Follow Pavement's Example and Support Stockton

Marcus Roth

Stockton boys Pavement in 1999

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Pavement, the beloved slacker indie rock band, recently added a show in its hometown of Stockton to this year's headline-grabbing reunion tour. Stephen Malkmus, Scott "Spiral Stairs" Kannberg, and co. will play the Bob Hope Theatre on Thursday, June 24, the night before they rock the Greek Theatre at UC Berkeley. (Tickets for the Stockton show go on sale this Saturday, and grab 'em quick, because this is the smallest venue the band's booked yet.)

That's great news, not just for Pavement fans, but also for the struggling Central Valley burg, which, due to high crime and economic woes, topped Forbes' list of America's Most Miserable Cities last year. With all those troubles, "California's Inland Seaport" needs more than some half-assed (and we mean that in the best way possible) indie rocker attention. So here are four more famous Stockton denizens, a few of whom could really show the city more love, and others, like Pavement, who are solidly behind the city.

Should show more Stockton love:

Chris Isaak  -- the singer-songwriter who somehow crooned rockabilly into the land of adult contemporary -- began life in Stockton and still calls it home on his MySpace page. But Isaak hasn't played there on his current tour, and it doesn't look like he's scheduled to. This sensitive greaser dude oughta sing the hometown some smooth, soothing songs. For free. 'Cuz life's rough when your tract house is underwater.

Kara Walker's artwork hangs in some of the best museums in the world. Her black-on-white, cut-paper silhouettes usually depict scenes of African-Americans struggling for racial and gender equality. Having seen her work in person, we can testify to its power. So why not hold a Stockton show to inspire budding artists who can't make the trip to New York, where Walker teaches? Or maybe Walker could use her art to tell stories about contemporary Americans struggling for survival in the Great Recession (which hit her hometown especially hard).

Supporting Stockton Quite Nicely:

Dave Brubeck, the 89-year-old jazz legend, studied music at Stockton's University of the Pacific. He and wife Iola Brubeck now have a whole freaking institute of the school named after them, which supports study and research in social and philosophical areas as well as music. Brubeck planned to play all of the classic album Time Out there last year for its 50th anniversary, but due to a viral infection, his son Darius stepped in at the last minute. We'd love to see the master himself play this great album -- and we're guessing some other Stocktonites would, too. We'd even scoot our snooty, SFC-lovin' selves out there to see it.

Dallas Braden is riding a rocket of fame these days after pitching the 19th-ever perfect game in the history of baseball for the Oakland A's on Sunday. Born in Phoenix, Braden grew up in Stockton and still supports the place. Not only does he actually live there (we found him in the phone book), but Braden also sponsors singe-parent children in Stockton little league. He's even known to warm up on the mound to a rap song called "Welcome to Stockton." We don't how to rep your hometown any harder than that.

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