Love Your Local Band: Summit Sisters

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June 11, 2019

A decade ago, a self-described “mom band” in the Loma Prieta area used to play for kids participating in Theatre in the Mountains at their cast wrap parties. The band called itself the Summit Sisters, since they all lived off of Summit Road, and mostly played pop and rock tunes like “Brown Eyed Girl.”

The band had an engaged audience, but it wasn’t the one they intended. “The kids would be running around eating, and the parents would be listening,” says bassist Suzanne Suwanda.

In 2013, a friend asked the band to play a benefit for Pippa’s Garden, a local residence that hosted community events. That gig went so well, it kick-started the group into thinking outside of kids’ theatre gigs—that, and the fact that Suwanda had just gotten a new vintage electric bass.

These days, the group plays all over the Santa Cruz area and has a wide range of tunes in its repertoire.

“We do country, we do rock, we do pop, we do jazz, we do blues. We’re kind of everywhere,” says singer Marisa Thompson. “We all challenge ourselves to do new songs or new genres that we haven’t really tried.”

The group has an electric rock band set up—but with a flute player that plays on nearly half the songs. The Summit Sisters pride themselves on their harmonies, since everyone sings in the group but the drummer.

“We add harmonies wherever we can, whenever there’s an opportunity,” Suwanda says. “Someone will say, ‘John and Paul didn’t harmonize there.’ Well, we like it.”

7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 19. Michael’s on Main, 2591 Main St., Soquel. $10. 479-9777.

Homeless Garden Project’s Annual Farm Feast

Christina Waters

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June 11, 2019

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Homeless Garden Project’s Annual Farm Feast

Dining with friends, seated outdoors a stone’s throw from the ocean in organic fields in full bloom. It doesn’t get much better—except it does.

Guests at the June 15 Sustain Supper at the Homeless Garden Project’s Natural Bridges Farm will also enjoy live music, a farm tour, a four-course meal with special wine pairings, and engaging talks about sustainability from eco-advocate Nell Newman and environmentalist Kat Taylor. This is the farm-to-table dinner of the season, offering an opportunity to see the field operation of this training site for individuals experiencing homelessness while also being re-inspired by charismatic speakers, gorgeous dishes prepared on the spot, and connecting with old and new colleagues. It has come to be my favorite benefit event, at which I’ve had incredible food, met local growers, winemakers, restaurateurs, politicians, and fallen in love with the land all over again.

Ms. Taylor and Ms. Newman are inspiring, accomplished community-minded leaders with a passion for social justice and sustainable agriculture. And they serve as co-chairs of the Pogonip Farm Capital Campaign’s honorary committee.
Chefs for this unforgettable event include John Paul Lechtenberg of Hollins House, who will be preparing the entrée. Peter Henry from Cremer House will finesse the event’s appetizers, and salad will be created by Kendra Baker of Penny Ice Creamery. Luci Sandoval of Wind & Rye Kitchen is in charge of dessert, and you can be sure that all the ingredients involved in the procession of beautiful spring dishes will be ultra-fresh, and utterly organic. The folk duo Hazy Hill, with Wesley Somers on the fiddle and Mathew Harmon on the guitar and bouzouki, will provide traditional Irish and American tunes in their own California style.
Definitely bring layers for the farm’s micro-climate, which morphs from warm sun to soft-focus fog. Tickets cost $150 and benefit Homeless Garden Project programs.

Sustain Supper, Saturday, June 15, from 4-7:30 p.m. Delaware Avenue and Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz. homelessgardenproject.org.

Lester Wine Safari

Here’s some tasty news for fans of the exceptional varietals from Lester Estate Wines. The invitingly named Safari Wine Adventure promises to be a memorable wine tasting trek in the vineyards. Up to eight guests at a time will tour the 210-acre estate while enjoying a gourmet picnic.
Meet at the rustic tasting barn, and begin the adventure with a walking tour of the nearby vineyards (famed for the magic touch of viticulturist Prudy Foxx). From there, board Lester Estate’s lovingly restored 1981 Land Rover Defender, known as “The Ranch Rover” for an adventure through Deer Park Ranch on Pleasant Valley Road in Aptos. Your tour will include a trip to the top of Elephant Hill offering panoramic views of Corralitos, Pleasant Valley and Monterey Bay, as well as exploration of hidden meadows, redwood groves and oak forests. Safari-goers are encouraged to wear sturdy walking shoes and a brimmed hat. Pith helmets, and a sense of fun, are welcomed.

