Calendar check: Fresno Fair announces first round of performers (and more)
Plus, Tower Rats aim to please with new single.
There’s been a glut of concert announcements of late (‘tis the season. Still). Here’s a sampling of what’s happening in the Fresno area over the next few months. So, go ahead and set your calendars.
The Big Fresno Fair
The Big (big, big) Fresno Fair announced the first round of performers for its 2025 concert series. Historically, the fair programs its concert series to be accessible to a wide audience and while there is nothing groundbreaking here, there are some high points.
Nostalgia seems to be the big draw:
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts kick off the fair, Oct. 1.
What follows is a series of genre specific theme nights.
Alt-Rock Rewind (Oct. 4) features Lit, Fuel and Eve 6.
I Love the ’90s (Oct. 8) is a hip-hop ode, with Vanilla Ice, Treach (of Naughty By Nature), Tone Loc, Young Mc and C&C Music Factory.
For the oldies fans, the Spinner and Commodores (minus Lionel Richie) play Oct. 6. Country-music fans get Trace Adkins.
Tickets for all shows are on sale now.
Dokken @ Adventist Amphitheater
Spade Entertainment has kicked off the first official season of concerts at Adventist Amphitheater in Tulare. It had its official grand-opening last night (Los Lobos performed there on Friday).
So far, the season includes eight concerts running through the end of September.
Highlights: Clint Black (June 28), Toad the Wet Sprocket (July 18) and Dokken with George Lynch and the Mob (Sept. 27).
Dokken’s “Back for the Attack” is as classic an ’80s hair metal album as any. If they can come close to recreating that sound, the show will be worth seeing.
Soundhouse w/Phantogram
New Rock 104.1 is hosting the electronic rock duo Phantogram for a Soundhouse performance on Thursday at Tioga Sequoia’s beer garden (after a short run down at Crawdaddy’s in Visalia).
For those unfamiliar, these are stripped down, mini-sets for dedicated fans (of the band, but also the station).
The event is free, but space is limited (so, plan accordingly). The line will start forming at 3 p.m., with performance starting at 4:30 p.m.
Lucky 13 Festival invades Fresno
Out of the Ring has been busy lately, busting ass with weekend-warriors shows and making connections with punk bands across the state.
It leveraged those connections to pull in a full-day festival in Fresno June 7 (this one’s also at Tioga Sequoia).
Nearly two dozen bands are slated to perform across two stages starting at 1 p.m. (gates at noon). The lineup is a cross section of locals (Out of the Ring included) and out of towners (the Young Barons, Fire Drill) and represents a broad swath of what one would consider punk. Laura Splotch’s Tower Porchfest was a bit of a teaser.
Fresno Family Folk Hour
Running concurrent to the punk fest is Brother Luke’s Fresno Family Folk Hour. This is a free event inside Tioga Sequoia’s Lookout Room.
This is the third installment of the Fresno Family Folk Hour, which is done as a kind of storyteller, songwriters showcase. It’s curated by (Brother) Luke Freeman and staged almost in the round with the eight or so artists sharing the stage and trading off songs.
Freeman will be joined by Jackie Bootstraps, Steven Kent, MattsOK, Nah Sir, Aaron V. Gomes with Heidi S and Matt Shaver.
Duane Betts @ Fulton 55
Fulton 55 announced a July 22 tour stop from Duane Betts and Palmetto Hotel.
Betts is the son of Allman Brother co-founder Dickey Betts and cut his teeth playing with the southern rock icons (including at the Woodstock Festival in 1994). He also played guitar in Great Southern, his father’s band post-Allman Brothers and was touring member of the band Dawes.
Anthony Green @ Strummer’s
Depending on when you came in on things, you might know Anthony Green from any number of bands. It’s a list, for sure: Saosin, Circa Survive, the Sounds of Animals Fighting, L.S. Dunes.
But the singer has also had a viable career as a solo artist, starting with his debut album “Avalon” in 2008. His latest album, “So Long Avalon,” is a reworking of those songs “shaped by 20 years of live performances, to capture the life they’ve taken on over time.”
Green brings his “So Long Avalon” tour to Strummer’s, Sept. 2.
New music: Tower Rats, “I Aim to Please”
Back in March, Tower Rats simultaneously announced its first show of the year and teased a new single (its first since the release of the Studio 9 ep in 2023).
We now have an official title, release date and teaser video (is there a full length to come?).
“I Aim to Please,” releases the week of May 26 (depending on streaming platforms), so hopefully y’all have time to learn the lyrics in time for a sing along at the official release party May 31 at Strummer’s.
Of note: This will be the band’s first show with its new bass player Ken Cruz (who some will know from The Martyrs, Civil Duty and Our Lost Cause).
The track brings to mind Butch Vig era Against Me, in structure, instrumentation and tone (I hear it in the guitar, especially), but trades off some of its edginess for pop sensibilities on the choruses. I’ll be premiering the track tonight on the Homegrown show, at 8 p.m. on New Rock 104.1.
That’s it for this week. Remember you can now hear me on the Homegrown Show Sundays at 8 p.m. on New Rock 104.1 FM. Tonight, I’m in studio with reggae band High Praise, talking about their new single and the Reggae in the City concert at Tioga Sequoia. Follow my other writing at The Fresno Bee. If you have anything you think I need to be looking at or listening to, feel free to let me know: jtehee@gmail.com