This week Santa Cruz woke up to thunder and lightening. According to Republican presidential candidate, Ben Carson, this is a sign that the heavens are angry so we should all play it safe and stay indoors. Thankfully, Santa Cruz has a stacked week of live music to entertain us while we await the apocalypse or El Niño, whatever comes first.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11
TOKiMONSTA at The Catalyst Club
Jennifer Lee (aka TOKiMONSTA) is arguably one of the biggest DJ/producers in the world right now, catapulting to fame after being discovered by Flying Lotus playing sets at an LA beat night while she was in college. Only a few years later she boasts an impressive solo and collaboration music catalogue, multiple world tours, and one of the most cracking live sets in the industry. Her current “Fovere” tour makes a stop at The Catalyst. Come over and experience the madness. In the meantime check out our exclusive interview with the artist on SantaCruz.com. 9 p.m. Tickets: $20.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12
Atmosphere at The Catalyst Club
While there were many hungry emcees crawling out of the woodwork in the early 90s, none grinded harder and toured more exhaustively, while bringing a raw and new passion to their art form like Slug and Ant. These two are the true forefathers of underground hip-hop, having blazed paths through an industry that shunned independent artists, especially “suburban” rappers. (Those same rappers that artists like Macklemore would follow years later.) Now sitting atop the Rhymesayers empire, these two still make time for their craft and are off another national tour. They stop at The Catalyst with Dem Atlas, Haphduzen. Doors open at 8 p.m. Tickets: Are off-sale online but will be available at the door before the show.
Getaway Dogs & Boostive at The Crepe Place
Head on over to this midtown hot spot for an orgiastic night of live music featuring every instrument imaginable, including some interesting digital ones. Two great local bands will be displaying their considerable talents – Kai Killion and The Getaway Dogs brandishing otherworldly, psychedelic and Brazilian-inspired rock followed by hip-hop, jazz and reggae fusion from local festival favorites Boostive. 9 p.m. Tickets: $8 at the door.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13
The Hippy Mob Harvest Tour at The Blue Lagoon
Featuring six artists and three separate sets of music, downtown dive, The Blue is once again the best deal for live music on a Friday night. The Hippy Mob Harvest Tour have been huffing and puffing their way through the golden state, bringing head-bobbin’ classic Bay Area hip-hop to audiences up and down the West Coast. Catch APlus & Knobody (as Grow Theory), Equipto & Otayo Dubb, and Michael Marshall & DJ True Justice as they bring the realness to The Blue this Friday the 13th. 9 p.m. Tickets: $10 at the door.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15
Ensemble Mik Nawooj at The Crepe Place
San Francisco born Mik Nawooj is something of an enigma. The Korean, Taoist, piano-playing composer leads an ensemble of emcees, string instruments, flutes, deep funk drums and soprano vocce to create his own unique brand of music. Dubbed a “hip-hop orchestra” the Oakland native is quoted as saying, “I make hip-hop music by deconstructing and rebuilding the musical materials using classical techniques. You can say that I am sampling classical music techniques to create a new version of hip-hop.” 9 p.m. Tickets: $10 at the door.
Contact Sam at [email protected]. Pictured: TOKiMONSTA via Facebook.
