Another perspective on the San Diego Music Awards

Josh already posted about the awards from his perspective, so I don't really have a whole lot to add, but since I took pics, I thought I'd share them. He is certainly right that last night was a great night. I rode out to Viejas with Ben and Brian from The Long and Short Of It and while I made it in during The Burning of Rome's performance, they were, um...looking for parking...*ahem*...so it was pretty funny that while the first four awards were announced, they hadn't yet made it inside to claim their Best Hard Rock Album award. Josh got their late, too, but we found one another quickly and it was pretty amazing to have my hand on his heart beating while his category was announced. I know that he didn't expect to win but I'm happy and proud that he did, and I'm especially glad that his award was in the first group or waiting might've lead to a high anxiety evening.

There were so many amazing musicians and people at the awards- far too many to name here- but once again I felt completely privileged to be a part of this music community. Unlike 80% of the presenters who have no clue about the scene, I was proud of my friends for their amazing performances, to all the winners, to all the nominees, and to the HUNDREDS of bands and musicians that do the grind and play for the sheer joy of playing music that didn't get nominated. For the full list of winners, click here.

It was funny that I was attempting to tweet all the winners, but dropped off somewhere around best new artist. After the award ceremony, I went to the after party to see The Styletones and was happy to sit down to regain feeling in my feet. The Styletones are the perfect party band and it was nice to be able to chat with people that I didn't get to talk to at the ceremony. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, and Josh and Kitty were done, so after waiting for my saucy ass long enough, I was summoned to the valet area and we were on our way. Incidentally, it was just about midnight, so my party didn't end there, but at the Ken Club where Miggs was spinning records.

Again, it was a fantastic evening. I wish nights like that could happen more often, but it gives me something to once again look forward to for next year. (All the photos are from my camera except the two with me in them, courtesy of Marie Haddad.)








More pics if you 'keep on reading'.

San Diego Music Award Nominees Announced

The San Diego Music Foundation has released the nominees for the 2009 Music Awards. You can see the full list here. Congratulations to everyone nominated.

The music awards will take place at Viejas Casino on September 10. Tickets are available now.

Mi Vida Loca: September, Pt. 1

I keep saying how busy things have been and it's getting pretty old, but between my day job keeping me busy and this town offering so many great things to do every night of the week. So, for the first night that I recall in a very long time, I stayed home tonight. I'm looking through pictures and realized that while I updated here and there, I have a lot of pictures that I haven't posted. So I'll do my best to catch up on photos and where my time was spent, after the jump.

I should really just start this entry with "Dear Diary".

In looking back, I spent quite a lot of time at the Ken Club. One, because I can do my listings and attempt to at least keep the basic stuff updated on my site, but also because it's so damn close, so it's been fun hanging with Todd, Scotty, and my other bar buddies. They've been having more weeknight shows, too, which makes it pretty convenient. On September 11, I walked over to see the show, but missed Tape Deck Mountain. I saw just a little bit of Crescendo but finally caught The Feelings Mutual and I enjoyed seeing them after having listened to their CD a few times. We know my pics suck there, but here are a couple anyway.

The Feelings Mutual


Come Friday, I decided pretty late that I was going to go out at all, so again, walked over and it was packed. It was a Secret Scooter Society Club night and both sides of the bar were packed, which was great because it was the debut of Kerrie's band, Heavy Love, who play a great mix of 50's classics. Kerrie is a classically trained vocalist, so her covers of the Supremes and others were spot on, backed by a full band with a horn section. They were really, really good.

http://s189.photobucket.com/albums/z160/divebarchick/?action=view¤t=DSC07647.jpg

Saturday night I was supposed to see The Counting Crows, Maroon 5 and Augustana at Cricket, but Counting Crows cancelled and since I was supposed to take photos of them, it freed up my night to chill out and go to Kristian's housewarming party. If I haven't said so before, Kristian is one of my best friends, all the way back to when he was a freshman and I was a senior in high school. He contributes to this blog as "KZ" (though not enough), and he recently moved back to San Diego after living in LA for a while. He lives in a killer house in South Park and was having a housewarming party. There was an ice luge and a keg and it was like all the college parties I never really went to. What a great time.





Sunday was a chill day, I checked out Ponce's that night for the final night of "Behind Your Daddy's Back" which was pretty fun. They have a DJ playing lounge music, they have a limited menu of TJ tacos and drink specials. I think they're gonna bring it back around next year. Then I chilled at the Ken to wrap up the weekend.

