Things To Do In San Diego: Wednesday, May 18-Tuesday , May 24, 2022: Havnauts | !!! | Aurora | Peaches | North Park Music Fest | Fiesta Del Sol | Peaches | Eric Bachmann | Strand of Oaks |

Aurora Returns to Observatory This Friday (Taken 2.22.2019)

Hey! Look at me! I actually did listings on Tuesday in time for Wednesday!! I even dug deep into the archives to grab some old photos and um, wow. I can definitely tell a difference from moving from my Cybershot point and shoot to a Samsung point and shoot to the basic Canon DSLR that I use today. Whatever, all good memories, and I always love coming across other shows and looking through pics, like finding a treasure trove of old Frightened Rabbit moments that won't ever happen again. It's about four years and a week since Scott Huchison disappeared and was found dead and I think about him all the time and I feel lucky to have deep archives of music and photos, even if some are really, really bad. 

There is a lot going on in town this week and I am certain that I must've missed a few things, but hopefully you've got your plan laid out, your home COVID tests ready to make sure you're not being a spreader, and some good masks you can keep around for when you're interacting or in close proximity with people not from your own household. It isn't that hard and you might thank me later because COVID-19 is still all around us and new subvariants are 'catchier' than ever, , even if you're vaccinated and boosted.

I do want to note that I have posted about the North Park Music Fest but have no connection at all, had no part in booking or promoting, and have no hookup on tickets, not even for myself, so please don't ask me for guestlist.   

Stay safe out there. 

Covid-19 & Black Lives Matter Protests : Community Review Board of Police Practices TODAY | San Diego Beaches & Parks Reopening Schedule

North Park During the 2019 Rock n Roll Marathon 6.2.2019

I try not to think too much about my diet. I especially hate when people talk about dieting. I eat what I eat when I'm hungry and sometimes I eat junk and sometimes I drink and sometimes I try intermittent fasting but whatever, I cook, I eat, it's nothing worth talking about, but yesterday I don't know what possessed me to drink a little bottle of Starbucks mocha, a can of Coke, and then a bottle of Mexican Coke all in the same day but there's a reason I don't really drink coffee or caffeinated beverages. I was up all night long with the caffeine and sugar coursing through my veins. I finally got some sleep today, however, and am feeling much better. I suppose the anxiety of our new property management company coming by today didn't do me any favors, but he was chill and it was short and now it's behind us. There was no Governor's briefing or County briefing today, but the big news is that Community Review Board on Police Practices will be meeting today at 6pm and you can comment now online and watch live when it streams on YouTube. I haven't delved into the news much today, but there is a Downtown to North Park march today, and other links and stories are after the jump.

• There's a protest march happening today from Downtown San Diego to North Park at 5pm that is claiming to be youth led. Many people are vouching for the fact. I'm not here to silence voices, but it's unfortunate that the march starts at 5pm, when really all of the participants could be contributing to the Community Review Board on Police Practices which starts at 6pm. 
• The young protesters have made three demands: 
• (1) Ban military grade weapons on unarmed protesters (tear gas and rubber bullets) 
• (2) Terminate La Mesa PD Officer Matthew Dadge for unlawfully assaulting and detaining an unarmed man 
• (3) Reform police practices and enforce culturally competent training to prevent police brutality and deaths. 
• Again, I don't wish to silence these kids, but marching through San Diego while trying to have a La Mesa PD officer terminated might not be so effective?
• Meanwhile, a national campaign by Campaign Zero has been launched called #8cantwait with specific targets that all law enforcement agencies should aim to meet. 
• See the agenda of the Community Review Board of Police Practices
• Submit a public comment for the Board here (over 3500 comments have already come into the CRBPP)

