Erika Wennerstrom doesn’t mind explaining her band’s name. As frontwoman for the Heartless Bastards, she’s heard plenty of misconceptions about her band, including that it’s a death metal group and a man-hating rock band. But behind the oft-misunderstood moniker lies an American rock outfit that takes on themes of love, life and heartache with heartland style and a bluesy, alt-country flair. And the name? It was an incorrect answer to the trivia question “What’s the name of Tom Petty’s band?”
Articles
Tess Dunn Headlines Cystic Fibrosis Benefit
At 17, Tess Dunn, who finished up high school a year early so she could leave Santa Cruz, has already accomplished a lot. She’s released two EPs, performed on four Warped Tours and been featured on the Vans Off the Wall Pass the Bucket show online. She’s done all this in spite of three incurable diseases. And before she leaves for CSUMB, Dunn will also be headlining Moe’s Alley on Aug. 12 for a benefit for one of those diseases, cystic fibrosis.
Church Street Fair at Cabrillo Festival
This festival of music, art and wine brings alive the spirit of the Cabrillo Music Festival with performances and activities in a fresh outdoor setting. There’ll be fair food, too.
First Friday Picks
First Friday provides opportunities to view art, mingle and enjoy all that downtown has to offer. Check out our sneak-peek recommendations to see what some local galleries have on the docket.
Review: ‘Twelfth Night’ at SSC
For sheer entertainment value, it’s hard to beat a Shakespearean comedy. The shipwrecks, the cases of mistaken identity, the reunion of long-lost twins, the cross-dressing, the drunks: who doesn’t love these tropes? Shakespeare Santa Cruz’s current production of Twelfth Night, built on this formula, delivers the madcap goods with style and belly laughs a-plenty—along with the peculiar sense of unease that this very odd “comedy” imparts.
Dickens Universe at UCSC
The Dickens Universe brings together around 300 Dickens scholars and fans for one week of full-time Dickens immersion, focused on a different Dickens novel each year. Daily lectures and scholarly discussions are a staple of the event, as are tea parties, parties hosted by graduate students and even a Victorian dance party that, last year, featured three costumed Miss Havishams (the wealthy spinster in Great Expectations).
Project 52 Must-See Picks
Daniel Mollner is committed to his goal of making 52 dance videos this year. We take a close look at some of his highlights so far.
A Dance Video A Week
Filmmaker Daniel Mollner waited over four decades before calling himself a dancer. Now he’s making up for lost time. “It’s almost like this slingshot thing,” Mollner says. “After years of resisting and being afraid to call myself a dancer, there’s all this pent-up energy. I’ve been holding back for so long.”
‘The Man in The Iron Mask’
Shakespeare Santa Cruz unveiled its world premiere production of The Man in the Iron Mask
with a rollicking flourish on July 28 in the incomparable Festival Glen. The plot-bending reconstruction of the Dumas classic by Scott Wentworth (who also directs this season’s Henry IV: Part II) offered up great helpings of slapstick, melodrama and multiple endings to the energetic tale of aging musketeers recalled to service in the aid of France’s true king, imprisoned in the Bastille.
‘Anything Goes’ at Cabrillo Stage
Cabrillo Stage’s Anything Goes is explosively fun. Each character is as impressive individually as the cast is collectively. Cole Porter classic after impeccably executed Cole Porter classic reminds one how timeless his talent is, and director and choreographer Kikau Alvaro skillfully preserves and translates it for a contemporary audience.
