Your monthly dump (of area concerts for December, 2023)

Plus, the FresnoGo Trolley. A gamechanger for downtown/Tower District music fans?

Nov 26, 2023

Between familial obligations, the holiday work parties and your random gatherings of friends, one wonders if there is any time for concerts this late in the year.

But I’m obligated, so…

Here’s another semi curated, and somewhat, but not entirely comprehensive list of musical happenings (grouped by week for sake of ease). This one’s for December.

Week 1 (Dec. 1-7)

Maná: México Lindo Y Querido tour, 8:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1, Save Mart Center. $35-$245+
Jonny Craig, 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1, Strummer’s. $21.
J. Worra, 8 p.m. Friday Dec. 1, Fulton 55. $15-$25.
Trish Toledo, 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2, Tower Theatre. $26. All ages.
The Emo Night tour, 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2, Fulton 55. $18-25.
Fresno State Symphony Orchestra, Concert II, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2, Fresno State Concert Hall. $15.
55 Toy Drive, 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 3, Fulton 55. $10, donation.
Volores, Holdfast and Lovecolor, 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 5, Tioga Sequoia. Free, all ages.
Prey 4 Reign, Source, Perception, Dave Hate Machine, 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6, Fulton 55. $10-$12.
Nekromantix, with Messer Chups and Hour 13, 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6, Full Circle Brewery. $25-$30, all ages.

The Fresno Folklore Society has put together a night of global music, featuring Cerro Negro and the John Chookasian Armenian Folk Ensemble.

The concert happens Thursday, Dec. 7 at the University Presbyterian Church. Tickets are $20.

Both bands have made careers doing a living history of their styles and both should be well known to anyone who’s spent time in Fresno.

John Chookasian and his wife Barbara formed their musical ensemble in the mid 1990s as a way to preserve and perpetuate both Eastern and Western Armenian folk music. The band received the “National Gold Medal Award,” from Armenia's Cultural Minister during a concert there in 1999.

Cerro Negro plays a coupling of traditional Flamenco guitar with Caribbean percussions — congas, cajon, djembe — which it describes as “Global Flamenco Fusion.”

Around this time last year, the Seattle doom metal band Bell Witch was in town performing a live version of Stygian Bough Volume I, the collaborative project it did with Aerial Ruin (the album is worth a listen if you get the chance).

The band returns to Strummer’s Thursday, Dec. 7 on a west cost run of dates promoting its latest album “The Clandestine Gate.”

Opening the show is the Chinese improv/noise musician and installation artist Lane Shi Otayonii, performing as Otay:onii.

Lionheart, These Streets, Forced to Suffer, Bulldog, Sleight of Hand and Martírío, 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 7, Destructive Warehouse. $20-$25, all ages.

Week 2 (Dec. 8-14)

Citrus bills itself as the “Best Band in the World.”

Also, “100% Real Shoegaze Shit,” or “the Way Shoegaze Outgha Be.”

It’s unclear whether that’s a healthy bit of self actualization, some serious self confidence, or if they’re just having a bit of laugh. But the band has been grinding hard, so you gotta let them have it.

Citrus ends the year with one last (I assume) hometown, headliner performance at Strummer’s with an all-local lineup that includes Tower Rats, Sneak Wavves (fomerly Great Northern) and Shop Dog.

For anyone interested in the scene right now, this is a one-a year kind of deal and a showcase worth seeing.

Cumbiatron, the Cumbia Rave, 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8, Mezcal Lounge. $5 online, $30 at door.
Jon Pardi, 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8, Save Mart Center. $35-$95+
Tribute show, with Tribute of a Down, Whiplash, bimplizkit and My Own Prison, 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8, Fulton 55. $10-$15.
Metalachi, 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, Fulton 55. $20-$25.
The Sleighin’ Pub Crawl, with 97 Proof, Erick Tyler and Big Balls, 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, Hop Forged Brewing Company.
Tommy Emmanuel, 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10, Tower Theatre. $35-$65.
An Irish Christmas, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 13, Tower Theatre. $32-$65.
DoWork Podcast, live, with performances from The Migos Of Comedy, T.A. The Handful, Fly-Y of The Pillionaires, Bigg Dubb and The Rawkman, REM MD, Homer NTMK, The Kid Ghost, Kali Oner, Highup See’r, Kinzie Rose and Brandon Freeman, 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 13, Full Circle Brewery. $10-$15.
The Meteors, 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 14, Strummer’s. $18.

