Fulton Street Party Is All Fresno Music Goodness!

Fulton-Street-Party-2018-setlist Fulton Street Party Is All Fresno Music Goodness!

Fulton Street Party! Glad that Tioga is around, otherwise this might not have happened.

The Fulton Street Party is Saturday, celebrating one year of traffic returning to Fulton. It won’t be the hullabaloo that was last year’s party.

But thankfully, Tioga Sequoia Brewing pushes for something to happen and is making a day out of it, highlighted by the Battle of the Bands style competition happening all day with all local acts.

The two “best” bands will win slots at next year’s Grizzly Fest.

This will be a great snapshot of the state of Fresno’s music scene and it’s free to check out. Gaze at the flyer above for set times. I definitely have a couple picked out already.

Tioga will also have super fresh Fulton Street IPA (nice and hazy) flowing all day along, with other things going on within the block surrounding Tioga’s Beer Garden. Including the main stage for bands in the lot across the street from TS.

Sounds like a damn fine day to me. Hope I see ya there!

Maybe I’ll finally check out Chicken Shack.

9 Cool Ass Things I [Will] Remember About Audie’s Olympic

audies-olympic-street-1024x678 9 Cool Ass Things I [Will] Remember About Audie's Olympic
Audie’s Olympic – photo by David Prasad

I dunno if you heard about this but Audie will soon no longer be running Audie’s Olympic club in the Tower District. Crazy, right?

Hey, don’t ask me what happened, I’m sure Josh over at Fresno Beehive has something up about it or soon will. Rumor has it that the Audie Camp is saying the owners of the building want to do their own thing there and are pushing him out. The Owners Camp (total rumor, bro, ok?) say they would like him to stay if he met with the obligations of the lease.

Totally not my business. All I know is I have spent a lot of time in Audie’s Olympic. Not as much as of late but I think maybe I’ve gone to… 90? 100 shows there? Yeah, sounds kinda right.

So with that, here are my Ten 9 Cool Ass Things [I Will Remember] About Audie’s Olympic:

  • The Tub Of Beer: Not every place in town has a horse water trough full of ice and cheap beer cans. Even if you are not hipster enough to like PBR (I apparently am not), you had to order one, just so you don’t stand out too much.
  • The Chalk Event Board: I am a real nerd about chalk boards. No self respecting craft beer tap room doesn’t have one. Audie’s has one. Checking out the board during band breaks is a classic past-time for me.
  • The Bathroom Door Sticker Art: I can only assume the girls bathroom is the same but I KNOW the boys has always been covered in band stickers. I really haven’t checked it out close enough to see if they are ever peeled off or if there are years and years of layers.
  • Audie Chilling In the Corner of the Bar: If you look real close, behind the soundboard, you just might catch a glimpse. Always felt like I was looking behind the curtain at the Wizard of Oz.
  • The Wall Carpet! Zanny I say (and probably helps with the sound). And all the stuff above the bar. ZANNY!
  • Pool Table/Merch Table: Of all the years going there, including when it was Club Fred, I think I saw the pool table actually functioning as a pool table, twice. Love picking up merch there so that is ok. Always bring cash for band merch, people, it seriously helps the bands survive.
  • The Sidewalk Scene: In between bands, more than half the club spills out onto the sidewalk in front of Audie’s. And most aren’t smoking, just getting some air and catching up with folks. Because have you tried having a conversation inside a rock club?
  • The Couches: It was super rare that I would get the couch in the center of the dance floor. I would occasionally get the one under the control booth. This was always a mistake because you never got up again.
  • Seeing Rising Bands: Whether it was a Fresno act or a touring act just trying to get noticed. There is no greater pretentious dude joy than to be able to say “I saw that band play at a small club in Fresno before they hit big.” Really this is [was] my favorite thing. And you get to talk to the bands outside during the sidewalk sessions.

Seriously, much love and respect to Audie and what he has done for the music scene in Fresno, it can’t be said enough. Safe travels on his next adventure.

Hopefully the space continues as a rock club. It just has too. Even if the wall carpet has to go.

[photo from David Prasad]

BANDGEEK!: Burn Your Life Down, Western, Mongrel City, King Sugar, Palm Kids, Abbey Road and Furious

Saturday feels thin again. Not sure what that's about. There's still enough for us to get all Bandgeeeeek-y with though:

FRIDAY

THE CYC: A Pink Teeth DIY mini Fest with Young Turks (Portland), Sloths (Portland), Colony (New York), Burn Your Life Down (Seattle), Stress Relief (Redding), plus locals Grow, Gorilla Stomp, and Cabin Fire:

6a00e54ee89e6c88330177440895b2970d-350wi BANDGEEK!: Burn Your Life Down, Western, Mongrel City, King Sugar, Palm Kids, Abbey Road and Furious

AUDIE'S OLYMPIC: Fresno's Westerns and The Red Coats plus some surprises:

