Recommended Shows in San Diego December 16-22, 2013

National Maple Syrup Day

The last full week of shows and holiday shopping has arrived. There are many worthwhile live music events worth noting in the upcoming week, so here we go.

Catch local singer-songwriter Tristan Prettyman on Monday at the Belly Up...

Indie pop trio Lovers (Portland) play an intimate gig on Tuesday at the Tin Can...they recently released their seventh studio effort A Friend in the World...

On Wednesday The Casbah presents Polica, making their second San Diego area appearance, this time in the larger confines of the Belly Up...

Singer-actress Rebecca Pidgeon returns to Lestat's for a cozy show on Thursday...she just released her seventh album, Blue Dress On...

Friday's pick is Holograms (Sweden) and TV Ghost (IN) over at Soda Bar...

Check the listings for a show on Saturday..

El Vez and Rosie Flores present their Mexmas show at the Casbah on Sunday...sounds like a great way to cap the weekend..

A great week of music lies waiting for the music fans in San Diego...support local venues and act responsibly while doing so...

Watch a video of My Oh My by Tristan Prettyman below.



Watch a video of Oh Yeah by Lovers below.

Show Tonight: The Grownup Noise, Goldenboy @ Tin Can Wed. Aug. 7, 2013

For those who haven't been to The Tin Can (Alehouse dropped from the moniker), suffice to say the venue hosts live music six nights a week. Tonight's bill offers two bands from out of town (and a local act), The Grownup Noise (Boston) and Goldenboy (Diamond Bar). The Grownup Noise are a six piece folk/pop/rock band that love touring and playing in the live setting. Their music is rooted in Americana, but contains many elements that are easy to listen to. Perfect to cure the midweek blues.

Watch a video of So It Goes from This Time With Feeling below.


Also playing tonight are California indie dream pop band  Goldenboy. Led by the haunting vocals of Shon Sullivan and Nicole Verhamme, the veteran band released The New Familiar last fall. Their sound is reminiscent of a time gone by but not forgotten. This is quality music for your ears.

Watch a video of The Walking Song below.



Try something different and head to Banker's Hill tonight...

Recommended Shows in San Diego April 8-14, 2013

The second week of April is filled with great musical happenings in San Diego. Many people are headed to that festival in the desert, but those who choose to stay in our cooler coastal climate will not be disappointed (musically). A closer look at the upcoming week reveals many shows of note...

Local H rocks Soda Bar on Tuesday, with Scott Lucas on the mend from being attacked recently in Russia...go see them perform and wish him the speediest of recoveries...Angel Olsen and Villages take the  stage at the Casbah...

On Wednesday The Evens, Ian MacKaye (Fugazi) and Amy Farina's indie pop band, play an early show at The Irenic (all ages)...LA quintet The Lonely Wild open for locals Barbarian at The Griffin...

Tin Can is the place to be on Thursday for hardcore rockers Pile (Boston) with Weatherbox slated as openers...

Dynamic singer/songwriter Kurt Vile headlines the Casbah on Friday playing songs from his new album Wakin on a Pretty Daze...highly recommended...

Seattle grunge band Mudhoney stops at the iconic Middletown venue for what promises to be a great show on Saturday with a new record in tow...

On Sunday Gayle Skidmore, Grant-Lee Phillips and Sean Watkins team for an intimate show at Lestat's...a perfect way to complete the weekend...Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears make an appearance on the USS Midway (invite only)...

Looks (and sounds) like a terrific week to me. Enjoy the great music in our beautiful city...

Watch a video of The Sun As It Comes from The Lonely Wild below.

Recommended Shows in San Diego March 25-31, 2013

Jeff Mangum by Will Deitz

The last week of March offers many quality shows in San Diego. A closer look reveals some worth attending.

On Monday Erika Wennerstrom brings blues indie rockers Heartless Bastards to the Casbah.

Spreckels Theatre is the place to be on Tuesday when Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel) plays solo in front of his adoring fans.

Two Portland bands, And And And plus The We Shared Milk take over the intimate Tin Can on Wednesday.

This Thursday Sister Sparrow and The Dirty Birds swoop into The Griffin with their brand of soul rock.

Caveman headline the Casbah on Friday playing songs from their eponymous new record. Pure Bathing Culture opens for what promises to be a great show.

The Airborne Toxic Event begin a two night run at the House of Blues on Saturday. A few tickets remain for Sunday's show. Foxygen returns for a sold out show at Soda Bar on Saturday. Post punk rockers Iceage (Denmark) make their San Diego debut on Sunday at the Casbah.

A great week of music lies ahead for those willing to support the artists playing in America's finest city.

