FM 94/9 About the Music feat. Republic of Letters & The Duke Spirit 7.15.08

Tuesday night was a great night. Petro & Andy picked me, we picked up Eric from his place and headed up to the Belly Up. I was looking forward to seeing The Duke Spirit, but mostly because I love the way Republic of Letters sounds on the stage. With a designated driver, I was stoked to see the Belly Up reinstated their 'beer of the month', so we couldn't pass on Dos Equis for $3. We hung outside for a while until Republic of Letters took the stage. The set was great and because it was an "About the Music" show the venue was packed. It made for a great showing for Republic of Letters and I was proud of their set. They played some new songs and it looks like they'll be recording soon. For some reason there were no front stage lights for their entire set, so you'll have to checkout pics on their MySpace page, but I did post video of them here.

After their set, we hung back outside, and by the time we re-entered the venue, it was insanely packed. I liked The Duke Spirit, but I didn't love them. They're good at what they do, there are just a lot of bands doing what they do...The Ting-Tings, The Noisettes, and Killola come to mind. As it was, their CD was a grower for me- it took several listens to get into it. This is as close as I got to the stage.


With that many people crowding the venue, and Petro having to work early the next morning, we stayed for about half the set. On our way out, I ran into Daye, and he suggested I stay and catch a ride home from him, so I did, but we ended up standing in front of the Belly Up catching up with friends for the remainder of the night.

After he dropped me at home, Dag texted me, so we met for a nightcap at the Ken where all my neighborhood buddies were hanging out. Needless to say, I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

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Republic of Letters @ Belly Up 7.15.08

I had such a great time at the Belly Up on Tuesda9 night for the FM 94/9 About The Music series featuring The Duke Spirit, but honestly I was there for Republic of Letters. I'll post pictures of the whole night later, but I took some video that I'll post for now since I promised some girl from New York (hi, Melissa) in the X1FM chat that I'd take video of the show.

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Air Traffic, Republic of Letters, War Stories @ Soma 5.11.08

After a mellow Mother's Day (we did all our celebrating on Saturday), I headed out to Soma for Air Traffic, Republic of Letters, and War Stories. I was actually hoping that the show was going to run a little earlier than it did because I was also going to see Port O'Brien at the Beauty Bar that night, but I think I got a good taste of the bands.

I grabbed my ticket at the window, and briefly chatted with Adrian from Republic of Letters who told me there weren't too many people in the show. I suggested that on Mother's Day, perhaps moms didn't want to be toting their kids to a show. War Stories was onstage when I went in and unlike the Casbah where I've seen them but was distracted, I liked them a lot on the all ages stage and they held my attention more than they had in the past.





Repulic of Letters took advantage of this show to really draw in the crowd which had grown slightly larger. Poor Nick, though, even with more stage lighting than most of their shows, I still can't seem to get a good pic of him back there behind his kit, but here's some of the rest of the band. And of course, there I was upfront singing along to every song, which is immensely less embarassing at an all ages show. I felt like I was 15 again.





I was watching the clock during the changeover because I knew that Port O'Brien was set to play at 10. RoL finished at 9:19, but it wasn't until 9:47 that Air Traffic finally came out. The lighting for them was a little darker for their set, so I didn't get as many pics as I wanted, but I stayed for about 5 songs and liked what I heard. I'd agree with ChickRawker that they reminded me a lot of Keane, perhaps if I'd stayed I would've seen them rock out more. What I did see, I really dug.







I had to leave, and thanks to a long set change at the Beauty Bar, I arrived in time to see Port O'Brien.

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Ticket Giveaway: Air Traffic

Air Traffic is playing at SOMA on Sunday with my boys Republic of Letters and north county boys, War Stories. They're currently on tour with Elbow, and are kind enough to pass through San Diego despite Elbow not finding it worth their while. Air Traffic will be doing a live studio interview on X1FMradio.com on Sunday before the show if you wanna check out what they're all about.

E-mail me at sddialedin AT gmail DOT com with the subject "Air Traffic" if you want to check out the show. Include your name, address, and phone number.

First place winner gets a pair of tickets to the show, an Air Traffic CD and a poster. Second place doesn't get the tix, but still gets a CD and poster. Since the show is on Sunday, I'll pull my winners Friday morning.

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bill, Republic of Letters, Swim Party, The Sword 4.17.08

I am not gonna disclose how late I ended up staying up on Wednesday night but I was hanging with my Kensington homies and it was very. very. late. Still, a couple Diet Coke refills of my 44 oz cup from AM/PM and I made it through the day. Plus, I had the motivation of knowing I was going to have a three day weekend. After work and a short nap, I was off to the Belly Up for an all local show. Being friends with 3 of the 4 bands certainly has it's perks, so while the first band wrapped up, we hung out backstage.

