What's Happening at Winters Tavern
events mostly in July 2023
Summertime, and the livin’ is … well it’s busy.
Everyone seems to be making up for lost time with this being the first official post-pandemic summer. I’ve already clocked several thousand miles on planes, trains and autos, and I’m not even in a band. If you are in a band, chances are you too have been putting on the miles gigging your ass off while the gigging is good.
All this traveling had me crossing paths with CJ, Winters owner/booker, once again. Just as I got home to get reacquainted with my local dive bar, CJ was off on his own out-of-state trip. But fear not! I connected with CJ remotely and we will get some video time with him in my next story.
For now, here’s a look at some of the bands that caught my eye in this month’s calendar for Winters Tavern. As always, there’s plenty of good music listening below for those of you too far away to attend. These are Rick’s Picks for July.
FRIDAY, JULY 14, 2023 AT 8 PM
Cortege/The Bloat Floaters/The Young Barons
Cortége is an Austin based band playing post-western, heavy ambient doom. They can be found on the Desert Records album LEGENDS OF THE DESERT: Volume 2.
The label focuses on releases in the desert/doom/metal/psych/western/experimental genres. They describe the music of Cortége as if the bands Earth and Pink Floyd teamed up to do a soundtrack to a David Lynch film. The band features heavy bass guitar, drums, and tubular bells. TUBULAR BELLS!
Also on the bill:
The Bloat Floaters: Surf/Garage/Rock From the San Joaquin Delta
The Young Barons: Bay Area Surf Rock
SUNDAY, JULY 16, 2023 AT 8 PM
Drainer/Hafner/Ripplings/Sagaba
These bands appear to be an eclectic mix of all things punk … including pop, alternative, post and noise. The band that stands out for me is Hafner who recently released an album NEAPOLITAN SUNSET recorded by Tim Green at Louder Studios, a well known and highly respected recording studio in Grass Valley CA with a long list of successful metal recordings. But it’s their single DFA where the noisy side of the band really comes out. I hope they perform that one at this show.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2023 AT 7 PM
Telekinetic Yeti/Stinking Lizaveta/Somnuri
This is THE BIG show for July at Winters. These three bands are among the rising stars of doom metal, and each offers a different take on the genre. They are on a tour of the western US, and it’s one of those great opportunities to see top level bands at Winters Tavern. I don’t want to say too much about the show here, because I’m doing another story dedicated to these bands. Look for that soon. In the meantime, get your tickets for this show now.
Telekinetic Yeti: Iowa 2 Piece Doom
Stinking Lizaveta: Philadelphia 3 Piece Heavy
Somnuri: Brooklyn, NY Metal
SATURDAY, JULY 29, 2023 AT 7 PM
Thundercloud/Red Hot Shame/Widdershins
All three of these bands are from Humboldt County CA, which many of you may know as the weed growing capital of the world. Of the three, Red Hot Shame is playing all original spacedelic rock. They also call themselves heavy folk rock, but I have to throw in the ‘P’ word after hearing some of their stuff. That’s right, progressive. Check out the very cool artwork and sounds on their latest album MY SATELLITE at their website.
Thundercloud are a more traditional heavy R&B band that may remind you of Led Zeppelin, I kid you not. You can check out how they will rock your socks off here.
BEYOND JULY
Once again I’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s coming in July, so feel free to add anything you might know about the other bands in the comment section.
Here’s a sneak peek at some of my favorites coming back to Winters in Aug and Sept. You’ll hear more about those shows later, including The Hajj, Bond Girl & The Sean Conneries, Vertacyn Arc Materializer, all in August. And in September it’s the return of The Hominoids … twice! Their second show has them opening for, wait for it …….. mssv, featuring Mike Baggetta, Stephen Hodges and the one and only Mike Watt.
That’s it for now. Until next time, listen to CJ and GO SEE SOME SHOWS!!