• George Floyd Updates: Somber Memorial Gives Way to 10th Night of Protest - NY Times (6.4.2020)
• Why Aren’t We All Talking About Breonna Taylor? - NY Times (6.4.2020)
• Sign the Change.org Petition "Justice For Breonna Taylor"
• It shouldn't have taken Covid-19 or protests to make City meetings more accessible but hopefully the YouTube live broadcasts continue even after life returns back to 'normal' and whatever that looks like. You should take the time to peruse the committee and board videos that are now archived, and you can sign up for notifications for future meetings, too. Check out the channel here.
• I've posted a lot about protesting in the time of Covid-19, but I'll just remind people that the numbers of cases in San Diego are still growing, and the disease is known to have a 2-14 day incubation period while some people remain asymptomatic. You should monitor yourself for ANY symptoms (CDC): 
• Fever or chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches
• Headache
• New loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea
• City of San Diego Mayor Faulconer Briefing:
• Update on protests in San Diego (no new arrests on Wednesday)
• Keeping the peace in San Diego
• Community groups need to remain organized and Lead
• Police officers are working around the clock
• Sheriff's request for National Guard in La Mesa
• City of San Diego has not requested nor has used National Guard
• Responsibly invested in SDPD to not feel additional support is necessary
• More than a dozen law enforcement agencies have pledged to eliminate the use of the carotid restraint. (Not one has said what consequences for its use would be)
• City received more than 4,000 comments on emergency Board and Committee Meetings
• Phase 2 Beach Reopening Plan
• June 8- East and West Mission Bay Park. Fiesta Island open for peds, dogs, cyclists
• June 9- All piers and boardwalks open
• June 12-Balboa Park Central Mesa and all parking lots
• July 6- Fiesta Island open to vehicles

Saturday- Free Pre-Father's Day Celebration in North Park

For more information, check the event page here.

Festival of Arts in North Park - May 16 - FREE & ALL AGES - Lineup Announced!

If you've been following this site for any amount of time, you know that my first three months of the year are always crazy as I try to lock in the lineup for the Festival of Arts in North Park. Well, after listening to nearly 100 music submissions and countless texts and emails from artists, our lineups are finally locked in! You can read all about it here.

These lineups and set times are subject to change, but for the most part, this is what you can expect to see on May 16. In addition to these three stages, there is a Dance Stage, a Kids Stage, and a Ray Street Acoustic Stage. 

30th Street Stage (at University)

5pm Barbarian

4pm Blue Eyed Son

3pm Midnight Pine

2pm Vinyl Mill

1pm Chateau

12pm Mayfield

11pm Jesse LaMonaca & The Dime Novels

Observatory Stage (Illinois & University)

4:30 Mr. Tube and the Flying Objects

3:30 Afternoon Dream Serum

2:30 Taurus Authority

1:30 Michael McGraw & The Butchers

12:30 Erik Canzona & The Narrows

11-12:30pm Vinyl Junkies Record Swap DJs

Bar Pink Stage (31st & University)

4:25-5:30/6 Swamp Dogg

3:25-4:05 Schiztophonics

2:20-3:05 Rosalyns

1:20-2:00 Flaggs

12:20-1:00 Bangladesh

11:15-12:00 Mokoto

Upcoming Shows at The Observatory North Park (Updated 3/21)

Here's the update for all The Observatory shows coming up. As I've mentioned, some of the age restrictions and door times have changed slightly, so always check the website day of show to make sure you get there on time. All shows and ticket links listed below.

Last Call for Band Submissions to Festival of Arts in North Park!

The Festival of Arts in North Park is returning on May 16, 2015. The free annual  festival is growing more and more every year. I'm coordinating the music scope of things to some extent, and we will once again be a multiple stage event. There are a super limited number of slots available between three stages, and between Dang and myself and a few other people, we are busy scouting and pulling from our databases to look at the best and brightest San Diego has to offer. However, to be fair, we obviously can't know every band in the region, so we're accepting submissions. The form is super basic and easy, and if you can't meet the minimum requirement of having music online to listen to, frankly you're not what we're looking for. This festival draws in excess of 30,000 people annually and we want bands on our stages who can keep the attention of all those eyeballs and earholes. TODAY IS THE FINAL DAY FOR OPEN SUBMISSIONS.

On a side note, I'm also not looking for any personal pleas. Do not text me, email me, call me, Facebook me to win favor for your band. Just submit the form. As the cliche goes, don't call us, we'll call you.

People always want to know what we're looking for, so keep in mind:

• This is a family friendly event, keep it clean (visually, lyrically)
• We are NOT looking for cover bands
• Bands with cross-demographic appeal (meaning my 7 year old niece might be as interested as my 64 year old mom)
• Reputation matters (in this small town, if you're a dick, we know about it)
• If you can't draw in a club or venue, you need more experience before you're festival ready 
• The three stages we're booking are typically indie, rock, pop, garage, punk. Acoustic acts should contact Alma at Queen Bee's. 
• The Festival of Arts in North Park is free community event to raise money for  North Park Main Street, which is a non-profit organization that benefits North Park in innumerable ways. If you're looking for a big payday, this isn't the event for you. 

