San Diego CityBeat • Aug 21, 2019

2 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · AUGUST 21, 2019

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UP FRONT | FROM THE EDITOR

Chipping away

I

f I’m to believe those who know what they’re talking about, it’s not a matter of if the Supreme Court will take up a case that restricts or even bans certain kinds of abortions, it’s a matter of when. And if we’re to believe most of those experts, the deciding vote will likely come down to Chief Justice John Roberts, who has broken with his fellow conservatives on a few important cases. But if Trump is reelected and Democrats don’t win back the Senate, it’s almost guaranteed the President will have the opportunity to fill one or more vacancy on the court.

And if that happens, well, let’s just keep it real: Abortion will again be illegal in most parts of this country.

Republicans have been playing the longgame when it comes to chipping away at women’s reproductive rights.

Sure, it’s a stance that is repugnant on many levels, but it’s also a movement that is highly disciplined when it comes to scoring small victories. These actions have resulted in bigger scores lately, such as the recent “heartbeat” bans in states such as Missouri and Louisiana. The former recently joined Kentucky, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota and West Virginia as a state with only one clinic that performs abortions.

Think about that for a second. A state with two major cities (Kansas City and St. Louis) only has one abortion clinic and even that one is hanging by a thread.

Living in a major city in bright-blue California can sometimes feel like a bubble, so much so that when news of these antichoice victories hit us, it feels almost foreign. Our anger is righteous and we’ll do what we can to show solidarity with the millions of affected women, but there’s always that underlying feeling of “I live in California.

This will never affect me.”

I’ve heard it from my own friends on the patio of bars and at dinner parties. We grasp at straws as if there will be work-arounds and quick-fixes. We think we’re safe but one need only to read accounts of pre-Roe abortion access to understand just how many women will die or be forced to resort to dras-

tic measures in order to terminate an unexpected or unwanted pregnancy.

And then came the sadly underreported boom this week when Planned Parenthood announced that it was withdrawing from a federal family planning program (Title X), forgoing $60 million dollars a year in federal funds. This decision was made after the Trump administration imposed a gag rule that would prevent organizations such as Planned Parenthood from referring patients to abortion providers. After that rule was upheld in the 9th U.S. Court of Appeals, Planned Parenthood either had the choice of withdrawing from the program or being kicked off.

Keep in mind that these funds weren’t being used to perform abortions, but rather for low-income women seeking things such as STI testing, family planning services and checkups for breast and cervical cancer. The pro-life movement celebrated yes another victory, oblivious to the fact that they just endangered the lives of thousands, if not millions of women.

Make no mistake: This absolutely does affect California women. This is no longer a battle that is being waged in some far-off state. The Sacramento Bee warned this might happen back almost a year ago, just as the Brett Kavanaugh hearings were heating up.

“Planned Parenthood made an extremely important, and exceptionally hard, decision today when it decided to withdraw from Title X and forego millions in accompanying federal funding,” California Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins said in a statement. “In doing so, Planned Parenthood is choosing to stand beside their patients and the right to access information about physicians who could perform abortions—that was the right decision.”

Yes, it was the right decision, but it is also yet another example of anti-choicers playing the long game while the rest of us think we’ll be just fine.

—Seth Combs

Write to seth.combs@sdcitybeat.com

This issue of CityBeat is double-fisting White Claw.

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AUGUST 21, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 3

UP FRONT | LETTERS We got plenty of comments and mail about “Claim jumper,” the Aug. 14 Spin Cycle column about Carl DeMaio’s decision to run for congress in the 50th District.

CARPETBAGGER CARL

We have plenty of good candidates in the 50th District who actually LIVE in the 50th District. The candidates who live in the 50th include several who have REAL experience running city governments in the 50th district. We don’t need a carpetbagger candidate coming in to “represent” the 50th. Why isn’t Demaio running in his OWN district if he wants to be a Congressman?

I’m sick of the 50th District being represented by idiots who only care about themselves. I will not vote for anyone to represent the 50th District who doesn’t already live here, and who doesn’t understand the very real needs and concerns of our district.

Enough with fake representatives! We deserve better than a carpetbagger.

Carol L. via sdcitybeat.com

JUST GIVE IT UP

Why? He can’t give it up. Enough is enough, move on to something else!

Rosa Grant via sdcitybeat.com

4 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · AUGUST 21, 2019

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CARL THE CONMAN

Cat lover eh? And East County is full of conservatives who frown up on gay cat lovers. Why doesn’t he go back to the Midwest where he is from and run there? Why pollute the political scene here in San Diego County? We have had enough of the Duncan Hunters (father and son) corrupt as hell and we certainly do not want some has been outsider vying for a political seat. Hope the people of 50th District see right through this conman. He is not welcomed here.

J.P.

via sdcitybeat.com

AND ONE CARL FAN

Jesus christ citybeat [sic]!... what a rag you still continue to be. Nice bias... at least Carl has the ability to inform his listeners as to what Sacramento politics is up to. His watchdog reporting and exposing the nefarious ways of unions, politicians and legislators has paid incredible dividends in waking up the sleeping, apathetic voters of San Diego. Your journalistic contribution to the discussion is pathetic. Sarcasm, negativity and outright biased opinion is duely [sic] noted.

Michael Horvath via Facebook

UP FRONT From the Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Letters to the Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . .4

WE WANT FEEDBACK Did you read a story in San Diego CityBeat that made your blood boil, or caused you to laugh so hard you pulled a stomach muscle? If something inspires you to send us your two cents we welcome all letters that respond to news stories, opinion pieces or reviews that have run in these pages. We don’t accept unsolicited op-ed letters.

Email letters to editor Seth Combs at seth.combs@sdcitybeat.com, or mail to 3047 University Ave., Suite 202, San Diego, CA 92104. For letters to be considered for publication, you must include your first and last name and the part of town where you reside. Note: All comments left on stories at sdcitybeat. com will also be considered for publication.

News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 A Side-Eye of Sanity . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Sordid Tales. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

FOOD & DRINK World Fare. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Final Draught. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

THINGS TO DO The Short List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Calendar of Events. . . . . . . . . . . 11-12

ARTS & CULTURE Theater. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Feature: Latinx Festival . . . . . . . . 14 Film . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15-16

MUSIC Feature: Mal Blum. . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Notes From The Smoking Patio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 The Spotlight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 If I Were U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Concerts & Clubs. . . . . . . . . . . 20-22

IN THE BACK Astrologically Unsound. . . . . . . . 21 CannaBitch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

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SETH COMBS

UP FRONT | NEWS

Rebel with a cause Sharon Larios channels her past into an inspiring run for San Diego City Council

By Seth Combs

M

“

y father didn’t tell me he loved me until I was 18-years-old.”

This would be a jarring confession coming from any person, much less a political candidate.

But for Sharon Larios, who is running for San Diego City Council in District 7, this type of candor comes easy. Still, she isn’t mentioning this as a means to garner sympathy, but to make it clear that her story has a happy ending. Yes, it’s a story that is filled with parental abuse and poverty, but it’s also one where she channeled the hardships of her formative years into a career of fighting for her community.

“When I talk to kids now, the sad part is that all the stuff I went through as a kid, it still goes on in a lot of these households,” says Larios at a coffee shop just up the street from the Linda Vista neighborhood she grew up in. Her daughter, Sa’Niah, sits next to her.

“Politically speaking, I’ve channeled a lot of that rebelliousness

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into these political spaces in order to be disruptive. We have a lot of politicians who like to be passiveaggressive, agreeing and being neutral, and not really voicing their opinion or demanding the changes we truly need.”

The last 20 years have been game-changers when it comes to politics and the 29-year-old Larios, a first-generation Mexican-American, could be seen as representative of this new era of political authenticity. Whether it’s the elections of once longshot candidates such as Barack Obama or Donald Trump, or the unexpected victories of Tea Party Republicans and progressives like Alexandria OcasioCortez, it’s hard to remember an era where being blatantly outspoken was just as important as political experience.

“I don’t feel like being straightforward is mean,” Larios says. “It’s what we need right now. So I hope that when people do hear us at our forums, they’ll think, ‘finally, someone is saying what needed to

be said.’ I am a fighter for the people and the community, and on city council, that’s what I’ll continue to do.”

The council seats that are up for grabs in 2020 could serve as a field test for progressive candidates like Larios. District 7, in particular, is particularly interesting. Not only has it leaned right in past elections (it’s currently represented

by Councilmember Scott Sherman, one of the few outspoken Republicans on the council), but it is also a district that is extremely diverse, both in terms of ethnicity and socio-economics. That is, the issues that are most important and pressing in neighborhoods such as Mission Valley and Linda Vista are probably not the same as those in Del Cerro and Lake Murray.

And while Larios is well known in places like Linda Vista, she sees her outspokenness as something that will be appealing to voters in District 7. For her, the common thread that unites the entire district is that everyone wants to feel safe in their respective neighborhoods. She says even more conservative voters find themselves agreeing with her when she explains to them how increased funding to youth programs and rehabilitative surfaces help combat poverty and income inequality.

This leads to safer neighborhoods,

Sharon Larios and daughter Sa’niah less homelessness and even things like police retention.

When asked what she would tell those who would say that she’s too young, too progressive and too inexperienced to be a city councilmember, Larios keeps it real.

“Whatever they’re saying, they need to know that I told myself that too,” she says, laughing. “But then I looked at the reasons again and thought that’s exactly why I should run. Our constituents don’t have Harvard degrees and the money and the law background, so why should the person who does have those things be looked at as being more qualified than I am?”

Larios herself has seen firsthand what happens when those who are “more qualified” don’t fight for communities. She ran away from home and moved to New York City when she was 16. When she came back to Linda Vista four years later, she became increasingly involved in trying to help her neighborhood avoid the same pitfalls she witnessed growing up. She worked as a drug counselor, and then with the Teamsters union. She also became a mother and co-founded Turnaround Youth Foundation, an outreach nonprofit that supports advocacy services for juvenile gang members. She currently works as a Human Service Specialist at the County of San Diego Health and Human Services.

Larios sees her run for city council as the next step in her journey to help make a difference for her neighborhood. As the first Latinx woman candidate and the first Linda Vistan to run for the council seat, she realizes she might be a longshot, but for her, it’s just as much about shining a spotlight on the issues of her community.

“Whatever happens, we’re making history,” says Larios, who will celebrate her 30th birthday around the time of the March primary.

“Whatever happens will happen, but at least our neighborhood can say, ‘Hey, somebody tried so maybe I can too.’ We’ve never had that… We need to see ourselves in these spaces. Kids can say, ‘Dang, she came from where I came from. She struggled the same way I struggled.’”

Sharon Larios on…

Homelessness: “I’ve worked in the field and still do every single day. I work with out most vulnerable members of the community. The first thing I would do is try to repeal the vehicle habitation ordinance. I do not feel city council does a good job in understanding that we cannot criminalize the poor. When you criminalize people for not being able to have a home, living in their cars—criminalizing them for just trying to survive—we’re just increasing our rate of recidivism. By criminalizing it, that person will have a record, so they won’t be able to get a job or housing, and it just creates more obstacles and barriers.”

Affordable housing: “Saying that affordable housing is a solution to all our issues is a lie, because the people who do need affordable housing don’t make enough money to afford that affordable housing. Rent control is something I would definitely introduce as a city councilmemember. It’s something we’re fighting for right now in Linda Vista with the tenant’s union.”

Transportation: “We can do a better job working with MTS to connecting the entire community. There’s no bus that connects the entire district. I feel like it’s better with the emphasis on building new housing projects near public transit, but we need more buses and they need to come more frequently. We also need special bus lanes on the freeway.”

