Things To Do In San Diego: April 30, 2012

(These were supposed to post at 7am today. Apologies that they did not.)

Forgive me if I fall off the radar for a bit. It might be for a week, it might be a couple weeks, I can't really say. I'm hoping that this potential new place works out this week, and if so, I'm going to be moving as quickly as possible to get out of this place which is gonna come with a whole shit-ton of physical and emotional baggage that I am not looking forward to. If it doesn't work out, I'm on the mad hunt for something to get outta here before the end of May. Hate is a really strong word, but I've never hated someone more than I hate my neighbor and my landlord for this major interruption in my life. It is just absolutely astonishing that after 11 years, my dog is suddenly a problem.  Hopefully my contributors will pick up the slack while I bury myself for awhile. Anyway, Monday archives are after the jump.

Coachella 2012, Weekend 2, Sunday

I realize that it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for me to be writing about Coachella four days one week after it is all over, especially when everyone is already talking about Bonnaroo and such, but I might as well finish what I started last week. To read all about it, click the jump. If not, you can just watch the rad videos that FM 94/9 shot in their mud hut last weeekend instead.

Things To Do In San Diego: April 28-29, 2012

I'm sorry I didn't get these up earlier this week, I had a little too much fun this week and didn't motivate early enough. I still have so much to post from the past couple weeks and I don't really know when I'm gonna be online and get it all posted. Be sure to check out the lineup for ArtWalk this weekend because it's always such a good time. I'll be down on Sunday while I'm spending my Saturday judging a Battle of the Bands. Archives after the jump.

Things To Do In San Diego: April 27, 2012

I really have nothing to say today. I will be posting my final Coachella wrap-up later tonight, hopefully when I'm selling merch for Jello Biafra. This week was supposed to be chill but was anything but and I suppose I'll catch you up on all of that, too. In the meantime, here are Friday listings. Archived after the jump.

FM 94/9 Announces Sandy Parts Festival - June 3 at Oceanside Pier

FM 94/9 has announced a new event at the Oceanside Pier. Given the title the Sandy Parts Festival (SPF), the event is taking place on June 3rd with Santigold, The Naked and Famous, Imagine Dragons, and Electric Guest. The show will only set you back $20 (or $25 the week of the show) and the general admission tickets will go on sale this coming Monday.




This event is taking place the same day as 91X's X-Fest and is an interesting way to go head to head with the station. It is my understanding that the two-stage Independence Jam, which normally takes place in the middle of summer at the Oceanside Pier, will instead be held sometime in September.

Jeff's Weekly Pick: Caveman @ The Casbah Friday April 27, 2012

Caveman, a five piece indie rock band from Brooklyn, will be making their San Diego debut Friday night at the Casbah. What makes this group stand out is the vibe they create with their atmospheric songs. Thrown in are African drum beats and fuzzy guitars, but not to the point of upsetting the overall effect the music has. CoCo Beware

was the band’s initial full length released last year. Formed in January 2010, Caveman has gained a growing audience by playing CMJ, opening for larger bands, and a live show that is a must see(from what I have read). By combining elements of experimentation and straight forward indie rock the result is a sound that is easy on the ears. I am eagerly anticipating the quintet’s San Diego appearance at the Middletown club. Note: the show has an early start time of 7 pm due to a later show also booked for the same night. Henry Wolfe sets the stage. Watch a video of Easy Water below.

Andrew Bird Announces Tour: Spreckels August 11

Andrew Bird has announced a tour and lucky for us, the whistling troubadour will be making a stop in San Diego. The show will be at Spreckels Theatre on August 11 at 7pm. Tickets for the show go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster.

Andrew Bird's 2012 tour will take place in July and August in support of his 12th record, Break It Yourself. For more information on the tour and the record, check out Andrew's site here.

Things To Do In San Diego: April 24-26, 2012

I arrived home from the desert on Monday morning, but after sleeping three nights on floor pillows and  doing the Coachella thing as hard as I could, I needed to honor my own Monday off rule. I slept the greater part of the day, and then Chase and I got restless and walked (reminding me that I jacked my hip from the weekend) to Triple Crown then Eleven then back home again. As I told Dustin on Saturday, "I'm toast." With that, here are your listings. Plan on spending some serious time at the Hard Rock Hotel for the free show tonight with Best Coast at 207, tomorrow for the free show at Mary Jane's, and then on Thursday for SoundDiego Live back at 207 with Republic of Letters and The Heavy Guilt. Be sure to RSVP for that one here. Tuesday through Thursday archives after the jump.

