My Weekend In Brief

What a great weekend in San Diego. I'm giving up dedicating my weekends to write because it's summer and there's way too much going on all the time, even if it involves watching a tv marathon on Bravo. (Yes, I confess) I did a whole bunch of fun stuff, but I've got pics to upload, so I'll leave it to just a summary for now, after the jump.

I still haven't written about last week's Anti-Monday League show, but it still warrants its own post, so I'll save that in my pocket for now. Tuesday was a writing day, Wednesday I hit the We Are Scientists show at the Casbah which was crazy fun but crazy crowded. You can get a much better review than I will ever write about that show over at ChickRawker's site here.
Thursday night started at TNT. Bad news there, as the city/SDPD cracked down and no longer allow the bar on the patio unless they provide fencing around it to create a "beer garden". This really sucks, as the bars are now only upstairs on the MoCA deck. Way to go, San Diego, and kill something that was a really good thing for a few years running. The bands were entertaining, but we didn't stay as late as might've if the patio was more hopping. Instead, I made my way to the Casbah for Jivewire and to see Kenan Bell. They were awesome, but I'll post pics about that. Just one thing I'll mention is that for the final song, I actually jumped onstage and played keyboards (2 keys, to be exact), so if you weren't there, you missed me demonstrating my utter lack of stage charisma.

For 4th of July, a couple friends and I hit up a delicious Mexican mariscos restaurant on Imperial, then I spent the day with my family at my sister's house in PB for a BBQ, then at Kate Sessions Park for fireworks. By the time I got dropped off at 11:30, I was beat and watched TV until I went to bed.

Despite not staying up as late as usual, I slept in on Saturday before tackling major house cleaning, doing some shopping, grilling, then heading to Bar Pink Elephant for Greg Gerding's book reading which came after Derby Dolls Burlesque on skates and a performance by Rich White Males. We didn't stay for Wild Weekend in hopes of catching Cabron at the Ken (and because I wanted to not drive) but instead only made it in time for Lilith Velkor which was cool but entirely too loud, so we just hung out at the bar and a couple friends came over afterward.

Today was mellow- I went to play soccer with friends, but they switched parks on me, so I just let my dog enjoy the park for a while before coming back home and vegging out (insert My Life On The D-List marathon here). Tonight I went to see Team Abraham and Roxy Jones at Beauty Bar before returning home and doing all those listings you see in the previous post.

So there you have it. I'll try and catch up with the show recaps this week, and also with a couple previews I should've also done this weekend but didn't quite get to. After only working 2.5 days last week, this week at work might very well kick my ass, but I've gotta do what I've gotta do, right? Off to slumber.

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My Very Laid Back Weekend

This weekend I decided to take a bit of a break from my usual and really didn't do a whole lot of anything. Friday was a mellow evening until I went through my myspace bulletins from earlier in the week and realized it was Martin's birthday. Being that he lives just down the street, I walked over and chilled at their party until about 3 a.m. It was a good time and his friends were cool and I got to hang out with some friends whom I hadn't seen in a while.

After the party, I went home and was playing with my pets who were excited to have me home. So excited that one of them tripped me and I landed face first against my screen door when I was intending to close up the house for the night. Um, yeah, that left a mark. (take the jump to see the results)

Ouch. I wish it was a better story- some bar brawl or getting caught in a mosh pit or something, but alas, that's the story.

As anyone in San Diego can atest, this weekend was hot as hell- too hot for my comfort- so I curtained up my house and spent the entire day writing, napping, and being a total chick and watching Lifetime movies.

It wasn't until Sunday that I motivated enough and did some cleaning, some shopping, then went to the House of Blues for Say Anything, Manchester Orchestra and the others, but I took almost 300 pictures, so they'll take a while to filter and upload.

Anyway, this week is gonna be a good one so I'm just getting through the day and hopefully the week will work out to be a good one.

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Weekend Recap: Transfer, Delta Spirit, Port O'Brien, Morning Benders, After Party

It was quite a weekend and I just finished cleaning up my house that was looking pretty skanky after a late night after party, but I'll get to that in a sec.

