Things To Do In San Diego: Thursday, August 3-Wednesday, August 9, 2023: Tiki Oasis | Danny Elfman | Suzanne Santo | Ramy Youssef | Weathers | BLEACHED Festival | ArtWalk | Swive | Thr Good Life | Trombone Shorty | Beck & Phoenix | Noah Kahan | Donny Benet |

Ugh. Sooo COVID is back in my household. Darren woke up on Wednesday feeling like he had a terrible hangover. Only problem was he hadn't consumed any alcohol. He was a little perplexed then decided to test, and alas, those super dark double lines appeared. Of course, we share a household and a bedroom and space so I tested but so far I'm negative and have no symptoms indicating I may be pre-positive. Just Tuesday I was saying how we hardly see each other around here because Nova is off doing their thing and I'm always at the Zoo and Darren is always at work, and then I'm up super late in the living room while everyone else is asleep to make sure I'm all caught up with my actual job, plus email and all the stuff that comes with having this here website. When I do sleep, there's a fan blasting on me from one direction and an air conditioner from the other. All this to say, I really, really hope I can dodge getting COVID again. For now, Darren feels like shit and is isolating in our studio, and we've got fans and air purifiers and open windows and doors as much as possible. Still, it's a little shocking considering his job is like 96% outside. I am so sad for him. Having COVID is really isolating and lonely, besides it being scary and feeling like absolute crap for days. 

And I know this is supposed to be the part of my weekly listings where I mention all the amazing shows and events coming up this week, but the truth is that last week a friend of mine told me that half his friend group that went to Comic-Con tested positive, another friend was canceling his life because his household all tested positive, and you just start to hear about more and more people getting sick -- we're what, like 9 or 10 months past our boosters with new ones yet to be approved -- and testing, and thus public data are non-existent. It's kinda up to us to pay attention to this shit. Literally. (San Diego Wastewater Surveillance). 

Anyway, I always say "stay safe out there" but I mean it. Of course, because I'm a close contact I'm masking up again after months of being lax about it. I'm back on guard. But there are still lots of outside things to do. And I guess I'll be burning through tests in the meantime. Enjoy the amazing shows and events this week. But maybe give everyone a little extra breathing room and keep to well ventilated spaces.  

Stay safe out there. 

SoundDiego: No Fooling: Stay-at-Home Order Inspires Well Well Well’s ‘No Surfing’

A View of Pacific Beach, photo taken January 29, 2020

I wrote another one for SoundDiego about Well Well Well's "No Surfing". It was super fun catching up with Seton and doing all these interviews lately has been kinda fun because I probably wouldn't otherwise talk to many people outside of my family during this stay-at-home time. Check out the article and video below.

No Fooling: Stay-at-Home Order Inspires Well Well Well’s ‘No Surfing’

Check out the video here.

Wrote this song the day the earth stood still and they cancelled surfing...it’s called “No Surfing”
Posted by Seton Edgerton on Tuesday, March 31, 2020

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Friday: Catch TALK TALK SHOW with musical guest Heavy Hawaii at The Loft UCSD

TALK TALK SHOW is a live improvised all green variety show featuring bizarre guests and musical acts. The show celebrates absurdity through bizarre segments. Starring Matt Hoyt as Tim Talkerson and Casey Butler as Chet Giggery. With art direction and design by artist Jason Sherry. This episode‘s special musical guest is Heavy Hawaii.

Fri Dec 13th at the Loft at UCSD. Doors 7:30 Show 8pm. $10. UCSD students get in free.

Loudspeaker Celebrates 30 Years & Earns "Loudspeaker Day" from The City of San Diego

91X's Loudspeaker is celebrating 30 years on the radio. It all started back in 1988 with Marco Collins and has had several hosts over the years, but on Tuesday, the City of San Diego is proclaiming 91X Loudspeaker Day at Council Chambers, and when night falls, there's going to be a full celebration at the Casbah, with music by Low Volts, N-E-1, Rob Crow, Pall Jenkins, Chris Coté, Pony Death Ride, and local karoke hosted by Scotty Pants Karaoke.

I can't say I've been listening from the beginning (I just wasn't that cool as a tween), but I definitely started listening in the Lou Niles era and through high school I'd record the show on cassette and started to get my intro to music that I couldn't see in bars. All the hosts through the years have been amazing and I am so proud of Pyles to continue carrying the torch not just on-air but all over San Diego in celebrating local music. I've heard Marco Collins is making it down for this one, so it is going to be a super special night. I hope to see everyone there.

Here's the schedule:
Low Volts 1200am
N-E-1 1110pm to 1140pm
Rob Crow 1025pm to 1055pm
Pall Jenkins 940pm to 1010pm
Chris Cote 855pm to 925pm
Pony Death Ride - 820pm to 840pm

Scotty Pants All Local Karaoke in the Razzmatazz Lounge

800pm to 820pm
840pm to 855pm
925pm to 940pm
1010pm to 1025pm
1055pm to 1110pm
1140pm to 1200am
and after Low Volts if people are still interested...

