Things To Do In San Diego: Tuesday, October 15-Monday, October 21, 2019

Last week was great but exhausting. Nova had a full week of minimum days so we did our best to balance work and life and entertaining her, but some days I feel like I'm answering emails around the clock. Wednesday was a soccer day so I had soccer duty and went to La Jolla Cove, but worked super hard to get my shit together so we could spend Thursday at Safari Park. Of course, when it came to it, we still didn't get out of the house on time, but we did make it to Safari Park for at least a couple hours, but I was so tired after that, sadly I didn't make it to Swervedriver. On Friday I ended up going to Music Box to catch Little Hurricane, Dead Feather Moon, and Low Volts, then caught the bus to close the night at the Ken Club. On Saturday, Darren, Nova and I ate our brains out at the Taste of North Park, then Nova had a late soccer game in La Jolla then I got called in to work for El Ten Eleven which was a phenomenal show. On Sunday night, Darren and I went to Bastille and Joywave at OAT, and Monday I just tried to recover from the week and got these here listings done. I feel lame always recapping like this, but I'm trying to break my FB dependency because fuck Zuck. This week is gonna be nuts...I'm shooting Ride tonight, Surf Curse on Wednesday, and selling merch for Joseph Arthur and Jesse Malin on Thursday, then Friday I'm shooting Clairo at House of Blues. If after all that I still have anything left, I'll try for Lucero on Saturday. Gah! Listings through Monday are after the jump.

Wonderfront Single Day Tickets On Sale Now

Single Day tickets to Wonderfront are on sale now!! Get them here.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Artist Daily Lineup has changed a bit:

• STS9 and Alice Merton are now on Friday
• Big Gigantic is on Saturday
• Donavon Frankenreiter is on Sunday

San Diego Zoo Presents HalGLOWeen: Extended Weekend Hours & Halloween Activities

It's no secret that almost all of my free time is spread almost evenly among live music and concerts and time at the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park. You give me a day off, chances are that's where you'll find me. Today kicks off HalGLOWeen at the San Diego Zoo, and while I'm not in love with the branding, I love any opportunity to hang out at the Zoo into the nighttime. For the next three weekends, the Zoo has extended hours from 9am to 9pm with a ton of activities for the kiddos. I will say that while the whole zoo is open at night, a lot of animals go into their "condos" in the afternoon (like the orangs, gorillas, baboons, tortoises and more), and all the aviaries get locked up relatively early, so plan your visit around Elephant Odyssey, and anywhere you can find large cats if you wanna still see animals. Sometimes it's just fun to Skyfari and check out the lights of the City as you hear the nighttime calls of the animals below. HalGLOWeeen runs October 11-13, 18-20, and 25-27th.

The San Diego Zoo will glow brightly this fall with creepy, crawly fun for the whole family during HalGLOWeen—the Zoo’s annual Halloween celebration. This year, the colorful, glowing extravaganza has been expanded to three weekends—Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, Oct. 11–27, 2019. Guests can enjoy a multitude of seasonal activities and entertainment, including the Skeleton Band, “Boolahoops,” acrobats, the Spooky Revue and the DJ Bubble Dance Party—a rousing bash where participants are invited to dance to spooktacular Halloween and pop tunes among bursts of bubbles and black light.

Think spiders and snakes are creepy? You just might change your mind after seeing what the amusing and amazing Dr. Zoolittle has up his sleeve.
Don’t forget to say hi to our Zoo Characters Boo Crew as they get into the spirit by donning their own unique Halloween costumes. Guests can also stop by participating Zoo shops and restaurants to pick up HalGLOWeen supplies and treats.

Kids 11 and younger get free Zoo admission throughout October during "Kids Free presented by Mission Fed," and they may wear costumes during HalGLOWeen. Costume guidelines are available online at zoo.sandiegozoo.org/help-center#seasonal-events. Additional special activities are scheduled every weekend during Kids Free. All guests younger than 15 must be accompanied by a paid adult during their visits to the Zoo or the Safari Park.

More pics from one of my recent visits after the jump.