AUGUST 21, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 5

UP FRONT | VOICES

RHONDA “RO” MOORE

A SIDE-EYE OF

SANITY

Freedom from religious discrimination

I

n this current socio-political climate, it’s become increasingly difficult to have certain conversations without them devolving into arguments. Some folks are still out here acting like their feelings and/or personal belief systems are more important than objective facts.

I’m even more convinced of this after falling down the rabbit hole of a Facebook back-and-forth recently.

Or, perhaps, I’m simply too fond of declarative sentences when it comes to modern discussions.

It started out simple enough. A college friend shared an article about a man suing his former employer. My friend was displeased at how the article covered the issue and that such a lawsuit had been filed at all. The lawsuit revolved around a North Carolina man suing the Sheriff’s Department for religious discrimination. He claimed the department refused to accommodate his desire to invoke the Billy Graham rule while at work.

For those not steeped in the tenants of evangelical Christianity, in the 1940s an evangelical pastor named Billy Graham began preaching that men should not be alone with women who are not their wives.

This would help these men, Graham argued, avoid temptation and the appearance of unfaithfulness.

He laid down guidelines that other evangelical leaders adopted and incorporated in their own evangelizing. The sentiment may be recognizable as that espoused by Vice President Mike Pence. The practice itself was also recently back in the news when a Mississippi state representative refused to permit a female journalist to shadow him.

So on this Facebook thread, one person chimed in to applaud the man’s choices. I argued that it isn’t discrimination for an employer to expect the employee to carry out the duties required by the job. What is discrimination, however, is the employee refusing to perform their duties if a woman is present.

This person then went off about how men must be careful around women because all it takes is one accusation to ruin a life. They then spent a significant amount of energy glorifying the Billy Graham rule. It seemed, for them, the rule was the good thing because it “protected” marriage. I countered that any man who needs the Billy Graham rule in place shouldn’t hold a position of public trust. For me, what mattered was the fact this person wanted to shirk their responsibilities and legally be allowed to shun people of another gender at work. Forcing an employer to accommodate a religious edict that calls for gender discrimination in the workplace should always raise all kinds of red flags.

So, I asked this person how exactly it was acceptable to use the law to enshrine a Christian principle as an acceptable workplace practice? I mean, this isn’t related to the free expression of one’s religion like needing time to pray as a part of a daily routine. We’re not talking about finding a way for a practitioner to incorporate a form of religious dress into their work uniform. This

rule in the workplace presupposes that an employee can refuse to carry out essential job duties if it means they would have to interact with someone of another gender. How exactly does an employer accommodate that without it negatively impacting other employees?

In this case, the former-Sherriff’s Department officer refused to be the training officer for a woman.

That means he denied her the necessary training she would need to be safe and competently perform her job. What’s next? He refuses to assist a non-male member of the public?

The person on the Facebook thread didn’t care about any of this. They only cared that the complainant’s belief was sincerely held. It didn’t matter that they were essentially arguing that they were OK with the officer being able to pick and choose when to uphold their oath to serve and protect.

Let me be clear: This isn’t about politics; it’s about using the law like a bully pulpit. I believe people should be free to practice whatever religion they please. Despite what some news channels’ propaganda wants you to believe, religion in the United States is not under attack. Practicing one’s religion, particularly if it’s not a form of Christianity, doesn’t automatically make someone the enemy of freedom or democracy. I don’t care if people want to say “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas.” I think it should be the practitioner’s personal choice how openly they commit to their faith in daily life. If someone’s religion calls for conservative dress or a head covering that’s between that person and their god.

I draw the line, however, at permitting the Free Exercise clause to suffocate the Establishment Clause.

It’s not religious discrimination to separate personal beliefs from permissible workplace behavior. This country is not, and was never intended to be, a theocracy.

By the end of this discussion, I understood why certain “Christian ideals” are once again the driving force behind many proposed laws, as well as guiding modern interpretation of laws that are already on the books. The founding tenants of the United States have been completely perverted.

With immigration and gun control dominating the news cycles, we citizens are, once again, watching our leadership demonstrate a decided disregard for issues that we say matter but don’t align with those leaders’ personal beliefs. We all need to be honest about what exactly these beliefs are really advocating before we’re living under them as laws. How we, as citizens, discuss religion and the law may just be the real barrier to peaceful coexistence. The basic social contract of leaving space for everyone else to live as they fit is being broken daily.

So let’s get on that because I have no interest in living in the Republic of Gilead.

Forcing an employer to accommodate a religious edict that calls for gender discrimination in the workplace should always raise all kinds of red flags.

6 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · AUGUST 21, 2019

A Side-Eye of Sanity appears every other week.

Follow Ro Moore on Twitter at @BookBlerd.

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UP FRONT | OPINION

EDWIN DECKER

SORDID

TALES

Thoughts on thoughts and prayers

T

wo mass shootings within 24 hours? Three within a week? And 17 in 2019 (depending on how it’s defined)? What in the actual fuck?

As is predictable in the aftermath of mass shootings, many rush to social media, as well as other forms of communication, to send “thoughts and prayers” to the victims and their families. Also predictable is the backlash against people who say that. For example, in response to the Parkland, Florida school attack, Chicago Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg tweeted, “I too am sending out thoughts and prayers: thoughts that Congress is a bunch of cowards, and prayers that we’ll finally throw the bums out of office.”

There was also actor John Cusack who tweeted that using the words themselves were “an insult & degradation to the dead.” Author John Pavlovitz—a Christian pastor—remarked that thoughts and prayers “may as well be bullets in the next mass shooting.” And political strategist Maya Rupert lamented that saying those words were “an act of cruelty.”

Long time readers of Sordid Tales know that I believe in prayer about much as Imagine Dragons believe in originality. So it may come as a surprise to know I do not have a problem with the thoughts and prayers sentiment (TTAPS).

The oft stated reason TTAPS offends people is because it is used in lieu of action. However, that’s not necessarily true. When it comes to non-politicians who say it, we aren’t always privy to the steps they may be taking to improve the situation. For all we know, they might be donating money to victim’s funds or volunteering their time. Maybe they are giving blood and/or voting on legislation specific to the problem.

The point being, sending thoughts and prayers and being proactive are not mutually exclusive. People can do both.

And even if they aren’t doing anything, so what?

I mean, is John Cusack? Maya Rupert? Are we doing anything? I know I’m not. Not everybody can do something about everything and sometimes sending well wishes is all there is.

I also don’t have a problem with Republican politicians who send thoughts and prayers while opposing stricter gun laws. Make no mistake, I am in favor of tougher legislation, but I do not share the belief that those who aren’t in favor of it are soulless bottom feeders who don’t care about victims. For the most part, these folks simply believe that stricter regulations aren’t the answer. And sure, bloviate against that opinion till the cows get tipped, but don’t assume they’re indifferent. Don’t assume that sending thoughts and prayers is anything other than a genuine concern for the victims.

The vitriol is also occasionally aimed at Congressional Democrats. Pavlovitz all but called them inef-

fective bums who have no business sending platitudes.

However, in a representative democracy, legislators can’t simply snap their fingers and resolve problems.

We have an intentionally adversarial, two-party system in which one side often opposes the proposals of the other. Slow moving legislation is an unintended consequence of a system that venerates checks and balances and it’s not the fault of the lawmakers who work within it. Simply put, it’s not an easy fix. And the fact that little has been accomplished does not necessarily mean no one is trying.

Some people hate TTAPS because it’s a prefab response instead of an original and heartfelt display of solace. Perhaps this is true, but even the queen of etiquette herself, advice columnist Miss Manners, recommends sending thoughts and prayers because expressions of sympathy “are most apt to be disastrous when they are original.” I agree.

People tend to get nervous and falter when consoling the bereaved.

It’s like saying, “On the bright side, you’ll have more closet space,” to someone whose husband was hit by a bus.

By my utterly unscientific analysis, there are two types of people when it comes to thoughts and prayers. There are the people who mean “prayer” in the literal sense.

They believe a formal appeal to Yahweh might prompt him to take action. Then there are those who mean it figuratively, as a secular gesture of good will. In either case, what’s the problem? At worst, intercessory prayer does nothing and hurts no one. At best, it might actually work. Well, I don’t think it will but they might think Yahweh will suddenly intervene. And let’s not forget that there are likely many victims who are religious and might take great comfort in knowing that people are praying for them.

Looking at it from that angle, TTAPS is doing something. Especially if the person praying is, say, a Satanist. They put a lot of work into those prayer rituals! They have to decorate the basement with pentagrams, send an Evite to their fellow coven members and even find a goat to sacrifice, which is really difficult in the suburbs.

Kidding aside, I think it’s sad that we live in a culture that is so ravenous for outrage that we have to fabricate things to be outraged about. Isn’t there plenty of real stuff to stew over? At a time when this country is so brutally divided, shouldn’t we at least stick to the divisions that matter? Shouldn’t we stop excoriating people for expressing something as altruistic and benign as thoughts and prayers? I don’t give one holy hand grenade what anyone thinks—I’m sending mine right now, sans prayers.

Don’t assume that sending thoughts and prayers is anything other than a genuine concern for the victims.

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Sordid Tales appears every other week.

Write to edwin@sdcitybeat.com.

AUGUST 21, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 7

UP FRONT | FOOD & DRINK

BY MICHAEL A. GARDINER

THE WORLD

FARE We buy, they fry

F

rom the fish and chips of the UK (and former colonies such as South Africa and Australia) to Japanese Satsuma-age, fried fish is eaten on every continent in the world. The spiritual home of American fried fish is the Friday fish fries in Church basements, schools or even homes across the South and Midwest. Imperial Fish Market (894 South Euclid Ave.) in Lincoln Park is as close as local diners can get to that tradition.

It was the sign behind Imperial’s counter that explained what it’s about: “YOU BUY – WE FRY.” This wasn’t Long John Silver’s and no one here was frying up frozen-then-prefried fish. Yes, they freshly fry the stuff in the deli-like display counter that features the day’s available seafood: catfish, red snapper, sand dabs, salmon, basa, tilapia, oysters, scallops, shrimp, lobster and a lot more.

As if the remarkable selection of Louisiana-style hot sauces, spice blends and batter mixes didn’t give it away, Imperial Fish Market is distinctly Cajun in style. Some of the hot sauces are the usual suspects like Tabasco and Crystal, while others, such as Trappeys Bull, Slap Ya Mama and Red Rooster, are less familiar.

Imperial’s batter is cornmeal-based. It’s absolutely nothing like Japanese tempura, Mexican fish tacos or British fish and chips.

It’s somewhat heavy and even a bit gritty, but this helps make it crisp and all the better to stand up to the hot sauces (or, for those averse to heat, tartar sauce). Imperial offers, at least in theory, two flavor profiles for their batter: mild and spicy, but I’d say the spicy is pretty mild in itself.

One of the best choices at Imperial is the fish and oyster combo, which comes with a choice of fish, a couple fried oysters and a slew of French fries. The fries themselves are less-than-extraordinary, but they’re more than saved by Imperial’s wonderful spicy ketchup. It’s not nuclear but you definitely know it didn’t come out of a Heinz bottle. There are also shrimp baskets, scallop baskets and more to choose from.

8 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · AUGUST 21, 2019

The most classic of Imperial’s fish selections is the catfish, and for good reason; it’s sweet and mild with a moist texture inside and not a lick of the muddiness often associated with freshwater fish.

The red snapper is much the same but with a firmer texture and a slightly fresher flavor.

The most delicious of the fish I tried was the sand dabs. The flesh was sweet, rich and buttery, and yet delicate. The biggest problem was the row of tiny bones running down the center. Carefully pull one fillet off the top of the fish, eat it, then discard the bones and mow down the other side.

While the scallops sounded tempting, the frying actually detracted from their sweetness. The oysters, on the other hand, were glorious. Frying actuMICHAEL A. GARDINER

Fried sand dabs and oysters ally enhanced the buttery texture inside and beautifully framed the briny flavor. The oysters were probably my favorite item at Imperial.

