As the Silicon Alleys column approaches 20 years, I am obsessed with reflections.
In the first year of this page, 2005, I visited Nashville, Music City, and returned to complain about San Jose’s dismal live music scene, at that moment. Last week, I was in Nashville again—for the first time since that column—but I am not going to repeat myself.
This time, even though San Jose will never be anything close to Nashville, I returned home with a more positive attitude. As much as the choices for live music remain lacking in my home town, it’s definitely better than 2005. I can see potential. I just needed to reacquaint myself with Music City in order to properly view my own landscape. So that’s what I did.
Yes, Nashville reminded me how much San Jose has improved since 20 years ago. You may not agree. But think about it.
In 2005, Cactus Club had just closed three years earlier, not too much longer after the Saddle Rack closed. Fuel was gone and Blank Club had just opened up in its place. This was great for punk and metal fans, but if you wanted esoteric jazz, roots, Latin downtempo and bebop, you were out of luck. There were no venues for people under 21, a la Gilman Street or Cactus. Many people had nowhere to go. There was plenty to bitch about.
Also, social media did not really exist yet. No one had mobile phones. No one cared about Wi-Fi. People in bars actually still talked to each other.
In 2025, I can see things finally moving in some sort of improved direction. Many examples come to mind. Right before I split town, the San Jose Jazz Break Room—an outstanding venue—finished up what I think was its best series ever with its New Works Fest, which included several SJSU alums, as well as out-of-towners.
Likewise, the folks lobbying behind Levitt Pavilion surmounted another obstacle toward building a permanent concert stage for dozens of family-friendly gigs in St. James Park every year. You won’t see Napalm Death and the Melvins at Levitt Pavilion, but it’s something.
You will see Napalm Death and the Melvins at the Ritz, which continues the club lineage that Cactus and Blank Club cemented years ago, but with an even more diverse selection of gigs. There are people working at the Ritz who’ve been around since even before Cactus existed. The gig is co-presented by KFJC, a station that’s co-presented gigs on that street for 40 years, at least.
Just outside of downtown, Art Boutiki continues to be a great venue that never gets enough press. It’s exactly like something you’d see in Nashville. In Nashville, there are many venues that sit in some nondescript, ignored stretch of road, totally dark and desolate on the outside, but as soon as you walk in, you step into a jam-packed, mind-blowing gig that stays with you for a long time. Art Boutiki is like that.
Over in the SoFA District, a new place, Pete Be Center, is set to open up soon. I’ve been inside. It’s huge. With the new incarnation of the SoFA Street Fair already 10 years old, I’m reminded of the old SoFA days, when the rock clubs, although competitors, always had each other’s backs. It was all one big family.
Nashville is like that too. Businesses are always collaborating, on every level. Artists, musicians, designers, architects, chefs, convention planners, everyone. It’s a “rising tide lifts all boats” kind of town. Even the real estate developers get it.
But back to San Jose. On May 13, the San Jose Earthquakes will host a huge block party on South First Street with global superstar Steve Aoki, one of the world’s most popular DJs, the night before the world’s most popular athlete, Lionel Messi, is scheduled to play against the Quakes.
That would never have happened 20 years ago. In 2005, AEG was in the process of relocating the Quakes to Houston because they thought San Jose was a backwater wasteland.
In the end, I will always support live music and I am grateful to celebrate 20 years writing this page. I hope you agree.
