For The Record hits the road on month-long tour; new EP on the way
Plus, Fresno gets lucky with Pearl Jam Gigaton tour and a weekly events calendar.
Central Valley ska band rules dictate there has to be at least one band gigging hard around the area at any given time.
It’s the only way to ensure the spirit of the “skank” never dies.
Right now, that band is For the Record.
Over the last half-dozen years or so, the band has racked up a bunch of local shows (including a spot on this year’s FresYes Fest) and got signed to the New York indie punk label Manic Kat, which released their EP “The Mess They Call my 20s” in 2019.
They are currently working to release a follow up “Fake It Till You Make It” (currently being mixed) and are heading out a same-named tour starting June 15.
“We’re hitting Fresno, San Francisco, Pacifica, Medford, Portland, Tacoma, Seattle, Eugene, Santa Rosa, Cedar City in Utah, Vegas and Anaheim,” says the band’s guitar/vocalist Asa Waggoner.
“We’re touring with our friends from down south, The Odd Advantage, and we’re stoked to be able to tour with another ska band.”
Before all that, For the Record plays tonight at Strummer’s on a lineup of locals that includes Judah, Life Jacket and Castle Greene. Hour 13 headlines. Doors at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 all ages.
You can also hear an exclusive preview of “Hiding in Plain Sight,” a track off the new EP, on tonight’s Homegrown show on New Rock 104.1.
“The title and the concept I pulled from a later episode of ‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace’ when a newscaster said that the murderer, Andrew Cunanan, could be hiding in plain sight,” Waggoner says.
“That was the most clever thing I’d ever heard at the time … I turned it into a song about my own depression and anxieties and never letting anyone ever know about it.”
That’s about as great an explanation for a third wave ska song as I’ve ever heard.
Fresno gets a surprise Pearl Jam reunion
This is close to a week old, at this point, but still worth mentioning for those who may have missed it (or those still reeling from having been there).
Pearl Jam played the Save Mart Center last Monday on its Gigaton tour.
It was an oddly fated thing.
The band came into the show minus their drummer Matt Matt Cameron (who had tested positive for COVID) and with Eddie Vedder on some kind of stomach flu/food poisoning. The day after the show, the band’s bassist Jeff Ament tested positive for COVID and the remaining tour dates were canceled.
So, the Fresno crowd was treated to a special one-night-only likely never-to-happen again performance that include a reunion with the band’s original drummer Dave Krusen and a two-plus hour setlist that included all but two song from “Ten.”
I’m not typically one for nostalgia, but even I was hit when they played “Alive,” “Even Flow,” “Black,” “Jeremy.”
The night was a nice reminder that while most arena rock shows tend to follow a pretty predictable trajectory (same set list night after night, sometimes the same crowd banter, even) there can still be some magic in a live performance.
Events for May 22-28
Hour 13, w/Judah, For the Record, Life Jacket, Castle Greene, 6:30 p.m. tonight, Strummer’s, $10, all ages.
Valley Music Hall of Fame, 2022 inductee class announcement, 5 p.m. tonight, Fulton 55, free.
Rivers of Nihil, w/Fallujah, The Zenith Passage, Alluvial, Warforged, Scoundrel, Fatal Rebirth and Forgotten Faces, 5:30 p.m. Thursday May 26, Full Circle Brewery District. $18-$22.
Merle Jagger, w/Cattie Ness and the Revenge, 8:30 p.m., Thursday May 26, Fulton 55, $15.
The Emo night tour, 8 p.m. Friday May 27, Fulton 55, $17-$22.
George Michael Reborn, 6 p.m. Friday, May 27, Engelmann Cellars 3275 N. Rolinda Ave. $15-$85.
Prince Again, 7 p.m. Saturday May 28, ApCal, 7409 RD 32, Madera. $25.
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. If you have anything you think I need to be looking at or listening to, feel free to let me know: jtehee@gmail.com