While it may be fast-food chains like Long John Silver’s that brought fried fish to much of the U.S., that has little to do with why the stuff is popular worldwide. What is fried fish actually about? Pretty much exactly what’s on offer at Imperial Fish Market.

The World Fare appears weekly.

Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com.

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UP FRONT | FOOD & DRINK

BY BETH DEMMON

FINAL DRAUGHT Little Miss can’t do wrong

W

hen it opened in 2016, Little Miss Brewing (littlemissbrewing.com) wasn’t exactly at the forefront of the local brewery explosion. But they weren’t too late to the party, either. In the three years that followed, a number of breweries have come and gone while Little Miss has steadily increased its countywide takeover, one satellite location at a time.

A tasting room in Normal Heights followed the original Miramar tasting room and production facility. And while the dream of a spot in Ocean Beach wasn’t meant to be, a Little Miss East Village location opened earlier this year and now its La Mesa and Escondido outposts should be open by the time this goes to print.

“I feel like, of the East County cities, La Mesa is going to be a hub,” Greg Malkin tells me over beers at the very nearly complete space at 5208 Jackson Drive. Malkin owns Little Miss with his wife Jade. “There’s a limited number of breweries in La Mesa, and a lot of people like beer here.”

La Mesa is currently home to only three breweries (Bolt Brewery, Fourpenny House and Helix Brewing Company, respectively), so when Little Miss brewmaster and La Mesa resident Guillermo Lopez suggested the city for its next expansion, it made geographic sense.

“We’ll be successful here,” says Malkin confidently.

Escondido is also home to only three breweries, but has actively courted beer-centric businesses with promises of inexpensive real estate and a relatively untapped clientele of local beer drinkers. Malkin explains that although they weren’t purposefully looking for a North County location, when the spot at the corner of Kalmia Street and Grand Avenue was brought to their attention, he says it was “too tempting to pass up.”

Little Miss still only brews out of their 10-barrel location in Miramar, but Malkin says they’ll hit their brewing capacity once the two new tasting rooms

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are up and running. With that in mind, he anticipates having to upgrade to a 30-barrel system in the next year. But he’s not discounting even more tasting rooms in the near future—possibly in Eastlake or somewhere in the South Bay. For now, he says they’re focused on continuing a smart and safe, albeit aggressive, growth.

Even the savviest expansion plans can go awry if the beer isn’t up to snuff. This being the land of BETH DEMMON

Little Miss Brewing IPAs, I was a little surprised to see only four of the 16 taps at the La Mesa location were IPAs. (Other styles included a porter, cream ale, American strong ale, a few kettle sours and two wild sour ales.) Malkin estimates that 40 percent of their sales are hopforward beers, with the remainder coming from the malt-heavy and sour programs.

We tried a few before he poured me a taster of the Cherry Almond Blitzkrieg, a kettle sour that he described as inspired by Amaretto sour cocktails.

While it sounded to me like a strange combination, it was surprisingly great—nice and crisp, not too tart, with almost a light cinnamon-like finish and lots of fruit personality. Just another big idea from Little Miss, I guess.

Write to bethd@sdcitybeat.com or check her out on Instagram at @thedelightedbite.

AUGUST 21, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 9

10 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · AUGUST 21, 2019

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EVENTS

SHORTlist

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

COORDINATED BY

SETH COMBS

LOGAN HEIGHTS

THERE FOR ONE ANOTHER

a result, her and Poellnitz were able to get dozens of artists to donate works for auction. The first auction, The San Diego visual arts community is which was held last week in Oceanside, sold nearly spread out geographically, but remains all the donated works. This trend will hopefully cona tight-knit community. When something befalls tinue on Thursday, Aug. 22 when more pieces of one, it’s not uncommon to see the rest of the com- art will be up for auction from 7 to 9 p.m. at Bread & munity step up to help.

Salt (1955 Julian Ave.). Dozens of notable artists will This is evident in an event like Artists for Artists, have work for sale, and all proceeds benefit the health a benefit and silent auction that will raise funds for costs of artists Hugo Crosthwaite and Andrew Alcalocal artists and members of the sid, the daughter of Cris Scorza COURTESY OF THE ARTIST arts community who are dealing (MCASD’s education curator), with varying forms of cancer. the family of North County artist Organized by Lissa Corona and Sarah Spinks and arts adminisDinah Poellnitz, the benefit was, trator Anjanette Maraya-Ramey. according to Corona, a pro-ac“Having the opportunity to tive way to help all of these artcontribute to the well-being of ists at once rather than relying our community members with on others to find the respective our work—using our talents and crowd-funding pages. commitment to our practices “I was cruising around on to uplift others—is a beautiful “Be the First in Line to Watch reminder of the power we have Facebook, feeling helpless as the End of the World” as artists,” says Corona. “It was I scrolled through updates on

by Sheena Rae Dowling really incredible to see how imfriends dealing with cancer, so I had the idea to make a massive group chat call- mediate and enthusiastically artists responded to ing on S.D. and Baja artists to unite and use what the call. We have the capacity to impact one anothwe have to contribute to our art family’s current er’s lives in remarkable ways when we come together struggle,” says Corona. and move forward with love and generosity.”

Corona says the response was tremendous and, as More info can be found on Facebook.

DOWNTOWN

DOWNTOWN

TAKE A BIKE

IN THE SPIRIT

With all the recent hullabaloo over bike lanes, it’s nice to have an event like Bike the Bay to remind us what it would be like if San Diego was truly a bike-friendly city. The annual ride on Sunday, Aug. 25 is a great way to show solidarity while also getting to cycle through some areas, such as the Coronado Bridge, that most riders don’t normally get to comfortably access. It starts at Embarcadero Marina Park South (200 Marina Park Way) at 7 a.m. before heading to the Coronado Bridge and continuing south along the bay to Imperial Beach before doing a U-turn and up through Chula Vista and National City.

The 33-mile ride wraps up at the Embarcadero with a festival that goes until 12:30 p.m. Registration ranges from $65 to $70 at bikethebay.net and funds benefit the San Diego Bike Coalition.

COURTESY OF SAN DIEGO BIKE COALITION

If San Diego hadn’t already been crowned America’s booziest city, the fact that we also have the San Diego Spirits Festival would surely confirm that distinction. Festival organizers promise marketing and networking opportunities for mixologists and industry professionals, but for consumers, the festival is essentially a giant two-day party at Port Pavilion on Broadway Pier (1000 North Harbor Drive). While the premier attraction is the unlimited cocktail tastings, the entertainment lineup includes snake charmers, ’80s-inspired bands like Groove Kitty and two burlesque troupes, to name but a few. Attendees can watch a battle of the bartenders and sample the wares, and a silent auction on both days benefits the Museum of the American Cocktail. It happens from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday, August 24 and 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, August 25. Tickets run from $20 to $120 at sandiegospiritsfestival.com.

COURTESY OF SAN DIEGO SPIRITS FESTIVAL

ART

FILM

HArtists for Artists: A Benefit at Bread and Salt, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights. A benefit and silent auction featuring dozens of local artists to raise funds for local artists and members of the arts community who are dealing with varying forms of cancer.

From 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22. Free. facebook.com/events/2364488550544239

San Diego International Kids’ Film Festival at various locations, Carlsbad and Oceanside. Screenings of over 150 films from over 30 counties made by and for children and family alongside events with speakers, celebrity guests and more.

Various times. Friday, Aug. 23 through Sunday, Aug. 22. $10-$999. 310-5318040, sdkidsfilms.org

Faculty + One at City Gallery, San Diego City College, 1508 C St., AH 314, East Village. A new exhibition of works from City College faculty such as Jim E. Brown, Terri Hughes, Michelle Montjoy and more. Opening from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22.

Free. sdcity.edu/community/arts-culture Katie Carrion at Little Dame Shop, 2942 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. The solo popup show includes miniature gauche paintings, watercolors and printed fabrics. From 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22. Free. facebook.com/events/1342561662580085 HA Portrait of People in Motion at the New Americans Museum, 2825 Dewey Road, Liberty Station, Point Loma. Artistin-Residence Kerianne Quick unveils a multimedia exhibition that illustrates migration journeys through objects. Opening from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23. Free. newamericansmuseum.org Hostel Takeover Art Show at HI San Diego Downtown Hostel, 521 Market St., Gaslamp. Over 30 local and international artists contribute work in a variety of mediums to this seasonal art show. Opening from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23. Free. hiusa.org HLa Vuelta Photography and Art Show at La Bodega Gallery, 2196 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. La Bodega Gallery curates an exhibition of painting and photography to coincide with the La Vuelta Summer Festival. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24. Free. labodegagallery.com HBlack Life: Images of Resistance and Resilience in Southern California at San Diego Museum of Art, Fleming Sr. Gallery, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park. An exhibition of photos from Black photographers Harry Adams, Charles Williams and Guy Crowder, who covered the African American community in Southern California. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24 through Sunday, Dec. 1. Free-$15. sdmart.org HRising Arts Fest at Bread and Salt, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights. Artists Julia Fernandez, Trevor Amery, Zoya Sardashti, and more workshop their art, answer questions and open their studios to visitors in this one-day art festival. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 25. Free. facebook.com/events/374437383273440 HOptimus Volts: We Are the Dreamers Of Dreams at Sparks Gallery, 530 Sixth Ave., Downtown. Solo art show featuring new sculptural works inspired by the artist’s childhood experiences, interests and objects. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 25. Free. 619-696-1416, sparksgallery.com

BOOKS HTéa Obreht at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The bestselling author of The Tiger’s Wife will sign and discuss her new novel, Inland. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22. Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com San Diego Festival of Books at Liberty Station, 2641 Truxtun Road, Point Loma. The mostly free annual festival will feature author appearances, as well as tons of merchants and activities for all the bibliophiles. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24. Free-$27. sandiegouniontribune.com/festival-of-books HT. Greenwood at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. The local author will sign and discuss her new novel, Keeping Lucy. At 7:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 26. Free. 858-454-0347, warwicks.com

Bike the Bay @SDCITYBEAT

San Diego Spirits Festival

H = CityBeat picks

Singin’ in the Rain at Embarcadero Marina Park South, 206 Marina Park Way, Downtown. A screening of the classic Gene Kelly musical with live accompaniment from the San Diego Symphony. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23. $24-$93. 619686-6200, sandiegosymphony.com

FOOD & DRINK HSan Diego Spirits Festival at Port Pavilion on Broadway Pier, 1000 North Harbor Drive, Downtown. The annual showcase for San Diego’s talented cocktail and culinary community features tastings, demos, product showcases, burlesque shows and more. See website for full details and schedule. From 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24 and 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 25. $77-$85. sandiegospiritsfestival.com HFestival of Dankness at San Diego Waterfront Park, 1600 Pacific Hwy., Downtown.

Modern Times’ fifth annual festival beer festival features a highly curated selection of limited edition beers, as well as food trucks and live performances. From 3 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24. $55. moderntimesbeer.com

MUSIC HMiles Ahead: Miles Davis +19 at Embarcadero Marina Park South, 206 Marina Park Way, Downtown. The nineteenpiece KSDS Jazz Orchestra, led by Gilbert Castellanos, will perform and play tribute to Miles Davis’ classic album, Miles Ahead: Miles Davis +19. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22. $20-$71. 619-686-6200, sandiegosymphony.com Yonatan Leviim at La Jolla Community Center, 6811 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla. The world-class virtuoso violinist and leading chamber musician will perform in a solo violin recital featuring masterpieces by composers such as Bach, Telemann and Paganini. From 5 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24. $25. 858-459-0831, ljcommunitycenter.org

OUTDOORS HBike the Bay at Embarcadero Marina Park South, 206 Marina Park Way, Downtown. A 33-mile community bike ride around the San Diego Bay. Enjoy the only opportunity to ride over the Coronado Bay Bridge. A post-ride festival will be held at Embarcadero Marina Park. Benefits the San Diego County Bike Coalition. At 7 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 25. $65-$70. 619-686-6200, bikethebay.net

PERFORMANCE HWeekend Revue: Broadway Backwards at First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego, 4190 Front St., Hillcrest. Looking Glass Theatre’s annual dinner-and-show fundraiser where performers will sing Broadway favorites like Cabaret, Grease and Wicked traditionally performed by another gender. At 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23 and Saturday, Aug. 24, and 4 p.m.

