Thursday, July 10, 2008
San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, San Jose, CA
Opening act: Gov’t Mule
(Show originally scheduled for the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, CA)

1. Casey Jones
2. Easy to Slip
3. Dark Star
4. Odessa
5. All Along the Watchtower
6. Catfish John
7. Hard Rain
8. Money for Gasoline
9. Shakedown Street
10. Morning Dew
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New on sales from Ticketmaster:

Now on sale:

4th Annual Christian Music Awards
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Save Mart Center
Fresno , CA

On Sale Friday, July 11, 2008 at 10:00 AM

Aphelion
Friday, August 15, 2008 to Friday, November 14, 2008
El Dorado Casino
Reno , NV

On Sale Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 10:00 AM

Alejandra Guzman
Friday, August 22, 2008
ORACLE Arena
Oakland , CA

On Sale Sunday, July 13, 2008 at 10:00 AM

SF Jazz Max Raabe And Palast Orchester
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Paramount Theatre
Oakland, CA
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(Darn, I was really looking forward to making my first trip to see the newly renovated Mountain Winery this week. Guess I’ll have to wait a bit longer. On the plus side, both the Flint and SJCPA are good venues. On the downside, the weather this week in the South Bay is IDEAL for outdoor evening concerts. Here’s the official skinny from the promoter:)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - July 7, 2008 – As the Mountain Winery was preparing to open it’s doors for the first show of the 2008 concert season, production installation issues were discovered which have forced several upcoming shows to be relocated to alternate venues. These shows include the upcoming Boston and Bob Weir & Ratdog / Gov’t Mule appearances. The following shows are being relocated to alternate venues:

The BOSTON performances originally slated for Monday, July 7th and Tuesday, July 8th at The Mountain Winery will now be held at The Flint Center in Cupertino (21250 Stevens Creek Blvd) with show times moving to 8:30pm. Both show dates will remain the same (today and tomorrow). All tickets for Boston’s Mountain Winery shows will be honored at The Flint Center in Cupertino, located only 6 miles from the Mountain Winery. Your Mountain Winery ticket will be exchanged at The Flint Center Box Office for comparable seating locations on the night of the performance. Please allow extra time to exchange your Mountain Winery tickets. The onsite box office will open at 5:30pm.
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Stanley Jordan
July 7-9
Fusion is in the air. Bay Area fans just got to witness one of the genre’s all-time great bands, Return To Forever, and now they have the chance to see fusion titan Stanley Jordan in concert. The guitar virtuoso, known for his highly original “tap” technique,” has been thrilling fusion enthusiasts ever since the release of his 1985 debut, “Magic Touch.” He’s currently touring in support of “State of Nature,” his first mainstream release in over a decade. Appearing with Stanley Jordan will be his exceptional trio of bassist Charnett Moffett and drummer Kenwood Dennard. 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland, $10-$16, 510-238-9200, www.yoshis.com.

Yaz
July 7
OK, here’s one we didn’t see coming: a Yaz reunion show. Were there people actually clamoring for this? No matter. It will be great to see Alison Moyet and Vince Clark back together and performing songs from the seminal “Upstairs at Eric’s.” 7:30 p.m., Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakland; $39.50-$75; 510-625-TIXS, 925-685-TIXS or 415-421-TIXS, www.apeconcerts.com.
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The widespread rap on county fairs is that they mainly feature rank newcomers and real old-timers, artists who are either on their way up or down in the music business. Many folks don’t expect to see acts that are in the primes of their careers on a county fair concert stage.

Yet, then how then do you explain the fact that Los Lobos are playing as part of this year’s Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton? These rockin’ Wolves, who will take the fair stage on July 5, rank as one of the most vital, important and downright awesome acts in music today. The band is anything but your prototypical county fair offering.

The Alameda County Fair, which opens June 20 and runs through July 6, has always been one that has surpassed expectations when it comes to live entertainment. Its concert lineup regularly features some mighty impressive entertainers, and this year is no exception to the rule.

For a fraction of what it costs to see a concert at most other venues, fans can watch such big-name acts as Los Lobos, Boyz II Men, War, Paul Rodriguez and Ronnie Milsap. Others set for 2008 include Terri Clark, Eddie Money, Pablo Cruise and Wayman Tisdale. Collectively, the entertainers will represent a plethora of stylistic genres, from R&B and gospel to children’s music and comedy to classic rock and country.