Things To Do In San Diego: Tuesday, October 8-Monday, October 14, 2019

It was such a great but busy week that I'd really appreciate another weekend ASAP. Work has been totally whacko and I feel like I'm on a laptop 14 hours a day. On Tuesday, Darren and I caught the Mercury Rev + Beth Orton show at Soda Bar, on Wednesday I just worked and did my evening at the Cove while Nova was at soccer. Thursday night, I went to Vampire Weekend and Soccer Mommy with Jeff and to The Office after with my pal Xavie. Friday night was Calexico & Iron and Wine at Humphrey's and then I just called it a night because I was beat. Saturday was my niece Nadia's birthday at Mission Bay and then I got to shoot Cigarettes After Sex at the Observatory. Nova had a sleepover, so Darren met me at Pink and we enjoyed the jams Mike Delgado was playing until we left to catch my James interview on SoundDiego. On Sunday I made a decision to not leave the house, but it meant that this is the first year I missed Oktoberfest in El Cajon. But I got work done and binged "The Keepers" on Netflix. Wrapped it all up with some Cove time on Monday and Son Volt at the Belly Up. Lots of good stuff this week. Full listings are after the jump.

Desert Daze Reveals Set Times

Desert Daze is going down next weekend, October 10-13th in Lake Perris, California and today, the festival announced set times for the event. See the daily schedules after the jump.

Things To Do In San Diego: Tuesday, October 1-Monday, October 7, 2019

I have to say I had a pretty exceptional birthday week. On Tuesday, I caught Blanco White and Dan Owen at the House of Blues. On Wednesday I did my usual soccer dropoff and went to take more pics at the Cove. On Thursday, Nova's great-aunt was in town while on a bus tour of California, so we had a nice dinner at Fish Market and walked around Seaport Village, catching the end of Seaport Sessions and catching some tourist sights before walking her back to the hotel. That night I went to The Office for a little pre-birthday celebrating. On Friday, I worked at the Casbah for the Half Moon Run show and Darrren surprised me by showing up just before midnight to hang out with me as it tuned into my birthday. On Saturday we had no soccer and no plans, so my sister and my niece came over and we all went to the Safari Park for the late afternoon, then decided on dinner at Ponce's Del Sur, after which we all had a big slumber party at my house. Sunday was a low-key chill day and I finished reading a book that I'd checked out on a library app that was set to expire, so it was nice enjoying the quiet of an ebook and being home. Monday was the last day of Ticketfly before full migration to Eventbrite so in reality I spend almost all day doing this week's listings. Hopefully I'll find a better way and can work with EB to get our site to be more functional, but in the meantime, lots of work, and being the first week of the month, lots of calendars haven't quite been updated yet. Tons of stuff going on this week, full listings are after the jump. If anyone wants free guestlist to Mercury Rev & Beth Orton tonight, please let me know via Facebook and I'll get you on the list.

Things To Do In San Diego: Tuesday, September 24-Monday, September 30, 2019

It feels like my last post was so long ago. In the time from last week's listings to today, Darren got me a new laptop for my upcoming birthday, so I've been doing my best to move files and get this one all current and usable. I was so occupied with tech that I completely flaked on Methyl Ethel and JBM last Tuesday, but on Wednesday I went to Benjamin Francis Leftwich at the Merrow and then to Death Cab for Karaoke at the Office. On Thursday, I went with Jeff to see The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller at the SDCJC with Yo La Tengo, which was amazing, then had a late dinner at Gravity Heights. All this time my dad was still hospitalized, so we visited on Wednesday, and then Friday he was finally released. But it was total chaos, because as he was being loaded for transport home, somehow the entire gurney tipped over while he was strapped in and landed on top of him. Not just humiliating, but it injured him but he's so stubborn that he refused the ex-ray and went home anyway. So that night we all visited them in Chula for my mom's birthday, but it was pretty gloomy and stressful and my poor mom spends all of her waking moments caring for him. Later that night, Darren and I went to Hatchie at Soda Bar and then the Ken Club to take a load off. On Saturday I got to work my first show from load-in to settlement at The Loft and that was pretty easy peazy and the artist, Phum Viphurit was pretty great. Wrapping up, we went to Adams Avenue on Sunday and went to Safari Park on Monday. I've been working my ass off and weekends are just not long enough and I missed both of Nova's soccer games and I'm getting older and we might have to make a decision about putting down my cat soon, but we'll get through it all together. Full listings through Monday are after the jump. 