Safari Wine Adventures will be offered the first two Saturdays each month at 1 and 3:30 p.m. $65. Reservations at deerparkranch.com/contact.

Film Review: ‘All Is True’

Lisa Jensen

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June 11, 2019

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With summer almost here, regional Shakespeare festivals—including ours—are ramping up for their summer seasons. What better time to launch a movie about Shakespeare himself reflecting on art, love, family, and reputation at the end of his life? That movie would be All Is True. The sardonic title refers to the act of adapting historical fact into fiction (we’re told it was the original title of the playwright’s Henry VIII), as well as to the little equivocations and outright falsehoods we cling to in the act of getting through our daily lives.

Written by Ben Elton (longtime scriptwriter on the Black Adder TV series), All Is True is produced and directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also stars as Will Shakespeare. These guys know their Bard, and they’ve come up with a wonderful homage—witty, atmospheric, at times heartbreaking—to both the towering genius of myth and the oh-so-fallible man within, sorting through the choices he’s made along the way and trying to separate fact from fiction in the story of his own life.

When his Globe Theatre burns down in London, Will Shakespeare (Branagh) returns to Stratford-on-Avon, and the family he’s scarcely seen in 20 years. His homecoming is not exactly triumphant. Obedient but long-neglected wife Anne (Judi Dench) puts him in the guest bedroom. Lively daughter Susannah (Lydia Wilson) is happy to see him, but unhappily wed to a theatre-hating Puritan.

Touchier still is Will’s relationship to his spinster daughter, Judith (Kathryn Wilder), twin sister to the couple’s only son, Hamnet, who died years earlier at the age of 11. Declaring himself retired from playwriting, Will busies himself building a small garden to Hamnet’s memory. The caustic undertone of Judith’s remarks to her father soon enough erupt into abject bitterness, as she accuses her father of wishing she had been the twin who died and his son the one who survived.

The themes are a bit darker than you might expect from the lighthearted trailer, although the story is handled with plenty of dry humor. And there are moments when Branagh, the actor, can’t resist a little scenery-chewing, as some of Will’s most cherished illusions about his life and family are sacrificed on the altar of reality. But the mood (both visual and psychological) is impressive—the interiors were shot by actual candlelight—and the human dilemma touches the heart.

Then into the midst of it all rides dear old Ian McKellan as the visiting Earl of Southampton, patron of Will’s theatre company (and reputed to have once been the object of the poet’s romantic sonnets). After deflating an obsequious local official with a few choice remarks, he settles down to a private fireside chat with Will, where they discuss past glories and future legacies. (When Will frets over his tarnished reputation, Southampton scoffs, “What do you care what they think? You wrote King Lear!”)

The Earl gently but firmly declares that his lifelong devotion to Shakespeare has always been to the poet, more than the man—but not before both Branagh and McKellan have a go at the “Fortune and men’s’ eyes” sonnet, their delivery of the lines completely different from each other, and yet equally captivating and powerful. It’s a reminder of how Shakespeare’s elegant words remain so endlessly open to interpretation, and also an act of extreme generosity from director Branagh to shoot in close-up of McKellan’s expressive face throughout; the all-terrain roadmap of McKellan’s eyes, the tart and wistful working of his mouth. If they gave Judi Dench an Oscar for 10 minutes of screen time in Shakespeare In Love, McKellan deserves at least knighthood for this one delicious scene. Wait, he’s already a knight. Maybe sainthood?

Fittingly, the coda is left to Shakespeare’s elegiac words from his last play, The Tempest: “We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded by a sleep.” And that’s the truth.

ALL IS TRUE

***1/2 (out of four)

With Kenneth Branagh, Judi Dench and Ian McKellan. Written by Ben Elton. Directed by Kenneth Branagh. A Sony Classics release. Rated PG-13. 101 minutes.

NUZ’s 2019 Santa Cruz Yearbook Awards

Nuz

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June 10, 2019

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School is out, and we want to recognize these local honorees for our totally made-up yearbook awards.