The full press release is after the jump.

This Saturday: In Your Neighborhood Block Party

Local music luminary Lou Niles has put together another In Your Neighborhood Block Party at the Pour House in Oceanside. It's totally free and all ages and is a great way for local music fans in North County and beyond to enjoy a Saturday of music and vendors. For more, check out the Facebook Event page.

Video: The Donkeys Unveil "Hurt Somebody"

It has been a long time since I posted a video release, but I kinda love this one, and since it's by our hometown buddies, The Donkeys, I thought I'd share. This is "Hurt Somebody", off their forthcoming EP, Midnight Palms (Is that the opposite of Midnight Pine?), which is out on February 12. They're actually playing the night before--February 11--at Soda Bar, and you can probably get your hands on the EP a night early. Tickets for that show are available here, and you can pre-order the EP on iTunes.


About Midnight Palms:

Tracked largely live-in-the-studio with veteran producer, longtime friend, and fellow traveler Thom Monahan (Vetiver, Fruit Bats, Devendra Banhart), Midnight Palms was recorded at the end of one of the bands blitzkrieg road runs (which might see the band playing as many as 28 shows in 29 days).  The collection's lived-in live feel should surprise few.

The core founding trio of Tim Denardo, Anthony Lukens, and Sam Sprague drive the proceedings.  The fourth Donkey on Midnight Palms is The Hold Steady's Steve Selvidge, stepping in after the (amiable) departure of long-time guitarist Jesse Gulati.  Selvidge hopped on stage with the Donkeys during a show in TX and would end up joining the band for a fair number of those 150 RTBW shows. His pointed, tasteful leads are peppered throughout Midnight Palms.

"The Donkeys are a Californian band through and through. There's no escaping it. A four-piece from San Diego, they've spent the past few years developing a close relationship to distinctly homegrown source materials, bridging the gap between the Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers, Buffalo Springfield, and the Grateful Dead."-  - Pitchfork

"Over the course of The Donkeys' more-than-a-decade-long career, the band has fallen into that special sort of Southern Californian sway. Percussive drum strokes sound like rustling palm fronds on Donkeys songs, and random psychedelic freak outs seem like the sonic equivalent of aimless driving through the Hollywood Hills.”  - Paste

Lou Niles' "In Your Neighborhood" Debut Episode!

When I was in high school, I lived for Sundays. I'd set my VCR for MTV's 120 Minutes, and I'd make sure I had blank cassettes to record Lou Niles on Loudspeaker on 91X. I'd set a timer so I could flip the cassette at the right time, and I remember falling in love with San Diego music, even though there were only a few places as an underager to actually experience it, (especially when said underager got busted with a 'minor in possession' and pretty much banned from Soma by her parents). Lou is back on the Loudspeaker team and active in the music scene once again, and is now doing weekly episodes of In Your Neighborhood with Lou Niles. This first episode cover's Bill Perrine's super rad docmentary, It's Gonna Blow: San Diego's Music Underground 1986-1996, which has been shown around town and is getting traction in various film festivals around the country, too. I love these little bites of San Diego life and hope that Lou continues to bring interesting music bites on a consistent basis.

Friday Night: Reader on Tap at The North Park Theatre

I'll have your full weekend listings up later today, but for now I wanted to let everyone know about Reader on Tap happening Friday night at The North Park Theatre. Technically it's the first show since David bought The North Park Theatre and since I started working there, and I think you're going to love what we've done to the place. New carpet is actually being laid as I type, and it's going to look incredible for tomorrow night's event. Come by and check it out!! (Tickets are available in advance, but we don't anticipate a sell out, so you can also just pay at the door.)

Reader On Tap
Friday, April 25, 2014 at The North Park Theatre
2891 University Ave

$40 VIP includes 10 tastes, 2 full pours, early entry at 5pm, $30 Uber Credit (for new Uber customers only)
$25 General Admission includes 10 beer tastings, $20 Uber Credit (for new customers only) 6-10pm

21+

Transfer
Dead Feather Moon
The Creepy Creeps 
Low Volts
The Schitzophonics

For more information and tickets, click here.

This Weekend: San Diego Music Thing!!

The weekend is nearly upon us and so it's time to talk about the San Diego Music Thing. I've actually been a little bit surprised at how so many of my own friends don't know about or understand what exactly goes on, so here's the basic rundown.

Friday, September 14 and Saturday, September 15, sees the return of the San Diego Music Thing. Think of it less as a "festival" and more of a conference. In the daytime, there are workshops and keynote speakers at the Lafayette Hotel. Topics like Music Industry 101, Marketing, Publishing, and Touring will all be covered. Keynote speakers include Martin Atkins of Public Image Ltd, Wayne Kramer of MC5, and Chuck D of Public Enemy.

