Livenation Takes Over Observatory

An end of an era and a new beginning for The Observatory.

Pollstar: Live Nation Announces Exclusive Booking Deal With Observatory Venues In Santa Ana, San Diego

Upcoming Shows at the Observatory North Park (Updated 5/14)

The Observatory calendar hadn't changed much last week, but this week there are a whole bunch of additions, including Lupe Fiasco, J Boog, Barrington Levy, Jungle, author Rob Bell, Father, and Citizen Cope. The Observatory generously sponsored the stage on Illinois street for the Festival of Arts in North Park this Saturday so please show your love at the venue and at West Coast Tavern. There's some cool show announcements in a couple weeks that you'll definitely want to keep an eye out for.

Upcoming Shows At The Observatory North Park

See full list of shows after the jump.

Upcoming Shows At The Observatory North Park

Upcoming shows at The Observatory North Park:

2/13 Hepcat, Big Sandy and His Fly-rite Boys

2/14 Logic: Under Pressure World Tour

2/16 Riff Raff, Chanel West Coast

2/19 Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde Live

2/21 Lucinda Williams, The Kenneth Brian Band

2/22 El Tri

2/24 Brett Dennen: Solo Acoustic

2/25 Cold War Kids, Eliot Moss (SOLD OUT)

3/5 A$AP Ferg

3/7 Nahko and Medicine For The People

3/14 Jackie Greene, Lauren Shera

3/19 Trampled By Turtles, Honeyhoney

3/24 Talib Kweli & Immortal Technique

3/27 Young Thug & Travis Scott, Rodeo Hi Tunes

3/29 IAMSU!

4/1 Punch Brothers, Gabriel Kahae

4/2 TV On The Radio (SOLD OUT)

4/8 Kimbra, Mikky Ekko

4/11 The Underachievers

4/12 MOS DEF aka Yasiin Bey

4/13 St. Lucia & RAC, Coasts

4/14 Father John Misty, King Tuff

4/15 Toro Y Moi, Mattson 2

4/16 Clean Bandit

4/17 Belle & Sebastian (SOLD OUT)

4/18 Marina & The Diamonds (SOLD OUT)

4/20 Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

4/23 Tribal Seeds, Leilani Wolfgram

4/24 Tribal Seeds, Hirie, True Press

4/25 Tribal Seeds, Fortunate Youth, Aloha Radio

4/30 The Decemberists (SOLD OUT)

5/1 Matt & Kim

5/9 The Growlers

5/11 South-West Kings Tour: RITTZ and KXNG CROOKED

5/14 Lord Huron

5/16 Stick Figure, Ballyhoo!

5/18 Little Dragon

5/28 Neutral Milk Hotel, The Minders (SOLD OUT)

6/1 Spoon

6/21 Misfits

Upcoming Shows at The Observatory North Park

Upcoming shows at The Observatory North Park:

2/7 Leftover Crack, Blackbird Raum, Homesick Abortions, Juicy Karkass

2/10 Migos

2/12 Juicy J

2/13 Hepcat, Big Sandy and His Fly-rite Boys

2/14 Logic: Under Pressure World Tour

2/16 Riff Raff, Chanel West Coast

2/19 Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde Live

2/21 Lucinda Williams, The Kenneth Brian Band

2/22 El Tri

2/24 Brett Dennen: Solo Acoustic

2/25 Cold War Kids, Eliot Moss (SOLD OUT)

3/7 Nahko and Medicine For The People

3/14 Jackie Greene

3/19 Trampled By Turtles, Honeyhoney

3/24 Talib Kweli & Immortal Technique

3/27 Young Thug & Travis Scott, Rodeo Hi Tunes

3/29 IAMSU!

4/1 Punch Brothers, Gabriel Kahae

4/2 TV On The Radio (SOLD OUT)

4/8 Kimbra, Mikky Ekko

4/11 The Underachievers

4/12 MOS DEF aka Yasiin Bey

4/13 St. Lucia & RAC, Coasts

4/14 Father John Misty, King Tuff

4/15 Toro Y Moi, Mattson 2

4/16 Clean Bandit

4/17 Belle & Sebastian (SOLD OUT)

4/18 Marina & The Diamonds

4/20 Bone Thugs-N-Harmony

4/23 Tribal Seeds, Leilani Wolfgram

4/24 Tribal Seeds, Hirie, True Press

4/25 Tribal Seeds, Fortunate Youth, Aloha Radio

4/30 The Decemberists (SOLD OUT)

5/1 Matt & Kim

5/9 The Growlers

5/11 South-West Kings Tour: RITTZ and KXNG CROOKED

5/16 Stick Figure, Ballyhoo!

