Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Photos: Flogging Molly, Jon Snodgrass, Scott H Biram @ The Observatory, March 14, 2018

I always mean to post photos the day after a show, but stuff comes up and then I feel like nobody really cares anymore anyway, but real people go out of their way to make it possible for me to be able to shoot, so eventually I acknowledge the photos deserve to see the light of day, even if they're spotty and hazy from my dirty camera. That said, I hadn't intended to go to the Flogging Molly show, and then I realized Jon Snodgrass was opening and though I knew it was sold out, I had to ask anyway, and so I got to be one of the lucky ones in the photo pit. I've been missing the openers at the Observatory a lot lately because they tend to come on at 8 and I always feel bad heading out before Nova's bedtime, but I made an exception for this one.

Scott H Biram opened the show and he's always great to see. He plays the Casbah a few times a year, so I feel like I see him often and I'm fully onboard with the scruffy punk guys doing the twangy outlaw country-tinged singer-songwriter thing. He'll be back at the Casbah on April 7th with JD Wilkes and The Legendary Shack Shakers, where he and Low Volts can have a duel of the best one man band.

Hopefully Jon Snodgrass comes back soon, too He was next onstage and I love his voice so much and he played a few of my favorite Drag The River tunes among his set and made some relatable dad-rock comments throughout the show, too. I've also included an embed (shot with my phone) when O came out to play with him. He has a long history in San Diego and with Cargo Records and gave a nice shout out to Larry Munroe and O and others.

Finally, Flogging Molly hit the stage. It's hard to say anyone is energetic after Gogol Bordello just the week before, but Flogging Molly is certainly up there when it comes to onstage energy. The last time I saw them was at Street Scene what seems like forever ago. I was on the 9th floor of the Clarion watching the street below and a thousand bros in a massive circle pit, and at no fault of the band, having that feeling that Street Scene was over, it had grown too big while downtown open spaces were diminishing. I wasn't wrong, but that's why seeing the band in the contained space of the Observatory felt both nostalgic and hopeful, that all good things come back around. I took hundreds of pictures but have trimmed it down after the jump.

Local Radio News: 98/9 TJ-SD To Launch March 31 and other radio tidbits...

You may or may not have heard that More-FM is modifying their format to be a multilingual and 'Borderless' station branded 98/9 TJ-SD. As much as it pains me to link to a KL penned article, The Reader primarily focuses on the fact that Cesar Gonzalez--owner of the now defunct Mama Testa (home of the best salsa ever but never served without attitude)--will be the first on-air personality at the station, then digs in a little on Halloran, who will be playing three hours of cross-border local artists every weeknight from 9pm-Midnight. As someone who has known Hal for years, and worked with station owner Mario Mayan and sales director Randy Phillips for several years back in the day, I'm super excited about a new radio format to stir the San Diego pot.


From a local music perspective, Halloran and crew are trying to build their local music catalog. Bring CDs to Pitbull Audio in National City 2 pm on Saturday, March 31, or April 7 at 2 pm at Secret Garden [Jardin Secreto] on Manuel Doblado in Tijuana. If you plan on submitting music, note that they are specifically requesting CDs. Don't email links or MP3s. If you don't have CDs, burned ones are usually acceptable, but LABEL them. The CD itself and the case should both include your Band Name, a contact phone number and/or email, web address and track titles. On the case, you might suggest one or two "singles" from the record, bio, band photo, and other pertinent or more specific info. (Perhaps my old San Diego Music Thing notes might help in this situation.)

In other radio news, 91X recently launched a new morning show...The Moug Show...and you know I'm not commuting or listening to radio in the mornings (or even awake) to have an opinion about it. Meanwhile, Woods is back on the air at The Mighty 1090 with the Ben and Woods show, offering up morning sports talk weekdays from 6-9am.
 And on Monday night, I was made aware of the disgusting, tacky, and insensitive photo posted on social media by the new Kevin Klein Live show on 97.3, which has flipped from Energy 97.3 to The Machine 97.3, which will be a classic rock format and taking the Padres broadcasts from Alt 94/9.  The dude's morning show starts today. I'm not posting his shit photo here, but I'm sure you've seen it, and you can see the backlash on NBC, the U-T here  and HERE  and even the Padres. If what he wanted was attention, mission accomplished. I'm not the demo so my not listening doesn't mean shit to them, but for the record, fuck that guy and all the assholes defending the post.

