April Smith and the Great Picture Show @ M-Theory, 4.25.2011

On Monday, April Smith and the Great Picture Show returned to San Diego for an in-store performance at M-Theory Records. There was a great turnout for the show, crowded without being uncomfortable, and they played longer than the usual 20 minute in-stores. They also came back yesterday for a KPRI Private Listener Show, which I unfortunately couldn't make because I was in LA. But seriously, I love these kids. April, Nicky, Steve, and Marty are some of the nicest musicians you will ever meet and they're working their butts off to spread their music wherever they can. Here's the full set in video. I'm sorry I haven't added titles, sometimes there just aren't enough hours in a day (or enough free wi-fi hotspots).

Monday: April Smith and the Great Picture Show at M-Theory

You have 2 hours to reassess your plans tonight unless they already included seeing April Smith and the Great Picture Show at M-Theory. I've seen the band four or five times now and they're not playing a proper SD show, so this is your only chance to see them on this tour (unless you're a KPRI Freeq and catch their show on Wednesday). The show is free, it's all ages (and the music is very kid-friendly), and since they don't have a show, you can probably expect a longer set.

Here are a couple videos from February:

After the show, you can head over to the Soda Bar for Brother, this great band from the UK (if you like Oasis with a side of Blur)

Record Store Day 2011

Today, Saturday, marks another installment in the ever growing Record Store Day, an annual event specifically set aside to both honor and, more importantly, patronize one of our most important American institutions: the independent record store. As their official website proclaims, “This is the one day that all of the independently owned record stores come together with artists to celebrate the art of music.”

Record Store Day is a special day for music and music lovers around the country. Musicians rally to the cause of a sadly dying segment of our economy, providing limited edition vinyl pressings and special in-store appearances and performances, all in an attempt to turn the spotlight back on one the just 700 or so remaining independent shops we have left. Surely you’re already familiar with some of the larger indie shops still in existence (Rasputin’s and Amoeba come to mind first) but here in the San Diego are we are lucky to have a few of our own. This Record Store Day, and beyond, I urge you to frequent shops like M-Theory in Mission Hills and Lou’s Records in Encinitas as much as possible, learn something new from the knowledgable clerks and of course grab some great new music.

In an effort to entice us, the Record Store Day people have once again garnered support from a wide range of artists providing exclusive vinyl pressings and a few special CD releases as well. There is a TON of great looking stuff on the official release list (http://www.recordstoreday.com/SpecialReleases) that caught my eye; with great acts and artists like R.E.M., Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Fleet Foxes, Pearl Jam, The Flaming Lips, Beastie Boys and Regina Spektor among many, many others offering special releases available ONLY on this day and ONLY in your local independent record store. Record Store Day is your best chance to grab some truly special music and support important local businesses all at once, not to mention the chance to possibly catch some special, intimate in-store performances from some of your favorite musicians as well. So be sure to get down to your local music shop asap, places like M-Theory and Lou’s Records and support these wonderful and important places, and of course cop some great new music too.

San Diego: Always Changing, Always Growing

I was out running around with Tim Pyles today. It's become our Wednesday tradition- he picks me up a little before noon, we have a meeting at the Casbah, then we bounce around, finding lunch and running errands and generally cruising around.

Today involved a stop in at a new soccer store (or futbol/football/footie, if you wanna be international about it). It's called BOCA and opened 3 weeks ago, the day before the World Cup started. Since my illustrious college soccer career ended over a decade ago, I haven't had much cause to seek out soccer shops, but we popped in and it's so cool. Located at 1919 San Diego Avenue (which runs parallel to the 5 between Washington and Old Town), the store has all your soccer needs- jerseys, cleats, bags, shoes, shin guards, etc., but what is really cool about it is they have a room with two huge leather sectionals and two giant screen televisions where they show World Cup games. During games they serve coffee and donuts, and there's a huge plate glass window that overlooks the freeway and airport. It's open to the public and I just might have to catch a game there. It's also headquarters of the San Diego BOCA FC. The last game of the NPSL (National Pro Soccer League?) season is this Saturday night at Helix High School at 7 pm and we were told that the store has free tickets for the asking (available tomorrow).

