Video: D/Wolves "Buzz Lightyear"

Remember when I went to Vegas with D/Wolves for The Rumble? Well, Patrick was vlogging the whole time, and when I went downstairs to work using the hotel's free lobby wi-fi, the boys were upstairs in the room. And what do four guys in a free hotel do when nobody else is there? They challenge themselves to food eating competitions. Patrick stacked 8 crackers with EZ Cheez and then choked as one of the crackers lodged into his throat sideways. When I got back to the room they were all, "Rosey! Patrick almost died! It was hilarious! You totally missed it!" Fortunately, the camera was rolling. They posted this a while ago, but I finally remembered to get the link, so here's some aerosol cheese antics soundtracked by their song, "Buzz Lightyear".

Saturday: The Rumble Returns to Bar Pink with Longstay, The Fling and Gun Runner

It bums me out so much that I've been asked to work on Saturday night, because I love The Fling. They're playing this month's installment of The Rumble which happens to fall on Saturday night. They'll be joined by two terrific bands, Longstay and Gun Runner, and as with all of The Rumbles, this show is free. It is highly recommended, however, that you click the flyer to RSVP for the event because they've been getting so packed that you don't want to get stuck in line or being turned away (though RSVP still doesn't guarantee entry which is based on capacity, not how cute you are, how skinny your jeans are, or how much you try to grease the doorguy.)

Here's the info about each band from Future Sounds:

THE RUMBLE: SAN DIEGO - MAY 7TH @ BAR PINK

Featuring Longstay, The Fling, Gun Runner + DJ Snakehips - FREE!

LONGSTAYClassic Americana combined with the alt country swagger of Dawes and the lyrical depth of David Dondero, LONGSTAY craft a layered and textured rock sound that is set to perfectly accompany the heartiness of The Fling on this bill. This five piece have Sezio calling their Homes & Houses EP, "a rock-pop album that's not afraid to show some soul, or a soul-pop album that's not afraid to rock."

"Their mix of Americana, pop, and rock is smooth, welcoming, and adventurous." - Mixtape Muse

THE FLINGThese Long Beach bred guys drop their debut, When The Madhouse Appear (Dangerbird Records) this week and effortlessly meld genres to create an intoxicating sonic blend of The Band and White Album era Beatles meets the Fruit Bats and what Exploding In Sound calls, "shoegaze inflicted folk music, woozy pop balladry, swirling psychedelics, luscious vocal harmonies, and all around incredible song writing." We seriously can't get enough of these guys and couldn't be happier to have them on the entire West Coast run of the tour.

"Beautifully melodic and well-textured songwriting — instantly sing-alongable yet arranged complexly enough to warrant multiple listens... their angelic harmonies left me speechless the first time they soared through my speakers" - Creative Loafing

GUN RUNNERSean Davenport's smokey croon coupled with funk keyboards and psych flourishes give GUN RUNNER their signature sound and this quartet are fresh off a series of SXSW showcases and opening slot for bedroom pop icons, Wye Oak. Locals are eating up their Bad Neighbors EP and we couldnt agree more.

"an interesting work that evokes the psychedelic blues of Bob Dylan’s 2007 masterpiece, Time out of Mind.” - Owl & Bear

PLUS, DJ SNAKEHIPS ALL EVENING!

Once again, I'm stoked to be a partner of these events, along with FUTURE SOUNDS, INDIGENOUS, OWL & BEAR, BEDOUIN VINTAGE COLLECTIVE, FRIENDS WITH BOTH ARMS, STRONG SCREEN PRINTING, EVENTBRITE, and PABST BLUE RIBBON, I'm just sad I can't always be there.

Roadtrip: D/Wolves Face The Rumble in Las Vegas

I realize I never posted about my last roadtrip to Vegas to see Transfer; somehow my post disappeared, but I'll recover it and post this week. In the meantime, I'm sitting in the car with D/Wolves and we have a couple hours to go and everyone is feverishly texting or facebooking, so I might as well join 'em.