Since Thursday was a big night, I came home from work and took a well deserved deep sleep. I was torn about what to do and where to go because there were quite a few great shows around town, but I slept a bit longer than intended, had a late dinner, and got sucked into Joe Scarborough being his usual obnoxious self on his appearance on Real Time With Bill Maher. By the time all was said and done, I decided to just walk down the street to catch Transfer. I decided to leave my camera at home since I have a gazillion pictures of the guys rocking out the Ken Club from the past. This time I hung back because I lost my earplugs at Chaser's the night before, but the sound there is so good these days, I didn't need them anyway. Jeremy isn't playing bass anymore, so there was a new guy filling in but the band still sounded tight as ever. They played right up until the bar closed and I alternated between the band room and downing some red headed sluts at the bar. It was a chill time and I was in a good mood. I chatted with Lyn out front for a bit then walked home and unintentionally stayed up til 6:30 a.m. I somehow didn't realize that I'd missed two weeks of In Treatment on HBO so I watched until I was all caught up.

Saturday I had planned on going to the skating event at the Clairemont YMCA, but my parents called and reminded me that it was my brother in law's birthday, so instead we all headed down to Point Loma Seafoods. (Why "seafood" is pluralized, I cannot say) The food was delicious and the day was beautiful. After food and cake, we went on a family shopping trip which was actually quite entertaining, then we all went back to my sister's to hang out and have a couple beers.

From there, my sister, Johanna and I went to Ray At Night. I've always planned on going, but something always seems to come up, so this was my first time and we had a good time strolling through the shops and galleries. From there, she dropped me at the Casbah.

I was glad to get there in time for The Morning Benders because they're a great band and I felt bad for them that the crowd was pretty thin when they played the Beauty Bar a couple months back. They're about to head out on tour with The Kooks, so I'm glad to have caught them at a venue I love, since I'll likely not be going to their Kooks show at HoB.




After the band finished, the patio was packed with people and we were enjoying the night hanging on the zebra bench just kinda people watching and shooting the shit, bouncing from the patio to the back bar, back to the patio. Before I knew it, Port O'Brien was onstage. I asked if anyone had heard of them and my friends had not, but from their first song, I had to see what was going on inside because they sounded amazing. The band rocked. Paco Diamante suggested that they had a Neil Young sound, but I was taking in with the sheer energy onstage and the banjo just added something really unique. At one point Van, the singer, got pretty pissed because he wanted his sound adjusted and the sound guy was nowhere to be found or he was on IM chat or some shit. He brushed it off and continued their set, but in talking to him after, he was upset, and I guess had some words with Chad. He was bummed that Jake wasn't doing their sound which seems to be a recurring theme with bands- Jake is in high demand these days and is going on the road with Delta Spirit and a couple other bands in the next couple months. Anyway, here are the pics:









Delta Spirit was up last and the venue was packed. I stayed on the patio for much of their set, talking to the Morning Benders and Port O'Brien.



I made my way in to try and take pics but all I could do was get a spot over near the side exit so they didn't really come out, and Natalie was up front taking photos, so check her site for better pics. Anyway, we were supposed to leave midset to catch Blackout Party at the Ken Club. Abraham was lagging, however, so Paco and I left without him. We stopped at my house, since I knew people would likely come over, I asked Paco to vacuum quickly while I straightened up a tiny bit.

We went to the Ken, did a couple shots, then made our way in to see the band. They sounded so clean and I was in a great mood. Seemed like everyone else was, too, so it made for a great time.






Abraham finally showed up and we all hung out until the bar was shutting down. I knew Abraham and Dan were coming over, but I didn't expect half the bar to come home with us. Not that I minded, of course, but we were up till the wee hours and the drinking didn't stop until it was all gone. And I mean ALL GONE. Every bottle and can of beer, a whole bottle of Jack, half a bottle of vodka, and any tequila I had...all gone. Eventually I went to bed and some people crashed in my living room. When I woke up on Sunday, my house was filthy. I'm hoping my recycling guy comes by soon because my recycle bins are to the max with bottles and cans. I was pretty lazy, however, and caught up with some of my other posting, so I saved the cleanup till tonight, washing every shot glass, digging cigarette butts out of my sink, dusting, vacuuming, and finding random glasses under my furniture, in my bathroom, in the bedroom. Someone left a shirt, which I think is pretty funny if someone went home shirtless, and I have someone's broken cell phone, too, so if you were here and lost a Verizon with no LCD screen, give me a holler.