Our second stop was at M-Theory Records. This Saturday they have an all day event with great bands, a sidewalk sale, and beer. And it's free! The sidewalk sale starts at 10 am. Band schedule below:

12:30-1 pm- The Preteens
1:20-2 pm Team Abraham
2:20-3 pm New Mexico (formerly Apes of Wrath)
3:30-4 pm The Watusis (formerly The Atoms)
4:20-5 pm So Many Wizards
5:20-6 pm Michael Rosas (of Satisfaction)
6:20-7 pm Boyscout
7:20-8 pm Jungle Fever

We had lunch at Mama Testa, which was featured on Throwdown with Bobby Flay from the Food Network. Apparently the episode re-airs next week, so if you wanna get your fill, do it before the swarms see the episode. I can attest that since Lucha Libre was featured on Man vs Food that lines go out the door when our local eateries are featured on national TV shows.

We popped in to Ray's Tennis, which is pretty much unchanged since I was a kid trying to convince my mom to buy me cute tennis skirts instead of the ghetto shorts I wore to my classes and tournaments. But even more interesting than that was that in the middle of the street, there was a guy working on his laptop. We asked what he was doing and he told us he was setting up the LED lighting for University Avenue. The Hillcrest Business Association raised money for the project, which basically lights up the trees and plants in the median of University for 3 blocks. There's a block party tomorrow to celebrate the investment, and he said that while most of the year, the lights will just be white, during holidays and special events they can be programmed to be their own little light show. Keep an eye out, Hillcrest!

Anyhow, I always tweet this stuff, but I'll try to make a point to chronicle these little bits I pick up in my daily life. My afternoon is now wide open...so should I work on some old photo posts or get out and check out the hood? There's the Adams Avenue Farmers Market happening right now (3-7pm at Adams Elementary), there's 30th on 30th starting in a bit, where local eateries open their doors and offer small plate offerings of food along with drink specials.

So much to do. I may be broke, I may be unemployed, but I sure do love this city.

Celebrate Record Store Day at M-Theory

It's national Record Store Day this Saturday and where better to celebrate than M-Theory? On top of all the limited edition releases available, there’s going to be a sidewalk sale with super cheap used CDs and LPs. Plus there's live music throughout the day.

Live music starts at 1pm!
Live Music Schedule:
1pm Da Bears
2:30pm Hotel St. George
4pm Fever Sleeves
5:30pm Rob Crow Special DJ Set
6:30pm Addiquit w/Pall Jenkins of Black Heart Procession
*DJ King Cannon will be spinning in between sets


Record Store Day Releases
- John Lennon
- Rolling Stones
- Fela Kuti
- Beach House
- MGMT
- Soft Pack
- Devo
- Deerhoof
- Modest Mouse
- Phoenix
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- Jimi Hendrix
- Mastadon
- The Album Leaf
- Fun
- Joe Strummer
- Tom Waits
- Ramones
- Sex Pistols
- Nada Surf
- Flaming Lips
- Pantera
- Monsters of Folk
- Joy Division
- Coconut Records
- Bruce Springsteen
- Them Crooked Vultures
- Deftones
- Built To Spill
- Dum Dum Girls/ Male Bonding
- Ani Difranco
- Elvis Costello
and many many more......


And, speaking of records, Rafter's recorded another one.

Rafter "Animal Feelings" LP / CD out April 13 on Asthmatic Kitty Records

Release Party @ Tin Can Alehouse
Saturday April 17th, $5 21+ 9pm

Rafter
Smile Now Cry Later
Lion Cut
Cuckoo Chaos
+ DJ WWDJ

If you miss the show, you can catch Rafter on Sunday for a daytime show at the Soda Bar. The show is a Haiti benefit and Rafter will be joined by Apes of Wrath, Kenseth Thibideau, Rob Crow and more. The show starts at 1 pm.

Rosey's Diary: April 18, 2009

It's June and I'm still writing about April. I have got to get this shit together. I last left off after the first night of Coachella. It was a long day but didn't prevent me from having a big day in San Diego. So I shall rewin back to Record Store Day, Cage The Elephant, Menomena, Writer, and Calico Horse. All after the jump.





