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Tuesday is free live music night at El Rios, which is a good way to promote local music while also providing a watering hole for the raging alkies. One thing the venue could benefit from is a small stage, which would provide a better view for the audience. There was a backyard patio, which was homely.

Two bands performed at El Rio. Untrust Us opened with their premiere live show. They sounded like a tougher version of the Get Up Kids. I met the guitarist Justin, a rustic fellow from the north of Sweden. It’s amazing how his regularly thick accent is inaudible when he sings. Untrust Us was followed by The Boiling Suns, which brought a unique blues twist to the night. Their music sounds similar to Jethro Tull, which is a good thing.

If you enjoy seeing live local music in the San Francisco bay area, click here to view El Rio’s Calendar, which provides a very informative list of the daily band lineups. Directions: El Rio is located at 3158 Mission St (@ Cesar Chavez), San Francisco, CA 94110. (415) 282-3325

A malevolent blue light emanated from a large screen behind the Stone Temple Pilots. It engulfed the performers, the stage and the audience. The screen would occasionally shift to car chases, a swirl optical illusion and cloudy skies, but most of the time it simply blinded the audience, and perhaps exacerbated a latent dementia in them.

My photographer was the first to catch the brunt of the crowd’s manic psychosis. “You take your damned camera and get behind the fucking line!” A Napoleonic man in a black baseball cap appeared ready to charge. I’ll never forget the terror and fear in his eyes. He had spent nearly two week’s pay for this moment. My Canadian photographer sure wasn’t going to ruin it for him.

The Greek Theatre is a very nice venue. It is made from rock and there is an impressive view of Sather tower against the backdrop of the San Francisco Bay. The acoustics were above average, and the place was near capacity. The only flaw was the malevolent indigo blotch, which limited the quality of my photographer’s pictures.

In the midst of the four dollar sodas and a potentially volatile audience, I managed to get caught up in the melodic waves of The Stone Temple Pilots. They played hits like Plush and Sour Girl. The band didn’t perform any new songs because they plan to hit the studio after this re-acclimation tour, which finishes August 31. For high resolution pictures from the 7/25 performance of STP from the Greek Theatre at the University of California, Berkeley, visit http://www.myspace.com/bayareashows.

As we careened out of the San Francisco haze, my photographer mentioned that we had a very strict itinerary. First, we were to become winos in the vineyards of Napa Valley. He then barked that we had to meet the Dutchmen back in San Francisco for a trip south. Sipping Pacifico under the Santa Cruz sun was part B of our transient plan. A harsh, capricious tumble into the American dream. Fear and loathing in Northern California.

We arrived at Cakebread Cellars, a vineyard just south of St. Helena. The customers are invited by a large wooden spectacle, almost as if carved from the scraps of an Old Seaman’s chapel. Tasting fees for Cakebread Vineyards range from $10. A large sycamore patio is available for the larger events of the day.

Napa Valley wine country has an exotic allure. The area is draped almost exclusively of vineyards. Directions: Cakebread Cellars is located at 8300 St. Helena Hwy. To make reservations for tour tastings, visit here.

Our wine tasting manager was Hans Van Dale, a European immigrant who has worked with Cakebread Vineyards for almost two years. Before then, he was a professional shot putter for the German national team. I have always been suspect of wine culture. But my fears of old money were assuaged by the simple ambiance of Cakebread Cellars.

For Friday July 25, BayAreaShows will be reliving 1992 with the Stone Temple Pilots at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California. A friend is working the concert and I go where I can get in gratis. I hope STP plays tracks off of Core, the only album I really got into (older sister). The band was recently reunited after a hiatus since 2003. For pictures from the 7/25 performance of Stone Temple Pilots from the Greek Theatre at the University of California, Berkeley, visit http://www.myspace.com/bayareashows. Tickets are $52.50 through another Planet Entertainment via Ticketmaster. The Greek Theatre is located on Gayley Road in Berkeley, CA 94720.