It's nearing 10 pm on Monday and I can't decide if I should do my weekly listings or head out...it's Andy's b-day at Wit's End, there's mechanical bull riding at U-31 with Laura Jane, and Chaser's and the Casbah have good shows. dilemma...

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Thursday Recap: S.A.F.E. Party, Birdmonster @ Casbah, Low Red Land @ Chaser's 3.6.08

I always know that I shouldn't make plans because the best times are always the ones that happen when I don't try to control anything. I thought Thursday would be fairly standard...head to TNT then catch Writer and Low Red Land at Chaser's. Turns out I added a couple more stops to that night.

First, there was a party at Bondi to benefit S.A.F.E., which is the Special Emergency Fund for Advertising. Basically it's a charity that distributes money to help people within the local ad industry should they experience some sort of catastrophe that makes them unable to work, like a major illness or a bad car accident. I had forgotten about the party, but at about 3 pm, my boss asked if I wanted to go and I was all over it. I always loved media gatherings and its yet another reason why I'm happy to be back in the media biz. I ran into many old friends and had a blast. It was at Bondi and my opinion about that place hasn't really changed. The party had some amazing tray passed appetizers- fish n chips in individual servings, sliders, calamari in little Chines take-out boxes, and rack of lamb (though the sushi was terrible)- but honestly Bondi, do you think you could buy some more glasses? At least twice I heard people complain that they had run out of wine glasses, and I had two drinks in freshly washed glasses. I should mention last time I was here, you not only ran out of glasses, but you ran out of Jack Daniel's. WTF? It's nice that you have dishwashers that steam clean the glasses, but nobody wants their cold beverage poured into a hot glass. I don't mean "warm", I mean like a coffee mug full of hot tea. I guess it doesn't matter, since it's a place I'll only go for an event and would never go there on my own accord and definitely not to spend my own money but one would think for the prices they charge that they'd get it together.

On the left are my coworkers, on the right, my Rocky's drinkin' buddy, Brian.



From the party I made my way to TNT, but all the bands were finished and the sponsor was Hornitos tequila, so I didn't stay. I was a little sad to see they moved the bands back to the new wing along the train tracks, I really prefer the shows on the patio at One America Plaza, hopefully that was a one time move.

Abraham and Malinda were there and convinced me to swing by the Casbah before I headed off to Chaser's, so I let the peer pressure get the best of me and followed them.

It didn't take too long to be so glad that I'd made that choice. The Submarines were onstage and I liked their sweet dreamy indie pop. I thought of Kite Flying Society and how unfortunate it is that they called it quits. Anyway, I liked the Submarines and hope to catch them again.



I wasn't going to stay because I wanted to get to Chaser's, but I decided to stay for a couple Birdmonster songs and they ended up pulling me in and I stayed for the whole set. It wasn't just their sound that I liked, but they had such amazing charisma onstage, all the while appearing that they were having a great time. I was having fun taking pictures of them, and since Jake was on sound, I joined him in the back for a while and doing the lights, then I kinda turned them up high, took some pics, then gave him the cue he could turn them back down.







After their set, I was in the bathroom and met the mother and grandmother of the guitarist. I guess he grew up here and his family still lives in Rancho Bernardo. I personally love to see the families of bands coming out to shows and they were all very sweet. They also had great merch so I had to buy a shirt.

I finally took of and made my way to Chaser's where I'd missed Writer, but was just in time to catch Low Red Land. I saw them a few months back when they'd played at Scolari's and I liked them so much then that I bought all of their CD's. This time they rocked just as hard, but I think the sound at Chaser's is much better than Scolari's so I was glad I made it in time to catch them.







While standing outside Chaser's, I noticed there's a weird shop next door that sells religious statuettes. Being raised Catholic, I've always thought that religious relics, art, and icons were creepy, but nearing two a.m. with little light, they're downright frightening.



So my Thursday finally concluded and kicked off a great weekend, which I'll have to post about later because I'm tired and have to be bright and shiny in the morning.