By night, the city's music venues open up with showcases featuring local and touring bands. You can see the full schedule here, but I'll also put them after the jump so you can get them on your mobile device easily throughout the weekend.

It seems the biggest point of confusion is the ticketing, so just to clear things up, you can buy tickets here. You can buy a wristband for the full weekend for $55 or for just one day for $35. These wristbands get you into all of the workshops, panels, and keynotes as well as ANY of the nighttime showcases (based on venue capacity, of course). There are also PRESALE tickets for certain showcases available on the same ticketing page. This is recommended if you're not interested or available for the daytime events and you know you just want to go to one venue for the night. For the showcases that don't have presales, they too, will be charging cover at the doors for people without wristbands. The cover charges are usually $10 per venue. If you have a wristband, you do not need to purchase additional venue tickets, but venues will be subject to capacity so plan your nights accordingly. It's gonna be tough hopping around, but I think I'll be hitting up Bar Pink, Casbah, and Sunset Temple on Friday night, with Bar Pink, Claire de Lune, and the Casbah on my Saturday agenda. Of course, that could all change depending on transportation, so we'll see, but you can be sure I'll be Foursquaring/Tweeting all weekend.

Full schedule after the jump.

CityBeat Great Demo Review: Time To Submit

It's already that time of year...hopefully the bruising of your ego has subsided and you've picked your pride off the floor and shaken it out a bit after last year's demo review. The CityBeat Demo Review of 2012 is just around the corner and submissions are now being accepted. Get your demos or albums together. Submissions MUST BE PHYSICAL, even if it's just a burned CD. (You should know the drill- label the disc with project name, tracklist, web link and contact info). For full details, click here. Submissions must be received by February 6 for the Demo Review issue that will hit streets on March 7.

CityBeat Demo Review
3047 University Ave., Suite 202
San Diego, CA. 92104

Adams Avenue Street Fair Accepting Artist Submissions

I've loved the Adams Avenue Street Fair since I was a kid, and this year I'm honored to be a part of the music selecting committee. If your band is interested in performing, don't be shy in letting me know. UPDATE:: Send EPKs to info AT adamsavenuebusiness DOT com. I know this was a bit confusing yesterday, but be glad this is a free and fair process and the committee is not using sonicbids.

CALL TO MUSICIANS
THE 30TH ANNUAL ADAMS AVENUE STREET FAIR IS ACCEPTING MUSIC SUBMISSIONS

The Adams Avenue Street Fair, Southern California’s largest FREE two-day music festival, will celebrate its 30th anniversary on Saturday, September 24, and Sunday, September 25. This year’s Adams Avenue Street Fair will feature more than 70 musical acts performing on six stages along Adams Avenue, in the Normal Heights community.

The Adams Avenue Street Fair will be accepting music submissions from now until Friday, July 8. Please send submissions electronically to our website; www.adamsavenuebusiness.com

Or by mail at:

Adams Avenue Business Association
Attn: Music Submissions
4649 Hawley Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92116

Please no phone calls.

Vote Local: Lesands & Italian Japanese

I don't have the energy to talk about all of this goodness that is coming upon San Diego bands except that Italian Japanese is up for Freshman of the week on MTVu and Lesands is up for band of the month on The Deli, a popular LA music blog. Please take 2 seconds to vote for our locals.

Casbah: New Shows Announced

Since I stayed up super late last night updating the Casbah calendar and since I wasn't very nice to commenter (blahblahblah) who complained that Jeff's Weekly Pick was stupid for highlighting an already sold out show, I thought I'd let you in on all the newly added shows at the Casbah. The new site was launched in January and it seems some people are still missing some things after all this time. When you go to CasbahMusic.com there are several pull down menus. The one you should care most about is "Schedule" (though the grammar police told me that technically it should say Calendar). When you pull down the menus, "Extended" lets you look at the calendar with pop up bios, photos, and occasional links to photos and videos. "Simple" lets you just look at the basic calendar with clickable band links. You should always check the "Outside Casbah" and "Newest Added", too. Outside Casbah is where you'll find Casbah produced shows at other venues, like House of Blues, the Belly Up, The Loft at UCSD Price Center, The San Diego Woman's Club and more.