Upcoming Shows at The Observatory North Park

Upcoming shows at The Observatory North Park:

2/7 Leftover Crack, Blackbird Raum, Homesick Abortions, Juicy Karkass

2/10 Migos

2/12 Juicy J

2/13 Hepcat, Big Sandy and His Fly-rite Boys

2/14 Logic: Under Pressure World Tour

2/16 Riff Raff, Chanel West Coast

2/19 Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde Live

2/21 Lucinda Williams, The Kenneth Brian Band

2/22 El Tri

2/24 Brett Dennen: Solo Acoustic

2/25 Cold War Kids, Eliot Moss (SOLD OUT)

3/7 Nahko and Medicine For The People

3/14 Jackie Greene

3/19 Trampled By Turtles, Honeyhoney

3/24 Talib Kweli & Immortal Technique

3/27 Young Thug & Travis Scott, Rodeo Hi Tunes

3/29 IAMSU!

4/1 Punch Brothers, Gabriel Kahae

4/2 TV On The Radio (SOLD OUT)

4/8 Kimbra, Mikky Ekko

4/11 The Underachievers

4/12 MOS DEF aka Yasiin Bey

4/13 St. Lucia & RAC, Coasts

4/14 Father John Misty, King Tuff

4/15 Toro Y Moi, Mattson 2

4/16 Clean Bandit

4/17 Belle & Sebastian (SOLD OUT)

4/18 Marina & The Diamonds

4/20 Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

4/23 Tribal Seeds, Leilani Wolfgram

4/24 Tribal Seeds, Hirie, True Press

4/25 Tribal Seeds, Fortunate Youth, Aloha Radio

4/30 The Decemberists (SOLD OUT)

5/1 Matt & Kim

5/9 The Growlers

5/11 South-West Kings Tour: RITTZ and KXNG CROOKED

5/16 Stick Figure, Ballyhoo!

5/28 Neutral Milk Hotel, The Minders (SOLD OUT)

6/21 Misfits

North Park Goes Big For World Cup 2014

I got this email back in November:

Bar and Restaurant owners in North Park are creating a World Cup FanZone in the heart of North Park, at 30th & University, with "Host Venues" showing all games throughout the month-long tournament. Festivites include a family-oriented "Kick-Off" street fair on June 8, 2014, to include a youth parade of nations, mini soccer tournament, skill activities, and live music. Final game to be shown on big screens placed on 30th Street during Closing Festival; also to include food vendors and beer garden...


It appears things have scaled back a bit (or else I completely missed the kick-off street fair which is totally plausible with the week I had last week), but over 20 venues in North Park will be broadcasting the World Cup games. Obviously hours and locations vary dependent on game times, but you can follow along and make your own schedule by checking out the official website here. There's more information from April in Uptown News. Be sure to hashtag #WCNP2014 as your out and about enjoying the games so fellow soccer lovers (and stalkers) can find you!

Be sure to like the page on FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/WorldCupNorthPark
and Follow/Tag them on Twitter: https://twitter.com/WCNP2014  @WCNP2014 because a few people put in a lot of time to make this sweet possibility happen in our neighborhood.

UPDATE (6/12/14): Big news on opening day! With the help of the City of San Diego and North Park Main Street, several business owners in North Park, including Bar Pink, The OfficeBARSD, Caffe Calabria, Coin-Op Game Room, Waypoint Public, West Coast Tavern, Ritual Tavern, Lefty's, Rufskin, Fat Boys, and U-31, have pitched in to close down 30th St. and put a 20' wide jumbotron on the street for the World FIFA World Cup final match on July 13! It will be all-ages and free to the public!


Participating Venues:
Bar Pink
Caffe Calabria
The Office Bar
Bluefoot
Coin-Op
EndZone
Hess
Il Postino
Lefty's
Mosaic
Queen Bee's
Ritual Tavern
Red Wing
Sicilian Thing
Soccerloco Fan Shop
Toronado
True North
URBN
Urban Solace
U-31
Wang's
Waypoint Public
West Coast Tavern

Saturday: The North Park Festival of Arts is Back!

The North Park Festival of Arts is back this Saturday and once again it promises to be a great day of music, craft beer, art, food and vendors. The event is free and all ages, though the craft beer block is a ticketed beer tasting event for 21+.  And, while it's swamp ass hot as hell today, the temperatures should get back to normal on Saturday.