As you know, sd:dialed in is one of The Rumble partners for the San Diego, which D/Wolves played on Saturday night along with Vanaprasta and New Mexico. That night was pretty awesome, especially after spending time at CityBeat's festival of beer, Revolver to catch Josh Damigo, and Analog to visit A-Fresh.

After D/Wolves finished and loaded their gear, we went to Brian & Patrick's for a few hours (we should've slept) and then hit the road to Vegas, where they were scheduled to play The Rumble again with Vanaprasta and a Vegas band called A Crowd of Small Adventures. The Vegas Rumble was at The Royal Resort for the first time and closer to the Strip than the previous location, near Wynn's Encore. The show was billed as a daytime pool party but there was a permit issue, so it was still a daytime show but moved inside into their cool living room- feeling lounge and bar, complete with a cool pool table and shuffleboard.

We arrived around 9 am Sunday morning and the hotel let us check in early where we tried to relax and nap (didn't really happen). When it was time for load-in, we were notified that Vanaprasta wasn't gonna make it, but the bands played on anyway with D/Wolves "headlining" to a small crowd of Small Adventures' fans, random hotel guests, and a few bloggers and Rumble supporters.

Though I'm not the band's manager, I've been helping them out with some things and after the show, when the boys clogged then subsequently overflowed the toilet and didn't know what to do, I kinda adopted the term 'momager', fixing the toilet to stop running, and getting things taken care of. The hotel decided the carpet was too wet and moved us to another room. Fortunately the toilet was actually broken and we were actually not the cause of the great flood.

For half the band, it was their first time in Vegas, so after more failed nap attempts, we explored Vegas- grabbing buffet at Main Street Station (our first meal since 6 am), walking Fremont, then driving the length of The Strip. We were wiped after being awake 35+ hours, though we still ended up staying awake in the room till about 3 am. At one point I was downstairs working on wi-fi, and when I came back up, they told me how Patrick had choked. He was vlogging the whole time, so I'll link to those when he uploads, and you'll see all of their silliness and how aerosol Easy Cheese could've killed him.

We slept solid, checked out around 1, went to the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop (of Pawn Stars fame), had a late lunch, and now it's nearly 9 pm and we're rolling through San Jacinto.

It's been a really fun trip, and what I really love is getting to know these creatures a little more deeply- Joel and his hot/cold moods (do NOT mess with him when he's hungry/tired or if he thinks he's getting sick, which is almost always)- Patrick and his constant goofball antics- Jessie, the conservative one, always a bit more collected and serious- and Brian, the sensitive one who takes the brunt of their pranks, is the first to apologize or take the blame when something goes wrong, and who doesn't have much, but will share whatever he's got. I love these kids and hope next time they hit the road that they might still have room for a momager.

More pics later when I can upload.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

This Saturday: The Rumble Returns to Bar Pink

The Rumble returns to Bar Pink this Saturday and this time around, Vanaprasta has followed the Rumble trail down the coast and will be joined by our own New Mexico and d/wolves. It should be a pretty stellar night if you consider that 2000 of your closest San Diego friends will be drinking the day away at Citybeat's 2011 Festival of Beers over at the Lafayette and will be in close proximity to Bar Pink (I think you can catch the 1 to 30th, then hop on the 2 south if you feel like using public transit).

Anyway, I'm pretty excited about this one because d/wolves were also asked to play the Rumble the following day in Vegas, so if we can just find a drum kit for them to share, I get to exercise my band mom powers and travel with the boys. We'll see if that works out.

You can take a listen to all of the bands here.

The Rumble San Diego is brought yo you by Future Sounds, Indigenous, Owl & Bear, Bedouin Vintage Collective, Friends With Both Arms, Strong Screen Printing, Eventbrite,Veoba, Pabst Blue Ribbon, and yours truly at sd:dialed in.

There will be PBR specials all night, and you can tag your pics, videos, tweets, and twitpics with #rumblepabst

San Diego: Dialed In Weekend Events

I sent out an email blast yesterday, but in case you weren't one of my victims, I thought I'd share the events that I'm involved with this weekend.

Thursday Night- The Heavy Guilt at West Coast Tavern. Free. 10pm.

