Newsy Bits

I had a whole list of things I'd been meaning to post about, and now that I finally have time to write, I can't think of most of them. Maybe they'll come back to me. I'm sick as a dog and I don't know where it came from, but it killed my weekend. I missed Silent Comedy last night, and today I didn't even get Easter brunch with my family and I'm missing both of Film School's performances today.

• When The North Atlantic played their final shows last year, two of the three members picked up and moved to Chicago. Those two parts, Jason Hendrix and Jason Richards are now back in action with a new project called Big Science. Cullen covered it on his blog here and you can check out the new project on MySpace here.


• Drew Andrews is featured in today's Union Tribune. You can read the full George Varga article here.


• The annual CityBeat demo review issue will be distributed on Wednesday and celebrated with a party at Anthology. Transfer, Get Back Loretta, and Sea of Cortez will be performing. The party is $10, but if you sign up for CityBeat's RedList (or reenter if you're already subscribed), you'll be on the guest list. Click here for entry.

I'll write more when it comes back to me and attempt to get at least some of this week's listings up, but just in case- Don't froget Jose Gonzalez is doing a special show at the San Diego Women's Club in Hillcrest with Mia Doi Todd. It's early (listing says 6:30 pm) so don't miss it. Info available on the Casbah site here.

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.

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.