Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1182230
Darlene Love: Love for the Holidays December 22, 7pm Sunset Center, Carmel W hile sublime singer Darlene Love first broke out in a big way in the 1960s, especially with her collaborations with producer Phil Spector ("He's a Rebel"), she may be even more recognized and renowned for her work in the past decade. She was part of the Oscar and Grammy award-winning 2013 documentary, "20 Feet From Stardom," that highlighted her early career as a backup singer, and she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011, Oprah Winfrey is working on a biopic of her and she released a new album in 2015, "Introducing Darlene Love." Rolling Stone magazine ranked her #84 of the "100 Greatest Singers." Now she's on a tour with her holiday show, which will feature perhaps her best-loved song, "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" which she recorded for the 1963 holiday album produced by Spector, "A Christmas Gift for You." Fill your hol- idays with Love and a rockin' good time! www.sunsetcenter.org. First Night Monterey December 31, 3pm to midnight Various Locations, Downtown Monterey F irst Night Monterey, the com- munity celebration of the arts that takes over Monterey's down- town on New Year's Eve, may be celebrating its 27th year, but it's also celebrating and honoring the contri- butions of its founder, Paulette Lynch, Executive Director of the Arts Council for Monterey County, who retired this year. The indefatiga- ble Lynch has served and supported the arts in Monterey County for more than 30 years and First Night Monterey (with help from her hus- band, many artists and volunteers) may be her crowning achievement. So when you're enjoying the hundreds of artists, musi- cians and performers in 20 venues downtown, give a shout-out to Paulette and her enduring Monterey institution. www.firstnightmonterey.org. Eric Johnson January 16, 8 pm Sunset Center, Carmel I s there another guitarist out there who is more under the radar than Eric Johnson? (OK, we hear you, Eric Gales fans.) Sure, he's been nominated for seven Grammies, winning one for his 1990 classic "Cliffs of Dover," and guitar aficionados get thrown into a tizzy when he performs, but he's relatively unknown to the casual fan. That could be because he's not just a guitar player, he's proficient on acoustic guitar, lap steel, resonator, bass and he plays piano and sings, and his style crosses a number of genres, including rock, fusion, blues, soul, folk, New Age, classical and country. Here's your chance to find out what all the string and gear heads are going on (and on) about and who Guitar Player magazine describes as "one of the most respected guitarists on the planet." www.sunsetcenter.org. Sebastian Maniscalco: You Bother Me January 18, 7pm Golden State Theatre, Monterey S tand-up comedian Sebastian Maniscalco is on quite a roll. He was in the 2018 Best Picture Oscar-winner "Green Book," he hosted the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, his fifth hour-long comedy special "Stay Hungry" debuted earlier in 2019, he was featured in the latest season of Jerr y Seinfeld's Netflix series "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee," and he published his mem- oir, "Stay Hungry," in 2018. And now he's appearing in Martin Scorsese's eagerly awaited new film, "The Irishman," playing gangster "Crazy" Joe Gallo, which is set to be released in late November. His latest tour, "You Bother Me," will probably be his sixth comedy special, so here's a chance to see it live in per- son before it hits Netflix. It's no wonder Billboard named him their inaugural "Comedian of the Year." www.goldenstatetheatre.com. Sebastian Maniscalco performs on Saturday, January 18, 7pm at Golden State Theatre. C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • H O L I D A Y 2 0 1 9 91 Guitar legend Eric Johnson performs on Thursday, January 16, 8pm at the Sunset Center, Carmel. Photo: Max Crace