Thursday, May 21
Village Party
Every third Thursday from spring until fall the Carmel Farmers Market hosts a free community party in Devendorf Park, a time and place to hang with friends, pick up some good eats and listen to live music. For May’s Third Thursday, Sunset Presents is bringing Big Sur’s indie psych pop band Pfeiffer Beach Hotel to the party. The band of accomplished professionals is known for fun, danceable tunes. No doubt they’ll bring a little more light and life to Carmel’s village. [PM]
4-7pm Thursday, May 21. Devendorf Park, Ocean and Junipero, Carmel. Free. (831) 620-2048, sunsetcenter.org.
High Notes
Maybe you find yourself nostalgic for simpler times (who can blame you?). We’re not saying the swing era was simple – for starters, you might have legit needed a password to enter a speakeasy and had to risk arrest to get there, not to mention the Great Depression – but once you enter, imagine the era of brass-heavy swing ensembles playing peppy, danceable rhythms in smokey bars and no cell phone distractions, leaving just music, dance and rich vocals. That’s the vibe singer Svetlana brings to the stage in Sunset Center’s intimate downstairs venue, Studio 105, for a night of swing music and jazz standards. Even if she can’t offer a portal to 100 years ago literally, she sure can do so sonically, thanks to what has been dubbed her “once-in-a-lifetime voice.” [SR]
7:30pm Thursday, May 21. Sunset Center Studio 105, San Carlos and 9th, Carmel. $70. (831) 620-2048, sunsetcenter.org.
Friday, May 22
Ladies Night
To highlight and celebrate stories and performances by and for women, Soapbox Stageworks hosts a night of three plays by female playwrights, and to top it off, every woman in attendance gets a free glass of wine. The featured plays include Water, a solo performance filled with a slate of interesting characters by Kacie Devaney; Ms. Lamarr Goes to Washington, which tells the story of actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr; and The Cannery Girls, a one-act play set in 1942 in Monterey, where the main characters, fed up with their cannery jobs, try to become a singing duo. [AS]
7pm Friday, May 22-Saturday, May 23. Stanton Theatre, 5 Custom House Plaza, Monterey. $35. (831) 664-6587, soapboxstageworks.org.
Go Mystical
Are you interested in a Buddhist lecture? Or perhaps listening to sacred music and chants from Tibet sounds more appealing? Drepung Monastery, founded in 1416, is the largest of all Tibetan monasteries and is located on Gambo Utse mountain. A group of monk artists who represent this old tradition are visiting Carmel with their message and healing sounds. They have been traveling the world with their performances and rituals, known as Mystical Arts of Tibet, since 1988. The New York Times described them as remarkable and evoking “sacred ecstasy;” The Washington Post marveled over “a universal expression of the human subconscious.” Buddhists, mostly coming from India, first actively disseminated their practices in Tibet between the 6th and 9th centuries. [AP]
7:30pm Friday, May 22. Sunset Center, San Carlos and 9th, Carmel. Pay what you wish for lecture; $45-$75/concert. (831) 620-2048, sunsetcenter.org.
Saturday, May 23
WHAT PEOPLE EAT
The idea of variety in food cultures around the world appeals to most of us, especially when we are bored with our current food routine. This show saves you from a spontaneous decision to cook Julia Child’s choulibiac (a multi-layered fish and pastry pie), but will fill you with similar satisfaction. The Grocery List Show is a documentary that takes charismatic chef Chrissy Camba – once a Top Chef contender – to five food communities, introducing their specialties, including tacos rabes in Brooklyn invented by Arab immigrants to Mexico. Watch together with your own community – in the library community room. [AP]
2pm Saturday, May 23. Monterey Public Library, 625 Pacific St., Monterey. Free. (831) 646-3933, monterey.gov/library.
Bohemian Times
Touring an exhibit can be a quiet and meditative experience but it doesn’t have to be one. Monterey Museum of Art offers an afternoon with curator Robert W. Edwards, who prepared the Doyenne of the Carmel Art Colony exhibit devoted to painter Mary DeNeale Morgan, the force behind Carmel’s early art colony. According to Edwards, who is an archaeologist and art historian who did much work to cast light on the early art on the Monterey Peninsula, “She was the most important female artist from the 1920s through the mid-1940s. She sold more paintings than any other woman in Northern California, and she did so much for the art colony.” On display until Aug. 16. [AP]
2-3:30pm Saturday, May 23. Monterey Museum of Art, 559 Pacific St., Monterey. $20; $5/members, students, military, under 18 and SNAP participants with EBT. (831) 372-5477, montereyart.org.
