BOLO Best Bets: Creep through the Omicron fog for First Friday and more
Well, can’t blame anyone this week for feeling a touch of PTSD from the bad old days of the pandemic. The new year so far has been marked by several high-profile cancellations and postponements due to the dramatic rise of the Omicron variant. Al Franken‘s appearance has been pushed back to the spring. The “8 Tens @ 8" play festival isn’t happening. Some First Friday events have been canceled. There are some performances and events that are going ahead as planned, and things are fluid as we approach the weekend. We’ll update our listings as soon as we hear, but check with the venue or presenter for any event you plan to attend. Again we’re asked to find that balance, something that many of us have gotten pretty good at with practice; be safe, but live your life. We’ll get past this.
— Wallace Baine
Quick Take
Lookout Santa Cruz’s BOLO (Be On the Lookout) calendar is “your place to go for things to do” in Santa Cruz County.
See our full BOLO calendar listings for events in Santa Cruz here. And as if that isn’t enough, we have you covered for all the MAJOR events coming up into the next year with Down The Line, a listing assembled by Wallace Baine that’s your key to getting tickets before they sell out.
Now, here’s what Team BOLO thinks you should know for the weekend and beyond:
(Click category headers for full BOLO listings in that category.)VISUAL ARTS
FRIDAY
Rhiannon Janeschild: Santa Cruz painter Rhiannon Janeschild is the center of attention at this First Friday event at Good Vibrations on Cooper Street in downtown Santa Cruz. Janeschild’s glowing paintings explore the female form and women’s attitudes about their bodies. Her art will be at Good Vibrations throughout the month of January, kicking off with the First Friday reception, from 4 to 8 p.m.
FRIDAY
Tannery Group Show: For one night only, as part of the First Friday celebration in Santa Cruz, many resident artists at the Tannery Arts Center will come together for a group show, with music and celebration. From 5 to 9 p.m., at Studio 112 at the Tannery.
FRIDAY
California Statewide Landscape Exhibition: On Friday, the Santa Cruz Art League will pay tribute to its outgoing exhibit, featuring landscapes from all corners of California, an exhibition that’s been part of the Art League’s mission for more than 90 years. As part of the First Friday celebration, the Art League at 526 Broadway will be open from 6 to 8 p.m. to celebrate the show’s landscape artists. The exhibition itself runs through Sunday.
FRIDAY
RREVV Gallery: Downtown Santa Cruz’s newest art gallery, RREVV, opens its second month with a show of several local artists including master potter Mattie Leeds, glass artist Susan Wagner, painter Andrea Borsuk, printer Anthony Thomas and metalist Maha Taitano, along with the work of RREVV’s proprietor artists, Rigel and Rachel Hunter. The show is up for the month of January, with a First Friday reception from 5 to 8 p.m.
ONGOING
“Indicators”: Surfing and art slam together for an exhibit at the R. Blitzer Gallery on the Westside of Santa Cruz, featuring the artistic creations of well-known figures in the Santa Cruz surf world, including Stan Welsh, Margitta Dietrick-Welsh, Vince Broglio, Nancy Broglio, Ed Dickie, Tessa Hope Hasty, Dave Anderson, Boogie Bill, Gary Hughes and more. It’s all up at the Blitzer through Jan. 28, at 2801 Mission St., in the old Wrigley Building.
— Wallace Baine
Celebrate the new year with Santa Cruz Symphony’s “Rites of Passage”
Celebrate the new year with Santa Cruz Symphony’s “Rites of Passage”
Quick Take
Join the Santa Cruz Symphony on January 15 & 16 as they celebrate the arrival of 2022 with a live show at the Santa Cruz...
CLOSING THIS WEEKEND
India Joze farewell: The iconic Santa Cruz culinary and cultural institution that is India Joze restaurant is set to serve its final meal Saturday; the building that houses it at 418 Front St. downtown is slated to be demolished to make way for new housing and other development. Founder Jozseph Schultz and his wife, Sasha Childs, aren’t getting out of the food game entirely, but it’s last call for this incarnation.
