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Slice 'n' Dice: Shonen Knife, featuring sisters Atsuko and Naoko Yamano, make a rare South Bay appearance on Oct. 8 at the Blank Club. Fall of the Legends As the summer tours dwindle, the fall tours rev up By Todd Inoue Fall 2003 Arts Guide: [ Stage | Opera | Dance | Classical Music | Concerts | Academic Angles | Movies | Jazz | More ] IN TELEVISION, the beginning of fall traditionally coincides with the end of summer reruns. The same holds true for the music business. As the old rockers wrap up summer tours and return to their villas, local venues are lining up shows with fresh talent that don't require backstage defibrillators. Biggest shows of the fall season belong to Radiohead (Sept. 23) and Neil Young's annual Bridge School Benefit shows (Oct. 25-26), both at the Shoreline. The Bridge School lineup has yet to be confirmed, but Pearl Jam, Incubus, Marianne Faithful and Dixie Chicks are rumored to be on the bill. And this just in: A.F.I. plays the San Jose Civic on Oct. 23. After a long summer of mellow rockers, Montalvo carries a cutting-edge spirit into fall and winter with Herbie Hancock and Bobby Hutcherson (Sept. 19), John McLaughlin and Zakir Hussain (Sept. 21), Little Feat (Sept. 25), Kronos Quartet (Oct. 10) and jazz duo Stanley Jordan and Muriel Anderson (Oct. 26). Montalvo's peninsula sister, the Fox Theater in Redwood City, sees Audra McDonald (Oct. 5), Hawaiian music chief Keali'I Reichel (Oct. 11), Wynton Marsalis (Oct. 30) and Prairie Home Companion's Garrison Keillor (Nov. 12). Highlights of the adjoining Little Fox Theater include Trailer Park Troubadours (Sept. 18), the Bassquake Bass Players Conference (Sept. 27), the delightful Paris Combo (Oct. 18), a double scoop of Anton Schwartz and Taylor Eigsti (Oct. 19). Also on the peninsula, Stanford Lively Arts step into its 2003-04 season with fall October-November performances by the Emerson String Quartet, Cool Crooners of Bulawayo, Alwin Nikolais, Ravi and Anoushka Shankar, the Peabody Trio, Garrick Ohlsson, Aulos Ensemble. At the Blank Club, the chief operating word is garage. Check out the Black Halos (Sept. 11), the Epoxies (Sept. 26), the Horrorpops (Sept. 28), the Riverboat Gamblers (Sept. 30) and a very special appearance by Osaka's pioneering three-piece Shonen Knife (Oct. 8). The Blank Club also has crusty punk legends Discharge (Sept. 17), dynamic duo Local H (Oct. 1), Black Flag's Greg Ginn (Oct. 11), the Adverts' TV Smith and Mr. T. Experience's Dr. Frank (Oct. 14) and New Model Army (Nov. 26). If San Jose were a music industry center, major labels would be snooping around Grand Fanali Presents shows. The small, dedicated staff has attracted buzz bands either going to or returning from label showcases in Hell-a (can you say Matt Sharp, Fighting Jacks and Jealous Sound?). This fall, they continue its string of booking coups around the South Bay with The Stereo and the Plus Ones (Sept. 13), Logan Whitehurst and Junior Science Club (Oct. 9), the Thermals (Oct. 10) and Small Brown Bike (Dec. 1). By far, the biggest GFP show of the season (perhaps the year) is the acclaimed Hot Water Music (Nov. 22) at the Edge. The Edge has also snapped up Bowling for Soup ("Girls All the Bad Guys Want") on Sept. 20. De Anza College's Flint Center has booked fall appearances by classical pianist Jon Nakamatsu (Oct. 18), the salty-tongued Margaret Cho (Oct. 24), Vovi University Harmony of Beating Drums (Oct. 25), Harlem Boys Choir (Dec. 2), and special holiday shows by Sounds of Hawaii (Dec. 4) and the Brian Setzer Orchestra (Dec. 14). Stank night at Agenda Lounge is also on a roll. The hip-hop and funk weekly that breached with DJ ?uestlove and reached an apex with Breakestra two weeks ago continues with confirmed gigs by DJ/producer Jazzy Jeff (Sept. 11), DJ Greyboy and Gunkhole with D-Styles, Mike Boogie and Ricci Rucker doing God knows what (Sept. 18) and DJ Zeph (Sept. 25). Tentatively, Stank has an October hold on San Jose legend Peanut Butter Wolf. Also of interest to hip-hop heads, DJ Q-Bert's animated odyssey Wave Twisters gets the IMAX treatment on Oct. 19 as part of the ParaCon, an anime event at Paramount's Great America. Chris Esparza is working on bringing Sex Mob to the Germania Hall (261 N. Second St., San Jose) on Oct. 10. JJ's Blues keeps grinding out the blues no matter what the economic forecast. Look for big shots Tommy Castro (Sept. 12), Mitch Woods and His Rocket '88s (Sept. 13), two nights with Corby Yates (Sept. 19-20), Daniel Castro (Sept. 26), Blind Pig artists Nick Curran (Sept. 27) and Popa Chubby (Oct. 17). Fans of Afro Latin jazz should line up now for a special performance by Omar Sosa at Theatre on San Pedro Square (Oct. 5). MACLA celebrates its grand reopening with a show celebrating Tijuana art and culture with a performance by the Nortec Collective (Oct. 3). Then, San Jose Taiko celebrates 30 years of music with a special concert at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts (Oct. 4), where Lyle Lovett performs three days later. Of course, there are a few lingering flashbacks, most evident at the Shoreline where the Dead (Sept. 19) and Kiss (Oct. 10) with Aerosmith, and minus Ace Frehley, head up the retro parade. Top tickets for Alabama's farewell concert at Shoreline (Sept. 20) peak at $1,004--no joke! On the peninsula, metal head King Diamond (Oct. 23) and a Phil Lynott-less Thin Lizzy (Oct. 29) play the Edge. The Mountain Winery simmers down from a hot summer with the B-52's (Sept. 11), Chicago (Sept. 12-13), Wynonna (Sept. 19), Kenny G (Sept. 20), Huey Lewis and the News (Sept. 25-28), Willie Nelson (Sept. 30-Oct. 1), Robert Cray and John Hiatt (Oct. 3-4), and Simply Red (Oct. 5). Montalvo hosts Jackson Browne in a benefit concert for the Ronnie Lott All Stars Helping Kids foundation and Montalvo's Education and Outreach. Finally, there's the inexplicable Burt Bacharach Tribute on Ice show that skates to the HP Pavilion (Sept. 20). Send a letter to the editor about this story to letters@metronews.com. [ Silicon Valley | Metroactive Home | Archives ]