GET OUT: NY, LA, SF Can't Beat the Music in Santa Cruz This Weekend

FRIDAY

They Might Be Giants

Rio Theatre

1205 Soquel Ave.

8:05 p.m.

Tickets: $25/advance; $28 at the door.

Like Devo before them, TMBG started as a novelty act for shoegazers and the in-crowd, but showed the world that they really are great and imaginative songwriters.

These Brooklyners have done kids albums and won a Grammy for "Boss of Me," the theme song to "Malcolm in the Middle." They also still know how to step up to the cutting edge with humor and irony.

Buckethead

plus ON THE SPOT TRIO

1101 Pacific Ave.

Tickets $20 in advance; $25 at the door.

9 p.m.

These days it seems like normal is the new normal. In hard economic times, weird isn't commercial enough so has almost faded away.

And then, there's Buckethead. This Sonoma guitarist who played with Primus for one tour, is so far out on the edge it's a wonder he can be popular enough to hold down the Cat on a Sat. But he is. Yeah, he covers his head with a Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket, but that's not the weirdest thing. He stands like a robot, and rockets out guitar leads that show him to be a musicians musician while accompanied by a boombox. 

But you never know what he's going to do next and that's the beauty of a guy keepin' music weird. 

SATURDAY

Santa Cruz Symphony

Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium

7 p.m. (Also Watsonville 1 p.m. Sunday)

Tickets $10-$65

If you like the grandeur of an organ, this is the symphony show to catch.

Jackie Greene

plus THE GOLDEN CADILLACS
also EMILY GREEN

1101 Pacific Ave.

Tickets: $18 in advance/ $22 at the door

9 p.m.

If this this genre-defying folk rocker had come out in the 1970s he'd be as well known as Jackson Browne, but this is a time when great songwriting and musicianship isn't as big as the karaoke of American Idol and the like.

But those who love the vicissitudes of great music love Jackie, who hailed originally from Salinas and Monterey and has gone on to front Phil Lesh's Grateful Dead cover band, Phil and Friends, team up with the Skinny Singers, hit blues festivals, and keep a steady string of great club dates with his own rocking band.

SUNDAY

Chris Rene

Santa Cruz Civic

Sold out, but available in streaming.

MONDAY

Mark Hummel's Harmonica Blowout

1535 Commercial Way

8 p.m.  $27/adv, $30/door

This year's installment of the annual show is a tribute to Little Walter, who many consider to be the best harp player of all time.

Playing homage are: Charlie Musselwhite, Billy Boy Arnold, Curtis Salgado and Sugar Ray Norcia. These are some top names: Salgado was the guy the Blues Brothers modeled themselves on; Billy Boy pioneered the funk and shuffle of the Bo Diddly sound; Musselwhite takes you to Mississippi by way of Chicago and Hummel is smooth and cool.