Concerts are back at downtown’s Russ Room, more music for May | The Sacramento Beat

From Concerts in the Park to a revived K Street venue, the May music calendar comes in hot in the downtown core, and stays hot as we explore points east. Feels like summer ... let’s go!

Local artists, message Aaron Davis on Instagram if you have upcoming shows, @adavis_threetosee.

Nestled above Solomon’s on K Street, concerts at the cozy Russ Room are roaring back this month after a long dormancy — a welcome Lazarus act for an important cog in the downtown independent venue landscape.

“The new management (of Solomon’s) have all agreed that we need this venue in our city,” local fixture Ira Skinner, who is handling booking duties, said in a social media post. We wholeheartedly concur — something about the sight of bands performing on the other side of the glass wall that peers out over DOCO, in a living ode to Tower Records and Russ Solomon, feels like a siren song for a music scene looking to grow itself.

After a rebirth late April gig from the omnipresent LabRats, the locally focused May calendar currently boasts punk act Mental Health with “psychedelic doom jazz folk” troupe the Jeffrey Spaghetti Variety Show (May 3), garage/psych rockers Demon Wrangler with the Pseudo Mystics (May 10), Sacramento-raised and LA-based R&B singer/rapper Breyan Bliss with Gr8tness, Jakhari Smith and Mother Muerte (May 11) and sludge/stoner metal outfit Get the Well, joined by Pet Elephant and the much-welcomed return of veteran local glam rockers Mondo Deco (May 25). More shows are on deck for June and they’re continuing to trickle in as we roll into summer (instagram.com/therussroom).

We’re primed and ready for the start of the 2024 Friday night Concerts in the Park this month — but also pledging to save some energy for the slate of after-party gigs recently announced a few blocks away at Malt & Mash, across from the aforementioned Russ Room. All the gigs are free and begin right after music at Cesar Chavez Plaza ends each Friday throughout the summer run. Local acts performing include Americana act Beard Picker (May 17), punk rockers Lewd Jaw (May 24), indie folk gem Samantha Henson (May 31), veteran local rock act Drop Dead Red (June 14), swinging throwback bluegrass/Americana collective Burning Daylight People (June 28), Irish acoustic act Paulie David Laughin (July 19) and tons more (instagram.com/maltandmash).

“But as the old Klingon proverb says, ‘the skill in attending a party is knowing when it’s time to leave’” proclaims wily local Star Trek-themed rockers Warp 11 on the event page for their farewell show. (Editor’s note: The adage is widely attributed to a saying told to R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe.) After living long and prospering for an astounding 25-year run of writing and performing original tunes lovingly dedicated to the Trekkie universe, the venerable act is hanging it up. On this final voyage into the great beyond, they’re slated to perform two full sets exploring their eight-album discography. In a move almost certain to cause rampant confusion and potential interstellar conflict, they chose May 4 for this gig, the well-noted “Star Wars Day” — but they just may have an answer for that conundrum when this show gets going (8 p.m. Saturday, May 4, at the Boardwalk, 9426 Greenback Lane, Orangevale. $20. www.rocktheboardwalk.com).

A brand new soul-themed music festival is taking shape in Elk Grove, the first Elk Grove Spring Musicfest, sporting Boston-based R&B artist Noel Gourdin as its headliner, with Agape Soul, Carla Fleming and Cosmic Roots also on the bill (Noon to 7 p.m. Saturday, May 11, at Laguna Town Hall, 3020 Renwick Ave. eventbrite.com). The festival is put on by the organizers of last year’s inaugural Elk Grove Jazz Festival, at the same venue, which is slated to return for its sophomore installment on Sept. 28, per the organizers.

