My CityBeat Column

Just an FYI that my new column is up. Yes, for you, dear readers, I actually watched an entire hour of The Next Great American Band. I kinda dig the Clark Brothers and Light of Doom has a real shot, but really? Denver and the Mile High Orchestra? So Christian that they had to change Rod Stewart's lyrics? Gimme a freakin break. And Dot Dot Dot? They should be poster boys (and girls) for Wet N Wild cosmetics and be the resurrection of Aqua Net hairspray. Lame.

Just a correction on my column...the site to donate to The Locust is actually misspelled in the domain. It should be www.ThreeOneG.com/releif (not relief)

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Help The Locust

I posted this week about The Locust being victimized by thieves who stole pretty much everything in their van. If you're feeling generous, Three One G Records has set up a donation page. Click here to help the guys out.

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Plug Awards Nominees: The Locust & Mike Halloran

The PLUG Awards are to indie bands what the Grammy's are for sellout cheeseballs who sell a bazillion records to the masses. Wait, does that really work as an analogy? Not really. But anyway, they're annual awards that are kind of a big deal in the indie music world. So yeah, Band of Horses are in pretty much every category ("and the Plug Award for biggest asshole goes to...") but there are some other worthy mentionables, like the National and Arcade Fire who appear to be fighting for the top spot on most lists this year.

San Diego is getting some shout outs, too, so ye shall get yer indie butt over and vote here.

In the "Punk Album of the Year" category, The Locust are nominated for New Erections.

In the "Best Specialty Show" category, Mike Halloran from FM 94/9 (KBZT) is nominated for FTP (or as we all know it, Fuck Tim Pyles), which, ironically, is sometimes hosted by Tim Pyles.

Anyway, show some local love for the Plugs.

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Stolen Band Gear: The Locust

Scott posted a little about this but it's really unfortunate how many time I have posted bands getting their stuff stolen, both in town and on tour. This, from SAF records:

Last night, the Locust went to a grocery store in St Louis, MO. Their van was broken into and basically everything they had, laptops, ipods, cash, meds, toiletries, phone chargers, everything was stolen.

Anyone catching them on the remaining tour dates, please help them out however you can, buy some shit, give them some fucking deodorant, or a hug, or something. This sucks so bad...they are the last people who deserve this.

Take care of our boys and help them out.

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Wednesday Newsy Bits

I had few newsy bits yesterday, so I just didn't post, and there's not much today, either, but here's a couple things that might be of interest to you.

San Diego bands that headed to Austin for SXSW (officially and unofficially) are back and recharging. Matt (Vinyl Radio) said they had a great time played a ton of shows and will fill me in on details this week. Dynamite Walls played and have some cool photoblogs on their MySpace here. If your band has info, send it my way via the links on the right.
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I posted a listing about a midnight movie at the Ken Theatre on Saturday being put on by Action Jackson. Just an FYI, that has been cancelled. I'll get to updating all the other listings later this evening.
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Last week, I posted a message from the band The Colour Revolt whose stuff got stolen in Dallas on their way to SXSW. The van and trailer have been recovered (empty) and some of their equipment has turned up at pawn shops in the region. Police are still investigating and trying to track down more stuff, but it is a good lesson to register all your serial numbers so in the event that some punk ganks your shit, you are somewhat protected.
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Local bands getting press:

From MTV:

The Locust's New Erections: The inaccessible art/noise band holed up with producer Alex Newport (Melvins, the Mars Volta) for their third undertaking. But breaking with their own tradition of breaking tradition, the San Diego spazz-outs made longer songs this time — that's right, don't expect "One Manometer Away From Mutually Assured Relocation" or "God Wants Us All to Work in Factories" to last less than a minute.

From Pitchfork Media:

Once upon a time, Rob Crow played in a San Diego trio called Heavy Vegetable (Remember: assonance was a cool thing in the early 90s). Crow would go on to do Pinback, Three Mile Pilot, the Ladies, Goblin Cock, solo stuff, and, sure, a few dozen other bands in the process, while the other members of Heavy V-- drummer Manolo Turner and bassist Travis Nelson-- pursued similarly intense careers in professional gardening and monk-dom, respectively/allegedly. Vocalist Eléa Tenuta, meanwhile, later played with Crow in Thingy.

