San Jose's Playphone Raises $51.5M

Playphone is a San Jose-based company that specialized in multi-player social gaming for mobile devices. They are based on Airport Parkway and raised $51.5 million by selling off equity.

For more info on the company (and to get some games) check out their site over here.

Source: SJBJ

New Website for Live Music Downtown

It's amazing how much our live music scene has been growing lately Downtown. Pagoda, The San Pedro Square Market (3 venues here), and even Good Karma are getting into the action. Fortunately, a new website is making it really easy to see what is going down each night and where. Bookmark www.LiveAndLocalSJ.com to find great music 7 nights a week.

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Downtown ...  Live ...  365

Spread the word

Build the scene

Band info, previews, reviews

Ticketing and future shows

7 Days Out

$ = paid show

All ages unless you see 21+

WEDNESDAY, MAY 23

Laila Smith & The Usual Suspects (jazz) -Fairmont Lobby Lounge 8 p.m. 

Kavanaugh Brothers Celtic Experience (Irish Rock/Soul) - Naglee Park Garage  7 p.m. 

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THURSDAY, MAY 24

The Night Cat Trio (roots blues) - Poor House Bistro 6 p.m.

100% (indie rock/punk) with The Dinners (Indie) - Caravan Lounge 9 p.m.

Chris Landon (multi-genre crooner) – Good Karma Vegan Café 8 p.m.

So Timeless (R&B/soul/funk/jazz) - Blush Raw Bar & Lounge 7 p.m. 21+ after 10 p.m. 

Russo Alberts Trio (classic jazz) - Hedley Club Lounge 8 p.m. 

Band TBD - Rock at O’Flaherty’s Irish Pub 9 p.m. 21+

Live Jazz at Loft Bar & Bistro 7:30 p.m.

SDK (Rock Espanol, Latin Fusions, Bachata, Merengue, Cumbia, Salsa +Top 40) - Azucar Latin Bistro Mojito Bar & Lounge 9 p.m.  21+

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FRIDAY, MAY 25

Mark Hummel and the Blues Survivors (blues harmonica) - Poor House Bistro 6 p.m.

Rick Vandivier (guitar extraordinaire/R&B and jazz) -  Hedley Club Lounge  8:30 p.m.

Sluxy BoBoo (Devo-influenced electronica) -Caravan Lounge 9 p.m.

San Jose Jazz High School All-Stars - San Pedro Square Market 7 p.m.

The Rubber Duckies (alternative electronic/dance) with Stock Foto – The Blank Club  9 p.m. $ 21+

Steven Gary (rock, reggae, country, pop) - A Perfect Finish Wine Bar 9 p.m. 21+

Live Mariachi – Chacho’s Restaurant 6 p.m. 

SDK (Rock Espanol, Latin Fusions, Bachata, Merengue, Cumbia, Salsa +Top 40) -  Azucar Latin Bistro Mojito Bar & Lounge  9 p.m. 21+

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SATURDAY, MAY 26

The Big Rock Show featuring Porch, Industry of Sustainable Destruction, Tinkle Potty, and 8:19 (indie rock) - SLG Art Boutiki & Gallery 7 p.m. $

Melted Horses (70’s inspired bluesy rock) - Caravan Lounge  10 p.m. 21+

John Garcia Band (blues/jazz) - Poor House Bistro 6 p.m.

Kavanaugh Brothers Celtic Experience (Irish Rock/Soul) -  Caffe Frascati  (315 S. First St.) 8 p.m.

Kristen Strom (Jazz saxophonist) at  Hedley Club Lounge  8:30 p.m.

Zombie Pool Party (metal) with String Theory at Johnny V’s. 9 p.m. 21+

The Kirk Tamura Trio (traditional jazz) -  A Perfect Finish Wine Bar  9 p.m. 21+

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SUNDAY, MAY 27 :

Zydeco Voodoo Revival - Poor House Bistro 2 p.m.

Danny Owens (Jazz) –  Good Karma Vegan Café  5 p.m.

Traditional Irish Music - O’Flaherty’s Irish Pub 6 p.m. 21+

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MONDAY, MAY 28

Acoustic open mic – Philz coffee (118 Paseo de San Antonio) 7 p.m.

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TUESDAY, MAY 29

Traditional Irish Music - O’Flaherty’s Irish Pub 6 p.m. 21+

Open mic night –  Caffe Frascati  7 p.m.

Acoustic open mic night –  Poor House Bistro  6 p.m.

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WEDNESDAY, MAY 30

Tip of the Top (blues/American roots) -Affinity Restaurant and Bar -San Jose Hilton 8 p.m. 

Bug Horn Rex – (New Orleans Jazz, Funk/Soul) - The Naglee Park Garage 7 p.m.

Ron Thompson (Blues) -  Poor House Bistro 6 p.m.