Sunday, Aug 25. $10 suggested donation. 619-306-4369, lookingglasssd.org

POETRY & SPOKEN WORD HPalabra at La Bodega Gallery, 2196 Logan Ave, Logan Heights. The evening of poetry will include readings from Emily Lu Gao

EVENTS CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

AUGUST 21, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 11

EVENTS EVENTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 (AKA Emdash) and hosted by Ted Washington. From 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 8. Free. 619-255-7036, labodegagallery.com HSo Say We All’s North County Storytelling Showcase at Brothers’ Provision, 16451 Bernardo Center Drive, Rancho Bernardo. The writing group’s inaugural storytelling night where true stories are told from the mouths of the people who lived them. Readers include Dallas McLaughlin, Jordan Coburn, J. Carroll and more. From 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23. $5 suggested donation. sosayweallonline.com

SPECIAL EVENTS Seaport Sessions Maritime Museum at Seaport Village, 849 W. Harbor Drive, Downtown. Ray Ashley of the Maritime Museum of San Diego will give a talk about innovation, arts and culture, history and the sea followed by music from Jake Najor & The Moment of Truth. From 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22. Free. seaportvillage.com HBarks & Brews Festival at Embarcadero Marina Park North, 400 Kettner Blvd., Downtown. Raise money for a non-profit dog rescue organization while sampling craft beer from dozens of breweries, snacking on locals eats, browsing through boutique vendors and more. From noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24. Free. barksandbrewfest.com HLa Vuelta Summer Festival at 2200 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan. The lowrider cruise night series closes with a celebration of the neighborhood’s culture and heritage with a classic car show, art exhibits, ballet folklórico performances, Aztec dancers and more.

From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24.

Free. loganavenueconsortium.com

Walk for Sobriety at NTC Park, 2455 Cushing Road, Liberty Station. Walkers, runners and supporters of families and individuals affected by addition will raise money for McAlister Institute, an organization helping adults and teens to overcome addiction. From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 25. $5-$45. walkforsobriety.com HBe About It at Arts Park at Chollas Creek, 5010 Market St., Lincoln Park. Local poet and artist Gill Sotu hosts a showcase of local change-making community groups alongside food and entertainment inspired by the work of the organizations. From 3 to 6 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 25. Free. jacobscenter.org HCentennial Suffrage Rally and Parade at Spreckels Organ Pavilion, 2125 Pan American Road E., Balboa Park. The Women’s Museum of California hosts this parade, preceded by lectures on the history of voting rights and performances by suffragette impersonators. From 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27. Free. womensmuseumca.org

TALKS & DISCUSSIONS HPostSecret Live with Frank Warren at Casa del Prado, 1650 El Prado, Balboa Park. . PostSecret founder Frank Warren speaks about the massive community art project, which invites strangers to send postcards containing their deepest secrets to an online archive. From 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23. $15-$20. museumofman.org HLabor History: A History of Rent Strikes at SEIU Local 221, 4004 Kearny Mesa Road, Kearny Mesa. Representatives from the San Diego Tenants Union will be present for a discussion of the history of rent strikes. From 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 27. Free. seiu221.org/events-2

12 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · AUGUST 21, 2019

BOOKS: THE FLOATING LIBRARY Southern discomfort

T

here’s a poignant passage near the middle of Chris L. Terry’s new novel, Black Card, in which the unnamed protagonist reflects on cultural memory in his hometown in the South.

“There are only first impressions in Richmond.”

The narrator notes how people in the capital of Virginia refer to stores and restaurants by the names of previous establishments that have long gone out of business.

That tendency to hold onto the past stagnates personal growth and makes it hard to reinvent oneself.

“If the city is full of flags supporting an army that lost over a century ago, it’s not gonna forget who you were last year.”

In other words, that phase someone went through in high school wasn’t a phase—it’s who they are and, to some extent, who they’ll always be.

This is particularly troubling for our hero: A 20-something young man with a Black father and a white mother, struggling to figure out who he is.

His situation is confounded by his passion for punk rock. He plays in the local band Paper Fire and not only are most of his peers in the scene white, but they see him as one of them.

Black Card poses the question: What does one do when we’re caught between two cultures? In this case,

the answer is to invent someone who understands.

The protagonist has an ongoing dialogue with an imaginary friend named Lucius, who ultimately serves as something of an alter ego. Lucius is unambiguously Black and engages in stereotypically Black behavior.

Only by acting and thinking more like Lucius can the narrator earn his Black card. Hijinks ensue.

Not surprisingly, the more the narrator embraces his Blackness, the more likely he is to experience racism. In Richmond, it’s part of the air he breathes.

“Racism here is often fancier than the Dixie flag bumper stickers you see next to race car logos on pick-up trucks. Lee is one of four statues of famous Confederates on Monument Avenue. It’s the ritziest street in the Fan, with a wide, grassy median, beautiful new town houses, and a new monument to a famous slaver every few blocks.”

Terry’s wry sense of humor and caustic wit is reminiscent of Joe Meno’s Hairstyles of the Damned and Todd Taylor’s Shirley Wins. Black Card is a powerful reflection on race and identity that packs a punk rock punch.

—Jim Ruland

The Floating Library appears every other week.

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THEATER JIM COX

Tragic love times two

T

he Old Globe Theatre’s new production of Romeo and Juliet is a youthful and sometimes outrageous take on the immortal love story. Its stage is a giant sandbox, complete with shovel, pail and items buried beneath the surface. Most of the actors perform in their bare feet.

Romeo (Aaron Clifton Moten) and Juliet (Louisa Jacobson) are giddily overcome with love, as teenagers will be. In fact, the whole first act is a romp, which Shakespeare purists might find disagreeable. At the masked party, Juliet belts out “Copacabana” like a disco diva. Later, Mercutio (Ben Chase) channels Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones’ “Beast of Burden.”

Throughout all of this, Juliet’s nurse (Candy Buckley) quickly becomes something resembling a sitcom character.

Director Barry Edelstein, who imagi������ neered this playfulness, charts a more traditional course in the play’s deadly and heartrending second act. Still, a fierce portrayal of Friar Laurence by Jesse J. Perez departs from by-the-numbers stagings of R&J. In integral and revealing junctures, Mark Bennett’s original music and the accompaniments of pianist Justin Gray provide a brooding and beautiful atmosphere.

This version of Shakespeare’s classic caps off the Globe’s Summer Shakespeare Festival, and not every bold stroke in this pro-

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delivers as Tony with vocals that are tender and deep-seated. Courtney Arango brings all the passion required of Anita, the supporting but equally important female role.

The fight scenes are fierce, the dancing is exuberant and the aura of it all is ominous and foredoomed, just as West Side Story’s streets of New York should be.

West Side Story runs through Aug. 31 at the Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista. $17$57; moonlightstage.com

—David L. Coddon

Theater reviews run weekly.

Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

OPENING:

Romeo and Juliet duction succeeds. Then again, live theater is for the bold.

Romeo and Juliet runs through Sept. 15 in the Old Globe’s Lowell Davies Festival Theatre in Balboa Park. $30 and up; theoldglobe.org ••• est Side Story is the greatest of all takes on Romeo and Juliet. Up in Vista, Moonlight Stage Productions’ revival, directed by Steven Glau-

W

dini, is an uncompromising adaptation that does not avoid any of the legendary musical’s darkness. Moonlight’s production is a polished yet frank take on a show that stands proudly on the shoulders of its creative giants: Leonard Bernstein (music), Stephen Sondheim (lyrics) and Jerome Robbins (the original director and choreographer).

Paired with 18-year-old Bella Gil (as lovestruck Maria), Michael James Byrne

Dance Nation: A dance team of adolescent girls prepare for a competition while also navigating the doubt and optimism that comes with pre-pubescence. Written by Clare Barron, it opens Aug. 23 at the MOXIE Theare in Rolando. moxietheatre.com And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little: Three sisters, each with their own set of personal problems, come together over dinner in hopes of reconnecting. Written by Paul Sindel, it opens Aug. 23 at Lamplighters Community Theatre in La Mesa. lamplighterslamesa.com

For complete theater listings, visit sdcitybeat.com

AUGUST 21, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 13

COURTESY OF SAN DIEGO REPERTORY THEATRE

CULTURE | THEATER

Latinx New Play Festival he mission of San Diego Repertory Theatre’s Latinx New Play Festival never been more important: to connect with and understand each other, not only as a diverse community but as human beings.

The free, three-day festival opens on Friday, Aug. 30, and runs through Sunday, Sept. 1 at the Lyceum Space, San Diego Rep’s Horton Plaza venue. It is hosted by Amigos del REP, an advocacy council committed to extending the presence of Latinx stories on the two stages of the downtown theater.

“The festival is one of the tools with which we work against or combat misunderstandings,” says Patrice Amon, executive producer of Amigos del REP. “We present a diversity of human experience on our stages; tell stories of the many different ways there are to be Latinx in the U.S. in the hopes that we can connect with people on a basic human level.”

“Each of the plays thematically addresses this idea of connection and wanting to strive to understand,” continues Amon. “There’s nothing in the plays about shootings or gun violence, but there is something in the festival about seeing people as humans and seeing the value in a person.”

The festival����������������������������������������� recently received funding from organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts and the National New Play Network, and has grown exponentially in its three years of existence. Amon said around 60 new plays were submitted for consideration in year one and then doubled in year two.

“This year we sort of leveled out at 90,” she adds. The full-length plays are read onstage in front of an audience, with attendees encouraged to offer feedback to the playwrights, who are present in the theater.

“Theater begins and ends with the voice and words of the playwright,” Amon says. “This is an opportunity for audiences to meet the playwrights and have conversations with them to see and hear about the work from the writers themselves.”

The festival also serves as something of an incubator for plays that may end up being full Rep (sdrep.org) productions. A reading of at least one play from each of the two previous festivals has led to a fully mounted staging. Tony

14 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · AUGUST 21, 2019

Menses’ Guadalupe in the Guest Room from 2017 was staged last fall by New Vi����������������������������������������� llage Arts Theatre in Carlsbad , and Herbert Siguenza’s Bad Hombres/Good Wives, a reading from the 2018 festival, will be produced by the San Diego Rep and opens in October.

Amon calls this year’s plays “a nice array of perspectives and voices. We have a couple of people from the East Coast, someone from the center of the States, someone from Texas.”

“Sometimes a playwright has not heard the words of their characters until their rehearsals. We want to give them the opportunity to hear them, to make changes, to really hone

Eliana Pipes and David Davila in on what the play is doing and on its messages. They get to hear when the emotional through-line is making sense.”

Notecards are passed out to audience members after each reading on which they may share their responses to the new works.

Among the playwrights this year is Eliana Pipes, whose Dream House tells the story of two Latinx sisters trying to sell their family home ��������������������������� while struggling with questions of gentrification and identity.

“The play comes from two impulses,” says Pipes, a graduate student at Boston University�������������������� who grew up in Culver City, California. “The first is my own hometown story of gentrification. The second is that as I moved into the professional world of theater and encountered the strange nature of the market for plays by artists of color. I started to feel as if I was being asked to sell my culture for money. This play has been a space to wrestle with that: the intersection of culture and capitalism. Can ethnic identity be bought and sold? And what is there really to sell?”