James at Coachella (Weekend 2) & House of Blues San Diego

I thought I was going to come home from Coachella and relax and such, and I definitely attempted to get caught up in daytime sleep, but poor Chase felt like house/dogsitting was a sentence for house arrest, so on Monday night we walked over to Triple Crown for some foosball (he won 2 of 3) and ping pong (I won 2 of 3) and then meandered over to Eleven and finished the night there. My computer froze, which made editing these videos more time consuming, but I felt it was worth it to post them. I still need to post a bunch of other stuff and upload photos and such, but in the meantime, this is the video I captured of James at Coachella. I hear they're being strict on things, so it is quite possible that these videos might be pulled from YouTube, but I hope not because even though I couldn't even see what I was shooting, I'm pretty proud that they came out so well considering how far I was from the stage and how I couldn't see a goddamn thing in my viewfinder as I was recording, and I'm going to maintain that even though there were several great performances over the weekend, for me, James was the best performance of the whole shebang.

The youtube playlist below is as follows:

Born Of Frustration
Ring The Bells
Out To Get You
Getting Away With It (All Messed Up)
Sometimes
Sound
Laid




For good measure, check the playlist from the House of Blues San Diego from the night before (with even shoddier camera work). After the jump.

Coachella 2012, Weekend 2: Saturday

I wish there was a way to write this without mentioning the blazing heat, but the entire day seemed dictated by it. From delayed arrival at the festival to spending too much time trying to find shade, shelter, fans and a/c, and even band gear overheating (which may have been the cause of such horrific sound issues for The Big Pink), the heat ruled the day.

I'll give the short rundown because I hardly took phone photos so I can't upload anything until I'm home. (Did I mention this is the first time I've ever traveled without my laptop??)

Our day started at the pool of the MiraMonte. I ordered lunch and the boys had cocktails. At noon they had a $5 Heineken special, which is only important to mention because too many day beers meant a very lazy night for my friends. They also had 10 minute massages for $10. Pure heaven.

We caught our shuttle to Coachella, but the treatment is so ridiculously awesome that they had us wait on the Heineken party bus to have beer so they could cool down the van before transporting us. The shuttle drop off and pickup was in the artist parking lot, with an easy access to the back of the main VIP area. Like I said, completely ridiculous and amazing. You have no idea how lucky I felt.

We arrived during We Are Augustines and since we were already a few beers deep, we just kept it going. Perhaps a mistake in the heat, but we were certainly enjoying ourselves. We stayed through part of Childish Gambino. I really don't understand the appeal, but whatever.

We crossed the field to the Mojave tent for The Big Pink but the sound was terrible. I mentioned gear overheating and perhaps that was part of the problem, but something was off, which was disappointing because you could tell they were giving their all to the set. Disappointed, we decided to chill in the Rose Garden VIP area which had a large air conditioned beer tent, and a large group of people sprawled out in a corner watching Grace Potter on a flatscreen TV, so we joined them.

After some reprieve from the sun, we returned to the Mojave tent where we all agreed that The Head and The Heart gave the best set of the day (that we witnessed). "Sound Like Hallelujah" literally gave me chills and I had my first "Coachella moment" where the collective enthusiasm was overwhelming. I understand that this is why people return to festivals year after year, event after event, but it isn't really my thing, so when it does happen, it is pretty special.

When they finished, we returned to the main VIP area and caught part of the Kaiser Chiefs before deciding that we needed to break from the sun. We returned to the party bus until a shuttle arrived to take us back to the MiraMonte. Eli and I made a food run to Rubio's while the boys napped, and after a couple hours and everyone freshening up, we shuttled back and pretty much stayed in the VIP section for the rest of the night.

We found a spot in the grass and didn't move. I loved The Shins, and I thought James Mercer did a great cover of "Helpless" which was nice since I'd been watching "The Last Waltz" just a couple nights before. (RIP Levon Helm) I also really loved Bon Iver who are so exceptional at commanding an audience through all of their quiet to thunderous instrumentation, and Justin, though a superstar at this point, just seems like a regular guy you'd wanna chill with at a neighborhood bar on a any night of the week.

Radiohead closed the night and maybe diehard Radiohead fans (Radioheadheads?) loved it, but I was hot and cold on their set. I got that "Coachella moment" thing a bit with The Shins and Bon Iver but it never hit with Radiohead which was just a little disappointed since I'd definitely felt that communal elation at their last San Diego show. Doesn't matter really, because it was still a great day.

We caught our shuttle home and Dustin and I decided to keep drinking our stash of Heineken, so we found a hammock on a lawn and gossipped like teenage girls. We heard loud talking and splashes and realized some people were in the hot tub after hours. We joined them and it turns out several of them work for RedLight Management, so we chatted a bit until I was toast and had to call it a night. Dustin, on the other hand, had a crazy night, but he'll have to start his own blog for those details.