Watch a video of Timeless by The Airborne Toxic Event below.

Tonight: Marius @ Tin Can

I don't typically just copy/paste a press release as a show preview, but this one just came in for a show tonight. I have a soft spot for bands who travel ridiculous distances to perform in our fair city, and there's just something about those northern European locales that breeds great music. Marius hails from The Faroe Islands which means they deserve a little more love because they couldn't really get much further from home.As a city, we're not particularly ahead of the curve on new music discovery, so I'm just doing my part to spread the word.
Check out Marius tonight at the Tin Can . The show is only $5 and Autumn Electric from Seattle opens. Get there early enough for some delicious Doods Foods and do a shot or two with me.

You can listen to some tracks here.



Press release/band info after the jump.

Dirty Gold Debut Show at Tin Can, 12.17.2010

I started this post a couple weeks ago and didn't realize I never got around to finishing. Sorry for that. I have been laying uber low (read:being lazy) during the holidays. On Friday (12/17) night I went to M-Theory for Fitz & The Tantrums, then went to The Pastorela at the Lyceum downtown (which was a great performance despite the asshole usher who treated us like shit), and finally got dropped off to catch Dirty Gold's debut performance at Tin Can.

When I arrived, the boys were outside with family and friends waiting to play. The three are all in high school and I have to admit that after all this time with the blog and stuff, I assume they've never heard of this site and I prefer to just hang out and do my thing and check them out so I didn't introduce myself. I just made sure I got a seat up close to capture the performance and take it in. For anyone who hasn't heard, the band has caught some blog love nationally and before even playing publicly, they were picked up by Aquarium Drunkard's Autumn Tone label. The band also got a great write-up on Crawdaddy. The show wasn't without it's bumps, and after playing two songs with vocals cutting in and out, Sarah asked them to wait, she changed the mic channel, and had them start their set all over again from the beginning, much to the pleasure of the crowd.

After the short set, and before the band could be ushered out of the 21+ bar, they were flooded with family and friends posing with them for photos on the stage, and you could here teachers and parents and friends all discussing their associations with the band. It was really cute, actually, and the boys were beaming, as they should be. I imagine you'll be hearing a lot from Dirty Gold and will have plenty of chances to see them in 2011. Below is their full set. You can click the right or left arrows to navigate the YouTube playlist.

New Music Tuesday: New Mexico's Have You Met My Friend? Out Today

I love when my San Diego friends start to break out of San Diego. Everyone locally knows that Apes of Wrath were firing up the San Diego scene for a long time, but as New Mexico they've certainly gotten themselves noticed beyond our little town. Today the band celebrates the release of their debut EP Have You Met My Friend? It's available everywhere...iTunes, bandcamp.

To celebrate the release, catch them this Saturday, November 20th, at Tin Can with Grand Tarantula, Scruffles, and Mrs. Magician. The show is only five bucks and starts at 8pm.

You can watch a session of the band from Pinpoint Music below.

Case Closed from Pinpoint Music on Vimeo.

Tonight at West Coast Tavern: Low Volts

It's Thursday which means another fabulous night over at West Coast Tavern. Tonight we've got Low Volts, the one man band from Blackout Party's Tim Lowman.

His songs are gritty and I have a feeling if you haven't seen him yet, you'll be a fan from the first strum of the guitar.

Low Volts will start around 10pm. The show is free.

Jeff's Weekly Pick: Frankie Rose and The Outs @ Tin Can Friday September 24, 2010

It has been increasingly common for indie band members to play in more than one project at the same time. There are several reasons for this: economic necessity, creative differences, filling the calendar to name a few. Case in point...Frankie Rose and The Outs, a Brooklyn based all female band fronted by the seemingly controversial Frankie Rose (hence the name). Her resume includes drumming for high profile New York indie bands Vivian Girls and Crystal Stilts. Rose's most recent affiliation was with LA buzz band Dum Dum Girls. Going from garage to lo fi to a more pop oriented song structure brings the listener up to date. The eponymous debut full length doesn't totally abandon Rose's musical past, but gives her creative control in the finished project. Moving from one band to another has been good and bad for Frankie. Currently living on the east coast (California born and raised) has afforded Rose many opportunities in the busy NY indie scene. It is also interesting to get one's perspective on all female bands. Rather than enter that discussion, I would rather focus on the music, and this band is definitely worth a listen. The opportunity to watch the band perform is this Friday at the very intimate Tin Can in Banker's Hill. A good way to usher in the weekend.

Hunx and His Punx and Colleen Green set the stage.

Watch a video of Candy below.