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Writer, The Ringers & This Holiday Life, Beauty Bar, 2-16-08

So I had quite the weekend and have over a hundred pictures to sort through from Saturday, as well as my weekly "things to do" listings to get to, but I'm not really in the mood. I just feel like writing about the rest of the weekend...pics will come later, as well as video of Swim Party from last Monday, The Prayers from Thursday and Cory Branan from Friday.

Saturday night was a Beauty Bar night for me. The bands are starting a little bit later these days, so I had some time to hang out, grab a bite nearby, and post up for This Holiday Life. It was my first time seeing them and I really enjoyed them. They fell in the vein of Agualung for me...beautiful soaring vocals and very piano heavy. I realized that I'd left my camera battery at home, so Abraham and I snuck off mid-set to pick it up. I clocked it and my apartment is 3 minutes from the Beauty Bar.

By the time we got back, we heard there was some mix-up and the Ringers went onstage second instead of Writer. Perhaps it was a weird booking to put the two together, but I know there was a little anxiety that The Ringers super high energy show would somehow overshadow Writer's more melodic and quiet set, but I'm happy to say that not only did both bands play well, but the crowd stuck around for both bands and I think appreciated them both.

The Ringers of course were all over the stage and did their LA brand of rock n roll and they do not disappoint. Again, another dude-heavy fanbase, but it was ok, I strapped my camera around my wrist and did my best to take some pics.












After they were done, I met them outside. Joe, the singer, has a sister named Rosie, so he was really nice to me and we kinda talked about the lineup change, and it just seemed like a fluke- nobody to blame but they had to get back to LA.

Back inside, Writer took the stage and sounded great. I kept joking that after The Ringers, they'd have to keep up the momentum with a few leg kicks, but they did what they do and nobody seemed to mind that they were much more mellow. I freaking love them and really can't say enough about how much I love their CD as well as what great people they all are "in real life."






After the show, Abe and I hit the Ken Club for last call, then hung out until 6 am sitting on my kitchen counter just shooting the shit, before I eventually went to sleep.

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Hooray Saturday

Today has been a very good day. I know sitting at home on the computer while doing laundry isn't most people's idea of a great time, but I'm in a pair of my old soccer shorts that I haven't worn in a long while-these legs haven't seen sunshine in a while- watching In Treatment on my Cox On Demand, and just hanging out with my dog. I've still got a couple more things to catch up on from this week. I saw the film Nanking, and while I believe it was a great and important film to watch, I haven't quite figured out how to write about it because it really hit me.

I also went to TNT and caught Paddleboat and The Vision of A Dying World, then caught Howlin Rain and Black Mountain at the Casbah, so I'll post some pictures from that tomorrow, when I'm hanging around, finishing laundry, watching more episodes of In Treatment on demand.

And, perhaps surprisingly, I didn't make it out to either Bar Pink Elephant or the Transfer CD release show at the Casbah, but I've got some good reasons, and I'm looking forward to posting the pics and a writeup of what I did instead because it was awe.some.

But anyway, all of that is going to have to wait until tomorrow because that laundry needs to get folded up and I've got a long night ahead of me...some pre-drinks downtown with Andrea, a comedy show at Aubergine (!), then hopefully the Night Marchers show at the Casbah. So with all that, I'm shutting down. Hooray for weekends.

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Weekend Recap: Saturday/Sunday

Such a lovely weekend, wasn't it? After hanging out with my sisters and brother in law at Old Town on Saturday, I headed down to the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and the opening of the new wing. The line was ridiculous to get in but Andrea is people who know people, so wristbands were handed to us and we were walked into the museum ahead of the crowd. I apologize if I gave the impression that drinks were free, but a friend called in a favor and for me, they were, all night long...

We watched Mr. Tube and for me it was their best performance I've seen. Maybe it was all the jackets and ties that made them look so spiff. Maybe it was nice to see them all in dark colors contrasted with the bright fresh white walls and high ceilings. Maybe it was just fun seeing all the museum members (the fashionable, mostly gray haired set) mixing with more of the TNT crowd (really? All of you are "members"?) It was a good time but six ounce cups do not a cocktail make so we left the new wing without seeing the Masters collection and crossed to the quad area where Ryan, Leslie and Rick hooked up the heavy pours and The Viewmasters entertained. They sounded great and the crowd was really into it, dancing and whatnot, despite the cold.