Opinion: June 5, 2019

Steve Palopoli

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June 5, 2019

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EDITOR’S NOTE

When the news broke last fall (via GT) that Nina Simon was going to be leaving the Museum of Art and History, it was one of the biggest stories of the year. That fact in itself says something about Simon’s tenure at MAH—there are not a lot of cities where the changing of the guard at the local museum would even be a newsworthy item, let alone the talk of the town.

But since she took over that position eight years ago, Simon has attracted lots of attention, and not just here. She brought big ideas about the future and purpose of museums that were debated on a national level. The idea that Santa Cruz would ever be a focus of that discussion would have been dismissed as crazy before Simon got here.

Since Geoffrey Dunn did a story at the beginning of Simon’s MAH tenure about her goals for the museum, it seems a fitting bookend that he would write her GT “exit interview,” if you will. As his story explains, she’s moving on to try to bring the same ideas she implemented at MAH to the museum world at large, so I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of her in these pages.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Read the latest letters to the editor here.

Focus of Study

The Good Times’ Nuz (GT, 5/29) suggests that because parking consultant Patrick Siegman was laid off from his job at NelsonNygaard, we might discount his credibility: “Let’s maybe lay off trying to oversell his policy-wonk cred.” Siegman has worked on parking studies for cities including Berkeley, Chico, Glendale, Hayward, Hercules, Napa, Oakland, Oceanside, Oxnard, Palo Alto, Pasadena, Petaluma, San Francisco, Union City, Ventura and Watsonville.

Siegman studied Downtown Santa Cruz parking while at NelsonNygaard. His study concludes that future parking demand will remain flat, in spite of new development Downtown. Hence no new garage is necessary. Discounting Siegman’s conclusions could lead to a costly mistake. A presentation to the City Council by UCSC Professor and parking expert Adam Millard Ball also explains how pricing parking to create desired levels of availability for visitors Downtown can resolve spot-shortages.

Rick Longinotti
Santa Cruz

Slow Their Roll

As many us have seen over the last few years the accidents and delayed traffic have only gotten worse on curvy Highway 17. Over the hill, speeders still don’t care in the rain or a sunny day as they go over 70 mph on this very dangerous winding road that needed to be replaced many years ago. One crazy driver can cause a big pile up with all the cars behind him. This winter has seen the worse of delayed and stopped traffic on the devil’s highway. The tow trucks and ambulance drivers are called daily to pick up the mess. It’s time for the CHP and the state of California to lower the speed limit to 35 mph rain or shine on 17, with speed radar cameras put in. You never see many police out these days—only when they are called when a tragic event happens. The summer beach crowd won’t like it, but I think this slow down and ticket fines will keep the disasters that happen every day, especially in wet weather, to a low level.

Terry Monohan
Felton

Re: Scotts Valley Development

The issue is that SV wants a town center, a downtown if you will. Current plan was basically an apartment complex with very very little retail … about half the size of a typical Safeway. I think many in SV are fine with building … the issue is the design

— Mark

Re: Scotts Valley Development

The NIMBY imbeciles strike again. At least Santa Cruz and the University are finally addressing the issue and approving more housing to be built. Nimby clowns here are finally giving up and are getting drowned by the Yimby crowd because their arguments against housing are asinine and only serve to stifle housing from being built. Expect a lot more younger individuals to be coming out in droves in support of these housing initiatives.

— Jago Gonzalez

Re: KSCO Hosts

Glad Georgia is finally gone. She not only regularly engaged in race-baiting and hate speech, she spread misinformation and conspiracy theories about vaccines (which is dangerous to public health) and lied about documented crimes of gun violence (claiming they were “false flags”). The last time I heard her and her buddy Sam mention a shooting that had just happened that day, while details were still coming out about the crime, Sam was opining it was a false flag because of the timing—he was saying obviously the Democrats were talking about this story to distract the public from whatever serious business Trump was working on, that’s why he was suspicious. Shame on them both, and good riddance.

— Alexia Worsham

PHOTO CONTEST WINNER

Submit to ph****@*******es.sc. Include information (location, etc.) and your name. Photos may be cropped. Preferably, photos should be 4 inches by 4 inches and minimum 250dpi.

