KPRI Holiday Soiree featuring The Head and the Heart, Dawes

Local independent radio station KPRI is holding its annual holiday soiree this year on December 8 at the gorgeous California Center for the Arts in Escondido. Artists include The Head and the Heart, Dawes and Matt Nathanson. Tickets go on sale to the general public this Saturday October 26 @ 10 am PST. Presale tickets go on sale on Tuesday October 22 @ 6 am PST (Password: AEG 2013). Prices range from $40 to $200 plus fees. The ticket link can be found here. The Head and The Heart are touring in support of their recently released album Let's Be Still. (cover pictured to the left).

Blitzen Trapper & Dawes at the Belly Up (10.9.11)

On Sunday night, the Casbah presented Dawes and Blitzen Trapper on a coheadlining tour at the Belly Up, with London duet Smoke Fairies opening the show. I got up front pretty early in the show and didn't leave my spot, so I don't really even know if the show was sold out or not, but it was every bit as awesome as I'd hoped despite being a magnet for the only girl at the whole show who wanted to dance. "Aren't you SOOO excited for Blitzen Trapper?," she asked. "I was." Have all the fun you want, but mind your damn personal space. Anyway, besides her, the show was awesome.

Smoke Fairies kicked off the night and had amazing angelic vocals that made me think they probably come from a choir background and have transitioned into the folksy indie they perform now. Blitzen Trapper was awesome and I was talking to Marty before the show and we realized it's been over two years since the band came to SD...back then, his daughter was one and a half, now she's three and a half and he has a second child who is 4 months old. It was really nice catching up and their set totally rocked, though I have to say it is the first time I've ever seen them NOT play "Wild Mountain Nation" which was a little sad, but they have so much new material that is all great so I really cannot complain. The nice thing about a coheadlining tour was that both Blitzen Trapper and Dawes played full sets.

Dawes was awesome as ever and Taylor is really enjoying throwing in guitar solos in just about every song. I was happy that they slowed down "A Little Bit Of Everything" to really pull the crowd into the lyrics and I decided to shut off my camera for "When My Time Comes" which is one of the greatest singalongs (next to The Silent's Comedy's "I am alright" singalong during "Gasoline"). The video playlist and some photos are after the jump or you can see my photo album on Facebook or on SoundDiego.

Tonight at the Belly Up: Dawes & Blitzen Trapper

It has been so long since I've seen Blitzen Trapper that I don't know if I've even ever shot video of the band, but I'm super excited to see them along with Dawes tonight at the Belly Up. As far as I know, tickets are still available. You would really be a fool to miss this show. I thought I'd reshare my old Dawes videos from the KPRI private listener show on the Hornblower. These are some of my favorite videos I've ever shot and it was when the band was still working out material that was released on this last record. Check them out.

Dawes, The Moondoggies, The Romany Rye @ Casbah, 11.27,2010

I had the pleasure of seeing The Romany Rye, The Moondoggies, and Dawes at the Casbah on Saturday night. It was no secret that I was excited for this show after seeing Dawes earlier this summer on for the KPRI private listener harbor cruise. I'd also seen The Moondoggies earlier this year and have only heard good things about The Romany Rye, so I knew it was going to be a solid show all the way through.

I won't go on too much about the show but I will say that by the end of the night, the Casbah was only about 10 tickets shy of a sellout, but during the bands it started pouring, so all of the merch was moved into the Atari Lounge. Normally the pool tables are covered and moved so people can congregate, so the unexpected rain made the Atari Lounge and the concert room incredibly packed. I should also note that I heard more than a few people say it was their first time at the Casbah and lots of people who came specifically because they'd been on the same harbor cruise. That makes me exceptionally happy.

The Romany Rye kicked off the show and though their music is fantastic and easily graspable, the smile on singer's Luke face makes you feel instantly warm and drawn to the band. At the moment they only have an 8 song CD, but will have a full length record sometime around February.

The Moondoggies followed with a louder more jammed out set. The drummer was apparently sick back at the hotel, so Griffin from Dawes sat in and winged it and did a pretty fantastic job doing so.

By the time Dawes started, the Casbah was packed and though there were plenty of chatty people at the bar, the band played a rocked out guitar heavy set, all the while not drowning out the gorgeous harmonies that were expected. This band is so vocally powerful and never miss a note and it was definitely a show to see.

Here are the videos I shot from the night. Click through the right and left arrows to see them all...there are also a few from each opening band.

Contest: Dawes at the Casbah This Saturday

Over the course of the past month, I've been doling out some prize packages for the Dawes show at the Casbah. The show is this Saturday, and while I've had entries, I can't emphasize enough how much following directions counts. So, for my final contest, I'm giving away two prize packages which include two tickets to the show, the band's full length CD and a 7" vinyl split with Robert Francis (both of which I'll give to you at the show). You have to send your FIRST and LAST name and your phone number in an e-mail to sddialedin AT gmail with the subject "Dawes". You must be 21+ and you have to be available to attend on Saturday night in San Diego. Simple enough, right? I'll let you know by Friday if you've won the package.

