Roybot & Gamma Gamma @ Habitat, The Sess & Red Feathers @ Casbah, 5.10.08

After a full day at Gator By The Bay, I was pretty grubby, but I didn't want to miss the show at the Habitat House, so I had my mom drop me off there instead of back at home, stopping first at the liquor store up the street. I chatted briefly with Drew Andrews (who will be doing his own Habitat show soon)then made my way into the house.

Roybot's performance was hilarious, with 3 videos interacting with one another and with Roy. I don't know where one person finds the time. CatDirt took care of reviewing the show (and the Casbah, for that matter), so I have little to add to his commentary. Read his full review here.

After Roybot, Gamma Gamma played and it was the loudest show I've been to at the house, so I hung out on the porch chatting with some people there. Gamma Gamma were pretty cool and I'm with CatDirt that I'd like to see them again, but I think that a SD House Party show would be sweet.

Here are just a couple random pics I took.





After the show at Habitat House, I caught a ride with CD and CDW to the Casbah, and clearly ignored my previous night's misadventures and proceeded to ignore the #1 rule of drinking: Liquor before beer, in the clear; Beer before liquor, get drunk quicker. (Or get more sicker...but I wasn't that bad).

I watched the bands and took a couple pics, but spent most of the night in the back bar and on the patio. Here's a few of my favorite Casbah pics from the night:








After the Casbah, Dan and Abe took me home and I was grateful for a fun day and a safe ride home.

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Too Many Plans, Too Little Time: the rest of my weekend

I completely overbooked my weekend, so much so that when it came to it, I ended up at only two of the seven or so things I'd planned. After getting sick, I realized I had to listen to my body and needed to take it easy.

Friday night, I had miscommunicated with a friend and we ended up missing Tokyo Police Club at Soma, but when Abraham called, he and Dan swung by and picked me up to go to the Beauty Bar. Since Sarah has been there, there are some noticeable changes to the bar. I liked it when Erika was the manager there, but even then, I sometimes felt like a fish out of water; I would go for the bands and when they'd finish, I'd leave to someplace where I felt a little more comfortable in a hoodie and jeans. Some of the staff has changed, the booking is a little different, and there's less a focus on pleasing the hipsters, and I think a different crowd is feeling more comfortable there than before.

Swim Party was awesome as ever, but I was absolutely blown away by Pattern is Movement. Two guys, one on drums and one on keys, just killing it. They did a Radiohead cover that was amazing and they were really nice guys to boot. I highly recommend checking out their MySpace page here.

After the show, Dan dropped Abraham and I off at the Ken Club and we had a couple unnecessary shots and when the bar closed, Abraham crashed out while I caught up on my week's worth of In Treatment.

In the morning my dog was going nuts and I let her out and she had "e.d." (explosive diarrhea) so I set up my lawn chair to stay outside with her and fell asleep in the sun for a couple hours. By noon, it was hot and we decided to get lunch. We headed for El Comal in Grant Hill, but it appears to have changed owners and is now called "Caffe de Pepe" or something. We still ate there, and our food was pretty damn good, though I miss El Comal's salsa trio and their chilaquiles were to die for. Dan came and met us, as did my sister and Johanna, so it was a fun time to chill out.

After lunch, I really wanted to check out the show at Planet Rooth, but I was kinda tired, so I napped instead, and ended up missing a house crawl that I should've been at as well. I did some evening grocery shopping and when Abraham and Daniel showed up again, we walked to the Ken. I was really mellow, and didn't go into the band room until Red Feathers played. I guess I was pacing myself since I kinda knew there was gonna be an after party, and there was. A bunch of us went back to my house, listened to music, watched some shit on YouTube and chilled out for a while until everyone bailed in the wee hours of the morning.

That lead to Sunday, where it was a lazy day and I spent most of it with my family for a BBQ. We watched Enchanted, which I actually thought was a pretty funny spoof of all the Disney princess movies until it turned into one in the end. And of course, I spent some Q.T. with my niece. Petro commented that I haven't posted a picture of her in a couple weeks, so this one is for him.



Anyway, by the time I got home from my parents' house, it was almost 9 and I realized I'd not posted about any of last week's shows, so I decided not to go to the Casbah. I do plan on being there tomorrow for Musee Mechanique and if you haven't heard them, check them out here or here. Hopefully someone will be kind enough to get me a copy of Staring At The Sun. I'm looking forward to the week ahead, but it's finally time for me to get some sleep. I'll try to get some listings up in the morning. night-night.

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Tonight's Silverbird Show is on at Heavy Press

While I haven't gathered more info on the situation over at Scolari's I have been informed that tonight's show has found a new home.