Bill started and I had to check them out now that Dagart is playing with them, and it had been ages since the one show I saw them at the Alibi. They sounded good, with a little Ben Fold's mixed up with a little jazz and a funky little groove behind every song. My camera just didn't want to cooperate with only the back lights being used, but here are a few pics, apparently almost all of Dag.


We retreated back into the backstage area until Republic of Letters started. Those pics came out even worse, which sucks because their set sounded really great, and I was happy to look around and see other people singing along to their songs.

Last up was Swim Party and I had to stay for a couple songs, even though I was supposed to be heading down to the Casbah, because I had to take them in before their hiatus, and of course, they didn't disappoint.

I left after a few songs, and a short 21 minutes later was at the Casbah. I tried to prepare for the transition in music by playing the hardest shit I could find on my iPod, but nothing quite prepared me for a sold out balls out metal show that I witnessed. I wormed my way around the side, as I do, and I took some pictures, until I realized that the 3 guys playing guitar all looked exactly the same...same length hair and color, and heads hung forward with all their hair hanging over pretty much the whole set. They rocked hard, but it was also entertaining watching the crowd trying to stand upright as they were getting pummelled from behind. It got a little crowded where I was too, so about midway through the set, I realized the sound on the patio was just as good.



After the set I was determined to get a picture of the band's faces, but since I didn't know what any of them looked like, or if they were even on the patio, I just said, "Anyone with long hair, get in the picture." Who knew people would actually listen? I think a couple of them were in the opening bands but I have no idea. Either way, a good representation of the crowd that night.

After all of that I closed my night out at the Ken Club. It was so nice knowing that I had Friday off and I lived up my Thursday to celebrate it.
Then there was the weekend...I'll save that for another post.

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Where I Attempt To Recap A Week's Worth of Music

I really regret not writing about last week sooner, but the spare time I did have I spent going out, then this week I got sick so I just wasn't up for it. So I'll just get to it already, as best I can remember, picking up after the Ryan Adams show at Spreckels.

After that show, Andrea and I headed to the Casbah, where the show was already in progress. We arrived shortly before demasiado took the stage. It was a great night there; the bar was packed and we caught up with all our friends who were there. It was my understanding that demasiado was breaking up because Jon has a new project called Dr Popsicle and The Hair Painted Opera (which is AWESOME, by the way), but when they hit the stage and got a little rowdy, kicking mics and knocking over mic stands, Jon screamed into the mic, "this is not our fucking last show." The tension was broken and they proceeded to play another one of their stellar sets.

Closing up the night was The Long and Short of It. I love this band, and I especially love when people only know Ben Johnson as the quiet bartender at the Casbah and then see him onstage for the first time, either in TLaSoI or as the drummer for Hostile Combover. I was actually surprised how many of my friends were seeing the band for the first time that night, but it made for this feeling of discovery, as if I, too, was seeing them for the first time. Ben's gestures onstage are so convincing, were he to start a church, consider me converted.









After the show, some friends met at my house and we were up till the wee hours of the morning. It was great then, that I had no obligations for Sunday. I didn't even watch the Chargers game. Sacrilege, I know. It was just a good day to laze around, watching movies and whatnot. I love those days. The next day I had to work really late, so it was good to have had a full day of rest.

By Tuesday, I was ready for a great show at the Casbah. Andrea and I lagged a little and missed Fing, but we were right on time for Rafter, who unveiled their latest lineup of three. I love the party when the band is has 10 or 11 players, but I also really enjoyed the 3 piece. With most of Rafter's songs coming in right about 2 minutes (makes sense that he writes radio and tv jingles for a living), all of them are catchy and I was singing along to the ones I know. I bought the latest release Sex, Death, Cassette and love the mood it puts me in when I hear it.

I didn't know anything about The Lonely H or Shaky Hands going into the show, but I genuinely enjoyed both bands. Unfortunately, a week later all I can remember is that I was dancing a lot, that the singer for The Lonely H was really, really tall, that all but one of the guys in The Lonely H are under 21, and that I liked both bands. I'm gonna have to delve into their recorded stuff. We did hang out with Shaky Hands for a little bit, taking pics on the patio, but we didn't stay for too long after the bands ended.

The Lonely H

Shaky Hands





From there, Andrea and I went to Scolari's on a hunt for T-Bone, that found us at Chaser's to chat with Chris Henry and Donny for a bit before we realized how late it was and I dropped her off at home and closed down for the night.

Wednesday night was cold and rainy but I motivated enough to head to U-31 and I arrived in time to catch Republic of Letters and The Midwinters. The day before, U-31 had built their stage for bands, and I look forward to watching the bar grow into a great venue for music as they upgrade their sound system and board. Also of note...since I'd skipped dinner, between bands I went to grab a bite and tried out the taco shop across the street, Hurradurra, which was pretty damn good and is open till midnight. Noted for the future, for sure. I didn't take any pictures that night but we all know I love Republic of Letters, and I'll agree that The Midwinters has a bit of a Ben Folds vibe to them as Natalie noted a couple weeks ago, but what I loved was the lead acoustic guitar and the vocals that were a bit reminiscent of Glen Phillips of Toad The Wet Sprocket, circa Dulcinea. I was glad that the show ended by midnight and considered finding T-Bone again at Chasers, but there was no parking and it was cold and I opted to call it a night since I knew I had a big weekend ahead.

