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Editors Picks: The Rock & Roll Lifestyle Dude, Where's My Bar? If you're looking for live local rawk, you'll find it at Kleidon's. Best Proof That Rock Never Dies Rock Stars and Bitches Night Kleidon's Lounge, 152 Post St., San Jose 408.293.2461 After the final nail slammed into the Cactus Club's coffin, zombie club-goers wandering a deserted downtown got their voodoo on at Kleidon's Lounge. Monday-night's Rock Stars and Bitches started drawing a familiar Cactus crowd. As word of the cool vibe spread, the shows grew exponentially. After all, where else do leading local bands play for free? Kleidon's relatively small space offers the intimacy of a private house concert, and for the most part bands treat it as such. In their element, surrounded by friends, fans and family, bands like Lavabone, Los Bastardos de Amor, Krenshaw and Reaction 31 jam, chat casually or bust out cover tunes just for fun. With bands clamoring for dates there, Kleidon's Johnny Van Wyk says to look for live music on Mondays indefinitely. Coming soon: regular shows on Saturdays as well. Best Place to Score Some Grass Roots Sloppy Joe's 'Home Grown' on KSJO Bands, send CDs and promo materials to Sloppy Joe, c/o KSJO Radio, 1420 Koll Circle, Ste. A, San Jose 95112; listen in the South Bay to 92.3-FM www.ksjo.com With restrictive playlists dictating what songs get put in rotation, it's nearly impossible for a song that hasn't been analyzed and categorized and demographicized to break through on commercial radio. Fortunately, for 30 minutes every Sunday night, at 11:30pm, KSJO DJ Sloppy Joe throws the station's regular playlist out the window. The show, called Home Grown, is dedicated to Bay Area rock bands. Among the featured groups have been Lavabone, Ones and Zeros, Krenshaw and Reaction 31. Everybody knows that most bands that make it big--Papa Roach is a perfect example--start out hitting the club circuit. Thanks to KSJO, there's a 30-minute window of airtime when listeners can tune in to the bands burning up the local underground--all from the comfort of their La-Z-Boys. Spin Ditty: The Fingerbangerz crew turns the tables on Silicon Valley's DJ scene. Best Turntable Technicians Dominic 'Golden Chyld' Cueto (Fingerbangerz Crew) Racky 'Rocky Rock' Aujero (Evolution DJs) www.fingerbangerz.com; www.soulshow.tv Over the past two years, these two San Jose needle thrashers have pinned the South Bay on the international DJ map. In his "Sir Golden Chyld Ave" routine at the 2001 U.S. DMC Finals, Dominic Cueto skittered and scratched his way through a crate of records spanning genres and eras, cool as a cucumber. Today, he holds it down with the in-demand Fingerbangerz crew. Meanwhile, Racky "Rocky Rock" is a sound manipulator, harnessing heavy distortion and feedback tones, crunching them like guitars and soloing like a lead guitarist. This year, Rocky collected a number of DJ battle trophies, culminating in his victory at the Projekt Revolution battle sponsored by Linkin Park. Rock traveled to Mexico City to open for Korn, Linkin Park and Static-X. Rock also lends his cross-fade skills to the Soul Show, a Mountain View religious cable-access show aimed at youth. Rocky was a member of the Fingerbangerz, but he and another DJ, Ejay, split to form the Evolution Crew. There's no beef, though, and to prove that the town is big enough for two champions, Rocky Rock and Golden Chyld join forces at the Gallery on Nov. 16, opening for Kid Koala. Tireless contributors to this year's editor's picks included Corinne Asturias, Michael Gant, Allie Gottlieb, Todd Inoue, Gary Singh, Sarah Quelland, Loren Stein and Gordon Young Send a letter to the editor about this story to letters@metronews.com. [ Silicon Valley | Metroactive Home | Archives ]