As you may or may not know, I've been booking Thursdays at West Coast Tavern for a few months now and this week I'm especially excited to have The Heavy Guilt playing. For as long as I'd heard the band by name, I never actually saw them perform until one night when 2 of the members set up a small amp outside of the Soda Bar and played for the crowd moving in and out of the bar between bands. I was blown away and quickly made sure to get their info. If you haven't seen them, check out my attached video from that night. The shows are free and they start around 10pm and I recommend arriving hungry because the food at WCT is delicious.



Friday Night- San Diego: Dialed In 4 Year Anniversary at the Casbah. $8. Doors at 8:30pm.


I can hardly believe that it's been four years since I created sddialedin.com. My layout hasn't changed much over the years, but I've always thought that continuous content was my priority. To date I've posted over 4,000 posts and have over 1400 videos on my YouTube channel and have amassed somewhere close to 400 gigs of photos and video, not to mention mountains and mountains of incredible music. It has been a pleasure taking this from just being an online diary to what it has evolved into and I appreciate all of the continued support. To celebrate four years, I've asked my friends in White Apple Tree, Swim Party, and d/wolves to perform. Come rock the Casbah with us. The show is $8.

Saturday Night-The Rumble at Bar Pink. Free. 9pm.




The last event is the final Rumble of the year at Bar Pink. This one features Ume from Austin, and San Diego's Shapes of Future Frames and Raw Moans . As always, these shows are free and feature $3 Trumer Pils. It's been a pleasure being one of the Rumble partners this year so let's go out with a bang and I'll keep you posted about what my friends at Future Sounds, Indigenous, and Planetary have lined up for next year.


Again, thanks for all of your continued support. I look forward to seeing you this weekend.

Saturday Night- The Rumble feat. Jamuel Saxon & Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.

It's that time of the month...The Rumble returns to Bar Pink this Saturday night. This month brings Detroit's Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. and local music master Jamuel Saxon. DJ Albatross (Zack from Sezio) will be your music selector for the evening. As always, the night is FREE and features $3 Trumer Pils. For all the info, band bios, etc., check the full press release if you 'keep on reading' below.


THE RUMBLE: SAN DIEGO @ BAR PINK - SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 11TH
Jamuel Saxon, Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr & DJ Albatross - FREE!
$3 Trumer Pils specials all night

Saturday night we have a special edition of THE RUMBLE: SAN DIEGO as we're teaming up with a crew we consider family - SEZIO - and we've created a Rumble that will be unforgettable.

THE RUMBLE is ushering in fall with a bit of NASCAR minus the rednecks, but fear not there will be plenty of beer. We're stoked to have the much buzzed about DALE EARNHARDT JR. JR. traveling through THE RUMBLE SEPTEMBER as their aptly titled, Horse Power EP is a layered, textual full of shimmering beat laden gems like "Nothing But Our Love." The Detroit based duo of Josh Epstein and Daniel Zott, have long been on the scene, with a Moby remix under their belt, DALE EARNHARDT JR. JR. are poised for the release of their full length later this year.

These guys keep racking up the love with a recent Daytrotter Session and shout outs from everyone including, CMJ, Pitchfork, Magnet Magazine and Altered Zones declaring their love for "Simple Girl," writing, "I wonder how I've made it through thousands of mornings without this song." Plus their dreamy cover of The Beach Boy's "God Only Knows " is bound to end up on episode of Big Love sometime soon; we just know it. This mash-up of electro beats, drum machines and elements of psych-folk, make DEJJ the preeminent soundtrack to the hazy end of summer. The band just was named as Stereogum's ' '40 Best New Bands of 2010'.

JAMUEL SAXON should be no stranger to anyone with a pulse in San Diego. Keith and company not only know how to get the party started, they are the party. They recently dropped a Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr remix of "Nothing But Our Love" that's more sexy than Samuel L's daughter's film career. If for some reason you were asleep or just stupid and missed their recent show with WAMPIRE and REPORTER, here is your chance for a make good - Saturday night!