GOOD IDEA

The Calvary Episcopal Church is continuing its community forum series with an upcoming discussion about immigration. On Saturday, June 8, from 2-4 p.m., the downtown church’s Calvary Parish Hall forum will aim to increase understanding about complex international issues. At “Immigration Policies and Community Action for Safety and Healing: Santa Cruz and Beyond,” presenters will include Oakes College Provost Regina Langhout and UCSC instructor Leslie Lopez. The event is free and open to the public.

GOOD WORK

Over the past year, Community Bridges became the first local public transport agency to use electric vehicles. It also successfully advocated for increased Medi-Cal reimbursement for Elderday services and developed a Childcare Safety Plan for families of mixed immigration status. June 5 is California Nonprofits Day, and Assemblymember Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) will celebrate by welcoming Community Bridges CEO Ray Cancino to Sacramento to honor the work of the Watsonville-based group.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I went to the museum where they had all the heads and arms from the statues that are in all the other museums.”
-Steven Wright

Pinot Paradise at Martin Ranch

Josie Cowden

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June 5, 2019

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I’ve been a fan of Martin Ranch Winery for a long time.

The winery and tasting room are set in a truly picturesque spot, and owners Dan and Thérèse Martin are the most welcoming hosts. When they hold events—for both wine club members and non-wine club guests—they go all-out to make sure everybody has a fun experience. I remember one time seeing Thérèse dancing up a storm to some terrific music played by a local band.

Made under their J.D. Hurley label, the 2016 Pinot Noir (about $24) from R.E.D. Vineyard on the Central Coast is one delicious mouthful of strawberry and black currant, plus a hint of cinnamon. Notes of vanilla are complemented by an explosion of ripe raspberries. “This is a distinctive wine that keeps its promise with a kiss of French oak, cherry and caramel,” say the Martins.

The Martins’ wines sell out quickly, so if they happen to be out of the J.D. Hurley Pinot, then try the Pinot made under their Thérèse Vineyards label. You’ll be just as happy.

Martin Ranch Winery, 6675 Redwood Retreat Rd., Gilroy. 408-842-9197, martinranchwinery.com.

Aptos Wine Wander

Don’t miss the chance to meander around Aptos Village for the Aptos Wine Wander from 1-4 p.m. on Saturday, June 8. Not only will you stroll from store to store and get to experience the newly revamped village, but you’ll also get to taste some terrific local wines from about 10 different wineries. Visit scmwa.com for more info.

Grocery Generosity

I’m giving a shout-out to Grocery Outlet and two store managers, Yeseni Perez (Hollister) and Cristian Susunaga (Watsonville). Ample food and wine was donated by Grocery Outlet for golfers at a recent tournament fundraiser for Hospice of Santa Cruz County—all served by Perez and Susunaga. One of Grocery Outlet’s featured wines, Tangley Oaks Chardonnay, sells for only $2.99, and it’s pretty good. The Salinas Grocery Outlet also participated in making a valuable contribution to hospice with food and wine. Grocery Outlet does catering as well.

Visit groceryoutlet.com for details.

Grilling Up Staff of Life’s Bloody Mary Steak

Lily Stoicheff

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June 5, 2019

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Grilling Up Staff of Life’s Bloody Mary Steak

Summer may be slow to creep into Santa Cruz County, but Memorial Day weekend officially marked the start of my favorite time of year: grilling season.

Everywhere across the country, people are pulling the covers off of their Webers, buying fresh bags of Kingsford charcoal and trying to remember where they stashed their grill brushes. Not only is there something primally satisfying about cooking outside over an open flame, but I have yet to meet a food that couldn’t be improved with a nice char.

My grilling menu is usually intentionally unambitious: a pile of vegetables tossed in olive oil and kosher salt, plus a tangy, herby salad, and one or two different kinds of proteins. I occasionally have the forethought to pull a marinade together in time to be effective, but more often than not I grill spontaneously, because the clouds suddenly let a few streaks of sunshine in and my evening is clear.

Luckily, a friend and fellow grilling queen turned me on to Staff of Life’s Bloody Mary-marinated skirt steak and tri-tip, both $15.99 per pound. Available at the butcher counter, it is everything I want in a marinade, plus it’s been soaking for several hours by the time I take it home—plenty of time for the steak to absorb all of that delicious flavor. Worchestire sauce and plenty of black pepper season the steak inside and out, while molasses balances with sweetness and helps the outside of the meat caramelize into a dark bark. Lemon juice tenderizes.