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Friday Recap: Republic of Letters, Hotel St. George, The Roman Spring

With my car dead, I was more than grateful that Abraham picked me up after he got off work and we headed to the Tower Bar. Fortunately, shows always start a little bit later there, so we had plenty of time before The Roman Spring started up. I was really there to just hang out, and the idea of putting more pictures on my camera that was already storing a half gig of pics was daunting, so I didn't take any more pics of The Roman Spring, but the show was fun as always and a lot of people came out for the show.

I did have to bust out the camera for Hotel St. George, since this was just their second show and I missed their set last time, but I didn't capture any that I really liked...still, have to post a couple as a matter of record...







Also, I was scolded because I didn't mention that Hotel St. George has music available for download on their MySpace page here. Matt is always awesome with his swagger when he performs and his marketing line cracked me up. "We have some 3 songs demos for free. If you don't take one, you're an asshole." From the first listen, I was hooked to the demo, and I know they'll be picking up where Vinyl Radio left off, though the music has a little more pop catchiness to it, which I actually like better.

I wasn't gonna take pics of Republic of Letters because I've posted so many in the past, but I actually finally got some decent shots of Nick, since he wasn't hiding in the back and we didn't have to Ken Club black curtain to compete with...








Chris wasn't feeling great and it was clear that his voice was hurting, but I still loved the performance, and I hear they've got some new stuff in the works for 2008. I think it's gonna be a very good year for San Diego music.

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Friday Recap: The Drowning Men, Republic of Letters, Stripes and Lines

I have been really lame about posting on this blog lately so I will get back to full speed soon. As I mentioned, my Friday found me at the Ken Club to see Stripes and Lines, Republic of Letters, and The Drowning Men. A couple people commented that they were surprised that I was not at the Casbah for "The Fest". There's really no discussion necessary...would I rather walk or drive to a bar? would I rather attend a show where my attendance was noticed or in a room where I was lost in a crowd? would I rather see 5 bands that I've seen at least 5 times each or see two bands I've never seen before along with one I already love? The choice for me was simple.

It was a good night for me, though I guess I expected a larger crowd. I really liked all the bands and am glad I chose to check out some new blood.

Stripes and Lines are from north county, but they've been playing more central shows lately and have a show on October 19 at Winston's with West Indian Girl. My pictures came out really, really bad from the entire night so I'm posting them smallish. I liked the dual vocals (and on a couple songs all four members sang), but I liked the drummer/singer Jeremy...the band would go well with Ryan Ferguson.






After Stripes and Lines, we were enjoying the phenomenon outside that was the "Buffy Sing A Long" line. The movie/performance was at midnight, but the line started forming before 11. When the doors were finally opened, the line was wrapped all the way around the corner. Somebody commented that it was pretty sad...hundreds of people paying $12 to see a showthat they probably all own on DVD while inside local bands were playing for free to just a handful of people. Maybe we're all in the wrong biz.


Republic of Letters played second and I'd like to applaud the soundman because the bands were mixed perfectly. For a while there were some questionable sound guys (including the guy who yelled at a band, telling them he knew how to do his job) but lately the guys have known not only how to mix, but how to mix in that room.

Anyway, Republic of Letters did their thing, and the only thing I can add to all the praise I've given in the past is that Adrian is adding backup vocals to more songs and it really adds to the strength of the songs.






Last up was The Drowning Men. I was instantly a fan of these guys. At times the gravelly voice of Eddie Vedder, sometimes a little bit Boey, maybe throw in some Wolf Parade and Win Butler and put it all in a blender. All that to say they have a dynamic sound and I know we'll be hearing a lot from these guys.







Chad is managing the band and hooked me up with a CD after the show which I've been listening to as much as I can the past couple days. It was a great night for me and I'm glad I made the choice to stay in the hood. I heard the Casbah show was great but sometimes I gotta do my own thing, though I heard I missed my big chance to meet Ken. bummer.

I woke up on Saturday with this aching in my side. It's still there, bumming me out, and Jason thinks it might be appendicitis but I'm not really sure. I don't have healthcare right now, so I'm just kinda weathering the pain and will deal with it if it intensifies, but Saturday it was pretty strong, so I skipped Karlfest and everything else that day and watched movies at home. I watched Sleepless in Seattle for the first time all the way through, watched Accepted (and was happy to see the performance on it by The Ringers) and some other random shit. Kiss that Saturday goodbye and consider it wasted...

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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.

