff for vocals, I tweak ’em and offer my own input to help bring my own influence to a song. That works great for now. If I feel like writing again, which I don’t right now, I may do later down the road.
Does it strike you as odd to be blurting out lyrics to songs with titles such as “Fucked With A Knife” or “Icepick Lobotomy” at the age of 46?
I don’t really think of it that way. This is what I do. Also, these are just words I’m singing and they only help to tell a story. We have a bunch of songs that are really challenging to sing live. “Make Them Suffer” (from 2006’s Kill ) is pretty hard and is probably one of the most difficult to get right. Some of the songs are just really fast which is also a pain. Once we’re a few shows into a tour, I feel like I can do anything in the set.
What do you do with yourself when you’re at home and not on tour screaming and grunting out lyrics about being buried in cement ?
When I get home and I have two weeks, I just want to hang with my kids and my wife. I love playing World of Warcraft a lot. I am also crazy about Target. There are times when my wife and I don’t even need anything and we’ll just go there to hang out and walk around. Honestly, and I am not shitting you, it’s really just a happy place for us. I’m not trying to be a spokesman for them or anything and I know it sounds weird and shit, but I just love Target.
Metal Blade has been the band’s label since 1990. Are you looking elsewhere?
No way. We have a great relationship with Metal Blade. Brian Slagel (label honcho) has treated us awesome from the beginning and it’s been a super run. We plan to keep on going until we stop. In this day and age, it’s true most bands like us and smaller bands as well make their real money from merchandise and tours. Everyone knows record sales have really hit the shit. Even when it was at its worst, we never lost the support from Metal Blade. We’re really just happy to still be doing it this long when so many have stopped. Everybody has sacrificed a lot of stuff to be out here and we’ll continue to do so. I will say it’s not getting easier, but in the end, we’re always gonna be very easy and approachable to our fans who made us who were are. I’m always down to say hello and take a picture. And we’re living our dream making a living doing what we love.
Cannibal Corpse play at 7:30 p.m., Monday, March 7, at The Fillmore. $25.
For sale: The Palms Playhouse, a longtime staple of the local singer-songwriter community, is up for sale. That means the Winters venue’s calendar is empty for the first time in years.
Earlier this month, the Palms posted a brief update to its Facebook page: “We haven’t felt right confirming shows not knowing if a possible sale would happen. While there is nothing currently listed … we do have some shows waiting in the wings if our current space remains available to us, and are exploring a number of options as we move forward.”
Talent buyer Dave Fleming could not be reached for comment.
Sun., Mar. 6, 8 p.m., Center For The Arts, $27-$32
Fans of the Grateful Dead and its many side projects already know guitarist Steve Kimock for his work with the Other Ones, Bob Weir’s RatDog, and his own group Zero. This particular show pairs him with his son John Morgan Kimock, an equally thought-provoking drummer and composer. They’ll play selections from his latest, Last Danger of Frost, joined by Bobby Vega on bass in addition to guest vocalist Leslie Mendelson. Expect a night of heady musical fare that showcases Steve Kimock’s love for defying the laws of musical tradition. 314 West Main Street in Grass Valley, www.kimock.com.
Though Jello Biafra hasn’t fronted the band for 30 years, three-quarters of the Dead Kennedys’ most relevant members—East Bay Ray (guitar), Klaus Flouride (bass) and D.H. Peligro (drums)—are still carrying the flag along with newest member and singer Ron “Skip” Greer, who has manned his position since 2008. Although the band is anything but prolific, that hasn’t stopped them from drawing sizable crowds to their frenetic live show. Thankfully, fans of the band who only want to hear “the early shit” will be happy to know they’ll get an earful including much of the band’s catalog. From Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (1980) to Plastic Surgery Disasters (1982), Frankenchrist (1985) to Bedtime for Democracy (1986), nothing is off limits. This show also features New York’s Reagan Youth, Alameda’s Screaming Bloody Marys and Sacramento’s own The Secretions. Secure your tickets ($22 in advance) at Aceofspadessac.com
Eddie
