Listings are done. I don't have a lot to say except there are some great shows this week. With Easter and family and all the things, I don't know how much I'll be out, but I will be working the Adi Oasis show on Tuesday at Quartyard, so say hi if you're coming by. Full listings this week are after the jump.
I know you only see me posting about the zoo these days, but I do swear I get out every once in awhile. I'm looking forward to checking out a preview party at The Sound, and I'm hoping to make it to see Transfer on Saturday night, too. There are also lots of new shows being announced, including Sylvan Esso at The Sound, Avey Tare at Casbah and more to come this week. 2023 is going to be a great year for music and it's only just begun.
Full listings after the jump.
Stay safe out there.
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| Julia Jacklin (Taken 9.25.2018) |
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| Casbah Homies (Taken 12.20.19) |
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| (Taken by Vito de Stefano for NBC SoundDiego 1.23.20) |
We're pretty excited because tonight, me and D have a double date at the Casbah with our friends. It will be our first time eating with other people at a place that isn't my house or my parents' house since well before last March. I kinda wish Casbah had a reservation system, but I'm sure it will be just fine. I'm doing my best to quit Uber so we'll sort out the designated driver thing before we head down. I'm keeping it short because I have to get ready but I hope everyone is enjoying San Diego. There are numerous stories about the high cost of travel expected this summer as hotel, airfare, gas, and car rental prices are all through the roof as businesses exploit the pandemic to try and make up for lost revenue (even though we all know they got bailouts and PPP) so it feels really good to live in San Diego where every day is a staycation and you can find a million awesome things to do.
I did want to note that today should've been Ahmaud Arbery's 27th birthday and we need consequences and convictions for his murderers and we need these cases expedited and tried immediately for his family to get any semblance of justice. White power must be fought everywhere it shows its face, from our communities and neighbors all the way to elected officials.
Stay safe out there.
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| Waiting On Salud Tacos at Casbah San Diego (Taken 4.8.21) |
We did it. Darren and I went to the soft opening of the Casbah. It was so good to see everyone and sneak in some hugs among our fully vaccinated cohorts. There's nice spacing of the tables on the patio and in the Razzmatazz Room, Ben was slinging behind the bar behind a sheet of plexiglass. Cynthia, Janelle, and Emily were among the food and drink runners and it was very expedient. And of course, Salud makes amazing food. Tacos are $3, 3 for $8, or $10 for a plate of 3 tacos, beans and rice. We each had two tacos and an order of shrimp ceviche ($8) and it all hit the spot. We were only there about an hour but of course, not without incident.
It takes a really special type of person to show up at a soft opening of a business that has been closed for over a year and refuse to wear a mask and follow pandemic guidelines. The guy comes in with a lady friend, gets seats and quickly gets their drinks, and then proceeds to get out of seat to skank to the music, bounding from table to table without a mask. When Tom told him he needed to be seated and masked when he's not seated, he had to get sassy. One person out to ruin it for everyone. We settled our tab and were leaving, saying our goodbyes, and sure enough, on our way out, he was escorted out and making a huge scene about it. Mind you, there were like 30 people in the whole space. I am so stoked that the Casbah can be open in some small way, but the stress of rule enforcement there and at any restaurants, bars, and venues is momentous. It's really super simple: don't be a dick. We are a society and as a society, we are expected to conform to rules and norms, and if you don't want to comply and abide the rules, stay home. Or move to Texas or Florida.
There was a lot of news today, particularly President Biden's goals for smart, sensible, and frankly, not enough, gun sense measures and goals. San Diego appears to have stable cases and we may actually see testing start to increase even more as many schools go back to in-person learning on Monday. Nova got her COVID test earlier this week, but I think we'll make a habit of doing that while she finishes out the school year. It's easy, free, and can help us feel some peace of mind until vaccines open up for her age group. Fingers crossed.
Stay safe out there.
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| Godspeed You! Black Emperor press photo |
Julien's 2021 release, Little Oblivions, has been getting some serious repetitive plays in our speakeasy and the opportunity to hear it live is enough reason for all of us to get vaccinated and get our collective shit together to squash this pandemic, so we can all be in the same room at the same time listening to this amazing performer live. I've had the pleasure of working at both of her sold out shows at The Irenic (R.I.P. venue) as well as catching her show with Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers at the Observatory as one third of Boygenius and she is an absolutely stunning live performer who can captivate an audience into dead silent admiration. Little Oblivions is getting all the worthy praises and this show is certain to sell out. Make sure you've got your Ticketmaster login all set up with your credit card when the show goes on sale this Friday at 10am.
