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County locks Aftershock and GoldenSky into Discovery Park through 2035
Sacramento County's Board of Supervisors approved a 10-year deal with promoter Danny Wimmer Presents, keeping the region's two biggest music festivals at the confluence and clearing room for a third.
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Soundcheck
Fireworks Aren't the Whole Soundtrack
A Sacramento July 4 weekend story: park shows, river light, R Street after dark, Sunday blues, heavy rooms, Torch's return, and a trans-rights fundraiser that gives the weekend its center.
harlows
Harlow's is fighting for a ticket resale cap. The other side says it helps Ticketmaster.
AB 1720 would cap resale at 10% over face value for rooms under 3,000 seats. Harlow's owner Jim Cornett drove to the Capitol to testify for it. Here's the case on both sides, and where it stands.
daily-deep-dive
The Room Is the Point: Katie Knipp's Live Album Bets on the Thing That Doesn't Scale
After 25 years and four Top 10 Billboard blues albums, Sacramento's Katie Knipp is pressing a live record to vinyl as a love letter to human creativity. The room, she argues, is still the point.
sacramento
The Alt-Weekly That Built Sacramento's Cultural Record Goes to The Observer
After 37 years, the Sacramento News & Review hands its website to The Sacramento Observer for nothing. The lights stay on. The open question is who keeps covering the scene.
cafe-colonial
Café Colonial Wins a 2026 Music in Action Grant
Sacramento's DIY stronghold is one of 29 independent venues nationwide to land a 2026 Music in Action grant from the Live Music Society — money headed toward a heritage festival and more room for local artists.
BTU Arts
BTU Arts Is Building the Path In
A Sacramento nonprofit and a New Orleans-style brass band are the same engine, teaching kids in South Sacramento the horns that stock the city's second lines.
Sac Setlist Weekend Wire — June 26–28
Friday ends a 33-year tradition for free downtown. Saturday a punk legend plays a 200-cap blues room while the hometown heroes pack an arena. Sunday closes with a Pride party. Here's the best of the weekend in Sacramento.
Tonight in Sacramento — Friday, June 26
Friday night in Sacramento ends a 33-year tradition for free downtown — and that's just the marquee. From a reggae-rock institution closing Concerts in the Park to funk at the Shady Lady, here's every room worth being in tonight.
Soundcheck
The Band That Stayed
In a Sacramento scene built on churn, Arden Park Roots are the band that stayed: two decades, several genres of local music held open mostly on their own, and the closing slot at the 33rd Concerts in the Park.
Soundcheck
Rainbow City Park Is Learning the Band in Public
Sacramento's Rainbow City Park spent three years learning to be a band in public. A debut EP, a sold-out SF support slot, and July 4 at the park they're named after.
news
Aftershock 2026 Will Be the Biggest Yet: My Chemical Romance, Tool, and 140+ Bands Coming to Discovery Park
The West Coast's largest rock festival returns Oct. 1–4 with its most extensive lineup ever, a fifth stage, and — for the first time — camping.