Monday night was The Juan Maclean at the Casbah, and since it was a late show, I started the night at The Chee Chee. The Juan Maclean were really fun, and Kristian and Beau came and partook in the dance fest at the Casbah.



The next night, I ended up seeing a couple of the people from The Juan Maclean at 4th and B when I sold merch for Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. That night was crazy. I have never sold so much merch in my life and the line for people buying t-shirts was about 30 deep from the time the doors opened at 8 until Nick Cave took the stage at 10, and was consistent even while the band played. I wish I could say that I saw the show, but really I only had a few moments when I could actually pay attention and listen to them, but they sounded phenomenal and the crowd was really enthusiastic for the whole show. I worked through the manager and no, I didn't get to meet or even see the band.

The last catch up I'll get to for now was the San Diego Music Awards. I already posted the winners but I did take a few pictures that night that I wanted to post.
I drove out with Matt, Elizabeth and Andrew, we had a couple beers in the parking lot and actually got there in time before the show started. To me, the San Diego Music Awards is not about the performances, and not even really about the awards, but a chance for people from the entire music community...musicians and fans alike...to hang out and celebrate the progress the music community has made here. Think back, even just a year, to the number of music venues and opportunities for bands to play and mix and network and play together compared to now and it's easy to see that this city has it going on.

Writer (left-Best New Artist Nominees) SayVinyl (right-Best Local Recording)


As I Lay Dying closed the show, and I couldn't resist taking pictures because there was a full blown (planned?) mosh pit in front of the stage.


As I mentioned, after the show, Lady Dottie & The Diamonds played the V Lounge, where people mingled, danced, drank, and if you were me, found a video poker machine to spend the money I'd earned selling Nick Cave's merch. But eventually we had to go, same 4 of us and Dagart. And I had to post these pictures. There are a lot of things I don't understand about guys, but one is why guys sucker punch one another in the nuts. It's weird though mildly entertaining for bystanders. I love these pics, after Dagart messed up Andrew, trying to make peace and then looking at me like "What?". I think Andrew is still seeking the right moment for revenge.



So that was the early part of my month. I already posted all my Street Scene stuff, so I'll pick up after that when I give myself the opportunity to upload and write some more, hopefully this weekend. There's always my twitter feed, I guess.

Boy George Is Coming To Viejas

Culture Club's "Colour By Numbers" was the first vinyl I ever bought with my own money. I think I was about 7 and my sister and I paid $5.99 at Target for the 12", and I thought, "wow, he is so pretty!" I still have that record and I still think "Victims" is an amazing song. My mom is awesome for enduring "Karma Chameleon" about 7 bazillion times.

Boy George is coming to Viejas Concerts In The Park. Tickets go on sale Friday, but of course, there's a presale. Click here to buy tickets now. And sorry for being a spoiler, but the password is GEORGE. Get 'em if you've got the dough to shovel out...

Tickets (Boy George) US $35.00
Total Convenience Charge(s) US $9.05
Order Processing Charge(s) US $4.00
TOTAL CHARGES US $48.05

Summer Viejas Concerts

Decided to check on other venues around town.

Viejas:

Sat 04/19/08 Flyleaf
Sat 04/19/08 Seether

Thu 05/15/08 Rilo Kiley
Fri 05/16/08 Margaret Cho
Sat 05/17/08 Margaret Cho

Fri 06/27/08 "True Colors Tour" Cyndi Lauper
Fri 06/27/08 Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
Fri 06/27/08 The B-52's
Fri 06/27/08 The Puppini Sisters

Wilco is Coming to San Diego

Wilco: August 27 at Viejas Concerts In The Park. More info to come...

Sunday Newsy Bits

Theres an article in Sunday's U-T about Humphrey's choosing Viejas Entertaiment to book their summer season. Along with the article, you can see most of the summer season concerts and dates. Check it out here. Personally, I like seeing shows at Humphrey's, but the cheapest ticket for any of the shows is $35. I'm glad I got the chance to see Lyle Lovett a few years back because his tickets are priced at $125. Maybe my recommendation is to rent a kayak and hang out in the water.

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My friend Dave has some pretty funny "sound guy rantings" on his MySpace page. You should check them out, he might be talking about your band. Ok, not really any specific band but that advice is good. You might learn something. Dave does sound at several venues including the Ken Club and 710. He also told me about a little spot in PB called Tropicoso. The owner believes in paying the talent, so if you're a band whining that you have to charge your own cover at the Ken, check out playing places outta your comfort zone. Tropicoso even pays the people who play their open mic night! Seriously, it might be worth checking out.
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That's really all I've got today. Win Butler is sick and the Arcade Fire have cancelled 9 gigs on their European Tour, so let's send our energy to the cosmos and gets well soon. For me, this is the most I've anticipated a show since I was 14 and couldn't wait to see Blur at the Backdoor at SDSU.