"Eighties-inspired electro R&B for the hipster set. If "Dick in a Box" and Empire of the Sun are your idea of romance, then this side-project from Keith Milgaten of The Vision of a Dying World is your new bump-and-grind soundtrack." - Seth Combs (San Diego City Beat)

SEZIO, the art collective that seems to always have their fingers in all the tasty SD cakes, returns for a special celebration of two acts we've all bonded around, and our special guest DJ for the party will be none other than DJ ALBATROSS, aka Zack Nielsen of Sezio.

Listen and download music from these Rumble artists here
http://www.futuresounds.com/rumble

$3 Trumer Pils specials all night. FREE.

The Rumble San Diego is brought to you by the indie-minded collective of Future Sounds, Indigenous, Sezio, SDdialed In, Owl & Bear, SD City Beat, M Theory Records, Trumer Pils and Bar Pink.

Upcoming San Diego Events: The Rumble, FLUXX Live, NPMT

I'm involved with a few things in the upcoming months and want to spread the word.

The July edition of The Rumble is back this week with a killer lineup. Harlem, Sunday Times, and What Laura Says will all be at Bar Pink this Saturday night. As always, it's a free show, and there will be Trumer Pils drink specials. It's been a while since Zonies What Laura Says have passed through San Diego, so don't miss them. They're fantastic live and super nice guys.


After the success of Daydream Nation's FLUXX live event, they've already got another one cooking for July and it's happening during this year's Comic-con. Mark your calendars for July 22 (Thursday night) for a night with Mixmaster Mike, Hyena, and the Shark Attack DJs. Once again, Tim Pyles will be hosting. Because of the madness downtown for the Con, it is highly recommended that you purchase tickets in advance. Click the flyer for tickets.


Last but not least, this year's North Park Music Thing is back and this year I was invited to host a showcase of my own. It will be at 11, the bar currently known as Radio Room (and formerly the Zombie Lounge). The owners of Hamilton's and Small Bar are taking over which guarantees to bring some stellar craft brews and a warm environment to chill out with friends. For NPMT registration, click here. Single day all access badges are $20, or $35 for 2-day all access. The full band schedules have been released, too. Here's mine:

8:00-8:40 The Moviegoers
9:00-9:40 D/Wolves
10:00-10:40 Your Cannons
11:00-11:40 Swim Party
12:00-12:40 Holy Rolling Empire
1:00-1:40 Boyscout

The Rumble Returns This Saturday at Bar Pink

The Rumble is back (already!) and the monthly event really gives some perspective on how time flies by. This month there's another great lineup and will surely bring another packed night to Bar Pink this Saturday Night.

This month's lineup includes Maren Parusel, Chasing Kings, and Drug Wars. As always, there will be Trumer Pils drink specials and there's no cover.

To listen to each band, click here

THE RUMBLE: SAN DIEGO returns for the June edition @ Bar Pink this Saturday night with three amazing acts, a guest DJ, Trumer Pils beer specials all night and free admission - if you can get in.

Headlining the bill is the lovely, MAREN PARUSEL. Formerly of the all-girl punk band, Wild Weekend, Parusel's new keyboard based pop sound has gotten her attention. She received a nomination for Best New Artist at the 2009 San Diego Music Awards and during her recent stint at SXSW, she caught the ear of the infamous, Kim Fowley (producer of The Runaways). Check out her song "Dear Love" available on 7" via Single Screen Records.

Rolling in for night #5 of their 6 night run of Rumbles it's LA's CHASING KINGS. Without offending dozens of other 'nice' bands I've known over the years, these guys could actually be the nicest crew we've met. Singer Matt Schwartz posses that something extra, the kind of spark and God-given talent that only comes around once in awhile, and he could evolve into someone on the Chris Martin level - he's that good. Portland, support your locals but this is one out-of-towner we urge you to see. Some compare the vocal stylings to everyone from Elvis Costello to Squeeze but we strongly recommend you see this band.

Opening the night are DRUG WARS. Called "the best kind of post-hardcore-punk-rock to listen to" by 7 Inches blog, this four piece are gathering buzz even across the pond with Collective Zine UK taking notice of their 7 inch 9846 (Grizzly Records).

Plus, a DJ set by METH COMBZ (aka Seth Combs of SD City Beat).