This Weekend: Adams Avenue Street Fair

The Adams Avenue Street Fair returns this weekend for the 38th year. I'm not super in love with this poster because you can barely read any of it, but instead I'll just make sure you have the link for all the stage lineups and performance times. I've been fortunate to live within walking distance for over 20 years, but this year is not looking good for spending much time as Nova's got soccer in the afternoon on Saturday and Sunday and I'll be working at the Loft on Saturday from load-in till load-out. Ah well. I'm sure I'll find a way to make it happen, even if just for a little bit. Bear in mind that this is a free, all ages, family-friendly event that gets THOUSANDS of attendees, so while you can bring your pets, they're not allowed in many of the businesses or beer gardens, the cement gets crazy hot, and stupid things like trash and dropped food can be a hazard not worth the risk. Leave your doggies at home for your own sanity (and theirs).

Things To Do In San Diego: Tuesday, September 17-Monday, September 23, 2019

I've been obsessed with this show, Offspring. It's on Netflix but ran for seven seasons in Australia. It's kinda like a cross between Parenthood and Gray's Anatomy, and sometimes I love it and sometimes I hatewatch it, but now I know my favorite character is gonna die and I'm almost at that scene and I don't know if I'm emotionally prepared for it, despite knowing it's gonna happen and finding out that all of Australia lost their collective minds when it happened. Ug. Still, it was a good thing I found a show to binge because I don't do these 90 degree days. Last week I did go to La Jolla Cove on Wednesday and after went to Belly Up for Greg Laswell and then to the Office for The Ramones Tribute night. On Friday, Darren and I went to Adrian Belew, and after went to Rebecca Jade at the Casbah. I was a hermit all weekend. My dad was admitted into the hospital late Friday, so we were kind of on standby all weekend. He's just in for observation, not being really treated for anything specific except balancing his blood pressure and fluid pressure, but still tried to lay low in case they needed us. This week is gonna be pretty busy. I'll probably check Jesse Marchant and Methyl Ethyl if I can pull off both in the same night, Benjamin Francis Leftwich on Wednesday, and maybe The Regrettes or The Brother Brothers on Thursday. Then this weekend is Adams Avenue Street Fair and I'll be working a show on Saturday night. Lots of great stuff happening this week. Full listings are after the jump.

KAABOO 2020 On Sale Now: Moves To Petco Park

KAABOO 2019 was sold out and is in the books and from my IG feed, looks like everyone had a great time despite San Diego being in the high 80s and low 90s alll weekend. Following up, KAABOO has already announced 2020 dates--September 18-20, 2020 and has super early-bird Hang Loose passes on sale for $199. But the biggest news is that the festival will be ditching Del Mar Fairgrounds and heading to Petco Park. I'm sure all kinds of people have all kinds of feelings about that, but with the numerous options for public transit to downtown, to me this would definitely make me more inclined to forget my festival aversion and jump on the KAABOO bandwagon. To be seen. I mean, I have a year to figure it out. In the meantime, 2020 tickets are available here. 

Things To Do In San DIego: Tuesday, September 10-Monday, September 16, 2019

Besides all my computer chaos, it was a pretty great week. I caught Bleached and The Paranoyds at the Casbah on Thursday, on Friday, Jeff and I had an amazing dinner at Louisiana Purchase and went to see Band of Skulls at the Belly Up, and on Saturday me, Nova and Darren went to La Jolla Cove for some snorkeling, and then on Sunday we went to my parents house to celebrate my dad's 71st birthday, and Monday I dragged my reluctant dog to the beach while Nova was at practice. This week is pretty low key. I might try to check out Greg Laswell at the Belly Up and Jake at the Casbah on Friday, but otherwise will just blow where the wind takes me. Full listings for the week are after the jump.