Movie Review

Step Brothers

Starring: Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly

Rated R Columbia Productions 2008

How long can Will Ferrell last? I was watching a Reno 911 episode in which before Deputy Trudy Wiegel thought she was going to die, she wanted to thank Will Ferrell and she didn’t know why. I empathize with the sentiment. Ferrell has brought me the most genuine laughter above all other comedic actors. And when he is partnered up with Adam McKay, the unbridled laughter is almost a guarantee. But like with any hype, Will Ferrell’s limitations will inevitably accompany his video saturation. When Ferrell made films such as Kicking and Screaming and Elf, I wished he would make more adult-targeted comedies. Now that he is, I find some parts absolutely hilarious and other parts too lewd. Nonetheless, I appreciate Will Ferrell because of his natural ability to make almost any situation hilarious, and the majority of Step Brothers is no different.

Ferrell’s character is Brennan, a 40 year-old child forced to live with Dale (John C. Reilly) after their generous parents fall in love and get married. Ferrell tests the limits of crude humor and frankly, he wins. When goaded by Dale, his fellow free rider, Brennan is sometimes reserved. In one dinner scene, he breaks down into a silent cry and has to leave the room. At other times, Brennan unloads spastic outbursts. There is a hysterical drum scene that best reflects this split personality.

Step Brothers is absolutely ridiculous. The plot is weak, but that is not why people go and see Ferrell films. They go to laugh, and I sincerely laughed throughout. I will definitely see Step Brothers again. However, I could not help but wonder how much longer Ferrell’s improvisations will continue to humor me. Hopefully, for much longer. But as a pragmatist, I can only be skeptical.

My friend proposed that the epitome of improvisational comedy would be a Will Ferrell-Dave Chappelle movie, where Will plays the black man and Dave Chappelle, of course, plays the straight-laced white man. Such a juxtaposition would result in a definite laugh riot. Hopefully Will and Dave can understand this equation and encourage their respective agents to work together and produce a film. To read other movie reviews by Jason Alyesh, click here

Mix Fugazi, Dick Dale and the Misfits and we have the dissonant progressions of The Traditional Fools. Their cranking guitar kept the house party booming as I made rounds between the front and backyards. After the show, I may have agitated the singer when I treacherously questioned why they chose not to record CDs. His conviction was fuck CDs. For higher quality photographs from the 2008 performance of The Traditional Fools on 7/11 visit http://www.myspace.com/bayareashows

Two other bands performed during the house party. Unfortunately, I do not know their names. After advising with my attorney, I am making the uninformed decision to invent them. Here are the Garden Gnomes jamming out.

The Chief Bromdens keeping it pious. For higher quality photographs from this 2008 Berkeley house party performance on 7/11 visit http://www.myspace.com/bayareashows

Review by Jason Alyesh

Book Review: Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

Part 2: Chicago pp. 131-295

By Barack Obama (Autobiography)

Copyright 1995 Three Rivers Press: New York

Part 2: Chicago of Barack Obama’s autobiography Dreams from My Father chronicles Obama’s time in the Midwest after his graduation from Columbia University. The accounts reveal a more hardened and savvy Obama than in Part 1.

It is in Chicago that Obama begins his efforts as a community organizer. Working in the predominantly black and impoverished south side, Barack learns what he considers the limitations of Black Nationalism. He questions whether it could exist independent of white resentment:

It was [the] unyielding reality—that whites were not simply phantoms to be expunged from our dreams but were an active and varied fact of our everyday lives—that finally explained how nationalism could thrive as an emotion and flounder as a program . . . [T]he descent from such unifying fervor to the practical choices blacks confronted every day was steep (Dreams From my Father, pg 202).