River City, Silverbird, and Red Feathers will now be playing at Heavy Press, 2312 El Cajon Blvd. Because Heavy Press is a print shop, the show is now open to all ages (though grownups can BYOB). Plan on getting there around 9-ish.

The bonus is that the print shop has this wood on the walls that should really complement the organic sounds of these amazing bands. I know there's a lot going on tonight, but if you haven't checked out Silverbird and Red Feathers, this would be a great place to finally do it, and while I haven't seen River City, they sound awesome, too. (Hear them on MySpace) Plus, who isn't a fan of bands playing in non-traditional venues every once in a while?

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Friday Recap: Red Feathers & The Vision Of A Dying World

On Friday night I returned to the hood a little later than I'd planned. Then I made a Ken Club mistake and ordered a margarita. And then another. And so on. Don't get me wrong, the margs are delicious, but they catch up to you pretty darn quick. That said, it's best I just post some pics of the night. I mean, how many times can I write that I love Red Feathers and The Vision of A Dying World? Awesome music to accompany margarita bliss...

The Red Feathers










The Vision of a Dying World








It was a lovely evening and I was happy to be stumbling distance from home around good friends.

As a side note, as I'm celebrating the one year of writing this blog, it has also been one year since Action Jackson has been in the promoting game, putting together great local bands at great venues like the Che, The Ken, The Casbah, and Scolari's among others. Congrats to Jackson on a great year and here's to the next year of supporting the local scene.

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Friday Recap: Red Feathers, Old Man Hands, Ghost Buffalo, The North Atlantic, Swedish Models, The Muslims

I wish I had more time to write earlier, but it has been a busy, busy weekend. I'll recap as much as I can before I have to get some sleep.

My Friday night started at the Whistle Stop. I was really excited to see two bands that I haven't seen in some time. Red Feathers started the night and killed it. They sound so vocally strong and the bar was packed with people for the show, though the usual chatter on the bar side of the wall was a factor in the general buzz and energy of the night.











Lately I've been finding myself loving bands that switch it up between vocalists and instruments and Ref Feathers is no exception. I finally met Marco (thanks for the CD!) and it was nice to finally talk to him since we've been at the same place at the same time so many times before.

Old Man Hands was up second and I can't ever say enough about them and the talent of Gabriel. His voice can melt anyone and the accompaniment of keys, guitars, violin, mandolin, drums, bass just gave such a full sound. This was the most people I'd ever seen play under the Old Man Hands moniker, since when I have seen them in the past it's been at tiny spaces where they play more stripped down. There were moments that I felt amazement in the way I did the first time I ever saw "The Last Waltz."





Toward the end of the set, LaTaunya Lockett sang a song with the band and jaws were dropped. Get that girl a record deal, my god. Her soulful voice was a beautiful compliment to the band.



They finished a little after 11 and though I would've loved to see the Modlins, I had to mosey on my way. I hadn't been to Black Box Studios before but had no problem finding it and getting in via the alley. There were a lot of people there and I was impressed how overall, the crowd hanging outside was quiet and respectful to the neighborhood. It's obviously ideal, too, because of the studios sound proofing, that you couldn't hear the music at all from the outside.

The only bummer for me was that the show ran really late. I caught a little bit of the touring band, Ghost Buffalo, and they musically had a rockin vibe and lead by a female vocalist whose vox was somewhere between Jewel and Anya Marina, but the backing band kept her from sounding too folky.



After they finished, I hung outside with Kasey for a while then with Dave who had me cracking up. I was actually surprised to run into anyone I knew there, to be honest. By the time The North Atlantic started, it was nearly midnight. I had never seen them play before but it was a great performance that had the room packed (and really freakin hot). The crowd clearly loves the band and were singing along to most of the songs.









Unfortunately, I was at my tipping point and the crowd and heat became a little overwhelming added to the fact that I had to get myself home, so I left about midway through the set. I made my way back to Kensington and walked to the bar to find that show was also running very, very late. I was able to catch the final couple songs of Swedish Models.











It was 1:30 bar time when the Muslims finally took the stage and they played right up to the lights on kicking everyone out of the bar moment and a good amount of people stayed to watch them finish.









I was after anti-party since I had a big Saturday planned, yet somehow I ended up staying up pretty late loading all the pics up till I finally shut down and shut out calling it a great Friday night.

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Friday Dilemma

While I'm thrilled San Diego is booming with solid local music, it bums me out immensely that I have to choose between these three amazing shows on Friday. Proximity usually wins in a case like this, but there are so many other factors to weigh in. Ah well, all solid shows and I hope they all draw well.