The Magnolia Set To Open This Week

LiveNation's new entertainment venue, The Magnolia, opens its doors this week in El Cajon. There will be a grand opening ceremony tonight at 5pm. On Thursday the 12th, Queen Nation and Idol X will play the first show, followed by Countess Luann and Friends on Friday, September 13th.

From The Magnolia website

San Diego County’s newest venue, The Magnolia will open in El Cajon this September after 10 years and an incredible $7M renovation!  Formerly known as the East County Performing Arts Center, upgrades include a reconfigured seating layout showcasing great sightlines for 1200 fans, a completely refurbished lobby bar serving craft beer and cocktails, a brand new VIP Lounge, plush front row seating, updated guest amenities and elevator access to the upper level seating for easy accessibility. 

As part of the beautiful renovation of The Magnolia, fans can expect to enjoy events of all kinds, including use of the outdoor plaza and venue grounds! From movie nights to beer festivals, food trucks, street fairs and more, the venue will showcase different events all year-long, bringing together our community and visitors to experience a new level of entertainment in SoCal.

ALT949 Reveals Not So Silent Night Lineup

I was having a pretty fun time trying to follow the clues for ALT949's Not So Silent Night bit today they've finally revealed the lineup. I got three out of the six (Shaed, White Reaper, Winnetka Bowling League) but wasn't even close on the other three (Neon Trees, Local Natives, Half Alive).

The lineup includes Neon Trees, Local Natives, SHAED, Half Alive, White Reaper, and Winnetka Bowling League. The show takes place on December 8th at Del Mar Arena. Get your tickets to the show here.

What I'm Reading & Watching

What did the cormorant say to the sea lion??

I have had a hell of a weekend. We went snorkeling, chilled out, hung out for my dad's 71st birthday, and I thought it would be low-key and I would get ahead of email and social posts for work and get caught up when, BAM!, I got a FINAL NOTICE from Photobucket that they're switching to a subscription based model and all photos over their free limit would be deleted by Monday, September 9th. I wouldn't have noticed, to be honest, because my original account is linked to an email that is just chock-full of spam which I never read. So I missed months of such notifications. However, I had a second account affected, too, which is when I took it seriously. More of my woe-is-me  tale after the jump (and actual stuff I'm reading and watching)

Things To Do In San Diego: Wednesday, September 4-Monday, September 9, 2019

My birthday month is finally here! Me and Indah are super excited about that. Let's run through the week...on Tuesday I went to Bryan Ferry and then caught Mal Blum at Soda Bar. Wednesday is my evening to check out the sea lions while Nova plays soccer, and Thursday I went to Darren's soccer game, then caught The Bird and the Bee at Casbah. We went to the Zoo on Friday and then again on Monday for the final night of Nighttime Zoo, and in between Nova had her first soccer tournament of the season and we went to the tidepools (Saturday) and snorkeling the cove after Sunday. And last night I caught Local Natives and The Melvins. So yeah. Summer is very much still alive around here. Full listings are after the jump.

City of San Diego Shuts Down The Irenic & Street Angels Homeless Shelter for Teens

Last week, The Irenic posted a dreary message on their Facebook page:


Full Statement Link (full text here):

After nearly six years of opening the doors of our church to host All-Age events for the North Park Community, The Irenic has been ordered by The City of San Diego to cease operations, effective immediately on September 1, 2019. We believe that this order is a violation of our rights as a faith community to use our property to both bless the community and generate income to support our ministry, and are seeking legal counsel on how to proceed. It is our sincere hope that we will be able to begin hosting events again soon. We encourage you to reach out to Councilman Chris Ward's Office and Mayor Falconers Office to voice your support for The Irenic. Thank you so much for your support. 

Now, obviously I work for the Casbah and as such have worked the door for our events at the Irenic for many years now, but I have no inside information about this news. I will say my own opinion, which is that it sucks, and not just because of the lost income it means for me and our staff. There's been a neighbor hellbent on getting the venue shut down and fuck that guy. He allegedly called the police for EVERY. SINGLE. SHOW. I hear this is from Code Enforcement, but am sure Mara "Fun-killer" Elliott had a hand, as she seems to be chasing everything that makes this city cool, from shutting down Nova's derby facility with just 72 hours notice (and thus ending her derby involvement altogether) to resurrecting issues at the Observatory long thought to have been resolved and now this. It sucks. The Casbah has 10 shows with no home should the issue not be immediately resolved. Looking at Soda Bar's calendar, they also had at least 10 shows booked through the end of the year.