5/28 Neutral Milk Hotel, The Minders (SOLD OUT)

6/21 Misfits

New Casbah Show Announcements: Father John Misty! The Decemberists! Two Gallants! and more

Despite all the upheaval 2015 has already wrought on my year, there are some really great things happening and I'm just trying to keep nose to the grindstone and be productive where I can. This week we added a ton of shows to the Casbah presents calendar, and as I mentioned earlier, there are fan club presales you should check out by artist, but if not, all tickets for the shows listed below go on sale Friday at 10am. If you're going to strategize, I'd recommend the Decemberists first, then Father John Misty, then any of the rest of them, mostly because they're ticketed through different sites and you can't just load them all into one digital cart. I know, it sucks, but as long as you're online early you shouldn't have a problem. They've all gone to great lengths to weed out scalpers and have strict ticket limits.

3/25 Rubblebucket, Vacationer @ Casbah


Click on the shows below to go straight to their ticket links.

3/26 Jeff The Brotherhood @ Soda Bar

4/14 Father John Misty, King Tuff @ The Observatory North Park

4/16 Clean Bandit @ The Observatory North Park

4/18 Buck O Nine @ Casbah

4/30 The Decemberists @ The Observatory Norht Park

5/15 Two Gallants @ Soda Bar

5/27 Mystic Braves @ Casbah

The North Park Theatre adds second show with Ms Lauryn Hill - November 17

Due to the overwhelming demand for tickets for Ms Lauryn Hill, The North Park Theatre announced a second show on November 17. This will be a 21+ show. There is no presale, tickets are onsale starting Friday, November 7 at 10am. There is a 4 ticket limit per order. Tickets for VIP sold out in 1 minute and the last show sold out in 4 hours, so don't wait to buy! Get your tickets here.

Video: Young The Giant at The North Park Theatre

On Wednesday, Young The Giant played an FM 94/9 Loud@Lunch show at The North Park Theatre. Somehow my playlist got all jacked around, but here's the video playlist (out of order) of the performance.

October Shows

Sometimes I feel guilty that I haven't been posting as frequently, or that I haven't been posting videos and photos and stuff. And then I remember that there are only 24 hours in a day, and I look at the rest of the month and my mind kind of explodes. Busy is an understatement. But holy shit! Look at all this amazing stuff to look forward to for the rest of the month. I've bolded the shows I know I'll be at, working or otherwise. These are just "Casbah presents" shows, so it doesn't include all the other venues or shows coming up.

