Reality Gets Weirder than Parody for Millennial Falcon

Aaron Carnes

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May 28, 2019

Reality Gets Weirder than Parody for Millennial Falcon

Portland-based Millennial Falcon is a band and a comic book series. They are also currently being pursued for their nearly finalized trademark application by Lucasfilm and its parent company Disney. Band leader Captain Contingency—part artistic savant, part prankster—trademarked the name to see how far it would get. Low and behold, when their application was in the final stages, some lawyers at Disney saw it and sent them a cease-and-desist letter. The dispute has now been going for a year.

The craziest part of this story isn’t that Disney is a ruthless hawk about anything that remotely resembles their own tightly held trademark, but that Millennial Falcon have been savagely parodying the very concept of large corporate takeover in their music and comic books since before this whole lawsuit started.

“This parody has become not only real life, the corporations have played into this parody and created this new reality in our world,” says Captain Contingency. “The fact that they’re playing right into the parody that we created from the start, it’s mind-blowing.”

That’s only a taste of how delightfully strange Millennial Falcon is. What does it even mean for a project to be both a band and a comic book? Well, it literally means that it’s a band that tours and plays high-energy, offbeat indie rock songs, but also a comic book series. The comic book features exaggerated versions of the band, and the band plays songs that roughly relate to the content in the comic books. It all meshes nicely.

In the world of comic books, corporations are the largest powers in the galaxy. Captain Contingency imagines a real-world version of Star Wars’ trade federation, and imagines that in reality it would probably be corporations running the galaxy.

The band’s spaceship in the comics, the intentionally terribly-named Millennial Falcon, is powered by music, which is illegal. This terrible name helps hide this ship. Captain Contingency and other galaxy washups who have been exiled from music by its governing Musical Space Empire, illegally travel the galaxy in search of freedom of self-expression. It’s kind of a crazy storyline, but it’s a lot of fun.

“It parallels what’s going on in this very real world,” says Captain Contingency. “We live in this post-ironic world right now where the sense of humor is lost, and everybody is up in arms all the time. It’s something that’s necessary to do, create something that makes you happy and makes people laugh—throw the monkey wrench into whatever. It sounds like small potatoes, but it’s not.”

The project began in 2016. Contingency and aspiring novelist Chris Castro started Fake Publishing Millionaires in 2014 to sidestep the industry. They released novellas and comics, mostly digitally. As of 2015, Captain Contingency started publishing his short stories and novellas with comic books and musical accompaniment. A year later, Millennial Falcon was created. The band Gorillaz was an inspiration for the format-breaking approach to music. “I always read comic books while listening to music myself. I think a lot of people do. There’s a lot of stuff that music can be involved in,” Contingency says. “We decided we would use it as a way to parody these giant corporations, which control art and all these other facets of our lives.”

One thing he didn’t want to do when creating this project was to create over-the-top characters. When Millennial Falcon performs, the show has crazy DIY performance art elements and handmade props and costumes, but the band members are themselves.

“We try to bring realism to everything—as opposed to being Gwar or the Aquabats. You can’t really have a tender moment with one of the Aquabats,” Contingency says. “They’re putting you on half the time. Not that I don’t love both of those bands. You become your character and then you have to stay that character.”

So far the band has released Millennial Falcon Comics Issue #0, a demo tape featuring an array of different artists and mediums. Issue #0 coincides directly with 2017 EP Hikikomori. The group’s newest album, Sativa Chemtrails, will be connected to the upcoming Issue #1. Millennial Falcon will be on tour promoting the presale of this Millennial Falcon Comics #1/Sativa Chemtrails bundle, expected out later this summer.

It sounds like a lot to take in, but live, it’s basically a great rock band that connect

with people through their music.

“We get up there and say, ‘We’re a spaceship powered by music, let’s just go,” Contingency says. “Sometimes people connect to the stage and they’re like, ‘Oh, you got a comic book?’ and they’re into that. If I try to talk to about comics and people aren’t into it, if they don’t like it, we’re probably not going to win them anyways. We just keep moving.”

Millennial Falcon performs at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, May 29, at the Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $8. 429-6994.

Rob Brezsny’s Astrology May 29-June 4

Rob Brezsny

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May 28, 2019

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ARIES (March 21-April 19): In the coming weeks, it will make good sense for you to travel down winding paths replete with interesting twists and provocative turns. The zigzags you’ll be inspired to pursue won’t be inconvenient or inefficient, but rather will be instrumental in obtaining the healing you need. To honor and celebrate this oddly lucky phase, I’ll quote parts of “Flying Crooked,” a poem by Robert Graves. “The butterfly will never master the art of flying straight, yet has a just sense of how not to fly: He lurches here and here by guess and God and hope and hopelessness. Even the acrobatic swift has not his flying-crooked gift.”