Contest: Dawes Prize Package

I've got another Dawes prize pack to award to a lucky reader. It includes two tickets to see Dawes at the Casbah on November 28 (Thanksgiving weekend), a CD, and a 7" split with Robert Francis. Send me an email (sddialedin at gmail) with the subject Dawes and I'll pick a winner before the weekend.

Contest 2: Dawes Prize Pack & Concert Tickets

A couple weeks ago I posted my first contest for Dawes. Last night, I got an email from a friend thanking me for turning him on to the band and it remingded me that I have three more prize packs to give away. It includes the full length CD, a split 7" with Cory Chisel, and two tickets to the show.

If you're interested in seeing Dawes at the Casbah on 11/27 (and are 21+) and would like to enter to win, send me an email sddialedin (at) gmail with the subject "Dawes" and tell me why you wanna go, what song you can't wait to hear live, how you never get out because of your baby, what your Thanksgiving weekend plans are, whatever. Just no broke hard luck stories. Contest entries roll into the next giveaway, too, so you have more chances to win. I'll run this one through Sunday. Winner will be contacted on Monday.

I'm gonna repost this video because I got the best comment on YouTube. It said, "i cried the first time i heard this... amazing...and i'm a grown man!"
I hope this song has the same effect with you. 



You can see the whole YouTube playlist on the last contest page here.

Contest: Dawes Prize Pack

You can officially consider me obsessed. It started with a simple listen to Dawes' CD and then there was that day earlier this year when I caught three of the four members on a KPRi private listener show on the Hornblower. I've been blogging here for nearly four years and I really didn't get a camera until a couple years ago, but in that time I've uploaded over 1300 videos to YouTube, and honestly I don't think there are any of my videos I've watched any more than I've watched those of Dawes. It was an incredibly beautiful San Diego day, and the stripped down nature of the performance made it one of my favorite private listener shows of the year, if not all time.



All of that said, I'm laptopping in bed as I slowly start my day, and I've got the band's CD playing and thought it was time to hook you up. The band is signed to ATO Records and the label was kind enough to send me some freebies to share. The band will be setting out on tour with their final night of tour at the Casbah on November 27, so I'm gonna offer the first of my prize packages this week. You'll get the band's full-length CD, North Hills, a 7" vinyl that has a live version of "When My Time Comes" (split with a live version of "In The Deep End" by Cory Chisel & The Wandering Sons), and a pair of tickets to their show at the Casbah (21+). To enter, shoot me an email (sddialedin at gmail) with "Dawes" as the subject (include first and last name and a phone number) and tell me your favorite song from the video playlist. Or tell me why you wanna see Dawes. Or tell me how much you love me. Or tell me about your hometown. Or tell me about your dog. Whatever...just no sob stories about how broke you are and how you can't afford the $12 advance cover charge because those are the lamest and I'll just delete them. You can buy tickets here if you're not a winner. I'll close this one on Friday, but stay tuned because I have three more identical packages to offer leading up to the show and all entries will be considered, so if you don't win, your entry will roll over into the next contest.

Where Have You Been?: A Weekend Recap

Over the weekend, I had three people tell me they missed me actually writing. I tweet and update all the time, and I do little headers here and there, but I've maybe gotten more self-conscious about bleeding my whole life on the internet. But today I feel like writing. Some psychotic person is harassing my family and friends on Facebook and some other looney is harassing my friends while some troll feels the need to berate me on Twitter, I guess mostly reminding me that I live out loud and gushing about my life is what I do. To read all about it, click 'keep on reading' at the end of this post.


So I'll say it was a brilliant weekend for me. And by "weekend", I'll start with Thursday. After I went to the zoo for the Galapagos Turtle event, I headed to the Hard Rock Hotel for the San Diego Music & Technology Conference. I mostly sat in the back as I listened with one ear as I tried to get some work done on my laptop, but I found the panels to be interesting and informative. Electronic music and the culture are things I try to understand, because even as the panelists agree, watching someone turn knobs or push buttons is insanely boring, but the discussions about new technology and instruments and the innovation around that world were incredibly fascinating and I was happy to be there. I even won a prize from SoundCloud that I gave to Josh, but apparently it would serve me better as a blogger than he as a musician, so we'll see what it entails and I might look into using it here.

After SDMT&C, I headed up to the San Diego Woman's Club. I was selling merch for Mason Jennings and I got there an hour before I had to be there, but was able to catch Mason soundchecking on the grand piano, which was pretty amazing considering there were only 3 other people in the room. By the time we opened up, Mason played for about 90 minutes, after which he stayed until the very last person got a photo and autograph. I was joking all night that Mason Jennings deserves his own chapter in Stuff White People Like which is not a criticism, but there was a very specific demographic at the show. Coming from an advertising background this fascinates me; it's something I pay attention to regularly.

After the show and the final autographs, I made my way to West Coast Tavern, where Brett from Emersen had finished his set and Republic of Letters were setting up. They played a stripped down set without Nick on drums, and though I love their full sound with the whole band, it was great hearing this iteration of the band as well. After the set we stuck around a while before calling it a night.