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Weekend Recap: The Vision Of A Dying World, Red Feathers, Bunky, Kleeman and Mike

If there's one thing I can say this week is I can't adequately express how happy I am that Independence Day is going to break up this week. My weekend was good but maybe I didn't take full advantage of the time.

Friday night I napped too long before heading to the Tower for the cd release show for The Vision of a Dying World. I passed the Beauty Bar on the way and was glad that I wasn't gonna have to wait in the line that was forming outside. The Tower Bar, while no line, was still really crowded which for some reason is more tolerable in a place like the Tower than at the Beauty Bar.


The Vision of A Dying World played first blew me away with how good their new material is. It had been a while since I'd seen them, and the Atari Lounge at the Casbah doesn't quite get the full effect. It seemed to me like they did pretty well moving merch, too, so good for them finally getting the attention they deserve. The harmonies especially set the band apart from a majority of San Diego bands. I guess it was unfortunate that they played first, because I knew about a dozen people who missed their performance thinking that they were playing last. Still, it was nice to see so many other local bands represented in the crowd considering how many good choices there were for the night.








During Red Feathers I got to talking and was in and out of the bar so I didn't watch their full set. It was their EP release and again, the room was packed as people crowded toward the band. I like the Red Feathers a lot but by that point of the night, I was getting a little claustrophobic. Some people who were at the Battles show started filtering in making it that much more crowded.






It seemed a lot of people left before Bunky played. They were great as usual, but Emily's sweet voice had to compete with all the bar noise. They should've definitely played first, when the crowd was a little less chatty and way less liquored up.

I only stayed for a couple Bunky songs, then headed home an walked to the Ken. All the bands were done but I did get to say hi to everyone, though of course, RoL all left before last call so there was no after party action. I did go home and I guess from having napped too long, ended up staying up till 6 in the morning. Part of it was my neighbor brought home a screamer, part of it was that I ended up watchin "You, Me and Dupree" on demand as well as some free music stuff on Concert.tv and catching up on Flight of the Conchords.

Saturday was a bit of a waste in the day, saved for housecleaning and laundry mostly, but the night was fun. My friend Randall writes a comic book and does computer animation, so he screened his new 6 minute animation of his new Kleeman and Mike comic at Cream. A lot of people came out and since Cream put all beers on special for $1.50, we ended up staying til 10. A group of us then headed to Triple Crown in hopes of playing ping pong, but the patio closed shortly after we arrived and the bar was hot as hell, so we wrapped it up after just a beer, with Andrea, Matt, Ethan and Andrew going to Lancer's, Petro, Chris, Eric and Camilla heading home, and me heading to the Ken Club where it was sadly empty compared to the night before. I did watch Mex do a great Whiskeytown cover of "Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart" but otherwise just sat at the bar with a couple friends until it again was time to go home and again, ended up staying up until the sun was rising.

Sunday I spend time with my family at my sister's place in PB, enjoying an early dinner and ooohing and aaahing over all the baby stuff my sister got from her shower. I made sure to get to sleep early so I could get back on track for real life and the dayjob. I'm looking forward to a good week: Pirate Pete's birthday at the Ken Club tonight with The Postals, The Dissimilars, and Rat City Riot, again at the Ken on Tuesday for Transfer and Apes of Wrath after seeing Avenue Q, a day off on Wednesday with a family bbq then the Padres game with Sara. Then for me I'll probably lay low on Thursday, Friday it's Band of Horses at Cane's followed by the Vinyl Radio show at the Ken, then Saturday it's Sophie's big birthday bash at the Beauty Bar with Fifty on Their Heels and The Vultures. Phew. I love summertime in San Diego.

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Action Jackson Promotions: And then there were two

In creating the Things to Do list this week, I came across the listings for O'Connell's. "Action Jackson Promotions Presents...PIMP N HO BALL Featuring TWO WORD NAME." Now, for the record, I like Two Word Name and while their approach to the music scene might be a little different than most San Diego bands, they bust their asses. And Dag is a regular at Anti-Monday League. Sadly, the same cannot be said for other local bands, even ones who've been billed on the increasingly popular night.

As far as O'Connell's goes, I've been once, and the ambience isn't exactly appealing to me, but I can see it fills a niche and I was also informed this week that in the past month the venue has grown and they've upgraded their sound system as they took over the adjacent property and expanded, so I have been meaning to check it out.

And last, when I hear Action Jackson Promotions, I think of Jackson of The Vision of A Dying World and the guy behind so many of those great bills at Ché Café, Scolari's, and the Tower Bar.

But I have to be honest... a freaking Pimp n Ho ball? Really???