In Part 2 we meet the now-infamous Reverend Jeremiah Wright, a person Obama appears ambivalent toward. I believe Obama’s accounts support the notion that he had respect for the reverend, but their bond was not inalienable. It is true that his second book The Audacity of Hope is titled after a sermon Wright gave. However, it is also true that Obama felt Wright’s sermons were prosaic at times. Hence, Obama’s 2008 withdrawal from the Trinity United Church of Christ was not completely a political move. He reveals that he is not incredibly attached to religion. On faith, Obama admits he has issues distinguishing “between faith and simple endurance” and “having too many quarrels with God to accept a salvation too easily won (pg 287).”

Auma Obama, Barack’s sister, sheds light on the mystery that surrounds their father. At one time, Barack Sr. was the figure that Obama revered. But his uncompromising political views eventually betrayed the Kenyan president, which resulted in his blacklist from the high paying positions in government. To keep up the charade of the great Dr. Obama, he gave charities priority over buying food for the family. The intelligent man Obama grew up seeking approval from was reduced to a drunken façade. This aggrandized reality exacerbated Obama’s own view of himself. What replaced the fantasy of his father was the fear that he would endure a similar stifled fate. To find more meaning, Obama plans a trip for Kenya.

For a review of Part 1: Origins of Barack Obama’s autobiography Dreams From My Father, Click Here

The 4th of July is always a special day. The staunchest terrorist cannot assuage his enjoyment of a sunny day, American flags, beer and fireworks. The 2008 Sonoma 4th of July Parade was no different. The winos and families intermingled with surprising comfort and familiarity, perhaps a result of the small town feel of the city. For high resolution photos from the 2008 Sonoma Fourth of July Parade on 7/4 visit myspace.com/bayareashows

Getting alcohol and food was not a problem. We began festivities at Steiner’s bar. On the television, Kobayashi and Chestnut faced off in a competition of hot dog gluttony. Unfortunately, the monkey on my right informed me that the spectacle was a rerun, and told me the eventual victor, but I did not enlighten my fellow compatriots. Their senseless and raucous excitement did not deserve to be deflated over something so trivial. So I sipped my bloody mary and waited for the next pleasant distraction.

The Little Fiddlers Band headlined the Sonoma 4th of July Parade. Their comprehensive ensemble was a nice touch to the festivities, as were the vintage automobiles and extravagant floats. We next settled in the park to kick around the soccer ball. When the ball careened off the outstretched foot of a mother holding two baby carriages, shouting soccer mom at her felt completely appropriate. Being labeled a soccer mom is the greatest tribute a mother could receive.

What is a Fourth of July parade without politics? Laurie Gallian, who is running for Sonoma City Council, was out on the stump at the 2008 Sonoma 4th of July Parade.

Then Rage Against the Machine performed. No, that’s a lie. But as are Rage concerts, the 2008 Sonoma 4th of July Parade was spirited and loud. Congrats to the event organizers for creating such an unruly celebration. For high resolution photographs from the 2008 Sonoma 4th of July Parade on 7/4 visit myspace.com/bayareashows

Review by Jason Alyesh

The 2008 Fillmore Jazz Festival in San Francisco had an eclectic mix of original and cover bands with beers for the transient derelicts and pony rides for the family and friends. One pony supervisor remarked, “Why do drunk people keep asking me if they can ride the pony!?”

I saw four jazz bands during my sojourns: Vinyl, the Randy Vincent Quartet feat. Tyler Blanton, the Contemporary Jazz Orchestra and a cover band in front of Marcus Books, which threw down “Celebration” by Cool and the Gang. I enjoyed the setup of this band the most because playing on the street brought more of a personal feel to the jazz festival.

I had two options. I could brownbag an Old English from the corner shop, which most commoners elected to risk. Or I could purchase my IPA through legal means at three times the price.

The traditionally shaky San Francisco weather was kind today and I learned that the biggest beneficiaries were the corner stores, who geared up for the event with high stocks of beer and bumping club music. For a list of high resolution digital photographs from the 2008 Fillmore Jazz Festival on July 5 visit myspace.com/bayareashows

Review by Jason Alyesh