Arts DEVO

Insane If you see Ty Gorton around town this week, buy the dude a beer. Or, better yet, buy him a coffee and a Red Bull, because starting two nights ago at the Funk/Jam showcase (Tuesday, March 31) at Nick’s Night Club, our hard-working CAMMIES promoter was going to be tending to five shows, five nights in a row, at three different venues. That works out to around 25 bands’ worth of performances at the five different showcases. Of course, if you add just that first Funk/Jam showcase to the end-of-the-run Electronic night at TiON (Saturday, April 4), those two nights alone work out to 25 bands’ worth of extended jams and remixes. I tip my Energy Dome to you, sir.

Quick bites: Of course, since none of us in Chico knows when to say when, the busy CAMMIES schedule joins a typically overcrowded arts calendar that includes Malian superstud Habib Koité (see Music, p. 26) and his band Bamada at Laxson Auditorium (Saturday, April 4), Chico Women’s Club’s annual Celebration of Women (April 4), a couple of Sierra Nevada Big Room shows (Steve Kimcock on April 5 and Jake Shimabukuro April 6) and these three officially sanctioned weekly DEVOtions:

•Cinema Ten78: As an artist, founder of the Rat Bastard Protective Association and a member of the community of S.F. Beats that included Allen Ginsberg and Dennis Hopper, Bruce Conner was a ground-breaking creative force who made an impact in many media. Tonight, April 2, at 7 p.m., as part of its new film series, the 1078 Gallery will showcase Conner’s work in film. Hosted by artist and gallery curator/board member Dennis Coleman and film critic/retired Chico State professor Peter Hogue.

•Coffee Break: Sarah Campbell has made a collection of mosaic pieces whose subject matter includes “the most cheerful things [she] could think of … lots of baked goods and steaming coffee cups.” Get a taste of the new works—appropriately displayed at Mim’s Bakery—during the opening reception Saturday, April 4, 6-9 p.m.

•Unfrozen punk band: Boston punk legends The Freeze have been fighting the good fight for more than three decades, and for only the third time in their history, they’re touring out West. Chico’s lucky night will take place, as you might have guessed, at Monstros Pizza, and The Purple Dragons, The Serfs and Josh, Robin and Steve’s Severance Package will open Tuesday, April 7.

Here’s something: Thanks to Arts DEVO pal and CN&R writer Christine LaPado’s daughter-in-law, Sandra Martinelli, we get this little treat from Heidelberg, Germany. It’s an actual poster, copies of which were hanging all over town, for a recent Obama inauguration celebration, featuring a live performance by German glam rockers My Baby Wants to Eat Your Pussy. Das katze kann wirklich tanzen!

And here’s another: Failing economy got you down? Here’s a story for you. According to our little bird on the street, JW Moss, during last Saturday’s farmers market, newly formed Grateful Dead-ish, Creole-flavored blues street band Rock Scars was doing its thing when an anonymous tipper put seven $100 bills in the hat—that’s right, a $700 tip! Maybe it was an act of charity in light of band members and former New Orleans residents Pablo Dyer and Zack Borman having lost their homes during Hurricane Katrina. Or maybe Rock Scars was just really keepin’ it hot in the springtime sun. Either way, it’s a pretty sweet story.