More Monday News

My Google alerts are blowing up with blogs and sites posting the news that the White Stripes have annunced a tour. In fact, the dates being posted are from the 2005 tour. It's one thing for blogs to get it wrong, but Billboard? Filter? lame.
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Another Viejas Concert in the Park:

Bloc Party-
Saturday, June 16, 2007 at 8:00pm
General AdmissionTickets $35.00 on sale Friday, March 23 at 10 am!

I know that's not a cheap ticket, but I saw the Gipsy Kings there one year an every seat is a good one. If you like Bloc Party a lot, I recommend sucking it up and springing for a ticket. After seeing Joss Stone a couple weeks ago, I would really go out on a limb and recommend that show, too, if you even just kinda like her.


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Shout out and happy birthday to my brother, Eddy.
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Last, tonight's Anti Monday League at the Casbah is FREE, so you have NO EXCUSE to miss it, unless you're at the Zombie for Lesbian.

The Blackout Party - 9:15 - 9:45
Ryan Ferguson 10:05 - 10:45
Electric Soft Parade 11:05 - 11:45
Goldrush 12:00 -
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On this anniversary of the war I can't make it to a vigil, but, um, yeah.

Monday Newsy Bits

Last week I mentioned how disappointing it is that Fox decided to pull the plug on FoxRox. The impact that the show has had on the local music scene is immeasurable and it gave a rare opportunity for touring and local bands to be seen on television in this market. The station canceled the show because they couldn't find a major sponsor. Subway had been that sponsor. Having worked in the world of advertising, it seems to me that finding one major or several smaller sponsors shouldn't have been that challenging if there was incentive for the sales reps to do so, but clearly this was a program they let fall by the wayside. And to me, it is a damn shame.

If you've not voiced your opinion yet, please, please, please write to Fox and tell them what the show meant to you. They may not put the show back on the air, but at least they should know that there were a lot of us who cared and who watched. The e-mail address is foxrox@fox6.com and management reads every e-mail.
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Love the MySpace? You should. MySpace has "black curtain movie screenings" and the next on is in San Diego this Wednesday. The movie is showing at the Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas. Go to the MySpace page here. The movie is FREE and doors open at 6:30. Your myspace profile is your ticket and it's first come first served.

March 21, 2007-
AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE COLON MOVIE FILM FOR THEATERS
Co-Creator, Dave Willis
Voice of Master Shake, Dana Snyder IN SAN DIEGO
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Viejas has released their full summer concert lineup. These are "concerts in the park" at the casino and does not include the Viejas at Bayside shows at the Embarcadero.

VIEJAS CONCERTS IN THE PARK 2007 LINEUP
Earth Wind & Fire: 7:30 p.m. March 25, $70 *
Montgomery Gentry, Neal McCoy: 8 p.m. April 14, $70 *
Chicago: 7:30 p.m. April 15, $75 *
ZZ Top: 8 p.m. April 23, $95 *
Pepe Aguilar: 8 p.m. April 27, $85
Wolfmother: 7:30 p.m. May 8, $22.50
Joss Stone, Ryan Shaw, Javier: 7:30 p.m. May 12, $30
B-52's: 8 p.m. June 22, $75
Paulina Rubio: 7:30 p.m. June 26, $75
Pat Benatar & Neil Girardo: 7:30 p.m. July 10, $55
Tower of Power & David Sanborn: 7:30 p.m. July 25, $60
Lynyrd Skynyrd: 7:30 p.m. July 26, $45
Los Lonely Boys: 7:30 p.m. Aug. 18, $50
Gipsy Kings: 7:30 p.m. Aug. 22, $100
Bill Cosby: 8 p.m. Aug. 31, $85
Bill Engvall: 8 p.m. Oct. 12, $65

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Fact or fiction? I've been finding blogs stating as fact that the White Stripes will be starting their tour in San Diego on July 29 at Street Scene. This is the first I've heard a date set for Street Scene and will be sure to follow as more bands announce their participation. There's a link here (broken link) to Filter with other tour dates. That is the weekend my niece is supposed to enter this world. That will be a crazy weekend for sure.
(Update: The dates are from 2005, not 2007. No official date has been set for street scene and The White Stripes have not announced that they will be playing.)
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That's all I've got for now. Kristian is back from South By Southwest and has promised me a recap soon. See you all out at Anti Monday League tonight.