Fri Oct 10 - Dawes, Henry Wolfe @ The Casbah (SOLD OUT)
Fri Oct 10 - Drowners, Dictator, Roxy Jones @ Soda Bar
Fri Oct 10 - TACOCAT, Colleen Green @ The Hideout
Sat Oct 11 - Shake Before Us, The Loons, Shady Francos, The Grim Imperials @ The Casbah
Sun Oct 12 - Young Rebel Set, Kera & The Lesbians, Jimmy Ruelas @ The Casbah
Sun Oct 12 - Ana Tijoux @ The Belly Up
Mon Oct 13- Private Party with Real Estate @ Casbah (Last chance to RSVP HERE)
Mon Oct 13 - The Horrors, Moon Duo @ The Belly Up
Mon Oct 13 - The Drums, Beverly @ Soda Bar (Sold Out)
Tue Oct 14 - Polica, Web of Sunsets @ The Casbah
Tue Oct 14 - David Bazan + Passenger String Quartet @ The Irenic
Wed Oct 15 - Mutual Benefit, Julie Byrne, CHILL PILL @ The Casbah
Wed Oct 15 - Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties, Steady Hands, Matt Brasch, Brian Marquis @ The Irenic
Wed Oct 15 - Wayne the Train Hancock, Rip Carson and the Valiants, Action Andy & The Hi-Tones @ Soda Bar
Thu Oct 16 - The Slackers, Sammy K @ The Casbah
Thu Oct 16 - Washed Out, Talk in Tongues @ The North Park Theatre
Thu Oct 16 - Fujiya & Miyagi, Magic Touch @ Soda Bar
Thu Oct 16 - Turquoise Jeep, Yip Deceiver, DJ Artistic @ The Irenic
Thu Oct 16 - Whiskey Circle, American Cream, Tolan Shaw @ 207 - Hard Rock Hotel
Fri Oct 17 - Rubblebucket, Royal Canoe, Bakkuda @ The Casbah
Fri Oct 17 - Yellowcard, Memphis May Fire, Emarosa @ The North Park Theatre
Fri Oct 17 - Perfume Genius, Matteah Balm, Island Boy @ Soda Bar
Sat Oct 18 - Rubblebucket, Royal Canoe, NIcky Venus @ The Casbah
Sat Oct 18 - The New Pornographers featuring A.C. Newman, Neko Case, and Dan Bejar (Destroyer), The Pains of Being Pure at Heart @ The North Park Theatre
Sun Oct 19 - Nina Persson (of the Cardigans), El May @ The Casbah
Sun Oct 19 - Metronomy, Dawn Golden @ The Belly Up
Sun Oct 19 - Federico Aubele, Pablo Nouvelle @ Soda Bar
Sun Oct 19 - PINS @ The Hideout
Mon Oct 20 - Pup, Hard Girls, Mini Death @ The Casbah
Wed Oct 22 - Sinkane, Helado Negro @ The Casbah
Wed Oct 22 - Bear Hands, Fences @ The North Park Theatre
Thu Oct 23 - Wildcat! Wildcat!, White Hinterland @ The Casbah
Thu Oct 23 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. , Miniature Tigers, Madi Diaz @ The Belly Up
Fri Oct 24 - Karl Denson's Tiny Universe presents A Night of Rick James, DJ Artistic @ The North Park Theatre
Fri Oct 24 - Melvins, Les Butcherettes, Death Eyes @ The Casbah
Fri Oct 24 - Afghan Whigs @ The Belly Up
Sat Oct 25 - Vacationer, Brick + Mortar, Monster Rally @ The Casbah
Sat Oct 25 - Warpaint, LOLAWOLF @ The North Park Theatre
Sat Oct 25 - Jenny Lewis @ House Of Blues
Sun Oct 26 - Tennis, Pure Bathing Culture @ The Casbah (SOLD OUT)
Mon Oct 27 - The Preatures, Hills Like Elephants @ The Casbah
Tue Oct 28 - FREEMAN (Gene Ween), Arc Iris @ The Casbah
Tue Oct 28 - Tycho, Com Truise @ The North Park Theatre
Thu Oct 30 - MC Chris, MC Lars, Spose @ The Casbah
Fri Oct 31 - The Creepy Creeps, Burning of Rome, Cramped, Schitzophonics @ The Casbah
Fri Oct 31 - Cut Copy, Gemini Club, DJ Adam Salter @ The North Park Theatre (SOLD OUT)

Upcoming Shows at The North Park Theatre

This month is a doozy at The North Park Theatre. Besides the San Diego Musical Theatre production of Next To Normal that is running right now, we have 8 shows this month and 7 next month. We're in the process of moving our website to a much better design which should be up sometime tomorrow, but either way, our site is here.

Video: The Gaslight Anthem @ The North Park Theatre

Tuesday was a busier day than usual at the office, as The North Park Theatre welcomed a very early Loud @ Lunch with FM 94/9 featuring The Gaslight Anthem. Instead of a stripped down acoustic set, the band opted for full staging for their five song set. They played around 11am, which is very early for a rock band to feel their groove, but they delivered a straight through awesome set, only pausing once between songs to say hi and ask how the crowd was doing. I was shooting video with my left hand and taking photos with my right, so apologies that these are pretty wobbly, but it was an awesome set, and I'm sure FM 94/9 will have killer footage of the event soon.