Pipes is excited to be part of the Latinx New Play Festival.

“I think that this is a time when it’s really important for artists of color, particularly Latinx, to be heard.”

David Davila’s Aztec Pirates & the Insignificance of Life on Mars is, in his words, “about Johnny Montenegro, an ICE agent who is tasked with deporting a man who he has previously already deported. When he comes face to face with this man, the man tells him he’s a traitor to his race, and that causes him to go on a downward spiral odyssey.”

While Davila calls the play “one man grappling with his guilt and his identity,” he points out its broader issue: “Moving people from their land is a form of genocide. We have to ask ourselves in the United States, ‘is there a gray area, is there a fine line?’ This play is the very tip of that question.”

Davila, who is from southern Texas originally and now resides in New York City, says the play was actually informed largely by a DNA test that revealed that he was not only of Spanish but of Native American ancestry.

“We’re a race of people created by colonization,” he says, “but we’re both the conqueror and the conquered.”

Other plays scheduled for readings include Jordan Ramirez’s To Saints and Stars, Alexis Scheer’s Laughs in Spanish and the spotlight show, 57 Chevy by Cris Franco����� . According to Patrice Amon, the stage is the ideal medium for exploring questions such as these and involving audiences on a profound level.

“Theater has this incredible ability to be grounded in realism and yet layered with theatricality and magic,” she says. “It isn’t bound to realism in the way that film or television is. We ask our audiences to use their imagination. We can be more playful. We can be more surreal.”

@SDCITYBEAT

CULTURE | FILM COURTESY OF PAOLO ZUÑIGA

Lacustre

On the horizon San Diego filmmaker Paolo Zuñiga patiently observes an ongoing eco-crisis in Mexico

by Glenn Heath Jr.

N

owadays, people spend more time looking “I became really interested in field work research. down at their phones or laptops than they do A lot of the times I would interview people while gazing out at the world. We’ve lost our collec- they were working, in the middle of their day. It was tive patience for any experience that takes longer than almost like a gathering process.” Every moment of a few seconds to load. It might come as a shock to any- Lacustre reflects this perspective, and the calming one born after 2000, but this wasn’t always the case. imagery gives viewers a real chance to settle in with Paolo Zuñiga vividly remembers such a time. Dur- the landscape, as if they were sitting beside the filming an interview with CityBeat, the Mexican-American maker. filmmaker describes the many long summers he spent But these images wouldn’t carry as much weight on his uncle’s ranch in Jalisco, Mexico. without the personal reflections from Zungia’s many “It’s just open landscapes down there,” says Zuñi- faceless subjects. Turns out there are pragmatic motiga. “You’re basically forced to observe your surround- vations behind this stylistic approach as well. ings. We’d ride horses and milk cows, and that made “I like the idea of not really knowing who’s speakan impression. You see the landscape for what it is ing,” Zuñiga says. “But it’s also part of the realities I and lose all sense of time.” face being a one-man band. Wandering the landscape These seminal experiences inform all of Zuñiga’s and I come across these people. I don’t want to intershort films, some of which he made while completing rupt their day composing a shot.” his MFA in Visual Arts at UC San Diego. Each film has a The filmmaker also understands how he could be uniquely calming vibe, using wideperceived as an imposing force. angle landscapes and voiceover “A lot of people don’t want to be narrations to create a lyrically on camera, and to assume that it is hazy connection between personal OK to film them is an issue in itself.

LACUSTRE memory and natural spaces.

I didn’t want to present any exotic Directed by Paolo Zuñiga With Lacustre, a 42-minute elements of Mexico. Just recording Not Rated observational documentary set audio opens up the conversation to premiere as the closing night and releases tension. People are film of the 2019 San Diego Undermore open.” ground Film Festival, Zuñiga expands this motif in Lacustre, which screens Sunday, Aug. 25, is most even more ambitious ways. certainty a film at ease, but only tonally. Underneath With long takes that sometimes last minutes, the the surface there’s a level of probing anxiety reacting film captures peaceful lakeside vistas surrounding against feelings of helplessness; against transition, Jalisco’s Laguna de Zapotlán, an area deeply impacted corruption and the unstoppable destructive forces of by the effects of climate change and local economics. mankind.

Unseen subjects describe how industrial farming has That same sense of restless curiosity can be found led to extreme runoff and flooding. Abnormally large in the films of those artists Zuñiga references as inswaths of water hyacinth plants cover half the surface fluences, a veritable list of cinematic watchers that area of the lake, negatively impacting what was once a includes James Benning, Chantal Akerman, Lucrecia thriving local fishing industry.

Martel and Abbas Kiarstami.

Instead of coming at the material from a convenBut Zuniga’s films are most assuredly his own and tionally activist angle, Zuñiga allows the images and sometimes unclassifiable. Most modern avant-garde voices to speak for themselves. films are categorized as such for their frenetic style, “I didn’t want to present a specific point of view, but Lacustre feels experimental for the exact opposite but the circumstances themselves,” Zuñiga says. “I’m reason. Its visual patience reminds us that so much is really interested in the politics of land and water. How lost when there’s no time to look and listen. one represents land and landscape through film.”

When asked about his methods, Zuniga sounds Film reviews run weekly. more like an anthropologist than a filmmaker.

Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com

@SDCITYBEAT

AUGUST 21, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 15

CULTURE | FILM COURTESY OF DISTRIB FILMS

Rojo

Fascists in training

B

enjamín Naishtat’s effectively droll Rojo takes place in Argentina during the months leading up to the 1976 coup that ousted then president Isabel Martínez de Perón. The cracks of a once strong democracy are beginning to look more like fissures as leftists and union leaders are seemingly disappearing into thin air. Young men are feeling empowered to act on their sexual and violence aggression. Fascist states aren’t just born over night.

Dignified people like Claudio (Darío Grandinetti) and his wife Susana (Andrea Frigerio) are too consumed with their own petty crimes and misdemeanors to care about the social nightmare that’s coming. The impending ideological shift to the right merely represents another transition they will have to be pragmatic about. Wealth affords people the luxury to adapt like cockroaches.

In the film’s brilliantly tense opening sequence inside a bustling restaurant, Claudio gets into a heated confrontation with another customer. The mustached patron insults Claudio, a tightly wound small-town lawyer, by asking him to give up his table (Susana’s running late). This prompts something of a self-righteous diatribe that says plenty about Claudio’s indignation for the lower classes.

As with any crumbling societal dynamic, escalating tempers and fragile male egos lead to acts of violence, the ripples of which are felt throughout Rojo’s meandering non-narrative. Naishtat flirts with the idea of turning his film into a noir (the great Chilean actor Alfredo Castro shows up as a brilliant celebrity sleuth), but even genre conventions are numb to the collective wave of apathy crashing through the Argentine provinces.

Naishtat’s more subtle critique of bourgeois indifference doesn’t carry the same formal gut punch when compared to the grotesque subversive revelries of Chilean compatriot Pablo Larraín. Rojo is

16 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · AUGUST 21, 2019

more concerned with how everyday middle class people delude themselves into thinking they won’t be touched by the hand of dictatorship due to their class status. On second thought, this should probably be required viewing for America’s moderate Republicans.

—Glenn Heath Jr.

OPENING After the Wedding: Based on a Danish film, this drama centers on the enigmatic relationship between the owner (Michelle Williams) of an orphanage and the wealthy benefactor (Julianne Moore) she needs to provide funding. Opens Friday, Aug. 23, at Landmark Ken Cinemas and Angelika Film Centers Carmel Mountain.

Angel Has Fallen: Gerard Butler returns to the role of indestructible Secret Service agent Mike Banning, who must fight to clear his name after the President is nearly assassinated. Opens Friday, Aug. 23, in wide release.

Love, Antosha: A tender and loving documentary portrait of actor Anton Yelchin, who was killed in a tragic accident at the age of 27. Opens Friday, Aug. 23, at Landmark’s Ken Cinema.

Overcomer: In this Christian-themed sports movie, a high school basketball coach is forced to change sports amid an economic downturn in his hometown. Opens on Friday, Aug. 23, in wide release.

Ready or Not: This horror satire takes place inside a massive mansion where a new bride tries to survive a deadly game set up by her murderous in-laws. Opens Wednesday, Aug. 21, in wide release.

Rojo: Set in the immediate months befor Argentina’s 1976 military coup, this drama follows a morally corrupt lawyer who refuses to notice the country’s subtle shifts toward fascism. Opens Friday, Aug. 23, at Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

San Diego Underground Film Festival: Promoting a counter-narrative to mainstream cinema, this four-day event presents the latest in experimental film and video. Screenings happen Thursday, Aug. 22 through Sunday, Aug. 25 at the Tenth Avenue Arts Center in Downtown.

For complete movie listings, visit Film at sdcitybeat.com.

@SDCITYBEAT

EM DUBIN

MUSIC

On Pity Boy, the singer/songwriter fights oppression from inside and out.

By Jamie Gadette Mal Blum al Blum was late to rock ‘n’ roll.

Blum only recently discovered Bruce Springsteen and Pavement, the latter of which seems like a natural influence for an American indie musician born in the late ’80s. But Blum grew up listening to folk and blues played on New York’s WFUV. They tuned in every morning on the way to school with their dad, a Bush supporter who was at nearconstant odds with his gay teenager. But for 20 lovely minutes, Monday through Friday, they held an unspoken ceasefire to bond over Keb’ Mo’ and Patty Griffin. The station

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was a source of comfort and calm in a volatile period of Blum’s life.

Stephen Malkmus came later. And even later, Silver Jews, who Blum heard on tour for the first time just a few years ago. Blum says they immediately found a kindred spirit in frontman David Berman.

“I related to him as a songwriter, a poet and a Jew,” Blum says from a hotel room in Ohio. Both of us are silent for a minute, remembering the beautiful soul who took his life last week despite seeming like he’d conquered his past demons.

“On some level you hope that by the time you’re in your 50s, you’ll be at peace,”

Blum says. “But then you realize that healing isn’t linear and you’ll always have ups and downs.”

On the new Pity Boy, Blum explores the cyclical nature of destructive thoughts and habits over 12 tracks that range from gentle, discordant ballads (“Salt Flats” has traces of Pavement and Silver Jews) to infectious poppunk anthems, each one elevated by Blum’s solid wordplay. From refusing to enter into another dysfunctional relationship to acknowledging the limits of resolve, Blum’s lyrics expose their biggest fears and doubts without wallowing in despair. They describe struggles unique to their experience as a non-binary individual and in way that makes the pain and joy and contradictions relatable to anyone with a sensitive heart and inquisitive mind.

“If the last album [You Look a Lot Like Me] was about mental health in terms of feeling sad and isolated, this album is more about patterns of behavior that repeat in your life and whether they’re serving you or not,” says Blum. “It’s about trying to connect with other people—and hitting up against your own shortcomings.”

For Blum, this means establishing boundaries without pushing people away, and overcoming what they call the “shroud of self-deprecation and deflection” that can distort their perception of their unique talents. An example of this are the guitar parts that Blum would have scrapped if not for bandmate Audrey Zee Whitesides, who correctly spotted them as being central to some of the song on Pity Boy. Somehow, fortunately, Blum’s insecurities never stopped them from putting themselves out there. Chalk it up to brazen youth or just innate fortitude, but when it comes to forging a career, the artist has always had incredible nerve. In high school, they called up clubs and sent hundreds of cold emails to booking agents for a chance to play beyond the coffee shop circuit. They drove to Maryland at the request of 40 kids on MySpace who wanted them to play in a park. And not once did they think any of it was a fool’s errand.

“You need that false hubris of youth,” Blum says. “The things I did back then I would never do now.”

But that might be the self-deprecation talking. Blum is by all accounts still focused and brave.