As the evening wound down, I parted ways with Andrea and Matt and finished my night watching the Widows and Dissimilars at the Ken Club, kinda. I mean I was there, but a couple more drinks and dodging this perv who wouldn't leave me alone and I had to call it an evening.

Sunday morning I awoke to a message from my sister so Andrea and I met up with her and my bro in law and Claudia, my godsister, for an afternoon at the zoo. I hadn't been in ages, not since monkey trails has opened and it made me glad to have a zoo pass. If you live here you have no excuse to not have a zoo pass. Sunday was a perfect day to go, too, because everyone was presumably at home watching football.

Afterward, Andrea and I had dinner at Chevy's (save your money) and planned on meeting up again for the 91X/Amplify San Diego show at the Casbah, but it wasn't in the cards and decided to save my energy for the Cold War Kids show tonight at the Belly Up. I'll be making my best efforts to meet up with some people at Pizza Port and snag a couple drinks at Surf N Saddle before the show if anyone is in the area. If you don't have a ticket, you should still plan on a fun night out at the Casbah for Tim Pyles' Anti-Monday League, this week featuring Bumbklaat, The Long and Short of It, Batwings and Cabrón and then head on over to M Theory to get the Shins album. Who says Mondays have to suck?

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Friday Recap/Newsy Bits

Not a whole lot of news to report today.

* Car crashes into Zombie Lounge?- A friend of mine told me that a car crashed into the Zombie Lounge on Thursday night. Other friends who were at the Zombie on Friday hadn't noticed any damage so maybe it was just a rumor...I will find out and get back to ya...

*Congratulations to Two Word Name for winning their night at the Emergenza Battle of the Bands at Dreamstreet on Thursday night. Their next battle will be at Brick By Brick.

Last night I headed out to Scolari's to see my friend Berkeley's band Nautical Disaster play. The vocals were drowned a bit for the first two songs but once adjusted they sounded pretty damn good. Scolari's isn't my favorite place...the low ceiling makes me feel a bit claustrophobic, but I had a good time and will hopefully get to see the band at a venue with better sound.

After Scolari's we headed to the Ken Club to see the Muslims and Red Feathers, but a crowded night at the bar had me hopping from the band room to the bar so I didn't catch full sets. The Muslims play again tonight at the Beauty Bar with No Age. I will be catching Mr Tube and the Viewmasters at the preview for tomorrow's opening of the new wing of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in the Santa Fe Depot building. Free booze and desserts. Woo hoo.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend and I'll post when I get some good shit to talk about..

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Weekend Recap: Saturday

CatDirt and CatDirt Wife came over for some beers before we headed over to the Ken Club. The Muslims were already playing when we arrived. The room was packed and everyone that I talked to liked them a lot and kept saying they are very "Velvet-Underground-y". The Ken Club band side was packed. Unfortunately, I don't have much to add to what Catdirt said about the show. The Muslims are good and their shows this weekend should prove to be as good if not better. (Friday at the Ken Club, Saturday at the Beauty Bar)

I didn't realize I was missing Jeremy Jay until it was too late and only caught 2 songs. I definitely thought there was a Morissey-esque sound to the vocals which to me can't be bad. Still there was so much going on at the bar...lots of local bands were present and the alcohol was flowing.

The Prayers played last. I was chided for never having seen the Prayers before but I just hadn't. I don't really follow the whole Art Fag/Skull Kontrol/Plot/et al crew so I didn't know what to expect. I thought the band would be screaming and sloppy and in fact was surprised by how mellow and clean their sound is. In fact, they reminded my of my mom's 45s from the 60s with their poppy pep. The crowd had thinned significantly but there was still a good showing of people.