Upcoming Shows At The North Park Theatre

Upcoming Shows At The North Park TheatreClick Here For Tickets and Information

San Diego Music Thing In Full Swing (Lineup Changes Attached)

I am not going to lie, this week has been exhausting so I didn't make it to any of the panels today. I did, however, make it in time to catch Jesse LaMonaca's short solo set on the patio, grab my badges, and chat with Halloran for a while. I heard that Moby cancelled because of a train delay. Supposedly SDMT offered to send a car to LA to bring him down and he responded, "I don't do cars" which is kind of a genius response to everything one wants to be excused from.

We've also had a couple lineup changes for various reasons. Some Ember dropped out at The North Park Theatre and have been replaced by Tropical Popsicle. Here are the set times:

7 PM Doors
7:40-8:10 PM Tropical Popsicle
8:40-9:15 PM Destruction Unit
9:35-10:50 PM The Liars

Deap Vally dropped out at Casbah, so they've been replaced by The Loons. Anyone in attendance will get a wristband upgrade for both days of San Diego Music Thing.
8:30 pm Doors
9:00 Black Taxi
10:00 Mystic Braves
11:05 Wild Wild Wets
12:15 The Loons
Schitzophonics perform between sets in the Atari Lounge


On Saturday, Retox dropped off the bill at The Irenic and have been replaced by The New Kinetics. Here are revised set times for that show:
Doors- 7 PM
7:20-7:50 PM- GRMLN
8:10-8:40- The Frights
9-9:30- The New Kinetics
9:45-10:30 - Cherry Glazerr

Hopefully there aren't too many more changes and we can settle in for a fun weekend of music.

Wednesday Night: Ottmar Liebert & Luna Negra @ The North Park Theatre

When I was a little kid, my dad did all the grocery shopping for our household. He was a coupon cutter, and would send my sister and I on missions around the grocery store to find the sale items, bragging that a box of cereal was 80 cents after double coupons, or that box of granola bars was free. Into adulthood, I was also quite the coupon cutter, and sometimes thought I should be a personal grocery shopper for people who couldn't do it for themselves, my profit would be the difference between full price and what I would save with coupons and club cards.

So when I realized people at the theatre (and every venue I work for) didn't particularly enjoy shopping for band riders, I volunteered. I am maybe the only demented person that thinks grocery shopping is relaxing. So today I shopped for my first band rider and I got to set up the hospitality area. Maybe not everyone's dream job, but I couldn't be happier.

I'll probably spend the afternoon at the beach (surf's up!) and come back later for the show, but I'm really looking forward to seeing Ottmar Liebert & Luna Negra tonight at The North Park Theatre. If you haven't bought tickets, you can grab them at the box office tonight. It's "An Evening With Ottmar Liebert & Luna Negra", so there's no opener and there will be an intermission between sets. It's a 21+, general admission, seated show. It makes me proud that the theatre is stepping up for these kinds of acts who were somewhat displaced when Anthology closed. While I don't expect my indie rock friends to flock to this one, I know a lot of people who can appreciate the amazing guitar skills and will be there tonight.

Casbah Presents Cut Copy at The North Park Theatre - October 31

So, I've been working at The North Park Theatre for the past several months and every concert announcement that comes gets me a little tingly...we've had so many good shows come already, and when something falls right in my wheelhouse, I'm especially excited- like last week's show with The Head and The Heart. So earlier this week I told you we had big news. And then just before we announced the show, it was canceled. Just like that. A week of work and excitement, and after all that, no show. Fortunately, we have so many shows in our pockets, that we could swiftly replace one announcement with the other and so, today (actually yesterday if you were paying attention) we announced that we are bringing Cut Copy to the Theatre. After seeing them at Outside Lands, this is going to be an epic way to spend Halloween. So tickets go on sale for the show on Friday, but we have a presale now through Thursday at midnight. Password is halloween. We also added the Check Yo Ponytail Anniversary Show with The Presets. Tickets for that one also go on sale Friday, but we have a presale until midnight tomorrow with presale password ponytail. If the presales sell out, fret not, there are plenty of tickets and you can snag them on Friday. Anyway, the rest of our upcoming shows are listed below. Insider truth: if you want the cheapest tickets, buy your tickets with cash at the box office. The North Park Theatre box office is open Friday 3pm – 8pm and Saturday 12pm – 5pm.

Wed, 08/20 Casbah presents The Naked and Famous-SOLD OUT!