STAND UP
A good DJ – the kind whose music forces you out of your seat – is a de facto beat alchemist. DJ Seven Davis Jr. is one of those, blending house music, sometimes drenched in funk, hip-hop, and trip hop, sometimes infused with gospel or jazz. He’s an artist who works in front of and behind the scenes, as a producer and ghost-writer, inspired by the greats like Stevie Wonder and Prince. He’s worked with artists such as Four Tet, Hot Chip and Moodymann, and through his own productions creates tracks that push the experimental edges of deep house. He’ll be DJ’ing all night long, so go boogie. [KR]
5pm Saturday, May 23. Compact Disco, 420 Tyler St., Monterey. $20/at the door; $10/Monterey County residents; ages 21+. (831) 920-2518, compactdisco.org.
Mariachi Karaoke
There’s something about mariachi music – even if you don’t know the lyrics, the melodies and upbeat rhythms tell a story, unfurling a narrative through sound. Mariachi Santa Cruz has been sharing this energetic musical form throughout the Central Coast since 2009 and for this performance, invites you – yes, you – to sing along. This mariachi singalong experience features this longtime local ensemble plus Palenke Arts’ bilingual chorus, and of course the community members who participate in an uplifting, participatory night of music, tradition and fun. There will be tacos available for purchase. [SR]
7-9pm Saturday, May 23. Moose Lodge, 555 Canyon Del Rey, Del Rey Oaks. $25. (831) 706-0101, tinyurl.com/MarchiachiSingAlong.
Moon faces
There are many ways to show your love for the bands that you like or admire. One of them is when top musicians gather and recreate their live albums. Classic Albums Live is coming to Monterey to perform its take on Pink Floyd: Dark Side Of The Moon. This album was one of the most-sold albums in history. It explores the human experience: transition to adulthood, death, money, insanity and so on. The musicians will take listeners back to ’70s progressive rock and play Pink Floyd’s live version to a tee, note by note, focused on musical precision. [CJ]
7pm Saturday, May 23. Golden State Theatre, 417 Alvarado St., Monterey. $42-$96. (831) 649-1070, goldenstatetheatre.com.
Kissing Princes
Remember the video game Frogger? Jumping across the street dodging 2,000-pound virtual death machines to you – a frog – could give you a taste of what it’s like to be small and fragile, but oh-so-cool. This is what Los Angeles-based band frogluv is. Fairy tales say that frogs have a small chance of becoming a prince, so maybe someone kissed this band and the first items bandmembers found were instruments. The best way to describe their style is jazzy, freaky and folky (kind of like frogs). Don’t be misled though, they have plenty of indie-street-cred. Let’s just say if Of Montreal has a fan club, then frogluv was raised in it. [SC]
7pm Saturday, May 23. Pop & Hiss, 215 Forest Ave., Pacific Grove. $5. All ages. popandhiss.net.
Hair at Henry’s
Enchantrix Theater is moving Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical to the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur for a final and free show. The musical, which remains part of American and international repertoires since its controversial premiere in 1967, is a reference item when it comes to the hippie movement – people against war and for equality. Enchantrix is a local theater group grassrooted among younger actors. The company enjoys big productions, often centered around outcast-themed stories, and has given audiences large casts and original and clever scenic design. Hair is no exception. [AP]
7:30-9:30pm Saturday, May 23. Henry Miller Memorial Library, 48603 Highway 1, Big Sur. Free. (831) 667-2574, henrymiller.org.
Saturday, May 23-Monday, May 25
Wind Power
There will be sails on the horizon, but not for long. California Offshore Race Week brings some 90 of the fastest sail boats to Monterey’s harbor for two of the event’s three legs. The Spinnaker Cup starts in San Francisco Bay on Saturday, May 23, with boats making the 84 nautical mile jaunt to Monterey, time TBD by the wind, but anticipate an awards ceremony around noon on Sunday, May 24. The next day, the sailors embark again, leaving Monterey midday bound for Santa Barbara – a 205 nautical mile run known as the Coastal Cup. The entire event ends in San Diego on May 30. [DF]
Check the website for times. Saturday-Monday, May 23-25. Monterey Bay and Monterey Harbor. Free. offshoreraceweek.com.
Monday, May 25
Popping Off
In honor of fallen veterans and to celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States, Monterey County Pops! hosts two hours of music to wave your Stars and Stripes under the open sky on the lawn of Colton Hall. The free outdoor concert features performances by the Monterey County Pops! Orchestra, Monterey Peninsula Cypressaires Barbershop Chorus and the Monterey High School Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps Color Guard, with the slate of patriotic jams kicking off with the “Star Spangled Banner.” The nonprofit Pops! group was founded to expand and enrich musical experiences in the county, and that happens through accessible concerts like this one. [AS]
1-3pm Monday, May 25. Colton Hall, 570 Pacific St., Monterey. Free. (831) 484-5511, montereycountypops.org.
Wednesday, May 27
brass AND Strings
Sometimes lower-register instruments are hard to hear in an orchestra setting. In this performance, they are the main event. Mark Kosower (cello) and Robert Walters (English horn) – along with pianists Reiko Uchida and Melivia Raharjo – offer a show of cello and English horn artistry. Kosower is the Cleveland Orchestra’s principal cellist and Walters has been their solo English hornist since 2004. [AP]