On to the shows:

8/4- The Bloodflowers, The Secret Seven, Get Your Death On
8/5- The Napoleon Complex, Misc. Ailments, Of Sons and Ghosts
8/10- The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, Rafter
9/19- Ratatat & Guests @ House of Blues
9/22- The Jim Jones Revue & Guests
9/24- BLOWOFF with DJs Bob Mould & Richard Morel
9/27- The Felice Brothers & Guests
10/6- The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band, Mighty Regis
10/14- Frightened Rabbit, Plants and Animals, Bad Veins @ House of Blues
10/21- Azure Ray @ The Loft at UCSD
10/27- Seabear & Guests
11/10- Best Coast
11/13- Stars & Guests @ House of Blues

There are anywhere from 3 to 15 shows added in a week, and there's no regular day when the calendar is updated. The shows confirm and they go on the calendar. Check back frequently or you'll be like (BlahBlahBlah) complaining that Joanna Newsom is sold out.

Free Music Roundup: July 20-26, 2010

Let me catch you up with my life for a second. After doing Comic-con all week (and at least one party or show every night), I was absolutely wrecked. Every muscle and bone in my body ached. I came home on Sunday night after 10:30 and my neighbors were having a party (that had started at 3 pm, by the way. And one that they promised "wouldn't be noisy".) I've created my share of noise over the years, so I tolerated the party for a while. Then it got later. I sent a text message. No reply. I called. No Reply. Then they really blew it by chanting/cheering during the True Blood repeat, which I was seeing for the first time. I actually went out of my apartment midshow and yelled to them so as not to miss my show. I believe it was something like, "[neighbor's name], It's 12:30! On a Sunday! Time to call it a night!" And then I slammed my screen door on my foot. FML.

I am officially that person. Their friends gathered their bibles and left and I was content because I was finally going to get sleep. And man, did I sleep. Well, until the big mouth salon chick opened up shop at 7 a.m. to catch her clients up on her slutty weekend rendezvous. The same time she starts, so does the construction that has that awful beeping that Caterpillers make when they're in reverse. All. Day. Long. *sigh* I remember when Kensington was quiet and I was the loudest one in the hood.

I attempted jumping right into catching up with updating the Casbah calendar and email and posts and job hunting and other "work" come Monday, but my apartment was frightening. So I cleaned. Three loads of laundry. Find places for all the Comic-con crapola. Go through mail. Put all CDs and press kits in one place. Clean the fridge. Clean the litter box. Do the dishes. Dust. More dishes. Vacuum. Make dinner. Do dishes from dinner. Recycle junkmail and magazines from 2009. Fold laundry. Put freshly laundered sheets on the bed. Play with cat while attempting to make bed. Bleed on freshly washed white sheets due to gushing cut from playful but overzealous cat.

It was well into nighttime before I felt like everything was in it's right place and I could finally get to business. I finally started to read the last few days worth of email, one by one. All 323 of them. Naturally, in all of that there was a lot of bullshit, but there were also a lot of free downloads to offer. I haven't listened to all of these though I did sample and they cover a spectrum of genres, so you're just going to have to listen on your own and see if you think they're worth downloading. Unlike last week, most of these bands are not touring through San Diego. I'm putting the locals and the touring bands at the top, but there will be a lot more if you click on 'keep on reading'.

For all downloads (except Fever Sleeves which is at Mediafire), right click and 'save as' or 'save link as' to download depending on your browser. These are all externally hosted by various official sites which have cleared for posting but reserve the right to remove the links at any time, so download them while ya can. This by no means covers all new music, this is just the music that was sent to me over the past seven days to share with my readers.

Fever Sleeves Soft Pipes, Play On
For full album free download, click here.
NPMT at The Ruby Room, August 13

Eastern Conference Champions "Bloody Bells (M. Zero Remix)"
At Beauty Bar San Diego August 17

Fillagar "Gray Area"
Appearing at Soda Bar August 23

The Lights "new new"
Appearing at Soda Bar August 27

Little Gold "Completely Fucked"
Performing at Tin Can with Lovey Dovies, September 1


There was no logical way to organize these, so they're alphabetical.

A Lull "Weapons for War"

Arab Strap Daughters of Darkness"

Awolnation "Burn It Down"

Backwards Quilt "And Then The Sigh"

Blip Blip Bleep "Freak You Out"

Burnt Ones "Burnt to Lose"

Dana Falconberry "Singing Lullabies"

Darker My Love "Split Minute"

Drunken Barn Dance "A Winter's Tale"

FUR "Black Castles"

Gangcharger "Apparition"

Hooray For Earth "Surrounded By Your Friends" (Twin Shadow Remix) "Form" (Oh No Ono Remix)

Jesse Woods "Mind Drips" (Neon Indian Cover)

Jody Porter “Aurora”

John Eichleay "Hideout"

Keegan DeWitt "Say La La"

Lazy "Who Could Break Your Heart"

Le Vice "Shy Guy"
Munk "Down In L.A." (Them Jeans Remix)

Nihiti "Black Cars" "The Return of Kind Ropes"

Pegi Young "Body Breaks" (Devendra Banhart cover)

Rusty Anderson "Where Would We Go?"