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Thursday Recap Preview: Chuck E Cheese's, TNT, Swedish Models, Republic of Letters, Archways at the Casbah

I have a bunch of stuff to post from last night, but I'm gonna head over to San Diego Harley Davidson, then the Casbah, then the Ken Club so I won't be back online until the wee hours, so you'll have to check back this weekend for all the recaps.



I'll be writing about Emma's 4th Birthday Party (and how addicted I am to Skee Ball)



Diablo Dimes at TNT (and the premiere of Absolut 100- 100 proof vodka)

Then Archways, Republic of Letters and the Swedish Models at the Casbah. (I missed the first band)

Republic of Letters "Swept Away"

I'll write about all of it later, but for now, it's time to get this weekend started.

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Wed Recap: Republic of Letters @ Belly Up

I got so caught up in my shit yesterday that I never got the chance to post this entry. I had loaded up all the pics and youtube and everything but just never got to actually write about the show.

Wednesday night, after a couple hours at my sister's house with my parents and the baby, I headed up to the Belly Up to see Republic of Letters. It was their first time playing there and I was so proud of my friends to see how they shined on that stage. A lot of their friends were there, but there were also a lot of people that had probably never heard them before that got into the performance. I've seen the Belly Up floor completely empty for openers so it was nice to see the support of this crowd.





They played for 45 minutes and I think the crowd really liked the Born To Run lead in to Bridge. I was just really enjoying myself. Because of other equipment on stage, Nick had his drum kit up close to the front, so they maybe didn't get max use of the stage, but still were able to move around and get the crowd involved.













After their set, Daye took me backstage and we hung out for a while. I overheard the singer/drummer of Cowboy Mouth talking smack, saying Republic of Letters played over their time and lecturing Nick. In Nick's defense, the club told them to play from 9:15 to 10. In my opinion, that singer sounded like a prissy dick.

I take my music personally so I maybe wasn't listening to Cowboy Mouth without unbiased ears, but to me, they souded like a dirtier version of Barenaked Ladies. I know that people who like Barenaked Ladies LOVE Barenaked Ladies, and it appeared the same for Cowboy Mouth. They definitely command the crowd and get people involved in their music, telling everyone when to clap along, when to raise their arms, when to bring them down, but I was utterly unimpressed. The one lyric I paid attention to said something along the lines of "let me put my tongue down your pants" and I wanted to vomit at the thought of that cheeseball onstage putting his tongue anywhere. People were comparing him to Sam Kinnison and Chris Farley, and I would have to agree, only I wasn't much into their humor either, so Cowboy Mouth, at least for me, struck out on all levels so I left midway through their set.

After I got home around midnight, I decided to walk to the Ken Club since my neighbor decided to do late night laundry and the dryer was on right outside my bedroom window. Sounds like as good a reason as any, right? The bar was sadly quite empty which got my wheels turning a little, but we'll see where my head goes with that thought. Anyway, I didn't stay long, and was in bed shortly thereafter. Wouldn't it be funny if I had called in sick on Thursday??

Another Video Here of Republic of Letters performing their closing song, No Time For Fears

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Vote Republic of Letters!

Republic of Letters was recently featured on "Radio Sophie" for what they're calling "Unsigned Sundays". If you're a fan of RoL, show the love and go vote for them here. It takes two seconds but means a lot...

Also in radio news...anyone hear that one of the local country stations might be changing formats?

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Weekend Recap: The Vision Of A Dying World, Red Feathers, Bunky, Kleeman and Mike

If there's one thing I can say this week is I can't adequately express how happy I am that Independence Day is going to break up this week. My weekend was good but maybe I didn't take full advantage of the time.

Friday night I napped too long before heading to the Tower for the cd release show for The Vision of a Dying World. I passed the Beauty Bar on the way and was glad that I wasn't gonna have to wait in the line that was forming outside. The Tower Bar, while no line, was still really crowded which for some reason is more tolerable in a place like the Tower than at the Beauty Bar.


The Vision of A Dying World played first blew me away with how good their new material is. It had been a while since I'd seen them, and the Atari Lounge at the Casbah doesn't quite get the full effect. It seemed to me like they did pretty well moving merch, too, so good for them finally getting the attention they deserve. The harmonies especially set the band apart from a majority of San Diego bands. I guess it was unfortunate that they played first, because I knew about a dozen people who missed their performance thinking that they were playing last. Still, it was nice to see so many other local bands represented in the crowd considering how many good choices there were for the night.








During Red Feathers I got to talking and was in and out of the bar so I didn't watch their full set. It was their EP release and again, the room was packed as people crowded toward the band. I like the Red Feathers a lot but by that point of the night, I was getting a little claustrophobic. Some people who were at the Battles show started filtering in making it that much more crowded.






It seemed a lot of people left before Bunky played. They were great as usual, but Emily's sweet voice had to compete with all the bar noise. They should've definitely played first, when the crowd was a little less chatty and way less liquored up.