The Rumble: San Diego is in partnership with FUTURE SOUNDS, INDIGENOUS, M THEORY MUSIC, SDDIALED IN, TRUMER PILS and THE OWL AND BEAR.

The Rumble: Saturday Night at Bar Pink

(The following is direct from a press release, but I couldn't say it all any better. The Rumbles are getting crazy these days, so show up early to guarantee entry.)

This Saturday night @ Bar Pink it's the May edition of THE RUMBLE: SAN DIEGO

The FREE monthly indie rock night that's about highlighting up-and-coming bands returns to North Park with an incredible line up.

First up is our newest obsession, LITTLE DEADMAN, a local act signed to our friends over at Single Screen Records who can't seem to pick a bad band (Beaters, Heavy Hawaii). LITTLE DEADMAN evoke early Strokes with a hint of Yesayer. Just check out their track “Shooting Seagulls” and you’ll hear why we can’t get enough of them.

Main support for the night comes by way of San Francisco's THE FEROCIOUS FEW. This duo has been playing the entire run of the RUMBLE WEST COAST TOUR in support of their staggering debut release Juices (Birdman). The brainchild of SF troubadour Francisco Fernandez and Daniel Aguilar, this blues rock duo are a return to the hallmarks of classic Americana, with visceral, raw lyrics accompanied by frenzied guitars and bashing drums. After a sweltering set in Austin at the Bay Area Takeover Party this March, THE FEROCIOUS FEW have been racking up the accolades, with the New York Times blog labeling the pair as one of their SXSW Standouts.

We’ve been lucky enough to see them live (back in November they tore up the small Blue Palms Stage at the Hollywood Brew Fest), so we can attest that their show is a serious force of zealous energy that is really indescribable. With Blurt Magazine calling Juices “the best debut album of 2010 only 4 months in,” this act is set for big things. The single “Porcelain Doll” is piece of riotous soul rock. While, THE FEROCIOUS FEW are known for their impromptu performances on the street corner of 16th and Mission, but if the buzz radiating off Juices is any indication they will soon be shucking the pavement for larger venues very soon; so the chance to see them in these intimate settings won’t last long.

THE KABBS are dirty Southern tinged garage rock by way of North Park, with the help of Brian Clinebell’s vocals. A perfect melding of psychedelic and blues influences, “Golden and Blue” is a must listen. CityBeat calls their sound, “catchy garage-pop without the lo-fi hipster pretense.” Out Sista's at Indigenous tell us that their live show is spellbinding.

DJ Cory Casey will be on the decks all night and there will be TRUMER PILS beer specials all night long!

The Rumble San Diego is brought to you by a collective of indie minded partners that support developing acts and consists of Future Sounds, Indigenous Promotions, M-Theory Records, SDdialed In, Trumer Pils and SD CityBeat.

The Rumble Is Back: March Edition

This month, The Rumble is back at it's permanent home, Bar Pink, with three outstanding bands that should be on your radar if they're not already. The show is this Saturday night and as always, the show is free.

This month featuring San Diego’s BEATERS before they take off on a national tour with The Soft Pack — and two out of towners: TWIN TIGERS – an Athens, GA, Old Flame-signed foursome that make shoegaze swirling, straight-up rock and roll that’s far from forgettable and BIRDS AND BATTERIES- A lo-fi, synth-soaked foursome that have managed to evoke equal parts Radiohead, John Carpenter’s 80’s OST work and some Parliament funkiness for good measure.

Once again, San Diego gets the gift of free music with this outstanding series. Check it out, but get there early as everyone now knows that a line out the door of Bar Pink is just par for the course on a Saturday night these days.

Once again, thanks to WOXY, Indigenous, Trumer Pils, and all of the partners for making this event happen.

The Rumble Returns (To A New Venue)

The Rumble is back after taking a month off for the holidays, and as usual, the crew has put together quite a lineup. The most important thing to know is that the San Diego Rumble is now going to be at Bar Pink. That's the only thing that has changed, however, and you can still count on $3 Trumer Pils beer specials (and an hour of free tastings), the show is still FREE, and you're still gonna get a stellar show that will rock your socks off. The show is THIS SATURDAY, February 6.

