Gayngs & Jamuel Saxon: San Diego After Party

Last week I did merch for Gayngs, which meant I spent the whole time on the patio and didn't really get to see the show (though Nate was inside shooting) but they sounded fantastic and the crowd ate up the performance. After all was said and done, and all the merch counted and the gear loaded, I joined Gayngs and Jamuel Saxon at a nearby hotel where we had some drinks and hung out until the wee hours of the morning. It was actually kinda sentimental as it was the last day of their tour. Nothing crazy, just fun times hanging out.



For the photo gallery, click 'keep on reading'.

Overdue Recap: Random Weekend Notes

Even with all this time on my hands, I haven't been writing as much as I'd like, but I've not been slacking that's for sure. I have finally cleaned up my email accounts, tweaked the site a little bit, and tried to get myself in a position to find a job that makes me happy and fulfilled. Click 'keep on reading' for random stuff, a couple show recaps.

So back to the night I was cut. I was quite happy that I had some plans laid down for the weekend. Natalie came and met me and we attempted to use my flexible spending account at Rite Aid but something was funky with my card, so we decided to have a drink at the Ken Club. Uncle Dickie was there and bought the drinks for us. She left for dinner and I went home for dinner before heading back to the Ken for the show. Charles Musket, Calico Horse, and The Vision of A Dying World were playing, so it was a pretty packed house. I intended to catch the show, but it was my friend Scott's birthday, so I ended up hopping back and forth between the show and the bar. I was really impressed with Charles Musket, which is the new band from a couple Red Feathers and Aaron from Scarlet Symphony, so I look forward to seeing them around soon. I only watched pieces of Calico Horse and The Vision because Scotty had taken care of me on my birthday so I wanted to chill with him. We had a good night and enough shots to help me forget about the pain in my mouth and my employment status.



The next day after hanging around the house for a while, I decided I'd check out The Power-Chords at their in-store at Record City. That was a really good decision. First, I'd never been to Record City before and it is an amazing record store. I don't collect vinyl but this place made me wish I did. They also had free pizza from Luigi's in South Park, which I'd only heard about but had yet to try. Last, it had been a very long time since I'd seen The Power-Chords so I really wanted to see them again. The show was supposed to be at 3, but by the time they loaded in and hung out, they didn't start until about 4 but there were enough peeps there to keep me entertained while we waited.



The Power-Chords played their entire new album from beginning to end. They're songs are short and fast and the perfect band to enjoy while munching free pizza and soda in a badass record store.





Later that night was another Ken Club night. Dagart covered it already but I was there and thought I'd add some photos from the night.

It really was an incredible night of bands. Starting with Saint Motel who had a great stage setup with lamps, ficus trees, and the head of a buck, I was captivated by the organic feel of the stage and how it permeated the music and the entire set. The band is from LA and while this was their first time playing San Diego, it won't be their last if I have any say in it. After their set they were really sweet guys and even hooked me up with a CD.






The Flying Tourbillion Orchestra, also from LA, had their own collection of lamps onstage. As Dagart mentioned, they had some beautiful mixed melodies, but were also mixed in some dancey songs that frankly made me nervous that Kelli was going to step on the pedals behind her with all the dancing around, but she's a pro and didn't have any problems pulling off a great show.



By the time Swim Party played, the room was packed. It was their last show of the year and they brought out Natalie, Matt, and Eric at different times to play with them. Notice Natalie flipping me off, Band of Horses style. She's such a rock star.









Writer closed out the night but since the night started late, they left Swim Party's lights up on the stage. I took a few pictures up front then hung out with Evan in the back as we watched the crowd sway and dance and sing along to Writer. When they were done, the crowd demanded more and they obliged with one more song. Worth mentioning is that their next show will be on November 10th at the Casbah for the 2nd Anniversary of this website with Joel P West and a great band from San Francisco called Low Red Land.



After the show, everyone bailed, but I wasn't quite done for the night. I went to the warehouse party down in Mission Valley where Jake's friend Chuck was DJing. It was kinda crazy. It's a warehouse space and had full club DJs inside and one outside. Bryan, one of the guys who runs the stuff, originally tried to have local bands and it supposedly didn't do that great, but now they just flyer downtown at places like On Broadway where people don't mind dropping $20 for an after party. It was definitely not my scene, but it was fun hanging with Jake and Chuck and people watching. Oh, and people LOVE to have their picture taken.







The party went till well after 4 and Jake and his buddy came back to Kensington with me and we sat in the park until the sun came up. Eventually they bailed and eventually I decided I was finally tired enough to get some sleep.

