SFR Picks: One Times Two

Broomdust and Bent make beautiful music

(Jessica Preston)

By Alex De Vore and Ben Kendall

Y’know, it’s only a little weird that they do variety shows and music at the Jean Cocteau Cinema. I mean, it’s a movie theater first and foremost in the hearts of many. Despite that, there’s a lot to be said for George RR Martin’s resurrected venue’s decision to include non-film events and seated concerts. The whole concept comes down to how everybody’s favorite living fantasy author did that thing we all say we’d do if we were to suddenly become baz­zillionaires: He started making things in his town cool.

Anyway, let's talk about this upcoming show here with Eryn Bent (above) and Johny Broomdust. Each is probably best known as the leader of their respective bands, but they're stripping down to a duo apiece for this one, folks, and you know what that means—a healthy dose of introspection. Which is great, because everyone knows sad songs are the best songs, and stuck-up bands like Katrina and the Waves telling you how much better than you they feel is the pits. Take Mr. Broomdust's performance, for example.

"I will definitely play some sad songs even if they have a snappy beat you can dance to," he says. "I suspect they'll come off as even sadder with just my voice, guitar and a violin." Indeed, the man's low Johnny Cash timbre can certainly convey emotion, and it ought to prove even more moving when we hear it at the forefront of a song. Similarly, Bent has often culled from her own experience but in a way that surpasses the "I liked someone who didn't like me" building blocks of every damn song ever written, for a soul-baring glimpse into the events of her life that formed her.

"I'm accumulating songs by the day [and] mainly focusing on this renewed energy for life in general," Bent tells us. "Having gone through the loss of the closest person to me and the dark period, I really feel more enlightened and inspired than ever." (Alex De Vore)

Johny Broomdust and Eryn Bent
7 pm Sunday, April 3. $7.
Jean Cocteau Cinema,
418 Montezuma Ave.,
466-5528

¡Mas Tempo! ¡Mas!

Courtesy of Facebook (Courtesy of Facebook )

Yes! Brazil's Tempo Plastico is the band that we all never knew we needed but somehow do. Badly. Think classic surf-punk like Agent Orange meets pop-metal heroes Torche and then goes through the ringer with Puerto Rico's Davila 666 and comes out the other side with Portuguese- and English-spewin' blues-driven awesomeness and a super-dancey take on the more poppy elements of stoner rock. Fuzzy guitars and shreddy riffs form the foundation of the deceptively simple arrangements. (ADV)

Tempo Plastico:
9 pm Thursday, March 31. $5.
The Underground, 200 W San Francisco St.,
819-1597

Yarrrr

The University of North Carolina Press (The University of North Carolina Press)

Avast, ahoy, and other nautical terms! Mark G Hanna, author of

Pirate Nests and the Rise of the British Empire, 1570-1740,

will tell you all about privateering and piracy in the context of the communities that were served and marauded by them. “After their bodies performed the gruesome ‘sheriff’s dance’ at the gallows, they were unceremoniously displayed in conspicuous locations,” Hanna says in the introduction of his book. Sounds like a hot ticket. (Ben Kendall)

Mark G Hanna: Pirate Nests and the Rise
of the British Empire, 1570-1740
6 pm Friday, April 1. Free.
Collected Works Bookstore,
202 Galisteo St,
988-4226

Funny Ha-Ha

Courtesy Xtremekomedy.com (Courtesy Xtremekomedy.com)

Take your laughing pants out of the closet (really, they’re sweatpants—they do double-duty during feast holidays) and check out traveling comic Jerry Winn at the Santa Fe Komedy Klub’s show at the Lodge at Santa Fe. “This fellow is an actor/concert comic. He’s done TV shows like

Glee

or

The Crazy Ones

, with Robin Williams. We’re all a little jealous over that one,” says Komedy Klub founder Ronn Perea. Local comic Keith Breckenridge starts off the night. (BK)

Santa Fe Komedy Klub:
8 pm Saturday, April 2. $12.
The Lodge at Santa Fe,
750 N St. Francis Drive,
992-5800

Santa Fe Reporter

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