After a lot of post-Coachella sleep, I wrangled out of bed and headed over to Record Store Day at M-Theory to check out all the festivities. Actually, as it turns out, I missed most of it, but enjoyed browsing vinyl, getting a limited edition Jones Soda root beer with a Barsuk Label on it, and hanging out among the crowd that was there. A heated foosball match was in progress as the boys from Menomena took on different pairings of people. When I heard about the foosball tournament I wanted to join, but when I got there, decided against it because I'm not very fun to compete against. I get a little insane stemming from my days on the tennis court. It's probably the reason nobody ever asks me to go to Triple Crown for ping pong anymore, or why our regular Monday bowling nights came to an abrupt end. That said, it was really just as fun to watch everyone else play.








After grabbing a quick bite at Santana's I went to the House of Blues. Since I'd talked to the tour manager to verify my ticket was there, I escaped any box office drama and made my way inside. Apparently there was supposed to be an opening act but they cancelled, so it was just a quick wait and a good long set from Cage The Elephant. The band was wildly energetic (and not easy to shoot) but they sounded great. In fact, they were simultaneously loose and polished on stage, that for a while I wondered if they were an organic band or if they were sorta put together by a label, down to their outfits looking like they were styled by a professional. I only thought so because one of the guys had brand new 12 hole docs, half laced and open. Maybe that was of his own doing but I was a bit suspicious. The fact of the matter is that it didn't matter, because they control they stage when they're on it and gave the crowd the show they wanted.






The band was not only all over the stage, but jumped in the crowd to get a little pit going which if anything gave a dramatic flair but nothing where anyone could get hurt, especially considering the relatively small capacity of the Delta Room at House of Blues. I was kinda iffy about the band musically before seeing the performance, but after the show I was sold. I wish I could find the setlist but it'd floating around my apartment somewhere. I'll post if I find it.



After the show ended, I arrived at the Casbah in time to catch the end of Calico Horse. The show was sold out and brimming with good friends. I didn't get a chance to take Calico photos, but then Writer played and I got a few in.



I'm not really sure what happened, but after Writer played (and you know I was up singing along to every song), I must've gone outside or something. By the time I attempted to get back in to the show, it was PACKED to the gills and I pretty much gave up on getting anywhere near Menomena for photos. It's all good though, because the band is that good and deserves all the love they were getting from the fans. Knowing I was heading back to Coachella the next morning, I enjoyed the show but left with little fanfare and called it a night.

SXSW: Lady Dottie & the Diamonds Performance

Myself and Jeremy Glaholt of AVicious were riding around on bikes during a day off at SXSW and stopped in for a beer at a joint near a friend's house only to stumble onto some San Diego friends. M-Theory owner Eric Howarth was there with some of his bands and so I caught this performance by Lady Dottie & the Diamonds, jumped back on the bike and headed out to see more music. This so happen to be one of the best days I have had in a very long time. More SXSW video coming soon but feel free to follow us on Twitter, YouTube or check out our blog as well.

The Lost Boys Find Their Way At M-Theory

Heather from M-Theory nudged me a little and reminded me that I hadn't posted about The Lost Boys autograph signing session today.

Today from 2-4 pm you have a chance to come and meet COREY HAIM, Chance Corbitt, Jamison Newlander, G Tom Mac and Brooke McCarter! Autographs will be signed, babies kissed and questions answered.

Lost Boys :Reign Of Frogs comic artist Joel Gomez will also be here sketching and signing!!

915 W. Washington St
San Diego, CA 92103

Join us later that evening for a night at Brick By Brick where G Tom Mac will be performing in celeb1ration of his new CD and joined on stage by Corey!

Swervedriver & Film School, Casbah 5.30.08

Friday night I had to make my way to The Casbah early since I was going to be selling the swag for Swervedriver and Film School. Film School was readying their sound check while Adam, Steve and I rolled shirts. Doors opened shortly after we finished counting out merch and I never stopped being busy. People bought a lot of stuff. We had shirts, posters, buttons, Adam's solo CD, and a tour only 7" vinyl that people bought in loads. It was a little chaotic, but it was cool to see how excited Swervedriver fans were to see them. A couple fans showed up in their 10 or 15 year old Swervedriver t-shirts. The fans were rabid.

Sometimes when I sell stuff I can break and get into the venue for some pictures, but since people were trickling to the stand all night, I didn't leave my post except for a quick bathroom break and a couple drink refills. From what I could hear on the patio, both bands were great, though unfortunately Swervedriver played relatively quiet. They sounded clean, not as fuzzy and distorted as back in the day, but I enjoyed it. Adam was a total pleasure to work for and before their set continued to check on me to see if things were ok.