On Friday morning it was back to the Hard Rock Hotel for the San Diego Music & Technology conference. They had a great social media panel that went above and beyond the usual obvious twitter and facebook information, and some rad panels on lighting, sound design, and Moldover was just fascinating discussing his homemade instruments. I had to leave before closing remarks to get to the post office before closing, but decided to wander over to Analog for happy hour. Aaron Thompson was there and he shared that he's been asked to play bass on a European tour with Fenix TX, so stay tuned for some guest blog posts as he shares his stories and adventures from the road.

After some tasty food, I went to the Casbah where I was able to see Menomena soundcheck. The show was sold out and all of the bands were fantastic, but I felt a bit claustrophobic and left during Menomena to catch Judgement Day at the Soda Bar. They totally kicked ass per usual. Afterward me and the band headed to Malinda & Jake's where they were staying and hung out for a couple hours until I called one of my favorite cabs and called it a night.

On Saturday I sold merch for the early show at the Casbah with Southern Culture on The Skids. I always forget how great this band is live and they're an absolute pleasure to work for, with all of their merch organized and they have a great wireless credit card machine which allowed for a successful day of sales, even though they were running low on merch at the end of their tour. After the show, I stuck around for some Booty Bassment before heading up the hill to the final House Party Girls party. Apparently cops had already broken up the bands, but the party was in full swing when I arrived so I stayed until the last shot of tequila was consumed before heading home (with wet feet after stepping into a small pond in the backyard). Good luck to Heather and Amanda as they jetset around the world for some awesome travel through Mexico, Thailand and Europe. We'll be here ready to party when you come back to visit.

Finally Sunday was the KPRI harbor cruise on the Hornblower with Dawes. I don't think I've ever watched videos so much in my life...these guys were so great and though in my mind I imagined big burly bearded Portland-ish duded, they're LA boys and adorable as all hell. I look forward to their full band set in November at the Casbah.

From the cruise terminal we crossed downtown to hit up Artwalk By The Bay and to see The Heavy Guilt play. If you haven't seen them perform, they're playing at the Adams Avenue Street Fair this weekend and I suggest you catch them.



After heading home and taking a nap (and realizing that my face was tragically sunburnt, complete with sunglass marks like a raccoon), it was up to the Belly Up for Local Natives. I love those kids and it was an awesome show.

Needless to say, I was completely worthless on Monday, though I went back to the Belly Up for an amazing show with Calexico and a fantastic opening band called Sergio Mendoza y La Orkesta from Tucson. Go see them when you can. I hope to get some videos up soon, but with nearly a dozen people on stage, they don't quite capture the awesome.

Last night I went to SDSU to see Phoenix and Neon Indian, and I'll post those pics soonish, too. The craziness never stops, as tonight I'll be checking out the Gaglione Brothers media party, a Pyles session with In Transit Audio, and The Jim Jones Revue at the Casbah. Tomorrow night while I urge you to go check out Meg & Bryan over at West Coast Tavern for a free show, I'll be selling merch for Dungen at the Casbah, and though I haven't completely mapped out the weekend, I know I'll be at the Adams Avenue Street Fair, at the Beauty Bar on Sunday night for their closing party (and one of a few of my birthday celebrations). Monday I'll be at the Felice Brothers who are awesome on their own, but even better knowing that there's a possibility that Conor Oberst will be there...can't ring in my midnight birthday a better way! There's a lot of other birthday celebrating happening for me next week, but make sure you RSVP for the SoundDiego Live event at West Coast Tavern next Thursday with my boys d/wolves as well as an hour of hosted Karl Strauss beer and apps. That should make for a great pre-party before heading to FLUXX for another FLUXX live show with Transfer, The Silent Comedy, Jared Mees and the Grown Children, and Little Hurricane.

and you wonder why I haven't been writing??

KPRI & Hornblower present Dawes

On Sunday morning I was scooped up and headed down to the cruise terminal to catch another KPRI Hornblower cruise, this time with the band Dawes out of Los Angeles. Most of the cruises happen at sunset, so I knew that a free Sunday cruise (while the local Chargers game was blacked out) would be crowded. Fortunately photographer Steve saved me a seat so that I could shoot the show. Wylie, the bassist was unable to attend because he had to fly to New York for his grandfather's funeral, so Taylor played guitar with the rest of the band (brother Griffin and bandmate Alex) helping out with harmonies. It was an amazing set (despite my sunburnt face) and though it was unfortunate that Wylie couldn't be there, we got an incredible performance. Taylor's guitar wasn't even plugged into an amp, just had a single mic on it. He tried out a couple new songs on the crowd, too. The band will be ending their full fall tour at the Casbah on November 27 and I highly recommend getting your tickets for the show. Be sure to check out their site for lots of great videos, an awesome performance on Yours Truly, as well as their most recent Daytrotter session.
These were a few of my favorites of the day:







Here's the full playlist from the day. Click the right or left arrows to navigate through them.