Oakadelic Wednesdays: Live Funk Soul & R&B in the Crystal Cavern
Oakadelic Wednesdays Wednesday nights in the Crystal Cavern 10pm // No Cover —– Oakadelic Wednesdays is a weekly live funk, soul, R&B and hip hop jam session at the center of Oakland’s live music scene. As a staple of the east bay, it has brought community together for more than 10 years. With a rotating cast of players each week in the houseband, and with a jam session to follow, it keeps people dancing and communing every time.
Oakadelic Wednesdays: Live Funk Soul & R&B in the Crystal Cavern
Oakadelic Wednesdays Wednesday nights in the Crystal Cavern 10pm // No Cover —– Oakadelic Wednesdays is a weekly live funk, soul, R&B and hip hop jam session at the center of Oakland’s live music scene. As a staple of the east bay, it has brought community together for more than 10 years. With a rotating cast of players each week in the houseband, and with a jam session to follow, it keeps people dancing and communing every time.
Oakadelic Wednesdays: Live Funk Soul & R&B in the Crystal Cavern
Oakadelic Wednesdays Wednesday nights in the Crystal Cavern 10pm // No Cover —– Oakadelic Wednesdays is a weekly live funk, soul, R&B and hip hop jam session at the center of Oakland’s live music scene. As a staple of the east bay, it has brought community together for more than 10 years. With a rotating cast of players each week in the houseband, and with a jam session to follow, it keeps people dancing and communing every time.
Oakadelic Wednesdays: Live Funk Soul & R&B in the Crystal Cavern
Oakadelic Wednesdays Wednesday nights in the Crystal Cavern 10pm // No Cover —– Oakadelic Wednesdays is a weekly live funk, soul, R&B and hip hop jam session at the center of Oakland’s live music scene. As a staple of the east bay, it has brought community together for more than 10 years. With a rotating cast of players each week in the houseband, and with a jam session to follow, it keeps people dancing and communing every time.
STATUS ft. Copywrite, Professa Gabel, Dox Black and more
DJ True Justice Presents:STATUSfeat.Copywrite (OH)Professa GabelDox Black w/ DJ Butch SwimDJ El Cool KyleDJ DLive in the Crystal CavernThurs April 14 @ 9pm$16 adv // $21 dos21+——
Dua Saleh w/ Sam Austins, AroMa, Jenset (DJ)
Starline Social Club and DJ Dials Present:DUA SALEHSAM AUSTINSAROMAJENSETFriday May 6 2022 – Doors @ 8pmEarly $20 // Advance $25 // Day of Show $3018+———————–It’s tempting to describe Dua Saleh as a natural. An artist who only began recording music two years ago isn’t supposed to sing with such infectious bravado and haunting gloom. Yet to say Dua, who identifies as gender non-binary and goes by they/them pronouns, has arrived fully-formed on their first ever EP project titled Nūr – (pronounced “noor” – meaning “the light” in Arabic). They may have just decided to try songwriting, but they’ve spent their life working across divisions: borders, mediums, identities, and protest lines.Dua Saleh grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota’s Rondo neighborhood. It was there, in a black cultural center of the Midwest with a once-thriving soul and jazz scene, where Dua became obsessed with music. From the sounds of their home country of Sudan streaming from a satellite specialty channel, to the jazz-scat singers of the 1940s, to R&B and hip-hop of the early 2000s, to dancehall and afro-beat, everything was fair game for Dua. Writing poetry provided an escape from a rigid home life as open mic nights became a refuge to build community and a sense of self. During college Dua received recognition for their poetry, started to build confidence in their voice and became more comfortable on stage. By graduation, their poems started to sound more like lyrics.When Dua Saleh posted their first musical attempt on the internet, it was a fun experiment to show friends. Almost immediately, the Twin Cities scene took notice. One of them was the producer Psymun (Future, Young Thug, Juice WRLD, Corbin fka Spooky Black), whom Saleh was a fan of but didn’t know shared the same hometown. The pair struck up a chemistry, which led to Psymun executive producing Nūr. The EP includes “Kickflip”, a playful bop that Saleh wrote gazing out their window after waking up restless at three in the morning with a melody that had to get out. “Albany” is more impressionistic, flipping a dark memory of loneliness and heartache into cathartic vocal harmonies that take on a hymnal quality as they build layer upon layer.It’s Dua Saleh’s fluidity – of sound, of form, of self-presentation – that makes them so enlivening. Their vocal range is elastic, floating from an elegant purr into an unvarnished, guttural growl, and then back again at a moment’s notice. Their writing can be dreamy, but more often plumbs the soul, pricking deep with a poet’s precision and showing the scars that remain. With a life that’s been charted across continent and conflict and an early adulthood spent pushing back against myopia and dogma, Saleh doesn’t resist traditional classifications as much as they transcend them. Their music is in conversation with their African ancestry and the future possibilities of the diaspora in a way that collapses the distinctions between global, local, personal and political. To listen to Dua Saleh is to hear, in real time, someone fight for the right to define themselves for themselves.