Beerijuana (metal/hardcore) with Smooth Sailing and Granted Earth –The Blank Club 9 p.m. $ 21+

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SubZERO Art & Music Festival
Friday, June 1 – music starts at 6 p.m.
SoFA District (South First St. between San Carlos and Reed streets)

Metro Presents Fountain Blues FestivalJuly 14 – music starts at Noon.
St. James Park (entrance at St. John and First St.).

KraftBrew SummerFest (with live music stages)
Saturday, July 21 - starts at Noon.
Post Street, between Market and First St

Symphony Silicon Valley Target Summer Pops
Saturday July 28 – Sunday July 29 and
Friday Aug. 3 – Sunday 5; Fridays and Saturdays at 7:00p.m. and Sundays at 5:30pm.
Click here to download the schedule.
San Jose State University Campus (San Carlos St. at 4th Street) 

San Jose Jazz Summer Festival
Friday, August 10 – Sunday, August 12 (times vary).
Main stage in Plaza de Cesar Chavez; multiple stages throughout downtown 

San Jose Mariachi and Mexican Heritage Festival
Monday, September 10 - 21
Multiple stages throughout downtown

Left Coast Live (3+ stages of live bands all night)
Saturday, September 22 – starts at 4 p.m.
Post Street, between Market and First St.

The Koonzy Paddle Premiers Tonight @ SJSU

06/01 Friday - 06/10 Sunday

Thurs, Fri: 8pm
Sat: 7pm
Sun: 3pm

The Koonzy Paddle

The Koonzy Paddle is a bare-knuckled story about two salty, conflicted brothers, Lyle and Darryl Driggers. Darryl -- long after his divorce and in the grip of resurgent alcoholism -- marries a young woman he has met through an internet mail order bride service. When his new wife betrays him, trouble ensues, and Darryl escapes to the home of his brother and sister-in-law. With the arrival of his vindictive daughter, their lives become a turmoil of comic conflict that awakens memories of sibling grudges and a poignant past, causing the brothers to engage in their ludicrous childhood ritual of "gettin' even."

This humorous play is being co-produced by Spotlite Stage Company and Chamber Productions in association with the SJSU Alumni Association's Alumni Outreach Campaign.

The entire cast and crew are comprised of current students and alumni from SJSU's Theatre Department and is a "Tribute" to the late Theatre Department Chairman, Dr. Hal J Todd.

It was co-directed by Erica Schwehr and it features Steve Trinwith, Wendy Howard-Benham, Stephanie Marsh Ballard and Wes Finlay.

Organization: Chamber Productions & Spotlite Stage Company

Location:

Hal Todd Theatre - San Jose State University

5th Street & San Fernando Street

San Jose 95192

See map: Google Maps

408-400-3818

koonzy.tix@comcast.net

Website:

Event Website

Ticket Information: Opening Night $25 Friday and Saturday evenings $25 (Student/Senior $15) Thursday Evening $20 (Student/Senior $15) Sunday Matinees $15 (Student/Senior $10)

Free Pass to the San Jose Greek Festival!

The Greek Festival is taking place this weekend near St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. There will be tons of food, music, and entertainment. Just print out the flyer below and you'll get in for free!

For a full list of events, click here.

From Blight to Bright - A Cycle Centered Community Cleanup morning in Willow Glen

by Carlos from One Square Mile

Willow Glen Neighborhood Association to launch “from Blight to Bright”; a series of community led beautification projects

Community Cleanup to encourage local residents to walk to “The Avenue”

Photo:BikePortland.org

The Willow Glen Neighborhood Association is hosting the first in a series of community cleanup days this summer on June 9, at 9:30 am until 12:30 pm. This event seeks to highlight the importance of the growing residential communities to the north, along with the increased need for safe and clean areas to walk and bike. From Blight to Bright will include residents from the Elements Apartment Community along with participants in San Jose’s monthly Bike Party rides; helping to move tools and debris by bike.

“With budget cuts severely limiting city services, we felt the Willow Glen community should help out” said Richard Zappelli, Vice President of the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association and tireless community advocate. “We have received tremendous support from our members, the Elements Apartment Community, and our District 6 City Councilmember Pierluigi Oliverio.

The bicycling community has also responded by offering some of their ‘work” bikes to help move food, tools, and debris. As many residents and visitors of Willow Glen are aware, “The Avenue” is clean and well landscaped due to the efforts of the Willow Glen Business Association and financial support from the Willow Glen Community Benefit Improvement District.