As the night drew to a close everyone went their own way so I ventured home at last call and decided to watch a movie. At 3:30ish, the movie was ending and I started to hear some crazy noises outside...tons of yelling and glass breaking. I didn't look outside because I had no idea what all the commotion was. I tried to find the non-emergency number for the police but couldn't locate it and called 911. The operator informed me that all the noise was from the house fire next door. I went outside and saw the house adjacent to me on fire. I went upstairs to wake up Sara who happened to not be at home. I went out front to see at least 4 full fire engines, at least 4 police cruisers, and 3 or 4 fire investigation team trucks. I talked with the police letting them know that the house is empty...it is leased by a landscape company so nobody actually lives there. They suggested I prepare to evacuate. Being that I pretty much have my own zoo (a dog, 3 cats, 5 frogs) I wasn't exactly sure where I would go at 4 in the morning, but I got out all the cat carriers just in case.

It was amazing to me how quickly the fire was contained and the mere fact that someone drove by and saw the smoke and called it in when I was right next door and didn't notice a thing. Eventually they told me I was safe to stay home and told me that the fire had started from the wall heater...they had left the pilot light on and turned down the thermostat, but the house temp dropped and triggered the heater and the stuff covering it up on the wall caught on fire. It was a scary thing, and the second house fire I've been witness to, the other one happened directly across the street and as far as I know was also attributed to a faulty heater.

It was a scary night though everything ended up being ok for me. The lights and trucks and all the commotion continued all night so I wasn't asleep until after 6 am deeming Sunday another completely unproductive day. In the morning I talked to the wife of the owner of the landscape company and they said the fire was amazingly contained to the living room. They were lucky. I guess so was I.

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Weekend Recap: Friday

I really slacked on the blog this weekend but it was pretty crazy so I just didn't get around to it.

My Friday night began at Lestat's coffee. I got there during Micah Dahlberg's set. Micah sounded so much like James Taylor at times that I'd hoped he bust out some Sweet Baby James. He's from Texas but apparently lives in LA now. I liked the slow stuff more than the attempts at funking it up, but that's just me. He was backed by a cellist who was really good. Lestat's was packed, apparently Tyrone Wells is a huge draw and people were willing to dish out the $12 cover to see him.

Deccatree was next and my reason for being at the show. As I've mentioned, Chris Karn is the singer of Deccatree and was in a band called Sonichrome that I loved back in the days when Halloran was on The Flash. He was high on caffeine so had a hard time getting into serious mode for his songs but the crowd was exchanging banter and seemed to enjoy the short set. They started with a song I wasn't familiar with, then played Belong, Tears, Soul, Angel, What If I (first verse only and then they busted up and ended up skipping the song entirely), I'm Stalking You, Tonight.

Next up was Tyrone Wells. Chris produced his CD and apparently he's signed to Universal. I had other plans (you know, ones that involved adult beverages)...so I went to the HH bar and apparently the word is out because the bar was packed. Troy was there, KFS, Catdirt and Catdirt Wife, The Knitting Ninja, half of Vinyl Radio, and tons of others. It was a chill night but there were so many people there that eventually the fridge emptied of cold beers so everyone that hadn't already taken off to the Beauty Bar pretty much cleared out by 12:30.

I headed back to the hood and just missed The Fascination at the Ken Club. I had some drinks with Rob and bumped into an old friend who then came over and we watched tv until the wee hours until his friend was done hooking up with some chick in his truck. Saturday ended up not being a very productive day...

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A picture preview

I will be racapping the weekend soon, but in the meantime, here's a pic of how I spent my Saturday night:

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Thursday Night in San Diego: A recap and Newsy Bits

I joined my friends Andrea, Kara, Francine, Dan and Matt at Bacchus for a happy hour wine tasting. 6 tastings for $5 is a bargain, especially when there are 9 or 10 different wines from which to choose for your tastings. Here's a picture for your pleasure, taken by the camera on Francine's phone.



Apps were half price though the selection limited being that Bacchus is a wine store and not a restaurant. With the happy hour prices, olives and crackers are $2.50, a cheese plate is $5, a meat and cheese plate is $7.50. In a "twist my arm" evening, after our tasting and subsequently sharing 2 bottles of wine from the store, we headed down G Street to 57°. Dan has wine stored there so we shared a few more bottles of wine. I was going to write a fake review of the Belly Up show because I am mad at myself that I bought a ticket and didn't use it, but honestly, a good night shant be cut short for a 25 minute ride up the coast. So yeah, I missed Ryan Calhoun, Anya Marina and Greg Laswell. But I played poker and drank wine in the VIP room of 57°: life is all about trade-offs.

