by Steven Sanchez

October is usually known for ghoulish activities leading up to Halloween. For me, it was a time for concerts and stand-up comedy. This month had quite a few events. Luckily for me, I was there. Here’s a recap and review of some of those events that I attended.

Graham Nash

The two-time Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame inductee of Crosby, Stills, and Nash and as a former member of The Hollies came to Fresno on October 10 for an acoustic performance at the Tower Theatre. His live show really did epitomize why he’s had a successful sixty-year career. It was a great attendance especially for a Wednesday night concert. The mostly older attendees loved every minute of his set. With a mixture of ballads and folk, it was the most soothing concert I’ve ever been to. He almost put me to sleep with his “Sleep Song.” And with the way things are going in the world he got political for a moment and told his own story about having a run-in with an immigration agent, and made a plea for equality before he played “Immigration Man.” And then he and his bandmates did their own rendition of The Beatles classic “A Day in the Life.” Before you entered the auditorium, there was a display of his photographs to showcase his talents. Even at seventy-six, the British songwriter and photographer is still going strong, and after witnessing the legend himself, he shows no signs of slowing down.

The Stone Foxes

It’s been a while since I’ve heard a contemporary band that has shown the ability to capture the classic 70s rock/blues/folk sound…until I saw The Stone Foxes. Originating from Tollhouse and then cutting their chops in San Francisco, they brought their soulful blues rock to a hometown crowd at Fulton 55 on October 11. It seemed fitting that a hometown crowd would show up to support them since they released an EP in 2017 called Visalia in which the title comes from the time they spent a summer writing songs while bunking in a cotton farm house living room and camping in tents in the farm town. Their set was so eclectic that it made sense why their music is featured in countless commercials and television shows. It was more mesmerizing to see the lead singer, Shannon Koehler, go from singing in front of the stage to replacing their drummer to play behind the kit and return back to the stage to play harmonica; the bassist Vince Dewald go from bass, then guitar, and stepping to the mic as a lead singer; and then the guitarist Ben Andrews would play the violin sounding like a virtuoso. At one point Shannon went out into the crowd to share a moment of intimacy with his audience raising his voice to another octave when singing one their songs. This one was a special but yet sad occasion as two of the band members are leaving the band, so this show had important significance. The show went late into the night and it was a great evening of rock.

Gabriel Iglesias

The Fluffy-man himself made his sixth straight appearance in a row at The Big Fresno Fair on October 12 at the Paul Paul Theater. He packed the place of 7,000 fans, not one empty seat in the house wanting to hear some jokes. Dressed in his familiar Hawaiian shirt, he had the place rolling with his popular brand of humor. The sign language translator on the side of the stage caught his eye and he was asking questions like what’s the sign language for a burrito or for certain curse words that made everybody laugh. His performance felt very much like it was improvisational, like he was delivering jokes at a party, like he’s your friend and you know that everything he’s going to say is funny. Chalk this one as another successful show at the fair and more than likely after this performance there’s no reason as to why he’s not going to be invited again next year.

Seether

The South African metal band was the only hard rock act on the bill at the Big Fresno Fair on October 13. The metalheads were out in full force, and there would’ve been a moshpit had it not have been for the benches all over the place that got in the way. They played their classic songs and new ones. It was loud and heavy, and they were playing with energy as if they were playing in Madison Square Garden. Plenty of rock artists come to the fairgrounds, but hardly has a heavy metal band of their caliber gotten the opportunity to play on that stage, but Seether did set the tone for having more acts like them perform at the annual event.

Steven Sanchez is a film graduate of UNLV. He’s a filmmaker, writer, photographer, and music manager. Obsessed with movies, comic books, and rock ‘n’ roll. A football fanatic, big fan of the Oakland Raiders. Enjoys reading and collecting vinyl records. If there’s a rock show in town more than likely he’ll be there. Loves his grandma’s home cooked meals. He has a twin sister and most people call him the pretty one. You can learn more about Steven on his YouTube channel and on Instagram @stevensanchez5807 photos and videos.