They’ve paid their dues, in spite of ignorant and sometimes bigoted promoters and labels that still seem clueless about trans representation.

Blum continually speaks out against imbalances in the music industry even when it seems to be progressing.

“Bandcamp did a cool thing [in 2017]—a day when they donated all proceeds on website to the Transgender Law Center. Then a lot of labels and artists [200] joined and donated as well, which was great,” Blum says. “But I was like, also, take a look at your booking roster and your festival lineup and label roster—take a look at everything you’re doing every day and see if there are trans people in it and, if not, hire some! If you do have trans people, then make sure they are being compensated.”

Blum can’t say for certain that transphobia has held them back from achieving more success, but the signs are hard to ignore.

“There were times when I thought, ‘Well, maybe we just suck. But people are coming to our shows and they’re buying our stuff.

So, there’s a disconnect in how we’re reaching the consumers and not reaching the industry,” Blum says. “We tend to think of certain sub-groups like punk and indie-rock as being more progressive, but while bands led by marginalized people are starting to get more coverage, most of the people who run things are still the old guard.”

In one of Pity Boy’s song’s Blum sings, “It’s not my job to make you well,” but it is still going to take people like Blum to help push doors open for other trans artists while also juggling nearly every creative and business aspect of their band. Fortunately, Blum says “it’s a good time for people who are doing stuff for themselves.”

“In the ’90s, musicians made a lot more money but now we have a lot more agency.

And the reason to play music is to connect with your audience; to feel seen and to make other people feel seen. That’s my guiding principle.”

AUGUST 21, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 17

BY RYAN BRADFORD

MUSIC

NOTES FROM THE SMOKING PATIO

THE

SPOTLIGHT AKIRA SHABATA

LOCALS ONLY

J

eff Walls wasn’t a local musician, but the guitarist of bands such as Guadalcanal Diary and The Woggles left an indelible mark on the San Diego scene. Folks such as Richard Whig of Thee Allyrgic Reaction and members of The Schizophonics all became close to Walls over the years. When Walls became sick in 2018 with what was diagnosed as a rare form of pulmonary hypertension, musicians from all over the country began to step up, throwing benefit shows to help raise money for his medical costs.

The man behind many of these benefit shows, Woggles member Manfred Jones, found that organizing a San Diego benefit show came pretty easy, with locals such as Thee Allyrgic Reaction and El Vez all agreeing to play. Unfortunately, Walls passed away in late May after waiting for a double lung transplant.

“There definitely wasn’t wasn’t any hesitation from anybody

when we said, ‘Hey let’s do a benefit,’” says Jones over the phone from his home in L.A. “And then, later, we had to approach it as ‘let’s turn this into a memorial show.’”

JOHN BOYDSTON Yes, the “See My Friends: A Fundraiser for Jeff Walls” show is happening on Saturday, Aug. 24 at The Casbah, but it will now serve as a benefit for Walls’ family to help cover the costs of his medical bills. Jones says that Walls spent about 60 days at ICUs in various hospitals in Atlanta and around the Southeast, and that his family is still facing, as Jones puts it, “ some pretty hard medical expenses.”

Bands performing at the “See My Jeff Walls Friends” benefit include The Magnificent, The Loons, El Vez (performing with The Motherfuckers) and Thee Allyrgic Reaction. Tickets are $15 at casbahmusic.com.

SINGLED OUT

vocals from Rose McGowan and was reimagined as an affirming response to the #MeToo movement. It’s dark, lovely and something any Nick Cave or Psychedelic Furs fan could appreciate. glassmodern.bandcamp.com

A semi-regular feature where we listen to some new songs from notable local bands and report back.

Angels & Airwaves, “Rebel Girl” I can only speculate that the reason this band was resurrected is because frontman Tom DeLonge’s needs more money to fund his various UFO conspiracy projects. To be fair, this new single song starts out pretty great, with a synthy beat and guitar chords straight out of an old-school Killers song. Then DeLonge starts to sing and O-M-G… how the mighty have fallen. It’s so farcical that I actually examined the YouTube link to make sure it wasn’t a fake song from an A&A cover band. angelsandairwaves.com

—Seth Combs

Doc Hammer, “Vamparty Diaries” For anyone who misses the days when Nick Oliveri would shred his vocal chords over a Queens of the Stone Age track, I would highly recommend this band. Walking the line between stonermetal and hardcore, Doc Hammer aren’t exactly reinventing the wheel here, but they are good at what they do. dochammerband.bandcamp.com HIRIE, “Message in a Bottle” I was always under the impression that HIRIE was a feel-good reggae band, but it now seems more like a indecisive personal project for frontwoman Trish Jetton. The latest single from the recently released LP, Dreamer, is supposed to be some sort of statement on addiction and dependency, but instead manages to sound like some insubstantial pop song with no real message at all. hiriemusic.com

Dani Bell & the Tarantist, “Other Side” Nope, not a Red Hot Chili Peppers cover, but rather a psych-pop original that sees Bell moving in a “Vacation” by more fatalistic direction, both in sound and lyriNowhereland cal content. Those lyrics are a little pedestrian, but the chorus might be Bell’s catchiest yet. It may not serve as a breakout hit, but it will get stuck in listeners’ heads af- Nowhereland, “Vacation” I didn’t particularly like this band’s first EP when I reviewed it ter a few spins. theredwoodsmusic.com/dani-bell-the-tarantist back in 2018, but the Oceanside trio has tightened up a bit since David J, “The Auteur (Redux / The Starlet’s Cut)” then as evidenced on this three-minute blast of garage-rock It’s still hard to get my head around the fact that the bassist that manages to sound both playful and foreboding. Good stuff. for Bauhaus and co-founder of Love and Rockets lives in North nowherelandusa.bandcamp.com County. This remake of a previously released song features guest

—Seth Combs

18 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · AUGUST 21, 2019

Shonen Knife

I

don’t believe in astrology. No shade to anyone who does—I just don’t like the idea that powers beyond me determine my personality and my actions. Plus, I’m a Libra, which—as I understand it—is basically the human equivalent of a golden retriever: annoyingly happy, dislikes conflict, likes harmony and very slobbery. And, yes, while I can begrudgingly admit that those are qualities I possess, it’s just who I am and not at all dictated by the stars (is that a totally Libra thing to say?).

But listening to Shonen Knife is like tapping into my suppressed Libra heart and unleashing all the cosmic positivity into my bloodstream.

Even though the Japanese rock band has been together for nearly 40 years, it’s astonishing how fresh, positive and energized they sound. This year, the prolific Japanese band put out their 21st(!) album, Sweet Candy Power, which stays in line with the raw, strippeddown pop-punk that Shonen Knife has been playing since 1982. It’s rare for a punk band to be around for this long and not show their age, but Sweet Candy Power is so fun and playful (most of the songs are about candy!) that it sounds like a debut.

Shonen Knife was also a favorite of curmudgeon Kurt Cobain, who asked them to open for Nirvana during their European tour.

Any band that could make Kurt smile must be onto something. That counts as Libra energy, right?

Shonen Knife play Saturday, Aug. 24 at Soda Bar.

@SDCITYBEAT

MUSIC

IF I WERE U

MATADOR RECORDS

BY CITYBEAT STAFF

Our picks for the week’s top shows

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 21

PLAN A: Snail Mail, Choir Boy @ Music Box. Was there any better indie-rock single in 2018 than Lindsey Jordan’s “Pristine”? In fact, the artist known as Snail Mail’s debut album, Lush, was filled with so many startling gems that we’re hoping to hear some new songs on this night. PLAN B: Jack Symes, Swimming in Circles, Gregory Ackerman @ Soda Bar. L.A. singer/songwriter Jack Symes has that old-school Devendra Banhart-kinda vibe, but with a much more focused, pop-friendly sensibility. It’s good for mindlessly grooving, but somehow still sounds tight. BACKUP PLAN: Nexus 4000, Montalban Quintet @ Whistle Stop Bar.

THURSDAY, AUG. 22

PLAN A: Kacey Musgraves, Poolside @ Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre.

Country superstar Kacey Musgraves can win all the Grammys and get popular with the Walmart crowd, but she still has mad indie cred with us. Last year’s Golden Hour was fantastic from beginning to end and, like the Dixie Chicks before her, she’s unafraid to use

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her celebrity status to stand up for progressive causes. PLAN B: Little Jesus, The Delirians @ Music Box. Music fans should not sleep on Mexico City’s Little Jesus. They’re new album, Disco de Oro, is filled with so much new-wave pop gold they should have named it El Dorado. BACKUP PLAN: Jake Najor & the Moment of Truth, The Heavy Guilt @ The Holding Company.

somewhere between indie-rock and country.

BACKUP PLAN: Beach Goons, Junkie @ Soda Bar.

FRIDAY, AUG. 23

SATURDAY, AUG. 24

PLAN A: Panther Modern, Newboy, Lower Tar @ Whistle Stop. We’ve always been big fans of L.A. darkwave duo Sextile, so we’re happy to report that Panther Modern, the new solo project from Sextile’s Brady Keehn, is just as foreboding. His new EP, Los Angeles 2020, is filled with moody, synthbased melodies and striking beats that are straight out of a Blade Runner disco. PLAN B: Molly Burch, Jackie Cohen @ Soda Bar. Readers who need a good cry should check out Burch’s new single, “Only One.” In fact, check out her entire discography. It’s filled with stark and mournful ballads that tread

man Phil Beaumont’s smooth baritone.

Plus, this is a happy hour show, so it leaves plenty of time to catch… PLAN A, Part 2: Ian Olney, ROSE @ Soda Bar. There’s not much info about L.A.-based producer and singer Ian Olney on the web, but that only adds to his mystery. One thing we do know: His smooth R&B jams manage to sound both vintage and contemporary. BACKUP PLAN: Man or Astro-Man?, Human Beat @ The Casbah.

MONDAY, AUG. 26 Snail Mail

PLAN A: The Magnificent, The Loons, El Vez and the Motherfuckers, Thee Allyrgic Reaction @ The Casbah. A local memorial and benefit show for Jeff Walls, the guitarist of Georgia band Guadalcanal Diary. See this week’s Notes from the Smoking Patio for more details. BACKUP PLAN: Shonen Knife, Me Like Bees @ Soda Bar.

SUNDAY, AUG. 25

PLAN A: The Color Forty Nine, Kenseth Thibideau @ Whistle Stop. We do love this local band’s dark balladry and front-

PLAN A: RacketGirl, Laugh Tracks, Blush, Eric Schroeder @ Soda Bar. Chula Vista punks RacketGirl certainly live up to their name with their scuzzy blasts of punk that rarely last over a minute and a half.

BACKUP PLAN: Pink Martini @ Humphrey’s By The Bay.

TUESDAY, AUG. 27

PLAN A: Mal Blum, The Fresh Brunettes, Neutral Shirt @ Soda Bar. Check out Jamie Gadette’s excellent feature on singer/ songwriter Mal Blum, who plays bittersweet folk punctuated with a wicked sense of humor. PLAN B: Bryan Ferry, Femme Schmidt @ Copley Symphony Hall. The man fronted Roxy Music and is responsible for some of the greatest songs of the ’70s.

How could we not want to go to this show?

BACKUP PLAN: Heart, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Elle King @ North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre.

AUGUST 21, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 19

MUSIC

CONCERTS HOT! NEW! FRESH!