Alex (from Swim Party) took a couple pics inside for me.


After the show it got really busy at the merch and for the first time I was hoping Ben would sweep everyone out of the Casbah. Eventually that time came till it was just the two bands, Heather and Eric from M-Theory and myself. Adam and I settled the merch, he hooked me up with a CD and a shirt, and he invited me on the bus "for a spot of tea." Outside Film School was hanging out deciding where and what they were gonna do so I said goodbye and joined The Swervies on their bus.



Adam pointed to the cold beer and we chatted and minutes later Film School came onboard. We had a couple beers before the driver got irritated and told us they were leaving in 5 minutes.



It would've been cool to keep hanging out but no such luck, so I was on my way back to Kensington. Then, the unexpected- Adam kissed me goodnight. Nothing pervy or weird, just a nice little peck on the lips. I blushed, said goodnight, then skipped off into the night.

Free Nada Surf Tickets!

If you're like me, you love Nada Surf, you love M-Theory Records, you love the Casbah, and House of Blues, well, not so much. When I heard the Casbah was presenting Nada Surf at HoB, I thought I might have to make an exception to my personal HoB boycott. I'm completely anti the service charges they add to every ticket sale, the full body cavity searches at the door (which I've heard they've chilled out about), and the people who are there just to talk over the band throughout every show I've ever been to... but now, M-Theory has made it easy! And I have no problem sucking it up and going to the House of Blues to see one of my favorite bands. Even though I already had a copy of Lucky, I went to the shop and when you purchase the new album (Sale price $12.99), you get a free pair of tickets to the show (while supplies last). I just went half an hour ago and it appeared they still had a handful of tickets left. I already knew I loved the album and I had no problem dropping the dough for the package deal.

Anyway, stop reading this and get your butt to M-Theory before it's too late.

Overdue Recap: Grand Ole Party CD Release @ M-Theory & Starlite

I've missed the last few in-stores at M-Theory...you know, getting stuck late at work, caught in traffic...whatever. I was not about to miss Grand Ole Party's in-store CD release. My office is in Fashion Valley, so it was just a quick drive around Hotel Circle, up the backroad to Mission Hills, and I found a quick parking spot. The store was already a bit crowded, said my hellos to friends, and found a little spot up front where I could perch my camera a bit.

Grand Ole Party sounded very put together, really tight, and genuinely happy to be playing for the hometown crowd. I'm not one to be elitist about a band...that whole "I saw them first" kinda thing, so I was pleased to see what appeared to be a lot of newer fans there, as well as a lot of kids who probably miss out on the 21+ shows. A couple songs in, and M-Theory was packed, with a few people spilling out on the sidewalk. The band played "the hits", but also pleased the crowd with a couple new songs. They played about 8 songs, and Natalie wrote a pretty great review of the show here.





After the set, I picked up Andrea and we swung by my house to let my dog out and freshen up a minute, then headed down to Srarlite for the after party. I had not yet had the pleasure of going to the Starlite and I realize now that I've been missing out. While we didn't eat, we chatted with Tim Mays for a few and he took care of our first round. I don't know what Zee was drinking, but I went for the Mule and loved it. Mostly it was just a relaxing night...the band was there having a good time, Heather and Eric from M-Theory, a couple of the people from the band's label, and the Skull Kontrol guys. We stayed till the restaurant was closing up and then were on our way. After the night, I'm definitely looking forward to GOP's show at the Casbah next week, and really looking forward to another one of those tasty mules.

Grand Ole Party is Spin's Artist of The Day!

Spin's Artist of The Day
Good job, guys!

Here's some video from the in-store on Tuesday in case you missed it.

More John Vanderslice @ M-Theory

The Tower by John Vanderslice @ M-Theory, August 4, 2007.

Eternal Weekend In San Diego: Featuring John Vanderslice

I am officially umemployed, and while that may cause most people to panic, I'm at ease with the whole thing. I would love to write about it all now, but being that it's 3 am and I'm feeling like sleep is the best thing for me now, I'm gonna wait to post all my shots of Silverbird, Silent Comedy, John Vanderslice, Sparrow Love Crew, Delta Spirit, and Underground Railroad to Candyland. For now, I did actually record John Vandeslice at M-Theory and I'm a converted fan. He was nice and cordial and kept the crowd engaged throughout his entire set.