SPIDER FEVER is a project formed by Earthless drummer-Mario Rubalcaba (who will also be DJing) and he describes them as having “a ‘punk-n-roll’ feel.” They feature Rubalcaba on vocals and guitar, backed by The Heartaches’ Dean Reis and Billy Baggins and Cody Young from The Widows. We can’t wait for this set!

If you haven’t seen THE DABBERS yet, you must. They are a two piece comprised of Shelby Gubba (ex-BRAAIINS!) and Zack Wentz (Kill Me Tomorrow, Tender Buttons). They just released their debut album, And I Was Like, And They Were All…, on their own label, Rax Records. Congrats!

And lastly, JAGUAR LOVE will be joining us from Portland– formed by members of Blood Brothers and Pretty Girls Make Graves. If the rumors are true, their live set is ridiculous.

SD:Dialed In is proud to be included as a partner with Future Sounds, San Diego Citybeat, WOXY, M-Theory, INDIGENOUS and Trumer Pils to bring this free showcase to San Diego.

Just Another Saturday In San Diego

This weekend is going to be a big one in San Diego, so in advance of posting all your weekend listings I thought I'd remind you where I'll be.

First, The Rumble is back for it's fifth installment at the Casbah. The monthly event will, as always, be free, and will start at 3 pm on Saturday. This month features Tape Deck Mountain, The Drowning Men, All Wrong and The Plans Change, and DJ Andy Ralph of Writer on the decks. The show will be over by 6 pm, so you can get up to the other biggie of the day...



The FM 94/9 SD Holiday Hootenanny is finally here. The SOLD OUT show is going to be a good one. If you're over 21, plan on dressing warm (possible rain) so you can enjoy the beer garden on RiMAC field. The full lineup for Saturday has been released as follows:

Doors: 5pm
The Styletones 5-6pm
White Rabbits 6-6:35pm
Manchester Orchestra 6:50-7:25pm
Phoenix 7:50-8:40pm
Vampire Weekend 9:10-10pm
Spoon 10:30-11:30pm



And I'm not sure if time will allow for it, but Tristeza is celebrating the release of their latest CD, Fate Unfolds with a west coast tour and will be hitting the Casbah on Saturday.

FREE Mp3 :: "Manitas" from 'Fate Unfolds'

CMJ: First Takes

Greetings from CMJ in New York City-- the annual music conference put on by College Music Journal designed to showcase up and coming talent. So far, the most interesting thing we've seen is this fish tank...

In all seriousness, we have yet to be blown away by any of the bands this year, but the weekend is still young. Our days have been filled with meetings with our favorite minds in the music biz and eating a lot of fantastic food, while enjoying the best of Manhattan neighborhoods, the Lower East Side. Oh, and we brought the sunshine with us - the fall weather is perfect.

The bands who are buzzing this year are:

Freelance Whales -- still unsigned, yet industry eyes are upon them. Our friend, Ian, said it best, "if a bomb went off at their showcase yesterday at Bowery, half of the music industry would have been demolished."

Surfer Blood

Small Black

Bands we've seen:

@ SPIN Party:

Samuel - pop artist, just got signed to Columbia

Temper Trap - like the music, the band's appearance really threw us -- take a listen on myspace and then look at the photos, you'll get the drift.

@ The Rumble Brooklyn:

Casxio - discolicious, a Future Sounds favorite

Teenage Prayers - Brooklyn band

@ A Random Late Night Showcase:

Thephilous London

Ninja Sonik -- wins award for most entertaining (so far)...partly due to the drunk rocker chick on stage who's sole role was to grind on the band members and head bang to songs like "Somebody Gonna Get Pregnant." These guys were so blazed, we're surprised they remembered the words.

Ninja Sonik

@ Cake Shop:

Naam -- lovely, loud and heavy rock n roll... Beware-- shirtless drummer. Note: Cake Shop on the Lower East Side is the coolest coffee shop/bar/record store/music venue we've ever seen.

