Thursday Recap: Chuck e Cheese's, TNT & Casbah

It's been a weird week and admittedly I had some web fatigue. I was a bit sick off and on throughout the week, and on a personal level, my family is tight but with the blow of missing my little sister who is in Alabama, looking for a new job, and finding out my brother is being sent to Iraq, among other personal stuff, I just haven't been as focused here as I might have otherwise been.

So I'm sorry it's taken me so long, but there were some cool things I attended this weekend and they all deserve proper attention.

First, it was to Chuck E Cheese's for Emma's birthday party. I love kids b-day parties and any opportunity to go psycho with Skee Ball. I got to 330, just 20 points away from the damn grand bonus of 250 tickets. boo.

Emma played some games, too, and let's just say be glad she's got 12 years to go before she can get on the road:



And she made sure everyone had a My Little Pony birthday hat:



I even got to see Bush's foreign policy on display:



After the party, I headed down to TNT to finally see Diablo Dimes and the Bloodhounds.

I somehow seem to have missed every other show he's played in town up to this point, and I was a little sad to see that the popularity of TNT seems to be waning. Maybe there was just too much happening in town, maybe it was that there was only one band booked along with DJ Claire. Not sure, but for most of the time in the patio, it was pretty empty. I was glad that by the time Diablo and his band played, more people had arrived.





I liked the retro-swingability to Diablo's music. And what else can you say but the dude rocks a kazoo? It seemed the sound mix was a bit off and the drums weren't as audible as they should've been, but the band was entertaining and as I previously mentioned, the bar sponsor was Absolut 100, a new 100 proof vodka that definitely sneaks up on you. It was great to catch up with old friends and just hang out in the open air in San Diego, finally in weather that required a hoodie.

From TNT, I headed to the Casbah and missed the opening band, but was there in time to see Archways. I didn't catch their whole set, but I really liked what I did catch. They borrow Cooper from Transfer on drums, so there was a good crowd of people out to support them.





Republic of Letters were on third in the evening and I was happy to see them again. Sometimes it seems like I see the same bands so frequently, but then I see them again and I remember why I love the guys so much. They played a full energetic set and I'm happy to see so many familiar faces out when they play. In all the new music I've been listening to when I'm at home, I still make sure to include their disc in the mix of music I listen to when I'm in a quiet space.









By the time Swedish Models came on, I was in full partying mode, chatting on the patio, in to see the bands, then back out on the patio. The Swedish Models did their thing, rocking out and bringing the crowd into party mode with them (and with me)







No worries, the night went late and I cooled it a bit before heading on my way. Such a good night, though, I have to say. Like I said, it was good to see so many friends and meet some new ones, too, catching some great local (and nearby) music along the way.