It is now 1 am on Monday and Coachella is all wrapped up. We're leaving at 6 am so I'll have to catch you up on Day 3 later. This has been so amazing, sometimes I feel like I'm living someone else's life. I guess this weekend I was. Back to reality in the morning.

Coachella 2012

A week ago I had no sights on going to Coachella, but after catching up with my friend David and joking about not having an "in", he called me back and offered me a wristband. I swear I wasn't fishing. You all know my life is in serious shambles at the moment and I should be aggressively searching for a new home, but thanks to a bunch of people (namely David, Chase, Elliott, Mike, and Jenn), Coachella 2012 (weekend 2) became a reality for me. I should also mention I got sick this week, so between not finding dogsitters and feeling like shit, I almost called the whole thing off as late as Thursday. I am surrounded by awesome people who really came through for me.

So because I didn't really plan on Coachella, I never really even thought about who I would want to see. And an obvious perk of doing what I do is getting to see/work shows, so in the past two weeks alone I worked at the Rapture and Yuck and saw Housse De Racket, Band of Skulls, James, The Big Pink, M Ward, and Squeeze, and also passed on a significant amount of shows. So blah blah, stop bragging. Really all I knew was my group wasn't coming until late Friday, so while at the James show at the House of Blues, I took to Twitter and found an early ride with Jen (@JennyJenJen). I got to sleep at 3:30 am, David dropped off my wristband at 7, and Jen and I were on the road by 7:15, she checked into her air BnB around 10:30, we grabbed some Wendy's and got to Coachella early enough to get beat down by a full day of desert sun.

Since I'm not here with any press credentials, I didn't feel obligated to do or see or shoot anything specific, so my day kicked off with Other Lives, Givers, and James. Actually, that is not entirely true. I spent almost my whole first hour of Coachella between the "charging station" trying to charge my phone and waiting in the water filling lines.

Other Lives were awesome as ever and the crowd seemed to love it, with people around me associating the band with Radiohead and Bon Iver, since they've supported both on tour. When I'm home I'll post more video to add to my growing Other Lives archive. Sadly I think in the Josh's eyes I've turned into SuperGroupie and he couldn't be bothered to chat after the show, so I was on my way to Givers.

Givers were nearly done by the time I got to their tent and it was packed. It was pretty obvious from the first time I saw them at Sunset Sessions that they would be a band to watch with a big future ahead, so it's great to see them doing so well just a little over a year later. It was also great to see them maximize the use of their stage with their usual high energy.

I thought I was going to see Yuck, but the crowd was large and mostly I just wanted to say hi to their tour manager, so I moved along to get a spot for James.

I know I still owe you photos from Thursday (see videos on my YouTube channel), but you should know this is one of my top 5 all time favorite bands of all time. Anything I say comes with great bias because their music soundtracked so many personal ups and downs, loves and out-of-loves, great friendships and great friendships lost. I don't remember the setlist off the top of my head, but I do know it was a different set than last week and also different from Thursday. It kicked off with "White Boy" and followed with "Born Of Frustration", during which Tim Booth came into the security pit and jumped on the rail just by me (see photos). I'll have to go through my video for the rest of the setlist. They played "Sometimes", "Tomorrow", and of course "Laid". I'll upload those on Monday, but be warned...the sun was so bright and even though I was "front row" along the railing, I was still about 25 feet from the stage. The further I am, the closer I have to zoom, and thus the shakier the video becomes.

The rest of my day isn't really worth talking about because I totally crashed. I finally explored the VIP area, found an outlet and some grass, and I was in my own world. I listened to Jimmy Cliff and Arctic Monkeys and Pulp from the little VIP oasis, visiting with Kristian who is bartending here, as well as Vito, a friend and fellow SoundDiego contributor.

When I finally charged my phone and ate and cooled down a bit, I decided to catch Mazzy Star. I love Hope Sandoval and remember my best friend playing a demo of She Hangs Brightly that she somehow acquired from a cousin and "Halah" being one of my favorite songs to sing-along to. She started the set with old songs, but requested near darkness onstage. I already couldn't see the band and you know I cannot stand a lightless stage, so after about 6 songs, I left to meet up with David and Dustin who had finally arrived. We had some Heineken then roamed, catching some Black Keys, some M83, more Heineken in the Rose Garden VIP area, laughed at the dance tent, then met up with Eli back at the main VIP area before we caught the shuttle to our resort.

