Zachary Richard

Only a decade ago, most people's knowledge of Cajun music began and ended with what they knew about fiddler Doug Kershaw, and that was only because he's always billed himself as "The Ragin' Cajun." Nowadays, pop fans across the country--in fact, around the world--have had numerous opportunities to discover how much more there is to the unique music of southwestern Louisiana than that one manic musician with the Marty Feldman eyes.

The Michelob Street Scene, which takes its eighth annual bow on Friday and Saturday in an area covering 12 blocks of downtown's Gaslamp Quarter, is becoming a nationally recognized "Big Event" for a number of very good, somewhat obvious reasons.

Another Michelob Street Scene has come and gone, leaving behind 45,000 satisfied customers and the sounds of some truly great music to reverberate among the buildings of the Gaslamp Quarter. By most units of measurement, the eighth installation of the annual event was the best yet.

This weekend, the streets of downtown San Diego will once again come alive with the sound of music when the Michelob Street Scene touches down in the Gaslamp Quarter for the eighth time in seven years. The event's promoter, Rob Hagey, said it is the most ambitious urban music festival he's staged yet. And, for the first time, there will be two nights of non-stop music, not just one.

What: Seventh annual Taste of Orange County When: Friday, 5 p.m. to midnight; Saturday, noon to midnight, and Sunday, noon to 10 p.m. Where: Irvine Spectrum, where the San Diego (405) and Santa Ana (5) freeways meet, corner of Alton Parkway and Irvine Center Drive, Irvine. Whereabouts: Take the SAn Diego (405) Freeway to the Irvine Center Drive exit and head north. Or take the Santa Ana (5) Freeway to the Alton Parkway exit, and head west.

The 12th annual Street Scene takes place here tonight through Sunday with a lineup of more than 100 performers--far and away the most comprehensive the fest has offered yet. A diverse array, it is being served up on 12 stages covering 21 blocks in downtown's Gaslamp Quarter, and for the first time, a third day of shows has been added.

Some years back in the Louisiana Cajun bayou town of Houma, the Houma Gazette ran stories on a running battle between the town government and a fellow whose property had recently been contained by the newly revised city limits. As the city codes demanded, he was then required to install indoor plumbing, which he fought tooth and nail, standing by his trusty outhouse and hand-pump.

When booking officials at the most prestigious arts center in the country--Lincoln Center in New York City--had an open date recently on the schedule for Avery Fisher Hall, home of the New York Philharmonic, in came a pop vocal duo from 3,000 miles away: Orange County's Righteous Brothers. The Righteous Brothers have never performed at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, though.

One would think the pantheon of guitar gods would have a "No Vacancy" sign on it by now; the guitar has been the dominant instrument in popular music for four decades. Critics, listeners and fellow musicians have had no trouble, though, making room for Sonny Landreth.