Last night was also the anniversary party at Kate Ross which had a reception at the store and a fashion show afterward at Bluefoot Lounge. My favorite photographer was present and took some pics for your enjoyment. All photos taken by David Fennema. Take a look at his photoblog for other amazing photos.









In other newsy bits:

Rookie Card is looking for a bassist: BASSIST WANTED Want to play and harmonize with Rookie Card? Fun established indiepowerpop/altcountry band. Good songs, good times. We dig Wilco, Guided By Voices, Teenage Fanclub, Whit Strips, Old 97's, Big Star, etc. Contact Adam through the band's MySpace page here. The band has several upcoming shows, so check their MySpace for those dates as well.

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If you missed the live S&M show at the Beauty Bar on Wednesday, check out the pictures here. The photographer also has a great collection of pictures of Republic of Letters here. Catch Republic of Letters at the Ken Club on January 26.

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If you happened to be at the awesome Danielson concert at the Casbah last summer, then go show your love by voting for their video on MTVU. Don't be too cool for MTV. MTV sells records, more record sales equals more touring, more touring means bands stop treating San Diego like we're some podunk town and can be bypassed on tours as bands head from LA to Tempe. Voting ends tonight at midnight.

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Rob Crow is featured on Stereogum's blog today. Check it out here.

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Time for my Friday nap. Peace out...

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Recap: Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks and Entrance

Damn my Photobucket has been pissing me off today.

Last night's Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks show was pretty alright. Truth be told, there is nothing I can say about Pavement or Stephen Malkmus that hasn't been said by people who know music and this musician in particular, better than I do. I enjoyed the sold out show, but for me it wasn't life-changing, "epic" or particularly spectacular. I expected more quick starting and quick closing songs, but there were a lot of free jams happening onstage. The crowd was into it, and especially stoked that the drummer from Sleater Kinney is now a Jick. So no analysis, here's the set list for you.



The opening band was called Entrance. They're a three piece, with a chick bassist (who was wearing moccasins and looked like she hit the peace pipe before the show). The vocalist/guitarist plays Hendrix style, with his guitar upside down and really weird tunings. The first four songs to me were pretty cool, psychedelic rock with a hint of gypsy vibe, but they turned more into straight up psych rock as the set progressed and I lost my enthusiasm when the singer switched guitars mid set and had to tune for at least 5 minutes only to come back with only 2 songs. huh? Seemed like a waste. I also felt like the draw of the band was the hollering vocal stylings of the singer and the lyrics fell by the wayside. I guess that's just me. "Don't go walking on the wrong side of the road" just ain't deep.

All in all, I had a good time, but there have been and will continue to be much better shows at the Casbah and around town in '07. Sorry for the indie rock sacrilege.

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Weekend Recap: The Roman Spring, A Week's Worth, etc...

What a great first weekend of a new year. I started my weekend after my halfday of work on Friday by scooting home and taking care of business, then heading downtown with Sara to see The Holiday. It’s standard romantic comedy fare, which translates to me crying over silly moments and trying to decide who I love more…Jack Black or Jude Law. I enjoyed the movie and recommend it if you’re already feeling a bit of nostalgia for Christmas.

After the movie I picked up Andrea and we headed to Happy Hour to meet Scott and Sophie (CatDirt and CatDirtWife). They were going to the show at Horton House/Stockton House. Troy Johnson was initiated and showed up at the bar, too, along with Seth Combs. In all honesty, if my night had ended there, I would’ve been fine with that because we were having such a good time, but alas, we all had other plans.

Andrea and I made it to the Casbah just as the Roman Spring had started their set. This is my second time seeing them and I really noticed a lot of growth and a more fluid sound. Tim took more risks with guitar solos and I think the sound mix was just a lot better than the last time I saw them.

As expected, it was a packed house, which is just a great commentary on San Diego local music at the moment. The Prayers were on next and I’ll definitely have to check them out another time when there isn’t so much to otherwise be distracted by. I ventured out to the patio during their set and pretty much remained there throughout the remainder of the show. I went in a couple times for Grand Ole Party and UV Tigers but I feel like I’ve seen both bands in the past 6 months more than I’ve seen my own mother, so there was nothing new going on and I didn’t feel compelled to pay close attention.