Jakob Nowell is having himself a year — and it leaves a lot to unpack. We’ll start with Jakobs Castle, Nowell’s seared-edged, neon-splattered life-in-fast-forward act that just released its banger debut full-length “Enter: The Castle,” looking to turn the realm of modern pop-punk on its ear in much the same way that his late father, Bradley Nowell, did to the punk-reggae mashup realm some 30 years ago. Jakob’s Castle is stopping off at Goldfield Midtown (8 p.m. Thursday, May 16. $15. goldfieldtradingpost.com). Much has been duly made of the recent reunification of the surviving original lineup of the legendary Sublime at this year’s Coachella, with Jakob Nowell stepping into the iconic frontman role helmed by the elder Nowell until his untimely passing. With original members Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh (we’ll talk about Gaugh’s time with Phil & the Blanx another day) having proclaimed their intentions to focus solely on the new Nowell-backed reincarnation of Sublime, it spells what appears to be a “farewell tour” for Sublime With Rome, the offshoot with vocalist Rome Ramirez that has performed steadily for roughly 15 years. That makes this month’s Sublime With Rome gig at the Venue at Thunder Valley your purported last chance to see that act before it rides off into the Long Beach sunset (With the Expendables. 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 31. thundervalleyresort.com).

Another new event, the Honey Hills Music Fest is taking over four different venues in four days in Nevada City and Grass Valley, showcasing entirely female-fronted acts. The high-desert fuzz-surf retro rock of L.A.’s La Luz is the featured act, performing at Nevada City’s brand new venue, the Fern, on Sat. May 18 with Portland gothic country mariachi rockers Roselit Bone and foothills post-punk act Park Street Riot. Other gigs forming the festival include Iona Swift, Ginger Molasses and Faun Fables at the Wild Eye Pub in Grass Valley (May 16), WitchDick, Big Whoop and the Ruby Woos at Stardust Station (May 17) and Fattie Cakes, Rose Lyon, Nighttime and Anna Hillsburg closing it out with an outdoor afternoon set hosted by Rainbow Rocket on May 19. (eventbrite.com; thehoneyhillsfest.com)

The second iteration of the Golden Road Gathering returns to the El Dorado County Fairgrounds in Placerville with a full slate of jam-fest favorites, welcoming the likes of ethereal electronic world-pop act Beats Antique, veteran troupes Railroad Earth, Lotus, Dirtwire and Fruition and beloved troubadour Steve Poltz. The festival is also host to a decade-in-the-making reunion show from Blue Turtle Seduction, with Lebo & Friends, Polyrhythmics, the Nth Power, Lindsay Lou’s Railroad Revue, Mike Dillon’s Punkadelic and many more (May 17-19. goldenroadgathering.com).

Quarry Park, we were unfamiliar with your game! Rocklin’s cozy outdoor amphitheater has hosted a bevy of shows over the last few years but, with absolutely no disrespect to those who have previously graced the stage, the names on this year’s calendar feel like a venue flexing into more bold and adventurous booking territory. May gigs come from groove-laden reggae/soul star J Boog (with L.A.B. Sunday, May 19), and Australian folk roots craftsman Xavier Rudd, who will take your mind to some organically bizarre and ethereally whimsical places with his balladry, but also his Outback-rambling work on the didgeridoo (with Bobby Alu. Sunday, May 23). In June, they’re bringing in barroom honky-tonk rock ruffian Whitey Morgan (Wednesday, June 12) followed by shredding masked guitar wizard and enigmatic mystery metal man Buckethead (Sunday, June 16). Venerable classic rockers Three Dog Night round out the current calendar in September (rocklin.ca.us/concerts-quarry).

This summer, another sophomore music festival is back for Round 2: the Gambler’s Run Music Festival returns to Crystal Bay Club Casino in North Lake Tahoe after its inaugural outing last year, this time rolling out folk/blues/jazz standouts Wood Brothers and last year’s featured act Pigeons Playing Ping Pong as headliners, with a tantalizing pairing of local hero Jackie Greene linking up for a set with sax/funk deity Karl Denson. Also featured on the bill taking over the casino’s grounds (last year features an outdoor stage flanking their recently remodeled Crown Room) are the Motet, Floozies, the Main Squeeze, Donovan Frankenreiter, Mother Hips, Rayland Baxter and lots more (July 26-28. instagram.com/crystalbayclub).