~INDIGENOUS

The Rumble, Casbah, 10.10.09

Saturday night brought the most successful installment of The Rumble thus far, and that's not surprising as it was a great lineup and free for all. The night brought a lot of latecomers to the show catching The Blakes as they filtered in. The band started a tad early, it seemed, perhaps because they were also playing at Bar Pink later the same night, but they were great to watch, especially the drummer who was on fire.


Lady Dottie & The Diamonds brought their rocking music to a crowded dancefloor. Shamefully my pics blow, but we've all seen and love what Lady Dottie brings by now, right?

Then Fitz & The Tantrums took the stage and despite Fitz's cold, brought down some serious fun. Jake and I even worked in a slow dance. It appeared from all accounts that people enjoyed The Rumble and I hope that Fitz makes San Diego their home away from home because they certainly know how to bring a crowd to shake their asses. Including me...





After the show we decided to catch The Blakes second set at Pink and they seemed to enjoy their San Diego reception at both venues.

Rosey's Diary: Another Week in Music (9/5-9/130

I've accumulated a couple more week's worth of photos, so I guess it's time to catch up again. I've posted about the Music Awards, The Rumble, and a couple other things in between, but I'm gonna rewind a little bit, back to the night of the SDRL open house. Because what I forgot to mention was that after that show, I went to Bar Pink to see The Drowning Men. It has been a while since those boys have been written up on sd:di, and I'm not sure why...seems like I've just always got something going on whenever they play, but they're really talented and I'm always struck by their stage presence when I see them. How is it that I don't know these guys? So weird.

The Drowning Men


For the rest of my diary, click 'keep on reading'.


The next day brought about a matinee show at the Casbah, featuring The Thermals & Tape Deck Mountain. This was an especially fun show because it had been a while since I was at a show lined up with a group of friends all up front. I don't know why that is, but seems like for a lot of the touring shows lately, I'm like, "who are all these people?" That's cool and all, I love the diversity of the crowds, but on this night, I was among friends and we all had fun, despite the guy who thought he was in the band that I had to restrain. Tape Deck was rad, and I think it was their first set on the main stage at Casbah, so that was cool. Travis broke his pic and it was funny that I let him borrow my 'pic of destiny' that Evan had given me a few months back that I keep in my hearos case. Pic of Destiny saves the day!

So The Thermals were awesome and I don't think the show sold out completely, but it was packed and everyone seemed to love it; the show was full of sing along moments, including high fives from the bro, that I later found out was a friend of a friend. He was in town from Florida with his band for Awesome Fast. "I thought you were gonna kill him," James said to me after the show. In truth, I was just trying to help him not get tossed by the third song.

The Thermals




After the show, Kevin and I went to Evan's house for his co-birthday party. Despite feeling old as shit watching these 20 somethings throw down some intense games of beer pong and flip cup, it was a fun party in an amazing house among good friends. It was also fun to play some ping pong at the end of the night. I won every game I played but I had a clear sober advantage, so I look forward to playing again when (1) everyone is sober or (2) I'm as shitfaced as they were.

The next day was Labor Day, which also happened to fall on my Dad's birthday. My cousin came down from LA as a last hoorah before she moves to Philadelphia to become the DMM at Free People, a subsidiary of Urban Outfitters. Helloooo, family discount!
We spent most of the day and night with family and I couldn't resist taking a picture of Johanna with her Bratz laptop.

Johanna, Blogger In Training


Later that night, it was time for Anti-Monday League with Republic of Letters, the debut of The Nervous Wreckords, and Hotel St. George. Republic of Letters sounded great after being in the studio for some time. Brian Karscig recorded their forthcoming record and he clearly talked Chris into diversifying a bit, and so there are these really great keyboard parts that never existed before in their music. I loved it and really look forward to the new record. The Casbah was packed for The Nervous Wreckords. The guys from Louis XIV were there to show support which I thought was cool, and the bar was packed for their set. Brian Karscig is at the helm, joined by Maren Parusel on guitar/keys and Shaun Cornell from Transfer among others. The show was a kick off before they joined The Killers for part of their tour. Playing a slew of catchy aongs, they got mixed reviews from the few people I talked to but I dug it and from what I hear, the tour is going well. Hotel St. George closed out the night, but the Casbah seemed to clear out. I know it's tough on a Monday night, especially after a holiday, but it was still a bummer.