Update:
Casbah is working diligently to move all the previously scheduled shows. The sold-out Phora (10/13) show has been moved to House of Blues and with additional capacity means more tickets are on sale. Benjamin Francis Leftwich (9/18) has been moved to the Merrow, which unfortunately means this is now a 21+ show. Casbah will be making announcements as shows are moved.

Everyone has been covering this story, so here are some links:

GoFundMe: Save The Irenic & Youth Homeless Shelter

Statement from Councilman Chris Ward

MissionGathering Response To Councilman Chris Ward's Statement

City Pulls Plug on Irenic - SoundDiego / NBC

Youth shelter, music venue shut down by City of San Diego (Video) - CBS8

Community rallies around North Park Church that shelters homeless youth - 10News

Church fights to keep its music venue and homeless shelter open - Fox 5 San Diego

Keep The Irenic Open - Change.org Petition

Wonderfront Adds Bands & Releases Lineup By Day

I worked through the night, and then when I was finally ready to go to bed, of course what I'd been waiting for finally came through and I'm glad I check my email one last time before getting some sleep. Today, Wonderfront added the final artists to the lineup as well as publishing the breakout of bands by day.

The new acts are: Guitar Legends 3 (featuring an all-star band of surprise guests) | Migos | J.I.D. | Jhay Cortez | Khea | Wild Belle | Gioli & Assia | Grandma | Jesse Baez | Banda Tierra Brava | Los Crecidos | Seis en Linea | Cydeways | Glades |  Brewfish |

Wonderfront Festival will take place November 22-24, 2019 at various locations along and around the waterfront area. Tickets and details are available here.

For your information, full press release after the jump.

Things To Do In San Diego: Tuesday, August 27-Tuesday, September 3, 2019

We thought Nova went through her first week of school unscathed, and then today it all kinda fell apart with a full on meltdown and I almost cried for her because, as we can all attest, middle school SUCKS. So for those of you whose kids had your first day today, all I can say is good luck. Last week I caught Generationals and Pure Bathing Culture at the Casbah and Snail Mail and Choir Boy at Music Box, hung out with the sea lions on Thursday, watched the SDSU women's game, watched Darren's soccer game, hung out with my parents, swam at Fiesta Island, binge watched some TV, dropped by Habitat House for their farewell party with Joel P West performing, and spent the scorcher of Sunday at the Safari Park. This week I'm looking forward to Bryan Ferry, The Bird and the Bee, and Throwing Muses among others. I've been promising more updates but have been having some tech issues, so hopefully I can fix that soon and get back in my groove. In the meantime, listings are through Tuesday to get you through Labor Day weekend. After the jump.

KAABOO Prices Jump Tomorrow

Tickets for KAABOO go up on Tuesday. All three days and all levels of VIP sold out last year. If you're interested in going, the best time to buy is now.

Things To Do In San Diego: Tuesday, August 20-Monday, August 26, 2019

Nova starts 7th grade today, so we spent the last week absorbing all the life out of summer that we possibly could, which meant some swimming with Ficus at Fiesta Island Dog Park/Beach, getting in some Zoo and Balboa Park time, and an awesome multi-modal Saturday where we took bikes/bus/trolley to Harborfest and Sunday doing a fun ride from Normal Heights through Balboa, down to check out the new 6th Avenue bike lanes, around the harbor, and back home on the Rapid, which is a funny story that I tweeted about here, and Monday was all work save for me taking Nova to soccer and running up to La Jolla to visit my sea lion pals. I also had some nighttime fun and got to see Devotchka on Wednesday, Orville Peck on Thursday, and Kyle Kinane on Sunday. This week we'll dive back into the ritual of middle school but hopefully get to see some shows like Generationals, Snail Mail, and a couple others on the radar. Full listings through Monday are after the jump.