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Beat Street
By Todd S. Inoue

They Call On Bruce: A benefactor brings the Boss HERE'S some Boss news. New Jersey's own Bruce Springsteen will perform at San Jose State Event Center on Oct. 26, in a benefit for SJSU's John Steinbeck Research Center. Tom Joad, namesake of Springsteen's latest album, The Ghost of Tom Joad, is the dogged protagonist of Steinbeck's classic Grapes of Wrath. The concert came about through the persistence of the Research Center and a close friend of the Center, Elaine Steinbeck. Elaine met up with Springsteen after a New York show and her recommendation swayed the Boss over to San Jose. The Research Center has been in existence for 25 years. It holds a major collection of signed first editions, foreign editions, secondary works, dissertations, theses, films, film posters, manuscripts of short stories, letters written by Steinbeck, and his correspondence with Adlai Stevenson, JFK, Princess Grace and Ingrid Bergman. The center also promotes a Steinbeck Week at San Jose State, and arranges the annual Cannery Row festival in Monterey. Bruce, whose own work mirrors Steinbeck's respect for the working man, makes for a natural pairing. "The vision of sympathy, of the dispossessed, of those who aren't on top, for people who are marginalized--those visions are in both artists," said Susan Shillinglaw, professor of English and director of the Steinbeck Research Center. Monies from the show will assist in the Research Center's activities, hire an archivist and keep Steinbeck's memory alive. Tickets for the show will be on sale soon. To contact the Steinbeck Research Center, phone 408/924-4588 or visit the Wahlquist Library. Smokin' Grooves As the countdown ticks to Los Gatos' Waves eventual demise, the countdown toward its grand re-opening (renamed Waves Smokehouse and Barbecue) in downtown San Jose gains momentum. Husband and wife team Joel Wyrick and Judy Pearson are moving their Los Gatos reggae nightclub inside the historic, three-story Fenerin building at the corner of Post Street and Lightston Alley. Since it began in 1990, Waves floundered in obscurity--victim of an Old Town location that even NASA researchers couldn't locate. The move will put the club in touch with its main audience--San Joseans. "Most of our clientele came from San Jose," Joel Wyrick asserts. "We're moving closer to our customer base." The main floor will be a dance floor and bar. The music will be the same as Waves--reggae on Friday and Saturday nights, maybe jazz, maybe dance music. "I love the crowd that reggae brings," said Wyrick, an admitted jazz freak. "It's like 'smoke a bowl, peace, save the whales.' People don't fight. For that reason alone, I'd do reggae forever." Upstairs will house the Waves Smokehouse and an open-air patio. Wyrick is a big barbecue fan and is planning his dream restaurant, which will please carnivores--grilled ribs, chicken, brisket, pork shoulder, jerked chicken. Three sauces (and a proposed sauce of the day) are in production. Waves in Los Gatos will close when the new one opens in November 1996, with Nov. 2 the last day at the Los Gatos location. (Beers are going for the number of days left--the price as of today, Aug. 15: 82 cents.) Inka Inka will perform Halloween night, and Dub Nation will play the final night. Don't Even Go There Hold on to those tickets. The Smashing Pumpkins show set for Aug. 18 at San Jose Arena has been postponed until Dec. 16. The Pumpkins hired former Filter drummer Matt Walker to replace deposed drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. In order to have time to get comfortable with both Walker and new keyboardist Dennis Flemion, the band has postponed a number of previously announced shows that were to have taken place from Aug. 12 through Aug. 25. [ Metro | Metroactive Central | Archives ]