I only stayed for a couple Bunky songs, then headed home an walked to the Ken. All the bands were done but I did get to say hi to everyone, though of course, RoL all left before last call so there was no after party action. I did go home and I guess from having napped too long, ended up staying up till 6 in the morning. Part of it was my neighbor brought home a screamer, part of it was that I ended up watchin "You, Me and Dupree" on demand as well as some free music stuff on Concert.tv and catching up on Flight of the Conchords.

Saturday was a bit of a waste in the day, saved for housecleaning and laundry mostly, but the night was fun. My friend Randall writes a comic book and does computer animation, so he screened his new 6 minute animation of his new Kleeman and Mike comic at Cream. A lot of people came out and since Cream put all beers on special for $1.50, we ended up staying til 10. A group of us then headed to Triple Crown in hopes of playing ping pong, but the patio closed shortly after we arrived and the bar was hot as hell, so we wrapped it up after just a beer, with Andrea, Matt, Ethan and Andrew going to Lancer's, Petro, Chris, Eric and Camilla heading home, and me heading to the Ken Club where it was sadly empty compared to the night before. I did watch Mex do a great Whiskeytown cover of "Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart" but otherwise just sat at the bar with a couple friends until it again was time to go home and again, ended up staying up until the sun was rising.

Sunday I spend time with my family at my sister's place in PB, enjoying an early dinner and ooohing and aaahing over all the baby stuff my sister got from her shower. I made sure to get to sleep early so I could get back on track for real life and the dayjob. I'm looking forward to a good week: Pirate Pete's birthday at the Ken Club tonight with The Postals, The Dissimilars, and Rat City Riot, again at the Ken on Tuesday for Transfer and Apes of Wrath after seeing Avenue Q, a day off on Wednesday with a family bbq then the Padres game with Sara. Then for me I'll probably lay low on Thursday, Friday it's Band of Horses at Cane's followed by the Vinyl Radio show at the Ken, then Saturday it's Sophie's big birthday bash at the Beauty Bar with Fifty on Their Heels and The Vultures. Phew. I love summertime in San Diego.

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Saturday Recap: Art Around Adams, The Donkeys @ Ken

When Saturday rolled around all the plans I had seemed to fall by the wayside. After spending most of the day around the house I decided that I didn't want to get in my car all day, so I nixed the idea of going to the Fiesta Del Sol and instead went for a late lunch/early dinner at Ponce's. My friend Mikey was behind the bar, so we chatted a bit. He told me his roommate's band was playing the Ken Club and I should check them out. After I finished my food, he gave me a shot of tequila, and I was on my way.

I rode my bike down Adams with the intention of just stopping by Lestat's and saying hi and then proceeding to the art, but there weren't a lot of people there, but those that were are all friends, so I ended up staying. I participated in the Adult Spelling bee and again lost first round (6 of 10 were out in the first round) missing on the word "sceptor". The spelling bee was especially funny when some 17 year old had to spell "cunnilingus." Kipper used it in a sentence, "Your mom likes it when I perform cunnilingus" and the poor kid turned bright pink. Kipper is the host and is hilarious onstage, with comedic voices reminiscent of Jim Gaffigan among others. Andrew McNally was the final winner. I guess his strategy of "air" writing on his arm worked...





After the bee, Republic of Letters played a 3 song set. The theme of the day was the letter 'A' so they finished with a cover of Bryan Adams' "The Summer Of '69".



After their set, Addiquit closed the afternoon with a 5 song set. I'm not a fan of much hiphop, but I really admire her for having the courage to get up in front of us. I mean, we're in a coffeeshop in the middle of an afternoon, everyone is sitting, and most of us there are all friends and comfortable with each other. No booze, no dancing, no hype, just everyone sitting, and she still did her thing. Her letter 'A' cover was a freestyle over the beats from "Try Again" by Aaliyah.


After Lestat's, I intended to go finally see some art, but instead went with a couple friends to the Ould Sod. Before we knew it, time had passed, we had 3 beers, and it was nighttime. I rode my bike back home, flustered that it was already 9.

Across the street from my house I saw some lights and was a little curious. At ZEN bodyMIND Sanctuary, there were people out front painting a huge mural. Ross, who works at Zen, explained to me that the mural is a part of the Art Miles Mural Project.



The project has people from all over the world creating murals that will be hung side by side with the expected length of 12 miles, from Cairo to the Great Pyramids, to be on display in 2010. Ross had me paint just a tad, so I could "transfer my energy" into it. After I did so, I went back across the street to my house and had to decide what was up. It was already late, I was still in no mood to drive anywhere, and I was tired. I let an hour pass and then realized that I couldn't stay home, so I mustered up the energy to walk to the Ken Club, still totally skipping Mika Miko & The Muslims at the Beauty Bar and Fifty on Their Heels at the Tower.

Even when I got to the bar, I was tired as hell and not wanting to stay, but Mikey walked in and twisted my arm to stay. It ended up being a fun night, but I stayed pretty mellow, having only 2 drinks in almost 4 hours.

