Friday Recap: Matt Curreri & The Ex-friends, The Modlins, Punk Rock Karaoke

As I mentioned, my plans are always subject to change, so I skipped out on Kensington Vine on Friday night so I could chill and recharge after a long work week and start the weekend off right. That led me to the Whistle Stop. I got there a little after 10 and the bands hadn’t started, so I said my hellos to some friends until it was time for Matt Curreri and the Ex-Friends to play. I think Matt is one of the better songwriters in San Diego and reminds me a lot of Steve Poltz circa 1996, minus the drunk rolling on the floor stage antics. It had been a while since I’d seen the full band…the last time they played, it was stripped down to open for Rhett Miller, so it was cool to see them all together again. A couple drunk assholes came in at the beginning of their set and harassed them (later I found out it was Derek and Josh Mosh who went into the Whistle with the intent to get kicked out) but after Matt pushed them and the sound guy corralled them outta the show, the door guy wouldn't let them back in and the band carried on and had a fun set. Here are some pics, and the setlist:

The Modlins were up after and they started their set in Jason hockey masks because it was Friday the 13th…pretty funny. I was glad the show wasn’t as crowded at their CD Release because I probably wouldn’t have stuck around. Their 50s/60s inspired pop is always sweet to the ears and they seemed looser on this night, which is always great. A band should feel comfortable in front of a crowd, especially when half the bar (at least) is filled with friends. Here are some pics and their setlist:

After the Modlins finished up, Jason and I took off to the Tower Bar for Punk Rock Karaoke. A lot of my friends were there that I haven’t seen in a while so it was a good time. Rip Griswald was there (from Orion Frequency) and at one point he was pushed outta the bar by some of my other friends. Not cool. I didn’t really see what happened but when I asked a couple of my friends later, they said “he was being a douchebag”. Apparently they didn’t like him trying to sing into the mic and pushing up front, but as I pointed out to my friends…it’s a goddamn punk rock show and other people enjoy punk that are outside their circle of friends and they need to get over it. Eventually Rip was let back into the bar and we did a celebratory shot and nobody bothered him again. A really cool part of the night was seeing Rob Crow do a song. I tried to record it but it’s too damn dark in the bar, so if I can get an MP3 created from the vid, I’ll post it later.

Everyone was there in Sandra's honor.

Of course, her brother Miggs was on fire.

Rip got tossed for a while but was let in later.

Rob Crow does punk rock.

After the Tower, a few friends came over and before we knew it, the sun started to rise, and we finally called it a night. Quite a way to start a weekend…