From Fiddle While You Burn (blog):

Earthless @ Vice Saves Texas- F-ing mind blowing!! I'll write more about this later but these guys from San Diego absolutely killed with a sound that reminded me of a (perhaps) heavier Comets on Fire. Earthless were easily one of the 5 best bands I saw all week in Austin.

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Friday Newsy Bits

As I look at my arm with my bar stamps just inside my wrists, I have to say that last night was awesome (and I danced!). I'll get to that shortly, but first, San Diego gossip, news and happenings.
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I got some info about Landlord Jim's. The entire block where the bar is located is rumored to be razed and turned into a parking structure to create needed spaces for City College, the police station and "Smart Corner", the multi use structure being built at 12th & C. Downtown development doesn't come easy or cheaply. The tenants of the apartments above the bar have all been moved, but the building owner is holding out on offers because the developer is trying to undercut the value of the liquor license which the new developer must pay as part of the acquisition costs. The bar is expected to remain open while negotiations continue, so go support your local bar. The bar should be open through at least April/May, but if negotiations and CCDC permitting happen slowly, the bar could remain open indefinitely, even through the end of the year. The bar will pretty much be open till the first wrecking ball crashes through.
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Last night at the Casbah, I bumped into Ben Brewer of the New York band The Exit. Last time we chatted, he wasn't sure if they would stay a bi-coastal band. Cutest story, too...he moved here for a girl and that is all working out well. His band recently joined him here and they recorded 15 songs for a record. Ben will be heading back to New York to record a couple more songs. He is a welcome addition to the local scene, so if you get a chance to catch him solo, I recommend doing so. Two of the newly recorded songs can be heard on The Exit's MySpace page and are the ones that say "demo".
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I failed to mention this earlier, but local Johnny Cash cover band Cash'd Out performed last week at Cane's to a sold out audience. True, its a cover band, but what other local band can sell out Cane's? Cash'd Out has recently acquired Andy Robillard of UV Tigers, GoGoGo Airhart, and several other bands on the drums.
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And speaking of the UV Tigers...I hear that the band is on an indefinite hiatus and will not be playing again until there is a significant amount of new material written. If that happens.
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Local band The Focus Group is recording material. Mitch Wilson (No Knife) is no longer a part of the project, however, as he is looking to get into the production side of music. He has recorded some tracks from Silverbird and is looking to hook up up-and-coming local bands. You benefit by having an awesome musician record a couple tracks FOR FREE, and Mitch benefits by getting some recording under his belt. It's a beautiful simbiotic relationship. Contact me if you're interested and I'll get you his contact info.
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This is a MySpace message from d*Frost, my friend Anthony's band:

THIS Saturday February 3rd, D*FROST and the Fluid Distro Compound will be playing a benefit party in the loving memory of Remy Boothe. For those who didn’t know him, Remy was a great friend of the band and well known in our circle of people… he passed away on 1/1/2007. Tomorrow’s show is STRICTLY to help raise money for funeral costs. All proceeds will make it directly to Remy’s family. If you have a moment sometime tomorrow after 12:00 noon, please stop by, have a beer and enjoy the music we play in remembrance of Remy Booth. May he rest is peace.

The event will be held at 2257 Garnet Ave in Pacific Beach. First kegs get tapped at noon. The bands and DJ will be playing through out the day. Feel free to contact me for additional details. Thanks for your support!

http://www.myspace.com/dfrost
http://www.belligerentproducts.com

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From MySpace: The Southern California oddity, known as the Locust, has decended upon us with announcements of a new full length album and nation wide tour. New Erections, their sophomore release for Anti records will be available March 20th kicking off a month long tour with Cattle Decapitation and Daughters. For more information check out the MySpace profile below.

The Locust tour profile

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