San Diego: Dialed In Presents! Republic of Letters, AM Vibe, The Lanterns @ The Ken

pre-party! BBQ at my house, 5 pm Saturday. Bring food for grilling and drinks for sharing. And beggin strips if you want my dog to like you.

Foals, Maps + Atlases, Crocodiles - Brick By Brick- 5.25.08

It ended up being a really chill weekend for me. I spent most of Saturday in Chula Vista with my family. We grilled and tried to keep up with the kids...Johanna is 9 months and trying to walk, Claudia is 9 and constantly entertains, and Jasmyne is 5 and responds to "what are you doing?" with a little sass. "Nunya!" "What's nunya?" "None ya business!", then she cracks up. I was there all day and when I got home I was wiped out. It was 9:30 and I thought I'd rest a little, but an hour later, I realized there was nowhere I'd rather be than in my bed. And it was nice. My first Saturday home in ages.



Sunday was more of the same, only we went to my sister's house in PB. I really get bothered when people talk incessantly about the weather and we cracked up because here we were in PB where it was blue skies and sunny, with a cool breeze, and the news crawl said that "dismal" weather had "ruined" Memorial Day weekend. What a bunch of pussies San Diegans can be. Wear a hoodie and stfu. Seriously. May Gray. Get over it. We went up to Kate Sessions Park for a while, too, to let the kids run around, and it was beautiful. The park was packed and we realized that since the beach booze ban, people have taken it to the parks, where it is legal to drink until 8pm (most city parks). A bunch of 20 somethings were playing kickball while a huge gathering celebrated a kid's birthday party. The view from Kate Sessions was beautiful, we could see the mountains out east, the ocean out west, the downtown skyline to the south and even further south, Mexico.



I left PB well in time to arrive at the Casbah for the FM 94/9 end of the month show. I saw some friends, had a michelada, and had some of the free Mexican grub. I caught Jamuel Saxon who opened the show, but had to split because I was told Crocodiles were starting at 9pm at Brick By Brick. I was a little bummed when I got there that they weren't actually going on until 9:30 but no big deal.

I don't know what everyone's deal is with Brick By Brick...maybe I still just have a soft spot from when a friend and I used to hang out there in college, but I've always liked it, although there were some years under different ownership where all the shows were hard rock...so there's that reputation, but really, I like the venue.

Crocodiles started the show and it was their first real San Diego show, though they played a house party on Friday. It's just Chuck and Brandon, iPod beats, some guitar, and a keyboard that was set up atop a trash can. They played in near darkness, with just a red and teal light on the floor behind them so I decided to not bust out my camera. Next time, boys... I think these guys are immensely talented and they've got such great stage presence, can't wait to see them with some actual lights on them.

I was pleased when I arrived to discover that Maps + Atlases was playing. I fell in love with the band when they played the Casbah a while back with Nurses, before Nurses bailed San Diego to move to Chicago to be with Maps + Atlases. The band is incredible, as much to listen to as to watch because of their unconventional ways of playing their instruments and the funky time signatures. I was bummed that Brick By Brick has 7 great stage lights and only used 3 of them...one green and two red, but here are a couple of pics regardless.




I was happy to see the venue filling up because I've heard of some disappointing shows there of late. Foals came out rockin and never stopped. They play fast dancey music, a la The Rapture, and I have to agree with Seth that they're guitar style is also a bit mathy. Regardless of how they're labeled, I was enthralled.








I was also impressed because one of the guitarist was shoeless on one foot and kept hopping around...whether sprained or broken, his energy never wavered and he danced all over the stage. My guess is that his foot probably felt like shit the next day.

I hung up front as long as I could but I was overwhelmed by the saucy girls, particularly the one who kept trying to have a conversation with the band between each song. "Um, excuse me. Wait, I just wanna tell you something. You guys are AWESOME!" Oh, then she tried to bust a move on Seth. Ha! So we ended up listening to the last few songs of the set on the patio.

When the band finished, I made my way back to the Casbah for Jivewire and people were shitfaced. Some nights I can't take it, but this night was just fine and everyone was cracking me up.

Tim was on the turntables...


I also found out it was Mikey's last night at the Casbah. So sad, but he's off to bigger and better things, heading off to Paris to follow his heart. So sweet and best of luck to him.


After Jivewire a bunch of friends came back to my house and we had a good time getting ridiculous until the wee hours of the morning. Wait, 7 am isn't really wee hours anymore, is it? Eventually most everyone went home until it was just a handful of us and we all ended up crashing in my bed, which suddenly wasn't as roomy.

Later Monday I thought I'd head to a couple BBQs but the sad realization that the weekend was over bummed me out and I thought I should get a clear head and avoid social drinking situations. I did head to the Casbah last night, however, so I'll get to posting those pics soon enough. Now, time to do this week's listings.