If radio news interests you, you should always keep up on SanDiegoRadio.org and you can see press releases, news, and quarterly radio ratings, and marvel at the fact that country is the 3rd ranked station in San Diego, and more people listen to Christian Radio than to your favorite alternative station. Gag.

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Things To Do In San Diego: Tuesday, March 27- Monday, April 2, 2018


It was a bit of a rough week, I have to be honest. The night of the Music Awards I was already feeling a little sick, enough that I'd almost given up my ticket. It ended up being a long and crazy night and has left me with a hacking cough, achy body, and more jacked up sleeping hours than usual. I rallied enough to catch Lucy Dacus and And The Kids on Wednesday then laid low the rest of the week. I missed the march, but caught Sure Fire Soul Ensemble at Soda Bar then L.A. Salami at Casbah on Saturday, and wasn't up for working a whole Casbah shift but did catch Rhett Miller's set on Sunday, and then Monday was hell because I was feeling better but Darren got some bug or food poisoning so we were tied home. Fortunately Nova was off with my nieces, getting some time in before she leaves to Missouri so hopefully we can at least keep her germ-free before her trip. Supposing Darren's thing is just a quick blip, this week should be a whole lot better.

Thursday, March 22, 2018

KAABOO 2018 Lineup Announced

The 2018 Lineup for KAABOO was released this morning. The festival takes place at the Del Mar Fairgrounds the weekend of September 14-16, 2018. I'm going to just give you the full press release after the jump.


Wednesday, March 21, 2018

2018 San Diego Music Awards at House of Blues

It was another great night on Monday as the San Diego Music Awards were held at the House of Blues. The air was electric, the vibe celebratory, and the beverages flowing. I got to sit with our SoundDiego crew, which was especially awesome as several of our own crew were presenters, performers, and a couple even honored with awards. You can see the full story at SoundDiego. More than the awards, however, it's super awesome to see and hear so much talent in the same room at the same time, and the after party at the Casbah was off the chain and a great chance to catch up with so many old friends. Full list of winners below and more phone cam pics after the jump.

Sure Fire Soul Ensemble
2018 San Diego Music Awards•Official Winners List

The following are the winners of the 27th annual San Diego Music Awards, presented on Monday, March 19, 2018 at House of Blues.

Best Singer/Songwriter- Lindsay White
Best Jazz-Danny Green
Best Jazz Album-Rebecca Jade & Pete Sprague Planet Cole Porter
Best Blues-Whitney Shay
Best Blues Album-Robin Henkel  Slippery Like a Watermelon Seed
Best Country or Americana-Sara Petite
Best Country or Americana Album-Trouble in the Wind Pineapple Moon
Best Hip Hop/Rap-Vokab Kompany
Best Hip Hop or Rap Album-1019 The Numberman Solus Superstes
Best Indie/Alternative-Authentic Sellout
Best Indie/Alternative Album-Grizzly Business Spanish Old Fashioned
Best Pop- Birdy Bardot
Best Pop Album-Marie Haddad Stories from Atlantis
Best Rock-The Farmers
Best Rock Album-Mittens Endlessly
Best World Music-B-Side Players
Best World Music Album- Marujah Marujah Rising
Best Local Recording-Wish & the Well Darling Darling
Best Live Performer-The Creepy Creeps
Best New Artist-Jumbotron
Artist of the Year-Trouble in the Wind
Song of the Year-Ariel Levine-"Sunshine Part 2:On My Color TV"
Album of the Year-Little Hurricane Same Sun, Same Moon
Lifetime Achievement Award– The Paladins

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Things To Do In San Diego: Tuesday, March 20-Monday, March 26, 2018