6a00e54ee89e6c88330176172299e6970c-350wi BANDGEEK!: Burn Your Life Down, Western, Mongrel City, King Sugar, Palm Kids, Abbey Road and Furious

KUPPAJOE'S: Seattle pop-rock from Dylan Jakobsen, plus Midnight Mirage, My Beautiful Surrender, & Mongrel City:

6a00e54ee89e6c883301774408a590970d-350wi BANDGEEK!: Burn Your Life Down, Western, Mongrel City, King Sugar, Palm Kids, Abbey Road and Furious

ENGLEMANN CELLARS: Wine, vineyards and King Sugar:

6a00e54ee89e6c8833017617228682970c-350wi BANDGEEK!: Burn Your Life Down, Western, Mongrel City, King Sugar, Palm Kids, Abbey Road and Furious

THAI PALMS: Nice lineup for Homegrown Fridays this week with Tommy Marquez, Palm Kids and Iwanaga:

6a00e54ee89e6c88330167692d812c970b-350wi BANDGEEK!: Burn Your Life Down, Western, Mongrel City, King Sugar, Palm Kids, Abbey Road and Furious

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Music In Fresno Tonight: The Shrine, David Liebe Hart and free Cabin Fires

6a00e54ee89e6c8833016305b6fb36970d-400wi Music In Fresno Tonight: The Shrine, David Liebe Hart and free Cabin Fires

>At Audie's Olympic, another killer show by Love The Captive. Los Angeles "psychedelic violence" band The Shrine with local favorites It'll Grow Back. Skateboard mag, Thrasher, calls The Shrine “A hard-hitting three-piece, combining the hooks and tones of classic rock with the energy and stage presence of a thrash band." Sounds kick ass to us. Get a little deeper with The Shine:

>Also happening for those that can't get into Audie's or for those that do not fear China Town, very good show at C.A.F.E. Infoshop as David Liebe Hart (yes, the dude you've seen on Adult Swim's "Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job") returns to Fresno. Lot's of local acts too including Danny Lango, Fatty Cakes, Restaurnaut, I Do Not Exist and Gorilla Stomp. [$7, 7pm, All Ages]

>Not to be forgotten, down in Babylon, a free show with TheDaysGone & Cabin Fire! Show starts at 9pm and is 21+.

BANDGEEK!: Fast Cars, Blake Joneses, Wise Cubs, Motel Drives, Six Ounces and Wild Blues

Fulton 55 has two shows with returning (again) Fresno legends. The CYC has goes all weekend long, Starline has Layne Staley as a girl and KFSR could use your donations. ALL in this weeks… BANDGEEK!:

FRIDAY

THE CYC: Wow this all California lineup is kinda huge with… hugeness. Joyce Manor (Torrance), TSOSIS (Elk Grove), Tidemouth (Santa Clarita), New York Taxi (Glendora), Mane Horse (Fresno), Fast Car (Fresno) and Tough Stuff (Garden Grove):

6a00e54ee89e6c88330168e920b36b970c-350wi BANDGEEK!: Fast Cars, Blake Joneses, Wise Cubs, Motel Drives, Six Ounces and Wild Blues

KUPPAJOE: Check it: The Roos, Saving Temperance, Mongrel City, Wise Cub, & Frontier:

6a00e54ee89e6c88330163032b10b1970d-350wi BANDGEEK!: Fast Cars, Blake Joneses, Wise Cubs, Motel Drives, Six Ounces and Wild Blues

AUDIE'S OLYMPIC: Metal up with Fe Talis, 9th Level, Ruthless, and Hymn of Rlyeh:

6a00e54ee89e6c88330168e920a5dd970c-350wi BANDGEEK!: Fast Cars, Blake Joneses, Wise Cubs, Motel Drives, Six Ounces and Wild Blues

FULTON 55: So bigtime Fresno rock dudes, Six Ounce Gloves, are still around and don't seem to be going away after all. Speaking of, just when you thought rising Fresno metal band, Mercury Bullet, had gone away too THEY have come back big. "New" Fresno rock band Relax Reload (seems like maybe it's Say Swear), will open it up:
  6a00e54ee89e6c88330168e920e8b9970c-350wi BANDGEEK!: Fast Cars, Blake Joneses, Wise Cubs, Motel Drives, Six Ounces and Wild Blues

STARLINE: Mix it up with locals Dislodic, The Dirty Dirties, Siren Singing and The Long Black Veils:

6a00e54ee89e6c88330168e920d756970c-350wi BANDGEEK!: Fast Cars, Blake Joneses, Wise Cubs, Motel Drives, Six Ounces and Wild Blues

THE LAMP POST: Like seeing some acts, that normally play the under 21 circuit, playing at the Lamp Post. Restaurnaut, Fatty Cakes, and Control Noodle. [$0, 9pm, 21+]

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