— Will McCahillRECREATION
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
Fungus Fair (adjusted): The annual Fungus Fair will look a little different this year due to COVID. Rather than the usual exhibit at the London Nelson Community Center, there will be a series of virtual fungus lectures, culinary events and forays around town this weekend and next. Regardless, this is still one of the county’s most enjoyable and unique events. Check here for more detailed info.
— Max ChunLIVE MUSIC
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
Metalachi: Yep, these guys are a real Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup kind of band, an unlikely smash-up of two styles, heavy metal and mariachi, that somehow sound great together. The Los Angeles five-piece band puts the focus on big fun with comedic interludes between their songs, many of which are mariachi-ifed covers of familiar metal songs. Metalachi rocks Moe’s Alley on consecutive nights Friday and Saturday, with Shark in the Water slate to open Friday and Coffee Zombie Collective to open Saturday. The madness begins at 9 p.m. both nights.
MONDAY
Chris Botti: Since the deaths of Dizzy and Miles 30 years ago, the trumpet hasn’t gotten a ton of love in mainstream music. But along with the great Wynton Marsalis, Oregon-born Chris Botti has kept alive the legacy of American music via the trumpet, creating a distinctive style of jazz pop, scoring Top 40 hits, and collaborating with many of the titans of contemporary music. Since he first emerged playing in the bands of Paul Simon and Sting, Botti has emerged as a star in his own right, garnering several Grammys and mainstream adoration through his exposure on PBS. He and his band come to the Rio Theatre on Monday in a show presented by the Kuumbwa Jazz Center. Showtime is 7:30 p.m.
THURSDAY, JAN. 13
Joey DeFrancesco: So exactly what does Joey DeFrancesco not do on stage? The veteran keyboardist is a highly sought-after sideman and soloist on everything from the piano to the Hammond B-3. But he’s also an accomplished trumpet player, and he’s a fine jazz singer on top of that. On his latest album, fittingly titled “More Music,” DeFrancesco also tackles the tenor sax, all done in a swinging soul-jazz idiom that’s two steps beyond cool. DeFranscesco visits the Kuumbwa Jazz Center on Thursday, Jan. 13, for a 7 p.m. show.
— Wallace BaineBOOKS & LECTURES
TUESDAY
Julia Cameron: This year marks the 30th anniversary of Julia Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way,” a deeply influential guide to tapping one’s creativity for healing and self-betterment. Three decades later, Cameron is publishing a similar book on drawing from inner resources. “Seeking Wisdom: A Spiritual Path to Creative Connection” is centered on the practice of prayer, aimed at readers of all beliefs and backgrounds. Cameron will be on hand for a live virtual event, sponsored by Bookshop Santa Cruz, on Tuesday, the very day the book is set to be released. Things get started at 6 p.m.
THURSDAY, JAN. 13
Leonard Mlodinow: Physicist and author Leonard Mlodinow has made his name explaining human behavior in such luminous books as “The Drunkard’s Walk” and “Subliminal.” He’s back in bookstores again with “Emotional: How Feelings Shape Our Thinking,” an examination of the conscious and subconscious influence that emotion has on decision-making. Mlodinow will participate in a free live virtual event, sponsored by Bookshop Santa Cruz, on Thursday, Jan. 13., two days after the book is set to be released. The event will begin at 6 p.m.
— Wallace BaineKIDS & FAMILY
FRIDAY
Free Admission Day at Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History: Enjoy the exhibits in the Natural History Museum for free this Friday. Explore everything from wildlife and habitat displays to Indigenous cultural exhibits as well as geology and marine life. This is a recurring event and happens on the first Friday of every month.
— Max ChunCOMEDY
FRIDAY
Sam Miller at Greater Purpose Brewing: Self-described “monster truck” of a comedian Sam Miller barrels into Santa Cruz as his tour of California continues with a stop at Greater Purpose Brewing’s weekly standup session. Sobriety is a key theme for the Olympia, Washington, native — he’s been clean and sober for 12 years — as are parenthood (he has two kids, “one of them is on purpose,” he says in his bio) and the intersection of the two.
— Will McCahill
HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF BOLO
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