Your monthly dump (of Fresno area concerts for April 2024)
Plus, Ryan Beatty, Beyoncé and the Clovis rodeo.
It’s the first of the month, so I should probably be starting this week’s newsletter with some kind of April Fool’s joke (like how this teen-pop singer grew up to write songs for Beyonce and name-dropped Clovis on her new album … well not that … but something like that).
Instead, let’s look my curated, almost-comprehensive list of April’s concert happenings, broken up by week for sake of ease.
Week 1 (April 1-6)
Tal Yahalom, 7 p.m. Monday, April 1, The Harmony House Van Ness. $45.
Prism Bitch, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, Fulton 55. $10-$15.
The Bridge City Sinners, Playboy Manbaby, Doom Scroll, Hour 13, 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, Full Circle Brewing. $22-$27. All ages.
03 Greedo, Hella Greedy tour, 7 p.m. Thursday, April 4, Strummer’s. $200 meet and greet ticket.
Dying Suns, album release show, with Groovy Nobody, Sun Dogs, Cosmic Sans, 6 p.m. Thursday, April 4, Tioga-Sequoia. Free. All ages.
Jake Shimabukuro, 7 p.m. Friday, April 5, Tower Theatre. $38-$50.
Loveless, Winnetka Bowling League, 7 p.m. Friday, April 5, Strummer’s. $25. All ages.
From Flowers to Flies, Might As Well, Dropping In, JPEG Sessions, G.A.V., 6 p.m. Saturday April 6, the Great Room. $10. All ages.
Week 2 (April 7-13)
It feels a bit like Jim Messina gets overlooked, being the second-billed part of Loggins and Messina (the first-billed part having done a string of ’80s movie-soundtrack hits).
But the guy was also in Buffalo Springfield and the country-rock originators Poco and held a successful solo career for the last four decades at least. So …
Messina is currently on what I assume is a co-headlining tour with yacht rock progenitors Pablo Cruise. The tour plays 7 p.m. Sunday, April 7 at the Tower Theatre. Tickets are $48-$70.
Joey Harkum, the Art of Revenge tour, 6 p.m. Sunday, April 7, Fulton 55. $15-$0.
Paul Cauthen with Hogslop String Band, 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 10, Tower Theatre. $45-$54.
Jesse Daniel, Brit Taylor, 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 10, Strummer’s. $18. All ages.
Andre Nickatina, Conversation with a Devil tour, 8 p.m. Friday, April 12, Fulton 55. $70.
Porchfest pre-party with Dying Suns, Sun Umbra, 9 p.m. Friday, April 12, Goldstein’s. Free.
Luis Miguel, 8 p.m. Saturday, April 13, Save Mart Center. $75-$211.
Donnie Vie, the original voice of Enuff Z’Nuff, with Tangent and Fuse, 8 p.m. Saturday, April 13, Fulton 55. $20-$25.
Week 3 (April 14-20)
Guaya and Friends, Boycomma, Paradise Blossom and Shop Dog, 6:30 p.m. Sunday, April 14, Strummer’s. $10. All ages.
Love Equals Death, End of Pipe, Pansy Party, Kenney Cruz, 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 17, Tower Theatre Lounge. $10. All ages.
Sitting on Stacy, 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 17, Strummer’s. $15. All ages.
Cali Smokeout tour, with Josh Heinrichs and Pipedown, 8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 18, Fulton 55. $18-$20.
When Doves Cry, Prince tribute, 40th Anniversary of Purple Rain, 7 p.m. Friday, April 19, Tower Theatre. $38-$50.
Claptone, 9 p.m. Friday, April 19, Fulton 55. $40-$75.
Lauren Daigle, the Kaleidoscope tour, with Victory Boyd, 7 p.m. Friday, April 19, Save Mart Center. $19-$125+
Spring Fest 2024, with Marca MP, Edén Muñoz and Edgardo Nuñez, Chino Pacas, Primos del Este, Herencia de Patrones, Beto Sierra, Manuel Rodríguez, Mala Conducta and Deorro, 2 p.m. Saturday, April 20, Chukchansi Park. $80-$150.
Extended week 4 (April 21-30)
Little Miss Nasty, with Whitney Peyton, 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 23, Fulton 55. $25-$30.
Geoff Tate’s Big Rock Show Hits, 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 23, Tower Theatre. $35-$45.
Nonpoint, (Hed) PE, Dropout Kings, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, Strummer’s. $25. All ages.
Cold and Orgy, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 24, Fulton 55. $27.
Together Pangea, Death Lens, 7 p.m. Thursday, April 25, Strummer’s. $20. All ages.
Caleb Klauder and Reeb Willms Bluegrass Band, 7 p.m. Thursday, April 25, Tower Theatre Lounge. $20. All ages.
Taylor Swift has a new album dropping April 19.
This isn’t news to Swift fans, more a reminder that they’ll have nearly a full week to enjoy and bask in the inevitable blowup on their lonesomes before going out to enjoy it with others at the Tortured Partiers Department, which is a play of the album title and also a listening and dance party.
The event happens Thursday, April 25 at Fulton 55. Tickets are $17, or $25 on the day.
Adrian Legg, 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 26, The Harmony House Van Ness. $45.
Dead Boys, with Manifest Destiny (an homage to the Dictators) and Less than Zero, 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 26, Fulton 55. $20-$25.
Tower Porchfest will get it’s own breakdown in the coming weeks, but suffice it to say, the days of porch-jumping might be over (or will require some superior scheduling skills).
Porch hosts seem to have fully embraced the idea of curation, creating individual lineups to draw (and keep) a crowd (the ones from Fred Martinez, Zodiac Shows, Love the Captive and Great Room Shows for example).
The official map will be unveiled April 12. The event happens April 27.
Spice 1, 8 p.m. Saturday April 27, Full Circle Brewing. $15-$25.
Secrets, Colorblind, Glasslands, Unwell, 6 p.m. Sunday, April 28, Strummer’s. $20. All ages.
The Mission UK, with Nuovo Testamento, 7 p.m. Monday, April 29, Strummer’s. $30. All ages.
Orchestral Rendition of Dr. Dre: 2001, 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 30, Tower Theatre. $45-$70.
Ryan Beatty, Beyonce and the Clovis connection on ‘Cowboy Carter’
Ryan Beatty is a name you might not know, unless you were covering Fresno’s music and pop culture scene in the early 2010s and were able to follow the Clovis teen’s rise to fame.
This was back when Youtube could forge careers and Beatty was seen as the second-coming of Justin Bieber (mostly because of his age and boyish charm).
He eventually left the area to pursue his music, which he’s been doing with some amount of success since (though there was a hiatus or two along the way).
Along with his own trio of albums (the latest “Calico” was released on Elektra last year) he’s done collaborations with the rap collective Brockhampton and Tyler the Creator. He also wrote four songs on Beyonce’s new county-inspired album “Cowboy Carter,” which dropped on Friday.
It did not go unnoticed among locals, who picked up on a nod to Clovis on track “Just for Fun.”
“Everywhere I go, I hide my face. From the cowboys in Clovis, and the rodeo circus, I came here for a reason, but I don’t know the purpose.”
In a post on Instagram, Beatty said he wrote the songs over the last four years in what “has been one of the brightest highlights of my life.”
“Beyoncé, you are the greatest there is. Thank you for letting me express myself on something so big and beautiful and important. It feels rare / unreal in the best way.”
This all seems like good publicity for the Clovis Rodeo, which happens in just a few weeks. Organizers invited Beyonce (and Beatty) to the event.
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. 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