I'm relieved to say that Jackson saw it, too, and his response was a big WTF? I dug around a little to find out that another guy is using the moniker Action Jackson Promotions...his last name is apparently Jackson, though nobody could remember his first name. Skip? Eric? Not sure. As far as anyone I talked to knew, this second "Action Jackson" is new in the promotions game, having promoted that local show on the Soma mainstage on June 2.

Now legally, I doubt either has a dba or trademark or anything like that, but I'm just putting it out there that Jackson has made a name for himself with his promoting, his own band The Vision of a Dying World, and for supporting the local scene as much as anyone (and he's got the MySpace page which counts for something). Jackson considers himself a feminist and was offended by the Pimp N Ho theme, as well as having specifically declined any promotional activity at O'Connell's. I would like to see Mr. Jackson step back and find a new name for his promotions, as this could definitely create confusion in the marketplace.

Support the REAL Action Jackson Promotions this Friday at the Tower Bar for The Vision of a Dying World's CD Release Party. Joining The Vision of A Dying World will be Bunky and Red Feathers. Additionally, the band is reviewed in this week's CityBeat here.

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Friday Recap: The May Fire, Rubicks, Red Feathers

My Friday night started at the Beauty Bar for The May Fire and Rubicks. The May Fire were already onstage when I got there, but I was told they had just started. A female fronted rock band, I liked the bratty sound to their lyrics and vocals. They're from San Francisco, but the singer had a thick accent, I was trying to guess if it was Mexican or another Latin accent. I really like the Spanglish stuff happening in music so I really liked this band. The crowd was pretty thin for most of the set, and pretty damn quiet, but I was enjoying myself.









It felt like a long set changeover. On weekends at the Beauty Bar, bands can play later, but for people like me who are there to see the bands and then bail when they're done, you can start to get pretty antsy between bands. After a while, Rubicks took the stage. A two piece from London, the initial songs reminded me of Heart of Glass era Blondie. They had synth drum beats with heavy guiar and bass. I liked them live but don't necessarily see myself rocking out to them at home. People more into the dancey electroclash stuff might.









I left before Rubicks finished because I didn't wanna miss Red Feathers at the Ken Club. From what I heard, I shouldn't have missed the Teeth, either, but you can only be so many places at once. I caught the tail end of the Red Feathers set last time they played at the Ken and I loved them. I think they go hand in hand with the Muslims sound and have more instrumentation for an even more full sound. And as my friend Kevin pointed out, they quite photogenic.













I watched their whole set and stuck around till closing time but decided to actually go to sleep when I got home becauses today is gonna be a big one. I'm off to clean my house. Yippee. See you tonight at the Ken Club for Silverbird & Pop Noir. Don't forget I'm having a pre-party at 8. 4 doors down from Ken Coffee on Adams...

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Sunday Night Recap: Roxy Jones, Apes of Wrath, Red Feathers

Last night there was a benefit for Free Radio San Diego, FM 96.9. If you are unaware, it is a pirate radio station and is currently off the air because they were getting harassed by the FCC, but they plan to be up again soon. It has been around for over 4 years. For now, the station can be heard online here. They made close to $400 last night and I was really amazed at the huge turnout on a Sunday night. Here's a pic of Dave, the singer of Vitro, modeling a FRSD shirt:



I arrived as Red Feathers were already in the midst of playing their set. I only caught a couple songs but thought they were great. You should listen to their tracks on MySpace here. They are playing at San Diego Sports Club on Wednesday for Pussy Galore and Action Jackson told me they're playing a show at the Ché on St. Paddy's Day along with The Vision of A Dying World and The Muslims.



Red Feathers were followed by Apes Of Wrath. "Yeah, there's other bands called Apes of Wrath, but fuck them." And that's pretty much how their music was, too. Good and carefully sloppy and aggressive but with restraint. Fun, fun show.



My small complaint about Apes of Wrath is that they broke down their equipment onstage, instead of pulling off the drums and then breaking down on the side of the stage. This resulted in what seemed like a really long set change between bands. I did not get a pre-show nap in and knowing that Roxy Jones still hadn't started by 11:30, it was not looking good. This made me feel especially bad because Peter prepaid my donation. Awesomest guy ever.

I did stick around for four songs and they were fun to watch. Peter's so comfortable onstage, it's really quite impressive to me. They've also added a bassist which gave the music a fuller sound than in the past . There was no screaming although the sound was really loud to me. I'm no authority, however, because when Peter asked how it sounded, the audience overwhelmingly told him to turn up the guitar and vocals even louder. Midnight came around and I wanted to stay but I wake up at 6:30 and this is going to be a busy enough week, so I had to call it a night before I turned into a pumpkin, but all in all, fun show, good cause. Doesn't get much better than that.

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