Arts Devo

Art choices Spring is out of control in Chico. The weekend is bursting with community events, particularly Saturday, May 7, which is overflowing with art, music, parades, chocolate and margaritas. If Arts DEVO had to pick just two things to do this weekend, he’d have to go with Art at the Matador (Friday and Saturday at the Matador Motel) and the Benefit for Neighborhood Cat Advocates on Friday (May 6, at 7 p.m.) at the Chico Women’s Club.

The art fiesta at the Matador is one of my favorite local shindigs, with the individual rooms and stalls in the courtyard serving as galleries for local artists. You can get great local art (for great prices), buy margaritas and check out local performers.

And the benefit on Friday has everything you could want in a night out: a beautiful space for live music, a full bar, and a bill that includes local faves Lisa Valentine, Pat Hull and Jonathan Richman (!). Plus, it’s a benefit for a good cause and tickets are only $10.

A CAMMIES thank you The CN&R thanks every one of the musicians, venues, fans and sponsors who took part in the 2016 Chico Area Music Festival. The new format was a great success, with local venues stepping up and putting on rad shows and helping to double the number of participating acts from the previous year. And Patrick Ranch turned out to be a great choice for hosting the finale, with a few hundred Chicoans showing up to lounge, dance and be merry in the bucolic environs.

Below is the list of this year’s award recipients. Congratulations!

CAMMIES Readers’ Choice Award:

• Best Local Act: Bogg

CAMMIES Critics’ Choice Awards:

• Best Male Vocalist: John McKinley (Black Fong)

• Best Female Vocalist: Alli Battaglia

• Best Guitarist: Mathew Houghton (Team Skins)

• Best Drummer: Daniel Taylor (West by Swan, Cold Blue Mountain)

• Best Keyboardist: Greg Spont (The Empty Gate, Black Fong, Danny Cohen & The Near Death Experience)

• Best Bassist: Adrian Hammons (Touch Fuzzy Get Dizzy, Cold Blue Mountain)

• Best Songwriter: Dylan Seid (Dylan’s Dharma)

• Best Local CD: Donald Beaman, by Donald Beaman

• Best New Band: Team Skins

• Best Live Act: The Vesuvians

• Local Badass: Miles Claibourn (Jefferson Hardcore, Xerox Records, Get Up and Go Recording Studio, and member of three bands—Criminal Wave, Outside Looking In, Stress Relief)

• Hogan/West/LaPado Lifetime Achievement Award: Bob Littell (Sierra Nevada Big Room)

Rest in peace This past weekend, Chico lost another artist. Richard Moore, local guitar instructor and guitarist for Big Mo & The Full Moon Band, died of cancer on Saturday afternoon (April 30). He was 66.

Before coming to Chico, Moore travelled the world playing music—from his native British Columbia; to England in the 1970s for a stint as lead guitarist for The Troggs (of “Wild Thing” fame) as well as session work with many punk bands; to Santa Barbara; and finally Chico, where he made a mark with Big Mo’s band and as a sweet guy who made friends across the music scene.

There will be a public graveside service at Chico Cemetery on Saturday, May 7, at 10 a.m.