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Has a part of you become too timid, docile or prosaic? Is there an aspect of your beautiful soul that is partially muzzled, submissive or housebroken? If so, now is a favorable time to seek an antidote. But listen closely: the cure isn’t to become chaotic, turbulent and out of control. It would be counterproductive to resort to berserk mayhem. Here’s a better way: be primal, lush and exciting. Be wildly playful and unpredictably humorous and alluringly intriguing. Try experiments that rouse your rowdy sweetness, your unkempt elegance, your brazen joy and your sensual intelligence.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I prefer live theater over movies. The glossy flawlessness of films, accomplished by machines that assemble and polish, is less emotionally rich than the direct impact of live performers’ unmediated voices and bodies and emotions. Their evocative imperfections move me in ways that glossy flawlessness can’t. Even if you’re not like me, Gemini, I invite you to experiment with my approach for a while—not just in the entertainment you choose, but in all areas of your life. As much as possible, get your experience raw and unfiltered.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): I’ve got a message for you from Cancerian poet Tyler Knott Gregson. Please read it every day for the next 15 days, including when you first wake up and right before sleep. Here it is: “Promise me you will not spend so much time treading water and trying to keep your head above the waves that you forget, truly forget, how much you have always loved to swim.”

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In 2003, a group of thieves in Antwerp, Belgium pulled off the biggest jewelry heist in history. To steal the diamonds, gold and other gems, together worth more than $100 million, they had to outsmart security guards, a seismic sensor, a protective magnetic field, Doppler radar, infrared detectors, and a lock. I mention this, Leo, because I suspect that in the coming weeks you will have a comparable ability to insinuate yourself into the presence of previously inaccessible treasures and secrets and codes. You’ll be able to penetrate barriers that have kept you shut off from valuable things. (P.S. But I hope that unlike the Antwerp thieves, you’ll use your superpowers in an ethical manner.)

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In the northeast corner of Spain, bordering France, is an area known as Catalonia. With its own culture and language, it has a long history of seeking complete autonomy. On four occasions it has declared itself to be independent from Spain. The most recent time was in 2017, when 92% of Catalans who voted expressed the desire to be free of Spain’s rule. Alas, none of the rebellions have succeeded. In the latest instance, no other nation on Earth recognized Catalonia’s claim to be an independent republic. In contrast to its frustrated attempts, your own personal quest to seek greater independence could make real progress in the coming months. For best results, formulate a clear intention and define the precise nature of the sovereignty you seek. Write it down!

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): A Libran blogger named OceanAlgorithms wrote, “I’m simultaneously wishing I were a naturalist whose specialty is finding undiscovered species in well-explored places; and a skateboarding mathematician meditating on an almost-impossible-to-solve equation as I practice my skateboard tricks; and a fierce forest witch who casts spells on nature-despoilers; and a gothic heroine with 12 suitors; and the sexiest cat that ever lived.” I love how freewheeling and wide-ranging OceanAlgorithms is with her imaginative fantasies. In light of current astrological omens, I encourage you to do the same. Give yourself permission to dream and scheme extravagantly.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Geologists aren’t exactly sure why, but almost 6 million years ago, the Strait of Gibraltar closed up. As a result, the Mediterranean Sea was cut off from the Atlantic Ocean, and within 1,000 years, it had mostly disappeared. Fast forward 600,000 years. Again, geologists don’t understand how it happened, but a flood broke through the barrier, allowing the ocean to flow back into the Mediterranean basin and restore it to its previous status as a sea. I propose that we invoke that replenishment as a holy symbol for the process you’re engaged in: a replenishment of your dried-out waters.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): I invite you to meditate on this proposal from freelance writer Radha Marcum: “The spiritual definition of love is that when you look at the person you love, it makes you love yourself more.” I hope there’s a lot of that kind of action going on for you in the next four weeks. According to my assessment of life’s secret currents, all of creation will be conspiring to intensify and deepen your love for yourself by intensifying and deepening your love for other people. Cooperate with that conspiracy, please!

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Is there a creature on earth that’s more annoying than the mosquito? I’ve never heard anyone gaze upon one of the pesky monsters sucking blood out of her arm and say, “Aw, what a cute little bug.” And yet every year, there is a town in Russia that holds a jokey three-day celebration in honor of the mosquito. The people who live in Berezniki even stage a “most delicious” competition, in which people allow themselves to be pricked by mosquitoes for 20 minutes, with an award going to whomever accumulates the most bites. I highly approve of the spirit of this approach for your own use in the coming weeks, Capricorn. If you have fun with the things that bother you, I bet they won’t bother you as much.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): It’s the Forever Season, Aquarius. You have a poetic license to act as if your body will live for 100 years and your soul will live for all eternity. You are authorized to believe that in the coming decades, you will grow steadily wiser, kinder, happier, and wilder. During the Forever Season, you may have dreams like flying over a waterfall at sunset, or finding the lost magic you were promised before you were born, or discovering the key to healing you feared would always elude you. As you careen through this unpredictable grace period, your understanding of reality may expand dramatically. I bet you’ll get practical epiphanies about how to express yourself with greater effectiveness.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): A musical historian from Cambridge University decided that it would be amusing to perform forgotten songs that were written in the Rhineland 1,000 years ago. His research wasn’t easy, because musical notation was different back then. But he ultimately reconstructed the tunes in ways that he felt were 80% faithful to the originals. He and other musicians subsequently performed and recorded them. I propose a somewhat comparable assignment for you in the coming weeks, Pisces. You will benefit, I believe, from trying to recover the truth about events that occurred a long time ago, and/or by trying to revivify old beauty that has new relevance.

Homework. Finish this sentence: “The one thing that really keeps me from being myself is _______.” Testify at tr**********@gm***.com.

