SFR rounds up the dirt on Santa Fe's music scene.
Hey kids-it's springtime! School's out soon, you might get a fat tax return and, with a little luck, there may be a concert or two worth attending in***image1*** Santa Fe. There's plenty going on in town. We've got venues opening and shutting down, venues re-opening, disgruntled kids-not to mention some damned good shows coming up.
Maybe you don't get out much. Maybe you do get out much or your idea of "out" involves inauthentic margaritas at the local Applebee's-which we forgive you for, though we shouldn't, and really you should know better.
For the hipsters and the homebodies, here's what's going on, generally speaking:
Meow Wolf
Jesus. That was quick. Just last month everyone (including SFR) was praising Meow Wolf (1403 Second St.) as a sure sign of life in Santa Fe's all-ages scene. But like a runt baby goat rejected by its mama, the venue was a beautiful little thing that made lots of noise before dying quietly.
"Several issues popped up at once," Matt Smith says. He co-founded Meow Wolf with Vince Kadlubek in February, only to be shut down weeks later. The one-room venue (a former beauty salon) seemed the perfect all-ages performance space/gallery/place to escape tourists. The Meow Wolves tried to obtain a business license, but no deal. There were noise complaints and parking issues, plus an inflexible sound ordinance that won't allow loud music past 10 pm. The Man wins again.
A MySpace blog from the group reads: "In the city's mind, youth rock the boat, youth are a danger to tourism because they are too loud, dangerous, obstructive […] Ageism is real, and it is really fucked." Wow. That's harsh.
What You May Have Missed:
Calabi Yua, We Drew Lightning, Ghostkimo, Yoda's House
What's Coming Up:
Monster Battle, a performance-art-type event (June 1) where the public (yourself included) is invited to dress up like something vaguely intimidating (e.g. a viking, ninja, Godzilla, etc.) and attack each other. Check www.myspace.com/sfmonsterbattle for more info.
High Mayhem
High Mayhem (1703-B Lena St., 501-3333) has been going strong for the better part of eight years. The nonprofit arts collective has always been a home for experimental music, and it shows no signs of going away soon. On a recent Saturday evening, I watch two of High Mayhem's principal organizers, Carlos Santistevan and Mike Rowland, as they set up the venue's new sound system. They are understandably excited.
"We achieved a benchmark today," Santistevan says, "getting this PA."
The fancy equipment suits the performance space. Tucked in an obscure location, in a building that's accessible only by passing through a deep arroyo, High Mayhem's innards are indeed impressive. The collective stakes its success on a couple of principals: It prefers quality over quantity (averaging maybe only one live performance per month), and it wants to create the same kind of environment its members would like to see when on tour. (Notably, Santistevan and Rowland constitute half of the noise/experimental group The Late Severa Wires).
What You May Have Missed:
Lightning Bolt, Dub Trio, Birth
What's Coming Up:
Henry Grimes (9 pm May 17. $5-$10), Ray Charles Ives (7 pm May 24 $10-$50) and the annual (and beloved) High Mayhem Emerging Arts Festival (Sept. 18-20)
Warehouse 21
Santa Fe's marquee all-ages venue, Warehouse 21 (1614 Paseo de Peralta, 989-4423) has barely made noise over the past year. With any luck, that'll change soon. "We have been basically in a 'hiatus' since January 2007," Executive Director Ana Gallegos y Reinhardt tells SFR in an e-mail. That is too bad since the concert hall/artspace has hosted some of the biggest indie-rock acts of recent memory.
"W21's new building will be completed in April and have a soft move-in at end of June or early July!!!" Gallegos y Reinhardt continues.
When it moves, it will be into a $3.4 million facility with a nearly incomprehensible diversity of offerings. Among them: a fashion design studio, a coffee bar, a radio station studio and a darkroom. If kids in Santa Fe complain that there's nothing to do after this summer, it will be for their own lack of creativity.
What You May Have Missed:
The Locust, DeVotchka, Jucifer, Blood Brothers
What's Coming Up:
In April, Warehouse 21 is organizing a series of concerts at local high schools.
Santa Fe Brewing Company
Springtime got off to a rough start at the Brewing Company (35 Fire Place, 424-3333), when Big Sam (of Dirty Dozen Brass Band fame) and his Funky Nation missed its show due to bad weather on March 18. It was just another proverbial bump in the road-an icy one-that hopefully won't be repeated. There's not much gossip to report otherwise from the City Different's favorite (and first) microbrewery-cum-music venue.
What You May Have Missed:
Taj Mahal, Stephen Marley
What's Coming Up:
Mike Doughty, formerly of Soul Coughing (7:30 pm April 22. $$18-20), X and Detroit Cobras (7:30 pm June 6. $23-$28)