Meanwhile, don't expect shows at the Casbah in the immediate future regardless of the new orange tier and the ability to host live music to vaccinated people at a really small capacity, but don't forget the bar is opening Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 6-10pm to serve cocktails, tacos from Salud, and live DJs in the house. It will all be outside on the patio and Razzmatazz Room. COVID-19 safety protocols require a mask for all guest to be worn at all times except when seated and actively eating or drinking. Consider it a test drive and be on your best behavior so they can continue and expand to longer hours and more days in the future.
Casbah Bartender Gets Fanboy, A Rock and Roll Thriller, Up on Amazon Prime!
Five years ago, Casbah bartender/bar manager/co-owner Ben Johnson talked his fellow short film makers into making a feature length film. Luckily they didn’t know how large of a task it would be. After two years of filming and almost three years of editing, Fanboy was born, selling out 5 screens at the South Bay Drive-In in San Diego in January and February.
Fanboy has been accepted onto Amazon Prime streaming platform, and is now available for rent or purchase.
I never thought I'd be writing regularly about epidemiologists, that I would grow to understand virologists and scientists and know the names of my County health officer and CDC directors and stop reading music sites almost exclusively for medical journals and publications. I never thought I'd grow to so deeply appreciate County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher and even Greg Cox. We definitely couldn't have seen the summer of unrest that was to come because Black Lives Matter and a significant portion of our fellow Americans didn't and still don't agree.
I hope that someday I'll be back to the tediousness of posting listings of live music shows around San Diego, and while I know some venues have already hosted shows, I'm going to work with the framework of when I'm personally comfortable returning to shows, I'll start posting about them again. In the meantime, people are still getting ill. People are still dying at an incomprehensible pace, even if it is significantly lower than just one or two months ago.
I miss music and going out and interacting with strangers and seeing recognizable faces joined together for our common love of music, but this year has also restructured my values a ton...going to shows for me now means not seeing my parents and family and that's just not a tradeoff I'm ready or willing to make. This could change in a matter of weeks or months, I can't predict, but until then, stay safe out there, remember the past year in all of it's horror and beauty and stay vigilant, stay safe, and rock the shot when you can so we can discover what a new normal will mean for all of us.
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Vinyl Junkies Record Shack is located at 2235 Fern Street, San Diego, CA 92104
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| My little Strawberry Tikka (Taken 9.7.2020) |
Darren and I had quite the night last night over-imbibing during our self-imposed quarantine. We finished watching Lodge 49 and it was just as confusing an ending as I knew it would be when I realized my friend Andy Siara was one of the writers. The plumber is getting closer to finishing our bathroom and I'm trying to stay positive but he has a lot of sheet rock replacing and caulking and hopefully painting, too, before it looks like a normal bathroom again. Last night I couldn't take it looking like a Grapevine gas station bathroom anymore and cleaned it down, but it's still gonna take a deep cleaning after all is said and done. I don't really understand why anyone would remove well-built fixtures for plastic, but whatever, the guy seems to know what he's doing and hopefully he can properly seal all the gaps and exposed sections before the weekend is here.
We're still low-key quarantining but as I said before, Nova was stung by a bee so we think her fever was a reaction to that. It's funny that on Monday when I was out shopping I picked up a no-touch thermometer at Ross not knowing that we'd all be using it dozens of times that night and numerous times since.
So we're just kicking around the house a lot. Darren popped his rotator cuff while doing stuff around the house, so it's actually convenient that we're all laying low, though I may need to find a sling for him until it gets better. Today I watched the county briefing, skipped the confirmation hearings, caught up on my Bravo shows, and watched American Murder: The Family Next Door which is so insane but put together so well. Shanann Watts certainly documented her life in fine detail. Now I'm watching Upload on Amazon which is way more chill. Hope everyone is doing well out there in the big wide world. We'll be joining you in it soon enough.
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| Sugar Glider at San Diego Zoo Safari Park (Taken 10.10.2020) |
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| Jake Najor (Taken 1.27.2020) |