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When: Saturday, June 9th, 9:30 am to 12:30 pm
Where: A 1,900 foot section of Lincoln Ave. from Coe Ave. north to Parkmoor Ave. (see map)
Meet at: The Elements, 1201 Parkmoor Avenue, San Jose, CA, for breakfast, tools and assignments. (see map)
Transit available: Light Rail line 902 at Race Street Station, VTA Bus 65 on Parkmoor. With a 12 minute walk from Stevens Creek Blvd. to the north, routes 81 and 23, and with a 24 minute
walk from Coe Ave. to the south via VTA route 64 (see map)
Tools: We will have some tools but feel free to bring your own brooms, hoes, and gloves. See registration via link below. Also if you have a bike trailer that would be great.
To register (to get a count for food and tools): Click here

For the full press release, click here.

Wednesday Wishlist: Bike Sharing Program

Oh wait a minute... this one is actually coming true. Check out this post from our friends at One Square Mile:

San Jose Bikeshare announces 20 proposed stations
by noreply@blogger.com (Carlos)

Last Tuesday, May 22, San Jose Bikeshare announced 20 proposed locations to place Bikeshare pods within the downtown and Japantown areas (see Google Map below). Obvious key locations such as City Hall, SJSU, Diridon Station, and the HP Pavillion were included but other lower key areas of downtown were included as well.

The stations extend from Japantown in the north, Gore Park in the south, Diridon Station in the west, and 9th and San Salvador on the eastern edge of downtown. For those of you who missed the news this summer the city is planning to begin work to close the eastern streetside of Gore Park, South 1st St. to through traffic creating (after Paseo de San Antonio) one of San Jose's few permanent street closures or Paseos.

What do you think of the locations? Could you do any better? Let us know what you think.

For the latest in San Jose Bikeshare news follow them on Twitter.

Popout
View San Jose Bike Share - Proposed Locations in a larger map

5th Annual SubZERO Festival This Friday @ SoFA!!!

The ultimate South First Friday is happening this week on June 1st from 6pm to midnight... SubZERO! In addition to all of the art venues in SoFA being open late, there is live music on 3 different stages, an epic number of street artists and vendors, 10 food trucks, a craft beer tasting garden, and tons of surprises at every corner. If you only come out to a single South First Friday a year, this is the one.

ANNO DOMINI's STAGE with Emcee "Mighty" Mike McGee
(South First St. btwn San Carlos & San Salvador Streets)

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• 6:30-7:10pm FIERCE CREATURES
• 7:30-8:15pm SAN FRANCESCA
• 8:45-9:30pm MONSTERS CALLING HOME
• 10:00-10:45pm FORREST DAY
• 11:15-11:45 STREET DRUM CORPS

WILLIAM STREET STAGE hosted by Grand Fanali
(South First St. btwn Williams & Reed Streets)

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Justin Morales (aka Seabright) is a deejay from KSCU. He will be filling in the gaps with good sounds all night.

• 6:00-6:45pm COMFORT SLACKS
• 7:10-8:10pm MINIBOSSES
• 8:30-9:15pm CURIOUS QUAIL
• 9:45-10:20 FLESH WEAPON
• 10:50-11:30 DRU

SECRET GARDEN STAGE 
(San Salvador St. btwn South First & Market Streets)

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• 7:00-7:45pm TBA
• 8:00-8:45pm DREAM HOUSE
• 9:00-9:45pm VIDA KILLZ
• 10:00-10:45pm DIRTY PILLOWS

FOOD TRUCKS + MORE

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• Barefoot Coffee
• Bill's Hot Dogs
• Mini Yums
• MoBowl
• MoGo BBQ
• Soulnese
• Treatbot
• O Mi Ninja
• Quick Dog
• The WOW Truck

Better Brew Tasting Garden

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Lagunitas presents Better Brew Tasting hosted by BetterBeerBlog

Participating Breweries:

• Bay Brewers Guild
• Lagunitas Brewing Company
• Rock Bottom Brewing
• Strike Brewing Co.
• Tied House Brewery & Café / Hermitage Brewing
• Uncommon Brewers
• Peter B's Brewpub
• Seabright Brewery*
• Stone Brewing Company
• Campbell Brewing Company*
• Santa Cruz Ale Works*
• Rabbit's Foot Meadery*
• Gordon Biersch Brewing Company*
• Cedar Street Brewing*
• Bay Brewers Guild
• more to be announced ...

Improvements to The Alameda Kicking off Soon

The Alameda near Downtown San Jose is about to get $3.9M worth of renovations. There will be new median strips, LED lighting, and safer crosswalks. Most of this will be paid for by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission with about 20% coming from the city of San Jose. The renovations kick off in September and will be capped off with a repaving of the entire street from the HP Pavilion to 880.

If the business owners along the strip are willing to pay for maintenance in the future, they may at some point also add flowing plants, new benches, and extensive landscaping across the sidewalks. After all this is completed, the Alameda could become a very nice walkable district. It's already home to many great retails spots, including The Usuals, Crema, La Dolce Velo, Wine Affairs, and The Arsenal.

Source: The Merc