Caleb Nichols w/ GOON & Evan Kertman
Starline Social Club PresentsCALEB NICHOLSGOONEVAN KURTMANSaturday April 23 2022 – Doors at 7pmLive in the Crystal Cavern$15adv // $18dos18+——————– Caleb Nichols is a queer writer and musician from San Luis Obispo, CA. Since 2005, Caleb’s played guitar, bass, and sang in bands as disparate as DIY folk-punks the Bloody Heads, mid-2000’s Pitchfork buzz band Port O’Brien, and Rogue Wave side project Release the Sunbird, not to mention his own projects, Grand Lake, CHURCHES and Soft People. He’s published poetry in places like the Longleaf Review, Redivider, Queerlings, and Dear Poetry Journal, and his debut chapbook of poems was called “a gorgeous abundance” by celebrated poet Chen Chen. In 2021 Caleb was signed to legendary indie label Kill Rock Stars. His new EP “Clarion” is out now, and he’s been playing shows with an epic cast of rotating band members that includes Adam and Alex Nash (Goodnight Texas), Kevin Middlekauf (Proxima Parada), Pat Spurgeon (Rogue Wave, the Dandy Warhols) and Joshua Barnhart (Port O’Brien, Strange Pilgrim). The shows are joyful, contagious, and electric, and mark a stunning return to music from a poet and musician who’s just never given up. Kill Rock Stars will release Caleb’s full-length debut solo album on all formats in 2022.
The Suffers w/ Gulf Coast Soundsystem
Starline Social Club and Bottlerock PresentThe SuffersGulf Coast SoundsystemFriday May 27 2022 – Doors @ 8pm$25 adv // $30 dos18+———- There is a contagious and combustible energy every time the eight-piece band The Suffers steps on the scene. NPR’s Bob Boilen attributes the band’s allure to their “Soul, straight from horn to heart.” He adds, “This band is on fire when it’s in front of an audience…but the intensity of their shows are also captured in the studio.” Following The Suffers’ electrifying late night TV debut on Letterman in 2015, David Letterman exclaimed, “If you can’t do this, get out of the business!” There is something undeniable about The Suffers (whose name is a reference to the 1978 Jamaican film Rockers starring Leroy “Horsemouth” Wallace, Jacob Miller and Burning Spear, among others), that instantly hits home with their audiences. “We make music for all people,” says lead vocalist Kam Franklin. “At this point, we’ve played all over the world and one thing is certain – if the music is good, the people will enjoy it.” Since 2011, the H-Town heroes have been on a steady grind and have no plans of stopping. The Suffers exploded onto the scene in 2015 with their dazzling EP Make Some Room, which was followed by their critically heralded self-titled debut in 2016. The Suffers’ released their latest record Everything Here on Shanachie Records July 13, 2018. Everything Here is the band’s most bold statement yet. Lead Singer Kam Franklin states, “Our hope is that our fans walk away feeling empowered, resilient, and inspired to live a better life.” Guitarist Kevin Bernier says, “Everything Here, as a whole, explores the many aspects of who we are as people through songs. We’ve had crushes on people, we’ve had our hearts broken, and we’ve moved through all the difficult times so that we can experience the joyful moments.” The Suffers have got everything you need and there’s no need to look further – a heaping dose of soul, a dash of reggae, a splash of jazz, a pinch of salsa, a hint of rock ‘n’ roll and a dollop of hip hop and funk – and that is just a few ingredients simmering inside their magical Gulf Coast soul. “Houston has played a huge part in making me who I am and introducing our music to the masses, and for that, we are forever grateful.” The Suffers have played sold out shows in Japan and Latin America, turned out audiences at the Newport Folk Festival and Afropunk Festival and made believers of just about anyone who has experienced their live shows. “We’re a testament to teamwork and camaraderie resulting in things working out even when the odds are against a positive outcome,” says drummer Nick Zamora. “The wonderful thing about music is that it is ultimate universal communication,” reflects trumpeter Jon Durbin. The band is working on their highly anticipated follow up to Everything Here, and will release new music in the Fall of 2021.