Another crazy week in the books and another crazy one to come. After spending last Sunday at Safari Park and Monday at the Zoo, we went to see the La Jolla Seals on Tuesday. During the week, I also got to shoot the Flogging Molly show (with Jon Snodgrass and Scott H Biram opening), followed by the Mowgli's at the Casbah in the same night. Friday I hit up the Redwoods Revue, on Saturday we took Nova and my nieces to see Wrinkle In Time, and Sunday night we went to see C.W. Stoneking at Soda Bar after spending the day at Nova's piano recital and hanging out at the Cabrillo Monument tidepools and Monday doing the SDMA's. So yeah. Busy but fun.  Tuesday through Monday archives are after the jump.

Friday, March 16, 2018

Photos: Gogol Bordello and The Lucky Chops at Observatory North Park, March 3, 2018

A couple weeks back, I had the pleasure of shooting Gogol Bordello and The Lucky Chops at the Observatory North Park. When Darren and I were first dating, he had an old Gogol shirt that he wore and cross-referencing shows we'd both been to without knowing each other was one of those things we did as we got to know each other. It was a super amazing night and The Lucky Chops brought an amazing energy to start the show off.  Gogol's full setlist is here  though we dipped out at the encore because Darren wasn't feeling super well. Anyway, I thought I'd already posted these, but found them sitting in my queue, so here they are now. A bazillion more after the jump, including Lucky Chops.



Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Things To Do In San Diego: Tuesday, March 13-Monday, March 19, 2018


Last week was a little less exciting because after working the Hot Snakes show on Wednesday night, I got a bit of a bug and decided to keep it low key the rest of the week, though I did catch Thunderpussy at Casbah on Friday. Still, trying to keep it mellow, we went to the Safari Park on Sunday and the nursery was still open in the afternoon, so we got to ooh and aah over the three 9 week old cheetah cubs. We also hit the zoo on Monday and though the animals aren't particularly a fan of Daylight Saving Time, it means you can stay at the park a little longer than you could before DST. This week is SXSW so pretty chill on the touring acts, but lots of SDMA showcases and preparties to keep you entertained. Tuesday through Monday archives are after the jump.

Monday, March 12, 2018

Photos: Real Estate and Bedouine at Music Box, February 27, 2018

i kinda already told you about the Real Estate show a couple weeks back, but to recap, it was Darren's birthday, February 27th. We got there early because we heard Bedouine was amazing, and she certainly lived up to the expectation. Although I missed it because I was in the back of the room for a minute after shooting, apparently she called out the loud talkers in the room, which only makes me respect her more. The last time we caught Real Estate was at the free Casbah show sponsored by Newcastle, and in the couple of years in between, there was a whole lot of controversy with former guitarist Matt Mondanile and his side project Ducktails, which has ultimately mostly disappeared off the face of the earth in light of #MeToo. We love Real Estate though it isn't exactly clear why they left "Talking Backwards" out of their set. Regardless, we had a great time and especially because our friend Joe came and plucked us from the crowd and put us in the owner's box which is on the 2nd level mezannine, adjacent to the soundbox. It's the best view in the room and we felt honored and lucky to be there. A bazillion photos after the jump.

From the Owner's Seats


Tuesday, March 06, 2018

Things To Do In San Diego: Tuesday, March 6-Monday, March 12, 2018


It was Darren's birthday last week, and it's super hard to celebrate the person you love when they'd rather just quash any mention of it, but he somewhat relented and we ended up having an amazing week. We had the big dinner with my family the day before his birthday, then we went to Music Box on the actual night of to catch Real Estate and Bedouine, where we were gifted the privilege of sitting in the owners' box after I was done shooting. It was a fairly mellow week besides that, until Saturday when Nova went with her team to an LA bout and we stayed behind for the amazingness of Gogol Bordello and The Lucky Chops. I'll try to get a ton of those pics up this week. In the meantime, this week is looking pretty solid with music and fun stuff to do. Full week larchives are after the jump.