Shit Robot "I Found Love (TBD Remix)"

Snuffaluffagus "Brazil Wood Poetry"

Soars "Throw Yourself Apart"

Soft Metals "Love Or Music"

Sunset "Sunshine Hair"

Team Bayside High "No Sleeves Attached" (DJ Mix)

The Murdocks "Black Jesus Knocking"

Tucker Jameson & The Hot Mugs "Last Train Home"

Wartime Blues "Youth"

Woodsman "When The Morning Comes"

Yacht "Nausea" (X cover)

Young Man "Five"

Transfer Update: ROAD TEST

Road test - It always feels like that. A test of endurance, patience,
levels of tolerance...a test of organization, sleep deprivation,
direction, digestion. The things in life that are ordinary seem more
of a challenge when on tour. Time is different. You feel like a week's
worth of experiences are crammed into two days. It is very weird and I
have been trying to figure it out. This last run was the beginning of
the rest of our year and a fine set of times, completing the first
half.

Hometown shows with all the bells and whistles, or horns and strings,
(Marta, Erdis, Frank and Freddie). New team building. One show at
the Viper Room made good on a Monday then off to Seattle, WA where we
had the 7 man crew jammed in a Ford Flex, (Space toaster). Sold out
showing at the High Dive - DAMN FINE rendition of DARK SIDE OF THE
MOON, by Elder Mason closed the eve. Fucking stellar, lads! Zane lost
his mind on mushrooms and wandered off in the night as Cooper and I
lost our composure. Intense lapel negotiation just before 4am
cardboard pizza showed up to beckon the wasted sandman.

On to Bellingham where the beer flows like wine and the women
instinctively flock elsewhere. Played to the family who scream, buy
shots and jump on stage during the set, (the best part). All the
while, filling the cash registers in trade for booze with corn
husking, hard earnin, tig weldin money. Actually, I have no idea what
the occupational trend is but they drink a hell of a lot and seem
aggressive by nature.

We shall carry on with our patronage, propagate our seedlings in an
establishment with a light in the dark. Maybe some erotic photos on
the wall and a sprinkler system in case there happens to be a fire.
Thanks to all who listened to the live version of FUTURE SELVES. The
ones who took a copy home and told someone. it seems that our family
has grown and continues to do so exponentially....For this dear
friends, we thank you. This was the Washington we long for after we
leave.

www.transferband.com


xx

Things To Do In San Diego: March 10, 2009

Tuesday, March 10, 2009:

• Plants and Animals, Stripes and Lines, River City @ Casbah
• Hell On Heels Tour feat. Von Iva, Semi Precious Weapons, Killola @ Bar Pink
• Doves & Desperados, Anna Troy Band @ Beauty Bar
• The Dave Rawlings Machinel, Gillian Welch @ Belly Up
• Ded Pigeons, Oddfellows,The City Streets (Canada), The Barrett Trap, DJ Ding Dong @ Radio Room
• The New Mastersounds, Giant Panda, Guerrilla Dub Squad @ Winston's
• Channel 933 Presents Jesse McCartney, Anjulie, Mateo @ House of Blues
• Too Cool For Karaoke: Too Cool For American Idol @ Ruby Room
• Mechanical Bull Riding @ U-31
• Ken Club Karaoke @ Ken Club
• Karaoke @ O'Connell's
• Comedy Night Open Mic @ Lestat's
• Film Screening: Bill Maher's "Religulous" @ Lestat's
• Train Of Thought Open Mic @ Marquee (835 25th)
• Kipper's Karaoke @ Soda Bar
• Friends Chill Game Night @ Whistle Stop
• Open Mic @ Stage Saloon
• Songwriters Showcase @ Humphrey's Backstage Lounge
• Game Night @ 710 Beach Club
• Anthology House Band @ Anthology (Early Show 7 pm)

Overdue Recap: My Last Couple Weeks In Music

I have decided that I'm going to cover a lot of the past week and a half in one post. No disrespect to any of the bands who should all get their own posts, but honestly, I don't know how I'm ever going to catch up if I don't just write it all out. I've gotten a little bored with my own writing because it feels redundant and uninspired. Maybe I've had too much time to be alone and am sick of my own voice. Not to mention my pics have just been crappier than usual, perhaps I can blame that on my diversifying of venues (i.e. Radio Room, Ruby Room, and Beauty Bar, none of which are friendly to my camera.)

Maybe I save all my bursts of emotion for my Twitter feed and by the time I get to recaps, they're just snoozer posts. Maybe it's that so much of my attention is now devoted to (1)finding a job and (b)paying attention to the election. Or maybe that's all a lie and it's really because with HBO on Demand, Hulu.com, MTV.com and ABC.com I've been able to catch up on entire seasons of shows: Grey's Anatomy, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, The Hills (and the Aftershow), True Blood, Entourage and on and on. Either way, I have still been hitting the town per usual. Click 'keep on reading' to find out where I've been in an exhaustingly long post.



