Tin Cat

I can’t believe we haven’t posted about this! Left Coast Live is next week!

What it is, is a five-day celebration of live music in downtown San Jose. There’ll be discussion panels, a movie about the music industry, and concerts from Monday to Thursday (all free); and on Friday, a super-intense music festival from 5 PM until 2 in the morning.

A $20 wristband gets you in to see headliners like the rapper Lyrics Born, soul legend Booker T. Jones playing the B3 organ, and indescribable indie folk group The Mumlers; and THEN you can take your pick of maybe a hundred bands at some three dozen venues. I’m not exaggerating.

Of course, you won’t have time to listen to all 100 bands. Personally, I recommend you focus your attention on one block - say, for example, the 500 block of South First Street. Just on one side of the street, you have Tin Cat (9:45) and my folk-noir duo DeatHat (8:45) at the ICA; The Record Winter, Kenny Schick, ArtemisiaBlack, and Corpus Callosum at the Museum of Quilts & Textiles; and I forget who’s at MACLA, but it’s probably someone else really good, right?

Advance tickets are just $15. Actually $17 with fees, but if you use the discount code “lcltin” you’ll get those two dollars back. $15 for nine hours of music - pretty, great, right? But times are tough. If you can’t afford $15, try listening to KKUP 91.5 FM this Thursday at 8. Dave and I will be on the air, playing some music and talking about the festival… and, oh yeah, giving away two pairs of free tickets!