Rosey's Diary: November 11-15, 2011

I wrote briefly about Monday's show at the Soda Bar with Joshua James, Desert Noises, and Honeyhoney, but last night I woke up in the midst of a dream turned panic attack and I realized I wanted to write about the awesome weekend to settle my nerves about a bunch of the other bullshit that is swirling in my brain at the moment. So let me just rewind a bit, for my own therapy. This one is gonna be really long, so read after the jump if you feel so inclined.

photo credit: Johanna B-K (age 4)

Johnny Rad Fest IV

This weekend Johnny Rad Fest returns to San Diego, kicking off tonight at Til-Two Club and then continuing on to the Ken Club on Friday and Saturday. Tickets are still available for each night and can be prepurchased. For all the information you need, check out the site here.

DAY 1: July 28th @ Till Two Club, San Diego
THE SPITS, THE LUMPS, STALINS OF SOUND, EMBALMERS, SWALLOWS

DAY 2: July 29th @ Ken Club, San Diego
HALF RATS, SHANNON AND THE CLAMS, KABBs, LOS SWEEPERS

DAY 3: July 30th @ Ken Club, San Diego
REIGNING SOUND, TOKYO ELECTRON, WAX IDOLS, TRMRS, JOY

This year there will be a shuttle from King's Inn and a pool party on Saturday from 2-6pm with Greg Cartwright of Reigning Kings DJing.

I'll be on Midday Edition on KPBS to talk about this and other events at 12:40.
Check it out live here.

Friday Recap: The Spits, Creepy Creeps, Nihilist @ Ken Club

I knew Friday was gonna get nutty, but I had no idea that the Ken Club could get that berserk. I got dropped off after visiting with my family around 8:30 pm and the bar was already packed as we passed by. An hour later when I headed over, there was a mob outside, random regulars working the door, people trying to "yo, Bro! " their way into the bar. I maneuvered into the bar side. The Dissimilars were already playing but there was no way to get in at that point of the night as they were still assessing how to handle crowd control. The problem was that there were 100 wristbands distributed by Pacific Drive skate shop (and others?) so the club had to limit the amount of non-wristband wearing patrons into the bar so the people with wristbands essentially got their places held. In retrospect, the whole thing seemed like a bad deal, because honestly it wasn't that crowded in either the bar side or the band side...I mean, no more than any other Spits show and still not packed like New Year's or anything like that. Yeah, it was hot as hell, but it was tolerable.

Anyway, I missed The Dissimilars, but made my way into the band room after they finished, in time to see Nihilist. I don't know that I can say I've ever watched a straight up metal band, but they were and they were so proud of it, they even had some song about "poseur nu metal" and "sissy metal". For me a novelty act, but it was fun, nonetheless. Unfortunately I realized my earplugs were at home on my key ring, so I thought my eardrums were gonna explode as I took pics, but I came out reatively unscathed.



I mean, look at this drum kit. Mind you, this is the Ken Club, not Cox Arena...





There were a few people up front living the dream...



I was happy to see Sandra had secured the front booth for us for the evening, so it was nice to not have to fight the crowd for a good spot. Between bands we passed the time taking retarded pics.







Other people passed the time in more creative ways.



The Creepy Creeps were up next and again, there was space in the room, but not much. I like the Creepy's brand of surf rock and there were several requests by the band for people to dance. "Not mosh or slam, just real dancing" but try telling a bunch of testosterone filled dudes to dance. Ain't gonna happen. I've seen the Creepy Creeps don several costumes in the past...this night takes the cake just for how insanely hot it was in the room.



They had their go go dancers getting the boys happy.



The crowd was energized, and usually I'm not a fan of fog machines, but somehow it tricked the brain to think it wasn't as hot in the room as it really was.



I didn't get setlists, but I did get some pics of them.


Creepy Creeps Setlist, 8/10/07, Ken Club

At around 11, the bar had to stop allowing ins and outs because it was just getting too crazy. I was going home to use my bathroom because the line at the bar was crazy and when I got back, was hanging outside when they came out and told people that if they didn't have a stamp and they didn't have a wristband, they needed to leave and find somewhere else to go because they were not going to get in. I made my way back inside and wondered how the hell the Pink Elephant is going to handle crowd control on their inaugural show this week with the Spits.

I was actually surprised when the Spits started that they weren't costumed. I've seen them sport bunny costumes, and more than a couple times with the ex-president masks, but I guess the heat of the room won.










The Spits Setlist, 8/10/07, Ken Club

Their set was high energy and I thought it was cute that as I maneuvered around the pit to take pictures, Craig scolded me to get out of the pit and that I would get hurt. I eventually gave in and got out and went back to our group that had swelled to several people and many many drinks. It was a really fun night. For anyone wondering if Danny Way was actually there, I have no idea. And I don't really care. We made our own party out of all of it.

Ken Club Tonight is Going to be Insane

Danny Way jumping the Great Wall of China

Tonight the Ken Club is going to get kuh-razy. It's not enough that there's a stellar lineup of bands that already draw huge on their own- I mean The Spits, The Creepy Creeps, and The Dissimilars- awesome. But it's also a party for one of the greatest skaters ever, Mr. Danny Way. So I'll be there, stumbling and mumbling, and feeling like an old lady around all the kids, but I'm gonna love every second of it. I mean even if there was none of that, I'd still be there just to see what Jimmy The Worm (Dissimilars) is wearing:

Pink ELephant Confirms First Shows

The Spits, Friday, Aug.17. $5
Hostile Combover, Thursday, Aug. 23. Free show
Bob Log III, Monday, Sept. 10. Free show

I can't wait to see the Spits again...