.Best of Santa Cruz Arts & Entertainment 2014

BANDBest Band

Requiem for the Dead

Listen Up18: The amount of shows Requiem for the Dead, since forming in 2012, has played—including six in Santa Cruz.

Scream It Like You Mean It The band releases its second full-length album this summer. The self-produced CD has 13 tracks, narrowed down from 17 demos, and is called The Unexplainable Truth. It’s about how they won this award.
More than an Axe-Slinger
Guitarist Ryan Heggum is also a talented drummer, bassist and screamer.
Fully Tuned
Requiem singer Steven Juliano was previously in a Los Angeles band called I Am Ghost that toured for six years. Then it disappeared.
Word Up
“Sadly, there is no rock scene here whatsoever,” Juliano tells GT via email. “There is no metal scene. It’s a very odd and confusing place when you play our style of music. We feel that there is a place for Requiem here in our hometown. We just have to get the word out about who we are, and what we are trying to convey.” | Jacob Pierce

Best Art Gallery

best ae2MAH

Mark your calendar The MAH does wildly collaborative Third Friday festivals every month on every “only-in-Santa-Cruz” theme you can think of. Like, every theme. Magic, body art, innovation … even a “Race Through Time” historical scavenger hunt on bikes.
She wrote the book
Executive Director Nina Simon wrote The Participatory Museum, which laid out a groundbreaking new vision for public galleries.
Art scene breakout Their Front Street location isn’t their only home—the MAH also owns Evergreen Cemetery (where they recently built a brand new Chinese Memorial Gate) and Davenport Jail.
Art meets science! When looking in the mirror, their ‘MAH’ logo T-shirts and stickers spell HAM. | Steve Palopoli

Best Theatre Company

best ae3Santa Cruz Shakepeare
The wheel is come full circle
After three decades as Shakespeare Santa Cruz, the program was dropped last year by UCSC administrators, who claimed its financial shortcomings outweighed its value as the area’s best-known theater event. This year, the Shakespeare Play On group announced that the company would return for a 2014 season as Santa Cruz Shakespeare.
One man in his time
Longtime SSC favorite Mike Ryan is now co-artistic director of Santa Cruz Shakespeare, along with SSC’s former artistic director Marco Barricelli.
Return of love, more blest be the view
Though the group is now independent of UCSC, they will return to the Sinsheimer-Stanley Festival Glen for this summer’s shows, through a rental agreement.
Thy friendship makes us fresh
This season, which runs July 1-Aug. 10, will include performances of As You Like It, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and the company’s “fringe show,” The Beard of Avon by Amy Freed.  | Steve Palopoli

Best DJ

best ae4DJ AD
Rainbow Roots DJ AD began spinning at the Madhouse on Seabright Avenue four years ago for the gay-themed, raucous Rainbow Room. Two years ago, Fred Friedman of the Blue Lagoon bought the joint—turning it into the Blue Lounge, and the Rainbow Room into the Rainbow Lounge.
Facing Change “It’s not as crazy as the Madhouse, but I like it. The Rainbow Lounge is not supposed to be a crazy dance club. You’re supposed to just have a few drinks and relax.”
Something Bigger By day AD works as a machine operator building hydraulic hand pumps.
Eclectic Sounds She spins everything from YG and E-40 to Chuck Berry, Salt-n-Pepa and Patsy Cline.
True Tunes “I’m more of the old-school DJ. I still use CDs and all that stuff. I haven’t switched over to using computers, and people trip out over that. I figure when you work hands-on you have your own sound,” she says. | Jacob Pierce

Best Radio Station

best ae5KZSC
Lend us your ears
Radio Locator, which lists more than 10,000 radio stations, called KZSC “the number one most listened to college radio station.”
It came from the basement KZSC began broadcasting in 1967, in the basement of a Stevenson College dorm. Back then, it was called KRUZ; it got its current call letters in 1974.
Tried and true
“Breakfast in Bed” and “The Buckwhacker’s Breakfast Club,” both of which have been on the air for more than 25 years, are the station’s longest-running shows.

Category Winners & Runners-Up

Band

Requiem for the Dead requiemforthedead.com
Runners-Up
Stellar Corpses, Expendables

Art Gallery

MAH 705 Front St., Santa Cruz, 429-1964, santacruzmah.org
Runners-Up
 Felix Culpa, R. Blitzer Gallery

Billiards

Fast Eddies 4300 Capitola Road, Capitola, 462-1882, fasteddysbilliards.com
Runners-Up
 Surf City Billiards, Castaways

Comedy Show

Crow’s Nest 2218 E Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz, 476-4560, crowsnest-santacruz.com
Runners-Up
 Red Restaurant and Bar, Blue Lagoon

Dance Club

Motiv 1209 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz, 429-8070, motivsc.com
Runners-Up
Blue Lagoon, Catalyst, Rosie McCann’s

Dance Studio

Pacific Arts Complex
Runners-Up
 Motion Picture, International Academy of Dance

Festival

Capitola Art and Wine 716-G Capitola Ave., Capitola, 475-6522, capitolachamber.com/art-and-wine-festival
Runners-Up
 Santa Cruz Music Festival, Greek Festival

Karaoke

Coasters/Boardwalk Bowl 115 Cliff St., Santa Cruz, 426-3324, boardwalkbowl.com/coasters-bar-grill
Runners-Up
 I love Sushi, Britannia Arms

Movie Theater

Nickelodeon 210 Lincoln St., Santa Cruz, 426-7500, thenick.com
Runners-Up
  Aptos Cinemas, Del Mar, Scotts Valley Cinema

Music Venue: Dedicated

Catalyst 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz, 423-1336, catalystclub.com
Runners-Up
 Moe’s Alley, Kuumbwa

Music Venue: Bar/restaurant

The Crepe Place 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz, 429-6994, thecrepeplace.com
Runners-Up
 Don Quixote, Crow’s Nest

Music Venue: Café/coffeehouse

The Abbey 350 Mission St., Santa Cruz, abbeylounge.org
Runners-Up
 Ugly Mug, Mr. Toot’s

Nightclub DJ

DJ AD 417 Market St., Santa Cruz, 469-9622, dj-ad.webs.com
Runners-Up
 DJ MLE WAX, Trevor Williams

Radio Station

KZSC 1156 High St., Santa Cruz, 459-4036, kzsc.org
Runners-Up
 KSCO, K-PIG

Solo Musician (local)

Joe Ferrara
Runners-Up
 James Durbin, Al Frisbee

Theatre Company

Shakespeare Santa Cruz 1156 High St., Santa Cruz, 459-2121, shakespearesantacruz.org
Runners-Up
 Cabrillo Stage, All About Theatre

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