I booked the Main Stage (at 30th and University) and I'm really stoked on my lineup. Dang from Bar Pink booked the 21+ stage in the beer garden, and there are three other stages (Dance, Beat&Eats, Ray Street) to keep you entertained all day. The Festival volunteers and staff who put the whole thing together work really hard to get quality food and curio vendors, artists, and food trucks so that the festival can really stand out above your typical street fair, and you can also stop in to the great business along University and the surrounding streets that you might miss if you haven't been to the area in awhile or just pass by in your car.

Here's my lineup for the Main Stage, hosted all day by Tim Pyles:

11-11:40 School of Rock
11:50-12:30 Soda Pants
fashion show
1:00-1:40 Oh, Spirit
1:50-2:30 Western Scene
2:40-3:20 The New Kinetics
swing dance
3:50-4:30 The Intergalactix
4:40-5:45 The Creepy Creeps

Hope to see everyone there! I'll have a tent in front of Marie's, so stop by and say hello. 

North Park Festival of Arts: The Craft Beer Block Version

This past Saturday, the historic neighborhood of North Park celebrated its 17th Annual Festival of Arts by closing off University Ave. between 30th Street and 32nd Street to allow vendors, artists, chefs, bands and local craft breweries entertain the masses. If you were out and about on Saturday, you already know that the weather couldn’t have been any better for this festival.

I was fortunate enough to break away from my house and make it to the Craft Beer Block which was located off Ohio Street and University Ave. The Craft Beer Block is a mini-beer festival of sorts where dozens of local craft breweries pour their finest brews for attendees. Local favorites such as Ballast Point, Green Flash, Stone, Mother Earth, Belching Beaver, Hess and Pizza Port were some of the twenty four breweries on hand pouring liquid gold.

Some of my honorable beer mentions include Mother Earth Brewing’s Cinco De Rye-O, a rye pale ale brewed for Toronado’s 5th Anniversary as well as Belching Beaver Brewing’s Beaver Milk Stout. The Cinco De Rye-O was a well balanced pale ale with a beautiful amber hue, plenty of rye maltiness and a hoppy pine finish. The Beaver Milk Stout doesn’t sound like a typical summer ale but it was incredibly smooth, roasty and chocolatey enough to make you feel like you were having some yogurt on a warm summer day.  I would not be surprised if the event was sold out because there were people lined up shoulder to shoulder having their taster cups filled with these delicious brews. With that said, it was great to run into some familiar faces at the festival.

One of those familiar faces was local craft beer artist Rudy Pollorena Jr., also known as Craft Beerd. I met Rudy a couple months ago at another local beer festival and have been following his artwork’s success on Facebook and Instagram since then. Rudy is contributing some very original, creative and fun artwork for the San Diego beer community with his most popular piece being the “SD Beer Matrix” pictured below:

You can find this as well as his other pieces printed on t-shirts, posters, canvas, bamboo and aluminum prints (my favorite) at www.craftbeerd.com. If you’re looking for something to do on Tuesday, May 21st (that is tomorrow) at 5pm, Mr. Craft Beerd himself will be debuting his latest custom piece for local craft beer bar and grill, Fathom Bistro Bait and Tackle on Shelter Island. Click on the link below for the event info:

Craft Beerd Fathom Print Release Party

I was also fortunate enough to talk with one of the owners of Belching Beaver Brewing based out of Vista. These guys are brewing some incredible beers including the Beaver Milk Stout I mentioned earlier. They just recently opened up a tasting room in North Park on 30th Street right next to Crazee Burger so if you hadn’t had a chance to try some of their beers, go check out their tasting room and I promise you won’t be disappointed.

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of camaraderie, passion and love that people in the craft beer industry share for one another. Attending the Craft Beer Block reminded me once again of these feelings and it really is one hell of an industry to be a part of. With that said, I know I haven’t been posting a whole lot the past few months on here but it is partially because I have been working on a project over the past year that I am proud to share with you today.

My brother and I as well as a talented team of web gurus have been working on a website dedicated to the rising movement of craft beer trading. With over 2,400 craft breweries currently operating in the United States and many more to come, it is becoming more and more common for craft beer drinkers across the country to trade beer amongst each other. These are beers that wouldn’t normally reach different parts of the country because of limiting distribution laws as well as growing demand of breweries working at maximum production, and this is only the tip of the craft beer iceberg. This is where BottleTrade comes in.

We are working day in and day out to bring a website that revolutionizes the beer trading experience for traders across the country. We are not quite ready for primetime, but will be there in the coming months. Until then, check us out at www.bottle-trade.com and get social with on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Did you make it to the North Park Festival of Arts this weekend? Make sure to post your favorite bands, artists and beers in the comments below.

Cheers,

Charles Eck