Gully Boys & Niice w/ Slumped
Slang Church Presents:GULLY BOYSNIICESLUMPEDLive in the Crystal CavernTuesday March 29 2022 – Doors @ 7pm$16 adv // $19 dosAll Ages——————–The Gully Boys origin story plays out like the perfect domino effect. While sorting vintage clothes in a Minneapolis-area Ragstock in 2016, Kathy Callahan (she/her) shared her dream of becoming a vocalist with Nadirah McGill (they/them). After encouraging a friend from middle school, Natalie Klemond (she/her), to join the trio on bass, Nadi picked up a pair of drumsticks and counted off a cover of Best Coast’s “Girlfriend.” From there, they had to master their instruments on the fly, growing as creatives while blossoming with their first material. After their debut EP landed online a year later, Gully Boys released their debut LP Not So Brave in 2018, earning Best New Band honors from their hometown City Pages and sharing the stage with everyone from The Hold Steady to Third Eye Blind. The band’s Phony EP arrived in late 2019 on the edge of a screeching halt.Inspired by this break in the action, Favorite Son is a display of resilience and brilliance that brings the extremes of unprecedented times into full view. Gully Boys’ first for Get Better Records is fueled by grief but sustained on exultant self-reliance. It is important to mention, too, that Gully Boys’ mantras and music are tightly linked through community outreach. The band made meals for residents facing housing insecurity in southern Minneapolis in 2020 and repeatedly uses their platform as a base for resource sharing against white supremacy.Favorite Son was produced by Zach Zurn at Carpet Booth Studios. Continuing the lineage of Gully Boys’ harmonious hybrid of garage, pop rock, and punk, the EP carries the weight of eighteen unforgettable months through pure kinetic energy. “The Way” and “I’m Not Yours” open the set with a jolting one-two punch from frantic percussion and even more anxious narratives with narrators ripping away the seams of uncomfortable relationships. This discomfort from a loss of control haunts the fragile “In Another Life,” a portrait of domestic life measured through several wasted decades, and “Russian Doll,” a sugar-coated alt-rock jammer about the bitter pill of screen time, retail therapy, and notification serotonin.But Gully Boys’ mission comes through clearest on the title track, a throbbing and white-hot rejection of gender, where power is granted to favorite sons but usurped by these Boys. It’s a classic case of wolves in sheep’s clothing set to a fiery soundtrack, but it’s also a defiant reclamation of space and sound in a crowded, unnerving scene. While Gully Boys may not be here to completely burn it down, they’re here to rebuild it on their own terms, still learning as they go.
Gatecreeper w/ Narrow Head, 200 Stab Wounds & Fearing
Starline Social Club PresentsGATECREEPERNARROW HEAD200 STAB WOUNDSFEARINGThurs May 13 2022 – Doors @ 6:30pm$20 adv // $25 dos18+—————Gatecreeper was formed in September of 2013 with members originating from both Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona. After a debut 4-song EP a series of splits, the band signed to Relapse Records which resulted in the release of their debut full-length Sonoran Depravation on October 7th 2016. The band has since toured with Nails, Pallbearer, Code Orange, Skeletonwitch and more. Gatecreeper play crusty, doom-soaked death metal at its most infectious and uncompromising, with a massive sound that calls to mind the classic Swedish buzz-saw attack of Dismember and Grave mixed with the impeccable groove of Obituary and Bolt Thrower.