Saturday night I wasn’t much motivated to do anything. Knowing the I’m going to the Casbah tonight (Sunday) as well as tomorrow for the Anti Monday League show, I decided that I’ll have to catch Swim Party and Modern Rifles somewhere else. Transfer is another band I’ve seen quite a bit lately, too, so I wasn’t concerned about missing them. Matt called and told me there was some sidestage show happening at the House of Blues. He told me that Vinyl Radio and Grand Ole Party were originally supposed to play, but now the lineup was Lady Dottie and The Diamonds and Delta Spirit. I headed to his house and we ventured downtown. On the ride I got a preview of the rough tracks of the new Vinyl Radio and it is strong. Some mixing needs to be done, but the preproduced product sounds great already. You can still pick up their free CD at various locations. They had a bunch at the Casbah on Friday but I don’t know how many were left. There should be more there for the show tomorrow.

After grabbing some bar fare and a couple drinks, we came to find out that both bands had cancelled and now the show was just going to be Buddy Akai, though I suppose I would’ve known this had I checked the MySpace bulletins.

I’ve seen Buddy Akai before and I enjoy them for what they are, but when manager Erika Jessup (of the Beauty Bar) told us that the band might not play because their laptop was missing we both kinda cringed. Matt is of the belief that computers have no business on stage. I’m not that extreme, but my feeling is that a band should be able to pull off a decent set with or without a laptop. Later that night, Shiloh and Jason and I had a discussion about it and they shed some light on the value of a computer for the electro-rock that bands like Buddy Akai play, but I’m not sure I’m sold. I feel like their sound has already run its course and isn’t really a style with any longevity or staying power once the resurgence of the 80’s passes and we inevitably draw from another era. The boys from Augustana were at the show but left after the first song.

Matt and I were pretty tired from having to wait so long for their set to even start, so we took a cue from Augustana and left after the second song. I picked up my car and wasn’t ready to call it a night so I decided to head to Rosie O’Grady’s in hopes of catching A Weeks Worth and also as a bit of surveillance to check out the bar as a venue. I really believe that bands need to play different venues. The Beauty Bar, The Casbah, The Ken Club and the Sports Club all have their merits, but the crowds at these bars draw from the same pool. There are also places like Brick By Brick or Dream Street or Winston’s that have their own qualities that might help in expanded exposure, even if it seems like nobody is paying attention, as was the case for Rosie’s.

I’ve lived down the street from Rosie’s for seven years now and have to admit this was maybe my fourth time there. I’ve never seen a band play there. I found a stool along the bar and ordered up a Smithwick’s (Rosie’s has a good beer selection) and eventually A Week’s Worth started playing.

They are a local three piece and I have to say I really enjoyed their performance, although I caught them at the end of the night for their final abbreviated set. There’s something about that bar that is foreign to me. Like I love the look of the bar, but the crowd is built in, whether there’s a band or karaoke or whatever, so to me not being a local, you get the feeling like you wish you could transport 50 friends there. Everyone was talking through the music that I kept thinking of the scene in Beautiful Girls when the Afghan Whigs play live but as just background music in the bar. Aside from some random chick dancing up front, nobody seemed to be paying attention to the music except for me and the two guys next to me because we were right near the band’s setup, and the woman taking pictures.

Still, none of that takes away from the fact that A Weeks Worth are a good band. I’ve been laying on my bed and have listened to their album twice all the way through and I am trying to find a way to describe the music but I’m coming up blank. I guess the fact that I can lay on my bed and listen to a self produced local album all the way through twice should alone say something. I’m feeling Nada Surf, early Better Than Ezra, Longwave…somewhere along those lines. Just do yourself a favor and listen to them.

After the show I came home and was ready to settle into a late night movie but Jason and Shiloh came over so we watched Next on MTV for a bit, played a late night game of Scene It! and then called it a night. They took off around 4:30 and I nestled in for sleep.

At this moment I plan on heading to the Casbah tonight for Stephen Malkmus, but Sunday’s are hard, so we’ll see how I feel about it in 4 hours or so. In the meantime, I hope everyone had a good weekend and I’ll be updating the Things to Do shortly.

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