We watched Dear Heart. They were loud, thrashy, head tossing punk. This picture almost perfectly explains the sound.

I was surprised after Dear Heart how chill The Donkeys were. Keyboards, guitar, bass, drums, with three of the four switching up on vocal duties. Kinda 70s but less lazy and stoner than the band's looks would otherwise suggest. I liked it a lot and was glad I made the effort to stay out. Plus, everyone knows that Sundays are for sleeping in...

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Saturday Recap (pt.2): Republic of Letter @ Casbah

After Illinois played, it was time for Republic of Letters. It was their CD Release show and by the time they got onstage, the venue was packed. People were there that I would have expected to be at Coachella. There was something that made me so proud of my friends onstage. A guy who had asked me if the bands that night were any good was dancing his ass off while they played as were lots of other people in the crowd.









During the 3rd to last song Chris and Adrian bumped guitars and went out of tune, so they struggled through one song, but it was actually kinda cool to watch them recover and the crowd support them anyway. I think the band is great, Chris is taking a real lead as a frontman, and by the crowd filled in the Casbah, I know other people feel the same.

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CD Release : Republic Of Letters

I have all kinds of CDs I should be reviewing, MP3s to be posting, and contests to announce, but things have been pretty chaotic for me. First, there's that whole day job thing getting in the way of my real life, then there's my dinosaur of a computer that makes every task take 80 times longer than it should, and then there's my asshole mailman who pussed out the one time my dog was outside, so my mail has been on hold for two weeks already until the boxes are moved outside the property, which apparently isn't as simple as it sounds. drama. All of that said, there are some things I've been paying attention to, so I'll start with one and hopefully gradually increase my mini posts.

Republic of Letters: It's no secret that I love Republic of Letters...the guys are all good friends of mine and I am a fan of their music. In fact, I was a fan before we were friends, so my bias is allowed. I've always compared their music to early U2 or my favorite local band of the early 90's, Blacksmith Union. They worked long and hard recording their EP in LA and it's finally being released at a CD Release show this Saturday. You can listen to their appearance on The Local Pyle by clicking here and scrolling down to The Local Pyle dated 4/22 or check out their MySpace for some of the new tracks. They will be joined by two other Dialed In favorites, Vinyl Radio and Dynamite Walls. Also on the bill is touring band Illinois who are taking a break from touring with The Kooks (presumably while the Kooks play Coachella) and who will be touring later with The Hold Steady (including their stop in SD on June 1). The show is a mere $8 and so worth it.

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Super ridiculously long weekend recap: Snow Patrol, OK GO, Silversun Pickups, Orion Frequency, Republic of Letters, The Dissimilars, The Postals

The weekend is not quite over. Tonight I’ll be at the Ken Club with five bucks in hand to attend the benefit for Free Radio San Diego and you should be there, too. Support local enterprise and be there.

It has been an interesting music weekend for me in that the bands I witnessed couldn’t be more polar opposites. Friday night was spent at the Ken Club for The Postals, The Dissimilars, and Rich White Males.

This was my first time seeing The Postals, despite knowing Fred from his years of employment at the Ken Club and I always thought of him as such a quiet guy. He spent a year in the peace core teaching English in Moldova and according to him, drinking more vodka than most people should ever consume in a lifetime. His band is an aggressive punk band with that accelerated pace that bands have that allow them to play 20 songs in approximately 36 minutes. They were really fun to catch live.

They did not adequately prepare me, however, for my sweet quiet friend Jimmy when he took the stage with the Dissimilars. I mean, I guess I knew Jimmy had a thing with getting down to his tighty whities before, but he took advantage of the space in the room for sure. It was a lively performance, to say the least, and Jimmy knocked half my drink out of the glass in his mad offstage antics. Not quite as full contact as the Homeless Sexuals but not too far from it. And let me just say for the record, I don’t need to see any more of my friends onstage with their chones purposely partitioned so that one’s balls may be seen. I just don’t need to know my friends that intimately. Witness the madness.

By the time Rich White Males came on I was bouncing around the bar and laughing with Jimmy the Worm that I didn’t need to see his balls. It was only a few short months ago that I allowed him to crash at my pad when he was inebriated and had to sternly lecture, “I DON’T SPOON!” So anyway, Rich White Males played and fit the bill just fine with fast aggressive punk but it was drink o’clock and there were red headed sluts to be had. Oh, and to that stalker guy who told me you dumped your girlfriend and you were “just putting it out there,” I don’t know what made you think I care, but you freak me out so please maintain your distance in the future.

Saturday rolled around and I got up early to see if Shins tickets were onsale at Soma. They were not, but Andrea secured tickets on the Casbah site, so we’re golden. It will be my first show at the mainstage at Soma since it’s been in its current location. I couldn’t bring myself to do it for the White Stripes, DCFC, Muse and a ton of others, but I will suck it up and do it.