I checked with the butcher, who said that the marinade contains, “Everything you’d put in a bloody mary, minus the vodka.” It is shockingly good, and I’ve seen it elicit satisfied groans from dozens of dinner guests.

Skirt steak cooks up in an instant on the grill and is my first choice if I’m making tacos or short on time. I also find it’s the best thing to grab if I’m invited over to someone’s house for dinner—it’s impossible to mess up, regardless of the skill level of whomever is manning the grill. But a tri-tip done right is a beautiful thing, as long as you take into account its weird criss-crossing grain. Whatever you choose, the results are always delicious.

6 Things To Do in Santa Cruz: June 5-11

GT Staff

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June 5, 2019

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A weekly guide to what’s happening

Green Fix

World Oceans Day

June 8 is World Oceans Day—a time to recognize the dire impact of climate change on our seas. Created in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, World Oceans Day is the perfect time to learn how to protect the 71% of our planet that’s blue. In celebration, the Seymour Center is co-hosting a craft event and “Better Bag Challenge” to decorate a reusable tote bag, make an ocean promise, and create a special ocean-themed keepsake.

INFO: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, June 8. Seymour Marine Discovery Center, 100 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz. seymourcenter.ucsc.edu. $9.

Art Seen

Leslie Morgan: ‘Pacific Coast Highway’

Bay Area artist Leslie Morgan has spent the majority of her life as a competitive swimmer and psychologist, and in her free time she travelled the ocean on a boat she called home. It’s not surprising, then, that Morgan is particularly influenced by water, and integrates elements of the ocean, environment and conservation in her work.

INFO: Opening reception 5-8 p.m. Friday, June 7. Felix Kulpa Gallery, 107 Elm St., Santa Cruz. felixkulpa.com. Free.

Saturday 6/8

33rd-Annual Japanese Cultural Fair

Since its founding in 1986, the Japanese Cultural Fair has provided an opportunity for members of the Santa Cruz County community to increase their awareness and understanding of Japanese culture, both traditional and contemporary. Through the arts, crafts and culture of Japan, this annual event has brought together thousands of people with martial arts demonstrations, drumming, authentic cuisine and more.

INFO: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mission Plaza Park, 103 Emmet St., Santa Cruz. jcfsantacruz.org. Free.

Saturday 6/7 and Sunday 6/8

45th-Annual Student Print Sale

At the UCSC Student Print Sale, print media students get to sell their original artwork, and the community gets to support budding artists while collecting beautiful one-of-a-kind art. Hundreds of original etchings, lithographs, woodcuts, digital prints, handmade books, and more will be on display and available for purchase. This is a unique opportunity to see and purchase high-quality handmade artwork, meet the artists and tour the UCSC arts facilities. The event is free and open to the public. All profits directly benefit the student artists and UCSC printmaking program.

INFO: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. UCSC Elena Baskin Visual Arts Printmaking Studio room G-101, 1156 High St., Santa Cruz. 459-3686. artsites.ucsc.edu/printsale. Free.

Thursday 6/6

Dark Matter

About 80% of all matter is a mysterious, invisible substance we call dark matter. Dark matter is hard to study directly, but new tools in astronomy and astrophysics have created fresh opportunities to work out its properties. Join UCSC Graduate Researcher Ben Lehmann in a discussion about how gravitational waves give us a new way of looking at the universe. Lehmann will explain what we know about dark matter and black holes, what we don’t know about them, and how these two mysterious components of our universe can shed some light on one another.

INFO: 6:30-8 p.m. Downtown Library, 224 Church St., Santa Cruz. Free.

Friday 6/7

D.S. Marriott and Juliana Spahr Poetry Readings

UCSC History of Consciousness faculty member D.S. Marriott is a renowned poet and internationally recognized writer. In his critical and creative work, Marriott—who is of Jamaican heritage—draws on post-colonial thinkers such as Frantz Fanon, and is the leading theorist of Afro-pessimism. Marriott will be leaving Santa Cruz in the fall, so this may be the only time to see him read before then. Oakland-based Juliana Spahr is a poet, editor and literary scholar. Her most recent book That Winter The Wolf Came concerns global struggles at the intersection of ecological and economic catastrophe. In addition to her volumes of criticism, Spahr has published eight books of poetry, and is currently an associate professor of English at Mills College.