I'll write tomorrow while my niece is napping and while I've got the time. In the meantime, enjoy John Vanderslice performing "White Dove" at M-theory. Seriously one of the best in-stores I've ever been to.

Tuesday Newsy Bits: Starlight Bowl, Rocky Votolato, Reeve Oliver, Silversun Pickups

Some things I forgot to mention yesterday.

The summer concerts at the Starlight Bowl are on hiatus for the remainder of the summer. Susan Suffecool, who recently had a heart attack, cited her poor health as the reason, issuing the following bulletin on MySpace:

Due to a major health problem on my part we are going to have to stop ALL concerts until September. I know this is terrible on my part, but due to health issues, I will not be able to give the time needed to make sure that all of you get the visibility that I want you to have.

Again I am SOOOOO sorry for all of this. But we will be able to resume the concerts in September.

Nothing against Susan and we wish her well, but couldn't someone else step in and take the reins?
*****
My favorite musician, Rocky Votolato, has a new album coming out this month (June 19) on Barsuk records. The Brag and Cuss promises to be another great release and he'll be touring in support of the album, hitting the Casbah on July 10 with Langhorne Slim. He has also confirmed an M-Theory In-store performance the same day. Mark your calendars! Click here to stream "Postcard From Kentucky". Limited edition vinyl is available for pre-sale now at Second Nature Recordings.
*****
Silversun Pickups made their British television debut on the Jools Holland show. Here's one of the clips:


*****
Reeve Oliver will now be self releasing their album:

"...As most of you know we made a record last spring that was slated to come out this summer on Capitol Records...the main reason is that Capitol Records is no longer a label. At least, not in the same form it used to be...But the good news in all of this, is that we ended up owning this record. We will be putting out the new Reeve Oliver record ourselves. Soon. For now, check out two tunes from the record. We know they are long overdue, and we do hope you enjoy them. Thank you for waiting, and your continued support of the Reeve."

For the full text of their message, click here.
*****
More newsy bits later. For the record, I stayed home last night and was a tv zombie. America's Got Talent? Clearly that is not true, evident not only by the shitty acts making asses of themselves but the not even close to funny hosts. Bunch of reruns on every channel. I should've just gone to bed at 8.
Ciao for now.

Wednesday Recap: Paolo Nutini

I just totally seemed to strike out yesterday. Seriously. I was gonna skip the Paolo Nutini in-store because I had to swing by my house after work, but then I got a text from Daye that he had just started at 6:30, so I raced across town to M-Theory and arrived in time for just one song. I did buy a CD and got it signed and the photo op, so at least I've got some pics.






Afterward, Daye invited me to join him for dinner because he had been told Paolo would be playing later than the passes indicated. We went to dinner and by the time we got to the Abbey at 9, Paolo was almost done with his set. aargh. I was not happy, but made the best of the 4 or 5 songs I did get to see and snuck up front for some pics.













So the highlight of what I did catch was Paolo doing a cover of "Rehab" by Amy Winehouse. Then I realized she's not really getting airplay in SD so nobody else seemed to recognize the track. He finished and I was regretting not going with instinct and getting there earlier.

The one thing that I was stoked about was getting to see a show in The Abbey, a building normally used for private parties and banquets. This is a venue worth checking out. 300+ people, balconies, open floor space, a bar, dining tables, and just cool doors to get around the space. I guess it was a church or something and has very ornate stained glass and lighting and beautiful dark woodwork. Let's just say it got my wheels turnin a bit.



After the show, I considered my options: Elvis Perkins at the Casbah or Foreign Islands and Goes Cube at the Beauty Bar. Then it occurred to me that things had kinda not been working out for me all day, so I made the decision to go home and be responsible for once...clean house, hang out with my dog, get my shit organized. And for once, I got more than 5 hours of sleep.

It's all good today, but I am seriously ready to party this weekend. Today is my best friend Sara's birthday so we'll be doing dinner at Ken Grill and maybe I can convince her to head out to the Beauty Bar or something. This weekend is gonna be really fun and I'm unofficially inviting anyone going to Morgan's birthday at the Ken to come by my pad and pre-party on Saturday. If you don't have my address, just e-mail me and I'll hit you back. Things are gettin good.