Low-rider car show, music festival are top entertainment picks
J Dubb would be at the California Super Show even if he weren’t performing.
The Fresno rapper grew up in the low-rider car scene. His father was in a car club, and his cousins owned show cars, the kind you don’t ever drive down the street. He remembers going to these kinds of car shows as a kid, seeing the performers and thinking one day that would be him up on stage.
It’s fairly obvious that J Dubb is into low-rider culture. The cover of his album, “Stump fo’ ya Trunk,” has J Dubb posed along a side a green convertible, wearing his old school Locs shades, the California sun reflected in the all the shiny paint and chrome.
“It goes hand in hand,” says J Dubb, who will play two sets at the Lowrider Magazine-sponsored classic and custom car show. He’s local support on a lineup that includes tabloid-prone rapper Tyga, boy band New District, ’90s hip-hop group Lighter Shade of Brown and others.
J Dubb started in the local battle rap scene in the early 2000s, where he honed his skills before taking to studio work and releasing his first single, “Sucka Hate,” in 2012. Musically, the rapper plays on his influences. This is old school West Coast rap with hard hitting beats, that “Zapp and Roger talkbox” with a flow that has drawn comparisons to Ice Cube and Big Pun.
While he would never put himself in that category lyrically, “that’s good company to keep,” he says.
Details: Noon Saturday, June 25, at the Fresno Fairgrounds. $30-$75. 480-215-1398, motorsportshowcase.com
Summer heat = Summer Sweat
The event: The first of two Summer Sweat block parties happens Saturday, June 25, in downtown Fresno.
The draw: An annual celebration of downtown Fresno and the summer heat, this mini music festival has more than a dozen local and regional bands. The lineup is heavy on electronic- and indie-rock and includes the Hollywood duo Smoke Season and the San Francisco folk-rock group Talkie plus Wee Beasties, Sharks of Dance and Carl Armada. The event is being produced in conjunction with the Catacomb Party, so expect some cool artsy surprises.
The second Summer Sweat party is Saturday, July 30, with performances from Black Milk, Zee Will and a one-off reunion from Fierce Creatures.
Details: 2 p.m. Saturday, June 25, Tioga Sequoia, 745 Fulton St. $10, $15 for season pass. All ages. Summer Sweat on Facebook
Same band, new name
The event: The Arizona folk punk outfit AJJ plays Strummer’s at the end of a West Coast tour that coincides with Asian Man Record’s 20th anniversary.
The draw: To its fans, AJJ is the band formerly known as Andrew Jackson Jihad. The band announced the new abbreviated moniker in February, after a decade of playing under the old name. In a statement, the band said: “AJJ fits us better than Andrew Jackson Jihad. It has been our nickname for those in the know forever. It hearkens back to the great skatepunk bands like JFA, FYP, LFO, etc.”
News of the change came with the release of a new single, “Now That I’m at the Top of My Game.”
Details: 7 p.m. Saturday, June 25, at Strummer’s, 833 E. Fern Ave. $15. All ages. 559-485-5356, www.strummersclub.com
Rock in the ’90s
The event: The Boohyah! ’90s Music Festival brings three cover bands and your favorite radio rock from the last decade of the last century.
The draw: If you think classic rock is confined to the ’70s and ’80s, ponder this: Green Day was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015 – 25 years after the release of its debut. Here, we get the music of Green Day as performed by the tribute band Green Today; plus the Foo Fighters tribute Dave’s Not Here and the alt-rock cover band One Hot Minute, which one can assume will play at least some Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Details: 5 p.m. Saturday, June 25, at Englemann Cellars, 3275 N. Rolinda Ave. $12-$50. 559-274-9463, www.engelmanncellars.com
This story was originally published June 22, 2016 at 4:25 PM with the headline "Low-rider car show, music festival are top entertainment picks."