Venus Spirits Plans Westside Restaurant Expansion

Christina Waters

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May 28, 2019

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Venus Spirits Plans Westside Restaurant Expansion

Not to be outdone by the burst of food, wine and retail expansion in Aptos, the Westside of Santa Cruz continues to amaze and delight its growing fanbase. I am hearing preliminary wows for even these early days at Vim on Mission Street. And now Sean Venus emails to tell me that his mighty Venus Spirits has finalized plans for a new 11,500-square-foot warehouse in the Delaware Addition.

The new location, next to the current Swift Street distillery and tasting room, will be able to produce and barrel-store up to 50,000 cases annually. But for those with inquiring taste buds, the real news is that the expansion will house Venus Spirits Cocktails and Kitchen, a new restaurant space that will be sculpted into sophisticated shape by Stripe Design Group.

A new innovative dining spot on the Westside sounds just fine to me, so here’s the deal. Venus plans a 100-seat restaurant focused on his brand’s spirits, plus cocktails made with them, complemented by creative snacks, small plates, salads and shareable entrees. After two years of planning, construction has finally begun. “I am so excited for the next phase of our business coming to life,” Venus says. “This new space will not only allow us to meet a growing demand for our spirits, but will allow us to deepen the connections with our community.” The target opening date for the new restaurant and distillery is winter/spring 2020.

To avoid the sorts of missteps made by others who tried to balance premium libation production with fine dining, Venus says he approached the new project, “based on what succeeds in our current operation. And that is a focus on distilled spirits and cocktails. The kitchen will be there to support the cocktail program and help educate people about our spirits. The atmosphere will be high end, but the food will be very approachable.” Venus admits that, “While we are a bit nervous about managing a restaurant, I see the biggest challenge—more even that our ability to win the public’s affection—is managing a far bigger staff than we currently have.”

Asked about the projected menu, Venus explained that while marketing his spirits over the last five years, “I have visited hundreds of restaurants across California, and there were lots of takeaways from these visits. I looked at cocktail menus, studied food offerings and took notice of the overall aesthetic in these establishments.” He plans to incorporate what he’s learned into the game plan of Venus Spirits Cocktails and Kitchen. So far, there’s no chef on board, but Venus says he’s looking for someone, “highly skilled, someone who shares our vision of simple foods prepared to perfection, and who can successfully manage a team.” That does sound like kitchen perfection, and I know he’s not the only restaurateur hoping to find that ideal person.

Part of the momentum for the Venus expansion came from the obvious—the need for more space: “We are currently busting at the seams, and this new space will allow us room to grow.” The man who makes exceptional gins and other hand-crafted, botanical-infused spirits maintains that he’s “still very focused on distribution, and this facility will allow us to make and store more product for the growing demand. The restaurant is designed not just to serve cocktails and food—we’ll also serve wine and beer, too—but allow us to bring our story directly to a lot more people.” And I thought there wasn’t a restaurant, café or saloon left in California that didn’t serve Venus Spirits.

Venus Spirits, 427 A Swift St., Santa Cruz. venusspirits.com.

New Moon and the Ascension Festival: Risa’s Stars May 29-June 4

Risa D’Angeles

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May 28, 2019

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New Moon and the Ascension Festival: Risa’s Stars May 29-June 4

We have two festivals this week, each a different developmental stage for humanity. The first, on Thursday, is the Ascension (Catholic, Pisces Age of love, hope, vision), the mountaintop experience in which the Christ (Pisces World Teacher) returned to the Father. (His Reappearance is said to begin in 2025). The Resurrection/Ascension Initiation (also our Initiation) is the theme of the three Spring festivals (Aries, Taurus, Gemini). We (the New Group of World Servers, NGWS) are preparing these days for the Gemini Festival of humanity on June 17.

Three energies are called forth at these three festivals—the Forces of Restoration (Aries), Illumination (Taurus) and Reconstruction (Gemini). The energies we call forth at each of the festivals, and the preparations we do together as part of the NGWS (outpost of the Hierarchy), are the energies that uplift and stabilize humanity, providing ideas that become great ideals within humanity. The new ideals lift humanity up so we can “ascend” into our true identity—that of World Disciples.

Monday is the new moon festival, 12 degrees Gemini. This new moon prepares us for the Gemini Festival of Humanity, occurring in two weeks, when the Forces of Reconstruction stream into the Earth. The Gemini festival is also the Festival of Distribution of intelligence, love and wisdom. Humanity awaits these events.

ARIES: Your main gift has been instinct, a practical way of being. However, intuition, a higher level of instinct, is emerging. It provides you with greater inner strength and a new faith. Many will be surprised as you become more easygoing, compassionate and concerned for others (not just yourself). A greater belief in yourself also comes forth, due to an anchoring of new spiritual ideals. Your new spiritual identity deepens. Don’t let divine discontent topple you.

TAURUS: Idealism is part of your nature, along with adaptability and flexibility. These virtues develop further in coming years. As you attempt to always keep the peace, you might discover you’ve lost awareness of your deepest hopes and wishes. You are to call them forth again. Connections with friends must always have a spiritual basis or you feel discontent. You are to develop all the arts. Why? Taurus personifies the art of living.

GEMINI: What does your intuition tell you about current world trends in business, the arts, humanity, education, politics? In coming years, you will develop a deep creativity and vision leading you to the arts, the media, writing, talking of things charitable, and of service. Work on maintaining a clear direction, lest goals and your calling in life are lost. You’re better than perfect. And you’re responsible. Know these things. Allow no misconceptions of self to be nurtured.

