L’Orchidée d’Hawaï

The holidays hit, leaving the streets of Isla Vista stripped of its typical crowd treking the neighborhood, but Pink Mailbox was a stuffed shelter from the cold, wet streets on Tuesday night for L’Orchidée d’Hawaï and Uggamugga. The line up was not long, but swayed in and out of hard to soft, and mellow to destructive. The Pink Mailbox housemates, Chuck and Chris as well as Co-op co-worker Denver making up the Desperate Hours band, started off the night loud and boistrous with their hardcore punk set, well known to the house of typically mosh-filled shows involving earplugs and rocking momentum. Their songs of returning to our natural human roots, growing organic foods, and taking back the rights of people everywhere put some perspective on what they stand for, aside from working at the Isla Vista Food Co-op. Next to take the stage was Frances, a Lo-fi folk artist with a baritone ukulele by the name of Stellaluna. This Phoenix, AZ local played soft spoken songs with lots of heart, with her audience sitting under her nose, inviting her subtle sounds. Not too much changed for the upcoming set, in terms of performers, as Frances' band-mate, Tristan, took the stage to make up two thirds of Uggamugga. The addition guitar transitioned the night into a grunge/pop frenzy with catchy riffs and funny phrases throughout the set, putting people in a calm, forgiving mood, with no worries. The worries left and came again as L’Orchidée d’Hawaï took the floor, with the anticipating crowd who gathered from near and far during their winter break to see this foreign spectacle. This French garage/surf band brought chaos throughout the audience, knocking them off their feet,"Literally!", as people danced like wolves, crowd surfed and fell onto sitting guests on the couches. Multi-lingual singers, David and Charles, took turns on the mic in both english and french, adding in a few instrumental songs into their set with the help of Lucien on the drums and gong, along with Flaz on the bass. The night ended punctually at ten, loud and out of control, but as the crowd settled and dispersed, the bands hung around the lingering few giving out cd's stickers and other cool memorabilia.

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Fandango!!! Muddy Waters

The spirit of community and celebration was shared last night on December 6th, for Muddy Waters' second ever fandango gathering. Jorge Mijangos, master luthier, renowned for his work involving the sonjarocho culture along with his south coast jarrana construction business, has introduced this event to the Eastside Latino community, but not limiting others to join into the cultural festivities. Along with This Muddy Waters event, Jorge currently works in various elementary schools, as well as Casa De La Raza, teaching sonjarocho to a young generation. People gathered from near and far to make this event possible. The night was filled with the art of Sonjarocho, a vibrant folk music and dance style originating from Veracruz, Mexico, beginning with Jorge's students from Peabody school introducing the fandango with their 2 song performance. With only 7 lessons these students performed for the first time in front of family and friends (The sound was amazing!). And so the fandago begins! The strumming of the jarranas, requintos, donkey jaw, and box drum initiated dancing, singing and collaborating to create the heavenly sound of this art. There were no age restrictions, as people young and oldtook the small wooden stage to dance while the others sang and rejoiced. Dancing was completely voluntary, but as the night went on, new faces took the stage putting aside their embarrassment and taking in the traditional joy. For those who weren't up dancing, were going along well with the rhythm, tapping their feet, snapping their fingers, clapping their hands, and singing along to the "guacamayo". Joining the performers and people who gathered to watch was Juan Francisco Parroquin, grandson of Rutilio Parroquin, a legendary figure in the sonjarocho culture. Juan participated in the group jam session for a large portion of the night, showing off his style on the requinto, and singing to the audience. The history behind the Parroquin family traces back to Mexican history books, presidential photographs and most apparently, music. In recent times, Juan Parroquin has been an apprentice to Jorge Mijangos, learning to construct his own instrument, connecting Jorge, originally from Chiapas, Mexico, to Juan, legendary blood of sonjarocho history. With this in mind, the incorporation of Mexican culture in Santa Barbara such as sonjarocho is showing change in the dynamics of the community, not only here, but up and down the southern coast of California. As the night was coming to an end, I took a turn on the dace floor, a bit unsure, but fully enjoying the experience. It came to a close with a last song, and some time to speak with participants, and people exchanging comments and feelings of impact.

Blitzen Trapper/Parson Redheads/Franklin For Short

December 1st. 830pm. Muddy Waters Cafe. This is the time and place where Blitzen Trapper, Parson Redheads, and Franklin for Short brought youngins and older folk to part take in some rock, some folk, and some distortion. 805 locals Franklin For Short opened the night up with their smooth surf rock style, with an americana twist. Seth and Trevor kept the the crowd in sync with their fashionable rhythmic dancing abilities. At the end of their set, The Parson Red Heads took the floor to bring a reminiscence kind of feeling with their psychedelic rock and folk mid-song transitions. Dressed in all white, with a multi-colored flash tambourine, These Redheads took the crowd back to the hippie days. To end their set, Eric of Blitzen Trapper joined with his harmonica for a Bob Dylan Cover. Moments later, Blitzen Trapper took the anticipated crowd to the countryside hills for a blissfull joyride of rock and rubble. These Portland people made many guests' nights, bringing something different to these parts of suburban living...