11/4/2004: At least you know the musicians didn't vote for him.

Holy crap.

I try to stay away from putting anything political in
my little show email because, let's face it, there are
PLENTY of other places you can go for all that
hickamahoo. You don't need to hear it from yer good
'ol show buddy (who incidentally uses live music to
escape certain things that frustrate him in this crazy
world).

Today in putting together this email and trying to
forget about most of what happened Tuesday, politics
found ME. I clicked on a link to the excellent
afrobeat band Aphrodesia and found this page much to
my surprise: http://www.aphrodesia.org/

They're not sugar coating anything, are they? Wow.
Afrobeat is supposed to be politically and socially
charged, so they're keeping up with the theme
apparently...

Oh well, at least there is some INCREDIBLE music to
dig on this weekend. Medeski, Martin, and Wood are in
town; the Boom Boom is hosting an all-star supergroup
of funky players; and the SF Funk Festival kicks off
with High Sierra's Hairy Apes BMX. Can you hear your
troubles floating away..?

|||||| THURSDAY 11/4 ||||||

North Mississippi All Stars/Dirty Dozen Brass Band @
Independent $20
Party on! Southern fried improv rock and brassy
'Nawlins funk are comin' up at the Indy. This is a
great double-bill and they're playing on Thursday
night as well!
http://www.nmsallstars.com/

|||||| FRIDAY 11/5 ||||||

Super New York Pizza @ Boom Boom Room $20
ALL FREAKIN' STARS! This crazy powerhouse funky
soul-jazz band consists of Eric Krasno
(guitar-Soulive), Robert Walter (organ-Greyboy
Allstars), Cheme Gastalum (sax-20th Congress), and
Adam Deitch (drums-Lettuce)... AND special guests too!
This sounds pretty unreal. That's a lot of funky
talent on one little stage. Friday & Saturday night
shows for your dancing pleasure! The Push opens.
http://www.boomboomblues.com/feat_supernypizza.html

Hairy Apes BMX @ Elbo Room $10
SF Funk Fest!
One of the most talked-about High Sierra Bands, the
Apes defy categorization. They have a completely
unique sound touching on funk, hip-hop, electro, jazz,
rock, and just about anything else that is fun to
listen to and makes you move your ass...
http://www.sffunk.com/show1.shtml

Aphrodesia | SambaDa @ 12 Galaxies $8
A double bill of funktastic tunes. Aphrodesia is a big
afrobeat band that will keep you hopping until you
can't stand up, and SambaDa never fails to deliver the
absolute funkiest in samba music straight to yer
groovy parts.
http://www.aphrodesia.org/

Railroad Earth @ Independent $15
These big rockin' bluegrass cats just can't get enough
of the Independent. Last time was a blast, I'm betting
they won't disappoint.
http://www.railroadearth.com/

New Monsoon @ Sweetwater (Mill Valley) $20
A special accoustic set for the high-energy,
multi-genre septet.
http://www.sweetwatersaloon.com/showevent.ihtml?id=3199

|||||| SATURDAY 11/6 ||||||

Rebirth Brass Band @ SF Art Institute Campus $15
SF Funk Fest All Day Show! (2pm-10pm)
They're calling it an all-day funk school workshop
which means shows, Q & Q, tons of guests including
Meters and Sly Stone players, and even cajun food!
Sweeeeet.
http://www.sffunk.com/show2.shtml

Medeski, Martin, & Wood @ Grand $25
Just about the best damn acid jazz trio on Earth.
Period. At this venue it's a can't-miss-it kinda show.
A Showy all-time fave. You never know what they're
gonna give you and that's the whole point...
http://www.mmw.net/

Super New York Pizza @ Boom Boom Room $20
ALL FREAKIN' STARS! (see above)
http://www.boomboomblues.com/feat_supernypizza.html

Stymie & the Pimp Jones Luv Orchestra @ Last Day
Saloon $7
In the tradition of Sly and the Family Stone comes
this big 'ol funk band. Saw them at SF Music Awards
and they totally rock. Fun fun stuff.
http://www.stymieluv.com/

|||||| TUESDAY 11/9 ||||||

Shotgun Wedding Quintet @ Bruno's $6
Jazz Mafia slingin' the hip hop funky stuff. $2
Stella... tasty.
http://www.realisticsf.com

|||||| WEDNESDAY 11/10 ||||||

Bela Fleck & the Flecktones @ Grand $30
And worth every damn nickel! This will be spectacular
to catch at a venue like the Grand. Bela is probably
the world's best banjo player and he shares the stage
with the world's best bassist, Victor Wooten. Their
music is absolutely unique and absolutely wonderful.
Another Showy all-time fave.
http://www.flecktones.com/

Gov't Mule @ Fillmore $25
Fronted by the amazing Warren Haynes (Allman Bros),
this is good 'ol southern blues/jam rock done right.
Playing Thursday too. You can smell the grits now...
http://www.mule.net/

|||||| UPCOMING ||||||

11/12 George Clinton @ Grand
11/12 Spam All Stars @ Elbo Room
11/19 Dance Hall Crashers @ Great American Music Hall
11/19 & 11/20 Charlie Hunter & many more @ Independent

Word up. There's your Thursday morning,
forget-about-politics-and-go-enjoy-music, McShowy
update. See you on the dance floor!