Oh yeah...did I mention that? We're staying at this plush resort called the Mira Monte. There's a shuttle to and from Coachella and when we wait for the shuttle, there's a party bus stocked with Heineken for the taking...and we were taking. Me, the girl who might be homeless in a month, is doing it super fancy at Coachella 2012. Don't think that I don't know how lucky I am.

I guess I better charge up this phone and get ready for day two. Cheers!

Adams Avenue Unplugged Lineups

I know these are difficult to read, but if you click on the images, you should be able to see them. The schedule is also in last week's CityBeat and I'm sure you can grab one along the way. Enjoy!

SD@140bpm Recommends....

Tonight Friday April 20th make sure to check out Glitch Slap: Four, Two, Oooh!!! w/ Wyatt Purp, Misk, Wala, and urBn:LgNd. The event takes place- not in the main bar at "Kava Lounge"- instead the event is hosted right next door at Kava's Center for the Arts.  The larger space is great for the amazing art exhibits that will be on display including: S E A N D I E T R I C H presenting art, illustrations comics, live painting and whiskey; VIsUaLs by Owns One; and Circus Mafia Presents special guest STRYDER THE JESTER.  


In addition this is a great lineup for underground electronic dance music.  The headliner Wyatt Purp is a bass music outlaw from Boomstone, Arizona, whose crunkadelic bangers will heat up the dance floor. More after the jump. 

Things To Do In San Diego: April 20-23, 2012

I'm off to Coachella and I have never felt so ill-prepared for a trip, but whatever. I hope you all take advantage of Adams Avenue Unplugged this weekend, and I'm a little bummed I'm gonna miss it, especially since it is the last event on the street while I live in this place. Friday through Monday archives are after the jump.

Things To Do In San Diego: April 18-19, 2012

I just thought I would update the listings in case you're out and about and need to find them quickly from your mobile device. As far as I've been told, Band of Skulls is the only show that sold out, so you still have time to get to the Casbah or Belly Up, though House of Blues is probably too late. I was told that over at the Griffin, We Are Augustines will play at 9:45 and Band of Skulls at 11, which means I'm gonna leave mid-set to catch The Big Pink at the Casbah. Boo. Wednesday and Thursday archives after the jump.

Best Thing Ever: Rob Crow Reads Children's Stories

Rob Crow posted this amazing gem on Facebook and commented, "To be clear, this is the first in a monthly series of musical stories for children called STORYTIME WITH ROB CROW." The man just never stops creating.

X-Fest 2012 Lineup Announced

This press release comes straight from 91X. I guess I got it this morning, but you know my funny sleep hours and I didn't think that anyone was dying to get this information from me. For those of you interested, Outside Lands was announced today, too.

91X “X-FEST 2012” CONCERT LINE-UP ANNOUNCED

91X today announced on-air the artist line-up for “91X X-Fest,” happening on Sunday, June 3 at Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre in Chula Vista. This year’s line-up brings Jane’s Addiction, Garbage, Angels & Airwaves, P.O.D., Rebelution, Neon Trees, Of Monsters and Men, Grouplove, Eve 6 and Walk the Moon to San Diego. (more after the jump)

New San Diego Show Announcements

I added some shows on the Casbah calendar, and while I was going through the weekend listings, I noticed a couple adds at Humphrey's, too.

The tickets all go on sale Friday, April 20, at 10am. Humphrey's tickets will be on Ticketmaster. The Casbah shows are linked to Frontgate below.

• Gillian Welch @ Humphrey's Concerts By The Bay- May 30, 2012
• Motion City Soundtrack, The Henry Clay People, The Front Bottoms @ Casbah - June 14, 2012
• Friends @ Casbah - June 29, 2012
• Ledisi, Eric Benet @ Humphrey's Concerts By The Bay, July 18, 2012

Things To Do In San Diego: April 17, 2012

Yesterday I told you that I was going to try to get the weekend listings done early this week, and since Jeff already did next week's, below are all of the show listings through next Thursday. Just don't get used to it, because it is a total pain in the ass. I'll be at Yuck tonight slinging merch and there are plenty of tickets available as of now, but I'll let you know if it starts getting closer to a sell out. Tuesday archives are after the jump.

Things To Do In San Diego: April 16, 2012

I am pretty sure that this week is gonna go down as one of the best week's for live music in San Diego . We get the benefit of our proximity to Indio so tons of bands have been here in the past week and will be filtering down throughout the week. Of course, it means tough choices, too. Keep in mind that the Casbah is closed tonight. Since I'll be out every night this week and heading to Coachella on Friday, I'll try to get your weekend listings up sooner than usual. ("Try" being the operative word here.) Monday archives are after the jump.