The Burlingame Voice

Entertainment Drought in B'game

Let's face it.  B'game is a daytime town.  Once you get past the dinner hour, it's basically dead out there.  Various establishments have tried to liven up our downtowns--Tavern Grill was awesome for about six months, B'way Grill fights the trend and Towle's Seafood (not breakfast) was even better with fun bands four nights a week.  But right now, we are at a low point--well below sea level.

I was out on Saturday night on the Avenew.  I had a great time, good meal, saw a bunch of friends, made a couple of new ones and was really looking forward to seeing live music on the "backside" of the Avenew at Rue du The.  Kudos to those guys for trying to make something musical happen.  One thing led to another and I didn't get to Rue du The until after 9:30.  That meant I heard two songs from Kristen Jones and her pick-up band made up of members of Sea Trade who were all down from EssEff.

Kristen came by the table to say hello and told us they had to finish by 10pm due to the rules about outside music.  Now that is just sad on a Saturday night on Donnelly Ln.  We were surrounded by parking lots and empty retail, not to mention the poor burned-out historic houses.  We have to do something about these arcane rules that cause musicians to shut down the amps when any self-respecting musician is still warming up.  C'mon B'game.  Let's not roll up the sidewalks at 10pm!  Here's the band on the back patio at Rue du The.

B'game on B'game Avenue

This weekend was the "Burlingame on Burlingame Ave." event and a chance to get out, mingle with some locals and see a lot of visitors getting exposed to the new Avenue streetscape.  The whining about how the new streetscape would be too narrow to host the event and it would have to stay on Howard like last year turned out to be just that--whining.  There was more than enough room and the restaurants appreciated the event's return.

The general impression was the there was more actual arts & crafts this year which is ironic since it is no longer called ArtzFest.  I had a chance to chat with one of the guys who started the original Art in the Park back in 1967.  Local Neil Dobson was relaying how he and Carter Church were BHS students when they had the original idea to do the event as a BHS art exhibit.  They enlisted their art teacher, Mr. Van, to get permission from the City Council to hold the event.  Apparently, after much back and forth on the dais, Mr. Van had to berate the council--including Vic Mangini and Bud Harrison (both of whom had deep BHS ties) to approve the event.  Once approved, Neil and Carter set it up and slept in front of BHS overnight between day one and two to guard the art.  Just another fun B'game story.  Here are some shots from today including the Living Statue guy who was popular and the band Group Therapy from B'game that played both days.  If you missed it, you missed out.

Cool Visitors

Sometime I think I take for granted how cool B'game can be.  We make jokes about Boringame and it's true--there are plenty of weekend nights when the coolest thing you can do in town is get an fro-yo.  But we also have to remember we are a destination for a lot of people who live in even more boring places.

That thought occurred to me on Friday when I went to the California Audio Show at the Westin.  (Acknowledge that the Westin is in Millbrae, but the theme is still valid--maybe more so for Millbrae).  The Audio Show is a bit of a geek-fest for audiophiles.  They filled 3 floors of the Westin with ridiculously high-end audio gear.  I got to wander around and listen to speakers the size of Mini-Coopers, $50K turntables, reference recordings of classic vinyl. You get the picture--big boy toys.

And all of these people paid ToT (to Millbrae, in this case), ate at the Elephant Bar or on B'way and generally added to the local economy.  Here is a very nice lady named Cookie who was a sound engineer for Windham Hill and OTR and is now with Blue Coast Music giving a hands-on seminar with the guy playing guitar in the front and showing the various ways to enhance the recording---in a meeting room at the Westin.....

 

Jerry Day 2014

After celebrating the Kohl Mansion's 100th anniversary, I went up to McLaren Park in EssEff to catch the last band of the day at the 12th Annual Jerry Day in memory of the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia's birthday.  Tucked in between the Excelsior district and Visitacion Valley, this we a fun little find albeit foggy as expected even while B'game is beautiful.  Jerry would have been 72 yesterday and next Saturday is the anniversary of his passing. Here's Melvin Seals and JGB closing the festival.

 

Summer Music Line up

The B'game Music in the Park series starts this Sunday at 1pm in Washington Park.  This year's line-up has four bands scheduled:

June 29    Soul & R&B

July 13    Country

July 20    "Dance Variety"

July 27    Rock Hits

Perhaps another will be added.  It would be nice to see some blues like last year on August 3rd.

Update:  I made it over to hear the band (West Grand Boulevard, named after the street Motown Records was located on) today.  Nice crowd and great weather.  I stopped by the BYBA sponsored baseball tourney at Bayside Park as well.  I also appreciated the Goodwill e-Waste day in Lot O yesterday--got rid of some e-junk.  While we are talking about summer events, don't forget that the ArtzFest has been renamed (again) to Burlingame on the Avenue as it returns to the Avenew on Aug 16 and 17.   And the Lions' Cars in the Park will be back in Washington Park on July 26th.  Both fun.  Here is the band from today.

 

WAR at San Mateo County Fair

Went to see WAR tonight. I wound up seeing WAR twice. Here is a video of what I saw first. 

 

I think one of these Pygmy goats is named Joe and the other is named Juan. :-)

A Jazzy Afternoon

When the weather cooperates like it did yesterday, the KCSM Jazz on the Hill event is one of the best things going.  Plenty of free parking, no admission (donations are fine!) and another great line-up with Larry Vukovich, Kellye Gray, local regular Lavay Smith, local grand dame Barbara Dane, and Wayne Wallace cajoling Pete Escovedo up to the stage for a couple of songs.

This year KCSM offered tours of the studio which I was excited to see, especially the LP collection.  KCSM has the third largest jazz collection in the country (after Rutgers University and the Smithsonian).  Here is one of the pair of studios where great jazz is broadcast 24 x 7 at 91.1 FM.

Kohl Mansion - Our Latest 100 year Gem

The Daily Journal has a lovely little piece on the centenary year for Kohl Mansion that notes

In 1982, the mansion was even entered into the National Register of Historic Places, which lists historically significant sites throughout the United States.

Other activities to be held at the mansion to celebrate the anniversary include a lecture on the history of the mansion by Michael Svanevik, a professor emeritus at College of San Mateo, on April 29. There will be a 100th birthday party on the green Aug. 10 with music, mansion tours, a classic car show, a slice of birthday cake and proclamations presented by community leaders and public officials.

This is a nice follow-up to the B'game Centennial celebrations in 2008.  Remember them?

Here's the main room where the chamber music events are held as well as all sorts of other community events.  Great year to acquaint yourself with Kohl Mansion if you haven't done so.

 

Jazz on the Hill Returns

One of the best summer music festivals in the Bay Area made a triumphant return yesterday after a five or six year hiatus.  KCSM's Jazz on the Hill on the CSM campus is an all-afternoon jazz and blues fest that is a live representation of one of the great things about living on the Peninsula--91.1 FM.  I know they stream it around the world now, but it's nice knowing that it all emanates from up on Highway 92.

The campus is looking very sharp thanks to all the bond money we have voted for.  The weather was spectacular.  The wading pool right in front of the stage got some good use.  And everyone enjoyed the likes of Le Hot Jazz, Taylor Eigsti's trio, Charlie Mussellwhite playing the "Mississippi saxophone"  (i.e. the harmonica) and Pacific Mambo Orchestra.  Put it on your calendar for next June!

Burlingame is Mayberry in so many ways.

Here's proof. There ain't nothin' like the feeling surrounding the "Little Big Game."