IN AN AGE of downloads, iPods, MP3s and DJs, what happens to the elemental electric charge that only a live performance can generate?

Music is meant to be a form of mass communication—as, for instance, in the mass of sweaty, funky bodies crowding up against the stage while some ragtag bunch of kids, after a few weeks' tune-up in their garage, shout out a vision of the future on top of a wave of fuzz tone and feedback.

For too long now, San Jose has succumbed to the siren call of the DJ, a solo transmitter for music made and performed in a studio. But a live-music renaissance is on the way. Young San Jose bands are ready to take back the night, and much-loved veterans are still around to show them how it's done, as well. Our celebration of live music salutes some of the new wave with profiles of Kung Fu Vampire, Conway, the Rivals and My Former Self, and gives props to longtime San Jose favorites the Forgotten.

The time is right to kick out some jams, a fact recognized by the arrival of the San Jose Rocks Hall of Fame in San Jose, which honors some great old-school rock acts—Count Five, Jefferson Airplane and Syndicate of Sound. Not a DJ in the bunch.

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