Fri, 08/22 Casbah & Belly Up present Lake Street Dive-SOLD OUT!

Wed, 08/27

An Evening With Ottmar Liebert & Luna Negra- SEATED SHOW!

Fri, 09/12

San Diego Music Thing & Casbah present Liars

Mon, 09/22

Casbah presents Lykke Li- SOLD OUT!

Thu, 10/16

Casbah presents Washed Out

Fri, 10/17

Casbah and House of Blues Present Yellowcard, Memphis May Fire, Emarosa

Sat, 10/18

Casbah presents The New Pornographers

Sat, 10/25

Casbah presents Warpaint

Tue, 10/28

Casbah presents Tycho

Fri, 10/31

Casbah presents Cut Copy-Tickets on sale Friday!

Sun, 11/02

Casbah presents Carla Morrison

Thu, 11/06

Casbah presents Rhye

Fri, 11/14

Casbah presents Check Yo Ponytail Anniversary Tour with The Presets- ON SALE FRIDAY!

Mon, 12/01

Casbah presents An Evening with John Waters

Friday Night: The White Buffalo at The North Park Theatre

BUY TICKETS HERE. 

Thursday Night! Ronnie Spector: Beyond The Beehive @ The North Park Theatre

As you well know by now, I'm working at The North Park Theatre. The Theatre is incredible, and is constantly improving. For example, all our new permanent sound gear arrived in the past couple of weeks, and we put an epoxy coating on the floor so customers won't slip should a drink meet a sad fate on the floor. Tim Mays is handling booking, and it feels like every day that he's sending me an email with another confirmed show. I'll tell you all about those shows when we're allowed to announce them, but in the meantime, I wanted to remind you that on Thursday Night, we have Ronnie Spector: Beyond The Beehive. Ronnie is a legend and I can't wait to see this special performance. This is a seated show, so if you're like me and have nostalgic parents who love their Oldies, and who look back at the 60's as the golden era of music, then this is definitely a show that you should treat them to.

Ronnie Spector performs live on July 3. This is a 21+ seated show. Doors at 8pm. DJ Claire will spin vinyl, Ronnie Spector takes the stage at 9pm. Park at the nearby structure (entrance on 29th) for just $5 all night.

BUY TICKETS HERE.

Here's are articles about the show on SoundDiego and the U-T.
And more about the show below.

RONNIE SPECTOR'S CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED BEYOND THE BEEHIVE PLAYS WEST

HOLLYWOOD AND SAN DIEGO

MULTI-MEDIA PRODUCTION DEPICTS HER LIFE STORY IN MONOLOGUE, IMAGES AND LIVE SONGS

Rock and Roll icon Ronnie Spector's critically acclaimed Beyond The Beehive will play the Roxy in West Hollywood on June 30th, and The North Park Theatre in San Diego on July 3. The 100 minute multi-media production chronicles Ronnie's fascinating 50 year journey through Rock and Roll with stories, video and still images, as well as upwards of 16 live songs backed by her full band. Beyond The Beehive made it's UK debut in London this past Spring to overwhelming critical applause receiving 5 out of 5-star reviews from both The Guardian and The Independent with the latter exclaiming, "Ronnie Spector's Beyond The Beehive shines like a polished diamond."

Ronnie Spector came from Spanish Harlem and before her 20th birthday changed the look, style and sound of Rock and Roll forever as the leader of the quintessential "Girl Group," The Ronettes. While still in her teens, she was touring the world with The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton and The Yardbirds as her opening act. From being personally requested by The Beatles to open up their final tour, to holding court with the Stones and Bob Dylan at Ondines, Ronnie was on top of the Rock and Roll world in the turbulent '60s. As bright as her star shined, with her 1968 marriage to infamous record producer Phil Spector, all of that would be taken from her - the stage, her fans, the recording studio and ultimately her identity. At the peak of her career, it all ended suddenly behind electrical gates and guard dogs, amid nonstop psychological and emotional torture. Ronnie Spector would not be seen anywhere, let alone on stage, for many years as she fought to survive Phil Spector's obsessive and abusive behavior.

