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Me, Jake Najor and Tim Fears at the Office (Taken 1.28.2020)

A new phase of reopenings happened over the past few weeks, and with them new records being set on new Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths for the state. I'm seeing places I love reopen, like the Ken Club and The Office and Space and it's so hard not to just find myself wandering out any random night to catch up with my friends.
But I can't do it. I've barely seen my parents for 3 months. I've seen my sister and nieces a few times, but mostly in drivebys, and our one camping trip where we did our best to mask up and socially distance. I'm not throwing that time home away so I can go be careless to have some drinks at a bar or dinner at a restaurant. I miss my friends, I really do. I even got a new interim camera which I can't wait to adjust to and practice with, but I'll save it for the outdoor things. I'm just not ready to sit in any room breathing in the same recirculated air for any prolonged amount of time just because I want this to be over. 
I was feeling pretty nostalgic, however, so I thought I'd so another local venue roundup. After the jump.

Sunday: Bar Pink Celebrates 10 Years

It feels like Bar Pink has been in my life for so long, I was actually a little surprised it has only been 10 years. I remember walking into Dino's one time for a post-CityBeat party and their "ultra lounge" look and was pretty turned off, but by the time the bar flipped to Bar Pink shortly thereafter, being so wowed by everything they did to change it. I knew from that first day that this was a place that spoke to me. Over the years, I've had the pleasure of getting to know the staff, see numerous bands, and also been able to just close it down after a long day of work. This very website exists in part thanks to the support of Bar Pink. The official anniversary party is Sunday night and it's FREE and will feature Mr Adrian Demain and special guests. Sunday is usually a big work day for me, but I'm going to bust my ass to be there to show my appreciation for not just Bar Pink, but what a meaningful impact they've had on all of North Park and you should, too.

Overdue Recap: Slang Chickens & Scarlet Symphony @ Bar Pink, 11.21.08

Yes, I am weeks behind in recaps. I will start with oldest first and post as many, with pics, as I can before I get bored of my own writing.

This show was a week before Thanksgiving. I had me Dmitry the night before and since he was in town another day, I decided to take him out again. I had the plan to hit a few spots, but financially, it just made sense for us to stay at Bar Pink for the night.

The first band was Slang Chickens from LA and I liked how they mixed nostalic 60's style rock with hints of modern alt-country including some sweet banjo playing and some catchy as hell guitar licks.

Dmitry was a dancing maniac and at one point tripped and fell onstage and I had to tell him to chill out a bit, but it was fun and I think the girls he was dancing with had fun, too. I will summize from his enthusiasm throughout the night that he enjoyed his time in San Diego.

Scarlet Symphony played to a swarming crowd. I'm a little embarassed to say that despite the number of times I've seen the band perform and just hanging out at various shows, it was only recently that I actually met Gary and Aaron. And even last weekend when I saw Gary at the Ken Club, he either didn't know this site existed or didn't realize I'm the girl behind it, which is a little bit funny to me.
Anyway, they kicked ass, probably because the low Bar Pink stage allowed the crowd to feel like part of the show.



Like I said, I'd planned on bar-hopping that night, but we stayed pretty late, I dropped Dmitry at his chick's place, and I think I made it to the Ken for last call before calling it a night.

Incidentally, that was the night I photographed the billboard from Mission Gathering. When I posted that picture the next day, it generated 30,000+ hits for my site in a matter of hours, the most comments I've had since Band of Horses, and made it to the front page of StumbleUpon and Reddit. For some perspective, I get anywhere from 500-700 hits a day on weekdays, which means about 20,000 hits monthly. Because of that photo, I got over 85,000 hits in November. Clearly I am doing the wrong kind of blog.

Concert Review: Bushwalla & Dawn Mitchelle at Mueller College; Mad Juana at Bar Pink - 9/7/08

Sunday night was going to be a mellow night but then I got a text from a friend reminding me that the first show of the Bushwalla & Dawn Mitchelle "Acoustic Mayhem" tour was kicking off that night at "Across The Street" the current music home of Twiggs' Coffee Shop musical performances in Normal Heights (held in the Mueller College of Holistic Medicine massage room). Dawn has a beautiful voice and has that singer/songwriter acoustic guitar thing down pat. The dumpster funk rhymes of Bushwalla brought in a packed crowd. Earlier in the year he had done a residence here but since he had not done a show in san diego for a while, I could understand the huge crowd. He did plenty of funky fun songs and a few audience involvement singalongs as well as several freestyle sessions using audience contributions.

