Arts Devo

Looking forward to art Arts DEVO just received his copy of Chico State's Arts + Ideas magazine and he's pretty stoked (pick up your own at the University Box Office or Bell Memorial Union). The 2015-16 school year's calendar of arts programming from the School of the Arts, North State Symphony and Chico Performances is really packed. There's the SOA's usual overflowing schedule of student- and staff-produced plays (a couple of adventurous/fun choices—Reefer Madness and the 300-year-old English Restoration comedy The Rover), art exhibits and concerts (I have my eye on Lloyd Roby's multihorn recital Feb. 19!), and this year also marks the debut of the North State Symphony's new conductor/director, Scott Seaton. For now, I want to share a few of my personal highlights from a typically diverse Chico Performances schedule (CP donor/member ticket sales begin July 29; series tickets on Aug. 8; and individual tickets on Aug. 17):

Sept. 9: W. Kamau Bell: Comedy badass brings his Ending Racism in About an Hour stand-up manifesto/diatribe to town.

Sept. 11: John Hiatt & The Combo and the Taj Mahal Trio: One of the greatest American country/rock singer/songwriters of the last four decades and one of the most influential blues/world musicians ever. On the same stage. On the same night.

Oct. 4: The Milk Carton Kids: This folk revivalist duo gets compared to Simon & Garfunkel at times, and while the songwriting might not be quite to that level, the guitar playing and harmonizing vocals are pretty damn close.

Nov. 3: Lake Street Dive: It's surprising to say this about a band that moves in the polite circles of adult-contemporary radio and NPR, but this Boston-born quartet (vocals, standup bass, guitar/trumpet, drums) is the ultimate dive-bar band. They're super energetic and have a powerful female lead singer, they have dynamic chemistry and can play any style. And when it comes to covers, rather than merely mimic the original, they rip it apart and throw themselves into something fresh and new. Since Laxson isn't exactly the Maltese, it's up to you, Chico, to bring some energy to the room for them to feed off of. This is AD's pick of the season.

Nov. 17: Melissa Etheridge: Every year, there is one huge show on the CP schedule that I couldn't care less about (but nonetheless feel the need to highlight). And every year there is one of my opinions that nearly everyone in Chico couldn't care less about. Here you have both.

Feb. 13: Queen: A Night at the Opera, Uncle Dad's Art Collective: Dude! What a wonderful surprise. The local kids of Uncle Dad's are on the Chico Performances schedule, and they're bringing some local friends with them to perform Queen's grandiose masterpiece in its entirety. Epic!

March 5: Triplets of Belleville: Led by the film's composer, Benoît Charest, the eight-piece Le Terrible Orchestre de Belleville will perform the music and sound effects live during a screening of the film. This is going to be rad.

March 26: Three Acts, Two Dancers, One Radio Host: Choreographer Monica Bill Barnes and This American Life host Ira Glass bring dance and radio together. Because, of course.

In Russia, bass drops you The busy party-makers of BassMint Chico are going international this weekend as they welcome a guest all the way from Russia to their underground lair. Mindex is an experimental producer who dabbles in many styles—glitch-hop, dubstep, jazz, funk, etc.—so it's a good bet that things are going to get pretty weird this Friday, July 17, at Peking Chinese Restaurant. Oakland's Krakinov and Chico's Metapod open.

RIP Roundhouse Ronny Sad news for local kids of all ages. On July 7, Chicoan Ronald Palmer—better known to Thursday Night Market regulars as Roundhouse Ronny, the balloon-animal-making clown—died during a rafting trip on the Poudre River in northern Colorado. According to the Coloradoan newspaper, an autopsy revealed that Palmer died after suffering a heart attack upon falling into the cold river water. He was 76.