A captivating production detailing Ronnie's unique odyssey from NYC's Peppermint Lounge to Beverly Hills, from hit records to hit men, to eventually being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. Beyond The Beehive tells the story of how Ronnie Spector transformed herself from victim to the ultimate Rock and Roll Survivor.
www.Ronniespector.com

The North Park Theatre Announces Three New Shows!

sooo...this is what I've been working on this week...

The North Park Theatre Announces New Shows!

Rita Rudner - July 19

Lake Street Dive - August 22

An Evening with John Waters - December 1

All tickets on sale Friday, May 9 at 10am

The North Park Theatre is proud to add three new performances to our event calendar.

On July 19, comedian Rita Rudner takes the stage to bring her wit and charm to San Diego audiences. This will be a general admission seated show with reserved Gold Circle seating available, which includes orchestra pit seating and photo-op with Rita after the show. General admission tickets are priced at $35 advance/$40 day of show and $75 for Gold Circle. This show is 21+.

On August 22, The Belly Up and Casbah present Lake Street Dive. This will be an all ages show with doors at 7pm. Tickets are $22.50.

Finally, on December 1, Casbah presents John Waters. Part performance, part storytelling, part comedy, past shows have sold out in San Diego. This will be a general admission seated show, with Gold Circle tickets available, which includes orchestra pit seating, 2 cocktails, and an event poster. General admission tickets are priced at $40 advance and $100 for Gold Circle. This show is 21+.

See below for additional information about each performance. For ticketing and additional information, please check out our website at TheNorthParkTheatre.com.
Tickets for all three shows will be on sale on Friday, May 9 at 10am.

The North Park Theatre Presents The Head and the Heart- August 11, 2014

Do you know how hard it is being a blogger and a publicist at the same time? It's so hard not to get so excited and blab out information when I get it, but 'tis the way it is. And finally I can share that The Head and the Heart are coming to The North Park Theatre on August 11. Tickets will be available HERE and I can also let you know that the band's fanclub and KPRI will both have presale codes to buy tickets early. You'll have to get those on your own, however. That's the way these things work for me these days. I also posted some video from the band's first Casbah show in case you want to relive the magic.

The Casbah and KPRi Present The Head And The Heart

at The North Park Theatre

August 11, 2014 at 8pm

Tickets on sale Friday, April 25

The Casbah and KPRi are thrilled to present The Head and the Heart at The North Park Theatre on August 11, 2014. The show will be a 21+, general admission show with tickets on sale this Friday, April 25 at 10am for $27.50. Tickets can be accessed here.

Fresh off main stage performances at Coachella, The Head and the Heart have spent the last four years touring extensively and building a loyal fanbase. Their self-titled release took off and took the band around the world. Their sophomore Sup Pop release, Let's Be Still, dropped last October and proved they are a force to be reckoned with. Their summer tour schedule is packed with incredible shows including Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza, and we are so excited to host them at The North Park Theatre.

Video: FM 94/9 Loud @ Lunch with Foster The People at The North Park Theatre

On Wednesday, April 9, Foster The People were scheduled to play a sold out show at the Belly Up Tavern. Before that, however, FM 94/9 hosted a Loud @ Lunch session with the band. 50 radio listeners and assorted station and venue employees were privy to a three song acoustic perfomance. The band came out and played "Houdini", "Coming of Age", and "Don't Stop" and really showed off their talents. If there was any doubt that Foster the People could pull off such a stripped down perfomance, this should forever remove any doubt.

Naturally I was excited as this was a chance to show off the beautiful theatre. The ticket winners sat in seating in the orchestra pit- our "Gold Circle" seating. There are a ton of things happening at the theatre as I type and I can't wait for all San Diegans to experience the whole new vibe of the place. We have some upcoming events, like the beer festival and concert Reader On Tap on April 25, as well as our inaugural shows with Rodriguez. The June 3 show is sold out, but there are tickets available for June 5. We'll have a huge announcement on April 21, and some other show announcements as May rolls in.

Be sure to catch the theatre on all of your social media:

Website: http://www.thenorthparktheatre.com/

Twitter: @TheNPTheatre (Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheNPTheatre)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheNorthParkTheatre

Instagram: http://instagram.com/TheNorthParkTheatre

Here's the 3 song playlist. Lots of people were filming, so check SoundDiego and FM 94/9 for pro footage.