by greg m. schwartz
staff writer
A little slice of New York will be coming to the Bay Area in July when Jewish-themed pop culture magazine Heeb brings its annual Diamond Days Festival to Oakland — “the Brooklyn of the West.”
The brainchild of Heeb contributing editor Jay Diamond, the second-year music festival, which will run July 17 to 20, will showcase a variety of indie music acts, from psychedelic rock and garage punk to unplugged folk.
The performances will take place at Mama Buzz Café in Oakland’s uptown district and Ghost Town Gallery in West Oakland.
Last year’s inaugural festival occurred in Brooklyn, where Heeb has been based since its 2001 genesis. Publisher Joshua Neuman said Oakland’s geographical and cultural similarities to Brooklyn made it a natural choice.
“[It’s] near the city [San Francisco], but you have to cross a body of water to get there, which entails driving over a bridge or taking the subway,” Neuman said. “Also, it’s less expensive so a lot of younger, creative types tend to live there, which has resulted in a handful of galleries, cafes, independent music clubs and the like cropping up.
“It’s also got a thriving music scene and a similar indie vibe to Brooklyn.”
In keeping with the festival’s tradition of giving back to the community, Heeb will be donating all proceeds from the festival to Oakland’s Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.
“We wanted the event to support an organization that’s really active in the Oakland community,” Neuman said, “and we feel like right now Ella Baker is doing more for the community than anyone else, [especially] their green-collar job training program and their literacy and education programs.
“They’re really in the trenches, working with the people of Oakland to come up with real, working solutions to problems there.”
The musical lineup includes local acts Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound, No Bunny, Greg Ashley, Bridez, Lazarus and Glitter Wizard, as well as Los Angeles groups including the Chapin Sisters, Ancestors and Tweak Bird. Other performers will come from Seattle, Chicago, Brooklyn and London.
“It’s a total honor to me that they would spend a day playing this fest,” said Diamond, who put together the lineup of about 30 acts.
Chico Foley, co-vocalist and synth player from Ancestors, said that the band had heard of the previous festival in Brooklyn and was intrigued. “We were definitely interested in playing for an event that catered for some progressive acts, and one that ultimately had a charitable platform,” he said.
Foley added that as “atheists and self-proclaimed idiots,” the band members are not avid readers of Heeb, but are fond of satirical publications and are pleased to be involved.
The Heeb fest won’t include any Jewish programming or content, nor will attendees be hearing traditional Jewish tunes.
“We really could care less whether the people in the bands are Jewish or not — though we promise not to hold it against them if they are,” Neuman added. “Our goal isn’t to showcase Jewish musicians or ‘Jewish music’ — a murky moniker that generally signifies some sort of backwards gaze at a mythical, ‘authentic’ past. We’re interested in creating an amazing festival for our magazine’s community, many of whom happen to be Jewish.”
Co-sponsored by U.C. Berkeley’s student radio station KALX-90.7 FM and foodie Web site Chow.com, the festival will also feature a pork cook-off challenge between Heeb and Chow.com. “You can undoubtedly expect us to bring tofu! We plan to show Chow.com how to do things kosher-style,” Neuman said.
Diamond Days Festival takes place July 17 to 20 at Mama Buzz Café, 2318 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, and the Ghost Town Gallery, 2519 San Pablo Ave., Oakland. Daily tickets are $8 and four-day passes are available for $25. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/diamonddaysfest.
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California