CANCER: It’s important to be practical with goals. You have a deep inner faith. It’s good to consider what you believe and why. Where did these concepts come from? It would be good to study different religions, or to even enter a seminary, becoming a minister or pastor. Higher education offers involvement with religious, philosophical or artistic fields. Travel beckons, too, but here you must be careful health-wise. Compassion becomes your teacher.

LEO: Are you experiencing spiritual longing, deep sensitivity, fantasies, ecstasy, warrior dreams? If not now, later. In the meantime, something from the past—a relationship, love, person, event—seems to be important once again. However, you choose not to contact or connect with them—a mistake. Where before the boundaries were blurred, you both have grown. Boundaries are intact now. Careful with money. Give it, don’t loan it. Love more.

VIRGO: So often, Virgo gives more than they’re able to receive. They seek a soulmate, one linked to them psychically. They see potential instead of reality at times, seeking others as they wish them to be, not as they are. Sometimes Virgos want to save or be saved (from themselves). These are all developmental stages. They can be confusing and difficult to understand (for a time), until you realize your potential extraordinary talents.

LIBRA: Daily plans, agendas and affairs (work) become so fluid that you may not know where you are at times. All routines seem to float out the door, replaced by chaos, confusion and a sense of helplessness. Know that when chaos appears, it’s announcing a new harmony attempting to come forth. Rearrange everything in your environments. Tend to health methodically. Interact with the animal, plant (nature) and mineral kingdoms with loving awareness. They bring a new order into your life.

SCORPIO: When people use the word drama, it’s usually disapproving, critical, disparaging, unsympathetic, and judgmental. However, some signs truly have ceaseless dramatic things occurring. We actually have little choice in the matter of our lives and behaviors. We have little choice in how people react and/or respond to us. Those experiencing drama in their lives are living life deeply, fully, creatively and with passion. It’s just their time. Your time is always.

SAGITTARIUS: Was home and family life as a child complex? Were (are) you sensitive, free-spirited, idealistic, philosophical? Do you need at this time to set limits? Do you long for a new home and sense of place? Do you alternate between being social while also seeking solitude? Do you at times isolate yourself? Is family challenging? And do you have many inflated dreams? A new identity will appear in the next 18 months, along with a new path.

CAPRICORN: Visualize all that you want to be and do—your future, where you’re called to live, the interior and exterior of your home, the environments calling to you, the gardens and kitchen. Do this on a detailed yet grand scale. Visualization creates a magnetic field, and what you envision (if it is yours) comes into manifestation. Then you can decide your true wants/needs. We become what we deeply imagine, we express what we can create, we encourage what we love. Do all of this with confidence.

AQUARIUS: It’s important to be balanced about money—not too strict, not too lax. It’s important to know the value of yourself and your work, presenting this to the world. Others may attempt to undervalue your worth and value. Follow your intuition and instincts concerning your use of money. Honor all debts. Value others and their work. Tell them of their value. Do not gloss over monetary details. Be generous. However, care for yourself. This is practical.

PISCES: A great sensitivity is surrounding Pisces. It’s as if you live in a dream—everyone else’s, actually. Others see you through their own projections. This can be confusing, at times hurtful. Reality for you isn’t what reality is for others. Tiredness can overcome you often. At times, dizziness, too. Tend to health very carefully. Moods come and go. Sleep more. Calcium needs Vitamin D (lots of it) to be absorbed. Magnesium helps us sleep. Begin painting. Neptune calls.

Music Picks: May 29-June 4

Aaron Carnes

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May 28, 2019

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Santa Cruz live music highlights for the week of May 29, 2019

WEDNESDAY 5/29

PUNK

YEAR OF THE FIST

Year of the Fist is a raucous Oakland punk foursome cobbled together from several other favorite local bands. Their songs hit fast and live shows get crazy, especially with guitarist/vocalist Squeaky front and center, making ghoul eyes and belting out lyrics like death is breathing down her neck. All four rock and flail across the stage, as if reanimated by the rhythm. AMY BEE

8:30 p.m. Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $5. 423-7117.

HARD ROCK

THE WINERY DOGS

Though the name might sound like a Felton jam band, Winery Dogs is an L.A.-based hard rock supergroup. Featuring members of Dream Theater (Mike Portnoy), Steve Vai’s band (Billy Sheehan) and Mr. Big (Richie Kotzen), the Dogs have been marking hard rock as their territory since going off-leash in 2013. And before you ask, no, they are not on tour with the Baha Men, despite this being the “Who Let the Dogs Out Tour.” Expect howling pyrotechnics and wild rock riffage. Fans of classic rock, prog and metal: the dogs are at the door. MIKE HUGUENOR

8 p.m. Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $45. 423-8209.

THURSDAY 5/30

COMEDY

RESISTANCE IS FERTILE

There’s no sexism quite like the sexism in comedy, where many people still feel that it’s totally valid to wonder out loud if women can be funny. Yes, it’s maybe the stupidest question ever, and hopefully all the people who have somehow avoided every one of the countless hilarious women across the history of comedy will be able to scrape together enough brain cells to finally crack the case! Until then, there’s Resistance is Fertile, a comedy show of “queers, queens and one token peen” which promises to rip the patriarchy a new pie hole. MAT WEIR

8 p.m. DNA’s Comedy Lab, 155 River St., Santa Cruz. $10 adv/$15 door. (530) 592-5250.

