1/11/2006: The McShow Cometh... eventually.

I'M NOT DEAD!

SEE!?!

Hello music lovers, a belated Happy New Year to you
all.

Life has finally settled down a bit for your waylayed
Mr. McShow following school finals, a move (the first
in about five years!), and my back east holiday
adventure. It's been awhile, but it always comes back
to the music doesn't it?

Before I get into it, I have a formatting question for
you all. It's been something like a year and a half
now that I've been semi-regularly hitting your inbox
with this heavily opinionated list. Over that time
I've gotten a lot of requests to do a website or a
blog format to simplify things. I'll be honest, the
worry for me is that I would spend all the time to
make the list and no one would actually go to the site
to look at it. If I'm force-feeding it right to you, I
can be sure you at least see the title (which is why
when there is something absolutely critical I'll
usually put it right in the Subject line).

My question is this: If I build it, will you come? A
McShow blog could happen in the future, but I sure as
hell wouldn't want to lose contact with many of you by
changing formats. In fact, I wouldn't want to lose
touch with JUST ONE of you by changing formats.

So would you look? Should I do it? Send me a
super-quick hello and let me know.

Okay, enough of that crap. Time for music.

The most exciting piece of news for me is that the
best damn funky jazz band in the world, the GREYBOY
ALLSTARS are coming to the Independent Feb 1st-Feb
3rd. Why am I telling you this now? Because the night
of the 3rd is already sold out. I'm picking up my
ticket for the Feb 1st (Wednesday) show today and so
should you dammit!

Sound Tribe Sector 9; No Miss Allstars; Realistic
Orch; HAL with Blue Turtle Seduction; James Brown at
Bimbo's; the return of Jazz Mafia Tuesdays; as far as
this week and weekend go there is so much going on I
don't even know where to start.

Actually, that's a lie. I'll start with tonight:

|||||| WEDNESDAY 1/11 ||||||

Jimbo Trout & the Fish People @ 12 Galaxies $6
Sweet and simple, down-home bluegrass music and the
price is right for a Wednesday night. Jimbo Trout
combines all of the typical bluegrass string
instruments and drops in a splash of washboard, kazoo,
and even clarinet for a true old-time sound. Poor
Man's Whiskey and then Homespun Rowdy open 'er up.
http://www.jimbotrout.com/

Sean Leahy @ Giordano Bros. $FREE
A funky guitarist who has been an SF institution for a
decade (and founder of Boomshanka), Sean has a
residency going in this sweet little North Beach spot.
http://www.seanleahymusic.com/

Gaucho/Mitch Marcus @ Amnesia $FREE
Free jazz on Wednesdays continues at the home of one
of the Mission's better beer selections. This week
it's gypsy swing jazz to go with yer suds.
http://www.gauchogypsyjazz.com/

|||||| THURSDAY 1/12 ||||||

Wil Blades Organ Trio @ Bacar $FREE
One of SF's funky jazz organ masters will be rockin'
the keys for free at this SoMa wine bar.
http://www.wilblades.com/main.html

|||||| FRIDAY 1/13 ||||||

Sound Tribe Sector Nine @ Fillmore $25
Friday & Saturday shows. Still the reigning
heavyweight champs of the livetronica world, STS9
busting out a bunch new music when they hit town this
weekend. From their website, "We hope the West is
ready...". With relentless and infectious beats
provided by drummer Zach Velmer and more layered
rhythmic soundscapes than your head can process at
once, these guys never fail to prove why they're on
top.
http://sts9.com/

North Mississippi All Stars @ Independent $20
Friday & Saturday shows. This southern-fried trio is
truly something unique. Based in spicy blues and rock,
they diverge in a slew of rootsy, soulful, groovin'
directions from there into a sound they call world
boogie. They put a lot of heart into their shows, it's
a good time.
http://www.nmallstars.com

