Moonalice Landing Next Saturday

Passion Presents these Bay Area music legends

Humboldt Sentinel
12/3/08
By Sentinel Staff

An eclectic brew of rock, roots, and rhythm and blues led by superstar frontman guitarist G.E. Smith is hitting Eureka just in time for Arts Alive!

Moonalice is nothing less than a groove supergroup, with Smith from Saturday Night Live fame joined by Jack Casady of Jefferson Airplane on bass, Barry Sless of the David Nelson Band on guitar and pedal steel, Pete Sears of Hot Tuna on keys, Ann and Roger McNamee of Flying Other Brothers on, respectively, percussion and guitar, and Jim Sanchez of Dr. John fame on drums.

The band has logged quite a few shows in the couple years they've been on the road. Some of which include appearances at San Francisco's colossal and high profile Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park in 2007 and 2008. Other outings included Wavy Gravy's Summer of Love Revival, The Grateful Garcia Gathering, the Sausalito Arts Festival, Earthdance, as well as shows at a variety of clubs and theaters across the country.

According to their press kit, the legend of the Moonalice tribe is descended from Piltdown Woman, or possibly from a couple of naked, snake charmed gardeners who liked to hang around with friendly dinosaurs. Core to the Moonalice culture is the Coming of the Seventh - Yggdrassil - a mythical player of low tones who emerges periodically from the sea, where he cavorts with a school of thermally enhanced tuna.

The myth of Moonalice portends that upon the arrival of the Seventh, the groove will grow impossibly deep. So much so that the words "Dig it" will pass the lips of those who have never before uttered, let alone entertained, such thoughts.

The tribe - or band, as it is known in Moonalice culture - plays traditional Moonalice music, an intoxicating brew of roots, blues, psychedelia, and strange but kind folk. In Moonalice tradition, the musical ceremony - the gig - is a fusion of sound, lights, and refreshing beverages that improves reality for people who get too much of the real thing during the day time.

A new album, produced by the legendary T. Bone Burnett, is due out next February, and Eureka rock fans may be treated to a few advance tracks!

Passion Presents is once more teaming up with the Red Fox Tavern, located at 415 Fifth Street in Eureka. Tickets can be purchased for $13 in advance or $15 at the door, with the show starting late at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 6. For more on Moonalice, check their MySpace or visit http://www.moonaliceband.com/.