Thursday, October 16:
Cream: Sezio vs. Adapta
Dream Tiger, Pacific UV, Evervess @ Beauty Bar

This night started at Cream mostly because I was bored of being at home. The art show was 5 paintings vs. 6, so after looking at all the pieces, it was mostly just social time at Cream. Anyone who frequents there knows two things: they sell beer and wine super cheap and it gets really, really hot in the room. I think it's a trick to make you dole out another $2.75 for more Tsingtao. Either way, it was good to see friends there, many of whom made their way to the Beauty Bar afterward. I also recruited Lucas to be a contributor to this site, so keep an eye out for his posts.

Evervess is a great shoegaze band, but they don't play all that much. Eric keeps busy with Swim Party and I think they were saying that one of them had gnarly back surgery so he was out of commission for a while. Hopefully he's all healed up and they can get back to at least some semi-regular shows around town.



I wanted to see PacificUV based on Dagart's recommendation and I'll admit, partially because I'd mixed them up with a band I'd recently got a promo for (called Pacific Ocean Drive.) Oops. Either way, Dagart introduced me to a couple of the guys before the show and they were as nice as he'd said they were, and when they performed, they gave a great performance like he said they would.


By the time Dreamtiger played, besides these couple pics, I spent most of the remainder of the show at the bar with Sarah and Evan and talking to the guys of PacificUV. Sometimes that happens.



Friday, October 17:
Grand Ole Party, Rafter @ The Ruby Room

Jake and I headed to the Ruby Room for their official opening. I think we went a little late because I made him watch Real Time, but by the time we got there around 9:30, the bar was full and there was a line and they weren't letting more people in. I was on the list, but it felt a little silly. My feeling was that a lot of the people there might not have been there for the bands, but more for the 'grand opening' in the hopes it was another trendy upscale bar in the vein of Universal. So for me, to walk by all the silk shirts and dresses and heels and clouds of cologne when I was in my jeans and hoodie just seemed funny. And mind you, at that point there were only about 20 people waiting in line, but later the line grew.

We went in to catch The Widows and then I had a total panic. My camera was not in my purse, which meant it was at home, in my car, or at the Beauty Bar from the night before. I couldn't not take pics of opening night, right?, so Jake and I went back to my house where I found my camera and headed back, missing The Widows entirely, but in plenty of time to see Rafter and Grand Ole Party.

The bar was packed, but we got up close to make faces at Andy Robillard who is now playing with Rafter. The thing I love about Rafter, whether he's playing alone, with just a drummer, or with a band of 10 people onstage is that you're always guaranteed to hear new material. On this night, it was a bit funkier, a bit more of a dance party, and it was awesome.




Between bands, DJ Edgartronic spun records that had plenty of people shaking their asses.


I made the mistake of waiting to long to get up close for Grand Ole Party, but better that people who maybe haven't had the chance to see them before got their chance to see them for a mere $5. I'm already a fan, so I let the hyper-enthusiastic crowd take over and dropped back after a few pictures.




It was really good to see so many people at the Ruby Room. It hasn't changed drastically from SDSC though a lot of the sports stuff and horse-racing memorabilia was gone, replaced by local art on the walls, but it's clear the new management has a clear vision to make the spot a viable and competitive venue for San Diego.

Saturday, October 18:
The Howls, Longstay, River City @ Radio Room

I was a bit lazy on Saturday night, but I felt bad about all the times I've shown up to a show where The Howls were appearing but missed them. I went to the show alone but ran into Bubba who is now playing with River City. I met John from The Howls and he was a little bummed that basically the rest of his band wasn't gonna make the show but it made for a really cool rare show.
First River City played and I was definitely on board with their performance. Last time I saw them was at Stage Saloon, so maybe I was a little tarnished from that venue, but the band sounded cohesive and the perfect amount of alt-country to give me my fix. Incidentally I saw them again last night and was again impressed. They played with John Meeks last night, and perhaps because everyone involved in San Diego music was saddened by the news of Terrin Durfey's passing, the music seemed even more poignant. Plus, give me any band with lap steel or pedal steel and I'm already a big mess of weepiness.





John ended up playing second as um, The Howl? He played half his set solo and then was joined by Longstay. This especially impressed me about the night. Longstay was not familiar with The Howls music, but they came onstage and performed and were able to join onstage, taking cues from John. For someone like me who sees bands play live but not really the process of creating and jamming, I was impressed and it was fun to see their take on his music. After a couple songs, John finished with a couple more solo songs.


Longstay went back to the stage and played their set and I think the Radio Room was messing with me by dimming the lights super low. Ug. Still it was a good time and I had fun. Oh, and thanks to Jeff K. for the shots. That was lovely. Something about alt-country turns me into a Makers and Budweiser drinker.