Realistic Orchestra @ Jazz at Pearl's $15
Friday & Saturday shows. The Jazz Mafia is at the core
of the Realistic Orchestra, one of the most unique
bands you'll ever see. They're a full on 20-piece
breakbeat jazz band that employs new school effects in
their high-energy compositions. They start and stop on
a dime, are comprised of the Bay Area's best jazz
players, and will totally amaze you.
http://jazzmafia.com/

Melvin Seals' Jerry Garcia Band @ Great American Music
Hall $18
I've always loved the Jerry Band with their gospel,
soul, and bluegrassy jams. Word is Melvin Seals is
being very authentic with this latest incarnation.
http://www.jgbband.com/

P-Funk Allstar RonKat Spearman's Katdelic Revival @
Studio Z $12
However goofy the name is, this show should be funky
as hell. It's a cast of cats from Parliament
Funkadelic (RonKat and Eric McFadden) and featuring
Sean Leahy (Boomshanka, London Street, etc) on funky
guitar too.
http://www.ronkat.net/

Delta Nove @ Sweetwater $?
Wanna dance? The badass samba-afro-funk sounds of this
high-energy six piece will move your feet, your ass,
and just about all of your other parts too. They rock
and are a total wear-you-out blast to see.
http://www.dnove.com/

|||||| SATURDAY 1/14 ||||||

Sound Tribe Sector Nine @ Fillmore $25
Friday & Saturday shows. See above.
http://sts9.com/

North Mississippi All Stars @ Independent $20
Friday & Saturday shows. See above.
http://www.nmallstars.com

Home at Last/Blue Turtle Seduction @ Jelly's $10
Two of the best up-and-coming jam bands around will
duel it up at Jelly's this Saturday. HAL is
celebrating a CD release and they really impressed me
with some solid straight-up jamming last time I caught
'em. Blue Turtle has a high-energy bluegrass influence
in their jam rock that is bouncy and fun as hell to
dance to.
http://halband.com/

Eric McFadden & Friends @ Boom Boom Room $12
Parliament Funkadelic's guitarist leads this band of
cats from the likes of Cake, Les Claypool, and the
Animals among others. With a funky groove, a classic
rock soul, and singer/songwriter heart it'll be a
tasty gig.
http://www.ericmcfadden.com/

Stymie & the Pimp Jones Luv Orchestra @ Cafe du Nord
$10
Get all up in the roots of funk with Stymie. Close
your eyes and you'll swear it's Sly Stone, that's how
old school and authentic their sound is. It's big,
funky, and a blast to dig on.
http://www.stymieluv.com/index.php

|||||| SUNDAY 1/15 ||||||

James Brown & the Smokin' 15-piece Band @ Bimbo's 365
$125 (sold out)
Daaaaaamn. If I had this kinda money there is no way
in HELL I would miss this. I mean when else are you
gonna get the chance to see the Godfather of Soul in a
swanky club? And a 15 piece funky band?!? Daaaaaamn.
As of today there are still some tickets on
Craigslist...
http://www.godfatherofsoul.com/

|||||| MONDAY 1/16 ||||||

Plays Monk @ Bacar $FREE
A wine bar for Monday night? Heck yes when nasty
drummer Scott Amendola is leading a jazz trio in the
style of Thelonious Monk for f r e e.
http://www.scottamendola.com/

|||||| TUESDAY 1/17 ||||||

Shotgun Wedding Quintet @ 12 Galaxies $6
YES! My favorite weekly residency here in town comes
back strong in the new year with a new venue, IT'S
JAZZ MAFIA TUESDAYS AT 12 GALAXIES! Adam Theis and the
crew hiked a few doors down from good ol' Bruno's and
are back on the attack in the Mission. You (if you
weren't as drunk as me) remember the nasty funky hip
hop sounds of Shotgun Wedding Quintet from that little
birthday gig over at The CT Yankee a few months back.
They've got more new stuff and are kicking more ass
than ever, go dig 'em!
http://shotgunweddingquintet.com/