Half of Downtown Blacked-Out Friday

A falling tree branch that hit a powerline blacked out half of downtown Santa Cruz at 8:08 p.m. Friday for about an hour and a half. The dividing line between those with power and those with the lights out was along Pacific Avenue.

The right side of Pacific, as you face the town clock, had power, while the left side, from Church to Spruce streets, was dark.

Eliza Gilkyson and Slaid Cleaves, who were performing at the Snazzy Productions show at Kuumbwa, improvised and picked up acoustic guitars during the blackout. The power came back after an intermission, during which the 200 people inside spilled out to look at fire and PG&E crews on Center Street.

Stone Cold Creamery served ice cream by battery lamplight. Many other restaurants closed.

Power was back at 9:30 p.m. in time for shows at the Catalyst and the Blue Lagoon.

"It was really creepy," said a woman serving pizza at Pizza My Heart, who added that she couldn't tell if there was added business because Fridays are always busy.