Week 3 (Dec. 15-21)

One could be convinced that Genuwine is Fresno’s favorite R&B singer, given the number of times he’s come through town. He ranks somewhere just below Keith Sweat in my unofficial tally.

Or it could be the “Pony” singer has a good working relationship with Brad Jarique. The promoter brings Genuwine as the headliner for this year’s Fresno Winter Jamm, Friday, Dec. 15 at the Warnors Theater. The concert also features Nivea and Public Announcement. Tickets are $35-$90 and on sale now.

Zepparella, 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 15, Tower Theatre. $20.
Burning Witches, 7:30 p.m., Friday, Dec. 15, Fulton 55. $20-$25.

I have yet to se the lineup for this year’s Krampus Caroling and the Consortium for the Gift Giving Procrastonator, but it kind of doesn’t matter, if the last two years are any indication.

This is the annual open house/end of the year party at Van Ness Village, that stretch of retail and handout space that includes Root Access Hackerspace, Sour Milk, Spokeasy, Labyrinth Art Collective and Tower Velo.

Worth note: Panned Fresno will be doing a pizza slice night, which means no pre-orders needed, though you’ll still probably want to plan ahead and be early.

It’s an after-noon-well-into-the evening kind of event.

Guaya’s Christmas Shabang, with Guaya, Cheridomingo, Brujoz, and Blazed, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, Strummer’s. $10.
New Old Man, with Israel Flores of Macondo, 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, Saint J Wine. Free.
SOSA, 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, Fulton 55. $15-$20.
A Peter White Christmas, 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 17, Tower Theatre. $45-$85.
Winter Breakdown, with with Reminitions, Scoundrel, In Chaos, Thrownout, Eternal Bloom, 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 17, Strummer’s. $7.

Week 4 (Dec. 22 to the New Year)

Dave Koz and Friends Christmas tour, 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 22, Tower Theatre. $65-$235.
Summer Salt, 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 28, Strummer’s. $26.

Fresno go Trolley: A game changer for music fans?

Earlier this month, the city debuted a new public transport system aimed at connecting Fresno’s nightlife spots.

The FresnoGo Trolley runs Thursday to Saturday nights from Campus Pointe through the Brewery, Cultural Arts and Tower districts and out to Fresno City College.

It’s free and (from what I’ve experienced) fairly consistent, with a half-dozen or so stops leaving on the hour or the 40-minute mark depending on which direction you’re heading.

Now, this isn’t the first time they’re tried a downtown-to-Tower trolley and the more jaded among us probably did an eye roll when the mayor made a big deal out of the announcement.

Like, quit trying to make a downtown trolleys a thing.

That said, this iteration of the trolley could be a game changer for those looking to commute to and from events, especially those living in Downtown or the Tower District.

As a hypothetical: If there were a band playing at Tioga Sequoia, you could get on the trolley at Olive and Wishon (the stop is actually just north of that right outside the Me-n-Eds) and get dropped off right outside venue.

It would be the same, in reverse, if you lived in the Cultural Arts District, and there was a band playing at the Tower Theatre or Strummer’s. And because the trolley runs late (until 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturdays, which is hours later than the normal FAX service) you wouldn’t have to worry about missing the return trip.

One drawback of the system for music fans is that it only runs weekends and Fresno sees no shortage of mid-week shows. But if the thing gets used, maybe the city will look at expanding the days/hours of service.

Bandgeeeek!