By 11:30pm I was ready to call it a night, but considering I had heard an awesome band called Mad Juana featured on Tim Pyles Local 94/9 radio show earlier in the night and considering that they were playing a end-of-the-tour show that same night at Bar Pink, I decided to check it out on the way home to North Park.

When I walked through the door of Bar Pink and saw a beautiful girl dancing with a sword and then pulling out two live snakes... I knew the show was going to be good. The snake charmer was the opening band, and Mad Juana rocked the small crowd with very funky gypsy/accordion/sax/trumpet/violin/world style music. The violin player had skull bones face-paint on and was wearing a head to toe mariachi suit while the lead singer busted out a Melodica on some songs. The band was well dressed and very tight. All I know is, they brought the house down. People were losing their shit left and right. The most fun and dancing I've had at a show in recent memory. Plus it was free. Bravo Bar Pink.





Click 'keep on reading' for more photos / videos of the night

Missed The Boat: Newsy Bits

I'll be brief because I need to get some sleep but wanted to note a couple things :

• For those lucky people "in the know" or who happened to spend Friday at Bar Pink Elephant, The Night Marchers played a special show. I was at the Johnny Rad Fest at the Ken Club, but I heard it was a great night.
• The Radio Room opened tonight. I really look forward to checking out the former Zombie Lounge. I just hope Chris is better about posting shows at the new spot than he is for Kadan because I'd like to keep the venue in my weekly listings.
• Comic-Con is just a few days away and San DIego is buzzing. All 4 days are now sold-out. I heard a rumor that Saturday is going to be a real treat, but alas, I'll just have to follow the tweets since I won't be there. One year of madness was good enough for me.

News Regarding Tower Bar & other stomping grounds

This is not an "official" announcement, but more of a 'keep it in mind' warning. Apparently the Tower Bar received a letter to cease all shows. The bar (supposedly) does not have a cabaret license and after complaints from a neighbor, the SDPD has issued the letter. Mick is in Europe right now, so I haven't personally confirmed anything with him, but just an FYI in case you were planning on checking out the shows this weekend that you might want to have a Plan B just in case the bands are forced to cancel. SDPD, as we all know, has been cracking down on venues regularly over the past year, and as far as I know, has put a cap on new cabaret licenses as well as making it a complete pain in the ass for venues who have a lapse in the license.

In other news, Street reported today that Bar Pink Elephant got a C&D from a chain of clubs based out of New York, Pink Elephant Club, for use of the name, so our North Park bar will simply be known as "The Pink". whatevs. New York swankster clubs can suck it.

Bar Pink Elephant was also in the news this week when Dang was interviewed about a growing graffiti problem in North Park. According to the report, we're not just talking people tagging the bathroom walls, but Dang said vandals got the bar on a busy night and actually spray painted the floor of the stage area. If anyone witnessed this or any other acts of vandalism, the police want to hear from you and are giving rewards for tips that lead to the arrests of these assholes.

Last, rumor has it that a certain Hillcrest club is in escrow. That's all I can say about that right now, but I think this is one sale many bands will surely benefit from if it goes through.

Man, so many changes, huh? "The Office" (formerly Scolari's) is open, the Zombie Lounge is in it's transition to become "The Radio Room", Avalon is part of North By Northpark and hopefully will become the all-ages venue it set out to be. Add Toronado to North Park hotspots getting hipster buzz and you can see the rapid change in our area. For better or for worse...

Video: The Drowning Men "Disorder Here We Come"

It's been a while since I've seen The Drowning Men, but looks like they've been keeping plenty busy. They just posted a music video to "Disorder Here We Come". Check it out, then check them out for free with irradio at Bar Pink Elephant this Thursday night.