FRIDAY 5/31

REGGAE

ETANA

Reggae is awesome, but it’s very much a male-dominated genre. Thankfully, there are great new female artists out there, like Etana (which means “the strong one” in Swahili), who won the Grammy for best new reggae album (Reggae Forever) in 2019. It’s the first time a woman has won the award in 21 years—and she’s a deserving winner, with a sound rooted in classic roots reggae, but pulling from modern R&B and writing music that is spiritual, political and personal. Above all, she’s a passionate, soulful singer. AARON CARNES

9 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $15 adv/$20 door. 479-1854.

SATURDAY 6/1

SKA

DAN P & THE BRICKS

Local all-star ska ensemble Dan P & the Bricks released sophomore album When We Were Fearless in early 2018. Unfortunately, the group was never able to have a record release show because two of the members moved away after it was recorded in 2017. But guess what, the whole band will be in Santa Cruz on June 1, so Dan P & the Bricks will be having its proper When We Were Fearless release show. If you don’t care about celebrating milestones, it’ll still be the best ska dance party this weekend, and probably the last time to see the Bricks live for a while. AC

9 p.m. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $10. 429-6994.

HIP HOP

GHOSTEMANE

Before he moved to L.A. and started rapping, Ghostemane was marinating in Florida’s doom, hardcore and black metal scenes, acquiring a fine layer of grime that still clings to tracks like “Mercury: Retrograde” and “Euronymous.” If you like your rap spooky, this is it. Instead of scantily-clad ladies, his videos feature ghosts and witches. Think Betty Boop as directed by Anton LaVey. Ghostemane’s beats are spare, threatening, the trap rhythms frequently invaded by harsh noise and haunted house sounds while his high, rapid-fire rhymes skips along the surface of it all. MH

8 p.m. The Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $20 adv/$22 door. 429-4135.

SUNDAY 6/2

JAZZ

RALPH TOWNER

Throughout his nearly five-decade run with the pioneering world jazz ensemble Oregon, guitarist Ralph Towner has maintained a solo career. He’s created an extraordinary body of work over the course of some two dozen albums, including spare and evocative trio sessions, intimate duos with improvisational masters like Gary Burton, John Abercrombie and Gary Peacock, and perhaps most importantly, orchestral solo projects. He returned to the demanding format on his latest release, 2017’s My Foolish Heart, a ravishing program of lyrical originals, except for the title track, an homage to the clairvoyant recording of the standard by the Bill Evans Trio. ANDREW GILBERT

7 p.m. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $31.50 adv/$36.75 door. 427-2227.

MONDAY 6/3

GENRE

ANNACHRISTIE SAPPHIRE

Annachristie Sapphire’s atmospheric folk songs are emotionally vulnerable without being raw or sentimental. Instead, the tender parts of her songs are wrapped in sweet little tributes to grunge and tied by hazy, abstract soundscapes which beautifully compliment Sapphire’s robust vocals. Her unabashedly soulful and often-melancholic lyrics explore the realms of human desire. Her melodies are her powerhouse, so don’t be surprised if you find yourself singing along to her evocative tunes as if you’ve known Annachristie Sapphire for many lifetimes. AB

9 p.m. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $7. 429-6994.

TUESDAY 6/4

HIP HOP

DIZZY WRIGHT

This year, Dizzy Wright celebrates two decades of rapping and performing for audiences. Quite the accomplishment. but infinitely more so when you realize that Wright is only 28. He grew up idolizing his uncles, Lazy Bone and Flesh-N-Bone of Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony, and hasn’t known a life away from the stage, mic and notebook. Most recently, he dropped his sixth full-length, the title of which pretty much describes Wright’s feelings on life’s obstacles: Nobody Cares, Work Harder. MW

9 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $20 adv/$22 door. 423-1338.

Film Review: ‘White Crow’

Lisa Jensen

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May 28, 2019

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The Russian expression “white crow” indicates an outsider—someone extraordinary, not like the others. So we’re told in the biopic The White Crow, and all of those meanings certainly apply to the movie’s subject, legendary ballet star Rudolf Nureyev.

The script was written by playwright David Hare, from a story idea he workshopped extensively with the film’s director Ralph Fiennes, who also has a small acting role. In celebrating the spectacular otherness of their subject, they focus on events surrounding Nureyev’s defection to the West in 1961, the wrenching moment when the 23-year-old dancer had to choose permanent exile from his Russian homeland to escape Soviet oppression and declare himself a citizen of the world.

Fiennes has said it was the intensity of this choice that attracted him to Nureyev’s story. But as inherently powerful as the story is, the storytelling is sometimes a little flabby—unlike Nureyev himself, or the young Ukrainian dancer, Oleg Ivenko, who plays him in the movie. The decision to divide the story into three intersecting time frames works well enough, but many scenes could have been pruned for the sake of clarity, or discarded, to shape the narrative toward more dramatic tension.

Still, the movie effectively presents the struggle of artistic integrity against political control. When Nureyev (Ivenko) arrives in Paris in 1961 as a member of the Kirov Ballet on a tour of the West, the dancers are kept on a short leash by their KGB handlers. When Rudi goes off on his own to explore the city (always shadowed by two agents) instead of boarding the hotel bus with the others, company director Sergeyev retaliates by not casting him in any role in their opening night performance.