Angels & Airwaves (BUT, 8/28), Little Evil (Soda Bar, 9/1), Local Natives (Music Box, 9/3), Pictographs (Casbah, 9/4), End of Summer (Brick by Brick, 9/6), Jordin Sparks (Music Box, 9/7), The Jacks (Casbah, 9/12), Fiesta del Sol Battle of the Bands (BUT, 9/16), Elektric Voodoo (Soda Bar, 9/28), Futuristic (Soda Bar, 10/5), Fleetwood Mac vs Abba (Music Box, 10/5), Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears (Casbah, 10/14), Suzanne Santo (Casbah, 10/20), The Speed of Sound in Seawater (Soda Bar, 10/22), Sean Hayes (Casbah, 10/24), Peelander-Z (Merrow, 10/25), Christian Death (Soda Bar, 11/6), Rhett Miller (Music Box, 11/10), Broncho (Casbah, 11/11), Augustana (Music Box, 11/12), Reagan Youth (Soda Bar, 12/5), Daughters, HEALTH (The Irenic, 12/6), Midge Ure (BUT, 1/16).

ALL SOLD OUT Gondwana (Music Box, 8/28), David Grisman (BUT, 8/29), Queen Nation (BUT, 8/30), Mariachi El Bronx (BUT, 9/7), Jinjer (Brick by Brick, 9/11), Millencolin (Brick by Brick, 9/13), Phora (The Irenic, 9/13), Still Woozy (Music Box, 9/30), The Marshall Tucker Band (BUT, 9/12), Oliver Tree (Observatory, 9/18), Elder Island (Casbah, 9/21), Girl in Red (House Of Blues, 9/27), MXMTOON (HOB, 10/2), Obituary (Brick by Brick, 10/3), Marc Broussard (BUT, 10/5), Jonas Brothers (Pechanga Arena, 10/7), Morcheeba (BUT, 10/13), Tyler Childers (Observatory, 10/15), Caamp (BUT,

10/19), Black Pumas (Soda Bar, 10/25), Two Door Cinema Club (Observatory, 11/8), Built To Spill (Casbah, 11/14), Adam Carolla (BUT, 12/1), Stick Figure (BUT, 12/27-28).

CANCELLED Dick Dale’s Misirlou (BUT, 12/19).

GET YER TICKETS Kacey Musgraves Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre, 8/27), Jason Nash (Observatory, 9/7), Andy Grammer (HOB, 9/2), Carrie Underwood (Pechanga Arena, 9/10), Tony Bennett (San Diego Civic Theatre, 9/14), Chance the Rapper (Pechanga Arena, 9/18), Yungblud (Observatory, 9/19), Cigarettes After Sex (Observatory, 10/5), Lana Del Rey (Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre, 10/11), The Japanese House (Observatory, 10/11), The Who (Viejas Arena, 10/16), Judah & The Lion (Observatory, 10/17), Senses Fail (HOB, 10/19), Hozier (Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre, 10/26), Helmet (BUT, 11/7), The Maine (Observatory, 11/19), Aly & AJ (BUT, 12/8), King Princess (Observatory, 1/28).

AUGUST WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21 Snail Mail at The Irenic. Blackfoot Gypsies at The Casbah. Jack Symes at Soda Bar. Gary Mullen & the Works at Humphrey’s.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22 Kacey Musgraves at Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre. Kenny G. at

20 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · AUGUST 21, 2019

Humphrey’s. Mijares at Balboa Theatre.

Kyle Craft & Showboat Honey at Soda Bar. The Surrealistics at The Casbah.

Alesana at Brick by Brick. Blueface at SOMA.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 23 Metalachi at Belly Up Tavern. The Avett Brothers at San Diego Civic Theatre.

SOJA at Del Mar Fairgrounds. Leoni Torres at House Of Blues. Molly Burch at Soda Bar. Nebula at Brick by Brick.

Beach Goons at The Irenic. Homeshake at Observatory North Park. Emo Nite at The Casbah.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 24 Super Diamond at Belly Up Tavern. Tuxedo at Observatory North Park. Martin Campbell & Al Campbell at Music Box. Shonen Knife at Soda Bar.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 25 Boz Scaggs at Humphrey’s. Man Or Astro-Man? at The Casbah. Ian Olney at Soda Bar.

MONDAY, AUGUST 26 Pink Martini at Humphrey’s. Evan Konrad at The Casbah. RacketGirl at Soda Bar.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 27 Heart at North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28 Protoje at Observatory North Park. Ms Nina at Soda Bar. Free Throw at Ché Café Collective. Hot Flash Heat Wave at The Irenic. Joe Wood at The Casbah.

Angels & Airwaves at Belly Up Tavern.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 29 Dub Trio at House Of Blues. Ryley Walker at Soda Bar. The Bird and the Bee at The Casbah. The Last Ten Seconds of Life at Brick by Brick.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 30 Pathology at Brick by Brick. The Roots at Harrah’s Resort SoCal. Red Not Chili Peppers at Music Box. Throwing Muses at Soda Bar. Sacri Monti at The Casbah.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 31 Vaud and the Villains at Belly Up Tavern.

The Get Up Kids at Observatory North Park. The Fooks at Brick by Brick. The Young Wild at The Casbah. Sitting on Stacy at The Irenic. High Tone Son Of A Bitch at Soda Bar. TRIDENT at Music Box.

SEPTEMBER SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers at Belly Up Tavern. The Steely Damned 2 at Music Box. Booty Bassment at The Casbah. Little Evil at Soda Bar.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 2 Korn at North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre. Andy Grammer at House Of Blues.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 Melvins at The Casbah. Local Natives at Music Box.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 K.Flay at Observatory North Park. Enforcer at Brick by Brick. The Robert Cray Band at Belly Up Tavern. Bleached at The Casbah. T.S.O.L. at Soda Bar. Serial Hawk at SPACE.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 Band of Skulls at Belly Up Tavern. Grateful Shred at Music Box. End of Summer at Brick by Brick.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7 The Blasters at The Casbah. Chris Cresswell at Soda Bar. Kalimba at House Of Blues. Jason Nash at Observatory North Park. Tassels & Tails at Brick

by Brick. Black Pool at House Of Blues.

Jordin Sparks at Music Box.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 Hammerfall at Brick by Brick. Mason Jennings at Belly Up Tavern.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 Steve Grimmett at Brick by Brick.

rCLUBSr

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave., Pacific Beach. Wed: Open Mic. Thu: Devin & the Doo, Ghost Dance, JMMRS. Fri: Little Life Crisis, Erick Tyler & The Vibe, Cherry Road. Sat: Copy Cat Killers, Sonic Moonshine. Tue: Getaway 95, Lucier.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 Tessa Violet at House of Blues. Pictographs at The Casbah.

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 21

@SDCITYBEAT

BY CHRISTIN BAILEY

MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20 Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St., Normal Heights. Wed: ‘#HipHopWeds.’

Thu: ‘Trancension.’ Fri: ‘House Music Fridays.’ Sat: GhostJazz Trio. Sun: ‘Sunday Feels.’ Mon: ‘Organized Grime.’ Tue: ‘Open House.’

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave., Downtown. Thu: Orny Adams. Fri: Orny Adams. Sat: Orny Adams. Tue: Open Mic. The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Road, Spring Valley. Wed: Karaoke. Thu: In Lessons, Grey Whether, Cold 43. Fri: Sideshow.

Sun: Hellhook, Shred Bundy, Outragus Behavior, Final Path. Mon: Trivia. Tue: Karaoke.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St., Downtown.

Fri: Lauren Lane. Sat: Born Dirty.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St., North Park. Wed: The Smokes, DJ Meow Mix. Thu: Mascara Monsters. Fri: DJ Saul Q. Sat: DJ Dunekat, DJ RT. Sun: ‘Rat Sabbath.’ Mon: The Jason Hanna Trio. Tue: The Garners.

Beaumont’s, 5665 La Jolla Blvd., La Jolla. Thu: Dude Cervantes Band. Fri: Dude Cervantes Bad. Sat: Emotional Rescue.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach. Wed: Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore w/ The Guilty One, Taylor Scott Band. Fri: Metalachi, Spice Pistols.

Sat: Super Diamond, Mockery. Sun: ‘Help Homeless Youth: Dance Party & Auction.’

Mon: The White Buffalo, L.A. Edwards.

Tue: The White Buffalo, L.A. Edwards.

Black Cat Bar, 4246 University Ave., City Heights. Fri: Bubu The Prince, Apollo, Smalls Uno, Boxcutta Maxx, Goomson, DJ Kutz.

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Blonde, 1808 W. Washington St., Mission Hills. Wed: ‘Dance Klassique.’ Thu: ‘Deep Tech.’ Fri: ‘We Are Your Friends.’

Sat: ‘Through Being Cool.’ Sun: ‘Pleasure Chest.’ Mon: ‘The Smiths & Morrissey Nite.’ Tue: ‘Techno Tuesdays.’

Boar Cross’n, 390 Grand Ave., Carlsbad.

Fri: ‘Club Musae.’

Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave., Bay Park. Thu: Alesana, Capture, Avoid, Dead Superstar, Shawshank Redeemed. Fri: Nebula, Sasquatch, Desert Suns. Sat: Skinlab, Arrival of Autumn, Salvation in Nothing, Hollow Stage, Humanoid.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd., Midtown. Wed: Blackfoot Gypsies, Jonny Wagon and the Tennessee Sons. Thu: The Surrealistics, Imagery Machine, The Night Howls. Fri: Emo Nite. Sat: The Magnificent, The Loons, El Vez and the Motherfuckers. Sun: Man or Astro-Man? Human Beat. Tue: Howlin Rain, Pacific Range, Drug Hunt.

Che Cafe, 1000 Scholars Drive S, La Jolla. Thu: Fixation, Therapy, L4N P4R7Y, Vile Reality. Fri: All Beat Up, Pure Heel, Reclaim, COD, Madrugado. Sat: Bad Kids, Foxtide, Retra, Leon Canoe, Pvke, The Rinds, Nikola, Adobe House. Sun: Genpop, Puzzlehead, The Passengers, Was. Dizzy’s, Arias Hall, 1717 Morena Blvd.

Sat: The Joshua White Trio.

F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown. Thu: ‘Take Over Thursdays.’ Fri: Dynamiq. Sat: DJ Awall. Sun: ‘Reggae Sundays.’

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave., Downtown. Fri: Bootleg Kev. Sat: ‘Take Flight Saturdays.’

MUSIC CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

ASTROLOGICALLY UNSOUND Weekly forecasts from the so-called universe ARIES (March 21 - April 19): It may feel like trust to finally take the ribbon off from around your neck and let your severed head fall to the floor, but to everyone else it just seems like a prank and not a very good one.

TAURUS (April 20 - May 20): Everyone wants a purpose in life.

Perhaps yours is to serve as a cautionary tale to children about what happens to your teeth when you eat candy every single day.

GEMINI (May 21 - June 20): Talk through your big decisions with all those closest to you: the stranger in an elevator, the greeter at Home Depot and any other person who comes within 50 yards.

CANCER (June 21 - July 22): Never underestimate the seductive and persuasive powers of the 40 million ants that have assembled themselves into the figure of a person.

LEO (July 23 - August 22): There will be no fortuitous moment in the future where the circumstances will be perfect for you to make all the changes you want, so you may as well never do it.

VIRGO (August 23 - September 22): Keep yourself grounded this week by remembering all the microorganisms living inside your body that need you to survive.

LIBRA (September 23 - October 22): Keep your friends close and your enemies closer—so close that they become your friends and your old friends become your enemies. Let’s keep things interesting!

SCORPIO (October 23 - November 21): Sometimes it’s better to just stand there and get stung by a couple bees rather than panicking and agitating the whole hive into chasing you.

SAGITTARIUS (November 22 December 21): So you want to run away and join the circus, but it’s time to face the hard facts that you probably don’t have the necessary qualifications and certifications to ever do that.

CAPRICORN (December 22 January 19): To achieve anything this week, you will need to have the singular, chaotic focus of a seagull who just heard the crinkle of a Lay’s potato chip bag.

AQUARIUS (January 20 - February 18): This week take a lesson from another famous Aquarius, Thomas Edison: If you haven’t succeeded yet, then maybe you just haven’t stolen enough ideas yet.

