No, Stubhub, Queens of the Stone Age isn't playing in Fresno.

Plus, Bobby, Bobbly Salazar. And Taco Truck Throwdown lands E40 as its headliner.

This is a public service announcement for anymore who may have seen the StubHub ad; Queens of the Stone Age is not coming to Fresno.

The post sure makes it seem that way.

It features a picture of QOTSA front man Josh Homme playing guitar, looking all cool. The text clearly states “Queens of the Stone Age Live in Fresno,” with a “shop now” link next to the date and venue (Dec. 10, Strummer’s).

Click through and you’ll likely be taken to this listing, which isn’t for QOTSA at all, despite the misleading thumbnail picture and URL, but rather Frank Meyer.

Meyer is on tour with Nick Oliveri, who did, once upon a time, play with QOTSA.

Some AI bot probably confused the fact and created this listing.

That’s giving Stubhub the benefit of doubt that this is some AI mistake and not an actual business model. Because the ticket price for this show (again, not a QOTSA concert) is listed at $67, general admission.

The actual ticket price listed through the Strummer’s website?

$12, just under $16 with fees.

This is a good reminder of the cluster-fuck that is ticket buying these days. It’s an almost hell scape of secondary market scammers looking to capitalize of convivence.

Don’t fall for it.

Get your tickets through official sites only. That’s probably going to be Ticketmaster for any of the major tours and the like. For everything else, save yourself $50 and go direct through the artist or venue.

From the archives: ‘Bobby Salazar!

This one is an ode to Brian Kenney Fresno. Or, rather and ode to Brian Kenney Fresno’s ode to the infamous restauranteur Bobby Salazar, who was arrested this week (by the feds no less) on a whole string of allegations, including hiring someone to torch his own restaurant.

Bobby is most famous of four Salazar siblings who are restaurant royalty in the Central Valley.

The family created an empire out of Sal’s, the father’s Selma taco stand, but Bobby has the best branding. It’s his name on the pre-made salsa containers and food stuffs sold around town. And its his name on the restaurants, including that super popular location in the Tower District.

The song “Bobby Salazar!” was originally released on the album “F is for Fresno,” in 2000. It chronicles accusations of insurance fraud for which the restauranteur plead guilty in the late 1990s. There’s also a reading of the menu.

It’s a doozy of a song for sure, as evidenced in this Tiny Desk Concert audition from 2017.

“This song was inspired by true life events, and is 100 percent true,” according to liner notes Brian Kenney Fresno wrote on Bandcamp.

“On a side note, I have a video interview with Bobby, wherein he discusses what kind of Monster he uses in the Monster Burritos. On another side note, when we stored a community ‘Santa House’ at his office yard and lamented how we wished it ‘would just disappear,’ he said, ‘You'd like that?’ On yet another side note, he bought several dozen CD's for gifts at Christmas time several years ago.”

One can only assume there’s an updated version in the works.

E 40 headlines Taco Truck Throwdown 14

This week, Taco Truck Throwdown announced E 40 as the headliner for this year’s event, which happens Nov. 8 at Chukchansi Park. He will perform alongside the SOS Band, Baby Bash and Connie. Tickets on sale now.

The Throwdown is an interesting event; part of a growing trend of music festivals masquerading as food/drink events (or vice versa??) Fresno has seen a few of these pop up, including the Throwdown-adjacent Tequila Fest.

FresYes Fest also lives in hybrid-event space. It’s music heavy, but not music specific.

There are plenty of people who might attend Taco Truck Throwdown with little or no knowledge about the featured artists. They may not even stay long enough to see E 40 hit the stage.

For them, the music is an added aesthetic; that much more atmosphere.

But the lineup does stand on its own. E 40 is a monster draw in the Central Valley and will no doubt pull fans who are give-or-take on the whole taco-truck deal.

It’s a smart play that the Throwdown has really honed over the years (for those who remember Strange Vine set up on a makeshift on H Street in front of the stadium).

That’s it for this week. Remember you can also hear me on the Homegrown Show Sundays at 8 p.m. on New Rock 104.1 FM. Tonight, I’m in studio, but also out playing a show the Tower Theatre. You should come. 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