But Rudi performs with extra brilliance when he makes his debut the next night, bringing the audience to its feet. As his reputation soars, he spends his days feeding on Western culture at the Louvre and befriending other young movers and shakers about town, like socialite Clara Saint (Adele Exarchopoulos), recently bereaved fiancée to the son of Culture Minister Andre Malreaux. (She also takes Rudi to a cabaret girlie show, which he loves.)

Intercut with scenes of Rudi reveling in the freedom of Paris are chiaroscuro scenes from his childhood (he was literally born on a train to Siberia, where his mother was going to visit his government-official father), and his youth at the Mariinsky Dance School in St. Petersburg. There, he’s mentored by ballet master Pushkin (Fiennes), and his younger wife Xenia (Chulpan Khamatova), who invite him to live with them while he recovers from an injury. Rudi also hooks up with East German dance student Teja Kremke (Louis Hofmann), who becomes his first love and obsessively records many of Rudi’s performances on his home movie camera—grainy images that appear during the closing credits.

In Fiennes’ last directorial outing, the admirable The Invisible Woman, he cast himself in the lead role of Charles Dickens. He gives himself much less to do this time, playing Pushkin as a man so soft-spoken and self-effacing that he practically evaporates off the screen. It’s a thankless part in many ways; when the plot puts him on a collision course with reckless Rudi, Pushkin politely declines to collide. But he does get to play the Yoda-like sage, advising his pupil that mere technique is not as important as “story”—a lesson that Rudi, with his innate flair for the dramatic, takes to heart.

But a scene where the boy Rudi walk into the woods with his silent father goes nowhere. And a sudden, hurtful outburst of arrogance that almost costs Rudi his friendship with Clara is presented without context. Still, Paris looks great (including the glorious stained glass of Sainte-Chapelle). And Fiennes delivers the climactic scene at Le Bourget Airport, where Rudi makes his impulsive “leap for freedom,” with enough intensity to dispel the earlier missteps.

THE WHITE CROW

*** (out of four)

With Oleg Ivenko, Ralph Fiennes and Adele Exarchopoulos. Written by David Hare. Directed by Ralph Fiennes. A Sony Classics release. Rated R. 127 minutes. In Russian, English and French.

Love Your Local Band: Wendy Treat

Aaron Carnes

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May 28, 2019

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In 2013, local singer-songwriter Wendy Treat had a melody that she couldn’t get out of her head.

Problem was, she couldn’t find the right words to go with it. She started looking through a box of her old poems that belonged to her mom, who had recently passed away. The first poem, “In Memory’s Eye,” which detailed her childhood home in Rhode Island, stuck out.

“It fit the melody so beautifully that I decided I wanted to record it and give it to my mother’s cousins and my brothers and sisters for Christmas,” Treat says.

She did, along with a few of her mom’s other poems that she set to music. Her family appreciated the gift, but it was Treat herself who really got something spectacular from the experience. She finally recorded herself performing her own music.

She’d been writing songs since 1981, but never walked into a studio. For these songs, she recorded with local sound engineer and friend Dave Egan and felt like it was a wonderful experience.

“I’ve written over 200 songs. I wake up in the middle of the night with songs,” Treat says. “I was really shy. I was like, ‘Close your eyes and I’ll sing you one of my songs, but don’t look at me.”

Treat moved to Santa Cruz in 2008 and plays in local bands the Trolley Drops and Menage. She was inspired to finally record an album of her own music, Nepenthe, which was released in December of 2016.

She plays at Michael’s on May 29 as part of the fifth-annual Women Songwriters in The Round concert.

7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 29. Michael’s on Main, 2591 Main St., Soquel. $12 adv/$15 door. 479-9777.

Comedy Meets Opera in UCSC’s ‘Pirates of Penzance’

Christina Waters

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May 28, 2019

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Comedy Meets Opera in UCSC’s ‘Pirates of Penzance’

At the end of the 19th century, in the days before film, television or Instagram, Americans and Europeans were mad for live theater productions of comic operettas—the wittiest of which had music by Arthur Sullivan and story by W.S. Gilbert.

However wildly improbable the plots and groan-inducing the lyrics, Gilbert and Sullivan’s operettas were big hits. Hence the action-packed, two-act charmer The Pirates of Penzance, from UCSC’s lively opera program, which will run May 30-June 2.

The plot, in a nutshell, follows Frederic, who turns 21 and is released from a mistaken apprenticeship to a band of tender-hearted pirates. He meets Mabel, the daughter of Major-General Stanley, and the two fall instantly in love. Difficulties ensue when Frederic discovers that, because his birthday falls on Feb. 29 (leap year), his apprenticeship is not yet over because he is legally only 5 years old.

Director and UCSC lecturer in voice Sheila Willey gave GT the backstory about this over-the-top production.

How did Pirates come to be chosen for the spring opera production?

WILLEY: My colleagues Emily Sinclair, Bruce Kiesling and I make the choice of opera about a year in advance of the performances. We wanted to do something in English that was of a later period than last year’s Die Zauberflöte, as one of the goals of the program is to give the students experience across a variety of styles and languages. Each year we need to choose an opera that we’ll be able to cast, so we take into consideration the specific vocal demands of the score and decide on a piece that will be appropriate for young voices. Pirates is, in some ways, a simpler score than last year’s Mozart, but that gives us room to grow as we work on accents, movement and comedic timing. It’s the perfect piece for all of the above.