The following is a breakdown of the fair’s 2008 lineup:
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New on sales from Ticketmaster:

Thursday June 19, 2008 10:00 AM

Yesterday - Beatles Tribute
Friday June 27, 2008 to Friday August 29, 2008
Horizon Casino Resort, Stateline
$29.65

Friday June 20, 2008 10:00 AM

The Magic of Motown
Sunday July 6, 2008 7:30 PM
Chukchansi Gold Resort And Casino, Coarsegold
$35.00-$25.00
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Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay’s work in the ‘70s with the Grateful Dead earned her a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She was inducted alongside Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Bob Weir and the other band members in 1994.

Not long after her decade-long wild ride with those “San Francisco Sound” pioneers ended, however, the vocalist basically retired from the music business. Godchaux-McKay, best known to Deadheads as simply “Donna Jean,” has now returned to the scene _ in a big way.

The 62-year-old Alabama native has a new band (Donna Jean and the Tricksters), a new CD and a new tour, which will touch down at Moe’s Alley in Santa Cruz on June 5 (for more info, visit www.moesalley.com). Most significantly, she’s acting and talking like she believes she has a new lease on her musical life.

“I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else,” Godchaux-McKay says during a recent phone interview from her home in the Muscle Shoals-area of Alabama. “I’m constantly amazed and humbled by the fact that people want to come and hear us and that I still get to do what I love to do more than anything else in the world. I have no complaints. To tell you the truth, I’m having the time of my life.”
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If the wind seemed to smell a bit more strongly of patchouli in recent days, and your local Whole Foods felt a tad more crowded on your last visit, there’s definitely a good reason _ the hippie vibe has been very strong in the Bay Area lately.

In a single nine-day period _ May 13-21 _ fans had the chance to see nine concerts performed by local hippie-music legends in San Francisco. There was the five-night stand by the Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh at the Warfield, which featured the Dead’s Bob Weir for much of the run. There were also two shows by Hot Tuna _ a band led by Jefferson Airplane vets Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady _ at the Great American Music Hall.

To top it all off, Bay Area guitar legend Carlos Santana kicked off a two-night stand at the Fillmore on Tuesday. Although Deadheads might disagree, the Santana gigs are, by far, the biggest of the tie-dyed bunch.

The reason is simply supply and demand. On the rest of his world tour, Santana is visiting mammoth arenas and amphitheaters. Yet _ in a bit of welcome hometown favoritism _ the 60-year-old guitar great chose to perform at the 1,100-capacity Fillmore. It was a treat to see him play such an intimate venue, and one that will seem all that more decadent when Santana returns to the Bay for shows on Oct. 11 at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View and Oct. 12 at Sleep Train Pavilion in Concord. (See www.livenation.com for on-sale dates and other information.)

Santana played two lengthy sets _ the first of which was far superior to the second _ in what amounted to more than three hours of music. He was leading his regular 10-piece Santana Band, which has greatly benefitted from the return of San Mateo vocalist Tony Lindsay.
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Phil Lesh & Friends
May 18, 2008
Warfield Theater
San Francisco, California

For the final night of the run, Phil and Friends broke from the established pattern (playing full-length albums during each set) and embarked on a night of just plain good ol’ songs. I got the setlist from music buddy Erik, who passed it along from philzone.org. Here’s what I hear that the played:

1st Set

Come Together
Dark Star
Loose Lucy
West L.A. Fadeaway
Wheel
Not Fade Away

On All-Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, John Molo
Joining during West. L.A.-Jeff Chimenti, Larry Campbell

Set Break

Mini Acoustic Set w/Larry Campbell & Jackie Green

Deep Elem Blues
?????
Good Night Irene

2nd Set
Phil Lesh, Larry Campbell, Jackie Greene, Steve Molitz, John Molo
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Phil Lesh and Friends
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Warfield Theatre, San Francisco

The band’s epic run continued on a hot night in the City By the Bay. As blog followers know, Phil and pals have been performing entire Grateful Dead albums during their run in SF. They’ve played one album per set (two sets per night). They started out with the Dead’s first album and have been working chronologically ever since.

On Saturday night, the group performed the 1971 eponymous double live album. (Although it’s officially known as “Grateful Dead,” heads call it “Skull and Roses” and another name that I can’t mention in my blog.)

Here’s the songlist for the first set:
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