Still kinda sick, I rested most of the afternoon until it was time to head to the Open Air Theatre for Silversun Pickups, OK, GO, and Snow Patrol. I went with my old friend David, this kinda crazy New Zealander who I met just from seeing each other at shows like Keane, Starsailor and Stereophonics. Not quite thinking, we had a beer at my house before taking off and unfortunately arrived in time to catch SSPU in their last song, “Lazy Eye”. Bummer. This is the venue I’ve been waiting to see them in, too, because Brian is powerful onstage, too much so for HoB sidestage, the Belly Up, and Rimac is indoor so that brings standard arena issues, but the OAT is the perfect venue for his quiet mellow singing to build up into that scream that he does. Poo.

Ok, Go was next and I thoroughly enjoyed their set. I don’t own any of their CDs but I’ve seen them live a couple times and I like their sound, gimmicks and all. There was no choreography on this night, but some cool moments, nonetheless, like when Damian got the entire crowd to do the wave (“This is like an arena for sports, only there’s no sports.”) and when he got everyone in the crowd, during the second verse of “Tonight”, in lieu of lighers, to hold up cell phones, cameras, self-pleasuring devices, etc. for illumination. It was pretty cool. I don’t know all their song titles, but since they tend to follow the formula of repetitive choruses, here’s my completely inaccurate set list with titles I made up. (If you feel like doing the work, you can grade my accuracy of titles):

You Don’t Have to Be Alone (To Be Lonely)
Television, Television
Seemed Like A Good Idea
It’s Not Over Yet
Don’t Ask Me How I Am
Get Over It
Tonight
Invincible
Here It Goes Again
Do What You Want

I don’t know who put this show together, but despite being annoyed that I missed SSPU, this show was amazing in that the tickets said 7:30, the band started promptly, the set changes were fast but still long enough to grab a beer and return to your seat. My only complaint is the port a potty situation, but that is so standard at pretty much every event it’s just something you have to live with. A guy in front of me took a REALLY long time so I was dreading entering behind him, but fortunately he’d not been taking a dump but smoking a joint, so it could’ve been much worse.

While waiting in line for beer, I saw Brian, the singer of the Silversun Pickups, and we took this pic together. His shushing was because he was being incognito in the crowd and didn’t want any attention. If I hadn’t seen him with his girlfriend at the last show, I might’ve turned my head a little in his direction and napped a besito. Maybe next time.

Snow Patrol finally started and I was suddenly happy that all the cool indie crowd have disowned them a la Coldplay and they are comfortably in the mainstream because there’s something to be said for dancing in your seat, singing along, screaming, and being a total dork through the whole set. Not that I would do such things, just like I wasn’t totally crying during Run, but some people were and they were free to do so. Gary was really chatty which is really different from before, and not just chatty, but witty and funny. This was an amazing show in that it’s a huge venue (4,600 capacity) but still felt intimate. I took pictures, but my zoom disappoints, so this is the best of it.

I did compile the set-list by writing lyrics then going back and finding the nonsensical song titles, so here you go.

Spitting Games
Wow
Chocolate
Beginning To Get To Me
Headlights on Dark Roads
How to Be Dead
Grazed Knees
Chasing Cars
Shut Your Eyes
Set The Fire To The Third Bar
Somewhere a Clock Is Ticking
Make This Go On Forever
Ways & Means
Run
You’re All I Have

Encore:
The Finish Line
Open Your Eyes
Hands Open

The show was done by 10:45 or so, but my night was far from over. I headed out to The Alibi, had a drink, then went to the Sports Club to catch the last of the Nevermind The Cancer benefit. Republic of Letters was playing. They did their Nirvana covers and one of their originals and I found my friends and chilled out for a bit.

When they finished, we ventured to the Alibi to catch Orion Frequency. I, of course, had my earplugs, but Andrea and Kara did not, so we hung out on the patio until we heard the bass line of Waiting Room and came in to hear it. Everyone was going crazy for it and demanded that they play it again, and they did. A request for a third time was denied temporarily until they played their own song, then went back into Waiting Room. Sometimes you gotta give the people what they want. They were good sports about it all. After the show, I dropped the girls off and I was sound asleep with a quickness. Thank goodness today was a total day of rest for me…

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Friday Newsy Bits

I haven't done "newsy bits" in a while, but I'll give it a go today.

