Arts Devo

Autumn is coming … eventually We are just getting started with the summer fun, and Arts DEVO wants you all present and sweating along with him to a summer of great shows coming to Chico (see below). So, let your mind wander ahead to the cool winds of fall only long enough to update your calendar with two super-big-show announcements:

One: Neko Case is coming! The indie/Americana/country singer/songwriter who sings and writes songs better than almost anyone will bring her powerhouse pipes and evocative, amazing lyrics to the Sierra Nevada Big Room Dec. 4, as she tours in support of her just-released album, Hell-On. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 8, online (eventbrite.com) and at the brewery’s gift shop. Oh, and if Case wasn’t enough, Destroyer (aka Dan Bejan) will open with a solo set.

Two: Folk icon and recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Joan Baez is coming to Laxson Auditorium Nov. 2, during what’s being billed as her last tour. Tickets for the Fare Thee Well show go on sale Aug. 11 (series tickets) and Aug. 20 (single tickets). Visit chicoperformances.com for info.

Summer’s here; let’s rock So many amazing, fun and weird shows are on the schedule over the next few months. Tonight (June 7) is Big Business at Chico Women’s Club, and then …

• The Hawk and the Hacksaw, June 13, Argus Bar + Patio: Neutral Milk Hotel drummer Jeremy Barnes is on accordion in this violin/accordion act playing Eastern European-influenced folk.

• A Band Called Love (ABC Love), June 17, Duffy’s Tavern: From Sao Paolo, Brazil, comes some mesmerizing, deeply confusing, psych-lounge weirdness.

• Harmed Brothers and in/PLANES, June 23, The Maltese: Americana in the Whiskeytown/Uncle Tupolo/Avett Brothers tradition, plus vintage-pop/Americana husband-wife duo.

• Playboy Manbaby, June 22, Naked Lounge: Phoenix’s messiest punk-rock dance party returns.

• Koi Division, June 30, The Maltese: Joy Division as performed by fish. Seriously.

• Kuinka, July 29, Chico Women’s Club: KZFR presents this super-sweet acoustic (and a little electronic) Americana-pop quartet.

• Here Lies Man, July 1, Naked Lounge: What if Black Sabbath played Afrobeat? That’s the question a couple of members of world-renowned Afrobeat collective Antibalas asked and answered with this side project.

• Killer Whale, July 6, The Maltese: Psychedelic, surfy, electro-poppy yacht rock from S.F. via New Orleans.

• Joan of Arc, July 14, Duffy’s Tavern: The Chicago-bred indie-experimental innovators are back with a new album.

• Slow Poisoner, July 21, Blackbird: “One-man surrealistic rock band” from S.F.

• Howlin’ Rain, Aug. 1, Naked Lounge: Throwback bong-rock from the dude who used to front Comets on Fire.

Also: I am often floored by how admirably our local noisemakers keep up with those who come to town and share bills with them. In the last couple of weeks, powerhouse sets by local noise-rock pioneers West by Swan and dark-noise pedal-mashers Black Magnet (together at The Maltese) and a gorgeous solo set by Donald Beaman (at Tender Loving Coffee) were as effective and memorable as the great performances by out-of-towners (Slow Season and Richard Buckner, respectively). And an impressive list of locals—Armed for Apocalypse, Beaman, Michelin Embers, Bran Crown, Los New Huevos, Black Magnet, Surrogate, Solar Estates, The Americas, XDS—brings powerful support to many of the bills above.