PISCES (February 19 - March 20): Do not be guided by your ego into purchasing luxury purchases you can’t afford, fistfights you can’t win or (the obvious one) melting your waxwings and plummeting into the ocean.

Astrologically Unsound appears every week. Follow Christin Bailey on Twitter at @hexprax.

AUGUST 21, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 21

MUSIC MUSIC CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33 The Holding Company, 5046 Newport Ave. Wed: The Gold Souls. Thu: The Heavy Guilt, Jake Najor & the Moment of Truth. Fri: Casual Yak, Maiden Name, OREN, DJ Byrd.

Sat: Blink 18True, Punkture, DJ Mancat, Oren. Sun: ‘Psychadelic Sundays.’ Mon: Karaoke. Tue: ‘Reggae Tuesdaze.’

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., Downtown. Wed: Patrick “BlueFrog” Ellis Band.

Thu: Jerry “Hot Rod” DeMink. Fri: Leoni Torres. Sat: Crash Test Dummies. Sun: Crown the Empire, Attila, Veil of Maya, Gideon. Tue: Robin Henkel.

Humphreys Backstage, 2241 Shelter Island Drive, Shelter Island. Wed: Bayou Brothers. Thu: Roni Lee Group. Fri: Detroit Underground. Sat: Full Strength Funk. Sun: Stellita’s Groove. Mon: January Berry Band. Tue: Sue Palmer.

The Irenic, 3090 Polk Ave., North Park.

Fri: Beach Goons, Junkie.

Lestat’s Coffee House, 3343 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Wed: ‘Scintillating Stories.’ Sat: Gregory Page. Sun: Small Talk, Day Trip, Paperback Scrawl. Mon: Open Mic. Tue: Comedy Night.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave., Coronado. Wed: The Sophisticats. Thu: Fish & JG. Fri: The Contingencies. Sat: Miss Demeanor. Sun: Bob Wade. Mon: JG. Tue: Harmony Road.

Martinis Above Fourth, 3940 Fourth Ave., Hillcrest. Wed: Dana Goldberg: Liberal A.F. Thu: Kristine W. in “The Land of the Living.” Fri: Cendrice, The Mojo Sessions. Sat: Judy Carmichael in “I Love Being Here With You.” Sun: Keep It on the DL. Mon: Carol Curtis. Tue: Andy Anderson.

22 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · AUGUST 21, 2019

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave., Hillcrest. Wed: Karaoke. Thu: Gary Wilson, Javier Escovedo, The Fictitious Dishes.

Fri: ‘San Diego Metal Alliance.’ Sat: Mictlantecuhtli. Sun: Karaoke.

Mother’s Saloon, 2228 Bacon St., Ocean Beach. Tue: Trivia.

Mr. Peabody’s, 136 Encinitas Blvd., Encinitas. Sat: The Traumatics. Sun: ‘Tony Ortega Jazz Jam.’ Mon: Open Mic. Tue: Karaoke.

Music Box, 1337 India St., Little Italy.

Wed: Snail Mail, Choir Boy. Thu: Little Jesus, The Delirians. Fri: A Perfect Tool, Up the Irons, Sweet Soul Sister, Aether X. Sat: Wayne Wade & Al Campbell, Roots Covenant. Sun: Paula Fuga, Lady Ri. Tue: Molotov, Tulengua.

The Office, 3936 30th St., North Park.

Wed: ‘Live Band Emo/Pop Punk Karaoke.’

Thu: ‘Dig Deeper.’ Fri: ‘Factory.’ Mon: ‘Motown on Mondays.’ Tue: ‘Night Shift.’

OMNIA Nightclub, 454 Sixth Ave., Downtown. Thu: ‘Undone on Thursday.’ Fri: Bingo Players. Sat: DJ Rukus.

Panama 66, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park.

Wed: ‘The Wednesday Jam Session.’

Thu: Charlie Arbelaez Quartet. Sat: Lorraine Castellanos. Sun: Funk Jam. Parq, 615 Broadway, Downtown. Fri: AWall. Sat: Jhay Cortez, DJ Karma.

Pour House, 1903 S. Coast Highway, Oceanside. Fri: Psychotic Reaction, Space Force, Deathboys. Sat: IYN, Lou Aviator Stash, Inspired & the Sleep, Dgtl Clr. Proud Mary’s, 5550 Kearny Mesa Road, Kearny Mesa. Wed: Fuzzy Rankins. Thu: Tomcat Courtney. Fri: Michele Lundeen.

Sat: Taryn Donath.

The Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave., Hillcrest. Thu: ‘Country Dance.’ Fri: ‘Friends Trivia.’ Sat: ‘Noche Romantica.’

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave., Hillcrest. Wed: ‘Mischief w/ Bianca.’ Thu: ‘#LEZ+House Music.’ Fri: ‘Electro-Pop!’ Sat: ‘Voltage.’ Sun: ‘Discoteka.’

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave., La Mesa. Wed: ‘Boss Jazz.’ Thu: Todd Goodnough. Fri: Rosa’s Cantina.

Sat: The Dan Rabb Project, Israel Maldonado. Tue: ‘The Works Jam.’ Rosie O’Gradys, 3402 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Thu: DJ Dougie. Fri: Josh Rosenblum Band. Sat: Lexington Field.

Mon: ‘Jazz Jam w/ Louis V.’ Tue: ‘Adam’s Gone Funky.’

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Wed: Jack Symes, Swimming in Circles, Gregory Ackerman. Thu: Kyle Craft & Showboat Honey. Fri: Molly Burch, Jackie Cohen. Sat: Shonen Knife, Me Like Bees. Sun: Ian Olney, ROSE. Mon: RacketGirl, Laugh Tracks, Blush, Eric Schroeder. Tue: Mal Blum, The Fresh Brunettes, Neutral Shirt.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., Midway.

Fri: Stick To Your Guns, Counterparts, Terror, Sanction, Year of the Knife.

SPACE, 3519 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights.

Thu: ‘Hip-Hop Collective V.’ Fri: Fabulous Downey Brothers, Riston Diggs. Sat: ‘Transmission.’ Sun: Deathboys, Psychotic Reaction, The Beatjackers.

Spin, 2028 Hancock St., Midtown. Fri: ‘SD Union 9YR Anniversary.’ Sat: Andy Moor.

Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave., Normal Heights. Wed: Paul Gregg. Sun: ‘Bossa Nova Night.’ Tue: Trivia.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd., City Heights. Wed: Subversion. Fri: Morta Skuld, Disciples of Death, Guillatine, Defixion. Sat: The Brain Ghosts, Fair Play, The Heart Beat Trail, Color Til Monday. Sun: ‘Pants Karaoke!’. Mon: ‘Groovin.’

Tin Roof, 401 G St., Downtown. Wed: Lisa De Novo. Thu: Corey Gray & Jake Coco. Fri: ‘Sound the Groove Glow Party.’

Sat: Cassie B. Project. Sun: Karaoke.

Tue: John Hull.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St., Bay Park. Wed: The Jazz Pocket Swing. Thu: Tommy Price & the Stilettos. Fri: Groove Mercenaries. Sat: Lil ‘A’ & the Allnighters, The Fremonts. Sun: ‘Benefit for Mike Chiricuzio’ w/ Chickenbone Slim & the Biscuits, Chris Fast Band, Tony Tomlinson & Mighty Joe Milsap, Mercedes Moore w/ the Cadillac Wreckers. Mon: ‘Sexy Salsa & Sensual Bachata.’ Tue: The Bayou Brothers.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave., City Heights. Wed: Shark Blood, The Slop, Hot Piss, The Rock & Rollies. Thu: Batlords, Them Cuts, Abortz, PunchCard, Midnight Block, Kids n Propane, Stalins of Sound, The Mice, CFA, Santa Ana Knights. Fri: WOLFPACK, The Gay Agenda, Se Vende, Dark Alley Dogs.

U-31, 3112 University Ave., North Park.

Wed: ‘The Hump Wednesday.’ Thu: ‘Boombox Thursdays.’ Fri: DJ KidWonder. Sat: DJ Junior Disco Punk. Sun: ‘Live Reggae.’ Mon: ‘#31 Flavors.’

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St., South Park.

Wed: Nexus, Montalban Quintet. Fri: Pather Modern, Newboy, Lower Tar. Sat: ‘Booty Bassment.’ Sun: The Color FortyNine, Kenseth Thubideua. Tue: ‘Sketch Party.’

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St., Ocean Beach. Wed: ‘Club Kingston.’ Thu: Stephen Lewis & The Big Band of Fun. Fri: Of Good Nature, Skyler Lutes. Sat: The Routine, Euphoria Brass Band. Sun: Karaoke. Mon: Electric Waste Band. Tue: El Caribefunk, Matt Jennings.

@SDCITYBEAT

BY JACKIE BRYANT

IN THE BACK

CANNABITCH T-breaks and breakups

I

am currently going through a breakup and my relationship with my ex was heavily saturated in cannabis usage. While that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, I did leave our relationship mired in a fog in more ways than one. So I decided it was time to take a break from both men and weed.

Those of us who heavily use any kind of substance are likely familiar with the concept of a “tolerance break.” As the name suggests, it’s a more formal way of describing the practice of abstaining from a substance for a particular length of time. The goal is to lower one’s tolerance to the intoxicating or psychoactive substance (in this case, THC) so that it’s therapeutic and/or enjoyable again.

Tolerance breaks are particularly trendy in the cannabis community (where it’s sometimes referred to as a “t-break”). After all, cannabis users are prone to daily use, compared with other intoxicating substances, since most users can maintain a level of functionality while high on THC. Daily use makes it easy to quickly build up tolerance and after a few weeks of heavy use, a joint can serve as more of a holdover until the next one rather than something we’re consuming to unwind.

Switching methods—like moving from smoking flower to dabbing—provides a temporary fix, but even that dissipates quickly. Sometimes the only move is to quit altogether, even if it’s just for a few days. Scientific evidence supports this. Studies have found that cannabinoid receptors

@SDCITYBEAT

begin to downregulate THC as usage increases and higher doses are introduced. Basically, the body is saying, “Okay, so this is what is happening now. It’s a lot, but let’s normalize it.” Additional studies have shown that CB1 receptors begin to replenish after just a couple of days, so even a short break may be worth it. The general recommendation for breaks is at least two weeks and up to a month.

As it turns out, the suggestions for taking a break from THC closely resemble steps one must take in order to get over a breakup.

First things first: If embarking on a tolerance break, get

rid of all the cannabis currently in possession. Nothing kills a good effort quite like temptation. Second, if stopping cold turkey proves to be too difficult, consider reducing intake over the course of a few days. If three bong loads a day is the routine, day one should start with two, and so on. Also, don’t replace with other substances, like alcohol.

Thirdly, prepare for physiological changes. Sleep may be interrupted, particularly if one is using cannabis as a sleep aid, so consider replacing with something else, such as melatonin. Appetite may go haywire as well. During my break, I found myself hungry at strange times of the day and at others, I found I had lost my appetite altogether.

Things became more normal after a few days.

Fourth, find something else to focus on. Maybe work provides an opportunity to take on another project. Perhaps a friend wants to catch up or the house needs a deep clean. For me, adding daily three-mile walks with my dog into my routine gave me a physical and mental outlet to focus on something different.

After about a week or so, I felt more clearheaded and calm, no doubt due to the passage of time along with the physical t-break. I’m back on weed at lower consumption levels and feeling good, though I’m definitely still on a break from dudes. Some tolerance breaks require longer recovery periods than others. Thankfully, I now have weed again to help with the other.

CannaBitch appears every week. Follow Jackie Bryant on Twitter at @jacqbryant.

AUGUST 21, 2019 · SAN DIEGO CITYBEAT · 23