INFO: 8 p.m. Felix Kulpa Gallery, 107 Elm St., Santa Cruz. 334-2257. felixkulpa.com. Free.

Music Picks: June 5-11

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June 5, 2019

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Santa Cruz County live music for the week of June, 5, 2019.

WEDNESDAY 6/5

PROG-ROCK

CHON

Chon is nothing if not forward thinking, expanding prog-rock fandom with effects-heavy riff structures and eccentric noodling so dreamy and flashy that hordes of EDM lovers will no doubt embrace the band’s mathy stylings as their own. Chon even wrote its new self-titled album with festival-goers in mind, giddy over how crowds react to songs that are psychedelic on the outside but pure music-nerd at their nougaty center. Go ahead and grab those neon LED lights and that tattered Rush t-shirt in your closet. Chon says it’s safe to once again love the prog rock you used to love to hate. AMY BEE

8:30 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $20 adv/$25 door. 423-1338.

BLUES

ROY BOOK BINDER

After leaving the Navy as a young man, Roy Book Binder set out through the American South, jumping from remote town to remote town, all while learning how to play the blues—and tell a hell of a story—straight from masters like Pink Anderson, John Jackson and the Reverend Gary Davis. Book Binder has continued his vagabond-lite life, traveling and playing out of his RV most of the year, and returning to Florida for some down time when he’s not teaching guitar at Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch camp. MAT WEIR

7:30 p.m. Michael’s on Main, 2591 Main St., Soquel. $15. 479-9777

THURSDAY 6/6

REGGAE

MICHAEL ROSE WITH SLY AND ROBBIE

Sly and Robbie are Jamaica’s most famous rhythm section. They come to Santa Cruz with legendary singer Michael Rose, who in the ’70s roots reggae period sang as a solo artist and then as part of Black Uhuru. Since his departure from the group, he’s remained one of reggae’s most prolific artists. To catch Rose with Sly and Robbie is certainly a night of Jamaican legends all on one stage. AARON CARNES

9 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $30 adv/$35 adv. 479-1854.

PSYCH-POP

THE BABE RAINBOW

Hippies, rejoice, our time has come. At least it has in Australia, where the music scene has begun to resemble a full-on Summer of Love reboot. Bell bottoms, sitars, drugs—check, check and check. Byron Bay’s The Babe Rainbow has proven to be one of the mellowest, most far out bands of this Aussie hippie revival, and last year’s Double Rainbow was its strongest effort yet, An acid-washed blast of down-under sun that sounds more than a little like Mac DeMarco writing for the Dead. MIKE HUGUENOR

8:30 p.m. Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $16 adv/$18 door. 429-4135.

JAZZ

REMY LE BOEUF QUARTET

Though alto saxophonist Remy Le Boeuf was raised in Santa Cruz and has played regular hometown gigs ever since moving to New York City, even die-hard fans have never heard him like this. After recording a series of acclaimed albums and performing thousands of gigs with his identical twin brother, pianist Pascal Le Boeuf, Remy just released his debut solo album Light As a Word. Featuring his striking lyrical originals, the album includes a cadre of mid-career jazz greats like pianist Aaron Parks. For his West Coast tour, Le Boeuf is performing with Japanese pianist Martha Kato, bassist Giulio Cetto and drummer Mark Ferber. ANDREW GILBERT

7 p.m., Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $26.25 adv/$31.50 door. 427-2227.

FRIDAY 6/7

INDIE

REAL ESTATE

Dream-pop group Real Estate is beloved for a tasteful mix of reverb, warm guitar tones and a surreal songwriting style. A new line-up has shored up their already reliable suburban meanderings, and added a dash of retrospection only earned through traversing the riddled potholes of adulthood: separation, wedlock, mortality. Sometimes claustrophobic and dense with stifling droning synths and guitar riffs, Real Estate’s harmonies dispel the clouds with rays of soft sunshine highlighting what would otherwise be cliché indie rock malaise. AB

9 p.m. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $28 adv/$32 door. 479-1854.

