First: one of the baddest (in a good way) guitarists around Michael Abraham is leading a tribute to legendary jazz bassist/pianist Charles Mingus tonight at Amnesia as part of the SF Jazz Hotplate Series. The band features a sick (again, in good way) lineup of local musicians: Dayna Stephens, Erik Jekabson, Sylvain Carton, George Ban-Weiss, and Eric Garland. 8-11pm. Mike also leads the Wednesday night Jazz Jam Session at Amnesia.

Secondly, on another side of the musical spectrum: STRING METAL band Judgement Day will be performing an intimate little show at the Porto Franco Art Parlor tonight at 7:30pm. Anton Patzner is basically this sicko genius who runs his violin through a Marshall stack. His bro shreds out power chords on the cello and they are joined by a drummer. You will head bang. Hard. The Art Parlor is at 953 Valencia the show costs $15.

Here’s a clip of Judgement Day destroying the Bicycle Music Festival today in Golden Gate Park. I’ve never had my face melted by a violin and cello before!

The cyclists in front are powering all of the equipment. You’ve just got to check out the rig. The wheels spin the rotor of a generator that feeds into a small battery with just enough juice to keep things going for a few seconds. A meter shows the power level. If it drops below green, lights out. This actually happened shortly after I stopped filming and everyone was treated to an unexpected drum solo. While I was pedaling, I found a direct correlation with the power level and the bass instruments. Kick drums and bass lines really draw a lot of power!

You can still catch the rest of the fest when it rides down to Potrero Hill (16th and Irwin) around 6pm.