Isn’t Gilbert and Sullivan a particularly sweet fit for student abilities?

Yes, I think that’s a nice way of putting it. This piece has been a scintillating vehicle for these tremendously gifted students’ growth as actors, comics and dancers. It’s not too heavy, the orchestration isn’t going to pose any major balance challenges, none of the roles demand the kind of vocal stamina that typically shows up a little later in their vocal development.

Also there is a lot to be said for having a fun rehearsal process. The students are cracking each other up and having a good time exploring the outer reaches of their characters.

What key themes do you expect will resonate with our local audience in 2019?

It is always a challenge to figure out how to present some of the dated (and sometimes harmful) tropes that show up in much of the repertoire. In Pirates, we are faced with sexism and ageism as General Stanley’s daughters are not written with much agency or obvious aspirations beyond marriage. In our production, the daughters are able to choose whichever pirate they’d like. It’s not much, but something.

From a design standpoint, we are weaving some overtly and covertly Santa Cruz-ian visual elements. You’ll have to come see if you can spot them. The Pirates of Penzance features engaging music and songs, including the well-known “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General,” the tune of which many know as “The Elements Song” by Tom Lehrer.

‘The Pirates of Penzance’ runs Thursday, May 30-Sunday, June 2. Thursday-Saturday shows at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday at 3:00 p.m. All performances in English with supertitles. Music Center Recital Hall, UCSC. $5-27. ucsctickets.com or arts.ucsc.edu.

Be Our Guest: FIDLAR

A&E
Music

Aaron Carnes

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May 28, 2019

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L.A. punk band FIDLAR are a lot of fun.

When we say punk, there’s definitely meaty power chords and driving drum beats pushing the songs forward, but it’s also generally mid-tempo rock tunage that’s great for dancing. It’s exactly the kind of music that will yield an incredible night of mindless fun.

9 p.m. Thursday, June 6. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $22 adv/$25 door. Information: catalystclub.com.

WANT TO GO?

Go to santacruz.com/giveaways before 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 30, to find out how you could win a pair of tickets to the show.

12 Inside Stories on Kevin Durant, Warriors From Author Marcus Thompson II

Local News

Jacob Pierce

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May 24, 2019

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12 Inside Stories on Kevin Durant, Warriors From Author Marcus Thompson II

Marcus Thompson, a columnist for The Athletic, says that writing KD: Kevin Durant’s Relentless Pursuit to Be the Greatest was the toughest thing he’s ever attempted. The project would not have happened without support from his wife and daughter.

“As a matter of fact, it almost didn’t happen. Somehow they allowed me to keep going. It was total neglect,” Thompson says without a heavy-hearted laugh, during his May 23 visit to Bookshop Santa Cruz to discuss his new book about Durant, the Golden State Warriors’ reigning Finals MVP.

While working on the biography, Thompson used to start writing at 9 p.m., write until 4:30 a.m., and then wake up at 7:30 to take his daughter to school.

The KD book was much more difficult to write than Thompson’s previous biography Golden: The Miraculous Rise of Steph Curry. Before he began work on that project, he had already spent seven years getting to know Curry. By contrast, Thompson only had one year to get to know Durant, a notoriously mysterious figure. Now, the columnist says that he’s that done writing books—likely forever.

“I probably won’t do it again. I’m saying that because I don’t have any offers right now,” he explains, drawing laughter from the crowd. “But the way I’m feeling right now, I probably wouldn’t do it again.”

Thompson took questions from the audience. Here are a dozen things we learned about Durant and the Warriors from Thompson’s talk:

HURT FEELINGS Now that Durant has been sidelined with a strained calf, Thompson says Durant is probably having a hard time watching Golden State easily mow over its competition without him on the floor. Some fans have even started to ask if the team really needs him. “I think it bothers him,” Thompson says. “He’s one of those guys who needs to be appreciated for how good he is. He feels like he put in all this work to be this good, and you’d better recognize. It’s clearly bothering him, because he’s going on social media, going after people. With KD, his life has been so unstable that I just think all those little things matter.”
TALL TALE Thompson believes Durant’s desire to be appreciated was the reason he’s always listed himself as 6 foot 9 nine inches, even when many analysts have said that the small forward is about three inches taller. “I think that’s why he never said he was seven feet,” Thompson says. “He was like, ‘Man, if you think I’m seven feet, you think someone gave this to me. You think I won the genetic lottery.’ Like, ‘Nah, I earned this. So I’m six-nine.’ I really think that’s how he thinks.”
STAY OR GO Thompson has been going back and forth on whether Durant will leave Golden State this summer in free agency. “Nobody knows, and he’s quick to tell us that—‘You don’t know what I’m thinking. You don’t know what makes me happy!’” Thompson says. For most of the season, Thompson figured that the 30-year-old would leave for another team, like the New York Knicks. But just two weeks ago, analysts were lauding Durant for being the best player in the world, and teammates were praising him for his outstanding performances, so Thompson began to think that Durant might stay. When Durant got hurt, everything seemed to change. He stresses that anything could happen. “Whoever sits down in front of KD is gonna have to do better than Steph, Klay, Draymond, Steve Kerr, Joe Lacob, Chase Center, Silicon Valley and a crowd that chants ‘MVP’ for him. Top that! I don’t know if the Knicks can do it,” Thompson says.
BURNING PASSION Thompson doesn’t know how many fake Twitter accounts—often called “burner accounts”—Durant had, but he believes that the 7-foot small forward is officially done using that tactic to argue with critics. Lately, Durant’s been calling them out and not hiding behind anything. “I think he’s just willing to put his name on it,” Thompson says. He adds that Durant’s a kind, sensitive guy, and that’s why he takes criticisms to heart. Durant thinks of himself as a normal dude, so he doesn’t believe he should always have to rise above the fray when he’s getting slammed. Thompson admires Durant for speaking his mind.
MAMA, THERE GOES THAT MAN Thompson loves Curry’s down-to-earth personality, especially the way the point guard loves his wife, which he says is not always easy to do in the NBA. “It’s hard to make her preeminent in that environment,” he says. Thompson is about to celebrate his 18-year anniversary with his wife Dawn.
SUPPORT GROUP Durant’s business partner Rich Kleiman is Durant’s best friend, and Thompson isn’t sure that setup is in Durant’s best interests, especially when the Warrior player has had a rough day. “The people who really care about Kevin Durant want him to get a wife and a kid because he needs that anchor,” Thompson says. “I don’t think he has it.”
DRAWING A LINE One audience member asked Thompson how he manages friendships with players versus his journalistic responsibilities. “Easy. We’re not friends,” Thompson says. “Very easy. As a matter of fact, me and KD had it out a little bit, and that was my question to him. He was like, ‘Aw man, ‘I thought we was friends.’ What is my wife’s name? They’re not my friends. I don’t hang out with them. We don’t go to dinner together. I’m doing a job. We have a great professional working relationship. I’ve had this problem before, where they automatically assume that, because I was young, because I was black, that I was on their side. But I have a child that needs to eat, and here’s the story. And I’ve been working on this journalism thing since I was in the 10th grade. I’m not sacrificing it for a millionaire.”
SURPRISE REACTION Thompson says Durant’s former teammate Russell Westbrook, of the Oklahoma City Thunder, took Durant’s 2016 departure from Oklahoma personally because he had believed that his close friend was staying. “A lot of this stuff was his manager [Kleinman] playing both sides—saying ‘We’re staying, we’re staying,’ and then telling someone else, ‘We’re going, we’re going.’ They’re doing the same thing now. None of this Knicks stuff is coming out of nowhere. We’re not making this up. People behind the scenes are talking, and they’re talking to people close to KD.” Part of why Durant left, however, was reflected in how Westbrook handled that situation, Thompson explains. The guard, he says, has long had a domineering personality, although he believes Westbrook has grown into a better teammate.
SILENT TREATMENT Guard Patrick McCaw mysteriously walked away from a lot of money this season in deciding to leave Golden State. There may have been personality clashes. “To be honest, I think he just got tired of Steve Kerr. But it’s weird because Steve Kerr’s one of those guys where if you’ve got a problem, he will talk to you about it, and he will probably work on it with you. Nobody cares about the end of the bench more than Kerr,” Thompson says. McCaw was coming off a hot rookie season, after which the team signed Nick Young, who played McCaw’s same position and competed with him for minutes. “He thought it was his spot. So you definitely have to have a certain level of discipline and patience and professionalism with Steve Kerr, because he will ghost you. You will be gone for a while, and he expects you to be ready,” Thompson says. He adds that McCaw, who’s had a quiet season and is now playing for the Toronto Raptors, never spoke up to the Warriors about his concerns, even when teammates reached out. “You don’t not call Draymond back,” Thompson says. “That’s your greatest ally. Draymond was like, ‘I called him twice. That’s it. Bye.’ Crazy, too. He’d be playing 20 minutes right now. It was just a weird situation.” McCaw did not play any minutes in the Toronto Raptors’ game six win last night in the Eastern Conference Finals.
SPEAKING OF THE BENCH Thompson says the Warriors lost the 2016 NBA finals because they played Festus Ezeli and Anderson Varejao too many minutes. “Literally, that’s why they lost,” he says.
NO AUTHORIZATION NEEDED Durant didn’t want to be an authorized partner in the book about him—a route that, if he had chosen it, could have given the player more leverage over what Thompson did and didn’t write. He also offered Durant an early manuscript. “I did give him a chance to read it when it was done: ‘If you want to hash a few things out, we can do that.’ But he passed on the opportunity,” Thompson says. “He’s probably reading it now.” He thinks that Durant and his crew may have their own book coming out. Thompson adds that Curry didn’t want to be an authorized partner in his book about him, either.
HARD ROAD Thompson stresses that Durant had a difficult childhood. “It really made sense to me why, when people call him soft, it bothers him. It’s like, ‘There’s nothing soft about this. I should be dead!’” Thompson says, adding that Durant made good choices as a kid. “The part that I liked about him was that he always ended up doing the right thing.”

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WEDNESDAY 5/29

PUNK

YEAR OF THE FIST

HARD ROCK

THE WINERY DOGS

THURSDAY 5/30

COMEDY

RESISTANCE IS FERTILE

FRIDAY 5/31

REGGAE

ETANA

SATURDAY 6/1

SKA

DAN P & THE BRICKS

HIP HOP

GHOSTEMANE

SUNDAY 6/2

JAZZ

RALPH TOWNER

MONDAY 6/3

GENRE

ANNACHRISTIE SAPPHIRE

TUESDAY 6/4

HIP HOP

DIZZY WRIGHT

THE WHITE CROW

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