Sunday, October 19, 2008:

I think my unemployment has my parents a bit freaked out. Namely in an, "oh, God, we hope things don't get so bad she has to move back with us" kind of way. Considering I haven't lived with them since about 1996 when I was in junior college, I understand their concern. On Sunday, they picked me up and we headed to Pacific Beach where my brother-in-law had made us dinner and the jokes of all of us moving in to their townhouse kept us laughing through the night. I also caught them up on all the internet videos they haven't seen. So it was a good night with my family. But honestly, it's always all about my niece Johanna who basically runs circles around all of us 100 times over. Comparing her to the Energizer bunny is a huge understatement.




After dinner and hanging out for a while, I was dropped off at the Casbah for
Polysics, io echo, and Black Gold.

Black Gold started the night and although I'm already biased because I know Thaan (the drummer) through Petro and I'd already received their demo in the mail and loved it, I'm not exagerrating when I say the performance was incredibly impressive. A two piece on the album, they recruited a couple great musicians to join them on stage, and Eric's dramatic playing on his old electric piano was so compelling at one point I realized I forgot to take pictures. At that point I decided to take video.





io Echo was up and the crowd loved them. I hung near the bar with Halloran who said he liked how the singer reminded him of PJ Harvey in one song, Bjork in another, and something altogether in the next. I thought she was a trip the way her body convulsed around the stage as she let her music take her over.



Closing out the night was the crazy phrenetic Japanese rock n roll of Polysics. Once again the crowd went crazy for this band, with fists in the air for the majority of the set.


Need I say it was an awesome night?

After Sunday, I opted to skip a couple nights, though I did spend some time writing using the free Ken Club wi-fi and hung out with friends and shit. But no shows. At least not until Wednesday, October 22, when I went to U-31 to see The Moviegoers and Desert Diamonds.

I got there too early and was feeling bad about missing the benefit for Terrin at the Casbah, but the room filled out a bit and I'm a big fan of The Moviegoers, so they at least brought up my mood. A few friends were there, so it ended up being a good night, even if I spent the night with that feeling that I was at the wrong place.



I sat at the bar for the second band and didn't feel inclined to take pictures. Not to knock anyone, but if you're a band playing a room like U-31, be grateful people are even in the room, whether they acknowledge you playing or not. Bands aren't born with a following.

The Desert Diamonds closed out the night and it had been a while since I'd seen them, but they definitely have their own crowd and have an engaging frontman. Enough dirty in their rock n roll to please but not overkill that you wanna kick them up to LA. There were plenty of people dancing that made for a fun end to the night.



While I had been going out at night relatively consistently, I spend most days at home on the internet so it was nice to have had lunch with Matt at Cream on Wednesday, and then on Thursday, I decided to make a full adventure of the day. I was meeting a friend at House of Blues for happy hour, so instead of driving, I opted to take the bus downtown, with my computer in tow. Of course, as usual, I didn't really ever get around to writing, but I did use it at the House of Blues briefly so it wasn't a total waste for me to have it with me. Regardless, I hung out with Jack and got an education about music and jazz and music promotion and all kinds of things that I find fascinating and appreciate finding someone retired who has a million stories to share. As happy hour came to a close, I made a run to Kinko's to make flyers for my anniversary show, but then hung around the House of Blues a bit longer so I could listen to Modern Day Moonshine. They play there every week and they're really good; I find it kinda sad that the House of Blues does little to promote their bar, happy hour, and bands to anyone more than tourists, considering their location doesn't lend itself to tourist foot traffic.




After leaving the Casbah, I took the trolley to midtown and walked to the Casbah for The Tighten-Ups, Team Abraham, & Runhoney despite my plan of going back to Kensington for Hotel St. George. The show was fun (maybe a little too fun?), but I decided not to take more pictures with the lights all jacked, and I was just lucky to have friends there who agreed to drive me home since by the time we left, the bus would've not been running. I might've had to fight that one guy for the electrical box near the Casbah.

Friday I decided to take it easy, working on the job search for a while, then had lunch with Jonathan at Burger Lounge. It was a nice day out so we chilled on the patio for a while, and then he came over to teach me stuff on the computer, while also updating some programs for me, cleaning up my hard drive a bit, all the while listening to music. By the time we realized, it was time for dinner, so we decided to try out Ponce's. Of course, at 7 on a Friday, it was packed and they said it would be a 45 minute wait. Yes, it's true I know the manager and most of the staff, but the restaurant is so neighborhood friendly, EVERYONE can say the same thing, so instead of privileges, we ordered food to go and instead ate it at the Ken Club. That was instant food coma so we walked back to my place and he left. I intended to go back to the bar, but it didn't happen. Watching HBO on demand in my pajamas won.