SATURDAY 6/8

COMEDY

CHRIS MARTIN

Oh my god! Coldplay’s Chris Martin is coming to Santa Cruz, and he’s playing … a comedy club? Wait! *record scratch* Wrong Chris Martin. This Chris Martin, while also English, is a comedian. He hones in on everyday observations, flipping them on their head in a way that’s whimsical and snarky. AC

7 and 9:30 p.m., DNA’s Comedy Lab, 155 S. River St., Santa Cruz. $20 adv/$25 door. (530) 592-5250.

INDIE-FOLK

HOD AND THE HELPERS

Do you need harmonic help? Require aural assistance? If so, Hod and the Helpers has what you’re looking for. Fronted by mercurial Santa Cruz songwriter Hod Hulphers, the many talented hands that make up the Helpers include Dan Potthast (MU330) and AJ Marquez (Slow Gherkin, the Huxtables). Across 11 tracks on their 2017 debut, the Helpers cast strange, bewitching psychedelic images of Roy Orbison, Antony and the Johnsons, and Magnolia Electric Company, all mixed with knowing winks and some unknowing ones. We all need a little help sometimes. MH

9 p.m. Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $5. 429-6994

BLACK-METAL

HVILE I KAOS

Hvile I Kaos describes its sound as “black chamber music.” Rest assured, this dark, ritualistic string music goes hand-in-hand with the black and doom metal scene, which is why L.A. string quartet Hvile I Kaos is joining the stage with black metal thrashers Miasmic, Thangorodrim and The Incursion. Hvile I Kaos’ alluring melodies, vivacious playing and dark tones are the perfect base to cut the acidity of what promises to be a beautiful night of darkened chaos. MW

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

Love Your Local Band: Sabine Silver

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June 5, 2019

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Seven years ago, Sabine Silver took up the harp. She was pregnant at the time, and a poet friend recommended she try the instrument out.

“We both agreed that only to play the ancient bardic music of the angels would be sounds fitting for the gift of life growing within me,” Silver says.

She immediately fell in love with the instrument. For the last three years, she’s been performing with her harp on stage, but not in the typical way—she amplifies it and runs it through lots of atmospheric effect pedals. She brings a dreamy, psychedelic, gothy element to her music, and a lot of theatrics, including colorful outfits, makeup and stirring performances. Sometimes she’ll recite a capella monologues or play songs that are as long as 45 minutes.

“The music really does tell many stories,” Silver says. “My intention is to essentially construct a dream-world full of things and sounds [people] have never seen or felt before, to uncover rooms in their caves perhaps forgotten about, to put them into a trance, to trigger such a quality state of higher beauty and refinement.”

She lived in Santa Cruz more than a decade ago, and moved back last summer. Silver brings her fourth album Lucky Penny to the Blue Lagoon on June 12.

If her music sounds intense, that’s because it’s written from an intimate space.

“I’m an expert eavesdropper. And the music that I write these days is inspired completely by eavesdropping, whether it’s said or not said,” Silver says. “Whether it’s a thought or an emotion, the synchronicities and patterns moment-to-moment in life.”

9 p.m. Wednesday, June 12, Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $5. 423-7117.

Good TimesGood Times

Good TimesGood Times

Lester Wine Safari

ALL IS TRUE

EDITOR’S NOTE

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

PHOTO CONTEST WINNER

GOOD IDEA

GOOD WORK

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Aptos Wine Wander

Grocery Generosity

World Oceans Day

Leslie Morgan: ‘Pacific Coast Highway’

33rd-Annual Japanese Cultural Fair

45th-Annual Student Print Sale

Dark Matter

D.S. Marriott and Juliana Spahr Poetry Readings

WEDNESDAY 6/5

PROG-ROCK

CHON

BLUES

ROY BOOK BINDER

THURSDAY 6/6

REGGAE

MICHAEL ROSE WITH SLY AND ROBBIE

PSYCH-POP

THE BABE RAINBOW

JAZZ

REMY LE BOEUF QUARTET

FRIDAY 6/7

INDIE

REAL ESTATE

SATURDAY 6/8

COMEDY

CHRIS MARTIN

INDIE-FOLK

HOD AND THE HELPERS

BLACK-METAL

HVILE I KAOS