This only means anything to a handful of people, but Mike, the proprietor of Happy Hour Bar, aka Hobo Bar, confirmed to me the other night (albeit drunk off his ass) that he is selling the bar. The first time I met him, I was curious about his bar and his story. He's owned the place for 13 years and owns a mobile home in Rosarito and plans on retiring down there. Finally he apparently has a buyer. I heard rumors that it was Tim Mays, someone even said it was Dennis Toshima. I don't know who it is, but doesn't matter, I'd pretty much say enjoy it in its current state and then you can pretty much forget about it. Mike said, "gimme 2-3 months and I am outta here." It was also clarified to me that the reason he is able to allow smoking in the joint is because he is the sole proprietor and has no employees.
*****
James, one of my favorite bands of the early and mid nineties is back together. They are playing random shows in London and plan on playing shows and putting out new material, though they are not sure in which order that will occur. You all can get off on Rage Against The Machine reuniting. I'd rather get psyched about the possible opportunity to see James live again.
*****
Local boys Republic of Letters are busy working on their EP and now you can sample a couple of their new tracks on their MySpace page here. The new tracks from their Spirit or Ghost ep are "Bridge" and "Falling Back".
*****
Indie Blogger Nation is going apeshit over SubPop band Loney, Dear which I've avoided because of the stupid name. However, I came across their video on YouTube and love it, so I'll hop on the bandwagon. Here's a video for your pleasure:


*****
In other regurgitated news, Chris Cornell has quit Audioslave. It's about time.

His statement : “Due to irresolvable personality conflicts as well as musical differences, I am permanently leaving the band Audioslave. I wish the other three members nothing but the best in all of their future endeavors."
*****
AM is an LA based singer songwriter originally from New Orleans. He carries the rare if not unique distinction of having every song from his album used in a tv or movie all before the album was ever released. He was praised as having the album of the year on iTunes in the singer/songwriter category. This is more for my KPRI readers than my music snobby friends, but AM is coming to the House of Blues sidestage next week supporting Brian Vander Ark. (February 22) Brian is the singer of The Verve Pipe, remember? Don't act like you don't know. I have the CD at home and can even picture the exact spot in which it has been in my CD rack for the last decade? Has it been that long?
Here's a video of Brian Vander Ark doing Freshman to jog your memory:


Anyhow, AM is awesome and all about meeting his fans, so go check it out. I think it's like $10 and I have a very strong suspicion that the House of Blues issues I complained about for bands do not hold true for solo acoustic artists. Isolation of their voices is what you hope for, in fact. Also, click here for a Billboard.com interview with AM. In my blogging experience, I haven't quite built up the courage to interview anybody because most interviews ask the lamest questions, but somehow, some way, this dumb broad got a job at Billboard interviewing people. Don't blame AM that she is a douche. It's so horrible its actually funny. Anyway, catch AM on his way to SXSW. I will be there and you should be too. Robert and Madison of KPRI, I should be seeing you there.
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That's all I've got today, really, except for this piece of advice: Don't try to cut a Hass avocado with a plastic knife. The skin doesn't break through and the reaction time to realize you're sawing off your own finger is a bit delayed...

It is going to be a GREAT weekend in San Diego.

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Republic Of Letters, Casbah, 2/8/07

Republic of Letters



The best one I could get of Martin



Adrian




.
Chris




Nick

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Thursday Recap: The Roman Spring, Swim Party, Republic of Letters @ The Casbah

Clearly you were too distraught over Anna Nicole's passing to muster the energy to get out last night because the attendance at the Casbah last night was a bit disappointing. Granted, there were plenty of other worthy shows last night, like Fifty on Their Heels at Beauty Bar or The Burning of Rome at Static Lounge and A Vision of the Dying World at the Ken Club, but my choice was clear from the day the show was booked.

I missed Dee Ray, so no review there. And not to be lame, but I've seen and talked about The Roman Spring and Republic of Letters so much it would be pretty redundant for me to elaborate any more than saying I like both bands. Andrea pointed out that The Roman Spring sounded very "Strokes-y" and I'd agree with the assessment. They probably should've turned down a little last night, but I had my handy earplugs so I was fine.

I'm a fan of setlists, so here they are:

The Roman Spring

Republic of Letters had me singing along so I'm really looking forward to the advance copy of their release that I know they are going to get to me as soon as they read this post. I also know that at their next show they will reinstate my lifetime guest list spot that I was promised.

I do not really ever talk about Swim Party. That is mostly because in my recollection, I've only seen them live once or twice and it's definitely been a while, despite knowing Alex and Eric socially for a while now. I love Evervess, Eric's other project and I was so impressed with Swim Party last night. They sounded so good and clean and were quiet in a great way, and the other bands even noticed. They said it was because they usually practice in Alex's kitchen, so they have to be quiet.

Eric is a great vocalist and reminiscent at times of Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse. I don't want to embarass anyone, but if Sassy magazine was still around, I would say Swim Party would definitely show up on the Cute Band Alert. I am gonna get so much shit for writing that. They are playing again next week at the Whistle Stop in support of the Modlins CD release party. (The Ex-Friends are NOT on this bill, thanks Eric for the correction) I highly recommend checking them out and bring $15 of non-drinking cash. $10 for the cool Swim Party shirts and $5 for the EP which are each hand sewn, decorated, and numbered. Each one is unique.

On second thought, make that $30 non drinking cash, cuz you have to buy Modlins merch, too.

Here's the setlist from Swim Party:

I will post the photos later today.

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