The Nervous Wreckords


Tuesday was pretty uneventful. I had to be downtown in the afternoon, so I ended up going downtown with Jake and waiting for him during his weekly gig, grabbing some cheap tacos and beer at La Puerta to catch up with Billy who I know back from his Jewel Box days. God, that was like 10 years ago.

My cousin was still in town, so Wednesday was more family time and birthday dinner for my dad at Point Loma Seafoods, then time chasing down Johanna in the park. Since I haven't been talking about my family as much as I used to on this site, I'll just say that my sister is very close to having her second daughter, expected on October 4. Johanna is going to have a little sister! This time of year is always full of family time because it's my grandma's birthday (9/2) and this year she turned 101! My dad's is 9/7, my mom's is 9/20, I'm 9/28, my cousin is 10/13, and soon we can add Nadia to the group. Johanna is running and talking and bossing people around and has an adorable sense of humor, so she's pretty much a spitting image of me at her age (or so I'm told). Gone are the days when I could take dozens of pictures of her in one sitting. I can barely keep up with her, let alone take pictures while I'm doing it.

Johanna




The next day was the San Diego Music Awards, which I've written about here. But if you'd like to read Seth Combs' ranty rant, click here.

Friday night, it was me and @mcbrandt13 again (Kevin, but I like calling people by their twitter names). He was sick, but was a total trooper and we went to Bar Pink. It was a no photo night for me; just wasn't in the mood. Syndicate opened the show with their synthy 80s sound, followed by Yourself and The Air, a really great band (from Chicago?), but it was late and I couldn't trick Kevin into staying more than 3 songs into their set. (He only planned on going out for 'one drink' in the first place, so he dropped me at Josh's house where we played poker till the wee hours with Josh's brother and his friend and Kitty. I won. I love that I get to publicly rub that in.

Saturday night rolled around and I did merch for Soulsavers. I was so excited to see Mark Lanegan in the flesh for the first time ever, and though I didn't really get to see the show, being there for the soundcheck of Revival gave me chills. I snuck a couple pics, as well as a couple of Jonneine Zapata and her band. I guess my only complaint was that the show might've been better suited for a weeknight, because all three performances were pretty mellow and it seemed like people really wanted to get into the show, but there was something a bit too mellow about the vibe. Jonneine was really cool as was her band, and it was nice to see people spending money on new music.

Soulsavers/Joennine Zapata




I closed up the week hanging out with my family at the Brazilian parade in PB. My sister and her husband spent a lot of time in Brazil and Central and South America, so she always digs the vibe. Me, well, sometimes I realize I'm more conservative than I let on. My eyes were bugged out at the amount of flesh revealed in one parade. I love the drum lines and the capoeira action, and there's tons of dancing going on, but these women shake their near nude bodies in ways I didn't know possible. Craziness.

Brazilian Parade


From there, it was on to The Rumble. I touched briefly on this monthly event, but should say that if you missed it because of the NFL, the VMAs, or the True Blood finale, know that the next one will be a Saturday matinee, on October 10. The Jakes, U.S.E., and Rafter all gave great performances and it couldn't be beat with the free food from Phil's and even some complimentary Trumer Pils for a lucky few. There will be more of the good stuff next month, with three great bands and killer sponsors, so save the date now. You'll be hearing a lot about The Rumble on this site and I'll post the lineup soon.

That wrapped up the last couple weeks. It is only midday Wednesday and I've already got more good stuff for the week, but it's time I get to those weekend listings.

Did You Miss The Rumble?

Last night, Future Sounds & Indigenous hosted The Rumble, a montly event featuring up and coming bands local and touring. There were Trumer Pils drink specials and free food provided by Phil's BBQ, which were perfect for the early show. Last night's show featured The Jakes, U.S.E. (United States of Electronica), and Rafter. Keep an eye out as this will be a regular matinee event at Casbah.