On Saturday, October 25, I enjoyed a lazy Saturday watching Hallmark movies until around 7 when Jake picked me up for Late Night Live at Anthology feat. A Silent Comedy, Crash Encore, and The Blackout Party. Because Jake was playing, we got there early and went in through the back to load in his gear. And to drink beer. And Beam. I guess I thought I was a rock star for the night. The Blackout Party started the night and owned the stage. The venue, having only had its doors open for half an hour, wasn't quite crowded yet, but there were still plenty of people that didn't make the venue feel empty.







I ended up staying in the backstage area for all of Crash Encore, or most of it, except for when Abraham and I made an escape for a few minutes to make a beer run for after the show, because it felt like it was gonna be one of those nights.

We got back and returned to the backstage area until The Silent Comedy went onstage. The crowd was packed in up to the front of the stage and because I knew they were videotaping I wasn't too aggressive with my pictures...so the handful I took came out looking like everyone was in a horror film with their faces streaked. But I did take some video and their performance killed and the crowd ate the whole show up.

Gasoline


Daisy


After the show (and a lot of whiskey and beer) a bunch of us went to the Turf Club to end the night. San Diego certainly delivered a glorious Saturday night.

Surprisingly, when Sunday came around I opted to go watch The Chargers game at the Ken Club, with the promise of free pizza and a couple bloody marys. After the game, I hung out there talking politics with my friend's dad which was pretty interesting, specifically because he is a full on McCain supporter. While I disagreed with most everything he said, at least he had beliefs about his candidate that made sense and weren't some crazy talking points.

Later, Jake picked me up and we went to see Bunky at the Casbah who were great, but then we left because Jake was playing with The Tighten-Ups at Bar Pink.

The opening band was called Gunplay Maxwell and they gave a great performance.


And then Laura Jane, that crazy lady, closed up the night with the Tighten-Ups.


My very long weekend meant a Monday at home trying to get back on the jobhunt horse. And total blog avoidance. Sorry I didn't do listings, but sometimes the thought of editing html makes me just wanna chuck my computer across the room. Fortunately I was over that mood by Tuesday and did my listings as well as my phone interview from EDD, which SUCKED by the way. It put me in such a bad mood, but the kind of mood where I wanted to be around people I adore, so Jake and I went to The Beauty Bar for
John Meeks and River City. I decided against pictures once again, since I knew I had pics of both from just the last few weeks. The performances were beautiful and it took everything in me not to get choked up a couple times as the bands played. Not in a bad way but in a cathartic way, like everyone there had this sadness about the news of Terrin passing, and on a personal level sort of taking that self critical look that no matter how shitty the day seemed personally, there are so many more important things going on and I was lucky to be where I was surrounded by so many great people.

That said, that is exactly why I'm going to finally wrap up this post that has taken me all day to write, and I'm going to go see my friend Greg Laswell. And maybe he'll make me weepy, too. If I'm lucky.

Local Bands: Send Me Your Links

It's been some time since I've updated my local band links on this site. If you would like your band added, please leave your band name, link, and contact name and e-mail address as a comment. Maybe I'll even alphabetize them. Maybe.

Halloween in July?

Naw, that would just be silly! The candy corns would get all melty and get your hands all sticky, and you would probably not have any wet naps to clean them, because really, who carries wet naps these days, well maybe if you have individually wrapped hard candies in you purse you might, but I digress. No friends, there will be no Halloween in July, we’re still going to save it for October, but this year, let me tell you, when it comes, it’s going to be extra special for us San Diego folks!

Our friend Peter from the exceptional local band Roxy Jones will be putting together a compilation Cd/zine of local bands and writers with a loose Halloween theme. Last Christmas he put together an exceptional comp, and with the help of Bluefoot Bar released it for free. Yeah, that’s right, it was FREE. Let me tell you something folks, free is something you just can’t buy.

From the man himself:
It's a comp of only local bands/artists/writers. It all has to be loosely themed about Halloween/spooky shit/horror/dark/you get the point. Music can be original or cover songs. Cover songs are first come first serve, so if you know what cover song you want to do, let me know ASAP so no one else will do it. It is preferable that the songs be previously unreleased. The comp will also come with a zine of spooky stories and artwork by locals. If you or anyone you know would like to contribute to that part, it would be awesome.

“Man” you say to yourself, “that sounds so rad, but I don’t play, write or art, but I still soOoo wish I could be part of this…” Well my friend, no worries! Once everything comes together Peter will need some help to manufacture/assemble/print/press/stack somewhere between 500 and 1000 copies.

Once these babies are in the bag there will be a giant party and they will be distributed for, you guessed it, free! I have a sneaky, sneaky feeling, roughly the lower cackle area, that this baby is shaping up to be just as amazing! Please e-mail hoistudios AT gmail DOT com if interested. Also, if you see Peter out and about, please tell him how rad he is for putting in so much hard work to do something so cool for us!