What’s happening this week? Chico News & Review has you covered with highlights of what’s on tap at local clubs, theaters, galleries and performance venues. Visit the CN&R’s FREE online calendar for all of the listings in Butte County.
Note: The venues in Paradise and Vina are very near areas currently under “evacuation warning” due to the Park Fire. Check with venue on day of event to ensure it hasn’t been postponed.
And Lightning Struck
Showing through Aug. 4
Theatre on the Ridge
3735 Neal Road, Paradise
Chico theater vet Jerry Miller directs this play by Robert Weibezahl, a fresh take on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein that takes a look at the early life of the author and the origin of her Gothic horror-fiction classic. Shows Thursday-Saturday, 7:30 p.m., and Sundays, 2 p.m, through Aug. 4. Tickets: $18.
18th Annual Blessing of the Grapes
Saturday, July 27, 9am-2pm
New Clairvaux Vineyard
26240 Seventh St., Vina
The monks at the New Clairvaux monastery and vineyard in Vina celebrate the start of their harvest with the annual Blessing of the Grapes. The event starts at 9am, blessing at 10:30am, followed by food-truck offerings and wine tastings until 2pm. Free entry (fee for wine tastings).
Jonathan Richman – Chico Tour
Five shows: July 28-Aug. 1
Duffy’s Tavern, Naked Lounge, Pageant Theatre
In what’s become an annual event, Jonathan Richman—world-renown troubadour and proto-punk icon—is playing five local shows over five nights at three venues. 7/28 & 7/29, 8pm, at Duffy’s Tavern; 7/30, 7pm, at Naked Lounge; and 7/31 & 8/1, 7pm, at Pageant Theatre. No pre-sale; all shows $10.
Pokey LaFarge
Thursday, Aug. 1, 6pm
Sierra Nevada Big Room
1075 E. 20th St.
From the press release for Rhumba Country, the new album by Pokey LaFarge: After crisscrossing the nation for the last half-decade looking for a home, Pokey LaFarge found himself in Mid-Coast Maine. Upon arriving, the Illinois-born singer/songwriter/actor pursued a major life change, working 12-hour days on a local farm—a turn of events that catalyzed an extraordinary burst of creativity and redefined his sense of purpose as an artist. Rhumba Country was initially shaped from material that emerged while LaFarge was deep in work on the farm. “I’d be pushing a plow or scattering seeds, and the songs would just come to me,” he recalls. “It was tremendously inspirational and made me realize that apart from singing, farming is perhaps the oldest human art form.” While farming, LaFarge began dreaming up a kaleidoscopic sound informed by his love of music from far-ranging eras and corners of the globe, including mambo, tropicália, rocksteady, and mid-century American rock-and-roll. “The songs that naturally come to me are upbeat and make you wanna dance or at least bop your head—they’re all very colorful,” says LaFarge. “I used to think of my music in dark blue, but now I see it in technicolor.” Tickets for Big Room show: $25.
Visit the CN&R’s FREE online calendar to view local listings, or to submit an event of your own!
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